It has been much longer than I planned to do another blog post but things have been very busy around here lately. Charles and I are doing okay but as you all know, it is not easy to stay safe in this world right now.
Some people like to leave furniture plain and uncovered, some like to see the wood grain, some enjoy painted furniture as I enjoy both and there is nothing wrong with that because we are all different.
In the past we would visit friends and family often and I loved how everyone's homes were different and much was homemade so there was not as much generic as there is today.
I love textiles and linens so I enjoy dressing the table and the hutch, the breakfast table and even the sewing machine. It just makes me happy and Charles enjoys it because it makes it home.
This hutch is very old and has history and marks and another reason for table scarfs, runners and doilies.
This is the piece we have that is one of my favorites as it was to be burned because it was falling apart and was given to us if we wanted it to restore.
As I mentioned in other posts, we are all at different stages in our lives. My mother loved lace and cloths. I did not always cover my table because I was in different stages too. My mother was 25 years ahead of me and I didn't realize until later that I would very much enjoy many of the things she enjoyed as I became more settled in knowing what it was that I enjoyed.
Our lives can be so busy we do not know where we are going or the simple things that make us happy.
I realized that I was too busy to see, I didn't take time to notice why some people found so much enjoyment in something as simple as a cloth that was hand embroidered or a dish cloth that was hand knitted. I love the pieces with dropped stitches above as they have been used.
No matter what stage we are, we should slow down and in the past, life was slower and not as hectic as it is now and has been for quite some time.
We can make it less hectic.
If we leave the lights on all the time or the television blaring, we may miss the sun shinning into the window leaving lovely shadows or hear the birds outside.
When Charles and I removed the noise from our home, the electronics that ran most of the time and moved more to living like the past our pets became calmer and so did we.
If we keep the blinds closed or the curtains down we close ourselves in.
I have gather the table cloths and linens and gave them a good washing and ironing. Some may say, I do not have time for such things, and I think that would be sad.
I cannot tell you how many times that Charles and I have said, I just wish we would have known what we know now, I just wish we would have moved to living like the past a long time ago, only had we known and I wish we would have never changed. These are the things we continue to say today. We feel we wasted so much time before we really started living our simple life.
Certain designs and colors are happy. It is a simple thing, a needle and threads of different colors and how they turn a plain piece of fabric into something that can make a home look happy or soft and pretty.
I very much enjoy the happy colors and the older designs but I am mostly drawn to the romantic pastels, all done with just needle and thread. A truly simple thing to do that does not cost much at all.
There is something about doing for the home in this manner, making things without much machinery.
Long ago is not that far away if we just try.
Everything seems to have gone awry right now and I feel it is important to get back to what feels right. I cannot do anything about any of the things that I read and see but I can do many things about what is going on in our home.
I have talked before about a comfortable home and a romantic home. We do not have to be married or with someone to have a romantic home. The photo above seems romantic to me. Romance is about feelings.
Romance to me is reading Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility. It is reading a very old needlework book and learning more about how things were made with needle and thread.
I love knowledge and understanding the difference in tatting and and filet crochet. the edges of this filet crochet dresser runner are tatted.
Why does this matter?
Because I could be writing about food or cleaning the home or gardening. I think the table runner, or the dresser scarf, just puts things in perspective to attention to detail.
It is about doing the simple things and added touches and again making memories.
All spring and summer we have been enjoying our continued harvest of cucumbers. I have been canning them and dehydrating them for powder to make dressing.
I have also continued to dehydrate fruits even though they are not in season just in case of a poor harvest or disruption.
Our special touches include our pets. Our Cockatiel Bell loves pretty pictures and flowered covers for her night time covers. Here at our house everyone has a bedtime routine.
Bell is our foofy girl she enjoys lacy furnishings, playing with beatrix potter figurines, and being covered at night with pretty cloths.
I do not know about other birds but Cockatiels can have night frights so we cover her with two cloths at night to keep her safe and just like our doggies Katherine, Elizabeth and Bernadette she sleeps in our bedroom, all in their own beds. Our doggies have built in kennels and they are also wonderful for storms.
Elizabeth after her bath. You would never know if she is happy or mad because this is her standard look but she is relaxed. :)
We can all make our home comfortable, clean, romantic, cheerful, happy. We just make ourselves calm so others are calm and we learn because knowledge gives us the ability to make changes. Then we put our apron on and get to work.
Grandma Donna
