The way we live

We have had much rain the last several weeks.  Quite a bit of rain before the tropical storm Claudette even got near and since then it has rained every day.  Mosquitoes are now the problem but we have to take the bad with the good because many other states are in a serious drought.  I am thankful for this rainfall.

Charles and I live a much more old fashioned life here at our home.  Old fashioned compared to those around us but I feel many people are taking a step back as well and going back to basics.  

So this post is about the way we live and what is going on around our home and garden. 

The long beans have done well in our small patch of beans.  

As I have pointed out many times on my blog how much I enjoy watching the sunlight come in the windows so very different all throughout the year as the sun and the earth are spinning and rotating causing us to never bore of the patterns and new locations the sunlight is peeking through our windows. 

The sun is rising here and the sun is more from the window on the left.  In the winter it is far to the right. 

This is important to farmers and gardeners because when and where the sun is can make or break the way a garden grows.

Lately I have found more peace and contentment in the things I do.  It has come with much prayer to let go of all the craziness going on in this world and this country.  I know that since I am human that some things will continue to bother me such as things that cause harm to people and to animals. 

When we are home we should be able to find peace and joy and happiness. If it is not a calm and happy home then we should work towards changing this because living unhappy is unhealthy.     

This morning I was brushing the dirt off these potatoes and I did not rush as I often I normally do but instead I purposefully did not rush. I feel many of us have been rushing so much we do not even realize it anymore.

Why do we rush the things that we do?  I would like you all to do this one thing when you are sitting or cooking or cleaning or doing whatever you are doing, even reading this blog.

Pause just for a moment and tell yourself to relax your shoulders.  To drop your shoulders. No, really drop them, let them completely go........

It is surprising how tight and raised up they can be.  When your shoulders are no longer tense, relax them even further and relax your neck and head, then your waist and wrists and hands. try to stay relaxed for a few moments. 

This tightness comes from rushing, from worry, from letting things bother us that we cannot do anything about.  Practice doing this until you are more aware of when you are tense.

We had let these potatoes dry and cure for awhile after digging them out of the dirt and we left the dirt still on them.  I do not wash them, I brush them off when they are dry and then move them to the pantry. There is another box to brush off but is still drying and I will brush them off next week. 

We learned this year that we could grow our potatoes closer together in our containers.  I will try next year to add even more seed potatoes to our containers. 

Each year we learn more about gardening, often through mistakes and sometimes through what is successful. We also learn from reading and studying more about the plants and how to care for them.  

This week I have been hand sewing the neckline of a dress.  I did not like the way the dress pulled the neckline back and felt like it was choking me so I trimmed it and turned a new hem around the neckline and it is much more comfortable.

I have a chair that I sit in to knit and to hand sew.  We all need a little space of our own, a chair that feels just right to us. I sit here and knit or crochet or hand sew.  

I keep the small items I need right beside me, it is very functional.  I don't want my home just decorative by using items just for the purpose of decoration.  I ask myself Is it functional? 

Oh I have a few items that have good memories attached to them such as a figurine that was mine when I was a child and one that Charles had as a child.  I have a glass musical snowball that was my mothers. We all have something personal that does not have a real purpose but brings us good memories.

I find that the way each one of us lives has to do with what stage of life we are at while we are here.

But no matter what stage we are living, how young or old we really should live carefully, for our finances, carefully for our planet and carefully for our health. 

I am trying to stay on top of my household chores.  This morning I cleaned the filter to our window air conditioner.  I know this is not something old fashioned but necessary for our health because I do not do well when I get overheated.  When our central air unit went out several years ago we decided to not purchase another unit and  put in two of these air/heating units.  This is what we use and it dropped our electric bill right away because we are all electric in this house.  Our central unit was all electric.  We can control what rooms we want to cool and heat now by either running them both or cooling or heating one side of the house or the other side.  

Our central unit would blow hot air through the house before the cool air kicked in and opposite in the winter.  We felt that was wasteful just like running good clean cold water waiting for hot water.  Think about how much water is wasted just waiting for hot water.

I showed my new baking area in a previous post.  Charles added a new shelf here on the right side to put my flour and sugar canister so I would have more mixing and kneading room on the bakers cabinet. Any of you that live in a small house can really understand how wonderful this is to have something added to give more work space. 

This picture was taken the other day when the tropical storm was bringing us downpours. Our windows were fogged up due to the temperatures fluctuating. 

This is a simple meal we ate the day before yesterday.  It was sauteed/baked sweet potatoes, green beans and cauliflower casserole with a white sauce and cheese.

Then yesterday I boiled some chicken and we ate the rest of the cauliflower casserole. It was very good and both enjoyed it.  

Today Charles is out of town so we wrapped up two separate egg sandwiches on toasted and buttered bread for lunch today.  I am here sitting at the table eating my sandwich.  

I wish that everyone could understand how much better life is when we go back to basics and live a more sensible life.  Be the example of what makes sense. 

Grandma Donna