Quiet Friday

Well, sort of.  I'm still on the clock, but my mind is already wandering to this weekend when the family and I go out to my dad's farm to help him pull down an old storage building.  I'll mainly be on childcare duty (naturally), but it'll be fun to get Victoria out in the wilderness.  We got to enjoy the farm recently at our friend Gerald's house, and she loved seeing the goats!  Here are some snaps of the visit:

My little cowgirl and handsome cowboy.

Slicing cucumber for the cucumber salad I'm going to tote out to the farm.   Yum.

Trying my hand at crochet again; it's been years.  I've had very little time to sew lately, but crochet has been one of those activities that can be started and stopped at a moment's notice.  To make it easy on myself, I'm making a baby blanket from this Japanese sewing book.  (Look at the third image in the listing - the one-color blanket.)  It says "One Week Baby Crochet".  A week??  Pfft.  Whatever.

Now if I can just get Victoria to leave my skeins alone.  She's as bad as a cat.  :)

Spaces.

I am in the throes of "spring cleaning".  Or, more accurately, "preparation for Passover cleaning".  The Bible speaks of purging the home of leaven and leavened products, but I'm taking it a step further and using it as an opportunity to do a full cleaning of the house.  It needed it.  :)  I don't think I even realized how much it needed a good scouring until I began to see results.  So, it's been incredibly busy these days -- it's nearly 11:30 as I write this! -- but the resulting tidiness of all my little spaces (like the one shown above*) makes it a good kind of busy.  Ceilings to baseboards.  Whew!  What a job!

The Sabbath is to-morrow.  Good night, my friends, and Blessings!

~ Amy ~

*I just realized that this photo was rather blurry.  Sorry!  :)

Around the house.

Hi everyone!  It's been forever since I posted (it seems), and although I don't have anything important to post, I thought I'd drop by and say hello.  :)

Things have been extremely busy around here, just with life I guess.  It's good to be busy, but some of us (like my husband) is busier than he really ought to be.  He's getting many overtime hours due to a lack of a co-worker who recently retired, and the paycheck is an extreme blessing, but he's wearing out with all the double-shifts -- often evening and midnights.  I'm worried about him, to be honest.  I hope his schedule can regulate soon so I can get my husband back.

Please keep him in your prayers, for health and well-being.

My garden is doing well.  I've harvested my first two tomatoes the other day.  Two little cherry tomatoes.  :)  But the plants are really getting huge and are growing all sorts of young tomatoes.  I also have precisely 3 jalapenos, 1 bell pepper, and two new little veggies I just found:

{ and if you look closely, there's a second zucchini to the left of the bigger one, which is, by itself, only about 2" long. }

I also acquired a new set of dishes!  Refrigerator dishes to be exact.  I never knew what "refrigerator dishes" were until Atlanta posted about them on her blog.  Well, actually, I knew what they were, just not by that name.  My grandmother had some.  My mom had some.  And I don't know if they had the Amish Butterprint pattern, but something about it seemed familiar, so I picked them up.  Maybe my grandmother had this pattern and I'm channeling her.  :)  Anyway, I love them.  I dig turquoise and white.  I'm getting a matching butterdish and a few other smaller dishes next.

Well, that is all for now!  Y'all be good.  Serve Our Lord.  Buy gold.  ;)  Hard times are coming.  I'm not going to rant about it, but I fear it could be worse than anyone is imagining at the moment.  Lord willing, it won't be; but it's always better to be prepared.

Blissful sleep.

I just discovered my husband and baby, curled up together in bed for a nap.  How cute.  He worked a midnight shift last night, so he was ready to get some sleep and I guess Punkin Head was ready for a nap too.  I went in there a second ago and heard both of them snoring away.  The weather out there is cool (for Texas - 63 degrees), it's a quiet, calm day.

I really love my life sometimes.

Now I'm off to try out Mrs. G's "Canned Dry Beans" recipe for the pantry.

Domestic Routine.

"Wash on Monday
Iron on Tuesday
Mend on Wednesday
Churn on Thursday
Clean on Friday
Bake on Saturday
Rest on Sunday"

Remember that from Laura Ingalls' LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS?

I can't say I'm the neatest person in the world; but I've always admired a neat house.  Maybe it was due to reading the Little House books at an early age and being impressed with their housekeeping.  I remember, as a little tyke, trying to do things the way it was described in the books, and found it fun to pretend I was Laura, carefully putting away all my toys and making the bed, and then gleaming with satisfaction at the fruit of my labors.  I guess, in a way, I felt like I was "keeping house", even though my "house" consisted of my bed, dresser, and toy box.  (Too bad I forwent that habit a few years later -- my teens were not much to brag about, neatness-wise.)  Now that I'm grown with a home of my own to keep, I marvel at the fine-tuned housekeeping routine of our fore-mothers.

If love is the heartbeat of the home, then the domestic routine is the heartbeat of the house.  The rhythm of housekeeping chores, neatly spaced throughout the days of the week is perfectly designed to keep all the gears running smoothly, without the fatigue and frustration that can heap up on us when we try to do too much all in one day.  But before Franklin-Covey became an icon of time-management, our fore-mothers had been putting it into practice for generations.  Whether you were the mistress of an upper and lower staff in an English country mansion, or a poor farmer's wife sweeping a dirt floor of a ramshackle cabin on an unsettled prairie, you always had your routine for keeping the house neat and clean; you had your domestic calendar.

"Give our maid Sallie Anne the day of the week and the hour of the day and she knows what we are doing here at home...This week Sallie Anne washes the blankets and suns the heavy quilts and I clean, mend, and put by the winter clothing.  In the fall, it will be a pleasure to take out clean whole things which have lain packed away neatly, in sweet-smelling lavender."
- Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping.

Don't you just love the idea of unpacking clean, lavender-scented blankets and linens and clothes in the fall?  For me, that thought makes spring cleaning all the merrier, even those dreaded tasks.  I don't know about you, dear readers, but spring hasn't quite sprung here so I can't throw open the windows and roll up my sleeves just yet.  While I'm preparing for the great spring cleaning, though, I thought I'd share my "domestic calendar" that I've been attempting to employ for the last few months (albeit a little more updated than the original Victorian calendar I pulled it from).  Maybe it'll be helpful to you!

DAILY CLEANING CHORES

1. Make beds.
2. Prepare meals and clean afterward.
3. Tidy up rooms and put everything back into its proper place.
4. Put soiled clothes in laundry and hang up other clothes.
5. Clean or put out tablecloth and kitchen towels.
6. Tidy the bathrooms and put out clean towels and necessary toiletries.
7. Clean floors in kitchen and dining rooms.
8. Take out the trash.
9. Complete day-of-the-week chore.

DAY OF THE WEEK CHORES

1. Washing on Monday
2. Ironing on Tuesday
3. Sewing on Wednesday
4. Marketing on Thursday
5. Cleaning on Friday
6. Baking on Saturday
7. Rest on Sunday

WEEKLY CLEANING CHORES

1. Wipe down all surfaces such as doorknobs and cabinet handles.
2. Dust all furniture and objects.
3. Clean bathrooms very thoroughly.
4. Clean kitchen, scrub counters, sinks, and floor.
5. Change the bed linens.
6. Clean garbage receptacle.
7. Wash combs and brushes.

MONTHLY CLEANING CHORES

1. Wash or air pillows.
2. Wash mirrors.
3. Wash windows inside.
4. Wax floors (if hardwood) -- I don't have wood floors currently.
5. Organize drawers.
6. Clean pantry.
7. Clean oven and stove.
8. Organize closets.
9. Wash or wax woodwork.

As Miriam Lukken says in her book:  "Order is a mainspring in housework.  Indeed, an example of habit and order is one of the nicest dowries a woman can give her daughters: one to prolong her life, to build up her home, and be always a source of comfort to herself and family."  I do hope to give Victoria such a dowry.

Blessings to you this rainy, 50-degree Tuesday morning.

-Amy

Little Sprouts.

:: tomato sprouts ::

:: sleeping sprout ::

Spring Blog Cleaning + 8 Months

Ok, so you may have noticed that I changed up my blog design.  The sun came out yesterday and I have my seedlings in pots waiting to sprout, so I guess I just felt all "springy" and wanted to take a departure from the "antique" look.  I post more than just 1860s stuff on here anyway.  I love the wide-width blog layouts, but there's a little part of me that is afraid people will have to scroll back and forth to see my site.  Let me know if you have any problems with that.

Victoria is 8 months old tomorrow!

She had her first bath "alone" in the big tub last night and was tickled pink.  :)  In this photo (don't ask me what she's doing with her tongue), you can see yet another two teeth coming in -- these being on the bottom.  That makes 8 choppers.  Wow.

In other news, she's now sitting up on her own.  I didn't even realize she was doing it until one day she was on her stomach, playing.  I looked away for a minute, then looked back, and she was sitting up and reaching into her toy basket.  No crawling yet, but if she happens to be standing against something she can hold on to (usually my shirt or the coffee table), she'll stand up all day long.  Seems to have no interest in crawling, scooting, or creeping no matter how much we put her on her hands and knees or crawl around on the floor with her.  She has found her lungs and loves to Yell Loudly.  Or squeal.  Or giggle.  You should hear her giggle.

I love that kid.

Snowbaby.

{ Victoria's first snowfall. A rarity way down here in sub-tropical, balmy Central Texas }

Etiquette Between Husbands and Wives

Let the rebuke be preceded by a kiss.
Do not require a request to be repeated.
Never should both be angry at the same time.
Never neglect the other, for all the world beside.
Let each strive to always accommodate the other.
Let the angry word be answered only with a kiss.
Bestow your warmest sympathies in each other's trials.
Make your criticism seldom, and in the most loving manner possible.
Make no display of the sacrifices you make for each other.
Never make a remark calculated to bring ridicule upon the other.
Never deceive; confidence, once lost, can never be wholly regained.
Always use the most gentle and loving words when addressing each other.
Let each study what pleasure can be bestowed upon the other during the day.
Always leave home with a tender good-bye and loving words.

-Hill's Manual for Social and Business Forms, 1888

Recipe for a Happy Home

Half a cup of friendship, and a cup of thoughtfulness,
creamed together with a pinch of powdered tenderness,
very lightly beaten in a bowl of loyalty
with a cup of faith, one of hope, and one of charity.
Be sure to add a spoonful of gaiety that sings,
also the ability to laugh at little things.
Moisten with sudden tears of heartfelt sympathy,
bake in a good-natured oven and serve repeatedly.

* * * * *
from Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping
by Miriam Lukken

Mmmmm..

I love fresh baked bread. I love Autumn!

Mama's Hot Rolls
(Makes about 30 big fluffy rolls. I usually 1/2 the recipe.)

2 pkgs rapid rise yeast
1/2 c sugar
3 c warm water (110˚-115˚)
1/2 c Canola oil
1 Tbsp salt
Enough flour to make a soft dough

Dissolve yeast into 1/2 c of the warm water (taken from the 3 c) and add 1 Tbsp of sugar (from the 1/2 c). Set aside to "rise". In mixing bowl, combine remaining water, remaining sugar, oil and salt. Mix in the yeast which should have started to bubble up and work its magic. Then mix in enough flour to make a soft dough -- kind of like drop-biscuit dough. Turn out and knead a bit with more flour (if needed) so that the dough is smooth and stretchy, but still somewhat soft. You don't want tough rolls. Make a ball. Lightly oil another bowl and turn the dough ball around in it so that it's coated, and then cover with a cup towel and set in a warm place to rise for 1-1/2 hours, or until double.

Prepare a couple of glass casserole dishes (or one high-edged cookie sheet) with non-stick spray or with shortening. Punch down dough, turn out, and pinch off pieces to make balls about 1-1/2" in diameter. (I actually make mine bigger, closer to 2" so that I can get 15 balls into each casserole.)

Let rise again until about double. Put into a 375˚ oven, lightly covered with foil for 12 minutes (just to keep them from browning too soon), then take off the foil and bake until golden brown. (If you use a cookie sheet, you may not need to use foil, as they'll bake faster.)

Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Musing over a future project...

Maybe it's weird, but I've always wanted a homemade set of bed sheets. Linen bedsheets, that is, with some fancy work on the edge. It has always seemed so romantic and old fashioned. The right kind of linen can be very soft, and I hear quite luxurious, but where to start? I wonder if you can get linen in widths befitting a sheet (like you can get cotton quilt backing pretty wide). Seems no fun to have to piece a bed sheet together.

Hm.

Even more fun might be to have a contrasting duvet cover with matching shams for the pillows. (See below.) We have four pillows on our bed and I always try to find ways to cover them up with the quilt because they don't have shams. Call me over-sensitive, but there it is. I like matching shams. But when you have a homemade quilt that someone gave you, it's nearly impossible to have shams to match.


Hm. Gotta keep thinking on this one.

Our New Lamps

We've finally gotten in our 5 Aladdin table lamps, and we wanted to put one together and light it to see how it looks. It's as bright as a light bulb! These lamps are super-fantasimo because they burn a variety of oils and gets its brightness by using a mantle as well as the wick. We'll be getting shades to go with them, but for now, we just have the bare brass lamp. We'll be using these in the winter when electricity is h-i-g-h in our neck of the woods. It adds such a sweet old-fashioned-ness to the house. :)