Happy Homemaker Monday

Joining with Diary of a Stay At Home Mom for Happy Homemaker Monday.

I really enjoyed reading this post, What Inspires Me To Be A Homemaker. Pretty much sums up exactly how I feel. Even though we are inundated with homemaking blogs, validating that homemaking is a legitimate 'job', I still find myself mumbling 'I don't work' when someone new asks me what I do. Afterwards I think of all the things I should or could have answered, but that guilt still remains that I am not really working. Does anyone else feel this way or have you managed to get past this roadblock in society?




I'm not ashamed to be old fashioned, not when I look around me and see what being a modern woman means in these times.  I'm a homebody, I always have been and I don't think that will ever change.

Embrace your life as a homemaker, friends.  You ARE important and what you DO is necessary.
(Quoted from the above post.)


On The Weather Front
Yay, it is raining! Started last night and still raining. I am happy to not have to water the garden today. And the paddocks are already starting to grow some green patches.


Reading
I haven't done a great deal of reading this week as I have been spending time sorting through magazines. It is always fun to look through old craft magazines and I have loads! I am trying to declutter and am looking through them to see which ones are worth keeping. So far, I have started on my collection of knitting magazines, mainly Simply Knitting and Knit Today. Both are British magazines (my favourites!) and have great patterns, especially toys.

Watching
We are re-watching the Harry Potter series - last night, The Chamber of Secrets. I am currently reading them aloud, again, to the next child. So they are allowed to watch the movie once we have read the book.

I'm Hoping
My second daughter is leaving this week to head for university. She will be staying on campus residence. The uni is nearly three hours drive away, so it will be a big change for her. I'm hoping that she settles in well and has an enjoyable and successful year.


I'm Learning
In my Adventures In Stitchcraft series, I am attempting to re-size vintage knitting patterns. I am hoping to learn how to do this successfully!

Crafting
As above, re-sizing patterns. I am still knitting my heat mat (finished photos by Wednesday's Yarn Along!) I am also planning on sewing some cloth napkins for the table.


Grateful For
I would have to say the rain! Especially as reading back my last week's post, I said I was dreaming of rain!

Dreaming Of
Lots of yarn dyeing ideas. I have not done any dyeing for a long time and am looking forward to trying some new colourways.


Favourite Photo
One from the archives.

Mr 12 and Mr 8 - um, Mr 12 is now taller than me!

Mr 8

Devotional, Scripture, Key Verse

Adventures In Stitchcraft - 1937

I am so pleased to finally be continuing with this series. Sometimes life just gets in the way!


The next two print issues in my collection are from 1937, February and March.

Looking back, we know that the world was soon heading towards another war. Europe was deeply troubled, hovering as it was between two world wars, with much unrest. The Spanish Civil War had begun in 1936, with many non-Spanish citizens participating, including Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italian forces. It was a precursor to the horrors to come.


In Paris, the Exposition of Decorative Arts and Modern Industry was held, with displays such as the Railway and Air Pavilions showing the latest in modern travel, and the Pavilions of various nations.

Germany (left) and Russia (right) - pavilions


 This was one of the last major international events before the war began and it had been dominated by feelings of mistrust and suspicion, particularly between Germany and Russia.


Japan invaded China and seized various cities, including Peking, Tietsin, Nanjing, Shanghai and Hangchow.

Battle of Shanghai 1937

In the US, the Golden Gate Bridge was completed and opened, having taken four years to build.

The pride of Germany, the Hindenberg, exploded while attempting to hitch to a mooring post in New Jersey. 36 people were killed. The explosion marked the end of the airship era.

Amelia Earhart disappeared in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. There are a number of theories related to the disappearance, some more far-fetched than others, including that she was spying on the Japanese for the US government and that she actually faked the disappearance in order to take on a new identity.

Formerly King Edward VIII (who had abdicated the throne in 1936 to become the Duke of Windsor) married Wallis Simpson in June. After their marriage, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor travelled to Germany (against official British advice), where they met Adolf Hitler.

The coronation of King George VI was held in May. The event was planned to be a show of the might and splendour of the British Empire. The media played an important part in this, as it was the first coronation to be filmed and the first to be broadcast on radio.

The average cost of a new house in the US in 1937 was $4100, which translates to $70,700 in 2017 terms.
The average wage was $1780 per annum - $30,696 in 2017 money.
The average price for a new car was $760, which is approx. $13,000 today.
A loaf of bread cost 9c, being $1.55 now.
Toothpaste was expensive in 1937, a tube costing 35c. This is $6.04 in today's money.


Next week, we will take a look at popular culture in 1937 and look inside those Stitchcraft magazines!

My Favourite Beautiful Blogs

Some blogs are just so amazingly gorgeous to look at that I can't help spending hours drooling over the photos!
My photos are a bit more prosaic - practical and get the job done. I'm more the 'walk around and snap a few random photos' kind of person. Maybe with all the boys in school now, I will be able to spend more time on styling and setting up photo shoots!

Photo has no relevance to blogs - I just loved the swans!

So, in particular order, here are some of my favourite 'beautiful blogs'.


Small Things - many of you will already know Ginny's blog as Yarn Along participants. So there are always lots of woolly goodies. Ginny's photos of her family and farm life are lovely as well. I just swoon over the photos of her children wearing all their divine woollies! I never seem to have my camera ready when the boys are doing anything photo worthy. Maybe I need to carry it everywhere!

Come and join in for Yarn Along - then stay to have a look around!

Jenny of Elefantz Designs - oh my, if you love embroidery, applique, patchwork, stitchery, visit here and prepare to fall in love! Jenny's work is so lovely. And she is so generous with her designs as there are always free ones available. In fact, the first block of Jenny's 2017 BOM of the month, entitled The Love of Home, was just posted yesterday.

Head over to www.elefantz.com to find the patterns

Sarah Lizzies - Now, talk about gorgeous photos. And if you love English style gardens, Kim's garden is SO enchanting!
And she is so clever with her ideas - such as here - after purchasing five copies of a flower photography book, the pages were cut up and used to wallpaper a feature wall! It looks spectacular.
Kim often apologises for her plethora of photos, but I say there can never be enough delightful photos of her flowers, teacups and exquisite handwork.


Mary Jane's Tearoom - I just love MJT's sweet doll and mice knitting patterns. And the blog is just so pretty! I am knitting one of the dolls at the moment, slowly though!


The Magic Onions - the blog blurb says "Welcome to The Magic Onions where the MAGIC of childhood and the WONDER of nature collide to make EACH MOMENT a precious gift."
A simply beautiful Waldorf based blog, with lots of nature crafts, needle felting and miniature garden making. Spend some time looking through the Archives - there are projects that will keep you busy for years!


Frontier Dreams - like Ginny's blog, Nicole's blog is filled with the most divine photos of her children in their knitted and sewn creations. You may have visited here via Keep Calm Craft On on Tuesdays. I always find some inspiration here.




This is the image I made for Keep Calm Craft On.

Finding Joy in the Everyday - this blog is not only a visual delight, but always has some great topics to think about. I love all the vintage images and especially, Art Friday. Well worth a visit!


Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth - Jess is just amazing! Wow, I have been visiting here for ages and am yet to go through all the wonderful information. If you need homemaking inspiration, look no further! You can check out the A-Z Index for Homemakers here. Or one of my absolute favourites series, the Beatrix Potter Inspired Projects.

And remember to join in on Mondays for the Art of Home-Making Mondays, for lots of inspiration, tips, recipes, crafting - everything we employ in our home-making days.

I'm sure I could keep going, but these are the absolute favourites that come to mind.
I would love to hear your favourite beautiful blogs and link-ups - please comment below so I can have some more loveliness to visit!

Independence Days Challenge: Week Nineteen

'But the logic behind preparing for hard times and getting my family and my community ready is very simple. It is simply a matter od asking myself 'What happens if I do?' and 'What happens if I don't?'

Well, if I do get ready and protect my family, I'll have to devote some of my money and a lot of my time to things like gardening, cooking from scratch and insulating my house. I'll probably also eat better food, save money, get more exercise and spend more time with my family. I will have to pay a price and make some sacrifices, but I'll still have the things that matter most to me.'

Depletion and Abundance by Sharon Astyk pg 18

This is exactly how I feel about preparing - it couldn't do any harm! But not preparing, that is a different matter. By not starting to take some responsibility for our food supply, heating, cooking, etc., we could face a terrible time in the future. Sharon Astyk does say that obviously she has no idea whether some wonderful solution to the world's fossil fuel, climate change problems will appear, but it surely cannot hurt to be prepared in case it doesn't.

I, for one, am simply not willing to take that risk with my family.

1. Plant Something

Still working away at the garden - summer always leaves me feeling drained, so nowhere near as much progress as there should be!

I planted out a whole bed of dahlia seedlings (finally, should have done this about a month ago!) I am so excited with these as I grew them all from seed as a bit of an experiment. I couldn't afford tubers and was lucky to read somewhere that if you grow from seed, they develop tubers to grow on. And they did! No real flowers this year, but apparently, next year they will flower wonderfully.

I am potting up mint seedlings from my wandering mint plant. I could supply the whole of my state with mint plants, I think!
I planted a variety of gerberas this year - tubestock, so they are very little. I wasn't expecting it but they flowered! Teeny cute little gerberas. Next year, I am hoping they will be normal size.

2. Harvest Something
Not much at all! The garden is looking quite depressing and I really need to get organised and dedicate some serious time to it.

My poor fruit trees were placed in a 'temporary' trench over two years ago, waiting for the fence to be built. Two of the plums have actually fruited a tiny bit this year - they have given up on ever having any room to spread out!

My little chick is growing. It's a girl, I just know/hope it is! Fingers crossed anyway!

3. Preserve something


Still haven't got to anything you could call preserving but with free days ahead (and cooler weather!), I will get to it very soon.
I did make some pizza bases to put in the freezer - always useful to have on hand.


4. Minimise waste


Now, I am embarrassed to admit this and please don't think I am terrible, but I finally reorganised my reuseable shopping bags so that I actually remember to take them into the supermarket. They were such a screwed up mess, some with holes in them, that I would just never bother to take them. I also have my net bags for fruit and veggies that I made a while ago. About time!


5. Want Not


I am making some table napkins from old men's cotton shirts at the moment.


6. Cook Something New


A while ago, I made a recipe from Leftover Makeovers by Sally Wise. Sally is Australia's preserver extraordinaire and I use her preserving books all the time.

But this is a great book too. You can look up a leftover ingredient you may have - mine was roast pork - and find a recipe to use it up.
So the Crispy Pork with Garlic and Ginger Sauce has become a favourite here and we are having it for dinner again tonight.


7. Manage Your Reserves


I am planning on doing lots of inventorying this coming week. I just seem to be struggling with a suitable log system to keep track of it all. I am more a paper and pen person, so I am thinking a folder with pages for each item and a running total column as items are added and subtracted to storage. But this could end up with LOTS of pages!
I am still doing some research on the internet to see what other people do, so would love to hear what your system is and how it is working for you.

Or if you don't know what you have and where it is stored, you won't be able to use it!

8. Work on Local Food Systems


I think my reluctance to attend produce swaps is in my thinking that I do not have enough. Even though everyone seems to say, come even if all you have are a few lemons or bunches of herbs, I just can't seem to make myself. It must be my annoying perfectionist streak!
So this year, I will work on growing more and on being braver and putting myself out there more!


Hope your 2017 garden plans are coming along.




Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny today for Yarn Along.


Someone recently recommended Marianne Williamson's books to me. So I hopped along to the local library and the one on the shelf was this one.

I looked at the title, The Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife, and was about to pass it by as not relevant to me. Then I thought 'whoa there!' And then and there it struck me - midlife is relevant to me; in fact, unless I live to be in my 90s, I am more than likely past midlife. What, when did that happen?! Why do I still feel like I am in my late 20s, early 30s, but in reality I am closer to 50?! It was a very sobering thought.


So I read the book and it is a fantastic read for making us oldies realise we are not washed up yet - some of our best years are ahead of us.


'Midlife is not a crisis; it's a time of rebirth. It's not a time to accept your death; it's a time to accept your life - and to finally, truly live it, as you and you alone know deep in your heart it was meant to be lived.'


The book talks about how this is the time for us to change the world for the better; that people have been living for themselves for too long and that we need to embrace all encompassing love for all in order to make that change. The author emphasises the importance of prayer and meditation.


'Prayer is the conduit of miracles. It changes us, and through us, the entire world. No one who prays and meditates consistently doesn't give a damn what happens.'


Certainly gave me lots to think about!


Knitting wise, I have been knitting away at my Columbine Table Mat from Arne and Carlo's Knit and Crochet Garden. Wow, I love this book!

There is actually more knitting than I anticipated - a list of knitted strips didn't look like much but I am still knitting them!

I thought I would sew some of the earlier pieces together, just to see how the method worked and what they looked like.
Such a clever technique! Knit garter stitch strips of various lengths, sew the short ends together to make a ring, fold the ring in half on the long edges and slot them inside each other. Genius!

As the strips are doubled over, the mat is quite thick and padded. I will definitely be making more of these. Seems it would be good car knitting as it is just simple garter stitch. And the book also has butterflies using this method.


Next project will be a pattern from a vintage Stitchcraft magazine, as I am finally returning to my Adventures in Stitchcraft series. Next issues are from 1937!

I like both the cover jumpers, but you will have to wait and see what else is inside!