Finding Home

I've been thinking of Christmas lately.  
I know, weird.  

But do you remember the feeling of Christmas, being home, 
and that feeling that was just as present as another being.  
A comfort of sorts - in the smell of the cookies baking, or the sugary frosting, or the lights playing peek-a-boo from behind the boughs of the tree, 
or the simple prospect of a hug from a loved one.  
That feeling void of global turmoil, political correctness, or weight of expectations. 
 I've been craving that feeling like one craves a specific flavor.  
It's a certain kind of peace - not naivety or ignorance, but a knowledge that "it is well."  Whatever "it" is, there is peace in its wellness.  
So I've been trying to figure out how to satisfy that craving, and it's proving a challenging feat, but that's my quest at the moment.

Each of us has our own level of comfort and what we can handle before we go crazy.  
One of the things for me is having some form of order in our home.  
I'm not sure how, but paper clutter has been breeding like crazy.  
I have stacks to sort through.  
It's also canning season.  

I canned the first batch of green beans last week and just picked our first ripe tomato.  
I have set up a makeshift "summer kitchen" out in our shop so we don't heat up the house.  We've had a few weeks of triple-digit weather 
and aren't expecting a break until the middle of next week.  
That has created more shuffling of items and more 'stuff' to go through.  
I thought I'd gone through it all, but alas I was wrong.  
I've found two  more years of taxes that can be burned (when it cools down,) 
even more papers to go through - sort, file, pitch, 
and various things that are just the result of living in one place for nearly 20 years. 

My goal is functionality. 
 I think I've always been a function over fashion sort of person.  
How our home needs to function in order to meet our lifestyle changes over time 
so it needs to be altered or adapted to how we live.  

I used to can some jellies here and there but baked quite a bit.  
Now, I can a significant portion of our veggies and we eat very few grains/sweets.  
The equipment and supplies used for each is different.  
The kitchen still seems geared towards baking but there is a shift so in reality, 
it's not really convenient for baking or canning - go figure. 
 It's getting a going-through.  
Soap making supplies can go out to the summer kitchen 
as well as fiber dying materials and supplies.  

It's really a big rearranging of stuff.  
Buuuuuutt.... all of this rearranging kinda creates a chaotic scene 
which makes me walk with a bit of a twitch.
Our fruit trees, berry bushes and garden are loaded, 
and that produce needs tending or soon will.
With a full time job, a 'spare' job, and tending to our winter's food supply,
I feel like I'm running in mud.

With that, I've decided to take a couple months off from the blog and Etsy shoppe.  
I will still be 'here,' but it's such a busy time,  
I need to focus on home and family and try to make our home function 
for us rather than against us.  

I hope you will understand. 
 I will return the beginning of October as the leaves begin to fall ~ a beautiful time. 
I'm hoping to take this opportunity to update and clean up a few things
on the blog and in the shoppe as well as our home. 
I want to thank each of you reading this.  
I appreciate your time and your comments, and hope you have a superb summer.

I also hope you are able to find a relaxing spot to enjoy a cup of something cold
and appreciate the season we are in.

PS~ These pictures are just some of the produce growing in our yard/garden as of this morning.

  

100 Years Too Late

Have you ever been told you were born a hundred years too late?

Or maybe you just feel like you were...
I know I do at times.

There are some things that can help bring a sense of yesteryear

into your today though.

(Hubby's anvil.)

I'm sharing these things as much as a reminder to myself as I am for you.

June was pretty rough around here.

I could throw a fabulous pity-party for one,

but I like to say, "What you seek, you will find."

That said, I'd like to gear my focus towards something more positive.

Sometimes we just need to re-center ourselves and proceed.

So let's proceed~

(Queen Ann's lace.)

The first thing we can do is Stop.

Just stop. 
Stop trying to change the unchangeable.

Take a breath.

Regardless of the romanticism, people had jobs 100 years ago.

They had to be to work on time just like we do.

So why does it seem so hectic today?

Distractions are one thing, but really, it's the willingness 

to accept what we cannot change.  

If it takes 20 minutes to get to work, and you are leaving 5 minutes late,

don't attempt to make it to work in 15 minutes.

You might not make it at all.

Accept that you will be late and 

make every effort so that it doesn't happen again tomorrow.

This is counter to the message that we are told today

"Power at your fingertips, control with the push of a button, etc."

We can neither change nor control time, period, end of story, fin.

Accept. Move on.

(Rip eyeing a good stick.)

Thing Two is children.

When did parents' lives begin catering to children?

About 100 years ago, the average number of children per household was 9!

Can you imagine if all 9 were going in separate directions?

I'm not saying don't let Billy play soccer, but maybe it should be 

an exception rather than a "right."  

A child needing his/her own calendar is crazy.

Children should aspire to be adults rather than 

adults aspiring to live like children.

My kids are now grown (though munchkins forever in my eyes:).

But I see this in frazzled friends and co-workers.

They are merely a shuttle service to and from their children's activities.

Prioritize.

Family should come first.

(Yum.)

Next, Cook.

I know this sounds almost cliche, but there's more to it.

The act of handling your food renders it more respected.

And yes, food can be respected.

Get the family involved.

If a child mashes the potatoes, he's more apt to eat them.

There will be more reluctance to waste food and best of all,

it's far healthier for you.

I won't dwell here, but will say the act of sharing the preparation,

the cooking, the eating, and cleaning up from a meal

is strengthening in many ways.

(Just a weed.)

(((electronics)))

I tried to type that quietly so I don't get e-flogged.

I'm not going to tell you to go without or shut them off completely.

I get it.

They are part of our lives.

The thing is, they are tools.

Don't let a device control you.

Weather it's a phone or TV or computer, put it in its place.

A phone is a tool to communicate.

A computer is a research tool.

And a television is a tool to entertain.

Here's a personal example:

I used to check my email, blog, etc. in the mornings before work.

 Of course, it's easy to be lured to this or that just by clicking.

"They" know that and do it on purpose.

Once it dawned on me that nothing that comes via email (etc.) is urgent,

I decided to wait until I had a break at work to check.

This has done two things for me - 

it gave me more morning time and

it put a limit on my browsing time.

(Hubby's post-leg vise.)

Also, Maintain.

By maintaining your items, you'll save money 
by not having to repurchase them.
We live in a throw-away society, 
designed specifically to separate you from your money.
Weather it's shoes and shelves or lawn mowers and laundry baskets,
before tossing something, ask yourself if it can be repaired.
Then even if you spend $10 to repair a $100 item, look at it as saving $90.

(Corner of the cabinet.) And lastly ~ Make ~ 
Make something or find a hobby.
The possibilities are endless.
My mom is known as the local cookie lady.
She makes cookies for just about any "special" event in town.
You could make a garden, make a car, make a quilt, make a cabinet.
There are plenty of studies indicating that people who seem to live only for their work tend to die shortly into retirement.
Nobody wants to be that person.

(Sitting on a rock by the river.) All in all, these are very doable tasks.
You don't have to jump in with both feet.
For that matter, you don't have to jump at all.
But if you'd like a bit more peace and a little less chaos,
maybe pick one or two points and work towards them.
It's not a test, nor is it a race.
There's no winner or loser, but with any luck,
you'll (I'll) be more at ease, have clearer thoughts, and feel better overall.

Like I said, June was a rough month.
Feeling off kilter and going 100 mph is a wreck waiting to happen.
I needed to find my center.
Home is my "center."  
In the past week, I've been concentrating on seeing what is important to me and trying to rid myself of those things that aren't that somehow 
finagled their way into my life.
For me, having home in order (or at least somewhat) is grounding.
I think that's a part of the past that we long for.
You could count on dinner at dinner time.
Grandma always grew daffodils.
Uncle Joe could fix anything on wheels.
It's how it was ~ dependable.
When things change gradually, it can be difficult to spot the changes.
Once we figure out just where we are and where we want to be,
it is easier to find the way.
Sometimes, it's necessary to back-track a bit to get back on course.
It works the same for time as it does for road maps.  
Sometimes, looking to the past is the way forward.

Were you born 100 years too late?

Cost = Free ~ Part II

The other thing I found recently was this amazing table and chairs.

(This is the picture from the ad that I responded to.)

The folks had just moved and it didn't fit in their new house so it had to go.

She said there were multiple calls between the time I called and made arrangements to pick it up 

and when I arrived.

The cool thing about the table is it has two leaves but no seam down the middle.

(Before I got the cabinet in.)

See~

Our old table worked but was an old one my grandmother had 

that we gorilla glued back together multiple times.

The chairs were recently recovered and I love the color, but they must have changed them when they did so.
I think there should be a plywood form as well.
As is when you sit in the chair, you feel like you’re falling into a big toilet seat.
There is no support so you actually sink into the chair.
I need to pull one apart and make a pattern of sorts.
From there, I can do them one at a time just to make sure one size fits all.
In addition to not having much time lately, 
I haven’t been super excited to get to this,
because it involves pulling staples.
If you’ve never pulled staples on this sort of thing,
Come on over - I’ll learn ya how 😉
It will be nice to have them done, and I do have plywood for the job,
Now it’s just that time thing.