Updating Things

Hello Dear Ladies at home and those who want to be,

I hope to be back with a broadcast soon.

I have had my devises all updated and a grandson has corrected the camera-cutting-off problem. He is going to Greece next week with a Bible School so I have been absorbed in preparing Greek style food during his stay here. It’s so delightful that he likes audiobooks of Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell. He pauses them and we make comments on the dialog. 

This is a natural photo of a recent sunset on a misty day— no visible sun all day, and then, this!!

I will be back soon, Lord willing ( and the creek don’t rise, as they say). 

 

What You Need in Hard Times or Dire Circumstances (And It is FREE) #1

Hello Dear Ladies,

Thank you for coming. I so appreciate it ---more than I can express!!

Today I talked about a few things we need in hard times and they are FREE, and not freeze-dried. The list is provided here and you can create your own.

But first, a little cottage from my Pinterest account . The Manse would look like this just by oval-sizing the porch, door and windows 

While it is nice and green outside, it is cold. The window view will do for now. 

In Hard Times

-Personal Cleanliness 

-Well-Dressed

-Careful Home Keeping and Culinary Arts 

-Courtesy, Polite Speech, Kindness , Good Manners 

-Hospitality 

-Tea Time 

-Art, Literature, Music

-Faith, Study and  Prayer

Mind and Physical Fitness

-Correspondence and Letter Writing 

-Learning 

Again I apologize for the abrupt ending. My team is going to fix that soon,  but please enjoy your home while you listen.
 

Staying Home, Personal Care, Courtesy, Other Subjects

Hello Dear Ladies,

Thank you SO MUCH for coming here and also for listening to the video below.  It means so much to me. 

 

The first bloom this year.

I am trying a different flavor of tea every day, just for the scent.

I have this on MY PINTEREST 

It may be a painting by William K. Blacklock.

Catching the blue light.

2 minute Warm Up Movements from Lucy Wyndham-Reade

5 minute Chair Exercises

Listen to When Queens Ride By, a story I summarized in the broadcast.

Please enjoy your home while you listen. I'm sorry it does not have a proper ending. The video stopped before I could sign off. 

More Than Keeping House

Greetings Dear Ladies,

We are having very nice weather. 

Today I talked about the book of Ruth, which you might want to go and read through yourself.

I showed you these Sunrise Patterns from the 1970's.

Today's message is only fit for the mature, balanced,

understanding and knowledgeable minds.

Dear Ladies, 

Please enjoy the broadcast while you get a few things done at home.

All examples and quotes are purely fictional or historical; in fact, many of the derogatory quotes about women at home are identical to some of the teachings of Karl Marx  ;-)  Any resemblance to your own or others' situations are  solely because the subject and quotes are common worldwide and have been common objections to women at home throughout the ages. 

I was wearing this cotton dress I made from a 1980’s Laura Ashley pattern.  The fabric as from a cloth store that no longer exists but may be available on the web. It has gold colored  metallic thread outlining the print. 

With apron: 

Focus at Home

Greetings at Last!

It has been cold here and a bit of a challenge to stay warm indoors but we are enduring it as best we can.

I am so happy you came to view and to listen while you continue with your responsibilities at home.

I spoke today of making the home a good and pleasant place to dwell, so that we don't have to go "somewhere else" for relief.

Don't forget to go to my Pinterest page and view the things I love. Here are some of the pictures I've saved there:

I have great plans to create a house like the one pictured above...

...with light nooks and crannies like this.

A local produce store yielded this huge strawberry.  (These were grown like this with volcanic ash where I grew up.) It was so big it did not fit in the teacup pictured there.

Here it is in the box with regular size berries:

Dollar store had such pretty cotton fabric during the Valentine season, and I've

collected some and planning how to use it.  

During the snowed-in days I have also been looking at the fabric online.

A yard of the above would be nice on any table or stitched into a kitchen accessory such as a tea cozy, towel, or curtain.

This is from Shabby Fabrics and is a nice small print for a cottage-core style dress.

I discussed some things from these publications.

Anti-Anxiety Exercise: the instructor suggests you can do these while in chair or before getting out of bed, which makes it so easy.

Reminder: Your preparation includes appearance, prayer, list, exercise and listening to something cheerful. We have been shamed out of dressing nicely for the home, but we can bring back the old paths, where the good life is.

Thank you for coming today, and congratulations for getting a few things accomplished in your home while you played this broadcast in the background:

For the Wives and Daughters Reading Program:

Activity #2

Refer to the end of the previous post for activity #1.

Read the first and second paragraph of Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell and draw what you think Molly's room looked like according to the author's descriptions. You can watercolor or crayon color it. If you are not familiar with art, you might just try drawing a square for the wall and add the objects on to the wall. If you have anyone in the family that would like to do this for you, that's good too. It is your notebook and you can do what you like.

 

Watch the first BBC episode again. The video series did not show Molly's room but as you watch the series you may get some knowledge of the colors and furnishings used during the era of the story. 

Example: 
(posting later)

Dressing Well May Aid in Doing Well

Hello Dear Friends,

Please join me for an hour to focus on the home and shut out the bad reports of the world.

I hope you will nurture good thoughts today and bring yourself and your home up to a level of dignity and respect, beginning with your appearance.  

In reference to hair care, I referred to this link:

Pin Curl Diaries

I told you about a video I listened to that had some very useful information about how gratitude affects you. 

Your Brain on Gratitude

Gentle exercise can give presence-of-mind that is so important for focus and memory. Try warm-up exercise several times a day for relaxation and good feelings. This channel has many to choose from:

Two Minute Warm Up Exercise

I referred to things in these books:

I read the first paragraph from Wives and Daughters and suggested starting a Wives and Daughter's Summer Reading Program with many other activities. The first paragraph is an interesting way of introducing a character in story. 

I spoke to you today from the guest room at The Manse. I like to change things around in this little room by covering the bed and cushions with cloth from my sewing stash.

I thought of this hymn because of these words:

"Take from our souls the strain and stress..."

Hear it and sing along:

Please enjoy being home, sort through a shelf, a box, or clean a room while you listen:

Your comments are welcome here, and if you have trouble posting,  you are welcome to email me and I'll post them for you.  Thank you also for your Paypal contributions. They are very helpful!

Lydia Ruth

For the Wives and Daughters reading program  

you will need to make yourself a journal with unlined paper, or find something you can write in and use in other ways for the activities.

Activity #1

  Read the first paragraph of Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell; first, silently and then aloud, with expression. Then write a paragraph about your location using the paragraph as a guide to make a description.

Watch the first episode of  the BBC Wives and Daughters.

First paragraph example:

(posting later)

Dressing for Home, Activating a Character Quality, "Dont Lose the Sale."

Hello Dear Friends,

It is still uncomfortably cold here but "we are enduring it as best we can."

We have the natural blue light half an hour before sunrise:

This is what The Manse looks like in the morning fog and blue light. You see the layer of mist on the top of the land in the distance.

I spoke to you from The Ocean Room, and here are some sand dollar cookies with fog tea :

I have been looking through this book to see what might be enjoyable to do:

Other things I talked about in the broadcast today:

From old merchant methods:

Don't devalue yourself or sell yourself short at home.

Don't lose the sale.

Don't give away the store.

The explanation is in the third part of the video, but you can probably figure it out yourself.

One of the exercises I tried:

Seated Exercise

 

The character verses I read:

2 Peter 1:5-11

I discussed the word "activated". Among other things, it means to trigger, get started, set in motion.

I used it in relation to the problem of memorizing scripture but not activating the teachings into life.

Some of you may be interested in these videos that contain soothing home decor:

Cozy Victorian Home Tour

Regency Era Home

Entryways

Blue and White

Please enjoy your responsibilities at home while you listen:

For those of you who are waiting for a book, I am trying to catch up to everything but hopefully will get to that soon. Remember not to order Just Breathing the Air from the web, as they have put the price too high---we are trying to get that fixed. Write to me instead (its $29-$32 when I order it for you, which is the same price I pay for my copies.)

Also, some of you have insisted on sending contributions, which are always greatly appreciated. There is PayPal link on the side of this blog, or you can get my postal address by emailing me. My email should be on the sidebar.

 

A Few Things That Help the Homemaker

(View From My Window: Eastern Afternoon)

Hello Ladies,

I am so glad you are visiting and I hope you can get some things done that you've been putting off, while you listen to the broadcast today.

I was in "The Ocean Room".

There was a rainstorm and a bright rainbow today.

What I wore:

With an apron:

Please enjoy your work while you listen:

Here is one of the Lucy Wyndham-Reade exercises  I spoke of,

and here is the "exercise snack" video, and here is

one of her 3-minute routines.

She also has a gentle 5 minute walk after a meal.

Today I talked about the Jane Austen Summer Reading Programs that I often see on YouTube,

with an eye on doing something similar with Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. This list of things could be turned into a summer reading program accented with art, crafts and social things.

Some of the possible activities would be:

Reading the book silently and aloud, with emphasis on personal speech improvement.

Written observations.

Creating a mini-journal, games and activities of the story.

Describing the characters

The purpose of various type of their clothing.

A social event with participants choosing to be a certain character.

Researching the fashion and customs of the era.

Observing their manners and conversations, plus the way they interpreted life's ups and downs.

Trying the food mentioned in various chapters.

Emulating the music, social activities, pasttimes.

Family beliefs and practices.

Things they liked to read and study.

Creative ideas of the times.

For anyone who wants to begin watercolor (such as on the edges of letters and envelopes) there are many "shorts" you can follow Just pause, replay, repeat!

Here is one, and another one.

Try some of the small things on this channel.

If you are wanting a place to start, just go to YouTube and in their own search area type in "Beginner (watercolor, acrylics, or what you are looking for) and "floral, landscape, doodles," tutorials.

In the broadcast I suggested getting an art pad from the dollar store, but I forgot to mention using a set of children's watercolor paints, also available at dollar stores. I always get these supplies when the descendants come, so because they are so economical that those of us who are still learning, can paint with full abandon trial and error!

Ideas for dressing well at home can be found on this Pinterest link.

Here is the letter painting I shared from Victoria magazine winter issue. Simply use art paper (from dollar stores)for the letter.

I also brought up the tendency of the prevailing culture to avoid a simple answer. It is easy to use three times the words necessary and go around the answer and not really answer it. I think they call it "word salad."  

I used Philippians 4:7 about how to cure anxiety.

This was in reference to anxiety that is the most common. I did not intend to apply my talk to those who have suffered from personal disastrous life changing injury, illness or loss that is more than chronic anxiety. 

This quote by General MacArthur is indicative of what the press and the various public powers will do to keep us in a constant state of uncertainty:

Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear -- kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor -- with the cry of grave national emergency... Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded.