Home's Cool!

Health, Home School, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

Intrinsic.

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Katharine

At times far more effective than words, an adult’s body language helps a child develop intelligence.

Instead of saying “good job,” the mother reaches for her tiny fingers, slightly presses her forehead to the little girl’s and gives her a pretend smooch.

The action is simple, but it communicates her tenderness and support effectively.

$aving of the Green – Blog Carnival

Posted on January 24, 2013January 23, 2015 by Katharine

I’ve been writing about saving money (saving resources, saving the ecology, etc.) for years, but all that work is scattered around on this site, and rather hard to find amidst over 700 posts.

Now I’ve been invited to help a fellow blogger create a “carnival” which is basically a collections of bloggers using the same topic. Rather than rewrite so much content, I am creating this list as my entry in her project.

Saving resources in a sort of do-by-self way has been the theme of our great country for many centuries. We were not always motivated by the same exact ethic when we scraped and made do, but we always just could never feel right throwing away perfectly good stuff.

I guess it came too hard. My mom always reminded me of all the starving people in some far-away place. Many of them have since moved here, but still, how cruel to throw away that last bite of food on the plate, when they would do almost anything to obtain it for themselves! Ahem — except work, that is.

Well, and then there are the ones who have managed to get the food off our plates, but that’s another subject.

The facts remain, though. If you own a patch of dirt and some seed, you can eat. If you bother with putting food up in jars, you can save our tin resources. If you eat leftovers you save food. If you grow your own, you save money on groceries.

In other words, whether you save out of poverty, stubbornness, habit, frugality, guilt, or greed, DO join in this grand, centuries-old fad and $AVE something!

Now, enjoy the list, and don’t forget, several others are contributing on other sites you can find here.

Heating your home with free, renewable, all natural fuel.
Raise your own chickens. Teach your chickens.
Protect your chickens. Protect them again. And again. Again.
Admire the eggs. Enjoy the eggs.
Eat the eggs.
Tend your garden. Tend it some more. Get the children to help.
Can, bottle, or jar the results of your garden–a five-post series. Note: the series begins on this link, but continues for five days.
Freeze the results of your garden. The beginning of another series, on care and use of the freezer.
Grow herbs and craft them. Lavender and catnip. Harvest. Crafts. Benefits. Landscape with herbs. Keep the doctor away.

That’s all for now. I probably lost some, so let me know if you find them. Thanks.

Blessings of Habit, Health, Inspiring, Wisdom

7 Ways to Beat that Stale Day

Posted on January 17, 2013January 18, 2013 by Katharine

Do you ever have stale days at home?

I don’t mean the air in the house is stale, although it may be, and that may even be part of the trouble. No, I mean one of those days when you cannot put your finger on it, but something just seems off. Missing. Sinking.

Stale.

It can be a job hazard for the home-based woman, because it can quickly lead to a small bout of self-pity, which could turn into a medium-sized bout of disappointment, which might even develop into a big case of the blahs. Mullygrubs. Discouragement. Fear. Anger.

Don’t ask me how I know.

But DO ask me what I’ve learned about how to fix it!

I have learned how to fix it.

Many ways.

I learned from watching the animals, from watching other people, and from “watching” (keeping my eyes fixed on) Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Catch a few rays. Open the curtains and blinds and let the sun in. I know you don’t want to. But you know the fastest way to get away from anything is to run in the opposite direction, right? Well, when we’re all darkness inside, it’s best to let in some light. In fact, going outdoors is even better, because sunlight gives us vitamin D, which makes us absorb calcium from our diets, which they say is a catalyst for every chemical reaction that is supposed to happen in the body. Often, when we think shopping, gardening, or taking a walk cheers us, it’s largely exposure to daylight that does the trick. Just sitting on the porch in the sunlight for ten or fifteen minutes may be all you need to get more D. To get more calcium. To get more MO.
Breathe. Open a window. If the north wind is blowing, open a south window, turn down the thermostat, and put on a sweater. Allow some fresh air into the house. Lack of oxygen slows the body and the mind. Not hard to grasp that, but usually during extreme hot or cold weather, we hesitate to let oxygen in. Those are the days we think we have cabin fever, spring fever, or just a blue funk. How little we guess we’re oxygen deprived! I wonder how many of us even acquire Alzheimer’s Syndrome from it!
Get a drink. Not that kind of drink. You don’t have to wag water all day, but if you’ll just chug a glass or so, now and then, you would be surprised. It revs your metabolism, dilutes toxins in the blood, and gives the kidneys something to work with. Even your VISION can become clearer right after a big drink of water. Imagine what it does for your thinking.
Sing. Music has charms. We need it. Be sure you sing a happy song, heh heh. If you cannot sing, whistle. If you cannot whistle either, play a CD. Loud. Let happy music take you where you ought to have been. I am amazed at how much more I like everything about my life when I sing or listen to great, uplifting music. And for ages, I was totally unaware of that about myself, until I found a survey asking if I worked better with or without music. I answered “without” and instantly realized I was WRONG. I constantly whistle while I work, something I learned when I was teensy and viewed the premier of Disney‘s Snow White classic cartoon. Yes, I’m old.
Move it. Get up. Tie on some comfy shoes. Get going. Take a walk. Sweep the front sidewalk. Scrub the tub. Pull weeds. Knead some bread. Clean out a closet. Scrub a smudged door. WHATEVER. Just make yourself a bit breathless. It does wonders for the lymph system if you keep it circulating by moving your major muscles. You just feel better when you move more. I’m not a medical professional, but I’ve heard that major movement even can work like a pain-killer.
Combine all the above. Had you noticed? You can do all the first five ways in one 20-30 minute goal by taking a big glug of water and then taking a walk. Too simple.
Bathe. I don’t mean to say you’re dirty, but don’t we always feel better when our hair is clean and our clothing is fresh? Sometimes, that morning can seem to drag on forever, but after a hot shower or soak, we just have more confidence or something. I think I first noticed this, too, as a child, whenever I would be ill. The first day “back to the land of the living” Mom would make us bathe, although we might still feel weak. She would change our bedding then, and we’d go back to recuperation in clean sheets, clean nightie, and clean skin. I was always surprised that such a big effort on the part of my little sicko self could make me feel so much stronger and rest so much better.
Read your Bible. Get one. If you’re not experienced reading the Bible, get one with red letters, and read the red parts first. You’d be surprised. Sometimes I pray this shorty first: “God, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but just tell me something that will fix it, please.” Then I read until it hits me: Oh, what a great truth I forgot! And it ALWAYS hits me, because He is so much more interested in getting me going, than I am.

Okay, there you are. No more excuses. Kick the stale out of your day!

And share with us, PLEASE, what are your tricks for freshening your day? And THANKS!

Believe it or not!, Pre-schoolers, Who's the mom here?

Toward Normalizing Pedophilia.

Posted on January 7, 2013January 7, 2013 by Katharine

I do not often just paste something for you to follow, but here is a real shocker:

“If a small group of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals have their way at a conference this week, pedophiles themselves could play a role in removing pedophilia from the American Psychiatric Association’s bible of mental illnesses — the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), set to undergo a significant revision by 2013. Critics warn that their success could lead to the decriminalization of pedophilia.

“The August 17 Baltimore conference is sponsored by B4U-ACT, a group of pro-pedophile mental health professionals and sympathetic activists. According to the conference brochure, the event will examine ‘ways in which minor-attracted persons [pedophiles] can be involved in the DSM 5 revision process’ and how the popular perceptions of pedophiles can be reframed to encourage tolerance.”

I think it is important to realize that if we normalize pedophilia, it will then be illegal for public schools to discriminate against it in their hiring. We need to wake up. If they meet their goal date of 2013, then we are nearly there . . .

Scripture, Wisdom

In His Time

Posted on January 3, 2013January 3, 2013 by Katharine

In the movie Roots I first heard the quote, “God may not always come when you expect Him, but He is always precisely on time.”

That is a comforting thought.

In the Bible, in the book of Ecclesiastes, we find a large portion devoted to explaining that there is a time for everything: A time to laugh; a time to cry. A time for war; a time for peace. A time to be born; a time to die . . .

I had a lot of plans for this week, but they turned out to be untimely.

It was someone’s time to die.

I could say a lot of things about memories of this man, about how strong, dedicated, gentle, creative, funny, and family-loving he was. And that he always thought I was pretty.

But to me, the most important thing about him was that he cooperated with God to engender the baby boy who grew up to be my husband. And then went on to train him firmly in the ways of manhood.

I have benefited so much from this man who is now gone.

No one naturally feels comfortable around death. Many mourn. So we are uncomfortable and we mourn. We don’t like it at all because we were programmed to love life. Life is our default program.

We hold our beloved dying ones as close as possible for as long as possible. Then it’s time. And we cannot hold on to them anymore.

To every thing there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heavens.

They say God makes all things beautiful in His time.

I’m waiting.

Blessings of Habit, Inspiring

An Amazing Toast to Amazing People

Posted on December 31, 2012December 31, 2012 by Katharine

“This post is my raised glass to the third shift faithful, the round-the-clock warriors, the on-call, ever-ready, what’s-a-day-off few who stand in the gap while others sleep and sip eggnog around the fire.

“Here’s to the men and women around the world doing mighty, heroic, compassionate, sacrificial things that no one sees or knows.

“Spouses holding and calming disoriented husbands or wives who awake with panic because of Alzheimer’s or who wrestle with pain from chronic illnesses.

“Moms and dads praying late into the night over sleeping children, straying children, or sick children – battling for them on a celestial plane, bathed in the glow of night lights, listening to hospital monitors, or watching for headlights in the driveway.

“Caregivers and first responders in a myriad of circumstances . . .”

. . . and on it goes, line after line of beautifully poetic prose. I’m not much into all the red and green hoho of Christmas, but I have to admit, sometimes the season just brings out the best in us.

This post I found is certainly an example of that.

And always timely, no matter the season.

You have to go there and read the rest of this. You will not be sorry!

Thanks, Lori, for letting me showcase this beautiful post.

Blessings of Habit, Good ol' days, Inspiring, Photos