Tag: photos

Summer fun, carefree, with chalk art
Posted in fun, summer

Oh, for the Carefree Days!

Posted on by Katharine

Although many people with children dread summer, dread facing and dealing with their own children on a daily basis, I welcome it.

At-home moms work as hard as anyone else during the school year and love taking a break from conducting a school; I love changing from working at a desk to working outdoors; I love having time for some fun stuff with the funnest young people I know.

In my case, I doubly welcome a few days to take on my grandchildren, in a yearly event I call “Camp Grandmother”, complete with fun activities for every day.

Here, two of my dearies enjoy the cool of a summer morn, in the shade on the east side of our house, making chalk art with homemade chalk their older cousins helped make last summer. (Plaster of Paris inside toilet tissue cores you’ve dipped in melted paraffin.)

Not a care in the world, hair not yet groomed, clothing so loose it falls off, they attempt a sailboat and some sort of grid work.

Takes me back . . .

Carefree

Enjoy them while they are young. They are growing up right before your eyes and you will miss them, one day.

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Homemaking, Photos, Wives

Super Smart How-To…

Posted on by Katharine

…IN ONE TRICK:

  1. Break free from slavery to the exact moment the dryer stops…
  2. Make clothing last longer, and stay cleaner longer, and be easier to clean next time…
  3. Save money and the environment…
  4. Keep your husband looking super all day long…
  5. Keep your wall from disintegrating due to spray starch overspray…

It’s just not so difficult. REALLY. You CAN do this!

Half load of laundry to be starched.
Half load of laundry to be starched.

First: Place clean clothing to be starched in washing machine and fill half full with warm water. This can be more clothing than you would normally add to a half load of wash, because we will not be trying to get clean, and concentrated is good. You may have to use the wash cycle to achieve warm water, but do so only until it sloshes, then shut it off until you finish the remaining steps.

Prepare starch water by bringing it to a boil.
Prepare starch water by bringing it to a boil.

Second: Bring a couple of quarts of water to a full boil.

Add one half-cup of starch to two cups of water and stir.
Add one half-cup of cornstarch to two cups of water and stir.

Third: Add one half-cup of cornstarch to two cups of water and stir until well-mixed and lump-free. “Lump Free” is important. Turn off heat under boiling water and slowly add starch mixture to boiled water, while stirring a lot. Keep stirring until it turns from white to a “cloudy-clear” color.

Rinse cycle for starch
Rinse cycle for starch

Fourth: Pour contents of the pan onto the surface of the wash water and set for the last rinse cycle of the “gentle spin” choice. By using the last rinse cycle, you can close the lid and walk away from it, knowing it will not automatically do anything more to this load. By choosing “gentle spin” you keep more starch inside the clothing and not going down the drain.

Dry, starched shirts, ready to iron!
Dry, starched shirts, ready to iron!

Fifth: Hang clothing to dry. Once dry, dampen slightly and iron. Don’t worry; at first the clothing will be stiff as a board, but as you iron, it will soften to just exactly perfect. You will SO love this!

 

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Food, Inspiring

Weekly Photo Challenge: Fresh

Posted on by Katharine

Do Get Fresh with Me!

fresh beet greens
Fresh Beet Greens

We grow these babies because they are so delicious steamed and buttered.

With a crop like this, we can make only about five meals, since they greatly reduce in volume while cooking.

These are the thinnings from a row planted too thickly, on purpose, to allow for this rare delicacy on our table. The rest will grow into regular beets and the tough tops will go to our chickens.

We’ll all be munching happily!

 

Posted in Good ol' days, Homemaking, Inspiring, Photos

Weekly Photo Challenge: Nostalgia

Posted on by Katharine

Nostalgia: homesickness, reminiscence, wistfulness, longing, melancholy…

I miss my grandmother. It’s easy to see it in my writings. I’ve always missed her. I copy her. I want to grow up to be like her.

That’s why I do what she did. In this modern world I do home canning.

home canning
pickles and figs

When I see these beauties, it satisfies my longing like few other things do. I may be crazy, but I’m happy.

Are you?