relationships – Page 27

Blessings of Habit, Home School, Homemaking, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

Spring into Cleaning with – Eventualities

Posted on March 15, 2011December 2, 2017 by Katharine

Another reason we practice Spring Cleaning has little to do with clean.

Read:

The next in line for the Spring Cleaning ritual in our home is the bookcase area. We own enough books to fuel a small school, because we were once exactly that. You may wonder why I do not store some of them —

I have.

Let’s pretend, though, that yesterday’s scenario has aged five years, and the three imagined daughters are now 12, 10, and 7. You’ve been practicing inclusion of these girls for five years and now you are ready to tackle these bookcases. Your conversation might go like this:

Girls, help me get a couple of these bookcases done today, okay? Mary, get the dusting spray, the vacuum, and the paper towels. Hmm, I think we need this table cleared to stack the books on it. Can you take care of that, too, Mary? Thanks.

As we put the books on the table, we’ll stack them all in the same direction and then we can vacuum the tops of them all at once. Oh, yes, we should align the tops of them to make it easier. And keep them in order, so we won’t have to reorganize them. I think this will work.

Okay, let’s see if we can do two units in a half hour. Set the timer. Go!

Look at this old crocheted bookmark from Grandma—I want to clean and starch it. Set it aside for later. Someone make a note; we need to reinforce the spine on the “B” volume of this encyclopedia.

Thanks for collecting all our supplies, Mary. Can you attach the hose and the duster? Good.

Let’s hurry, here. It’s a big job. Susan, can you see the top shelf or do we need the step stool. Go get it, then, Leah. I want you two on the dusting job and I will vacuum the books. Try hard to keep the spray off the floor. It can be dangerously slick. And be sure you wipe the corners well and get all the spray wiped off.

Okay, start handing me books, in order, and I’ll restack them in their places. This is going well, time-wise, but I think we’ll stop in the middle of the second bookcase, so we don’t go overtime. No need to wear ourselves out with such heavy work.

No, I think we’d better stop short of that. There’s always tomorrow. Let’s call it done for now, and have some tea, okay? Then I want to show you all how to wash a delicate piece of crochet. Mary, you take care of the vacuum. That’s my girl.

Oh, how good it is to have all your help, girls! I don’t know what I’d do without you.

Can you see how, since the girls have received diligent training, they have become like extra arms and legs for the mom? Not only that, but also, they are learning good, quick, efficient work habits they can take with them into their futures.

In exchange for all the training you gave them before, you now are reaping great helpers. They, in return for their help, are receiving a gift many people lack: the ability to be diligent, reliable, trustworthy, hard-working members of their future worlds.

Wherever they go, whether into marriage or some other career, they will be ahead of their peers and rise quickly to betterment at every possibility.

It’s worth 30 minutes of my time.

How about you?

Blessings of Habit, Good ol' days, Homemaking, Inspiring, Womanhood

My Grandmother’s Quilts

Posted on March 9, 2011March 21, 2011 by Katharine

I just want to tell you about my grandmother, Laura, this time. I am a grandmother, and when I was little, I always wanted to be one. When I need inspiration, I remember my grandmother, Laura. Life is so different, now, though.

I know she was elderly because she had arthritic knuckles, gray hair, and a craggy voice. She wore a dress at all times, and she wore shoes with thick, high heels that tied on, sort of like men’s dress wingbacks, perforations and all. Do they even still sell those?

She sewed all her dresses. And sometimes, as a gift, she sewed my mother a dress, too. And she sewed the first dress I ever wore when I was very tiny. I know she made these dresses, because she made a quilt for each of her grandchildren. She did not go to a store for fabric for these quilts. No, she used fabric scraps from sewing dresses. When she made my quilt, she was careful to use many scraps from my mother’s and from my dresses.

I look at the quilt she made for me and I see the dress my mother wore to church in summer. I see a dress my grandmother wore. I see my very first, ever, dress I wore when I was tiny.

I don’t know how my grandmother found the time. She babysat three children, to make an income, because she was widowed when my mother was six. She used her entire, small backyard as a strawberry patch and put up all those berries or traded them for peaches and crabapples to put up. She made her own soap on the wood stove in the woodshed for all washing needs, for clothing, dishes, and bathing. She heated with wood or coal. She did laundry in the woodshed using a wringer washer and hanging it out in summer or in the woodshed in winter, when it froze.

And she prayed. I mean, she really took time out to pray. She would tell us not to bother her while she prayed, she would go to her room and shut the door, and she would pray.

When we visited her, we played with her one box of toys, leftovers from when our aunts and uncles were little. We loved these odd toys that didn’t do anything except prop up our playtime. She let us watch while she made us rolled-out sugar cookies in shapes like stars, hearts, and flowers. When we asked for colored sugar, she told us it tastes the same. We didn’t believe it.

One wonderful time, I got to sleep with her because I was the oldest and probably would not kick too much. I got to watch her unbraid and comb her hair, which was far beyond waist length. Seeing my grandmother in her gown in the moonlight by the window, combing amazingly long and wavy hair, made her seem to me like an angel. I was in awe.

Then she broke the spell by rebraiding her hair. She never used a rubber band, but simply pulled a strand of hair and wound the end of the braid like a fishing lure. I was filled with questions, then. Why do you braid your hair to sleep? How does it stay in place with no rubber band? I don’t remember her answers, but only my awe and her amusement.

She died about 48 years ago. I still miss her. I still want to be like her when I grow up.

My grandmother's quilt — My Grandmother's quilt

Here is the quilt she made for me. You can see light red and white tiny checked fabric on the bottom, just right of center. That was my baby dress. It had teensy rickrack on it.

Just right of that is a sort of black and pink tattersal with pink x’s. That was my mom’s summer Sunday dress for awhile. It had white lace at the neckline.

Parly out of view on the left is a white with black swirls. My grandmother wore that. There we all are, in one quilt.

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

Look Out! You Just Look Out!

Posted on March 4, 2011March 11, 2011 by Katharine

Christians Make Bad Parents in UK

The United Kingdom has decided that Christians are not acceptable as foster or adoptive parents and that Christian beliefs are harmful to children and violate a child’s international human rights.

Since when are personal beliefs a reason to deny children a home and a family? If religion, of all things, violates child rights, what will be next?

Such problems are built in to the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and would plague the United States if we ratify that treaty.

You know, we’ve been kicking these ideas around for about forty years.

Happily, I can say, a resolution opposing ratification of the CRC will appear in the U.S. Senate probably next week. Still, only the Parental Rights Amendment can end the threat of ratification permanently.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether a child has the right to be protected from seizure and interrogation without a warrant, emergency circumstances, or parental consent.

To learn more, and to guard your children, go to parentalrights.org/petition

Please check these facts and pass them on. Thanks.

Homemaking, Inspiring, Recipes

How to Treat Weekend Guests (With Recipes!)

Posted on February 24, 2011May 1, 2014 by Katharine

I just sent my brother on his way from visiting us for a long weekend. It was wonderful to have him and his two grown kids here with us. All my own offspring came to honor him and the long trip he made to be here, and to visit with their seldom-seen cousins. I enjoyed them all, too.

Of course, there is work involved in having important company, which my brother is. If someone makes a twelve to fourteen hour trip just to see me, I feel it important I bother with his comfort once he is here.

What does a guest need? Several things:

A light meal for the first meal. After traveling, snacking, and sitting for a whole day, a guest wants a simple, easily digestible meal. Not knowing when the guest will actually arrive, you also do not want time-sensitive foods. Put the two together and you get SOUP! I served my visitors a light, homemade chicken noodle soup and an apple salad with honey/yogurt dressing. They loved it.
Privacy. A person naturally wants to be able to dress, brush teeth, and snore in peace, without feeling watched, censored, or odd in any way. He also needs a place to hang clothing. I put my nephew with my son on twin beds, my niece with my daughter in bunked beds, and my brother in our sunroom on the daybed with doors shut and curtains drawn.
Bath Tap (Photo credit: butkaj.info)

Cleanliness. You may know the smear on your vanity faucet is just a dab of soap, but your guest wants it off, wants clean. Extreme clean. Towels must be fresh, and if possible, color coded, so your guest knows his is his. Sheets should be your best set with pillow cases ironed to kill germs. Bathroom surfaces should shine and all dust, hair, and smears should be removed daily, during their stay. (You may be comfortable staring at your husband’s toothpaste droppings from yesterday while you brush your teeth, but who else would be?)
Entertainment. Find out what your guest might like to experience. We live rural, so it’s mostly parks and other natural events. We took my brother and kids to one he and I had visited as children. His own had never seen it. It is impressive and they were impressed. Anything, though, to break up sitting and chatting, will suffice. Bike riding, fishing, antiquing, strolling through woods, or rock collecting are affordable and fun ways I would enjoy burning a few calories and getting out.
Internet access. Not all want this, but if you do not have Internet in your home, seek the nearest hot spot.

We had the best old time. I taught him how we make grilled cheese sandwiches and he taught me how he makes French toast. Mmm.

Here are your recipes:

Chicken Noodle Soup

One whole chicken, cleaned
one cup plain salt
one gallon water
whole onion
stalk celery
clove garlic
3 – 5 sage leaves
salt and pepper
1 ½ bags egg noodles or homemade noodles from 3 eggs (for homemade noodles, see here)

The night before, soak chicken in covered bowl, in gallon water with one cup salt added. In the morning, drain and rinse chicken. Make sure it is cleaned of unnecessary parts. Boil chicken covered with water in large pot. Add all ingredients but salt. Simmer until flesh falls from bones, at least three hours. Cool. Debone. Return meat to broth, boil, and add egg noodles. Simmer until noodles are tender, thinning broth with added water, as desired. Adjust salt, if needed. Remove vegetables, if desired. Serve hot with crackers or bread and butter. Serves eight or more.

Simple Fruit Salad

one yellow apple (Opal?)
one red apple (Roma?)
one pear
one orange
one banana
½ cup golden raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 carton Greek yogurt
¼ cup raw honey

Peel orange and banana. Wash apples and pear. Cut all fruit into bite sizes. Mix all fruit together with remaining ingredients until well blended. This salad is outstanding for aiding digestion.

My Brother’s French Toast, Which Is Better Than Mine!

For ten slices of bread:

ten eggs (yes, one egg for each slice of bread!)
half that volume of milk
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
dash vanilla
butter

Beat egg, milk, spices, and vanilla, thoroughly. Seriously soak each slice in some of this egg mixture until completely sogged. Set aside until all pieces are soaked. Pour any remaining mixture over already-soaked bread, using it all up.

Fry soaked bread in butter, at pancake temperature, until lightly browned. Turn and repeat. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar, and/or pureed fruit. Serves five.

Now: Invite me to spend the night! 🙂

Inspiring, Wisdom

Artificial Boundaries

Posted on February 11, 2011March 1, 2011 by Katharine

Who would have thought a big pile of dirt could make something fun and beautiful?

On one side of our pond is just a bank, a man-made boundary that turned the springs on the side of a hill into a body of water. It is not fancy, just dirt. But it makes all the difference. It holds the whole thing together.

It’s big enough to walk on, to leave footprints in the snow. It’s big enough to stow a boat on, to arrange a few dead logs on for seats. It’s big enough to anchor a dock on. And although you cannot see them, there is even room for sustaining infant mayhaw trees, which will provide us with the best juice in the world.

But it’s just a pile of dirt.

On the other end of it are the daffs. A huge, glorious flock of daffodils pops up on this bank every spring. They are always the first open, due to the warmth off the water, I guess. They are already out and waiting for a bit more sun, to show some yellow for us. All they needed was a pile of dirt.

People are not dirt. But I want to be there when needed, nothing fancy, just there for whoever or whatever the need. I want to hold my end of this life in place and be firm and supportive. I want to matter. I want folks to feel like they could anchor something in me.

And I want to support the blooming things.

Inspiring, Wisdom

Extending Your Boundaries

Posted on February 10, 2011November 13, 2015 by Katharine

padded deck furniture — Padded deck furniture

Look at this dock, extending the fishing surfaces around the pond, into the pond.

Boundaries in life can extend this way, too. When does this happen?

In emergencies. Someone might drive too fast with a passenger who needs medical care. A widow might need to take charge of money she never thought of before. A bystander might direct traffic around an accident, just like a policeman, and with the same success. Anyone could dive into the pond above, to save a life, even if it were posted “no swimming”. It would be the right thing to do.
With maturity. When we learn more, practice more, know more, we can find ourselves freed from old boundaries and invited to do or to enjoy more. Little children would not be safe on the above dock, but older ones who know how to swim can have permission to try it out. It’s a fun, wobbly experience!
On special occasions. We skip diets for weddings. We block streets for parades. We eat with our fingers for bar-b-que. The dock above has had very little people who were non-swimmers on it, sometimes, when grown-ups decided it was okay, and when the little ones held someone’s hand.

So, are your boundaries extended these days? Have you had to extend yourself because of an emergency? Have you “graduated” to a time of fewer restrictions or more privileges? Are you in a special bubble of different boundaries? Look around you and enjoy the stretch.

And catch a few fish, while you’re at it. 🙂

Husbands, Inspiring, Wisdom, Wives

Illegitimate Boundaries

Posted on February 9, 2011November 13, 2015 by Katharine

Bound!

What makes a boundary that is not good?

It comes from someone who is not over you in authority.
It comes from someone who is not heeding his or her authorities.
It takes over an area of your life not under its authority.

First, when someone tries to set boundaries over or around you and is, himself, not your legitimate authority, you need not heed these boundaries. For instance, if someone else’s husband thinks you should wear your hair a certain way, he’s full of beans! Wearing your hair for someone else’s husband is preposterous. The same would go for someone else’s boss. Only your own boss should be able to tell you what to do on the job and when. This really is simple.

Second, if someone is not minding the law or other authorities over him, he may be out of line for telling you what to do. For instance, a policeman who asked you to rob a bank would be too obviously not one to heed. If your boss asked you to vote a certain way on a jury, that would be similar. Any authority who tried to make you break any law would be contemptible.

Third, the particular areas of your life that are yours, alone, do not fall under any other authorities. Your boss, although he is expected to be over you, still cannot tell you how to feed your children, what TV to watch, when to plant your garden, etc., because it is none of his business.

Also, these scenarios are not truly boundaries; they are bondage. Pay attention and learn to tell the difference.