let it rain

Dark... these early mornings in late October. Before getting out of bed today I already knew the sun was not going to shine and the rains were coming. But this was not a hindrance to me, I had several things that needed tending and I had no plans to leave the house all day.

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain"
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A breakfast of toasted slices of freshly baked bread and eggs was prepared. Charlotte's toast was topped with just a sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon.

About the time I had donned my walking shoes, hoping to get a quick walk in before it starting raining, as I walked down the back steps little raindrops began softly falling on my head. I stepped into the garden and quickly snipped a few zinnia heads to de-seed and I cut back some oregano, thai basil, and lamb's ear to bring inside for drying. I usually like to wrap my harvested herbs with cotton string and hang them in the pantry, but sometimes I will use a dehydrator.

Presently, I prefer the addition of Concord grape juice to my kombucha . After reading about the benefits of the purple grape I thought maybe a double whammy was the way to go. And I am loving its taste. I have written about the way in which I prepare my kombucha here if you are interested in reading about it. These bottles were just strained from their second ferment so that is the reason for all that fizz.

Bay and lemon trees soaking in the rain....they will be brought into the sunroom before the first frost arrives.

humility and the turnip

These humble things I do...

As a home keeper I strive to be humble and intentional in my duties, I take all my duties seriously, the simple and the arduous. I see homemaking as a wide open framework for being able to use my skills in cooking, cleaning, and organizing; to orchestrate imagination, creativity, and beauty in my home through decorating, gardening, hosting, and handiwork; and to say nothing less about serving those who mean the most to me, my family. Being thankful and joyful is a natural consequence and a  benefit received from managing my home well and caring for those I love. Lately though, I have been challenged as never before in my role as a homemaker, and I am still pondering the overwhelming surge of strength behind the disparagers, and by this I mean women in the work force arenas of public society. I think, if I can be occasionally affronted by other women concerning my chosen "career", how much more must the younger women home keepers be experiencing from those who have not seen the worthwhileness and value of choosing to be a full-time homemaker today.

"The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only- and that is to support the ultimate career".

~C.S.Lewis

And my mind can not help remembering the turnip, it is simple and humble, grows in the ground until frost and has the most delicious earthiness that some taste buds may never be able to fully apprehend.

                                                                 (photo credit, Google)

However, I am extremely encouraged by the growing number of blogs and youtube videos that support those women, younger and older, who have chosen to make home a priority. I am perusing some of them and hope to share them on a sidebar very soon.

What I was doing 37 years ago...

Do we ever forget  that moment when we became a mother for the first time? That firstborn child, whether it be our first and only, or the first of several more children to come.

 The season of late October, the sun had not yet risen as he entered the world

 and changed my life forever.

Then along came Breanna born on the same day nine years ago, she masses unprecedented sunshine and joy to all of us. 

He requested a pecan pie and after the family gathering of eating and celebrating, we walked outside into the street on a balmy, dark evening and watched fireworks in the sky. 

today's refulgence

Before daybreak I heard the fall rains coming down gently splattering the sidewalk and bushes outside my opened bedroom window. It was a brilliant sound. Now that the temperature has dropped into proper autumn mode the cool hardwood floors have caused me to happily slip my chilled feet into socks. I pad to the kitchen with George and Serena running ahead, opening the back door to allow Louie to slip in, anon all cats are fed.

 A gentle light is switched on below the kitchen cabinets and I set the coffee to brew.

I recently purchased beeswax candles that have created a sense of both frugality and luxury. In the glow of predawn I light one single beeswax candle, warming to its soft glow.

 A quiet haven in the sun room, it is easy to be thankful for much this day.

Going to the market was on the top of my "to do" list even though the rains were coming down steadily. After preparing a breakfast of eggs and toast for my husband and me I left the house to buy needed ingredients for this cake I am baking for a friend's fiftieth birthday party tomorrow night. Three of us are hosting this party and  we thought we would each bake a different kind of cake. The  kitchen was warm and cozy as I  mixed and stirred while listening to daily downloads classical music.

The simple chore of washing dishes can be a mindless activity that alerts my mind to the enjoyment of the sights outside my window, or the thoughts of a scripture to ponder, or  prayers that may need to be uttered.

Soon enough four teenagers will enter my back door laughing and talking, unloading their Bibles and study materials for the book of Joshua to the round kitchen table while grabbing the snack I have laid out for them. This happens every Wednesday afternoon, it lightens my soul and highlights my week to say the least.

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

Psalm 71:18

cooking traditionally

Cooking meals with health in mind is popular today. Getting back to the traditional method of preparing and cooking foods is considered smart and many are realizing the importance of learning how to make this a part of their daily lifestyle.

The ladies in my small church congregation asked me to teach a class in traditional cooking. With the readily available healthy real foods we are able to buy from even the chain stores, we would all agree that our opportunities have  a wide-opened door. My own personal quest began many years ago when I was part of a food coop (FORC) that delivered food once a month to a designated place, the "members" would  then unload and break down the large number of boxes, and the driver was paid in one check. So as you can see we had to be an group organized sufficiently enough to have our own checking account and have a member be in charge of the money. At one time our membership reached about ten families, and we purchased roughly around $800-1000  monthly. My part  in the coop for several years was the ordering of the member's monthly orders. Now this was in the age of the PC (personal computer) and the incipience of the internet. The internet that was available to us at this time (1990's) was only "dial up" in most areas....not always reliable.  The lady at FORC and I would have a specific time and date that she would call me on my landline telephone;  I would arrange my schedule to be at my house and I would give her our orders individually, item by item. Unless this might seem overly arduous to you, let me assure it was not in the least; I developed a pleasant working relationship with this kind woman. Discovering the book, Nourishing Tradtions by Sally Fallon, also made a huge acceleration in my education curve of learning how to cook in a more traditional way.
Last night's focus at my home was teaching about how to prepare Chicken Bone Broth.
The evening's dinner menu was:
Tomato Bisque (chicken bone broth base)
Green salad with homemade dressings (soaked and dehydrated walnuts)
Fermented carrots and cucumbers
Roasted whole Chicken with carrots, red potatoes, and onions(all organic)
Sourdough Einkorn bread with grass-fed herb butter
Oatmeal Pumpkin bake  (soaked oatmeal, sweetened with organic maple syrup)
Fermented Ginger Ale

It was 10 o'clock as we were saying our goodbyes. Hopefully, in the days ahead new thinking will emerge as conscious efforts are made to eat nutrient dense real foods as much as possible.

Oh, by the way since I not always able to find the quality of certain foods locally, I make a monthly food order to Auzure Standard, all online, even the payment.

the spider room

I happen chance to maintain a spider room in my house. True, it might declare my housekeeping abilities as less than stellar, but it goes a smidgen beyond that I think.

The sun room, or morning room as I delight in calling it, is full of windows bringing in light and a number of happy things. And it is also where I have my small table of African violets, two peace lilies (once divided) given at the death of my father, and to be able to tell you the exact age of the philodendron I inherited from my mother would be impossible, heavy sentiments may certainly be  attached to some plants. When frost threatens, I will bring in my bay tree, several aloe vera plants, and my rubber plants. And probably spider egg cases...even if I spray the plants with cleanser and wash thoroughly before bringing them into the house. This is a room for spiders to be nourished and happy, and as long as they are of the nonvenomous species I like to think there is a "Charlotte" hanging around in there somewhere.

Do you remember reading books written for children depicting  spiders in a good light?

1.Charlotte's Webb           E.B. White
2. The Very Busy Spider   Eric Carle
3. Miss Spider's Tea Party  David Kirk
4. Spiders in the Fruit Cellar     Barbara Joose  (This is one of my favorite ones, I must have read this to my children for years.)

epsom salt and baths

For years I have taken showers before bedtime because I have found soothing comfort by doing so, a favorable end to a busy day.

These days I have discovered the sybarite benefits of a taking a bath before bedtime. My father was a bath taker even up into his octogenarian years I remember hearing him splash around in the bathtub. That is a good memory now.

Yet I do not indulge in just a "plain" bath, I prefer to pour two scoops of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) into the warm running water. There has been much written about epsom salt baths these days, but science has yet to prove the many claims of its various health benefits, though epsom salts has been used as a relief prescription for sore feet and aching muscles for quite some time.  Charlotte's dance teacher will tell the wincing dancers to go home and soak their throbbing feet in Epsom salts after an especially arduous pointe class. You can read a fun bit of the history of the salts discovered in Epsom, England if you are interested.

As for myself, I give generous support for epsom salt baths, 

but keep in mind it is bedtime when I take my bath and my tired brain could easily be led into believing the relaxing effects I am feeling is merely in the Epsom salts!

  

it is yarn along time

Goodness, it appears to have been a slough of time since I last joined with all you ladies at Ginny's yarn along! Not that I wasn't  reading good books mind you, but the needles in my hand were of the embroidery sort, not knitting. But as the approaching autumn was tickling my senses, I knew I must go on a hunt for that perfect knitting project. And I believe I might have found it in this pattern by  Cheryl Toy. I can only imagine how much I am going to love wearing this wrap when the weather turns chilly and a garment of this sort will provide perfect warmth as well as style. And the second best part is the luscious Berroco alpaca yarn. I am feeling rather privileged to be knitting this wrap in this yarn let me tell you.
After reading Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop this summer, I discovered another treasure on my bookshelf, O Pioneers! It is a book that reeled me into the story right from the start, and now I am remembering why I liked some of her other novels way back in my early motherhood years.

healthy sourdough donuts

Evidently I was in one of those moods to fidget with another sourdough food, with the thought of why not? And why not indeed. Fidgeting seems to overcome me from time to time in spite of  a plethora of things that are more pressing in my day.

So from here I give you my take on these healthy donuts. They do not taste bad at all, I like the sourdough taste and since you do add a small amount of sugar before the kneading process that makes them more of a sweet bread item. After frying them in coconut oil they are rolled in a plate of brown sugar and cinnamon which adds a tasty touch too.

Yet here is the question. Would I make them again? Probably not. They are not good enough to make any one of us eat more than one, and I am constantly having to face the fact that my household is only composed of three now ( not counting the cats). That makes experiments of this sort wasteful to a degree, but not completely a wash-out because I know now I definitely would not make them even if I had a household of visitors.

 The recipe can be found here if you get the fidgets. But for now my fidgets are calm.

ripeness

Yesterday afternoon I drove across town to a friend's house to pick some muscadine grapes, an old southern variety my friend's husband called Cowart, and I believe him. I definitely knew the look of the grape but the true proof was when I popped one into my mouth tasting the intense sweetness  of the juicy flesh as it was released from the tough skin of the grape. I knew that delicious sweet taste from memories of my childhood.  So...under the grape arbor I ventured sticking a ripe grape into my mouth every once in a while as I picked, only being slightly unnerved by the insects zooming by my head.  Home to the washing and throwing away bits of dried leaves and bad grapes that were dispersed throughout the grapes.

Jelly making time has now begun.

music in my mind

I go about the day performing my daily housekeeping chores; how I love keeping a home! And as I am keeping I hear lovely music in my mind. You know like when you are watching a movie and there is background music and it all fits together so beautifully? 

A grand "performance" radiating peace and joy.

                                                          ( photo image from Pinterest)