Unbought Delicacies: "Life machines"

Monday, 17 December 2007

"Life machines"

"Life machines" - what on earth is all that about, then? I have seen this written on several forums, where (usually) women write about their "life machines" having been switched on; by this they seem to mean their bread machines, dishwashers, washing machines, etc. I use a washing machine, but that is about the only electric thing I have in this vein. I know it's each to their own, but I find it very sad that people can't find time to make bread by hand, wash dishes (using nice things to do the job - handknitted cloths, good washing up liquid and nice brushes, pretty tea-towels). OK, so maybe a lot of people think they don't have time to do these things, but I really wish they would have a go , at least sometimes. The satisfaction got from breadmaking, contemplative dish washing etc is good for my soul, and a big part of my interest in the slow living movement. Maybe it's just different priorities I have?

3 comments:

Mara said...: Hello :) This is Mara; I just joined the Creative Living forum and followed the link in your post here. :)

I've never heard the expression "life machine" before! We have a washing machine and yes also a breadmaker. I used to love making bread by hand but I don't eat it now so my husband has the machine to do its magic while he's at work. Funnily enough I was thinking about doing some by hand, nothing beats the peace of kneading dough. Apart from a calming bout of washing up of course! I love our tea towels - we buy one or two wherever we go on holiday and I love choosing which one to use in the evening. :)

I love the expression "slow living"; this is what I aspire to. :)

Mara :); 3 January 2008 at 13:39
dottyspots said...: I followed the link through from Downsizer :0) I've not heard the term 'life machine' either.

I do rather like gadgets, but I suppose have very few by most people's standards. I do own a bread machine and will use it to make dough, but I don't bake bread in it, they don't make a practical loaf in my experience, they're always tall, which is a bit useless when there's 6 to feed, what we need is long :0)

I will also make my own dough, especially with my daughter, but it does cut into knitting time ;0)

I occasionally use the food-processor, but really just for liquidising soup, I find it much easier to chop stuff with a knife and most of the jobs the food processor does I can do with less washing up by hand.

A washing machine is a must really with dirty nappies, I just don't fancy hand-washing them ;0)

Aside from a sandwich toaster, that's it on the electrical appliances front (oh, I forgot the vacuum cleaner, carpet cleaner and iron - but actually I often use a broom in the day and I find floor-mopping quite therapeutic, which is a good job with 4 children and a very messy dog).

I don't often wash up as it is the job of my two older children, although I do bits and pieces throughout the day.

But then I am at home, so perhaps the time such things take is less of an issue (except for it using up time I could knit with ;0); 3 January 2008 at 16:45
kathyann said...: We love making bread and buns by hand.The girls all love to bake and make fresh bread,buns and teacakes,but then we also like to bake and make jams,chutneys etc oh and the odd gallon of wine at least you know whats gone into it and its a very relaxing pastime.we used to have a dishwasher ,but we got rid of it and do the pots by hand.If there are only a few bits of washing and its a good drying day I will do them by hand.I also sweep and mop the kichen floor,with 3 dogs going in and out it needs to be kept on top of especially on wet days!I have a pan I use to boil my tea towels in once a week with a bit of soap powder it realy gets them clean and after a good rinse and wring out a blow on the line they smell so much fresher!Its just the counrty girl in me!Best wishes and happy blogging.love from Kathyann and the girls at meg's mum's muffins; 7 January 2008 at 18:30

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

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Monday, 17 December 2007

"Life machines"

3 comments: