Unbought Delicacies: Thoroughly modern 21st century housewife

Tuesday, 7 July 2009

Thoroughly modern 21st century housewife

Old fashioned? Me?
On the contrary! I think I'm bang up to date here. Someone said something the other week about "being old fashioned" which got me thinking. Am I? I came to the conclsuion I wasn't. I may use old methods, old tools, hold old values for some things, do things manually as much as possible, be as self reliant as I can, make what I can, live at a slower pace, don't drive, ignore fasion, trends and most TV, prefer to stay at home, never been in a plane, make do and mend and all that jazz - but surely that is ultra modern? Not in some jump-on-the-bandwagon/greenwash/trendy/hyped up sexed up way, but where I'm coming from is that the huge problems caused by man on the planet are mostly caused (in my view) by the way we live today. I'm sure I contribute in some way to the problems, but would like to think my efforst lessen my and my family's impact somewhat. Therefore, it's a modern problem; by addressing the problems and coming up with ways in which I can tackle things as best I can at home and in my immediate environs, I am bang up to date in wanting to help and do my bit. If that means using what others perceive as old fashioned methods, then so be it, but I think it's completely on the ball to want to reduce emissions, carbon footprints, use less, use none, shop less, grow your own, live as ethically as possible, consider others around the globe, share your knowledge, buy things that last, support local economies, care for wildlife, make do and mend.
So, that's me, thoroughly modern 21st Century Housewife. Maybe I should have been called Millie LOL

3 comments:

Spirit of Old said...: Here, here ... I agree with every word :); 7 July 2009 at 11:07
Jayne said...: Well I think you are bang up to date! People are now realising that this 'want, want, want' culture is not doing any of us any good at all, especially our environment. There is now a huge trend toward living with less impact on our resources - and I think you lead the way - well done!

Just for the record - I have just been reading that more and more women are now wanting to give up work and stay at home with their family - a return to a more traditional and less stressful way of life maybe?

Love Jayne xxxx; 7 July 2009 at 12:51
Leanne said...: I agree too sarah, the way forward to realise we need less, to ditch the throwaway attitudes of modernlife, to appreciate what we have already and how everything can be made to last, how we only have this one earth, and we need to look after her...

theres so much more satisfaction too, in not being a 21st century lemming...

leanne x; 8 July 2009 at 06:53

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

Pages

Tuesday, 7 July 2009

Thoroughly modern 21st century housewife

3 comments: