The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...

Outside my window... It's bright and sunny and the trees are full of waiting buds. I have a cherry and a quince tree out there, and if the weather stays kind, any day now they will be full of blossoms.

I am thinking... That I am blessed to have this beautiful room to work and play in, and that I am doubly blessed to have a loving, supporting husband who helped make it all possible.

From the learning rooms... I need to start my lessons, but we've spent the past week deep-cleaning everything, from the garage out, so everything has been put on hold.

I am thankful for... A chance to deep-clean everything, all the space left behind, and for being healed enough to let go of the clutter in my life.

From the kitchen... Yesterday was my birthday, so my husband made me tiramasu, entirely from scratch. Total yum! Here in a little bit I'll go make the weekly batch of granola.

I am wearing... A denim jumper, black tunic, a green calico apron, yellow headband, and my usual around the house shoes

I am reading... Cousin Bette by Honore de Balzac, for the 18th Century Romance Novel group on Ravely. It's also counting toward my 52 books in 52 weeks group total.

I am hoping... That is doesn't snow on the valley floor in the next few days. As much as we need it on the mountains, it's a dangerous time of year for the fruit trees.

I am creating...The first embroidered square for the Geeks Cottage Tea Cup Quilt. Ten embroidered teacups with flowers, set with pastel calico trims, interspersed with pastel calico nine-patch blocks (unless I decide to try something else),two paper pieced teapots, and 5 more embroidered blocks with sci-fi quotes about tea. "Computer: Tea, Earl Gray, Hot." The blocks are the Tea Party series by Crabapple Hill Studio, the first block I'm working on is Linda. The paper pieced teapot can be found here.

I am hearing... Songs from the Labrynth by Sting. It's gentle and lovely to hear.

Around the house... We got the sewing room organied, at least the first pass. Now I have a stack of things to put in my binders, three teddy bears to sew up for the hospital, and a pile of scraps to cut up for a charm quilt, all of which was unearthed from my closet.

One of my favorite things... is all of the wonderful light in this room, streaming in through the lace curtains. Just lovely.

A few plans for the rest of the week... More waymarking...Some medical tests on Monday...my belated birthday breakfast on Tuesday...finishing organizing the kitchen cabinets.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Three, actually. All three are from Jackson and Perkins. Now I just have to decide which I want for my birthday.:



The Perfect Moment hybrid tea rose



The Diana, Princess of Wales rose



The Peace rose

Skewed Views

An inspiring quote

From Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management -

SUCH ARE THE ONEROUS DUTIES which enter into the position of the mistress of a house, and such are, happily, with a slight but continued attention, of by no means difficult performance. She ought always to remember that she is the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega in the government of her establishment; and that it is by her conduct that its whole internal policy is regulated. She is, therefore, a person of far more importance in a community than she usually thinks she is. On her pattern her daughters model themselves; by her counsels they are directed; through her virtues all are honoured;—“her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband, also, and he praiseth her.” Therefore, let each mistress always remember her responsible position, never approving a mean action, nor speaking an unrefined word. Let her conduct be such that her inferiors may respect her, and such as an honourable and right-minded man may look for in his wife and the mother of his children. Let her think of the many compliments and the sincere homage that have been paid to her sex by the greatest philosophers and writers, both in ancient and modern times. Let her not forget that she has to show herself worthy of Campbell’s compliment when he said,—

“The world was sad! the garden was a wild!
And man the hermit sigh’d, till woman smiled.”

Let her prove herself, then, the happy companion of man, and able to take unto herself the praises of the pious prelate, Jeremy Taylor, who says,—“A good wife is Heaven’s last best gift to man,—his angel and minister of graces innumerable,—his gem of many virtues,—his casket of jewels—her voice is sweet music—her smiles his brightest day;—her kiss, the guardian of his innocence;—her arms, the pale of his safety, the balm of his health, the balsam of his life;—her industry, his surest wealth;—her economy, his safest steward;—her lips, his faithful counsellors;—her bosom, the softest pillow of his cares; and her prayers, the ablest advocates of Heaven’s blessings on his head.”

The Simple Woman's Daybook

And why not...

For Today...

Outside my window... It's gray and drizzly and cold for out here. Too cold, after a warm spell, the trees are already budding out and a hard freeze will ruin all the crops in the valley. Oh, I hope it doesn't get too cold.

I am thinking... That we desperately need more snow, but those clouds simply will not let go. Which doesn't add with the idea of a freeze, but snow lands on the mountains and gives us water for spring, while a freezing fog will settle into the valley.

From the learning rooms... Time to figure out how many pages I want to read in my texts. I may not be able to afford to go back to college but if I can homeschool a child (eventually) I can certainly homeschool myself.

I am thankful for... Having a working heater. We almost didn't start it back up before we went to Denver, but now I'm glad we did. It's chilly!

From the kitchen... I made homemade granola last night, and the house still smells so good. Tonight it's a simple bean skillet dish.

I am wearing... denim skirt, lavender long sleeve t-shirt, a lavender calico apron, lavender headband, and my usual around the house shoes

I am reading... Wishcraft by Barbara Sher, and trying to decide what books I want to cover in the 52 book challenge on Ravelry

I am hoping... We finish cleaning out the garage next week. Once that's done we can start on my sewing room, and then the rest of the house.

I am creating... Long fingerless mitts for friends. I'll finish the last mitt in the next day or two, but then the project will have to go on hold until I can head south and pick up one more ball of yarn to finish the last mitten.

I am hearing... The TV in the apartment upstairs, as my neighbor catches the game. He's a sportscaster and tends to get rather loud while he's watching.

Around the house... Lots of laundry to fold, and a batch of dishes to wash too. Really, all the kitchen chores, I am running shamefully behind today.

One of my favorite things... is settling in with a cup of tea on a cold afternoon. Which I will do as soon as I go finish those kitchen chores.

A few plans for the rest of the week... The dentist on Monday for me....then taking the books from the garage to the used book store and trading them in for new ones....and some waymarking with my husband.

Homemade granola

Yep, made granola today. I make my own because that way you can control the amount of sugar, no HFCS, and it just makes the house smell soooo goood.

I started with the recipe here, which I have found very simple and reliable, and tripled it. So as I go I'll give you my amounts and what I added.





I started by chopping two big handfuls of pecans. They're listed as optional in the recipe, but my brother Sian is such a sweet tooth that I can't skip any chance of getting something nutritious into him. Chop them coarsely, you want fairly big chunks.





Next I mixed the dry ingredients. That's 3 cups of old-fashioned oats, 3 cups of rolled oats, 1/4 cup of flaxseed and 1/3 cup wheat germ (again, more nutrition in my brother), 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon each of allspice, ginger and garam masala. The extra spices give you granola that tastes a little like a gingersnap. It's good to mix this with your hands, to try to get the spices to mix evenly, then tend to sift to the bottom.





The liquids are mixed seperately, then poured over the oats. 3/4 of a cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, 3/4 cup honey, 1 tablespoon of vanilla.

Here's an odd thing I leanred recently, since sugar has such a low melting point, in a baking recipe it counts as a liquid. Weird.





So, the liquid, sugar and all, is poured into the oats. They I placed them in two baking sheets, well lined with parchment.





If you've never used parchment paper to bake with you simply MUST try it. It makes cleaning up the easiest thing, and nothing ever sticks. I wouldn't be able to keep up with the baking at my brother's place without it.

Make sure you get a really flat, even layer so the oats toast evenly.

Into the oven at 325 for 10 minutes. Then out, mix it up so that it will toast on the other side, flatten it back out, and sprinkle sliced almonds over everytihing.





Make sure you switch the pans around on the racks every time you add nuts, so it will all toast evenly.

Repeat it five minutes later, only this time with the chopped pecans.






Ten more minutes and out of the oven. Your house will smell amazing, simply wonderful.

I suggest you serve it with milk, of course, or with some of your favorite yoghurt.

A blog restart

Since Candy has decided to go by the wayside, at least temporarily, I'm once again pushing the reset button. This blog is going back to showing how a secular, atheistic homemaker runs her day. It's also going to be the primary blog for my Ravelry account, so it will be where I share pictures of my projects, and where I review books for the 52 books in 52 weeks group.

So, there we are. This should mean I'll be around more.

Why I don't plan to take my children to church.

Today Candy put up a long screed about why she wants to keep her children with her in church. Well, I plan to keep my children with me out of church much of the time. I will take them to the Catholic masses, through their First Communion, because that is our family tradition, and the rites and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church are part of our lives. But past that I will not make them go, and I do plan to teach them both where the church is right, and where it is wrong, so they do not need to live their lives in shame or fear.

And no, I'm not putting up any references to any books to support my position. I believe mankind has moved past ancient myths, both intellectually and morally. I don't believe any one book can sum up the breadth of human experience, nor can it be the Ultimate Instruction Book For Life. My goal will be to teach my children to be ever learning, and not to snuff out their natural morality. I don't need a book to tell me this is the right thing to do.

Another shelf of books

Well, I have to apologize. Yesterday when Candy was talking about the books on the top of her bookshelf she meant the very top of the bookshelf. I mistakenly posted the list of the top shelf of one of my bookshelves. On the very top I have some baskets. One woven by my Grandfather, but otherwise unexceptional.

So since I posted my top shelf yesterday, today I'll fill in by posting the list from the shelf closest to my desk here. That way I'll be on-track for tomorrow.

• My pricebook*
• Campaigns of the Civil War by Walter Geer
• The Well Trained Mind by Jesse Wise & Susan Bauer
• Literature Pickering & Hopper, Ed.
• The American Tradition in Literature, 6th ed
• Albion's Seed by David Hackett Fisher
• The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
• Passionate Hearts & Intimate Kisses 2 poetry collection, Wendy Maltz, Ed.
• The London Ritz Book of Afternoon Tea
• Oh look, another KJV.
• Living a Beautiful Life by Alexandria Stoddard
• A Room With a View by E. M. Forrester
• One Skein Wonders, Judith Durrant, Ed.
• The Book of the City of Ladies, by Christine de Pizan
• The Tightwad Gazette, volume 1, Amy Daczyczyn, Ed.

As you can see, this is a collection of books for future homeschooling, and some of my favorites.

Why am I doing this? To prove that to be considered well-read, at least in any kind of limited fashion, you have to read something other than 1) children's books, 2) only theology that supports your worldview, 3) homekeeping books that are no longer relevant, 4) comic books, and 5) the bible, over and over and over again. A truly well-read home has a large selection of books on a wide variety of topics. I have barely scratched the surface so far.

My biggest concern is that so far all her books of advice on homekeeping and family management are 100 years old. Which means they would not address mover surfaces, cleaners or fabrics. They wouldn't cover current practices in food safety or nutrition. The very concept of child psychology and development wouldn't have been included. And they wouldn't have anything from the vast modern body of knowledge concerning health. Reccomending these as a serious referrence is rather disturbing.

So, more tomorrow. Wait until you see what I have on the next shelf.

* I'll adress the pricebook idea in a future post.

The top of my bookshelf

So I'm re-booting this blog a bit. Making it more of a direct response to Candy over at KTH, and to all the fine ladies out there who insist that their way is the only way to be a great homemaker.

Today Candy put out a post bragging about how she is such a great reader, savoring the classics and taking part in the Great Conversation. And then she informed us that the top shelf of her bookshelf (She may have two shelves, but no more. She's published enough photos of her home to prove that.) contained three boxed sets of children's books, The Chronicles of Narnia, Little House on the Prairie, and one of the American Girl collections.

Ahem.

In reply, here is the list of what is on the top shelf of one of our book shelves:

• A collection of the writings of Plutarch
• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• The Journal of John Woolman
• Fruits of Solitude by William Penn
• Don Quixote by Cervantes
• The Divine Comedy by Dante
• A collection of Aseop's fables
• A collection of Grimm's fables
• A collection of the works of Hans Christian Anderson
• Jonathon Swift by Thackery
• A collection of essays by various authors, including Ruskin, Stevenson and Thoreau
• A collection of poetry by various poets, including Tennyson, Emerson and Longfellow
• A collection of essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• A collection of the works of Homer
• A collection of American documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
• 1,001 Nights
• 1,001 Nights in the original Arabic
• A collection of the works of Christopher Marlowe.
• A complete Shakespeare
• Howard's End by E. M. Forester
• The Great Gadsby, by Fitzgerald
• A collection of Emily Dickenson
• Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
• The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris andJean de Meun
• The Glimpse of the Moon by Edith Wharton
• Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
• Nature's end by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka
• A collection of writings by Edith Wharton
• QV VII by Leon Uris
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
• And yes, a KJV
  

Now, I admit, I haven't read all of them. But I have read 2/3 -3/4 of them, including the KJV, and would like to read the rest in the near future.

And I have ten more bookshelves in the house just this big. Each one holding 3-5 shelves full of books. And I have read most of those.

So yes, I'm sorry. Reading the KJV over and over and over again, while not even reading a children's book is not my idea of a great reader.

Once again, simple and straight

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