The Big Change

Well, it has officially happened. The big event each Fall that marks the end of Summer and the beginning of Winter: the First Frost. Eric (brother) and I gathered the last of the peppers and tomatoes the other night--after dark, in thirty-something weather (and he didn't even wear a jacket!). It is unusual that the frost should come so late--nearly November. It was late last year too, but can come in early September. I like it better when it is late!

The garden is gone. Of course, there are still greens and bok choy, but the "Summer garden" is past for another seven months. Only the freezing of greens and bok choy, the drying of apples, and the making of applesauce remain.

Those who do not grow gardens may notice the changing of the seasons, yet the change has little effect on their daily lives. Although I am not so bound up in agriculture as some (such as those who actually farm!) the first frost both really and symbolically is the turning point between the season of planting and growing and harvesting, and the season of resting and waiting and planning. It's like the new year, or a new semester of college--a time to look back at the accomplishments and failures of the past few months, a time to make necessary changes for the future, a time to plan, a time to move forward with the things that past months could not afford but the months ahead crave.

What will I do? I don't know. I haven't gotten that far yet. :-)

Letting someone else speak for a change

And I quote:

Interior Decoration, as I intimated before, is not just one's artistic efforts, but is that which your home (even if it is just a room) is. If you are 'decorating' with clothes draped on every chair, with scratched or broken furniture--it is still your interior decoration! Your home expresses you to other people, and they cannot see or feel your daydreams of what you expect to make in that misty future, when all the circumstances are what you think they must be before you will find it worthwhile to start. You have started, whether you recognize that fact or not.

--Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking

Knowledge: A Little Reality Check Therein

If you were to take a test covering the following somewhat randomly selected homemaking-related areas, at an elementary, high school, or college level, would you pass?

Home management
Money management
Resource management
Time management
Organization/space management
Shopping
Housing
Home safety
Food preservation
Foods and nutrition
Cooking/baking
Gardening/lawn care, etc.
Housekeeping/cleaning
Mending/clothing repair
Ironing
Clothing selection and care
Laundering
Knitting/other needle crafts
Sewing
Art in life
Etiquette /manners
Hospitality and entertaining
Family relations
Parenting
Marriage
Courtship/dating
Communication
Child development
Human development
Health

The Woman I Need to Be for God

In my second post, in the explanation of the hope chest category of "Womanhood," I mentioned that, among other things, we need to focus on being the woman we need to be for God. Sometime after I wrote that, it occurred to me that I had never done that. *blush*

Now, of course, I had sought the will and ways of God, and sought His will for my life, and tried to do His will (not without success). Of course I had tried to be a good, virtuous woman, and had been daily learning and growing . . . . Of course I had asked Him what He wanted me to do and how to do it, and, well, all sorts of things. But, in complete ignorance of this unfortunate situation, I had never actually sat down in solitude, and contemplated and enquired of Him just who and what I needed to be, as a woman, for Him. How, um, embarrassing. Like, um, I might have greater success at being the woman He wants me to be if I actually asked Him what that was? Ya think?

I began shortly thereafter to rectify the situation and--call me optimistic, but-- I fully expect my success rate to increase in the near future. ;-)

A day of experiences

Today was a rather lazy day, as Sundays usually are. I have to recover from Sabbath. Now, having to recover from a day of rest seems odd, but that is the way it is with me. My brain and body are used to resting and not having a care in the world on Sabbath, and then come Sunday, they are still in the same mode and resistant to "six days shalt thou labor."

Nonetheless, it was not a day lost. I was dutiful today and vacuumed upstairs and swept the stairs. I know that doesn't sound like much, but for me to do anything when I am supposed to do it, without putting it off for even a day, and without any resistance, is amazing! I'm so proud of myself! That little duty did get put off for a few hours, but only because I went out to the back garden to help with the more urgent task of picking beans.

I also "experienced" making applesauce again. I'm getting the hang of it, I think. I honestly think I could do the whole process by myself (on a smaller scale) up to the point of actually canning the stuff. Canning is one of those things I flee from. It's too complicated for my poor little brain! I don't know if I'll ever really conquer it, but I fear I shall need to get initiated soon. I think I'd prefer to start with waterbath canning rather than pressure canning (and applesauce is canned under pressure). Tomatoes, maybe? Sounds good, since that would mean another year before I have to do it! But the cutting and cooking of the apples, and the making of the applesauce--I think I might have conquered it. If I haven't yet, I will have by the end of this year's making of applesauce. I'll be experiencing it all week and possibly into the next.

Love in Deed (part 2)

It's all very fine and good to plan to "love in deed" in the future, but I have a family to love now. Somehow that isn't nearly as romantic!

I have, however, been contemplating what I can do for each member of my family.


The father
Keep the table cleaned off. We hardly ever eat at it, but he's always had this thing about wanting tables cleaned off. I don't know why tables are any more important that other surfaces, but they seem to be!

Make more meals "put together" rather than just fend-for-yourself leftover operations.

Watch my tone of voice when I speak to him. He simply does not "get" the whole concept of the role of tone of voice in communication, nor any other type of nonverbal communication. When he is doing the speaking, tone of voice is immaterial and when anyone derives meaning from his tone of voice, well, it's clearly all in their head. However, he seems to notice other people's tone of voice and to derive meaning from that, and to be particularly sensitive to my tone of voice, and in such cases it is most certainly not all in his head. Sigh. But, despite this egregious flaw of his, I really ought to be more careful so that I don't annoy him or send him messages I didn't mean to send. This one's going to be hard because when he is in a lot of pain from his injuries, he is hyper-sensitive. LOL Pray for me, please. I am not particularly good with oral communication anyway and "tone of voice" is one of my problems.


The mother
Organize her and Dad's laundry when I put it in their basket rather than just stacking it in any ol' way, so that it will be easier for her to put away.

Learn how to cook rice in our rice cooker so that she doesn't always have to be the one to do it (rice is a constant at our house).

Stop forgetting to "show up" for such dreary tasks as looking blueberries and shelling beans. The poor woman gets stuck with those jobs for hours, and I really don't mean any harm. I just don't think to do them.


The brother
Organize his laundry in his basket.

Always make sure he has food to eat. He has a lot of allergies and can't always eat what the rest of us eat. He hasn't starved yet, but sometimes the food gets scarce!

Help him pick potato bugs. Maybe? Waaaaahhhh! Well, I'm sure he'd appreciate it. Or help with some other such gardening task he seems to have a greater commitment to than anyone else does.

A Inexpensive Education!

I always lack money that I really do need for various things, and this happens in this area of my life where I am trying to fill my hope chest as well. There are so many books I want, and I need to buy sewing equipment and other things. But this education that I am giving myself really is quite inexpensive.

This evening I WANTED to work on my blog but I NEEDED to clean the kitchen. I cleaned the kitchen and it really was a lesson in being a dutiful woman, as well as being patient and thorough. And guess what? It didn't cost me a cent!

So, while I still need money, I can't help being grateful how, overall, this education is amazingly inexpensive!