Monday, March 18, 2019

Monday Message


"We have been commanded and repeatedly warned to store food, water and every needful thing for about 80 years now, whether for financial or natural disaster reasons, it doesn't even matter as to why...the mere fact that the Lord's prophets and apostles have spoken so directly and passionately about it should be good enough for us!

If you had no money what would you wish you had put into storage? More chocolate is my answer :p Seriously though, give that question some thought. Toilet paper is also high on my list since if you were on food stamps they don't let you get toilet paper with those.

Food waste is a huge problem for so many. I like the commercials where they serve a fancy meal all made out of the parts usually thrown away, like the tops of green onions. There are so many things we have a wrong understanding of. It reminds me of the story of the newly married couple - she was going to make ham for their meal so she cuts the narrow part off and her husband said why do you do that? She said because her mother always did. So they asked the mother why she did that and she said because her mother always did that so they asked her why she did that and she said because it wouldn't fit in her pan. 

I am not saying they wasted that piece, I am just saying if we do things out of habit or what we think is waste, it is not always the case.

Making the most of what we have...I am reminded of The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. When the winter starts early it freezes green pumpkins in the patch. Pa goes to find a rabbit or goose for their meal and Ma takes and prepares a fake apple pie using the green pumpkin. Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. Do we do this?

I notice more layoffs around different areas and my heart goes out to those having to go through them. What if it was you? How prepared are you? What can you do better?

With all this snow and having more in time in the house, I have been working at building my skills...



This is the next bookmark so far.

I have been spinning more of late as well.







I am trying to perfect this skill. I want to spin thinner on this purple fleece to make sock yarn.



I love spinning this purple fleece.

How are you coming with building your skills?

I feel like knowing the basic skills are just as important as knowing how to cook.

Basic skills would be things like sewing. With that skill you can make clothes, gifts,things for your house like when I made pillows a bit ago.





And you can make your own curtains.



Then there is mending, like when I mended shoes.





I have replaced coat zippers. I have hemmed pants, skirts, dresses. I have made clothes for our kids from recycled clothing. You can extend the wear of many items.

Doing these things are not new things to our generations. My grandmother sewed by oil lamps with her treadle sewing machine. She did not have much so had to be very creative. They had six kids. Families would bring out to them used clothes and my grandma would make clothing for her kids.  

She told me once that my mom had a school concert coming up and she wanted to make her something to wear for it. She made a pinafore but she could not find enough good fabric from a lady's blouse to make the blouse for my mom. She laid the pieces around on that blouse and on the front she placed a piece that had a hole so that the front part of the pinafore would cover the hole.

Could you do this if you had too?

Next there is knitting or crocheting to make mittens and scarves and sweaters.

There are other things like knowing how to use tools. There is no rule that said only men could know and use tools. This same grandma built shelves for her kitchen and when Christmas came she made a little cupboard from a crate for my mom. Could you do that? These are what I am talking about, having the skills to make do to help our family.

I have been learning the sock machine. I took it apart and cleaned and oiled it this week.






As you can see this has made a huge difference. You can almost hear it thanking me for cleaning it.

What things are you working on?

16 comments:

  1. Your bookmark is looking beautiful! And your skeins of yarn are so pretty! A few of those in a basket on a hearth would make a lovely decoration.

    The Long Winter is my favorite LIW book. It's truly a lesson in doing without and the reason to always do your best to prepare. I always remembered how they cut their worn bed sheets down the middle and sewed together the outer edges so the center of the sheet was thick again and the worn areas on the outside. I had remembered seeing that at an elderly aunts home and thinking it must've been common practice.

    I've heard many stories like the pinafore/dress from *the olden days.* I quilt with ladies who tell of there being only 4 pairs of boots for 10 children in wintertime and how they took turns wearing them. The older kids would carry the small ones by piggy back so their feet didn't get wet! Another told of how they had potatoes nearly every night for dinner and how it was an event if there was even a small bit of meat. She said that her mom would occasionally bring home a single piece of sausage (a small one) and her mom would mince it small enough so that everyone had a bit of it in their potatoes. And they'd talk about how good it tasted for days. We are truly a spoiled generation!!

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    1. yes we are some day could be that way and we could be there again so it is a great idea to be prepare cause we never know when we will have hard times. Thanks for sharing with us all.

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  2. My grandmother took a box of hand me down clothes given to us by the neighbors and mad my sister and I jumpers, skirts and blouses for us for school clothes. I now marvel at that act of love! She was very talented in her sewing. Thankfully I learned that skill and I am so grateful she and my great aunt took the time to bless me with that. I now am passing that skill down to my daughter in law who is learning to mend her families clothes. Soon we will try some simple projects to build her skill in that are. Thank you Becky for sharing all your talents with us I truly enjoy your blog posts!!

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    1. thank you and great job teaching your dil I bet she really appreciates it my mother in law has always been an inspiration as well.

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  3. I am always envious of those who can remake clothing into new garments. The first time I was made aware of that process, was by a Mennonite child who lived next door to us when I was a young mother. She told me her mom was making her a new dress from a big dress someone had given them. It was a lightbulb moment for me. We are truly a spoiled generation.

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    1. there is no end to what we can learn! Thanks for sharing that story

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  4. When my kids were young I used to make them dresses from skirts given to my mum by a lady who was large , I could gey 2 dresses from one skirt. Also we would buy jumpers at jumble sales and unpick them wash the wool then knit it up for the children. Once they started school they had to have school unifrom so this was always a hand me down and were handed down once your children had been outgrown . Luckily we lived in an area where there were a lot of children so there were lots of had me downs. I don’t think this happens much now.

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    1. thanks for sharing your story too these stories help others thank you

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  5. I love that sock machine and the spinning, I am waiting for the day that I can sit and spin.

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    1. I wish I could have more time too not always do I feel good enough as well but oh how I love to do them. my plan is to do sock tubes and do an after thought heel and toes and cuffs by hand.

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  6. My family has always done hand-me-downs. My first two sons from coworkers. Then cousins. Then back to my last two boys. Now the adults exchange. Clothing that doesn't work/fit/ not needed. If no one wants it and still usable it goes to charity stores. If stained and cotton, grease rags for grandpa. Not just clothing either - cribs, change tables, cars, tools. We barter within family. My parents barter within their rural neighborhood. Imagine my surprise when as an adult I found that most people don't do that.
    Sheila n Michigan

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  7. I love The Long Winter. I learned so much from that book, as well as from her other books. She did a great job of describing how to make things! I’m a horrible seamstress, but a decent cook and baker. We all have our skills that would come in handy and benefit someone. I learned a good lesson in building up my pantry as my husband got laid off right after Thanksgiving and just found a new job earlier this month. I only had to shop for a few things, like pet food, cat litter, and a couple other things. So now I know I need to stock up more on those items 😊

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    1. yes we all need to review our storage and find the holes thank you for your comment

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  8. I'm working on a shawl and a couple of knit hats.
    I am also beginning a clean out of the past hallway.
    I'm looking for more books to give away to my book club members tomorrow night.
    I am going to follow your blog. You inspire me.
    Be blessed,
    Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

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