Living Like the Past

Do you have a window without plastic blinds? A vintage window? An interesting window? A homey window? I have started a series about windows around the world. We want to see your windows :)There are magazine ready photos of decorated homes everywhere but we rarely get to see what real or the average home looks like.We are just getting started and only three people have sent photos and they, like me would like to see how others cover their windows especially if you do not have plastic blinds but still send in photos because looking at how others live is quite interesting.I hope others will join us, just send me an email with attached photos. If you have not contacted me befor ......

Recently my daughter had to get very serious with thinking about toxins and allergens in her house. My Grandson has severe food allergies and environmental allergies and her allergies have been very bad lately. Fergie laying on the pillow is the least of their worries.Every window in their house had blinds and very expensive blinds. They were extremely difficult to clean and when the sun hit them they made a smell which to me means they are putting out something into the air. My daughter became conscious that something was wrong. All of us that have blinds know what a dust problem they can be and what about that smell, that plastic smell?So she went through the ......

Just thought I would do an around the house update. We have been busy doing projects. We added a water pipe to our bath house since I last posted about the new bath house. We set the bucket under the faucet here for our bucket bath. We found we needed a sink to put the wash cloth in to rinse it out. So this is the new sink. To see the full outdoor bath house see article under living like the past, Outdoor Bath.In the sewing room we made a room divider for the office cubicle.My husband built the frames. He added a wheel on the bottom of the middle frame so the door will open and close.I cut off the length needed for the screens and put in a hem...I ran elastic thr ......

My husband and I did a water study so we will know how much water it takes to machine wash clothes as well as hand wash clothes. We have an HE top loading washer and have had it for about a year and half. Our old one, could not be repaired. So we purchased a new washing machine. We have never sent an appliance back until we picked out our first HE (High Efficiency) washer, our first one we sent back the next day. It was terrible would hardly swish and very little water. So then the man from the washing machine department explained how these new machines work. But the first one would barely swish so I would not take it back to the house.I want to save ......

Soap has changed through the years and back when this photo was taken in 1949 my mother would use a bar of soap to do most anything that needed cleaning from bathing my brother in this picture, washing my hair, mopping the floors, washing the dishes and most anything that needed cleaning.For some reason people feel the need for liquid soap and assorted cleaning products. If we want to simplify or reduce chemicals in our home then this post may be something of interest.I have posted about cleaning our house with bar soap before. I use soap like this to wash our windows, clean our mirrors, mop the floors, bathe, wash our hair, clean the toilet (just grate a little of the soap into the to ......

During our lifetime we go through many changes. I wonder if we had just stayed the same with what we had where we would be? I think this thought since we have been trying to live more like we did in the past.I cannot say I have no regrets because we have made mistakes along the way but I think change is perfectly normal.I change things around in our house as often as the wind blows but that is only because I am trying to find the perfect spot before the decision is made that there is just not room for it. Of course I am certainly not talking about the treadle and the irons are in working order and used often.This rocker is well used, it certainly has a purpose. ......

Getting started can be hard to do if we have not yet figured out where we are going. Recently an email from one of my blog friends said this after reading my post Sarah awoke and put on her socks. My blog friend Judi said, that was the time before others interfered and started people doubting what they did routinely was valid and useful. Once we knew our place in the order of things and just went about our business. Judi is so right and I have noticed how their is doubting and some people even feel as if they have to explain themselves for wanting to live more domesticated. This never has to be explained because it is something right to do. We are losing ......

(She donned her apron in the early morning hours just before dawn....)Sounds like the beginning of a book? How about a living book? What if we simply decided to live life with purpose, intention and happiness. To make a change in our household, to bring a fresh change, something simple, peaceful and interesting. We do have that control since it is our domain.(It was time to fill the vessels with water before she started her morning routine...)It is our home that we live, we can set the mood for the entire household.( Sarah loves her little cottage on the hill, there is much to do today, gather eggs from the hen house, stew will be for dinner, harvest herbs for tea, clean the floors.)The ......

This is part three and the last of our visit to the Naval Museum WW2 1940s town. We are strolling down our small town. The Barber shop.It is interesting to look at items from the 1940s.Oh Glenn Miller and his Orchestra :) at the movies.Couldn't stop in this place but I can remember sitting at the counter in a place like this and getting a Milk Shake.This is the Doctors office...The Pensacola Naval Museum is very large and a lot of walking. Inside these buildings are full size airplanes and they are everywhere! It is so big I could not get a good picture to give you an idea how large this place is. This is only one section.These are real size retired planes.My favorite ......

We are leaving our 1940s house and going for a stroll into town.......Here we are at the grocery store... We are in the 1940s and we are at war. It is WW2.A look inside the grocery/general store. Notice the mail area in back left. The cold box. We are not going to find a large choice, remember there is food rationing and we need our stamps. It does not matter that we have the money to purchase the food, without the stamps we will not be allowed to purchase the food.We would have been issued stamps to use and the stamps changed many times over the years of rationing.More types of stamps...Every family member received stamps and they had to abide by the law and present the required ......

I have a surprise for you. My husband and I took a trip to a special place that I have been intending to go to for quite sometime. I had been there several years ago but I wanted to go again to take pictures and share with all of you. I think this will make many of you happy :)We went to the Pensacola Naval Museum to their 1940s museum ww2 house.The Living room...More living room....Other side of living room...Ok now, calm down, catch your breath. I had too :)Soak it in..... :)I want that sink! I had one just like that a long time ago....Isn't it wonderful?...:)...Globe Top Refrigerator.....Some pictures are a little blurry but I didn't want to leave anything ou ......

Many of us spend a ridiculous amount of money on household utilities.Where we live it is mandatory to live with electricity and running water but we do have control on what we use. We can pay the minimum charge and go on about our business if that is what we want to do.So comes the choice. Use minimal grid and flow? We can use non electric items to slow the electric flow and we can do many things to slow the water flow.When I was first married we had two wind up clocks and a wrist watch. We did not have any electric clocks. The electric clocks came later. The clock in the photo above is a wind up alarm clock.I did not have an electric mixer, this is what I had, a ......

I recently moved my Granny's 1800s trunk to a place where I could stack our quilts instead of folding them tightly in a closet. They seem to feel better now :)I have mentioned in other posts that we have slowly replaced some modern items with older items and recently I was asked in an email could I show you some of the items.As we have been traveling our journey to a more simple life we have been getting rid of some of our modern things and replacing the items with functional vintage items. We had some of the old items packed away but many things we got rid and donated years ago. Just like many of us did, we replaced things to stay current. We were encouraged with adv ......

This is part two of items in our home that are vintage and also have a good purpose. Go to part one first if you have not already :)I had one of these cake carriers a long time ago and found one at a yard sale for .50 cents. I was so happy to get another.....Got rid of the plastic canisters and went back to tin/metal. These have no damage to the inside. I have a love/hate relationship with plastic. It is lightweight but I am not sure that it is good for us.My husband went back to using handkerchiefs and so did I. It just feels right again.We changed our drinking glasses. I had to look for some old ones that I had liked in the past. These wheat desig ......

Why do so many marriages fail? What is true love? It is being with your best friend, that person that you never run out of things to talk about. It is being with someone that actually hears what you say and engages in conversation and you in return hear what they say. It is being with someone that you love more every day and they feel the very same way, neither would ever physically harm the other and if you did have a disagreement you work things out by the end of the day.Years ago while I was at work (in the medical field) I looked out the window into the parking lot and I saw an older man get out of his van, get out a wheelchair and set it on the passenger side of the car ......

Water and food are the most important life sustaining needs we have yet it seems to me by my observation that many people give those needs the least attention as far as home management goes. Many seem to have no food plan and rely on fast food, processed, and often purchase ready to eat at the drive through or go inside and eat something fast and easy not considering what was is in that food and what we put into our stomach. In many homes it takes a holiday with platters and bowls of food that have taken days to prepare to get people to gather at the table. In the past it was simply normal to cook meals at home.For some, grocery shopping is a mundane chore and I see people reach fo ......

We decided to build an outdoor bath. We tucked it away between the back of the carport and my husbands small work shop.We had several reasons to make an outdoor bath. We are trying to conserve water and bathing outdoor we can capture the water to use for plants instead of letting it go down the drain. If we have rain we do not capture the water and let it soak into the ground so the trees can take up the water, if it does not rain we can stand in a washtub and save the water for the plants. We use good non toxic soap. It also gives us an extra bath when we have company and for when we get dirty working out in the yard and very good if the power is out.We built this out of us ......

Nostalgia - A wishing for something that happened long ago or is now far away.We are living in a troubled time right now as I am writing this article. People have emailed and told me they are very tired of all of the madness out there. They have found their way to my website trying to find something that makes them feel better. Some say they find peace reading my website and I am happy that it can bring some comfort. We knew when we started living a more old fashioned simple life we needed to rid the home of televisions. We left one for the purpose of watching an occasional movie. The way things are now watching television can possibly make us depressed. I can tell you that ......

I have several emails sitting in my draft that I cannot reply too because it keeps bouncing back to me due to an error in the email contact form.Please check your address after filling out the contact form so I can reply to your email and if you have not heard from me after 48 hours please try again and make sure your email is correct. I enjoy hearing from my blog visitors. Thank You, Grandma Donna

We continue our journey to live more like our generations before us lived. My husband recently kissed me and said, you make life so much fun! He truly loves living more like the past than people do today. This could have something to do with the outdoor bath house he is building. I am getting excited to show you but it is not quite finished. I can say he has not bathed in the house in over a week now. I am waiting until it is completely finished because I don't want to fall over any boards and things.We are constantly coming up with ways to do things the old way or better. The good part of living today is knowing how to change the bad part of the old way.Not everythin ......