Living Like the Past

Where are your Emergency Supplies? I am Grandma Donna and I am concerned that many people are not prepared for disasters. It seems that there are so many natural disasters occurring. Tornado's, floods, Hurricanes, Straight line winds, earthquakes, fires, droughts, blizzards and then there are threats that are looming and unexpected accidents such as train derailments and trees that for some strange reason just topple onto your house. I am posting this just to show basics and to hopefully inspire your thoughts on how to get your family prepared. I cannot cover all the things we do for preparedness and each person has their own needs. ......

I realize that we cannot jump into a time machine and send ourselves off to the past but if we could I would do so. I am so thankful that I was born in an era that life was more simple. People rarely locked their doors, my brother and I played outside with our friends until we were called in for supper. We ate home cooked food and we sat at the table to eat that food. We washed up before supper and we said prayers before eating. Table manners were very important and leaving the table before others were finished would have never been allowed. A formal table was often used for eating. I don't think I ever r ......

Generations before us lived before electricity This is my Papa Horton, he was the Key Turner for a local bridge. When the steamboats would travel up the river he would Turn the bridge. This would let the steamboats pass through the bridge on their way to Memphis. People come to this page on my website for many reasons. My website is dedicated to this main topic, how our generations before us lived without electricity and how to live more simple. You might want to bookmark this site and come back often because I have many articles about many things from how to live without electricity, how to use minimal electricity, how to do things the ......

This could cause panic in a household if there is no money for toilet paper Many people are trying to find ways to make it from one paycheck to the other and some do not even have that paycheck. I receive emails from all over the world and recently received an email from a reader here in the USA asking what I could suggest for a family of two adults that have only $25.00 a week to spend on food. I am going to do a page on food but that got me thinking and there are ways to increase that grocery money by buying less of other things so I am doing this article on how to spend less on other things. Many people are truly struggling and saving even a small amoun ......

As we travel up and down our road of life we seem to be losing our way. We need to bring back the good morals and decency we once had. This road stops here but does not end here. We are on this earth as we know it for a short time but seem to be acting like we will never get to this point. We need to do things right while we are here. We could straighten up our country if we would straighten up ourselves. If we put our energy to do more with our own families, taking care of the things that need to be done would put things on the right track. Many have become lazy and sloppy, they have become rude and immoral and if our generations before us could see ......

I use my vintage items everyday Handwashing socks in the sink We have many trees so I hang out the wash under our carport Bread Dough rising in a covered bowl My wrinked hands only mean that I have more wisdom than I did when I was young. Besides I am Vintage We added a shelf above the sink for our large bowls I paid $30.00 for this vintage night stand. My rule for furniture is $20.00 but I really liked it. This chest of drawers was in need of repairs but had so much potential. We bought it for $15.00, sanded it down as we do all the pieces, made repairs and then put the two coats of primer then two c ......

Living like the past Do you Dream of a more simple life? Tired of all the fast paced junked up world? Then adjust what you are doing and live a more old fashioned life. You have to find that period in time that you feel most comfortable. I like the thirties through the early fifties. After that it seems to me that things took a wrong turn and life got more complicated. Do you feel out of place? Like there has to be something more? Do you feel like you belong in another time? Do you feel homesick even when you are home? Is there something that is just eating at you and you don??™t know what it is? A longing for somethi ......

This is Tatting This was my Grandmother's Tatting wheel. I love this tatting wheel because it was in her loving hands years ago. If you notice in the picture it was made in the USA and now they are made in China. Even the metal feels different and more smooth than the new one. This is the new type that is popular and frankly I like it because I can control the thread better with these types. Sorry about the rough hands in the photos, I do a lot of gardening. This is the bobbin inside the metal shuttle. This is a picot This is a chain This is a ring This is how you hold the beginning of the thread, let me say here ......

Several years ago I purhased a vintage apron that was too small for me but I loved the design. So I decided to use some of the features from that apron and make my own design to make it more fitting and functional. The older vintage apron had very small pockets and up higher and the bust area was more narrow. I extended to top sides as well as redesigned the pockets. The back of the old vintage apron did not close in the back so I added extra side pieces to make the apron cover my backside. This is the back of the vintage apron After I purchased this apron I tried it on and realized it was too small so I tucked it away in a drawer. Not unti ......

IT IS TIME TO BE FRUGAL Being frugal does not have to be painful. There are many ways to cut back and one way is to do a reverse home makeover. We needed to make changes to our home to help us go back to basics. Then we decided to use more outdoor space and we went back to old fashioned way of doing things. Our Great Grandparents, Grandparents, Parents, Aunts and Uncles would tell us stories how things were when they were growing up, how hard times were, how they lived without electricity or running water. They also lived through the Great Depression. Many people are going through difficult economic times and they are finding themselves running o ......

Getting even more frugal If you are having trouble paying your bills or buying food read further These are my Great Grandparents, Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles and they lived through the great depression. They grew up in times when there was no electricity or running water but what they did have was the ability to grow food, share, barter or do whatever it took. They hauled their water, cooked on wood stoves and did not waste, they did not live off the grid because there was no grid. My husband and I do not live on a farm or even a large piece of land. We live in the city on a small lot. We are trying to raise as much food as we can with w ......

You never know when a disaster may happen This is my Son's house. An unexpected close call, fortunately the house was mostly spared. But what if this had been worse and days without electricity. You never know when a disaster will happen and we all need to be prepared to be as self sufficient as possible during an emergency. We live in an area where we could possibly lose power for days due to storms. At times our power goes out for unknown reasons, thankfully not often, but still inconvenient. We added a cook pit to our back yard. We recently added gravel to our cook pit. Seems to work good. This is our cook pit, we have been buying ......

My Grandmother from the south Our past Generation had a wealth of information that could be more helpful to us than we realize. The generation I am writing about knew how to raise a family on food they grew themselves. They knew how to use their resources sparingly and to not waste. Many lived in a time before electricity ever made it to their homes. My mother's family used a bucket on a rope to pull water from a well when they needed water. Some hauled water from streams. Communication was by word of mouth, telegraph or mail. Transportation was on foot, horse, wagon and some by cars and trucks. We still have many of ......