Living more like the past takes time and we rid, replace, move things around and we slowly work it out. This wash bowl will be moved to a more appropriate place because I want it to be used for the intended purpose for which it was made.
What is missing in this picture is the television that once rested on top of this chest of drawers. We are happy that the televisions are gone and it feels so very different when we get rid of something such as an electronic. There is a peaceful feeling of a time once before.
When we made a decision to live more like the past watching television was at the top of our list of something that we needed to change. We do not miss watching television because it was simply a habit that wasted our time.
The noise is gone and assaulting commercials. We now read books.
We kept one very small television that sits up on a shelf out of the way covered by a simple curtain. It is there for severe weather and for information if we have some kind of emergency. We have a digital antenna so there is no monthly bill to have this and all we need.
Many of our homes are running over with generic goods and much of them look the same. In the past people did not dispose and waste things like we do today and they made many items by hand to be used in their home and when something is made in such a way it is quite unique. I always wondered how they had time to do the things they did and now I am starting to understand.
If we have too many things in our house it makes extra work and why I continue to sort and declutter. Recently we had family to come and I realized even though the things we have in our house now are more functional we still have clutter that needs to be removed and I am working on this. It is all about sorting through those things we drag around in our life because we have always had them. Many of them have no real purpose .
Today people often compare what they have by what they see in a magazine or on the internet. We have been guided by marketing to think everything needs to color coordinate or have a certain look. It does not need to be this way. What is important is functional and purpose.
Changing our habits does not necessarily come easy but over time we can get passed them and live a calmer and more productive life at home.
I am very concerned at how our world has changed and how mixed up everything seems to be. It is getting volatile and out of control but it does not have to be this way in our homes. Our home is the one place we can take control, make change and become our place of refuge.
We make our family stronger by taking control of our families security. Food and shelter is part of that security.
These canning jars are our functional collectables. :) I am finally figuring out what is most important for us. Why has it taken me this long? I have known this all along but when we step from basic to modern world we lose our way. I even donated canning jars a long while ago. Why did I do this? I would have not done that in the past. What happened is I just moved on leaving all that behind but now I know I should have not done this. There is no food security in relying on just purchasing.
We cannot can and preserve our food without the tools to do so.
My neighbor Naomi told me about how her mother kept their family fed during the 1930s great depression.
A pressure canner is needed to can vegetables and meats and Jams, jellies and relishes are canned using a water bath canner. Naomi's mother had a pressure canner and a water bath canner and people would come to their house with food that needed to be canned and her payment would be to keep a part of the food for canning their food. Naomi said this was the way her mother kept the children fed during this hard time.
Our generations before us had knowledge and skills that are now being lost and we need to educate ourselves and become skilled as they once were so we can teach our younger generations. We cannot become completely dependent on purchasing because if we ever have a national emergency we are in great danger.
If we adults have no safety plan, no food storage, no tools to grow and preserve food, no seeds, then we have been neglectful to our family. We need to learn to recognize wild food, how to grow food and how to preserve food and we need to tools to do so. Even those that live in apartments can seek out community gardens and if there are none then talk to people to get one started.
These are foods that I dehydrated and I am rehydrating for our dinner. Cabbage, carrots and potatoes. Part of food storage is using and rotating our food that is stored.
I cooked these separately but they are very good cooked together in a slow cooker for a soup or stew. I like to can, ferment and dehydrate food for our pantry. There is so much information now how to do these things that there is no reason for me to tell you how. There are excellent books.
There are county extension offices all over our states and they have wonderful resources and classes and such as that. There are books and some elderly folks that are still around that would share their knowledge if only asked.
Some people ask me about the books I read. I don't have room to show all of the books but here are some of the important books and items we use.
A food saver with a jar sealer is a very important item we have. When I dehydrate our food I air seal it in a jar.
We use our berkey water filter every day. We have city water but that comes with chemicals.
Food dehydrator
If we don't have enough of something you can often piece it together. We cannot have everything at once.
The items we have given up have helped to pay for many of our important tools we have. We don't spend money on sodas, junk food or eat out. That saves a lot of money. We don't pay for tv cable and that saves a lot of money. We journal most everything we do and watch our meters closely so we don't have large utility bills.
If people would only think about buying "Needed" items instead of "Wanted" items first it could help their budget in many ways. We don't need a new purse or television or phone if we don't have our important goods. Food storage is more important than accessories for the house.
Spending our money on an item to cook food in a power outage is more important than going out to dinner.
Do we have a way to wash our laundry if there is an extended power outage?
A wringer is very helpful to get the water out of our clothes.
Do we have a clothesline to dry our laundry?
Do we have those two important canners to preserve our food?
Do you have a record book where you can keep up with the money being spent and the utility readings so you will know ahead what your bills are going to be?
We can change our way of thinking and our habits if we just take the steps to do so and we cannot do it all at once but once we do have these things we have a safety net and can feel more secure because we are all one accident away, one storm away, one job loss away, one illness away from a trying time and we need to be prepared to weather those times.
One way we can help a young couple get started off right is by skipping all the foo foo gifts and give the practical items. When we look at what gifts they receive today it is shocking to me that the very basic things they need are never purchased. No wonder they struggle so being able to start off. It is our job to teach our children and send them off correctly. This was done in the past and then time passed and I did not see as clearly anymore but now I have come back to my senses and thought I might mention it. Grandma Donna
