Charles and I have been organizing and shifting things around again. It only takes one item coming in to the house to completely shift all rooms. Our rule is that something has to go out if something comes in. Sometimes we have to squish a bit, at least for awhile.
Charles newly organized desk with his collection of presidential books. He loves history and woodworking.
We are still clearing out Madge's house and cleaning. Last week we retrieved a desk that was once Charles desk when he was in College. This desk was in Madge's house and so we brought it home, and washed it inside and out with Grandma's Lye Soap and then rinsed it well and then washed it again with Murphy's oil soap. I gave it a good buffing after that. Charles is happy to have his old desk once again an now has a better place to put his presidential books. Today he is taking the other desk to donations.
We also brought back his mother's old treadle machine. Charles father restored the machine in the 1980's. Madge could never use it so his father turned it into an electric but she still did not use it.
We brought both the desk and the treadle machine home with quite a struggle for us to move this down the hill and onto the truck, and unload it. It usually takes us a couple of days to recover from doing things like this.
I gave the machine cabinet a good washdown just like the desk was done. I oiled the wrought iron parts and Charles took the machine into singer to be cleaned and adjusted. Before he took it in, he took the motor off and we are putting it back to it's original 1926 making.
The machine is still at singer and I am looking forward to see how the old girl sews.
My old treadle that I call Clara is a 1923. We have named his mothers machine Sarah, so we will have a Clara and a Sarah.
When I am gone from this earth, I hope that my family will keep the two treadles because the quality of these treadle machines are not found in modern items today. But that will be for them to decided, we are all different.
Charles foot pedal scroll saw.
Charles and I have been replacing our modern furnishings with older pieces from the past ever since we started our history studies. Charles has torn apart and repaired and put back together many old broken and discarded pieces from the past. He can do this because the old items are made with real wood and real metal hardware.
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I am happy the way we have done slowly over the years because it is the excitement of the find, it has not been expensive. Many things we find when we are not even looking for it. One day we were going to the grocery store and took a cut through road and passed a yard sale. There stood two old broken chifforobes for $25.00. They were in pieces and we brought them home.
It is a patience thing.....
Charles and I have been sorting and cleaning. I am going through my old diaries and doing research with them. I need to sort them in order by year. The oldest is 1898. The majority of them are 20s, 30,s and 40,s. There are just not enough hours in a day to get all the things done, and many things are waiting but hopefully in a more organized place.
I have done the genealogy on several of the diaries and I want to have that attached to each one and keep them organized . It is important for me to organize and have things clean and notes about some of the items for family after I am gone.
Charles and I enjoy British series for movie nights and I do not even notice their accents any longer. We have dvd's and a small player and that is what we use for movie nights. People went to the movies quite often during the 1930s and 1940s. If not that they sat around their radio for the radio shows. The shows or movies that we watch are modern but are about the older eras.
I am working through our linens, this is taking a lot of time because some need repairs.
And now it is time for paperwork. What a job this is going to be. We have been shredding off and on for over a year now since Madge passed and we still have several large boxes to go through. We are behind with our own paperwork and that is stored in totes and we need to get that gone as well.
This afternoon when Charles comes in we are going to team up with sorting paperwork and shredding. The paperwork is a heavy burden on us and we just want it finished. It is weighing us down and we know that we will feel better when we get it all caught up. This will take us all the rest of the week most likely, if we don't get stopped.
We both have been noticing that it is the small items in the house that are the most difficult thing to find a place for.
On the series All Creatures Great and Small, Mrs. Hall would find a missing item and point out to Siegrfried to where the item lives. I want everything in my home to where it has a place to live. I have already said this once here on my blog, so this is part two, I am trying again :)
A few of our meals this past week.
This is pizza we made with homemade tortilla dough. we topped it with ham bits, olives, onions goat and mozzarella cheese. A sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a drizzle of garlic butter.
A pecan limb fell off the tree yesterday and hit the pear tree and stripped these pears off a limb. The pears need another month on the tree but these got knocked off and most of them are far along enough that I can peel and cube them and use them for pear pies to share. Yum! Now to find the time to do this and paperwork.
This 1932 study is causing me to organize everything. I cannot move through this study without changing.
Our paperwork must be put in order, our pantry has changed, purchases or lack of have changed. Our budget is getting cut more each week and we are shoring up anything that could be considered wasteful. Our priorities have taken a major change and we are strangely more peaceful considering everything outside of our home. We think about how are we going to pay our bills if money stops, today that could happen to anyone and it happened in the 1930s.
We have changed the temperature in our home, and we are wearing the same clothing longer before washing, aprons are more important than ever. I am not using the dryer at all, I am working towards having all my mending needs in a more organized way. I have new sewing projects using worn out clothing as the pattern. I am also redesigning a couple of clothing items that were uncomfortable so I have made them more comfortable instead of donating and purchasing something else. Charles has been deep into organizing his paperwork and when the sun sets so do we.
Is the study changing anyone else? I would love to see you up in the forum to talk about if the study has changed you or anything in your home?
Have any of you had storm damage with these terrible storms all over our country? Be safe in this heat wave.
Grandma Donna
