A scrap pot I made from a thrift store find. It was an old fondue pot and a single lid from something else.
As Charles and I keep walking our path to a more practical vintage life I realize that the best changes are some of the little things that make big improvements.
Simplifying is hard work and it can take a lot energy but as we have worked our way back to a better time it just feels right. We keep having these moments of "Why didn't we think of that before". It is usually something very simple.
We are trying to keep only items that have a functional purpose.
Some people may think we have lost our mind by wanting to live as people did nearly 100 years ago. What we have found is that it brings us back to our roots, a connection to our generations before us and an understanding of how we are really suppose to be living our lives. We are working our way to the days that we only use what we need and take care of the more purposeful items that we own.
Growing our food has taken a lot of work and continues to take much effort because we have to plant something first and take care of that plant to have something later. This is a season to season, year to year effort but eating what comes from our little plot here on this earth feels right.
I have received emails from many of you over the years and some have told me that you have changed your lives by living a more old fashioned life. It seems that many people get to a point that they feel overwhelmed, exhausted and find themselves sinking in debt before they make this kind of change or it can come from a job loss or misfortune.
When people do change to living a more simple life I get emails saying "When I am tired now, it is a good tired" or "I am exhausted from working in my garden or cleaning our home". Being physically tired is much better than being mentally tired. Physically tired makes us sleep better at night and mentally tired can cause us to have poor sleep.
Our backyard was once just a plain yard but much effort, flowers and vegetables grow in just about every area. We have learned through trial and error that we need keep adding compost. We do not send our leaves and cuttings to the dump, we compost them right here where we live. Then we give it back to our soil.
My mother and grandmother would sit in chairs in the back yard and watch birds come and go and my mother knew the names and sounds of many of them. They would watch the clouds and just rest. Some days they would bring vegetables to peel or shell but they seemed to know how to relax and enjoy just sitting there and enjoy the little things around them. They were my examples of what peace and contentment meant.
Are you able to do this? Can you just go out and sit on a step, a bench or chair and be content? Or do you need noise, television or social media to numb you? There is something very wrong going on in today's world and we need to find what it takes to free ourselves from addictions, noise and spending so we can find peace and contentment.
We cannot always feel settled because disruptions do happen in life but the unsettled should only be temporary. We need to feel contentment and it would even be better if we could be examples for another so they could see what that word means.
Some people say they do not know what it is they are suppose to be doing with their life or feel unfulfilled. If we start with the place we reside and make it a home, we make homemade meals, take proper care of the things we have such as our clothing, linens, dishes, keep things sorted so we do not collect clutter and dust, mend what can be mended, repair what is broken we may find we may not have that thought at all. If we still do then plant a garden.
Grandma Donna
