Homemaking Inspiration

I was going to do a post on my cloth diapering system, but my camera is out of juice and I don't have anymore batteries for it. I had bought more diapers last summer and Sarah outgrew them quickly, but thanks to my favorite diapering board on babycenter.com, I got some suggestions on how to make them fit. (toddler size prefolds)

Today feels like Monday to me, since I was gone yesterday. Having 'no plan' is starting to catch up with me. I get frustrated easily because I can think of a lot of things that need to be done, but have a hard time prioritizing them. Plus I feel PMS surfacing, LOL.

So this morning I sat down and wrote out exactly what I was going to do, just this morning. I needed to catch up on laundry, dishes and general tidying up.

1. tidy living room
2. get children dressed, tidy bedrooms, strip sheets
3. put clean sheets on beds
4. switch out laundry
5. get the kids set up with activities while I do dishes
6. start a pot of chicken stock
7. plan out menu and grocery list
8. brush girls' hair (forgot earlier)
9. School
10. lunch time
11. make bread dough and tuna salad for dh's lunch tomorrow
12. Checked kombucha, done already! What's the deal? (I started it Thurs.)
13. Kids watched a video while I loaded dishwasher and got it going, then super cleaned my dish drainer


Sometimes though, I guess I get the 'homemaking blahs' and need some inspiration. You know what works for me? Reading the Little House on the Prairie series. Any part of any of the books will do, but my favorites are Little House in the Big Woods and The Long Winter. I don't think 'Ma' ever felt that she wasn't a necessary part of the family, or ever felt she wasn't doing something worthwhile. It was obvious that without her presence their life couldn't have been possible. She was submissive to her husband, a visionary man always dreaming of land in far off places. She hardly complained about their simple, hard life and the children pitched in to help. She always kept busy and always found something to do in the home. She didn't have any other friends or family most of the time, just her husband and children. There was no 'getting away' or 'girl time', and if anyone needed it, it would be Ma after being cooped in a cabin for months on end from the snow. And the big thing, they were happy with SO little material possessions. It makes me want to go through my house and get rid of everything but the essentials. I would love to be able to sit down with 'Ma' and have a long homemaking chat :)



They always devoted the morning hours to work, the afternoons to studying and sewing, the evenings for family and entertainment. (Pa and his fiddle or storytelling) Each day had it's own task, which most of us are familiar with:

Monday- wash day
Tuesday- ironing
Wednesday- mending
Thursday- churn
Friday- cleaning
Saturday-baking
Sunday- rest

Seems simple enough, but most of us don't have to spend a whole day ironing or mending since we have dryers and sewing machines now. Amazing how with all of our time saving equipment, we never have enough time. A big dream I've always had, is to live way out in the country and farm. I want to live in an old farmhouse with minimal conveniences (plumbing and electricity please) and be the capable farmwife that gets up before the crack of dawn to get that stove roaring and biscuits in the oven :) I want to can and preserve produce from my own garden, churn butter from fresh cream from my own cow, and collect eggs from our chickens. I want us to sit outside on a summer evening, hand churning ice cream and listen to the crickets. I want to make our quilts for our beds, knit our sweaters and mittens and have a huge clothesline.

Of course, this is all in my head, and when it came to reality it might not be all that great, but who knows. Was I born in the wrong time period? Nope...God wanted me here, now for His purpose, but it's fun to think about.