{ Blogtober 2019 - Day 6 - Living like the olden days }

October 6, 2019 - Living like the olden days

"Why are you always moving things around?" my husband asked.  "Not that I mind, just wondering why it's always changing around here".  Then he chuckled and walked off to the garage.

He is not wrong, I have found myself quite unsettled lately, constantly changing things from one spot to the other, thinking I finally have it how I want it, only to change it all again in a few weeks.

I couldn't quite understand why I've been feeling this way, and then I realized that it all boils down to wanting to live more like the olden days, but feeling like I'm trapped in modern times, forced to move along at turbo speed and surround myself with gadgets and the latest of things in order to *keep up*.

The days I step away from all of those things, are my favorites.  I feel relaxed, I feel at peace and truly at home.

We live in a world where everyone is racing to the finish line, always looking for the newest phone, the newest tv, the newest furniture.  Everywhere I look lately, people are going on about the newest Iphone, who has it already, who can't wait to get it and who is jealous that they can't afford it.  The biggest house with the most rooms, the social media worthy decor.  Olden day ways are frowned upon.  A doily?  Goodness no that is what greatgrandmas used, hanging clothes out to dry?  What for, there is a perfectly good top of the line dryer inside the house.

One vehicle family?  Absolutely not.

I was sitting on my bed earlier, fully intent on doing nothing today but watching something on tv, or read, anything but housework.  "It can wait until tomorrow".  I told myself.

And before I knew it, I was scrolling aimlessly on Instagram, up and down just like I used to on Facebook (so glad I made the decision to walk away from that one).

As I did this I found myself getting frustrated and quite annoyed with myself.  Why am I wasting perfectly good time, scrolling through social media, for what, for who?

I live in a wonderful home, with beautiful huge yards surrounding it, and there is always, and I mean always something needing done around here.  There is no reason to be bored when you're a homemaker, as there is always something needing our attention.

So I got up, and began pottering around the house.  Before I knew it, I was fully immersed in my home and garden, apron tied around my waist and a smile on my face.

 While at Aldi yesterday, I found the clothes drying rack I have been wanting for years.  I have held off buying it because it's usually over $30 dollars, and I really didn't see the need to spend that on a drying rack when I could just make do with my old wooden one.

But, Aldi had them for $6 and I just could not pass that up.  I do not use my dryer unless absolutely necessary to do so.  For me, it makes sense to dry my clothes outside rather than increase my electricity bill by using the dryer.

Some people say it's a waste of time to drag it outside, drag all the clothes out, and then in and then have to iron and so on.  But is this not how things were done in the old days?  They didn't have the luxury of dryers back then and they managed to keep their clothes washed and put away with no problem at all.

If you think about it, it's not that we wouldn't know how to live without electricity, it's more of a case of being so used to it that we would find it quite difficult to adapt, and I'm not saying that I would completely cut electricity out of my life, unfortunately so much of our lives are dependent on it.

It's just a matter of adapting and shifting things, cutting back here and there and not just giving in to the technology available because everyone else does.

But why, why forego the modern conveniences, you're just making things harder for yourself?

That may be true for some, and I am not here to tell you that you have to agree with me or choose to do things the way that I do.  It's a choice, and my choice has always been to live as simply as I can and try to go back in time.  We can say whatever we want but the truth is that they lived much simpler lives, much happier lives too.

People were kinder, more honest, more put together and the love that women had for their homes was a wonderful example for generations to come.

I don't ever want to look at my house and feel like it's cold, or just 4 walls keeping rain off our heads.  I want to look around and feel love and coziness, to feel like I could just sink into one of the couches with a good book or a cup of coffee, and be surrounded by peace and quiet.

Inside my home, I am living the simple days from the past.  Outside my home, I am pulled into the modern days, driving all day long, dealing with crazy traffic, frustrations, technology to keep me in touch with my family, the allure of new clothes and flashy new kitchen gadgets, the most beautiful of couches and super fast cars.

Try as I might it's hard to shut it all out while outside, but that is why the minute I step inside, I pop on the apron and travel back in time.

After all my laundry was done, I gave the kitchen a good clean which included wiping down all the appliances, moving things around a bit and sweeping and such.  Like I mentioned in the beginning of the post, I am constantly moving things from place to place.

I feel like as I go about my days, I find that things don't quite belong where I placed them, and so I move them, from one counter to the other, to a shelf or the baker's rack, into a drawer or out of the kitchen completely.

The yards were weed whacked and mowed, the front porch area was swept and washed down, and I then sat for a moment and was about to do nothing else, but a niggly little thought in the back of my mind kept me from doing so.

I've been mentioning wanting to make some pillow covers for a few weeks now.  But life gets in the way, and I put it off, there's always tomorrow, next week or next month.

Why do we do that, why do we put things off when we are perfectly capable of doing them in the moment?

My husband and I were just talking about this the other day, because even though we are not old, we are now getting to the age where our parents and grandparents are passing away, friends our age are getting sick and some have also left this earthly life.  You can't help but feel the changing tides and we were both saying that we need to just do things, not put them off until another time.

So I got back up, grabbed my old sweaters that I was planning to get rid of, turned on the sewing machine and got to work.

Love how they turned out and they are in the colors that I wanted for the little den area.  Being that it's Fall and with Christmas around the corner, I wanted to go with red, grey and plaids.  It's such a great feeling when a room starts coming together.

Am I always successful at this simpler life thing?  No, but that is ok, because when I fall off the wagon, I dust myself off and get right back up.

My greatgrandmother's words and actions very often pop into my mind.  She was a woman who was on the go from early morning until night, she took immense pride in the home, in the food she cooked and the way she cleaned.  Even washing dishes was a joy for her, and being around that kind of love and appreciation for her job as a homemaker, rubbed off on me.

I may not always get it right, but I know that I'm making her proud and that is one of the best feelings in the world.

I need to close off this post, the wind has just kicked off outside, not sure if we have a storm incoming but when one hits, we very often lose power and I would hate to lose my post before hitting publish, so, goodnight, have a wonderful restful sleep and I'll see you all back tomorrow morning for our Happy Homemaker Monday.