Song from a Secret Garden
The warm temperatures have dropped dramatically. What looked like warm Spring coming in to say hi the past two weeks, has snuck back into 30 degree weather, windy and rain.
As I sit here on the couch, wrapped in my robe, the wind is howling outside, the skies are a dark gray and the tiniest of rain drops pitter patter on the driveway. It seems like old man winter is holding on for dear life, grasping at every bit of cold, not wanting to let go. Such is this battle every year, Spring and Winter competing to the bitter end.
I won't say I enjoy the drastic change in temperatures again, but I do love a good thunderstorm, the kind that brings a darkness to the home that only soft lit candles can thrive in.
I have gone about my day with a purpose, being mindful of every chore I encountered. It isn't just about cleaning, or doing laundry, but the heart with which you do it, and intent, and the time to be mindful of what you are achieving in that moment.
Housework is just housework, unless you approach it with the mindset that it's your way of contributing to your family. A way of providing a safe place, a warm bed for weary bodies and tummy filling good food to nourish your soul.
I once was told that this simple kind of life is a great idea, but not attainable especially for those who work outside the home. I understand that, after all, being a homemaker as I am, my life is within these four walls, and so it gives me more time to focus, to go slow, to sip coffee and read a book, or bake a cake, or garden or whatever it is that I want to do.
But just because I am home full time, it doesn't mean that those who work outside the home, can't live it as well.
Slow, soft, mindful living starts within!
When we choose to project the quiet inside, to our outside world, it affects everything around us, and in a way brings others to this more calm, laid back, and slower pace of living.
A great way to start living it, is perhaps by surrounding yourself with those people and things, that will encourage you to stay on that path. I will be honest and tell you that save for myself, no one else in my life lives this way, or even shows a want to do it. So for me, I choose to find inspiration outside, and being that I'm a very visual person, that inspiration comes through videos on YouTube of like minded women.
Slow living, quiet vlogs, just lives being shared through few words and lots of beautiful scenery. At the moment, I follow a lot of channels that share their daily slow life from Italy, France, Norway, Germany, England.
Many times, when I am doing the usual cleaning up around the house, I think about my great grandmother Ema. I fondly remember her with her apron, the pocket always filled with random tidbits, things she needed like her handkerchief, and also things she picked up as she went about her day.
She did everything with love, often cooking meals for 15 people at a time since we always had a big family.
There are memories and moments that are forever etched in my mind and heart. The smile on her face as she prepared green beans, or peeled a potato. She would often have me help her peel and then spent the entire time saying "you're taking off more potato than skin Sandra", or "don't cut so deep, softly run your knife just under the skin". I would often be amazed at how she would start at one point of the potato, and just like magic would end at the other, the potato peel a long swirly line just hanging off the tip of the knife.
She never complained, never said she was sick of doing the same things every day. She just went about her homemaking chores with a joy in her heart and a leap in her step. She passed away a few months after I moved to the USA, at the age of 96. To the end, she still monitored everyone and the running of the household, often giving out orders from her bed. What an incredible woman and what an incredible love of homemaking she passed down to me.
I wish I could say that my daughter is following in my footsteps, but when it comes to homemaking, she isn't, and that's ok. I feel that society has taught our daughters that homemaking is something to look down on, that independent women should not be in the home cooking and cleaning, that it's beneath them.
Did I try to instill this same passion in her? Absolutely, but in a world of social media and outside influences, I often feel as parents we are left with our hands tied in a sense. What we teach at home, is often forgotten beyond these walls.
However, now that she is in her own apartment, she often calls me to find out how to do this, or that, or how to cook a certain dish. Slowly, but surely, she is coming around to understanding how important it is to care for our homes.
I often get many messages on my Instagram, from friends and other women, telling me how much I inspire them or motivate them. That for me is the best compliment I could ever receive, because I don't look at what I'm doing as influencing anyone, but rather sharing my life and how happy it makes me. If that inspires others to live a simpler slower life, it's a wonderful thing.
Anyway, I started this post yesterday afternoon, but then got sidetracked with dinner and the night routine and ended up leaving it until this morning, to finish.
It is currently 7:28 am, and I'm going to sit in bed a little longer, I've been up since 4:45 am, and since it's Saturday I'll take it easy, start my morning slowly and then move on to what needs to be done.
What's on the agenda for today?
- More housecleaning
- Trip to the store to restock on veggies for the week (I am going through a lot of vegetables lately)
- Work on my crochet a bit more
- Start a new book
- Make some cute fabric chickens for Springs
- Continue watching Shogun
- Watch some period dramas (really wanting to watch something a la Jane Austen)
Hope you all have a fantastic Saturday friends.
