I found this on someones blog today while looking for something completely different and since it was interesting to me thought I would share it.
Dancing With God
When I meditated on the word Guidance,
I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word.
I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music,
and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness,
and attentiveness from one person
and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When I saw "G: I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i".
"God, "u" and "i" dance."
God, you, and I dance.
As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
that I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God's blessings
and mercies be upon you on this day and every day.
May you abide in God as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead
and to guide you through each season of your life.
If God has done anything for you in your life,
please share this message with someone else,
for prayer is one of the best gifts we can receive.
There is no cost but a lot of rewards;
so let's continue to pray for one another.
And I Hope You Dance!!!!!!!!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
1927 Superior Patterns
This is a great ad from a Sears,Robuck Catalog during the roaring twenties for Superior patterns. These were early patterns for women's and children's clothing. I have to say the styles look pretty easy to make, but that doesn't mean they were. I have never tried using a Superior Pattern so I have no idea how that would be either.
I love seeing the old styles and patterns. You can check out the old patterns I have on this website: Allpatterns on Etsy. There are links to the right that will take you there.
How I learned to Conserve and Survive!
My mother gets the credit for teaching me the skills to survive the tough times that come into many of our lives from time to time. She lived though the depression and she was German...I think that is a double qualification!
I remember my mother giving me an article she cut from the newspaper when she was about 82 that explained how the wealthy got to be wealthy. It told about the little things that kept them in the green like not buying a new car every few years or spending top dollar on anything. It talked about the truly wealthy often didn't look the part. Those that look wealthy are most likely deep in credit card debt from trying to impress others. I don't recall the details too much, but I knew what the point was and like always I argued with her about it. My mother is no longer with us, and I wish I had humbled myself to say "Thank you" more often for the things she did teach me that have proven very useful. So take note of my error and tell those around you what you appreciate them for today...because you WILL regret it later if you don't.
Back to the thrifty ways to live through lean times. Some things have been inbred in me and I didn't realize it until I saw my children practicing some of them in their adult lives. My mother saved a lot of things like so many learned to do during the depression. She saved those twisty ties, margarine tubs and old clothes....everything that she thought she might use again one day. These people have provided us Antique, Vintage collectors/sellers with a wonderful assortment of things to look for today! My grand kids will probably not even save the birthday presents they get 2 days longer than they use them.
One thing I do that has helped my family through some hard times was to clip coupons...now it is even easier since there are a lot online. I not only clipped coupons, but I traded coupons and rebate forms and the UPCs needed to cash them in. This was some years ago and I don't think this is as easy to do today, but I haven't tried lately...so check it out online and see what it there. I averaged about $200 a month in the 1970's...that made a difference for our family of 6. I was a stay at home Mom and this helped me be able to stay that way.
I recycled our aluminum cans and got the cash. I have to say that I wasn't very good at saving all those little twisty things, but I saved a lot of useful things that I could reuse. I made some of my kids clothes and saved the fabric for other projects, I made food last longer by making meals that I could freeze some of for another day, we had a vegetable garden, and watched what we spent on everything.
Clothing was a big expense with 4 kids. I shopped the sales and bought ahead for the little ones and when they got older we shopped together at the sales. When my oldest son started wanting the name brands that we couldn't afford I would allow him to buy the name brand, but he had to make up the difference in price. He always had some kind of income...newspaper boy, babysitting, jobs when a teen. By the way he is a very successful, although maybe a slight workaholic, family man today and lives quite well. He has thanked us for teaching him to be disciplined with work.
The bottom line really is that if you want to achieve something you need to put forth the effort to make it happen. It isn't always easy or pretty, but it can be done with dignity and persistence. Read, learn and plan to make it happen...and I believe you will.
I remember my mother giving me an article she cut from the newspaper when she was about 82 that explained how the wealthy got to be wealthy. It told about the little things that kept them in the green like not buying a new car every few years or spending top dollar on anything. It talked about the truly wealthy often didn't look the part. Those that look wealthy are most likely deep in credit card debt from trying to impress others. I don't recall the details too much, but I knew what the point was and like always I argued with her about it. My mother is no longer with us, and I wish I had humbled myself to say "Thank you" more often for the things she did teach me that have proven very useful. So take note of my error and tell those around you what you appreciate them for today...because you WILL regret it later if you don't.
Back to the thrifty ways to live through lean times. Some things have been inbred in me and I didn't realize it until I saw my children practicing some of them in their adult lives. My mother saved a lot of things like so many learned to do during the depression. She saved those twisty ties, margarine tubs and old clothes....everything that she thought she might use again one day. These people have provided us Antique, Vintage collectors/sellers with a wonderful assortment of things to look for today! My grand kids will probably not even save the birthday presents they get 2 days longer than they use them.
One thing I do that has helped my family through some hard times was to clip coupons...now it is even easier since there are a lot online. I not only clipped coupons, but I traded coupons and rebate forms and the UPCs needed to cash them in. This was some years ago and I don't think this is as easy to do today, but I haven't tried lately...so check it out online and see what it there. I averaged about $200 a month in the 1970's...that made a difference for our family of 6. I was a stay at home Mom and this helped me be able to stay that way.
I recycled our aluminum cans and got the cash. I have to say that I wasn't very good at saving all those little twisty things, but I saved a lot of useful things that I could reuse. I made some of my kids clothes and saved the fabric for other projects, I made food last longer by making meals that I could freeze some of for another day, we had a vegetable garden, and watched what we spent on everything.
Clothing was a big expense with 4 kids. I shopped the sales and bought ahead for the little ones and when they got older we shopped together at the sales. When my oldest son started wanting the name brands that we couldn't afford I would allow him to buy the name brand, but he had to make up the difference in price. He always had some kind of income...newspaper boy, babysitting, jobs when a teen. By the way he is a very successful, although maybe a slight workaholic, family man today and lives quite well. He has thanked us for teaching him to be disciplined with work.
The bottom line really is that if you want to achieve something you need to put forth the effort to make it happen. It isn't always easy or pretty, but it can be done with dignity and persistence. Read, learn and plan to make it happen...and I believe you will.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Vintage Collecting during a Recession
Are you finding it hard to keep up with your favorite passion of collecting? Have you had to put that passion aside for now? Maybe not...maybe you can just tweak it a little and still enjoy some of those little passions!
We are all cutting back just to be careful so we are sure we can make it OK down the road. Hopefully we won't have to do this too long, but while the times are lean we do what we need to do. Does that mean that you can't indulge yourself a little? I would say sure you can...just do it wisely! Maybe you were buying furniture to decorate your home...so now maybe you switch to accessorizing instead. Maybe your passion was bookends or glassware that costs a lot to ship....shop at local stores for some of that until you can resume your passion online again.
Why not start a new collection? There are really fun things to collect that are not expensive and yet are great fun to own. They could be buttons or stamps, gold or silver, (ok gold and silver might eat at your pocket book a little...but rumor has it those are commodities that are going to keep rising!) Maybe there are toys from your past that you could search for that bring back really fond memories. Polly pockets, toy cars, dollhouse furniture, paper dolls, marbles, Cracker Jack toys...all of these are small and can make really fun displays in a shadow box or on a shelf!
During the depression it is found that people still wanted to enjoy life...they saved up to go to a 25 cent movie, or buy a cotton candy at the fair. How much more do we waste today on fast food and designer coffees? There are many areas that we can cut back on and still spend a little on building memories for ourselves.
I would suggest that we re-think some of our budgets in this challenging time and pay attention to the little things in life.
While things are great to have...remember they can break and will not last forever...so let's balance the "things" in life with the relationships we have as well. Hug the kids...stop and say hello to a stranger...call your mother or Dad... and then get back online and buy them a little treasure too!
Check back for another post of how I learned to be thrifty from a depression survivor!
We are all cutting back just to be careful so we are sure we can make it OK down the road. Hopefully we won't have to do this too long, but while the times are lean we do what we need to do. Does that mean that you can't indulge yourself a little? I would say sure you can...just do it wisely! Maybe you were buying furniture to decorate your home...so now maybe you switch to accessorizing instead. Maybe your passion was bookends or glassware that costs a lot to ship....shop at local stores for some of that until you can resume your passion online again.
Why not start a new collection? There are really fun things to collect that are not expensive and yet are great fun to own. They could be buttons or stamps, gold or silver, (ok gold and silver might eat at your pocket book a little...but rumor has it those are commodities that are going to keep rising!) Maybe there are toys from your past that you could search for that bring back really fond memories. Polly pockets, toy cars, dollhouse furniture, paper dolls, marbles, Cracker Jack toys...all of these are small and can make really fun displays in a shadow box or on a shelf!
During the depression it is found that people still wanted to enjoy life...they saved up to go to a 25 cent movie, or buy a cotton candy at the fair. How much more do we waste today on fast food and designer coffees? There are many areas that we can cut back on and still spend a little on building memories for ourselves.
I would suggest that we re-think some of our budgets in this challenging time and pay attention to the little things in life.
While things are great to have...remember they can break and will not last forever...so let's balance the "things" in life with the relationships we have as well. Hug the kids...stop and say hello to a stranger...call your mother or Dad... and then get back online and buy them a little treasure too!
Check back for another post of how I learned to be thrifty from a depression survivor!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
-----
The History of APRONS
I don't think our kids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
Send this to those who would know, and love, the story about Grandma's aprons. Or it can be a good history lesson for those that have no idea how the apron played a part in our lives.
REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.
I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron ..... but Love !!
.
The History of APRONS
I don't think our kids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
Send this to those who would know, and love, the story about Grandma's aprons. Or it can be a good history lesson for those that have no idea how the apron played a part in our lives.
REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.
I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron ..... but Love !!
.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
My Early Happy (Heart) Valentines Day or Update of 3-Ring Circus
Yesterday was the day my heart returned to normal...literally. I have had a rhythm problem with my heart and yesterday I was admitted to the hospital to have an EP (electrophysiology) study done of my heart. They thought I might end up with an implanted defibrillator, but I didn't!! YEA!
I did have 2 ablations done and now my heart feels much calmer. I had PVC's, Premature Ventricular Contractions, so they ambulated 2 places and I seem to be fine. It was along day, but thankfully it is over.
My heart jumps for joy that it has improved. Many people were praying for me and I am so thankful for them. I know the Lord kept me calm and at peace through all of this. I know I must have been somewhat nervous because my blood pressure was up, but I felt fine all week before and the day of. I know my God used this to increase my faith and during the months of many DR visits and concerns before I knew what was wrong until this day...I can see the process led me to needing to rely on Him for what I could not control.
I did have 2 ablations done and now my heart feels much calmer. I had PVC's, Premature Ventricular Contractions, so they ambulated 2 places and I seem to be fine. It was along day, but thankfully it is over.
My heart jumps for joy that it has improved. Many people were praying for me and I am so thankful for them. I know the Lord kept me calm and at peace through all of this. I know I must have been somewhat nervous because my blood pressure was up, but I felt fine all week before and the day of. I know my God used this to increase my faith and during the months of many DR visits and concerns before I knew what was wrong until this day...I can see the process led me to needing to rely on Him for what I could not control.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)