Catching Up

Lake Michigan--gorgeous!

It really has been two months since I last made a blog post!  This summer has been full of traveling, gardening, and planning.  Two trips took us to four states I had never been to~~Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Michigan.
One was a ministry trip and the other a really truly vacation.  A quick trip to West Virginia was also a ministry trip, but we got to visit with some very old, very dear friends, so it felt more like a vacation.  Also, we attended the national convention of The American Association of Lutheran Churches, which is our denomination, in Minnesota in June.  I'm ready to stay home awhile . . .

The flowers have been spectacular this summer, especially the zinnias and marigolds.  For the first time, I grew the marigolds from seeds and they are enormous.  The zinnias are abundant too.  The vegetable garden has struggled somewhat due to lack of rain (yes, we water it, but it's not the same as rain somehow, is it?), and anyway, by this time of the year I'm ready for it to be over.  Not the flowers, just the veggies!  We have gotten a decent amount of green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and spaghetti squash.  For the second year in a row the cabbages were completely worm-eaten and a complete loss.  It seems they won't be successful without some sort of cage or netting to keep the loopers off, and spending money on it gets us quickly to the point of diminishing return.  I give up!



We've begun another year of ministry to our local college campuses, which means the resumption of our every-other-Friday dinners.  The array of nationalities represented at these dinners is really something wonderful.  Besides our American friends, we've hosted people from China, Turkey, Haiti, Brazil, Morocco, India, and Japan, and ages range from less than a year old to mid-fifties.  Educational levels include everything from special ed to post doctoral researchers and visiting scholars.  My job in all this is as a support person.  Along with my husband, I plan menus, shop, cook, prepare, clean up, and extend a glad welcome in the name of Christ to each guest.  For more on the various outreaches we're involved in through Wittenberg Door, go here. 

The big news for me is that I'm homeschooling again!  I loved homeschooling my own two daughters, so I  was thrilled when the opportunity arose to teach my granddaughters.  The older is in first grade and the younger is a preschooler.  Every morning, their dad drops them off and we learn and grow together until their mother collects them about four hours later.  It is so rewarding to lay out for them a feast of good things to nourish their hearts and minds!  I will try to post with specifics soon. 

Playdough Spelling

On a field trip to the nature center in a neighboring town.
The little girl in the middle belongs to another family. :)

We began school the Tuesday after Labor Day.  The first two weeks were a time of adjustment and working out a few kinks, but we are settling in now and making good progress.  I will keep you posted! 

 

Hidden Art of Homemaking~ Chapter 5

I'm still moving through this book at a snail's pace, but I am making progress!

This chapter on interior decoration is an easy one for me.  Of all the chapters Edith Schaeffer included in the book, this one and the next one on gardening have stayed with me the strongest.  When I was a new bride and reading Hidden Art for the first time, I was so glad to have my natural inclinations affirmed. And I was encouraged by her stories of making a home on a shoestring.  I think her shoestring was even shorter than mine!  I was greatly encouraged to use what I had available to me and that it didn't take a lot of money to make a pleasant home.  Any place can be made more comfortable and attractive with a little thought and ingenuity and maybe just a tiny bit of money for a package of seeds or a thrift shop find.  Her advice and attitude have served me well for the twenty-six (so far) years of my marriage.  Thank you, Edith Schaeffer!

I am simply amazed when I stop and take an inventory of our household goods and furnishings now. Over the years, the Lord has blessed us so much through the generosity of others, the careful use of resources, and plain ol' serendipity. We've been given pianos, coffe tables, chairs, bookcases, beds, dressers, and a Victorian parlor organ as well as smaller items such as lamps and dishes.  We've bought furniture at yard sales. Our dining table, headboard, and a bookcase, not to mention many of my beloved blue and white dishes, were found marked down at antique shops.  We bought our china cabinet secondhand from an elderly woman who was downsizing.  We've even sometimes bought furniture new~ on sale of course!  None of it exactly matches.  It's a very eclectic conglomeration, but I think our home has a feel of comfort and welcome, sort of like Bag End only with more windows and none of the roundness.

We do a lot of work for ourselves.  I have no idea how many square feet of wall space we have painted in twenty-six years, not to mention furniture.  Like some women, paint is cheap and easy.  I like to say that paint covers a multitude of sins. The one time we attempted wallpaper was the only time we contemplated divorce (just kidding!), so we have stuck with paint since then.  We've saved a lot of money that way and learned a thing or two in the process.  The result is that we have a comfortable home that pleases us and we have the satisfaction of knowing that we accomplished it on a budget and with our own hands.

Now let me show you two projects I recently completed.

Well, this one is almost completed:

We have been looking for a long time for proper kitchen chairs, but nothing has presented itself in the price range we wanted.  We'd been using old metal folding chairs for the time being, and I had the brainstorm just to paint them.  Just buy some spray paint and spray away.  So I decided to do them each a different color for a splash of fun and color.  I say these are almost finished because they all need a little touching up (except the yellow one which needs another full coast, plain and simple), but I ran out of paint.  The nearest place to get more is an hour away, so it's waiting until we are up that way for something else.  But don't they look cute?  And aren't they lots better than boring metal folding chairs even if they aren't exactly our first choice?  I can't decide which color I like best!

Here's a project I finished couple days ago~

Yes, that is two colors of light blue paint you see there on that little edging.  I like this wall color, but we did not paint it ourselves.  If we had, that wouldn't have happened.  This room is slated to be painted probably next summer.  Until then, we shut our eyes to the imperfections.

I made the window curtains two years ago when we moved here.  It took me awhile to get back to the shower curtain, but it's finally finished!  This bathroom construction has a bit of a "make do," vintage feel to it, so I thought I'd just go with it.  Hence the patchwork curtains.  They were easy enough for someone with my meager sewing skills to make, though they are far from perfect.  I just winged it as I went and they came out fine.  Good enough.  As Edith Schaeffer says elsewhere, if you insist on perfection or nothing, you'll get nothing.  This shower curtain is not perfect, but it's a dang sight better than the ugly white plastic utilitarian one that was there.

I mostly used fabric scraps from other projects, but I did have to buy some remnants and fat quarters in order to have enough.  It was still very inexpensive.

I'm sorry I can't get a picture of the entire curtain.  It's too small a space!

A close-up~

Visit Cindy at Ordo Amoris for more posts about The Hidden Art of Homemaking.

The Hidden Art of Homemaking~ Chapter 4

I am inching ever so slowly through this book, but at least I am making progress, however sporadic.  Cindy at Ordo Amoris has wrapped up the book club, but I will continue to crawl along as I can.
This chapter is a hard one for me.  I don't know how to draw, sculpt, or paint (unless you count walls).  I am, however, fascinated with drawing.  It's an amazing thing to see an artist take such basic things as a blank piece of paper and a pencil, pen, or piece of charcoal and bring something beautiful and insightful out of the blankness. 

But, alas, I have no ability in this area, and so I compensate.  Mrs. Schaeffer wrote about creating cards to give a more human touch, and though I don't draw them, I do use scrapbooking supplies and rubber stamps for my card-making.  Not quite as good, I know, but still more personal than a store-bought card . . . not that I don't use those plenty of times because I do.  Sometimes I just don't have the time to make a card.

One related area that I hope to find time for someday is calligraphy.  I adore calligraphy and especially Medieval illuminating.  Maybe when my homeschooling days are over I can take it up. 

I've often told my husband that if I had any drawing ability, I would put it to use illustrating.  I think it takes real insight and intelligence to be an illustrator and to bring to life an author's characters, settings, and sensibilities.  I have been known to buy books just for the illustrations.  Here are some samples of favorite illustrators~

E.H. Shepard is best known as the illustrator of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, but his illustrations for The Wind in the Willows are equally delightful.  I was excited to find this book for $1 at a used book sale. 





A classic illustration of Pooh-bear and Christopher Robin.  These rich, detailed, and warm illustrations are far superior to the flat, one-dimensional Disney version of Pooh and friends.  I always insist on the original illustrations for the Pooh stories.

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My attachment to Eloise Wilkin has a sentimental element to it, I know, but in this one area of my life I unabashedly allow it.  Can you blame me?  Look at her detailed interiors!





Drink in her sweet, cherubic children!



Bask in all her vintage-y goodness and innocence!


So really, can you blame me?

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I first came across Shirley Hughes when Lizzie was a toddler.  She fondly captures all the wonder and adventure of the preschool years in her illustrations of Alfie and his sister Annie Rose.






 

Hidden Art of Homemaking~ Chapter 3

 

This chapter is easy for my family because we are a family of musicians.  I have two degrees in music, my husband spent a large part of his undergrad years as a music major, and both of our daughters play instruments.  I have a lot to say about music and children. 

We've incorporated music into our home in various ways over the years. When the girls were younger, we sang A LOT, in the car especially.  We sang Raffi songs*, folk songs, nursery rhymes, hymns, traditional children's songs. . .  We also listened to a lot of CD's in the car, but we rarely listened to pop music or music patterned after pop music.  (An aside~ I detest music for children written in the pop genre.  I just can't stand it.  There is so much good stuff out there for children without it!)  It helps that Dave and I can both carry a tune (actually, he's quite a good singer; I am adequate), but even if we couldn't, we'd have sung along with CD's.  Kids need to be singing and getting used to their voices.  Don't tell them they can't sing, and worse yet, don't tell them you can't sing!  Just pop in a CD and sing along.  No one will care, especially the kids!  They'll just remember everyone singing as a family. 

We used to have the occasional evening of making music together, Lizzie on piano, me on flute or piano, Dave on cello, violin, or viola, and when Hannah was very young, she banged a drum or tambourine along with us.  We had lots of fun, especially playing Celtic music.  If you can, set aside some time to play and/or sing together.  If someone plays the piano or guitar, then that person can accompany the rest singing.  It doesn't really matter what instrumentation you've got, just do it.  It's a great alternative to watching a movie together.  I'm sorry to say that we haven't done this in a long, long time.  Maybe it's time to revive it. :)

We start 'em young here.  This is Arane at four months sitting on her
grandpa's lap and listening to Hannah practice the viola.  Look at the excitement
on her face!  She's practically dancing!

There is nothing like a live concert to spark musical interest in a person.  In a couple of the classes I teach for The Potter's School, I require my students to attend two classical music concerts a year and write a short paper about it.  They almost always attend with other family members.  In the year-end evaluations, the most consistent positive comment I receive is about these concerts.  Over and over again, parents tell me that they would never have made the effort to attend a classical music concert if not for these assignments and that they plan to continue taking their families.  Mission accomplished! :)  Take your kids to concerts!

Before we moved to Illinois, we lived in a university town and Hannah and I used to go to student and faculty recitals, which were free.  Also, a community college in a nearby town had an amazingly affordable concert series.  Student tickets were just $5, and though adult tickets were more (I think $8-10), it was still an incredible bargain!  We heard many wonderful up-and-coming world class musicians and also some who were already well established.  The setting was intimate, and the musicians felt free to talk to and interact with the audience.  I particularly remember the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and the Vienna Boys' Choir.  For several years, Dave or I would take Lizzie to these concerts.  Sadly, the series came to an end a year or two after Hannah was old enough to join us.  We also attended local symphony concerts when we could, but the tickets were usually out of our price range. Now we live in a pretty isolated small town with very few opportunities to attend concerts without driving a considerable distance.  I am so glad we took the opportunity while we could!

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One of my favorite ways to introduce hidden art through music into the home (or car!) is with the CD, The Sprig of Thyme by John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers.  The Cambridge Singers is my favorite choral group.  Their sound is smooth and blended and pure.  Their musicality, phrasing, and intonation are first-rate. I cannot think of anything more beautiful than their rendition of "She Moved Through the Fair."  Not only is their performance first-rate, the arrangement is breathtakingly exquisite.  I've been listening to this CD for two and a half years and I am still not tired of it.  If you would like to introduce something beyond pop music into your home, this is an excellent place to start.  And you and your children can sing along!

*I really like Raffi.  I think his simple, folksy, acoustic sound is just right for young children.  He sings a mix of nursery songs, folk songs, traditional songs, and even a few hymns that I think should be a part of our children's collective knowledge and experience.  He also writes original songs.  When he has children singing with him, they are real children who sound like children, not like Broadway star wannabes or like the overly polished, bland, vanilla children I sometimes hear on CD's published by Christian labels.  (Those are banished from our house!)  Something important about Raffi is that his music doesn't annoy me, unlike anything put out by Sesame Street.  I actually enjoy it and didn't mind listening to it over and over again.  The caveat I have about Raffi is that he is sometimes too much of a tree hugger for my taste.  I should also say that I am not familiar with his later recordings.  My children outgrew him a long time ago, so I have lost touch with his later work.

 

The Hidden Art of Homemaking~ Chapter 2

I did not mean to start this series and immediately drop it, but I always forget that the end of the schoolyear is super busy.  I just did not have the time to continue it until school was out and travels were over.  Maybe I'll do better now that it's summer?  Hope springs eternal.

In chapter 2 of The Hidden Art of Homemaking, Edith Schaeffer says that she believes that everyone has some area of hidden that could be developed if given some time and energy.  For me that is sewing.  I've always wanted to learn to sew, but first I lacked a sewing machine and now I lack time, but I plug away at it in any extra time I can eke out.  I'm not very accomplished, but I know more than I used to and I am growing in it, and that is Mrs. Schaeffer's point.

Here are some things I have made over the past several years~

My first attempt to sew clothing from a pattern.  Youtube was my friend.

 

One of my first projects.  Everyone starts with pillows, right?

 

A skirt for Hannah that does not require a pattern.

I made this for Arane for Christmas.

 

I made this quilt in 2009.  Here it is in the bedroom in our old house.  This is by far the biggest project I've attempted.  It was not hard and I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I used scraps mostly.

 

 I learned to make this tote bag early in my sewing endeavors, and I've made several since.  This one was intended to be a small diaper bag suitable for quick trips.

Another skirt for Hannah.  This is her favorite skirt style and I've made so many of them that I've gotten pretty fast!

 

Join Cindy at Ordo Amoris for the Hidden Art book club!

The Hidden Art of Homemaking, Chapter 1: The First Artist

I'm joining Cindy of Ordo Amoris as she leads a book club through Edith Schaeffer's The Hidden Art of Homemaking.  I first read this book as a young newlywed in the late 1980's and have revisited it several times since then.  Hidden Art has shaped the way I think about homemaking and just how important it is to a family's well-being.  Through this book I began to see homemaking as so much more than the drudgery modern feminists make it out to be.  Not only is it important, it is creative! 

[Man] was made in the image of a Creator, and given the capacity to create--on a finite level of course, needing to use the materials already created--but he is still the creature of a Creator. (p.24)

Man, because he is limited, has a very limited choice.  He is limited by time, as well as talent.  He is limited by the resources at his disposal as well as in the skill to use what he has. (p.25) 

The thread that runs through these two quotations from the book is that of limitations.  I am limited in the time I have to spend on any aspect of homemaking as well as the money to spend on it.  My talent and natural abilities are also limited.  But it is by working with and within these limitations that I have found my creativity flourishing.  If one has unlimited time and money for an undertaking, then there is less need for creativity, for making it all work out with what one's got.  It's when I have set boundaries that I am forced to think and approach a project from many different angles until I can achieve what I want with what I've got.  The results are much more satisfying, personal, and artistic than if I just threw endless money and time at something. 

The great Russian composer Igor Stravinsky felt the same way.  When given a commission for a piece of music, he liked to have some limitations placed on him:  instrumentation, length, form, etc.  In having some choices narrowed for him, he was free to pursue his musical ideas within the strictures of the commission, which resulted in a higher degree of creativity.  When given a completely blank slate, there was so much to decide on, so many possibilities.  Stravinsky knew that there is freedom within limits.