Austerity in the home -1942

My it has been a while since I last posted. With Spring approaching it is time to dust off the blog and start again. I’ve read a lot of articles and tried out many recipes while searching through the newspapers of 1939. The idea was to find out how they lived before the war and the restrictions on homemakers of the time. I used newspapers from Australia to get a good sense of what ladies (and possibly men) were doing during that time. Of particular interest were all the letters to Eleanor Barbour, the section gave a very good insight into homemaking and personal pursuits of the time.

As September approaches war will be announced and I have chosen that time to move on from 1939 and into 1942. I’ve specifically chosen this time as the Japanese bombed Darwin and suddenly the war that was over there, was now on our own doorstep. 1942 was a time when coupons were enforced and a call to Austerity was asked from Australia’s Prime Minister: Mr John Curtin. The call for everyone to do one’s part for the war began and this is the time when planting the garden for kitchen use was encouraged. 

Surprisingly a lot of words used for encouraging austerity in the home are in current use today: Simpler living, less spending, restricting unnecessary spending. As the Prime Minster said: “If you don’t stop spending we’ll have to ration everything.”

As I move into 1942, home life will have less choices and basic recipes will be back in use. The war meant many companies turned their factories over to war use and shop brought favourites were not available. This encouraged the use of home made, home grown, home baked, in many Australian homes.

The housewife of the time was asked to budget and find ways to cut back on spending. Many were told to share their ways of cutting back, saving time, and saving money. This all sounds familiar as I've been doing this all along and I know many who also do the same thing.

The home life of 1942, was all about making do with what you have and using basic home items to make the things you could not buy or should not buy. As one newspaper article wrote: It is about rediscovering the enjoyment of simple pursuits.

With the encouragement of the austerity campaign in homes of 1942, this was also the time when home gardening was requested. Flower patches were turned over to vegetable production and the encouragement of the victory garden began. With that in mind, my own garden is undergoing a change to the 1942 gardens of the time.

This era feels very familiar and I am sure it will be to many others who follow a simple, frugal, life.

Below is a video of Prime Minster John Curtin encouraging all Australians to be useful during the war.

 I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Cut Flowers -1939 cut flower hints for keeping winter flowers

It is well known flowers are at their best on show in the garden, but when cut and placed in vases; their show fades with dropping petals or wilting stems. For flowers that drop their petals the best remedy is to sweep them up as they fall, flowers such as Larkspur is an example whose petals drop rapidly.  In many other cases a few simple precautions taken when picking the flowers will help prolong the life of the average cut flower.

Shrubs and hard-wooded plants, such as roses, and lilacs, should have one to two inches of their stems smashed by a hammer so that the water may be sucked up through the stems to help preserve the blooms longer. Another method of skinning the stems of their bark is useful but not as good as smashing the stems. 

Flowers such as Dahlia, Poppy, and others, have sap which evaporates fast when cut, they will remain fresh if the stems are singed with a candle flame for a few minutes after cutting. If this hint is followed, it is known that poppies, if picked in the bud, will open and remain in blood for three or four days.

A lesser known fact about cut flowers is that yellow and white flowers last a lot longer in water than those which are red.

Some more hints from the 1939 to make cut flowers last longer:

When cutting, be sure to use a special cutting shears, or a sharp knife, and cut at a slant to get the largest absorbing areas. This also prevents the stem from lying flat on the base of the bowl, blocking absorption.

Stand cut flowers in a bucket of water, right to the flower heads, in a cool, draught-free room. Never leave the foliage in the water when arranged, as they decay and will pollute the water.

Cut winter flowers:

Anemones - Add half cup vinegar to two cups of water.

Aquilegias - Five drops of peppermint oil to one pint of water.

Carnations - Cool water up to the flower heads. Do not submerge blossoms.

Daffodils - All like small quantities of water. Arrange in no more than one inch of water.

Delphiniums - One tablespoon alcohol to one pint of water.

Violets and Violas - Bunch. Submerge for two hours after picking, then place in container filled with iced water.

Tulips - Roll in wet newspaper to keep the stems straight. Place in cold water up to flower heads.

Forget-me-nots - Plunge into hot then cold water - add eight drops for alcohol to one pine of water.

Sweet Peas - As for forget-me-nots.

Gypsophila - One teaspoon of alcohol to one pint of water.

Iris - Three drops of peppermint oil to one quart of water.

Larkspur - One tablespoon alcohol to one pint of water.

Poinsettias - Burn ends of stems - one handful of rock salt to two quarts of water.

Lilies - One cup of vinegar to two quarts of water.

Hyacinths - Squeeze substance from end of stems immediately after picking. Plunge into very cold water.

Lilacs - Never pull the green leaf off near the flower head, as it is the water-conductor to the bloom.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

With Fond Regards - 1939

It's 1939 and I'm looking at greeting cards. Christmas greeting cards were perhaps the most popular. During this time there were a lot of massed produced cards available and often sold in boxed sets. However, a lot of articles were still written in publications describing how to make your own greeting cards.

In this day and age we take electronic-mail for granted but exhibits back in 1939 was also sending voice mail too.

Today, it's easy to reproduce a photo and have it printed on a card and it may seem a modern idea, but  there were articles to show you helpful guidelines to prepare your photos for greeting cards.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Rainy days

 Day 25 - Day 30 : Living without

I've spent $13.90 this week.  I posted an overseas letter. Brought some baby singlets on special to go in the shop at some point and paid Etsy for the shop listings.  This is the most I've spent since starting the Living without challenge.  I probably didn't need the baby singlets but I want to try something different with the shop and they were on special. 

I've updated my Etsy shop: Hilda and Lillian with practical but pretty items to use in the home and to send to friends.  All of the items use up scraps I have and items from my craft stash. As always  everything is handmade with love.

We've had some rain and it is supposed to be heavy until the weekend. Which means it is a good day to stay in doors and work on sewing projects. 

Also I'm now officially a proud chicky momma. A friend of my niece was giving away baby chickens (girls) to good homes and of course I said yes.  I'm not sure how I will go with them, it will all be a learning curve. This is there temporary home until I can get some proper bedding for them. 

Now what to name them? Hilda and Lillian? Lavender and Rosemary? We will see. Feel free to share any chicken baby raising tips with me if you have them.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Little pleasures

Day 4 of living without

This is a no spend day

“After all," Anne had said to Marilla once, "I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”

― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

Market days

I've been playing with my scrap stash to prepare for the markets. Rag rugs and hand painted potholders with fabric appliqué getting ready to be made up for the stall - And a couple for a swap. My store Hilda and Lillian will be at the Cabarlah markets on the 26th February, 2017.

Hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Home stay

 

With the Summer heat about I have been pottering around inside organizing things and clearing out stuff. It's a good time to be indoors clearing out things.

 

I've also been doing a lot of crafting, I've signed up for a local markets at the end of the month.

 

In the garden, I've been cleaning out the pots. A lot of the herbs are doing well in this heat which is good for them.

 

And as always I've been painting too. 

 

 

Have a good day or evening where ever you are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soapy tips

Tips for painting on soap.

Tip 1: Remove any of the soap labels by shaving them away with a box cutter. Shave slowly to remove thin layers. 

Tip 2: If there is any soap name left, use a dishwasher scourer to 'sand' it back or use a very fine sandpaper.

Tip 3: Tip 1 and tip 2 gets messy with the shaving so add paper down to capture the loose shavings and shave into a dish.

Tip 4: Keep the shavings to melt down into re-milled soap.

Tip 5: Use a coat of modge podge first.

Tip 6: After the modge podge has dried, coat the top of the soap with a layer of white Gesso (Or black if you want a dramatic looking soap).

Tip 7: Draw your design onto your soap with a soft pencil and light hand. If you can't draw use tracing paper and carbon paper.

Tip 8: Carbon paper gets messy. The best tip is to trace onto tracing paper and turn the design over on the back trace over the design with 4b lead pencil and then flip the design over then 'trace' the design onto the soap. The lead pencil on the back will transfer to the soap.

Tip 9: Paint your design using acrylic paints. Don't get too fiddly with your design, unless you have the eye sight and patience for that; then go for it.

Tip 10: Finish off with a coat of modge podge and a light coat of all purpose artist sealer if you prefer.

One last note always use non-toxic paints. Mode podge and artist's sealers are always non-toxic and so is many of todays acrylic paints.

And there you have tips for painting on soap. The soap is used from the bottom, the design will stay on until the bottom of the soap is used up. Or if you use a very scented soap it can be for decoration only and added to scent the linen cupboard.

Wrap your soap up nicely and add a card for a thoughtful gift.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Slow days

The weather has been hot, hot, hot. It's slow days here, pottering around in the cool of the house. I go out in the early morning in the cooler temps to see to my container plants. They need a good drink of water in this weather and I've been cutting back a lot of the plants. The heat loving plants are doing well: Basil is growing madly in the heat.

Some of the cuttings I've used for potpourri and I've dried a lot more of the kitchen herbs: Sage, Rosemary, and I have chamomile flowering now too. It took a long time to come into flower.

As usual I've also been stitching, painting and such. The tea towel in the first image was done using crayon tinting and I used a fine tip laundry marker for the out line instead of stitching. I have the finished tea towel up for sale in my easy shop: HildaandLillian.etsy.com

For those of us in the Southern Hemisphere I hope you are staying cool.

Spider web embroidery on a crazy quilt round robin 

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Holidays

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday, or Merry Christmas, or how ever you celebrate this time of year. Keep safe in the New Year and I hope to be posting again soon after the New Year. 

I also want to thank everyone who has left a comment through out this year, although I don't always reply, I do read, and I appreciate every comment. 

My surgery to help fix my voice also went very well. I have a good clear volume and can speak longer without breaking. Although the voice is a little raspy with the healing, I'm happy with the out come.

Have a good day or evening where ever you are.

Hilda and Lillian

I've been busy preparing for the Home School markets which is going to be held on the 15th of October.  Nanna Chel of going grey and slightly green wrote up a post about the event, here, so I'll link to her post. It'll be my first craft stall so I hope to learn a lot from attending. 

Below is a video tour of what will be on my craft stall table. Of course, a lot of the items are made from vintage fabric, thrift store ribbons, beads, buttons and a lot more from my stash. Even my business cards are made from my craft stash.

I also plan on opening an Etsy shop too, which also will include the same kind of items including more of my art. I named my shop Hilda and Lillian, after my Grandmothers; who are deceased. I think it is a nice reminder of them and being at their homes which had the usual fancy work doiley's and crochet items.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Garden Markers

Spring weather is trying to make a showing. There were a few cold day, although, not really cold. With the warm weather a lot of things are starting to bloom and grow in my container gardens.

I saw these garden markers or plant pokes on line to buy and I thought to myself: Oh, I can make those. So I did. As always you know if I'm making something it will be frugal. The spoons are from the thrift store and depending on where you buy they are pretty cheap. These ones were a bit pricey at 50 cents but I liked the decoration down the spoons. They are all different size spoons but that works for me. 

The Basil I have growing came from an 'Italian Herb' mix from bunnings on sale. I also have a larger one growing amongst a tomato plant. The plant I picked up off the swap table from the simple living group and it surprisingly survived the winter. The Basil plant growing with that came from Dad's garden. 

The Parsley I have also is from Dad's garden. I changed it over from a smaller pot into a bigger pot. The pots I have came from an Aunt.

 The Rosemary is also a cutting from Dad's garden and the pot from the collection an Aunt gave me. 

The Thyme is planted in a vastly reduced in price terracotta pot I brought from bunnings. I thought $10 was a bargain. I brought that and dirt and some more plants out of the money I received for the baby quilt.

The Sage is from the Italian Herb mix I brought. The mix has Basil, Parsley (flat leaf), and Oregano.  I still have to give the markers another coat of indoor out door varnish to protect them against the weather, I can likely find that in Dad's shed.  If you want to make these, first paint  a base coat in Gesso. Then paint. Then varnish. I used an artist varnish but I do intend to use a good outdoor weather varnish to make sure the markers hold up in the weather.

Gardening can be expensive, but there are a lot of things you can get for free if you ask around or try your hand at making something your self too.

With Christmas advancing these plant markers would also make really nice gifts for a gardening friend.

Hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Little Things

Winter has arrived and the days have been cold, wet, and windy. It is a good time to stay indoors when possible. My garden is loving the rain. 

Meanwhile I have been doing some mix media painting. I'm on a Folk Art style at the moment and using up scrap supplies. I used up alphabet letters I have and had to cut some down and rearrange the letters to make the letters I didn't have. The word 'little' uses L's for T's and F's for the E. 

The video below shows how I go about creating the art.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

House keeping

I've  been doing  house keeping on my blog. I cleaned up links and added links that needed to be updated. I made the blog look more simple and cleaner. It's not perfect but it'll do. This will hopefully motivate me to post a little more often and comment around again too. 

Here is a recipe for Citrus and Rose-Scented Potpourri

Dried Scented Rose petals

Lavender

Lemon Balm

Dried grated rind of 2 large lemons

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground orris root

1 container

Method:

Mix the flowers and herbs together in an airtight container add the lemon rind and leave for 2-3 days. Add spices and orris root, stir well and leave for 6 weeks stirring occasionally.

Lavender and Lemon Balm are good insect repellents, so this will also be useful in sachets among linen. 

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Autumn Orange

It was a cooler morning this morning and still slightly over cast. I've been painting of late but the truth is I'm not feeling it. I'm in a bit of a artist block and it doesn't help I can't seem to find a subject and style I like. I'll paint through the block and hopefully something will come of it. I did an art journal page cutting up a piece of art I did at art class and rearranged the image then added in a scripture quote I thought fitted. 

As you can see I was inspired by my pot marigolds. This is mixed media on paper. The scripture is Isaiah 40:8 - The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. 

At home, I've also been cutting up and using some pumpkins Dad grew in his garden. I'm saving the seeds to start my own. If you have this Queensland blue pumpkin type growing at home and using it for mash Mum told me to add some sugar into it before you mash to sweeten the taste of it. 

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Home Life

The weather has turned and you can tell Autumn is in the air. Although we have been having some warm days and it's nice to sit in the sun. I've been painting too, I attend an art society and it's a nice social gathering to go to and talk about art.

At home I've been pottering around. Shepherds pie was made and roast dinners too. I'll give a recipe for the Shepherds pie soon enough. I've also been working on another baby quilt to give There will be some instructions for that as well. I was sitting outside enjoying the sun while embroidering the squares for the quilt. As you know, I like frugal so these quilt squares are done on an old sheet and the sweet children images are printed off the web. The embroidery thread is about 60c each and this goes far when you are using one strand of thread. It'll cost me nothing much to make, just a little time to do. These type of things are slow as you know.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Patchwork days

 My, it has been a while since I last posted. I took a little bloggy break as I did lose my blogging voice, if there is such a thing. But a 'holiday' is a good change. The weather has turned into Autumn now and the days are warm but cool. We've had sun and rain which brings in the Autumn. I've been at home and at mum and dad's pottering around. I attended the Simple Living Toowoomba sausage making workshop which was very informative. 

I've been doing a lot of sewing as well, at some point I hope to share the apple dishcloth crochet pattern, isn't it cute?

At home, here, I finally have some small cutting from dad's garden to start my garden. The cuttings have grown up, there's Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, Mint and Basil. So far they are growing nicely in their pots. It's a small start but a start. Eventually I'll bring over some flowers too.

We are settling in at the new place and it has been interesting so far. My Aunt, who I live with, is a bear collector. She has all her bears out in her room and you can tell she's happy to see them all again.

And of course there is painting. Scribbles in a junk journal art book.

I hope you are all having a good day or evening where ever you are.