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Mance and Elizabeth Davis live in Middle Tennessee with their three daughters ages seven, four, and one year.

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Depression Era Memories: Raising Chickens

Depression Era Memories are my Mother’s recollections of growing up in rural Tennessee during the Great Depression.  Her guest posts remind us of a simpler time during which frugal living was a way of life for everyone.  I hope you enjoy reading her memories.

Elizabeth

I think with much of the winter behind us, many of us are looking forward to the coming of spring.  The earth is beginning to look like a beautiful green carpet, and the trees are bursting with the soft color of lovely green leaves.  With that thought, my mind wanders back to the time when I was much younger…

Alfred East (1849-1913)

Alfred East (1849-1913)

I could hardly wait to take my shoes off and feel the soft grass, the fresh plowed earth, or the smooth part of the road where the road grader had left one side of the road so smooth under my feet.  I would skip with bare feet along the soft brown dirt road to take my Daddy a drink of water in the field where he would be plowing.  I could walk behind his plow and search for arrow heads.  Ah, the wonderful memories!

I really knew spring was almost here when the preparation started of cleaning out of the brooder house before we ordered our baby chickens.  We used the brooder house over the winter to store our canned fruit and our winter supply of sweet potatoes.  We kept them under sawdust to keep them from freezing.  Now it was spring time, and we had to clear all the old things out of the brooder house.  It was time that I could ride in the wagon with my Daddy to the local sawmill and get a brand new load of sawdust.  While there, I could climb barefoot all over the sawdust pile while he got the wagon loaded with the sawdust to take back and spread over the brooder house floor.

Photo by Keith Weller

Photo by Keith Weller

After the new load of sawdust has been unloaded and spread on the floor, a small cast iron wood heater was set up and a fire built to warm it up for a few days before the arrival of the new baby chicks.  Oh yes! Another preparation for their arrival always required new Raylite to be put over the windows.  I never hear of Raylite anymore, but it was a form of plastic that was marked off in squares with small green threads made into it.

We also had to wash the half gallon fruit jars to put their drinking water in.  We had to have a supply of bluing and potassium permanganate to put into their drinking water for disinfection so they did not take the disease that young chickens get.

The baby chicks had to be ordered, and would be shipped by parcel post.  When they arrived, I could always hear their cheeping when our rural route mail carrier walked them up to our door.

When the baby chicks got a few days old, Daddy would hold them up by their feet and could tell by the way they would tilt their head if they were pullets or roosters.  If there were several roosters, we would have chicken for Sunday dinner when they got old enough to eat.  If the preacher was not visiting for dinner, we children always wanted the opportunity to pull the “pulley bone” to make a wish.

Hugo Mühlig (1854–1929)

Hugo Mühlig (1854–1929)

When the chickens were several months old, he would check his pullets by inspecting the bones that created the passage for the eggs to pass through.  He did this by taking the pullets in his left arm.  He would press with his right hand on their underside a few inches back from the breastbone.  By pressing upward, he could feel the protruding bones.  If the egg passage was the width of two fingers, he knew he had good laying hens.  If the passage was only wide enough for one finger, he knew that she was not a good hen for laying eggs, so she was usually sold to the local peddler to help buy groceries.

My Daddy always enjoyed feeding the chickens and having fresh eggs.  He would get up many times in the winter and light a lantern and take it to the chicken house around 4:00 o’clock in the morning to make their days longer so they would lay eggs.  He also would plant wheat seed in a wooden box and let it grow about four or five inches tall and take it to his chickens so they would have green grass to eat through the winter.  He was very particular about never wanting the hens to run out in the snow for he said that hindered them from laying eggs.

In the summer time, he would take young ears of corn and chop them up with a hatchet for the chickens to eat.  He had a plank shelf mounted between two trees where he would chop the corn.  Being anxious to help, I would rake the corn off in a pan.  I saw no danger in the hatchet being raised and coming down again even after being warned by my Daddy to be very careful.  I still have a scar today on one of my ring fingers for not listening to the warning before the hatchet came down very hard.

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H. P. Hansen after Otto Bache (1913)

Daddy always called them by whistling for them at feeding time. The grand finale was when he would say, “Would you like to see me hypnotize a chicken?”

Oh yes! I always liked to see that.

He would then tuck her head under her wing and turn her around and around a few times.  When he set her down, she would be too dizzy to walk.  But, after a few wobbly steps…she would run merrily on her way.

EBH

What memories of childhood do you recall?  Share your favorite recollections of springtime in years gone by…
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Farm Fresh Eggs: A Move Toward Buying Local Food

Chicken and Chicks by Beniamino Parlagreco (1856-1902)

Chicken and Chicks by Beniamino Parlagreco (1856-1902)

Farm Fresh Eggs…

Some of my earliest memories are of going with my father to the chicken house in the evenings to gather the eggs. I would watch as my father gently felt beneath the hens to see if there were any eggs in the nest.

I also remember walking to the corn crib with my Mother or my Grandmother to feed shelled corn to our flock of beautiful, white chickens. They would scamper from all over the barnyard…often before they heard the call…

“Here…chick, chick, chick…”

“Here…chick, chick, chick-eee!”

Albert Anker (1865)

Albert Anker (1865)

I love the taste of farm fresh eggs, with their bright orange yolks. I love the feel of a smooth, brown egg in the palm of my hand.

It’s been a long time since my family raised chickens. For a long time, I have been buying white, homogenized, mass-produced eggs from the supermarket. I had forgotten the pleasure of seeing each unique, free-range, farm-fresh egg…

Brown, and ivory, peach, and blue…some speckled with tiny flecks of variant color…

This week, in an attempt to move toward buying more local food…I found a friend willing to sell me these beautiful farm-fresh eggs on a weekly basis! They are so lovely, I am a bit reluctant to crack them…I just want to gaze at their simple beauty and take pleasure in the fact that I know where they came from!

Aren't they beautiful?  I especially love the blue ones!

Aren't they beautiful? I especially love the blue ones!

Elizabeth

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Embroidered Drawstring Bread Bag

Fresh bread…a blessing from God…the life-sustaining substance that has comforted mankind since the beginning of time…

photo by Peggy Greb

photo by Peggy Greb

I love the smell of warm bread baking in the oven…its aroma wafting into every corner of the house.  I love the fragrance of freshly ground wheat flour as it mixes with yeast and honey and herbs…

Photo by Scott Bauer

Photo by Scott Bauer

I often make my own bread in my own kitchen.  If we are not careful…our little family can eat a whole loaf with butter before it even cools from the pan!  Often, there is very little bread left over to store for another meal.  But, when there is, I don’t like to store it in a plastic bag.  The moisture collects, and the bread spoils more quickly, because there are no additives or preservatives to extend its shelf life.  I like that I know what ingredients are being consumed by my loved ones, and of course the taste is much better than store-bought bread!

I recently found a fun tutorial on the Down To Earth Forum for making an embroidered fabric bread bag with a drawstring.  The tutorial showed how to use a dishtowel to make the bag, but I didn’t have an extra dishtowel.  However, I *always* have fabric in my fabric stash!  So, I made this little bag with some of my leftover fabric, and I lined it with unbleached muslin.

As I was trying to decide on an embroidery pattern, I located a wonderful video tutorial for a “wheat stitch”.  I think it really does resemble a stalk of wheat.  And, it’s pretty easy to do, even for a relatively new stitcher like myself.

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Muslin Lined Bread Bag with Drawstring

Muslin-Lined Bread Bag with Drawstring

Fully Lined Bread Bag

Fully Lined Bread Bag

This project brought to my mind several favorite verses about bread, and I thought that I would share them with you:

Genesis 3:18-19, Exodus 12:17, Exodus 16:4, Psalm 37:25, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 6:11,

John 6:30-51

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The Radiant Splendor of a Diamond Sunset

The snowstorm that brought such a magical wonderland of snow also brought breathtaking ice displays.  As we were driving to church services, a radiant sunset glistened through ice-clad trees…as if they had been adorned with a million translucent diamonds.

The Radiant Splendor of a Diamond Sunset

The Radiant Splendor of a Diamond Sunset

If only my feeble camera could capture the glory that the eye can see…

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1. Sunset and Diamonds, 2. Sunlight and Diamonds, 3. Ice Diamonds 3, 4. Ice Diamonds 2, 5. Ice Diamonds 1, 6. Diamond Tree

Elizabeth

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Adventures in Snow Boots

The snow came quickly and covered the fields and forests with a blue-white glow.  The things we look at every day were magically transformed as we saw them through new eyes under a snow white cloak.
A Front Porch View

A Front Porch View

Adventures were joyful in snowboots and “poofy” coats, and there was much to be seen….

Tramping Around on a Snowy Day

Tramping Around on a Snowy Day

And, all the while we were observing such magical transformations, we were being observed…

A Curious Observer

A Curious Observer

The dinner bell was quiet.  We did not wish to disturb the peaceful silence of a winter snowfall…

Dinner Bell in the Snow

Dinner Bell in the Snow

This refuge would soon be moved to carry a load of firewood to dry out gloves and hats and soggy coats and toast our fingers and toes

Cat Under a Snowy Wheelbarrow

Cat Under a Snowy Wheelbarrow

And, then as evening came and dusk settled in…we made the first snow cream that the girls remembered…

Making Snow Cream

Making Snow Cream

Snow and Snow Cream

Snow and Snow Cream

…a perfect end to a perfect snowy day…

How to make Snow Cream:

Ingredients:

A Bowl of Fresh, White Fluffy Snow

Whole Milk or Heavy Whipping Cream (We used a bit of both…more milk than cream)

Sugar

Vanilla

Instructions:

Pour in enough milk or cream to make the bowl of snow slushy.  (We used a generous portion of milk, with enough cream to make it creamy and yummy!)  Add sugar to sweeten to taste.  Add a dash of vanilla.  Stir, and serve right away!  Enjoy this simple goodness

Elizabeth

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Bringing Order After the Sewing Storm

The Seamstress by Joseph DeCamp 1916

The Seamstress by Joseph DeCamp 1916

I love to sew. It is the thing that I do for pleasure and relaxation. It is the thing that allows me to create and express, and it is the thing that allows me to bring joy to those I love.

I enjoy immersing myself in the fabric, and I take comfort from the soothing rhythms of a humming sewing machine….

But, after all is complete…I am generally left with a mess…a mess of threads, and scraps, and jumbled piles of material waiting to be brought to order once again.

Not too long ago, I found a wonderful tutorial by Monica at Happy Zombie for refolding fabric from your stash for storage. So simple, and yet such a help to me as I try to reorganize after a sewing storm!

Recently, I tried out this simple fabric folding technique.  I really liked the look of all my leftover fabric folded so neatly and ready to be put away until next time.  Here are a few photos of the folding process…

Folding Fabric Using A Five-Inch Ruler

Folding Fabric Using A Five-Inch Ruler

A Folded Piece of Fabric Ready to Slide Off the Ruler

A Folded Piece of Fabric Ready to Slide Off the Ruler

A Beautifully Folded Stack of Fabric Ready for Storage

A Beautifully Folded Stack of Fabric Ready for Storage

Elizabeth

*****

Monica’s Stash:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehappyzombie/409373319/in/set-72157594239808821/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehappyzombie/402261369/

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Pennies and Nickels and Dimes are Not Insignificant

Photo by Alan Cleaver www.flickr.com/photos/alancleaver/2638883650/

Photo by Alan Cleaver www.flickr.com/photos/alancleaver/2638883650/

The New Year 2010 brought with it new resolve to save money. Over the past few weeks, we have been collecting our spare change. We have been cutting back on unnecessary expenses, and trying to strictly stick to our household budget. We have been finding new ways to feed our “piggy”.

It is easy to say to yourself, “I can’t save money. It’s just too hard.” But, let me encourage you to find every opportunity to collect those nickels and dimes. Even pennies add up! It’s not just about making large, lump-sum contributions to a savings account or an investment account. It’s about finding the small, seemingly insignificant amounts and adding them together a little at a time until one day you surprise even yourself at your ability to reach your goals!

Here is an anecdote from our everyday life that I thought I would share with you. Sometimes, people surprise you with their kind gestures and their unexpected compassion, and these are the reflections of kindness that ripple through a community making a difference that grows.

My husband and I go major grocery shopping once per month and make all of our household and non-perishable item purchases. We take a list and coupons and our sale flyers. We make a marathon shopping trip, and then we try to only buy perishable items like milk and eggs and fresh produce weekly.

This month, as we were doing our marathon shopping, I had gathered my coupons and looked for the best prices on diapers. The store with the best diaper deal allowed me to use a $10.00 off coupon paired with two other coupons for a hefty savings! I would be able to get one box of diapers for almost nothing.

I was very excited about this discount. However, when I got to the register, and the clerk rang me up, I couldn’t find my $10.00 off coupon anywhere! I was most upset, because ten dollars is ten dollars…and it doesn’t grow on trees. Plus, I was positive that I had the coupon with me, because I had looked at it earlier in the evening.

Resized-2PZGRMy husband walked up from shopping in another part of the store, just in time to see me shake my head sadly and hand over the money for the diapers (which was now ten dollars more than I had thought they would cost.) He could see that I was flustered and embarrassed at having held the clerk up for so long while I checked and rechecked my stack of coupons. He told me to go on and finish checking out and to try not to worry about the missing coupon. After all, “it was just ten dollars”. But, I was visibly shaken by the whole thing.

After checking out, I headed with my bagged groceries to the van. My husband, meanwhile, had disappeared again.

It was a short while before he returned and he handed me a ten dollar bill. He said, “Here…it’s your ten dollars. I went out to the van while you were checking out and searched. You had dropped it in the van. The sales clerk was nice enough to refund the price of the discount since I found the coupon. You saved ten dollars…you can put it in your savings.”

It was so sweet of him to look for it, and then to approach the girl for the discount…and, then to give it back to me to put in savings.

I stopped and thanked the clerk and told her how much I appreciated her kindness, and she said, “No problem…after all…ten dollars is ten dollars.”

Elizabeth


Are you saving money in 2010?  Share your “nickel and dime” stories here.  Inspire us with your simple money saving tips and ideas!  No amount is insignificant.  It all adds up!
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Frugal Senses Returned

I have been working on my latest sewing project…that little mint green and chocolate brown dress that I mentioned making here to match the new crocheted sweater and hat ensemble.

Resized-GTVESWell, I must say that my frugal senses have returned, and after looking through my fabric stash…I discovered that I have ALL the makings of a perfect little patchwork dress to go with the hat and sweater set! And, without spending a dime!

Resized-T651RRemember, my “Monkey Jungle” baby quilt for baby Sam?  Well, the fabrics left over from that project are perfect for a little mint green and chocolate brown patchwork dress! I only had to add an additional fabric to bring out the aqua tones of the green. And, I had two little scraps of it in my scrap box that I think suit very nicely…

This photo caught in mid-scatter!

This photo caught in mid-scatter!

Don't you want the "help" of a fifteen-month old?

Don't you want the "help" of a fifteen-month old?

So, lest you throw up your hands in despair over me and my sordid tale of frugal intentions gone awry…I must tell you that I have spent absolutely zero dollars acquiring fabric for my latest whimsy!  Perhaps there is hope for me, after all.

Elizabeth

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A Tale of Frugal Intentions Gone Awry

I have great intentions of leading a frugal life. And, many times I feel that I make good choices. However, the one area of spending that causes me to lose my resolve is my penchant for anything crafty. I am often tempted to spend money on beautiful bits of fabric or yarn or ribbon or felt…pretty much anything found at the craft store calls to me like a beacon. Give me a basket of buttons and a little time to look, and you can bet my pocketbook will leave the store a little lighter than when it came in!

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A few weeks ago, I visited a store that had a lot of yarn marked for clearance…so of course I bought a skein of lovely, mint green for only a dollar! I looked around for another skein to match it, but it seemed to be the only one. So, I bought it anyway, and left the store with my selection in hand. I congratulated myself for my frugal purchase, and I envisioned the baby cap that I would make for my youngest daughter for only $1.00!

Upon arriving home, I began to crochet…and as the lovely little hat began to take form…and the skein began to dwindle…I quickly realized that I was not going to have enough to finish my little, green hat. I would need a small amount of yarn for the three remaining rows of the brim.

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What to do? I knew there was no more to be had at the store where I bought the thread, for I had searched the entire box and surrounding shelves for another just like it.

There was nothing to do, but go back to the hobby store and buy more yarn! So, I did.

I finished the little hat by putting a soft, chocolate brown brim on it, and then realized that I had most of this larger skein left. What could I do? I would hate to waste such wonderful yarn by not making anything out of it. So, I looked for a sweater pattern that I could make using the rest of the yarn. It would match the hat, and would look so sweet on my littlest daughter. I felt that I might have enough to make a little sweater, because the chocolate brown skein was much larger than the little mint green one.

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I began making the sweater, and I was making good progress…But, alas…I ran out of chocolate brown yarn, and what could I do? I must make another trip to the hobby store to buy more yarn, mustn’t I? After all, I couldn’t leave a sweater half finished could I? And, so I did. (I also bought…ahem…more yarn while there.)

Well, I finished the sweater, and it was just so cute…But, wouldn’t it look wonderful with little mint green buttons to match the hat? And, so I looked through my button box…but it was not to be…I just didn’t have a single button that would be the perfect one for my little brown sweater for my tiniest daughter. What could I do? I would have to go back to the craft store for the perfect buttons for my little chocolate brown sweater. And, so…I did.

Resized-KI1YH

However, I failed to bring the hat with me to match the color, and when I got to the store to buy the buttons, there were just so many options! Which ones were the perfect green? How would I know without matching them to the hat? But, I didn’t get to the fabric store every day, now did I? Shouldn’t I buy enough of each choice just in case one shade of green failed to match? And so…I did.

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But, when I got them (all of the choices!) home, there was just something not quite right about each and every one. What must I do? I couldn’t spend so much time and effort making my first baby sweater only to settle for mediocre buttons, now could I?

So, again…I talked my husband into making yet another trek to the fabric store in a different locale for…yes…more buttons!

But, finally I had found the perfect ones. I sewed them on. And, I sighed with the contentment of a job well done… (Mind you, I did not say cheaply done, now did I?)

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So how much did my one dollar hat actually cost me? Well, let’s just say that the dollar figure is a lot closer to fifty dollars than it is to one!

And now that I have a lovely little mint green and chocolate brown ensemble for my littlest daughter…I realize with dismay, that she had nothing in her wardrobe to match. What must I do? I must make a green and brown dress to wear with it, of course…

And, that my friends, is the sordid tale of my frugal intentions gone awry.

Elizabeth

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New Hope for a New Year: Developing a Family Laundry Schedule

Laundry Days of Yesteryear

Laundry Days of Yesteryear

When my Mother was a young girl, laundry was done on one day of each week. Laundry took the better part of this day, and was quite a feat to accomplish…especially for my Mother’s household of eight people! (You can read in detail about my Mother’s Depression Era memories of wash day here.)

I am blessed to live in a time when laundry is a much simpler, more efficient process than in days gone by…

There are no fires to build and tend and no cast iron pots to wield, and there is no lye soap to make from ashes and rendered lard.

Laundry is a simple matter of sorting the light-colored clothing from the dark-colored clothing and adding a few store-bought powders or liquids. And, then…with a push or a pull of a few buttons, the laundry washes itself while I am off to oversee other, more pressing household duties…

And yet, I am ashamed to confess that laundry has always been a struggle for me.

It seems that if I ever turn my back or take my eyes off that laundry hamper…the piles hatch like rabbits and begin to take over my house!

Not too long ago, I watched a particularly memorable TV commercial in which a Mother was being threatened by a giant, rolling ball of laundry that crashed through the side of her garden fence and rolled after her into the yard. This giant sphere of impending laundry seemed to gain circumference like a downhill snowball and seemed possible of flattening the Mother in its wake…

Most days, laundry for a household of five feels like that to me!

However, a New Year brings new hope…

Remember the new wardrobe cabinets that each of our daughters received for clothing storage? Well, with the new system of organization has come the advent of a new laundry schedule. This new plan for doing laundry is of course in the test phase, and I may yet have to return to the drawing board for a revamp. However, in the preliminary, conceptual stages it seems very promising!

This is how our new laundry schedule for the new year works:

A Laundry Hamper Inside a Wardrobe

A Laundry Hamper Inside a Wardrobe

Each daughter has been given a plastic laundry hamper to place in her own wardrobe. Each daughter places her own laundry in her own basket (rather than in the communal, family hamper). On her dinner helper day, she will check her basket (upon my reminder). If it is filled enough to make a load, she will wash, dry, and put her laundry away. Because each daughter does her laundry on her own individual laundry day, I am able to provide one-on-one time for instruction and supervision with each daughter. Also, this insures that each daughter develops a habit of doing her own laundry.

SUNDAY: Eldest Daughter’s Laundry Day

MONDAY: Second Daughter’s Laundry Day

TUESDAY: Eldest Daughter’s Laundry Day

WEDNESDAY: Youngest Daughter’s Laundry Day

THURSDAY: Second Daughter’s Laundry Day

FRIDAY: Eldest Daughter’s Laundry Day

SATURDAY: Second Daughter’s Laundry Day

EVERYDAY: Household Hamper and Husband’s Hamper is Checked and Laundry is Done As Needed

This system will also benefit me as well, because all of the girls’ clothing will no longer be jumbled up together…This will cut down on laundry sorting time. Each daughter’s laundry will always be pre-sorted, because it never gets thrown in with everyone else’s clothes.

Of course, I expect to have to make adjustments to this routine (such as making sure T-Ball uniforms get washed in time for games, and other such situational occurrences), but hopefully this new schedule will become a routine that will help me feel more victorious over that giant ball of laundry that threatens to flatten me!

In an age of abundance, I have become spoiled by having more than enough. If ever I become overwhelmed by my own plight of household duties…I simply must turn my eyes back to the bygone days of yesteryear when wives and mothers truly had the work of their hands to keep them busy. And then, I begin to count my own blessings and feel the surge of gratitude for the blessings of this present age.

Elizabeth

What household duty is your least favorite?  What strategies have you incorporated into your daily schedule to help you tackle it?  What chores are your favorites?  Why?

For More Laundry Tips and How-Tos:


http://www.household-management-101.com/laundry-tips.html

http://www.house-cleaning-howtos.com/laundry-tips.html

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