Housewifery
“Practicing the Art and Mystery of Housewifery”
We took a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia in the summer of 2012. Standing in the hot kitchen building where the cooking hearth fire had just been extinguished, the living historian explained the duties of the woman of this house in the 1700s. She oversaw all the domestic activities and practiced the art and mystery of housewifery. I asked him to repeat that. He repeated this and added, you didn’t want everyone to know all your secrets. I am, however, willing and glad to share mine here.
My definition of Housewifery encompasses mothering, housekeeping, gardening, and cooking. And includes decorating, diapering, and ridding my house of squirrels.
Click On These For The Stories
On ‘The Good Mother’
Or read ‘Mommy’s Thought Thoughts’
On ‘Raising Fair Fiona’
Or read ‘Oopsie Daisy Mommy
On ‘Son Shine’
Or read ‘Ready or Not, Here’s Mommy’
On ‘My Joy of Cooking’
Or read ‘Beautiful Buttermilk’
On ‘How Does My Garden Grow’
Or read ‘My Brown Thumb’
On ‘To Clean or Not to Clean’
Or read ‘New Year’s Urge’
Labor of Mom Love
My sister asked if I had any plans for the day. I said nah, I’m not doing anything. Just my regular stuff, no big deal. And she says, I would say you do a lot of stuff and a big deal. And I realize that I just belittled myself and all the hard work I put into my house that I do make it look clean and easy. I am at the store with my son and he asks if this half a cart full of groceries is a regular size shop. I ask if he knows how many meals a week I am responsible for. 21 meals and that includes any that I have to pay for at his school...
read moreMy Key Lime Pie Recipe
After a few decades bringing food to potlucks, you develop your own go-tos to make. In the Summertime, my must bring is Key Lime pie. The recipe is ridiculously simple and the graham cracker pie crust tins make great carrying containers. Key Lime Pie One premade graham cracker pie crust 4 egg yolks and one egg white 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk ¾ cup lime juice Tub of Cool Whip topping Kiwi fruit peeled and sliced The premade crust asks to be painted with egg whites and precooked for 5 minutes at 375 degrees F. Mix egg yolks,...
read moreWhat Do You Do All Day Mommy?
Fiona says she thinks I need to go and get a job. That way she can get to go to daycare after school and play with her friends longer. I told her I had a job. What do you do all day Mommy? I write and do all those things that take care of my family and keep the house in order. Yeah, that’s not a job. This isn’t just words from a child’s mouth, I know many a male has wondered what we do with all of our “spare” time at home. Truth is that unless you’re a home keeper-upper, you have no idea the massive myriad of details...
read moreDo You Rage or Resign Yourself ?
Have you ever found yourself frustrated because you have a chore to do and you just don’t feel like doing it? It’s too hot to take the trash out. There’s dishes piled in the sink and it’s late. My feet are dirty and I’m too tired for a bath. There’s nothing to eat in the house but the thought of take out food turns your stomach? When things smack of effort, we can feel resentful, angry even. We don’t feel like it. But what we are also inadvertently saying is that we aren’t worth the effort. Life...
read moreA Summer Morning Walk in Denton
Missed posting this morning bright and early because the Garden Party happened. I took a long walk as the weather had broken and other than the fact that my feet hurt, it was a glorious walk. All the cottages in town looked proud and festive. The dappling of the Summer light through the trees was so enticing. And in the cacophony of cicada and cricket song from the trees to the meadow, I heard the lullaby of lazy days to come. Crabapple tree I owe you a garden and garden party post and now that I have time to do that, I’ll do that. And...
read moreLet It Be
So many things I think I should be doing. I should have a spiritual practice. I should be exercising more. I should be publishing my brilliant writing in big magazines. But most of the time, I can’t accommodate all of my shoulds. And my day turns into cleaned bathrooms, walk taken, and dinner made. Throw a holiday in there and I don additional job hats as a fat elf and an invisible bunny rabbit. There’s no such thing as regularity. Yet somehow I keep hoping it’s possible. Yes I could use a wife. And here comes Summer time...
read moreMugged by Grief
I admitted that finding the remaining single earring from a pair made me feel grief all over again. And I resolved to let go of that which causes me grief.
read moreGardening Mojo
Since I had Fiona, I have been unable to regain my gardening mojo. The very thing that brought me to buy a house, dirt to plant a garden in, had become a burden I was buried under. Looking every year at my overgrown garden overwhelmed and depressed me. Last year, I made a charitable donation and received a garden consultation. And this spurred me into enthusiastic gardening action that I hadn’t felt in a while. I head “I could” again. I worked on a couple beds last Summer. And this year, I’ve picked back up where I left off. I...
read moreClearing Away the Clutter and Chaos
In the beginning of the year, I began the simplification and clearing out of my house yet again. A couple years back, I read Marie Kondo’s book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up . I adopted a few of her storing techniques but never went all through the house. In January,I start stripping my life of my past chaos and applying more of her techniques to embrace the magic. I got new towels for Christmas so in January, I cleaned out my linen closet and the old ones went to the SPCA. The chaos of too much stuff is overwhelming. I begin to...
read moreSelf Love Day
Valentine’s week is here. And I found myself considering what self-love meant to me. Undoubtedly we can not truly pay someone the attention and respect of love unselfishly if we do not have some to spare from our own hearts. But what does self-love look like at it’s best. And can we court or woo ourselves into liking us better? Self-love is part care-taking and part self-compassion. It’s being a good parent and a gracious host. I love myself when I eat good for me food I’m happy to eat and that’s yummy too. I...
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