Tag Archives: Home keeping

Hints for Home Schoolers – Eating the Bread of Idleness

Leave a reply

Proverbs 31:27

She looketh well to the ways of her household,

and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Groan . .  . the Proverbs 31 woman.  Did any woman ever achieve what Solomon so glowingly describes as the “virtuous woman?”  It is important at the outset – to fully recognize that Proverbs 31 describes the entirety of all the phases of a woman’s life.  The young children at home phase, is different than the older lady volunteer stage.  Proverbs 31 covers all, and I mean ALL stages of a woman’s life, and should not intimidate you, nor prevent you from striving to become a Proverbs 31 woman.  A little at a time!

The particular focus of this article, really affects me personally.  Most people who don’t know me very well, would scoff at the notion that I could ever be idle.  Here is my confession.  I like to be idle.  Far too frequently, as a matter of fact.  When I sense that people are trying to pressure me into doing something (usually perform) that I don’t really want to do, my sinful sense of self preservation looms up, and tells me to withhold, and not do anything. 

Here are all the lyrics to my theme song, written by the genius, Irving Berlin:

[1st verse:]
Every time
I see a puppy upon a summer’s day
A puppy dog at play
My heart is filled with envy
That’s because
My heart is yearning to pass the time away
Like that pup
‘Cause I’m all fed up
And tho’ it’s wrong to be
I long to be

[chorus:]
Lazy
I want to be lazy
I want to be out in the sun
With no work to be done
Under that awning
They call the sky
Stretching and yawning
And let the world go drifting by
I want to peep
Through the deep
Tangled wildwood
Counting sheep
‘Til I sleep
Like a child would
With a great big valise full
Of books to read where it’s peaceful
While I’m
Killing time
Being lazy

[2nd verse:]
Life is short
And getting shorter with each day that goes by
And how the time does fly
Before you know, it’s over
That’s why I’m
In such a hurry to pack my things and fly
To a spot
Where it’s nice and hot
And hear the birdies sing
While I’m being lazy.

Yes, that’s me.  I would rather read all day, then engage with people.  When my children were young, I used to lock them out, and take a long hot bath every night, and read.

Is there any hope for idlers like me?  Like you?  Yes, there is. 

  1. Get and use a planner.  So what if it’s not the beginning of the year.  Start one anyway.  Having things written down, helps you keep track of where you are wasting time.  Write everything in there.  Bonus – planners for this year are still available – and are greatly reduced in price now!
  2. Use a timer!  Mine is on my phone, if your phone doesn’t have one, get a small digital one and keep it on you.  Time how long you do your particular idling – like for me – limit daily reading to 1 1/2 hours.  If yours is TV, do the same thing.  When the timer beeps – turn it off, close the book, shut down your computer – whatever is stealing your time – obey the timer!
  3. Every time you  hear yourself say – I deserve this – make an attempt to check mate that thought process, and substitute – is this pleasing to the Lord?  Trust me – you will get the answer to that question.

It came as a cold, hard, fact to me, that my idleness, was in reality – escapism.  Escape from all kinds of things.  Things that annoy, frustrate, irritate, and bring on feelings of impatience.  ESCAPE!!  That’s what TV, internet, books, or any activity we substitute for what we should be doing really is.  Escapism.   That’s not to suggest that you don’t need rest and relaxation.  I’m sure there’s enough of you reading this post who understand what I’m talking about.  Idleness is deliberately choosing to do other than what is needed.

Sometimes, a great many people need my help.  And, often, I just don’t want to.  No fancy analysis needed.  I’m idle.  I like to do,  what I like to do, when I like to do it.  This is not the service life – it is the selfish life.

There is hope for idlers, the same hope there is for everyone.  The closer we walk to the Lord, the more we will become like Him, and we will feel less and less like escaping from everything.  Truly, He can cure every ill, even our self created ones.

My very favorite Bible Verse:

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Path of God

6 In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

sage

Good Stewardship – Cheap Thrills

Leave a reply

On this page, we invite our readers to share their thrifty ideas with us and other readers.  It behooves the truly born-again Christian, to make proper use of whatever God gives.  I always like to think, that the more frugal I am, the more I will have to support missions, ministries, and to give to worthy causes – like the crisis pregnancy center.  Wastefulness has no place in the family of God, especially when we consider that every breath we draw is a gift from Him. 

John 6:12

 When they were filled, He said unto His disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

Proverbs 18:9

He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

I’ll get it started with some of my major thrifty stuff.  Please feel free to share your frugal fun with us in the comment section – and if I deem any of them to be superior – they will be edited into the post.

Cut down old flannel sheets, shirts, and anything else that is 100% cotton, into handkerchiefs.  Serge or overcast the edges, or pink if no sewing machine is available.  Wash with bleach or borax and hot water for sanitation, since it doesn’t matter what color they are as long as they are clean.  A good size is 10 x 10.  

Use plastic lids that have a deep lip as plant saucers to catch water run off.  For example – the lid to large Nesquick canisters are ample saucers for a 5″ pot. 

Use large clear “pretzel barrels” as mini cloches/greenhouses for your early tomato and  pepper plants.  They are the perfect size, and will protect tender plants from late frosts and torrential downpours.  A lot of snack foods  come in these barrels now.   And you can use the lids as plant saucers! 

Empty yogurt containers make ideal seed starting pots, with holes poked in the bottom for drainage.  Filled with cheap soilless planting media you can save oodles of money by starting your own plants from seeds.  Especially if you save seeds! 

  • 4-6 parts Sphagnum Peat Moss or Coir
    1 part Perlite
    1 part Vermiculite

Cat Mahm:

Keep the heat in at Christmas-time by lining the windows with “fake snow”. This could be cotton fluff from the inside of an old pillow, or I even sometimes use white dish clothes.

Keeping heat in can reduce the heating bill, so I line everything with towels or insulating materials. It especially helps around the bases of the windows!

Cat Mahm:

Yes it does.

Need to kill the weeds in the driveway? Don’t buy all of that expensive weed killer.

During the spring/summer/fall months, I get a tea kettle to boil. Shortly after it has boiled, I pour it on the dandelions or persistent grass growing up through concrete. I go out the next morning and the weeds have completely withered and are easy to pull up. My driveway is weed free all year long.

Cat Mahm:

I never go out to eat. I never do take out. It’s never healthier, it’s addictive, and it’s way more expensive.

I buy my ground beef in bulk and chop it up into individual pounds, and store them in the freezer. You can do this with so many things. I would love to get a chest freezer someday. Buy everything on sale, freeze it. So many things can go in a chest freezer.

Please share your thrifty secrets with us!

sage

Hints for Home Schoolers – Pets

2 Replies

Our home school has always had pets.  We actually had pets before any children came along – so from their infancy animals were a constant presence.  Children and pets – a match made in heaven. . .

Pets can be a valuable “spring-board” for many home school adventures!  In addition – kids can learn responsibility for another living creature.  Pets can help human beings, who come into this world as  completely self-centered selfish creatures, to grow into mature, dependable individuals.

  • A pet can be the basis of a writing project.  Any composition, book report or research paper will be enhanced by the child’s interest in their pet.
  • Pets (particularly dogs) will a be great ally in enforcing schedules.
  • Recalcitrant nappers can change into the most eager sleepers if allowed to nap with a pet.
  • Measuring food and counting treats are excellent for teaching basic math.
  • Developing and making home made dog biscuits is a great project.
  • Growing “cat grass” and sunflowers (for seeds) is a good botany/biology project.
  • Pets can reduce test time stress simply by being there.
  • Pets can console kids (and adults) that are feeling down.
  • When kids are home with pets all day – no one gets lonely – kids or pets.

My kids very often had a cat on their laps or desks, and a dog at their feet all day during school.

As they get older, the pet may stimulate the child to work at an animal shelter, or even pursue a career in human or animal sciences.  The benefits of home schooling with pets are too numerous to cover here, but every study shows that caring for and living with pets makes us better, healthier people all around.

What about outdoor pets?  Positioning a bird feeder outside the window where you have your home school, can be a constant source of delight – no matter what the kid’s ages are.  Keeping field guides and binoculars at the ready will spur kids to look for identifying marks, and triumphant cries of delight will be heard when the correct identification is made.

 

The feeder(s) can be an excellent exercise in record keeping and charting comparisons of most desirable seeds. Unsprayed lawns will have even more birds and critters, as well as insects to study.  Dandelions can be picked in heaps for pet guinea pigs to eat.

In cold winter areas – home made suet cakes are a good science project, and again – a good basis for experimentation.  Do downy woodpeckers like suet or peanut butter better?  Oilers or stripers? (sunflower seeds)  Writing it down and illustrating it involves all the areas of school – art, math, language skills, science, and history.  Bird calls have been used as the basis of some great classical music and poetry – such as ‘The Lark Ascending,’ by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which was inspired by a poem by George Meridith.

To A Skylark

O skylark! I see thee and call thee joy!
Thy wings bear thee up to the breast of the dawn;
I see thee no more, but thy song is still
The tongue of the heavens to me!

Thus are the days when I was a boy;
Sweet while I lived in them, dear now they’re gone:
I feel them no longer, but still, O still
They tell of the heavens to me.

–George Meredith–

2 Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto Him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.3 Sing unto Him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.4 For the Word of the Lord is right; and all His works are done in truth.5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 

Psalm 33: 2-5

sage

Sage’s Sewing Space – Tool Caddy

Leave a reply

Many home schoolers are also involved in the domestic arts to a high degree.  Aside from being thrifty, sewing is a creative outlet which is very empowering to women.  You need not be at the whim of mercurial fashion trends.

tools

If you sew, you know how important tools are to your work.  Scrounging around for items can cause frustration, not to mention wasted time – which no home schooler can afford.  Various contraptions are sold at Michael’s, Joann’s and Hobby Lobby to help with organizing such tools.  These are nice, but can be pricey.  I needed something that was easily portable from the cutting session to the sewing session.  Specifically – the tools involved in the cutting, altering, and marking of fabric before any actual sewing takes place.  The scissors used here should never be used for anything else!  Not even paper pattern cutting.   These things are used together – at the same time if you desire maximum efficiency.

caddy 1

Voila!  Problem solved.  This is a wrought iron silverware caddy from SAM’s club.  It was $9.98 cents when I bought it two years ago.  They usually carry them throughout the spring and summer, being intended for outdoor eating.  The price will vary during the season – going down markedly towards the end. 

  1. In the far right holder, I keep extra sharp items, including tracing wheels, rotary cutter, and an awl.
  2. In the center right holder, I keep all scissors, including dressmaking shears, pinking shears, paper pattern cutting scissors, and shears made especially for fragile fabrics.
  3. In the center left holder, I keep every manner and color of marking pencil.
  4. In the left holder, I keep a number of different hem gauges and small rulers.
  5. In the front curved section (intended for paper plates) I keep my Dritz Ezy- Hem (invaluable for shrinking in fullness on skirt hems.)
  6. In the square back holder (intended for paper napkins) I keep a tidy stack of many colors of transfer papers that are used with tracing wheels.

Once I’m done cutting and marking the fabric, the caddy is moved from the cutting area, to the sewing area, where I can easily access the scissors for trimming of seams while sewing.  The scissors are so easy to keep track of this way. 

caddy 2

I wear a wrist pin cushion while pinning and cutting, so there is no need to move a pin cushion around.  When it comes to home keeping and organization  it pays to think outside the box.  Specially made cutting tool organizers can be very expensive.  When it comes to being frugal, durable, efficient, and pretty – this silverware/cutting tool caddy can’t be beat! 

PROVERBS 31:25

singing in church

 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

Hints for Home Schoolers – Helpful Handmaid #3

Leave a reply

Everyone has their own way of doing laundry.  Here – I just share mine, with the hope that you may glean something that will make your home-keeping more efficient – enabling you to devote more time to school.

scrub

There are still many women in the world today, who do laundry the old-fashioned way.  I can recall my grandmother’s scrub board stowed in a corner of the cellar, but I also recall her white Kenmore washing machine.  She never told fond stories of her years with the scrub board!  As she put it – “It’s not the washing – it’s the wringing.”  But – oh – she loved that Kenmore!  The washing machine has done more to raise the standard of cleanliness than any other appliance. 

There are actually many articles and books written decrying the effect of technology on home making.  Perhaps there is some justification for some of these claims, as anyone purchasing and using appliances nowadays, is not likely to have them for very long.  The intentional deterioration of quality keep us going back for new machines.  The other charge is made against the “over-cleanliness,” resulting in over consumption of water and electricity.  But the fact is – that before the “hand-maids” came along, women were spending three entire days a week, just maintaining the family’s clothing and textiles! 

It usually went something like this:

Wash on Monday 

Iron on Tuesday 

Sewing on Wednesday 

Market on Thursday

Cleaning on Friday 

Baking on Saturday 

Church on Sunday

Each of these “days” took an entire day to accomplish! 

laundry

I use the laundry basket method of sorting.  There are six of these baskets, and every morning I sort all laundry between the baskets.

  1. warm load – tumble dry low
  2. warm white bleach load – tumble dry medium
  3. hot bleach load – tumble dry medium
  4. cold wash – line dry
  5. warm dark load – tumble dry medium
  6. odds and ends – like kitchen and bath rugs, blankets, and pet things

Everyone has a “magic” number of daily loads to do to keep things from piling up.  For you it may be only one – for others it may be five.  For our current number of residents – it’s four.  Years back – it was six – and that included laundry for an invalid.  We likely do more laundry than most people do, but we live in the woods, do a lot of dirty activities, (like baking and gardening) and also use only cloth napkins and handkerchiefs, and once upon a time – cloth diapers and baby wipes. 

Each day as the laundry progresses, I stack the empty basket under the full ones.  By noon – I’m done with laundry for the day.  There will be a few items in the top baskets, but not enough for a load yet.  The whole stack of baskets then gets slid under the folding counter until the next day, when the whole procedure starts over.  In keeping with my love for schedules, if for some reason there isn’t enough to do the four full loads – I will look for something to wash – like one of four,  huge, well-used afghans from the family room.  I also have been making my own laundry detergent for the past decade.  It works better and costs less. Here.

Twice yearly, the bedding gets done.  That includes mattress pads, blankets, spreads, comforters, and pillows.  Everything.  Spring and fall bed changes take more loads than my normal four. 

Speaking of bed pillows – I hope you wash yours!  If your pillow feels “heavy,” it is full of really icky stuff.  All bedding should be washed in the hottest water possible, and mattresses should be thoroughly vacuumed.  Wash two pillows at a time, with hot water and bleach if possible.  After the cycle is finished, flip the pillows over and spin again.  This gets rid of most of the moisture and dries more easily. See here about dust mites.  One older lady I know, had never washed her pillows.  They weighed six pounds each!  That is just too gross! 

I have my laundry scheduled so that it does not interfere with showers and dishwasher times.  I only run the hot load after all showers have been taken, and after the first dishwasher run at 10:00 am.  This is not hard to accomplish if you are consistent. 

old pic

If you keep after it, you will never feel overwhelmed – and your family will be clean and comfortable.

Thank You, LORD, for these helpful handmaids.  They really are a blessing, and we are even more thankful for the families you have given us to care for. 

nice and clean

PSALM 57:7

King James Version (KJV)

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.

Hints for Home Schoolers – Helpful Handmaids #1- Dishwasher

Leave a reply

Yes, we are living in the 21st century, and we may not feel like we can relate to the Proverbs 31 woman – even though just 100 years ago, most people of modest incomes would have had a least one servant.   But, praise God – we do have handmaids of a sort – and they are our electrical appliances.  Every homeschool mom should thank God, and then her husband,  (in that order) for supplying these wonders. 

The first handmaid we will address is the dishwasher.  Are you wondering how I can devote an entire post to the dishwasher?  I do it because it is that important, and usually not utilized properly.  I am not going to make any suggestions on how to clean your machine – because there are tons of sites out there devoted to that.  What I am going to discuss is timing for efficiency, and the use for sanitary purposes.

bucket

Even though I have a dishwasher – I always have a bucket like this for adding dishes to as I’m working.  Since our home has an old farm sink – I do not have the convenience of double sinks.  The soaking bucket does the job, and can be stashed under the sink when not in use.  This pre-soaking makes scrubbing largely unnecessary, which saves the home school family precious time. 

Why then do I run those soaked dishes through the dishwasher?  Aren’t they clean already?  Visually they are clean – but I’m afraid they would not pass muster under a microscope.

handwash

Most people don’t know that hand washed dishes should be placed in hot bleach water, and then air dried to kill bacteria.  The dishwasher eliminates the need for this – but only if done with that intent.  If not done correctly – the average dishwasher is full 0f really icky invisible things. 

  1. Make sure the water is hot enough.  Run hot water in the sink first to make sure that only hot water enters the machine.  It should be a scalding 140 ° for germ killing.  Most water heaters are set to 120 °.
  2. Use a detergent with bleach.  Vinegar is not as efficacious, though it has its purpose in mineral removal. 
  3. Heated drying goes nothing towards disinfection.  Air drying is fine, and will save a little money. 
  4. If you have a garbage disposal, run it before running the dishwasher to clear the drain.  The dishwasher drains into the garbage disposal – and if clogged – will actually cause dirty water to backwash into your dishwasher. 

Develop a schedule for running your machine.  For example – I run mine three times daily:  10:00 am, 2:30 pm, and 10:00 pm.  The reason for the schedule is to prevent the pile-up.  The spacing leaves plenty of time for air drying.  The times were arrived at by working around the shower and laundry loads that compete for hot water.  And – I put everything into the dishwasher that could possibly go – and some things that might surprise you. 

  • All machine safe plates, cups, pots etc.
  • The filter basket, lid, and stem from the electric percolator
  • Pet dishes
  • Plastic and ceramic houseplant pots
  • Reflector bowls and knobs from my electric stove
  • Oven racks
  • Plastic compartments from the refrigerators (I know they say hand wash – but I put them in)
  • Toothbrushes
  • My silicone pastry mat
  • Microwave plate and plastic turntable
  • Toaster oven rack, crumb tray, and broiler pan
  • Ceramic tea pots
  • Ice cube trays and buckets

About home- made dishwasher detergent – this is one area where I do believe the commercial product is superior.  Borax and vinegar do kill some pathogens – but truly can not compare to plain old bleach.  Additionally, for whatever reason, powdered products do not dissolve properly for me.  I use generic SAM’s club dishwasher gel with bleach.  Some of the big brands like Cascade carry lines with bleach, but I do fine, and very frugally with the SAM’s stuff.  On top of that – your dishwasher will never have a funny smell after time, like many home makers complain of – because the odor causing bacteria are killed by the hot water and bleach. 

If you try to develop your own schedule and find you don’t have enough to run a load – look for things to stick in there.  This is when that sticky refrigerator compartment gets a whirl through the machine.  We have two refrigerators – and I never have trouble finding something that needs cleaning.  The idea is to prevent the pile-up of dishes that can be so disheartening as it seems to never stop.  For instance – if you wait too long between loads – you will come to the time, even every day, where you can’t get everything in there and are stuck with dishes still in the sink.  If this happens repeatedly – it means you need to adjust, and add another load time to your dishwasher schedule, so that you are never faced with that. 

AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE!

Proverbs 31:29

Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.