I have been slightly down the last few days, life is quiet and the news in the background holds a threat. I get told to get out of bed by 7 0 clock in the morning by Mollie, so that she can sleep on it in peace and quiet and I begin to wonder should I be ordered around by a cat.
I have been watching lots of The Last Homely House videos on quilting but somehow I think it is more a way of life they are projecting a bit like that American old series - Little House on the Prairie, but the family have comforting overtones. The other video I am watching is about 'at home surviving in the wild' and about a Scottish couple, who are looking after a small cottage on a tiny island. What is rather magical about it is the layers of history in this small snapshot of an island that is just off the land by a loch.
The first thing you notice is to live the self-sufficient life you need an awful lot of stuff to survive, and expensive videoing equipment to record their daily life and support it. Yes, well........ I suppose the pioneering spirit still lives on.
Outside the wind rattles away and the rain falls heavily on the Velux windows and the weather gets colder. I have been doing a bit of sorting out. Each year I make a note of the clothes I have and see what else is needed, obviously another rain mac would not come amiss.
We all wait, not exactly with baited breath, for a date for the next election. Lillie wants it after the 10th June, her birthday, when she will be 18 and ready to vote. Andrew Rawnsley says we should not be too worried about Labour getting in and the money needed to be spent. Perhaps we have all turned into worryguts over everything, but £16 for olive oil from Waitrose? okay that was a joke, Lidl sells it at £6.
I did not expect to worry this much as I grew old. It's such a waste of time and boring, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYes Tom it is. But then I don't subscribe to the mantra of finding three happy things that happen through the day because my mind will automatically measure 3 good things with about a dozen bad things.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to convince my partner of the benefits of Australian extra virgin olive oil, instead we have whatever Aldi is selling. Buying locally produced olive oil will no doubt cost a good bit more.
ReplyDeleteThe Scottish couple on an island sounds interesting but Google is not being being helpful. Could you give a link or more information please.
I am sure it is not helpful to say, 'Buck up then'.
Olive oil is supposed to be good for you Andrew but is more expensive of course. I think climate change and the hot weather is affecting the production of olives. 'The Scottish Isle' is the channel, and the link - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+scottish+isle+youtube+channel. In fact I can put the latest one up on the blog.
ReplyDeleteThe man in "The Scottish Isle" seems quite tiresome and I sense a certain tension between the two of them - not the best recipe for a lonesome survival project.
ReplyDeleteWell you could say Neil that they have a camera rapport between them, or then a normal husband and wife relationship. Take your pick.
ReplyDeleteI've meant to thank you again for suggesting The Last Homely House. I'm enjoying watching Kate and her family [and the cats] usually in the evening when I'm too tired to do something productive. Kate's quilting activity did give me the incentive to go downstairs and finish projects that were started much too long ago.
ReplyDeleteThe Homely House lifestyle is familiar to me, having always lived in a rural environment. Around us here in Kentucky there is a growing community of people who are raising--and in some cases, selling-- garden produce; making soaps and lotions, setting up at Farmers' Markets or creating online sales. I see it as a reaction to chemical laden foods and goods commercially sold, as well as the need for a frugality that was common to older generations. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the local 'natives' are content with a Wal Mart life-style, unhealthy diets, a seeming lack of motivation. [Yes, I know I sound condescending, but 14 years here have been eye-opening!]
Re The Little House on the Prairie: I read the original books to my children when they were growing up. More recently I have explored biographies of the Ingalls/Wilder families; it comes to light that Laura's daughter Rose Wilder Lane, a journalist, was greatly involved in the writing and editing for publication, the stories created from Laura's childhood memories but considerably 'tweaked.'
As for the TV series--I think Michael Landon's sugar-coated dramas strayed quite far from the reality of pioneer life on the Great Plains.
I will save the link to the Scottish island series--its always good to have things to explore on a rainy evening. My husband watches many of the youtube presentations about some adventurer 'surviving' by wits and skills in a remote place--but, as you point out--someone is there doing all that filming and recording!
Hello Sharon, I am not sure why I twinned The Last Homely House with The Little House on the Prairie. I think it had something to do with the whole family atmosphere at Kates all working in some way for her but the videos are very enjoyable, and especially Anna as she learns to quilt.
DeleteThe way of life around you is of course very similar to the self-sufficiency that is still practiced in Britain, which, in turn, has been inherited from grandparents who had to 'make do' with limited amounts of everything. But as you say times have changed and we are now a 'supermarket culture'
These videos of course are fascinating because they are bring to us real life as opposed to all we see on television. Perhaps the Ingalls instituted it all ;)
Hopefully with the Spring weather warming us up you will feel better, Thelma. Worrying is a waste but it's hard to stop. Maybe you need a little vacation somewhere?
ReplyDeleteNo I don't fancy a vacation Ellen yet, the weather is up and down. Will be doing a willow weaving course next weekend locally, a late birthday present from the family.
ReplyDeleteI can no longer relate to your politics, but willow weaving I can. Please let us know your project. I assume it will be some sort of basket or mat--can't wait to see.
ReplyDeleteWell as I have taken up quilting Joanne I thought baskets to keep all the material bits in. Cutting out the shapes can run into hundreds.
DeleteThe crazier the world gets, the more inclined I am to turn my focus to the things close at hand. The suffering of the children is gutting. Just gutting. You children certainly outdid themselves on birthday gifts, didn't they? I envied your recent trip...and now willow weaving!
ReplyDeleteYes it was a combined present from all of them, I can go to any class he puts on, not sure why I chose this one. Shibden Hall came from Andrew which was very sweet of him.
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