Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A VINTAGE LIFESTYLE

I've been musing about what a "vintage lifestyle" might look like. Since I don't consider myself an "antique" quite yet ( technically antiques have to be over 100 years old) I figure I'm in the "vintage" category. I looked up the word "vintage" in the dictionary and other than all the definitions related to wine making I found these:  old, outmoded, old fashioned, dated. Frankly they didn't make it sound very appealing. But if you have some great memories of growing up and doing some things "the old fashioned way" then "vintage" brings with it a whole new meaning. I guess that was what I was thinking  of when I began daydreaming about a "vintage lifestyle". While I enjoy finding old  vintage treasures with which to decorate my home, why not keep some of the old vintage activities of the past I started thinking? I was thinking about this after looking at old pictures of three generations in our family. It brought back all kinds of fun memories of activities I shared with my Gramma. I remember picking raspberries with my Gramma and making raspberry jam that we would spread over biscuits for breakfast. She would make the BEST cinnamon rolls ever.( With my non-stop- entreprenurial -brain don't think I haven't thought of making and selling THOSE! ) She made bread and butter pickles  ( my favorite ) and watermelon pickles.And she always wore an apron ( I remember the brown checked gingham one which I now have ) for these tasks. She had  corn in her garden and I recall  her cutting the corn off the ear and  freezing them for the winter. I would eat pea pods right out of her garden. She also had a pansy garden that the rabbits loved but she always had some left, after the rabbits had their fill, to put in her special fancy pansy bowl. She always had clothes hanging outdoors on the clothesline to keep them smelling fresh. I remember sheets flapping in the wind. And there were always plants, plants, and more plants in the house which I loved to water with the special watering can with the long spout. I still remember what it looked like: white with red, yellow, and blue flowers.
MY GRAMMA, GWEN
Now it might be that I was a child and these activities were just FUN for me while they might have been more like WORK for Gramma. But I sense that it was just as much a joyful task for her as we laughed and enjoyed it together.

Now don't get me wrong. My Mom's generation  and then MY generation also ENJOYED some of  these activities as well as many young women today. And when my kids were growing up I had a garden, picked salads from the garden for dinner, made homemade salsa, made those amazing cinnamon rolls of Gramma's (7 dozen of them at a time!)  and really enjoyed the domestic lifestyle. But recently I've been guilty of seeing  baking, cooking, and washing as WORK to be "gotten over with" in order  to move onto something FUN  instead of enjoying the task itself. Thus, I've decided to take on these tasks with JOY again. And not only that, I've made a decision to try to do MORE baking, GROW some plants for food,  clean the house and wash the clothes while ENJOYING THE TASK ITSELF!

I'm calling this plan " MY VINTAGE LIFESTYLE". What is a "vintage lifestyle" you ask? Here's my definition: Celebrating and enjoying a simple lifestyle of yesteryear in my home and family. I'm sure many of you are already doing this and I just need to get going again. Frankly I have always liked being domestic...or the IDEA of it anyway. The chores themselves, not so much. But I  also want to create some of the same memories for MY grandchildren. I've already created a lot of memories with them but I've wanted to pass on  some of the same things I did with MY GRAMMA.

Gramma's old Red Wing pottery mixing bowl for mixing the granola

Here's the granola in a vintage container.
Herbs
I'll let you know how it goes. But I'm already on my way. I've got a strawberry plant in a pot and an herb garden. I can't have a "real" garden because we live in a" public park".

Today I made a week's worth of granola to have for breakfast with my grandson and in the future we'll have strawberries from the plant with it along with organic yogurt. I also made  a chocolate pie for my husband, one of his favorites. It was also wash day and I loved it! No, really!

So what are some simple everyday tasks that YOU enjoy? I'd love to hear about them!

My chalkboard rooster  ready for breakfast.

4 comments:

  1. How delightfully contagious your thoughts are in this post! Yes! We MUST try our best to enjoy our daily tasks as they are what make up a great deal of our life time!!
    To share these seemingly mundane tasks with our little ones, be they our own young children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, it is a time of making lasting memories.
    OH! How I cherish the many memories of talking with my Grandma while handing her clothespins to hang the freshly laundered linens and clothing on the outdoor lines above my head and to see them blow in the breeze and smell so fresh. Picking fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers from her gardens was so fun! Baking with her was one of my delights! Grandma always had a special treat to share with me when I would spend Summers with her at her country home.
    We MUST hang on to these precious thoughts and share such times with the young ones in our lives so they have memories to cherish in their later years, too!
    Thank you, Sandy, for sharing!!!
    Baskets full of hugs......~Sandie

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    1. Hi, Sandie! Thanks for sharing YOUR special memories of YOUR Grandma! Have a wonderful day! ; )

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  2. Lovely "vintage" post!
    Have a great day!
    Coralie

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  3. Thanks for stopping by, Coralie!

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