No Matter How You Say It...

To my very dear blogging friends, you have all made me feel like dancing this year. You've been here with
words of praise and words of condolences and also
encouragement when I needed it. 
So even though we won't be out tonight, know that
I will be dancing in my heart from meeting all of you
in 2011.
Happy New Year to you and your loved ones,
Susan

A Look At Life In 1871 From A New England Woman

Hi, Primmies, it's Friday and tomorrow  is New Year's Eve. I feel like my household is very disorganized right now. I know it's because we have tried to make 5 rooms fit into 3, so I'm going to

break a rule and make a resolution. I don't make them because I

usually don't keep them. But for 2012 I'm going to have a more

relaxed view on things. I got a kick out of reading advice to young housekeepers setting up their homes for the first time. I thought

you'd like a glimpse of how Mrs. Mary H. Cornelius would advise

you regarding housekeeping. The excerpts below are from her writings in Young Housekeepers Friend revised in 1871 from her

Newton Centre,MA home:

At least the servants didn't have to cook on Sunday.

And I wonder how many homes employed domestic help in 1871. I always had the impression that only a privileged few had that luxury. 

I also got a little treat from Mr. Glen Oaks. He found a copy of the first American collection of 'receipts' for

five dollars on Amazon. It's reprinted as The First American Cookbook from the original American Cookery, 1796 by Amelia Simmons. This is reported to be the first cookbook written by an American and

published in the United States. Amelia Simmons wrote her book in the spring time of 1796 where she

lived in Hartford, Ct.

What's fascinating is that a lot of her receipts were
"borrowed" from English cookery books most notably a woman called Susannah Carter. Copying another's works was acceptable practice during this time period and even much later on. Ms. Simmons herself was

copied from even after filing for the first Federal copyright law of 1790. The book was welcomed also

because English did not use ingredients that Americans used. So Ms. Simmons set out to right a collection of receipts for making meals that she had

eaten all of her life in America.

I will be scanning some pages from my copy and include them in another post. They are such fun to

read and the nice thing is that this book includes a

glossary with the meanings of 18th century phrases

and measurements.

Enjoy your Friday afternoon,

Susan

Thursday Tip : (Faux) Blackened Wax Fruit Tutorial~Thrift Shop Bowl Makeover

Good Morning, Primmies -
I love the blackened beeswax ornies and bowl fillers but I'm not set up to work with melted wax. It's not that I wouldn't love to make my own candles and
tarts, but we just don't have a good place to work
that wouldn't ruin our teensie kitchen. 
So when I came across this tut I thought, "Great,
I can manage this". It might not appeal to the most
purist of primmies but I don't mind a shortcut or two.

Rhonda of It's A Kattywhompus Life very graciously allowed me
to post her method of making faux blackened wax fruit. Click the either of the links to go to her blog post. Rhonda started with the above thrift shop wax fruit:
It's a Kattywhompus Life: (Faux) Blackened Wax Fruit Tutorial~Thrift Shop Bowl Makeover:

And she ended with this very nice 'blackened wax' fruit. Ta Da!
Read her post for the very small list of supplies that you will need, how she did it and her bowl re-finish.
I hope you enjoy this.
Have a good morning, Prims -
Susan

'via Blog this'

Free Cross Stitch Charts

Hi, Again Primmies -

I found another source for free patterns. The Drawn Thread has a list at this link for free charts to cross stitch. I like

this chart for Valentine's Day, I know a lot of you are already

working on Valentine and Spring items.

There are lots more designs on the site. Click HERE for the free charts.

Take Care,

Susan

A Surprise From 'The Dogs'

Hi, Primmies -
I hope everyone had a beautiful day yesterday. 
If I hadn't read Karen's of My Colonial Home post
on Christmas eve I never would have known about
this fun website. If you haven't yet seen her 
Christmas eCard please watch it. It's so adorable.
So, I laughed and laughed and then went to the
site and made one for my daughter Ashley and
Tim from the dogs. Click the link below to see their dogs' Christmas card to "Mumma and Daddy"

Opie,Lily and Toki Sing Rockin Around The Christmas Tree

I've got to get myself in gear and start stitching.
I'll give you a hint, it's hand stitching, on linen,
with floss, can you guess?
'Nite, everyone -
Susan