Cultivate beauty and wisdom in and around you

I am writing this blog on Wednesday morning and there are trees down and water everywhere and I hope you are all doing OK. We are fortunate to have not lost power or had any water problems thus far.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I learned about something new this week and want to share that today. Have you heard of Nanny Pins? Last week I posted about a blog hosted by Cee Rafuse and she has a Facebook page called https://www.facebook.com/cee.rafuse/posts/10208188050764768?from_close_friend=1 She talks about a site called http://scatteredseedsamplers.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-early-workbasket-nanny-pin.html Scattered Seed Samplers Nanny pins were brooches worn by the Nanny of the house, which contained emergency sewing sets for repairs if the children tore a garment while playing.  She has some beautiful pictures and lots of information. I think these are really cool. One end unscrews to reveal a cylinder with thread wrapped  a...

A few thoughts on Enamelware! Think about enamel kitchen utensils today, and you probably imagine something coated all over in enamel. That certainly wasn't the case in the early years. To begin with, cooking pots were lined inside with enamel, but they looked like any other cast iron on the outside. People wanted a way of coating iron to stop metallic tastes or rust getting into food: something acid-resistant and easy to clean without laborious  scouring , something more durable than the tin linings used inside copper. The story of enamel cookware begins in the 1760s in Germany. The idea of finding a safe, convenient coating first took hold there: in scientific writing and in actual iron works. Fifty years later  vitreous enamel  linings, also called porcelain, for kitchen pans were becoming familiar in several European countries. Enamelling was no longer limited to decorative arts and crafts. Were enamel-lined cooking pots really as clean and safe as ...

I'm pretty sure you won't be looking at your email tomorrow so I thought I'd write you today. You may not be looking today either! Most of us are working or getting ready for tomorrow.  Here are some pictures from current classes. I'm sure you will enjoy them. I love this and am working on mine. MaryAnn finished hers and it is beautiful. Susan's is finished, mine not yet begun! Isn't this cute. Susan finished this also. Christmas Oreo's ~~yum There are so many fun projects to choose from. This is Judy's finished Maggie Bononami project. It is beautiful. Nancy's little hexies These are just a few of the examples of what is being done in Betty's Studio. You are welcome to join us at any time. *************************************** I was invited to do a trunk show and a class with the Guild in the Gorge. Saturday, Loren drove me there and we set up a lot of my treasures....

Irons and Smoothers and Mangles...on my!! No-one can say exactly when people started trying to press cloth smooth, but we know that the Chinese were using hot metal for ironing before anyone else. Pans filled with hot coals were pressed over stretched cloth as illustrated in the drawing to the right. A thousand years ago this method was already well-established. Meanwhile people in Northern Europe were using stones, glass and wood for smoothing. These continued in use for "ironing" in some places into the mid-19th century, long after Western blacksmiths started to forge smoothing irons in the late Middle Ages. Linen smoothers: stones, glass, presses Flattish hand-size stones could be rubbed over woven cloth to smooth it, polish it, or to press in pleated folds. Simple round  linen smoothers  made of dark glass have been found in many Viking women's graves, and are believed to have been used with smoothing  boards . Archaeologists know there were plenty of t...

The thoughts today are about Butter Churns My husband collects these in different sizes. Home butter-making took time and energy, but only needed simple equipment. Low-tech methods were still well-known in rural parts of developed countries like the USA in the mid-20th century. In the UK it became less common for ordinary families to make their own butter in the course of the 19th century, but the old ways were still used on small farms and in the dairies belonging to grand houses. After the cow(s) were milked, the milk was left to settle in a cool place, in  shallow dishes , also called setting dishes or  pancheons , so the cream would rise to the top. (Unless the butter was to be made from whole milk: less common than making it from cream.) Brass and earthenware dishes were used in the UK in the 17th and 18th centuries, with earthenware becoming gradually more popular, as brass sometimes tainted the flavour. After half a day or so, the cream was ...