Comments On Article: Cool Weather Is Here

If you would like to share your comments for article Cool Weather is Here, this is where to do it! 

Click the Reply To This Topic button below to post yours.

I've been feeling a need to take a break from the internet too. I wonder if it's because the weather is changing and I have a feeling of needing to prepare for winter? I need to stop having all the thoughts of people on the internet bombard me. I don't mean here in this forum. The things people post in this forum help me to live a more peaceful life. I mean the YouTube videos and things I read online. To get to the good information, I have to wade through so much bad information. I need a break from it all to think my own thoughts! I know it comes down to me being disciplined about internet use, but how do you get the information you need without encountering some bad too? I guess I need trusted sites. 

I want to spend my break going to back to the 1930s, my favorite time. :) With our budget reduction coming on Jan. 1, and with our need to reduce water and electricity and food and gas, it feels like a good time to think like the thirties. :) I'm going to do a news blackout too, after I see the results of the midterms. Hopefully the results will indicate that the country's fever has broken and we can start to get well again. 

We've worked really hard this year to make our home simple and inexpensive. It was expensive to make it inexpensive! :) But we did it, and it was money well spent, because now we can go forward with less expense to run our home. I also want to be done with changes. I want a predictable, routine life that is the same day after day. A life where I know I'll see the birds in the morning as I drink my coffee, then happily do my cleaning and cooking for the day, and have those porch moments Grandma Donna wrote about, even though I don't have a porch. :) Not one you could sit on anyway. I want a peaceful, predictable life without something bad barging in all the time. Like my new credit card I got a few weeks ago after having fraud on it and it having to be cancelled again for more fraud! I went to the credit card site and blocked its use. I enjoyed the points I got for using it, but it's just not worth it anymore, especially with the AI threats. I've been deleting and closing accounts all over the internet lately. Less for AI to infiltrate. The ones I can remember, at least! :) 

I hope everyone has a wonderful break! I look forward to hearing how everyone spent their breaks. 

I don't comment much but I love reading them. G. Donna, I wish you peace and rest as you enjoy this break and get your work done. Im sure most of us feel the same way. We are preparing our simple autumn recipes, baking our bread, and enjoying our two new kittens. What fun they add to our quiet lives! You all have been a great help in keeping me moving towards a simpler life. As I put our garden to bed I look forward to more time for reading, knitting and baking.  Take care until we post again!

Yes, the cool finally reached us, didn't it?  What a welcome relief.  Even in the summer-like heat of the first half of October, I kept my air conditioning off, but it was hard to do.  But now everything - heat, a/c, and fans - all of it is off, which will help my averaged electric billing amounts.  I'll keep it all off as long as I can.  

I understand needing to take a break.  I have things I need to do as well, and I need to take some time away from the sites I normally check.  

My kitchen is torn out for the new cabinets, but I kept all of my appliances, none of which are old, and all are working well, so I can use my stove and my refrigerator, which is a big help.  I feel a little primitive, working on a folding table and washing dishes in my laundry room, but it's working.  This means I'm experiencing no running water in the kitchen, but since I have it elsewhere in the house, it's not as though I'm living with no running water at all in the house.  The cabinet installers were surprised that I wasn't going with all new appliances to go with my new cabinets.  No appliance in my kitchen is older than 6-7 years, mostly due to the fact that today's appliances don't last as long as they used to, and one is just a year old.  Why would I replace all that?  An interesting note, they asked me if I was keeping my dishwasher (I am).  They said many homeowners they work with these days have their kitchens remodeled to be without a dishwasher.  I have to wonder if the fact that dishwashers can die so quickly these days means maybe that some people are just giving up on them altogether.  I don't know that I will replace mine when it dies.  

I have been lazy and just followed here to learn about the older ways, but now I need to delve into them.  There are some fun old things I can remember from my childhood, such as my grandmother (b. 1896) never owned or used what is called either a turner or spatula - that tool with which one would flip pancakes or burgers.  She turned everything that needed turning by using a fork and her favorite kitchen knife together.  

At the same time I am trying the old ways, I am ordering gifts for Christmas online.  It really is hard to do the old ways when the new ways can be much easier and cheaper.  I would have to drive over 50 miles to the nearest place large enough to shop for gifts, and that doesn't include the mileage and time to drive around from store to store in that nearest city. Plus, I can't find the selection in-store that I can find online. I can order online, catch a sale while ordering, get it delivered for free, and not use a bit of gas in my car.  I'm trying to balance between being simpler by using the old ways, and spending less money and using much less time with new ways.  It can be difficult.

 Stephanie G, Oooooie, going back home to the 1930s, I will probably be there with you. :)

Lisa T, I am happy that you did post.  Awwwww new kitties, such a wonderful vision I have.  I hope you stay on your journey to your more simple life.  :)  While you are putting your garden to bed we are waking ours up to grow our fall and winter plants.  Planting garlic and onions, carrots and beets, cabbage and lettuce under frost cloth. We cannot take the summer garden anymore, it is just  too hot. Hug the baby kitties from me. :)  

Joan S, When we go up to the lake to our tiny house we call "Myrtle," because of the crepe Myrtles up there, we don't have water in the tiny house we should call itty bitty house, I love washing dishes in my old enamel wash bowls on the small kitchen table, it just feels right.  We use a water buckets to store water. It is easier to practice when you don't have it.  :)  That is interesting about the dishwashers.  My daughter did not replace her dishwasher over a year ago when hers stopped working and she uses the extra space where it was.

Grandma Donna, I hope you have a wonderful break!  I get an email notification when you post to the blog, so it is easy for me to not be checking to see if you are back.  We’ve been talking about how fantastic my September break was, and how I’ve let more screen time sneak in since then.  I will probably not check in again after tomorrow until the week before Advent (if you are back), and then I will do another big break from Advent through Epiphany.

I was worrying that I need to have all of my making done before Advent begins in order to have a hushed season, and then I realized eliminating screens gives me so much time that I might enjoy making cards and gifts during Advent.  This year I intend to sew most of my gifts, as it’s faster.  I’ll also make several potholder loom trivets as gifts — I do the sewn binding that creates a fringe, and my loom is the XL version so it makes perfect trivets.  I have all the loops I need.

Joan S, when our dishwasher breaks and is beyond repair we won’t replace it.  We did buy this one in 2024 because the young adults were having a fit about washing everything by hand, and I was so ill I needed the help more than I wanted to fight with them.  Two of those young adults no longer live with us, and the one who does is more adaptable — he hangs his laundry every week and never makes a peep about it.  A kitchen remodel may come before that, and if it does I’ll sell the dishwasher and put in drawers.  If we remodel, or if it stops working before that, the over the stove microwave will go as well.  The microwave does save energy, but if we decide to still have one it will be a countertop model hidden away.

Stephanie, we’ve also spent a lot of money on our utility independence, we more still needed (for water.  I feel like we still haven’t gotten into a good rhythm since my husband retired, but porch sitting is definitely on our daily agenda.  One of our redwoods is smaller than the other, and it is home to one of the local hummingbird pairs.  I suspect more than one nest, actually, because there is so much chit chat going on in the mornings and evenings, but it could be their babies chirping as well — they babies are flying now so I suppose they will leave soon, although we have year round hummingbirds here.

I’ve been news free for nearly 8 weeks now.  My husband will let me know about the midterms if I ask him.  The only news he has seen worthy of sharing with me so far is the fact that Pope Leo has cancer, so that I can pray for him.  We are not Roman Catholic but I’ve been a fan of the last two popes in terms of their deep love of God and the messages they offer on climate change and human rights.

Thank you, Grandma Donna, for sharing so much and for all the research you do. Your posts are always so full of information,  wisdom and beautiful images.

There are young adults in my family who are taking an interest in learning old ways of doing things. 

In part it's because they need to cut costs but also I believe they feel a need to be more connected to, and have a working understanding of the basics - food, clothing, shelter etc.

Reading your blog has given me so much to share, but just as importantly, I'm attuned to how important these skills and attitudes are, and why they're of value. 

I hope you can catch up on everything and have a good rest from the blog. Wishing you and your loved ones good health, safety and peace. 

I will be attending to the vegetable garden and preparing for what could be an extreme fire season this summer in Australia. 

I am settled cosily in bed in my cotton pyjamas, under the thick, feather duvet, with my hot water bottle in its cover, and a warm woollen shawl. The first named storm of the season, Austen, is forecast for tomorrow bringing rain. 

The central heating went on as soon as I got home from hospital, the thermostat set at 20°C in the daytime, a little warmer than in previous winters.  The temperatures outside are dropping 10-14°C by day and around 5°C at night. 

We are managing, just about, relying on fresh soups and basic ingredients from the local M&S to make simple, nourishing meals.  I should have insisted that DH kept some cooking skills, he has forgotten the little he once knew. He has mastered the washing machine, and clothes dry on the airer by the radiator. 

It feels like hibernating, no social events, or outings at present, though I will be attending Cardio Rehab after the post op check up, and my postponed flu jab.

I have my books, and memories of my grandmother and parents reading the latest library books quietly on winter evenings. We used to play old fashioned board games, and do jigsaw puzzles. The family keeps in touch with messages and photographs on the telephone app. I have no interest in following the news broadcasts. 

Enjoy your internet break.

Gr.Donna,

While I will miss you and reading comments on your forum I understand completely. I use it as "meeting with the neighbors".  But I also have things I need to get done, we are having some really good weather here so a good time to get things buttoned up for colder weather. 

I cleaned windows today; it is a big job because I have a sunroom...tomorrow will do glass doors and the last 2 bedroom windows. It will feel great to have them all done. 

I still have a few things to buy and gather for winter storage, waiting to see if I can catch them on sale. I also want to put pans of charcoal under the guest beds in the guestrooms as I keep them closed off until needed but they can get stale air smelling and the charcoal really helps with that.

I am going to continue with the 1930's and part of the 1940's. It is where I feel the most comfortable and somehow feel "safer". I am sure that for me not having the constant barrage of "news" helps my mindset so much.

I am one of the few that will not give up my dishwasher if at all possible.  I love having it and not handwashing very many dishes.

Please have a wonderful break, gDonna. I will miss your posts but totally understand the need to focus on your home and personal life. Many blessings to you and thank you for the helpful posts and pictures.

Joyce C, to be fair, I detest washing dishes by hand, but that’s well know and my husband does 90% of the dish washing.  Wearing gloves does help me get through it.  Mostly I don’t plan to replace mine because I am so tired of having so many things that have to be maintained, repaired, and replaced.  Now that my husband is retired and our income is fixed I see many of these things as expenses we don’t need or want.  But if I were living alone, I would be sorely tempted to have a small in-sink dishwasher.  A big dishwasher would be too much, my dad ran his once a week when he lived along and it would smell

Gr. Donna, you will definitely be missed along with the rest of the posters here.  The weather is cooler, and the evenings are darker.  It is a busy season.  I always reread the blog when the break is here. It just keeps me sane.  I pray you get the rest you need.

I have enjoyed so much the blog over the years and the addition of the forum and they are the few things I consistently read online, but I have rarely posted myself.  I thank you all for doing so.

Joan S – how interesting that you were told that many individuals are not having dishwashers installed in their remodeled kitchens.  I was not raised with a dishwasher and while I do have one now, can probably count on two hands the number of times I’ve used it in the 5 years since we built this home – these were typically times when my husband and I were ill and I wanted to make certain germs were killed.  I have a view of the mountains and a pasture of cows just across the road that I love to look at while taking my time handwashing my dishes.  Often, the hymn How Beautiful Upon the Mountains runs through my head while I’m gazing out the window at these scenes.  I am also frequently graced with seeing a herd of deer or a flock of turkeys crossing our property in front of me and now we have a beautiful red fox and a couple of bears who are showing themselves in our area, as well. I live in Northeastern Tennessee where so much of the farmland is being taken over by housing developments that the wildlife struggle to maintain themselves in their own habitats.  Ten of our twelve acres are in timber and will remain so as long as we are here.

It seems like each time I think that we are done spending a good deal of money on something, a new reason comes up to tap into our dwindling retirement amount.  This year we were not successful in stopping a company from setting up to produce high purity depleted uranium for the government just two miles from our house.  There have already been a couple of discharges of waste into the creek on their property that runs into the river which provides water for the surrounding area.  My husband and I decided that the best we can do at this point is to purchase a water filtering system for the entire house, including reverse osmosis which does filter uranium.  When will it all end, is the question I keep asking myself.

I, too, am looking forward to taking a break from screens, etc…and focus on what I can do like those from my own past to help re-set my peaceful homelife.  I am fortunate to have old diaries from my great grandmother from the 1940’s to the 1970’s and I so enjoy reading them, as well as old letters, notebooks of handwritten recipes with notes beside them and various other items that have been passed down to me, where I can get some ideas and motivation without having to go to the internet.

Enough rambling.  I want to again thank you all for sharing so much information from your own lives to help the rest of us.  I look forward to getting an email at some point indicating there is another blog post to read.

Thank you Kimberly, I am glad you have the notification to let you know I have a new post.  I wish you the best with getting things done before Advent.  The main thing is to enjoy the season of Autumn now, slow down and do the things you enjoy around the house andf ind ays to show how the small and simple things can be the best things and help reset our younger generations to how it should be.  We all need to do this.

Kelly O, thank you for your kind words, this makes me so happy to read about the young adults in your family interested in the old ways.  I hope your vegetable garden does well and those fires stay far away.  I have been keeping up with your weather there and the increased earthquakes lately.

Janet W, I am glad you posted and hubby is still doing his best taking care of you.  Maybe his skills will have a chance to refresh and he becomes really good at them by the time you have recovered.  I will be getting the flu jab next week, Charles got his last week.  

Joyce C,  I am lad you mentioned windows, it is past time to wash our windows before winter.  Our routine is way off and I want it back!  Thank you for telling about the charcoal under the guest beds.  I will try this. I am glad we have another forum person that will be wandering back into the 1930's and 40's while I am not blogging Stephanie and I might bump into you there. Lol

Glenda H2, Stay safe and well and I hope to see you back here when we do get back together.

Ann E, Happy Reading while I am away, I hope you feel you are visiting my home.  Every time I type out Ann E, I think about Ann of Green Gables and by the way my Great Grandmother was from Prince Edward Island.  :)