The Pie Bird

I just love lavender but I have a difficult time growing it.  It does well through the winter and then dies off during the summer and I am not sure how to keep it alive.  Any suggestions would be helpful.

Last year our lavender was beautiful, it grew along side of the sage and both flourished all winter through cold and snow.  But then the lavender had a sudden death.  I decided to leave this one in a pot and I have cuttings in our little seedling green house.  I am starting to really enjoy growing plants from cuttings.

This week I have been making better progress in the house with organizing.  We have also finally gotten to our paperwork instead of the several years of sorting and shredding many many boxes of old paperwork from my parents and Charles parents and Charles Great Aunt's paperwork since their passings.

It has been a challenge and so our paperwork got completely out of control.  So now it feels good to thin all of this out.

We have many empty boxes now but still quite a few to go.  We flipped the buffet with the dresser and cleaned out the drawers on both of them and did a reset to use the space in the drawers to what we needed and what room we needed it in.  This buffet has the two lower cabinet cubby's to hold some medical items.  A vaporizer, that needs this larger space and a box of medical items for care giving.  Sheets and pillow cases that go to the bed in this room and can go in the second drawer.  

It is all coming together as we work out this household puzzle. 

My daughter in law gave me this beautiful night light with a tray that can hold a fragrance.  I am sensitive to some fragrances and so I like to use some essential oil such as lavender or rosemary to freshen up the room.

I keep putting my roll of cotton thread and knitted bandage by my chairs thinking that I really am going to knit some more on this piece.  It is rolled gauze that I am knitting like they made during ww2 but I am not getting very far with my roll. 

The azaleas are in bloom now.

We have different color Azaleas in different parts of the yard.

We are between that messy winter look and the first early blooming.  The birds are all over the place looking for places to make nests.

The sage and the carrots keep spreading out and seem to love the cold weather. 

I made some homemade pasta today.  Just one cup of flour and one egg makes plenty for Charles and I.

I prefer to not use equipment when making bread, pasta, tortillas, and such.  Anything I can do by hand gives me exercise and I do not have to use heavy equipment.

Do not be afraid to try new things, none of us know how to something we have never done.  Look at how many times a baby tries to take a step when first walking.  That was us too when we were a baby.

Pasta is not difficult to make and there are plenty of recipes on the internet for handmade pasta.

I forgot to take a picture of me rolling it out and this first one I did take was blurry.

Cut it the size you want your pasta.  The right side is where I cut it, the knife there in the middle and the rolled dough on the left. 

So now for the interesting topic for our 1942 study history study.

Do any of you remember your Grandmother or mother, or did you every have or do you have a pie bird?  This is my Pie Bird shown above.

I do remember my mothers Pie Bird and my mother very much enjoyed baking pies and cakes. I did some research and found out that in the 1940s during ww2 the Pie Bird became a popular item to use when making their pies.  It lets steam out the middle of the pie and helps the pie to not bubble over the pie pan.

1940s pie bird advertisement

1977 the Pie Bird was coming back again. 

I read an article that said that Pie Birds were used during the Victorian era.  I could not find an article during that time.  But what I did learn is that the Pie Birds have come in and out of popularity.  In 1977 they were discussed in this article above.  

Pie Birds are coming back again and at no better time than our 1942 history study.  

There are savory and sweet pies and we should never give up trying if we do not first succeed.  It is good for us to keep trying to do things that we never had a chance to learn or failed first or the fifth time. :) Pies are a very good way to help the budget because they fill the tummy and use simple ingredients. 

If you have any memories that you would like to share that you remember, or that you remember your Grandparents or parents talking about that have to do with the home, cooking, gardening that might be of interest, please share in the forum.

Have you incorporated any 1940s or pre 1940s lessons into your home?  If not maybe it would be fun to find something to share so we can bring it back to today.  

Do you have a good pie recipe for the Pie Bird or the Macaroni?  I still am a bit stumped on how the Macaroni would work.  Hope to see you in the forum, we can talk about anything but politics.

Grandma Donna