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Thanks for reading!

Fabulous Fall

We are having an absolutely gorgeous fall here in Michigan!  The weather's been beautiful, the trees seem brighter than they have in a few years, and the color seems to be lasting longer. I'm just loving it!

Let me share some beauty with you!

 

Just have to note that the colors of some of these next several pictures are a little harsh because I took them in the middle of the day, which a photographer is "not supposed to do". But I had to get them when I could.

I'm so grateful that God gives us beautiful colors in the fall, and then also in the spring, to make up for the gray of winter!

Sometimes I Envy My Dog

Dog's sure have it good!
They never have to clean or cook or do laundry or play endless games of "Sorry".
They are served food regularly.
They get to sleep whenever they want.
They are petted and told "you're so cute!" just by wagging their tail or sitting near you and looking up at you with their big eyes.
They get giddy just hearing the words "outside", "walk", or "eat".

But what I envy most is how they bounce awake every morning ...
Happy and energetic to face a new day.
Wiggling and wagging when they first see you.
Dashing joyfully outside as if it's the first time they've ever seen the back yard.
Running around the yard with abandon, sniffing intently for any new or interesting sights or smells.

Full of contentment and joy, without worrying if their nose is too short, or too long; or if they're having a bad hair day; or if they've gained a few pounds; or how much they have to do that day.

I'm glad that I don't have to eat the same dry "food" every day that's been sitting in a bag for months, or have to sit on command. But I could use a few lessons from them on contentment and joy!

One-Room Schoolhouses

I've developed a growing curiosity in one-room schoolhouses lately.  I've always thought they were interesting. A while ago I became determined to take a photo that might be used on the front of my favorite homeschooling magazine, "The Old Schoolhouse Magazine".  They feature a one-room schoolhouse on the cover of each magazine, and take submissions from readers.

After doing some research for schools in my area and the state of MI, I've decided to merge my schoolhouse interest with my photography, and begin taking pictures of as many one-room schoolhouses as I can.  I hope to gather dozens over the years, and will try to search them out if we travel anywhere.

Today, I found a list of rule for teachers in 1872. This list was for Illinois teachers, but was similar throughout the U.S.  Interesting!

Each school district set up rules for the teacher to follow. Some of them were very strict, but they were important to the farmers in the district and made sense to them. Following is a list of rules for a teacher in 1872:

1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys.
2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day’s session.
3. Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.
4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church.
5. After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.
6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
7. Every good teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not be a burden on society.
8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity, and honesty.
9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.

Here's my first photos taken in our area recently.  I don't know it's history, but the outside appears to have been neglected for quite some time. A peek in the windows however gave me the impression that it's being used as some type of office/storage area.  There's also a small, modern one room addition on the back side of the schoolhouse that may serve as someone's office. Love the little outhouse on the back, right side!

It's hard to see, but I believe the sign in front says "Dist. No. 5, 1887"

September!

I love September! My birthday, our wedding anniversary, start of school, and cooler temps with Fall on the horizon. Fall is my favorite season; well, maybe tied with Spring; but I'm very ready to say goodbye to Summer.  As we've moved into September, my depression has also calmed down, for which I'm very thankful.

And good thing, because although I'm glad to get back into a scheduled routine, our school start-up has not been smooth this year.  Besides doing more work with Aaron as he's in 1st grade this year (and still not reading), I've added some new subjects and curriculum, one of which I'm throwing together myself from several different sources, and have classes on Mondays and Thursdays, and every-other Wednesday. Last year we took a break from any outside classes, so that's one more adjustment for this school year. We're fortunate to have a large homeschooling community where we live, with plenty of class options to choose from. They're a great supplement to our learning at home, but it sure adds up to more running around. I'm still trying to catch my breath after the first two weeks!

The temperatures have cooled down rather quickly after a very warm summer, so it feels even more like Fall.

Welcome Fall!

Creativity MIA

One thing (of many) that depression steals is creativity.  I enjoy various creative outlets like knitting, crocheting, sewing, scrapbooking, and photography.  But when my depression flares up, I have little interest or energy to work on projects, even when part of my self really wants to. So instead of posting pictures of all the amazing things I have made lately, because I haven't, I thought I'd show some ideas of what I would like to make:

 Vintage Sheet Quilt

I've been collecting some vintage sheets and pillow cases from garage sales, thrift stores, (and my parent's house!) for a while now. This would be my first quilt; should be fairly easy because it's just squares, no complicated pattern.

Knit Leaf Cravat Scarf

More of these cute knit dish clothes (I've already made one and I really like how the pattern turns out)

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Knitted Pears

I'm also 4 years behind on my scrapbooks! I've had my supplies out on the dining room table for a few weeks now, and work on it as my brain will allow, which isn't often.  Some day I'll get caught up.

I continue to have some good days and some bad days; but hoping that I'll feel well more consistently as August is gone and we approach fall. I love fall! Perfect time for taking lots of pictures!

(I'm having problems with new layouts with blogger, I don't know why some of my descriptions are not lining up correctly - they look okay when I'm typing them - but I'm not going to figure that out right now!)

1959 magazine

Another great find at a garage sale to add to my collection of old books, cookbooks, and magazines.

Take a little peak into a woman's life in 1959 from a McCall's magazine.

An electric range with a pull-out oven, for easier cleaning. That sounds like a great idea!

Japanese-inspired clothing patterns

"Let's Eat a Real Breakfast" article. A doctor recommends eating a full, well-balanced breakfast to prevent hypoglycemia, mid-morning fatigue, dizziness, and fainting. He suggests that protein be included instead of common breakfasts of just toast, juice, and coffee.  (still good advice today.)  I certainly hope that the photo included shows a wide range of breakfast choices, not just one breakfast!

Hmmm . . . now that's an interesting-looking dinner!

"A Wonderful Way to Live" - McCall's 1959 Idea House

Our house was built in 1960. Some scary similarities, like paneling that we painted over, and bathroom tile although ours is a more neutral color palette, thank goodness.  That tile is still in good shape (what kind of amazing mortar and grout did they use back then?), it's going to take some elbow grease when we rip it out someday!