Rural Homemaking

Yesterday, I tried to go out on an errand. I had my grandbaby with me.  We were to do the grocery shopping for the Estate. We drove down the long driveway, then two houses down before the car died.  I pulled into the neighbor's driveway, took baby out of the car, and walked home.

I am home-bound in a rural area.  I no longer have a running vehicle for my own personal use.   Yet, I am okay and at peace with my circumstances. 

I will bake and cook more. . . I will clean more. . . I will sew and knit and read. . .  I will decorate and rearrange rooms to make them more pleasant.  This large old house can always use some extra attention.  I will make the downstairs rooms more guest-ready.   I will spend more time enjoying the grounds, and my humble gardens. 

Rural Homemaking is nothing new.    Cars were not even commonly used until the early 1900's.  People stayed home more, and used horses to get around.   I remember reading this book by a "Yankee" Vermonter about his growing up years.  There was so much common sense wisdom in his experiences.  Adults would scold people who wanted to go out all the time, by saying things like "better off staying t' home where [you] b'longed, and shouldn't ought to go gallivanting all over Creation."   He also described how his Mother (and most other women of the time) did not feel comfortable leaving home in a car.  She wouldn't even go for a drive until she was sure her house was clean from top to bottom just in case she got killed.  She would say, "I don't want someone else to have to clean up the place for a funeral."     His Mother made sure all the children were freshly washed and wearing clean clothes if they even went to the store.  It was an ordeal, which tells us that going out was not a common, daily event.

My mother-in-law spent most of her time at home.  She had visitors, mostly her grown children and grandchildren.  She was a loving hostess, and life-long homemaker.  She had little flower gardens, and enjoyed doing projects like painting an old chair.   Pretty birds frequented her Massachusetts yard.   She did all her laundry in the walk-out basement, and hung the clothes on rows of clothesline that Papa set up for her near the washer.   She loved home, and we always knew where to find her.

In rural areas, without public transportation, or the ability to walk to necessary stores, it is a little more difficult to go without a vehicle.   But we will get by.  We will make do.  It will be my latest challenge, my latest adventure.

Somehow, the needed shopping and errands will be accomplished even if I am completely ensconced at our lovely old home. 

Blessings
Mrs. White





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