The Gentle Society of Home

In the rush of daily activities, sometimes we forget how calm and gentle home life can be.  There are certain things we can do to help us remember. . .

- We can have special touches in our favorite rooms. This may be a living room, entryway, or dining room.  Little touches of soothing artwork (like pretty flowers, landscapes, English gardens, or elegant families from the "Victorian" or "Romantic" eras.)   Nice, quiet background music of classical or gospel would be lovely and soothing.

- What we wear, and how we look.  There is something I call "Casual Elegance."  This is whatever makes you feel dressed up, yet comfortable.  For me, that is my blue cotton skirt (knee-length), a pretty top and a nice sweater.  (All from either J.C. Penny or Macy's - purchased at their annual winter clearance sale, for very little money.)  We can also have a classically, elegant hairstyle.  This may be a loose updo, or whatever brings out an aura of old fashioned sweetness to the look.

- Setting a neat table for evening refreshments, and turning on a dim lamp will calm one's nerves, if one remembers to forget the outside world for a time. (This means not to talk about it, or worry about it, for a little while!)

- Being quiet. . .  We often talk too much, worry too much, think too much, and want to multitask every minute away!  Being quiet and content takes effort, but it will bring peace and gentleness to the family.


Every day, we can take little steps of progress to cultivate a gentle society in the home.   We must use our creativity and be the light of our homes.  This may mean it is always our own ideas, and our own labor that makes this happen.  But this is a beautiful, noble work. . . to bring gentleness to a home.

blessings
Mrs. White

- To find out more about this blog, or Mrs. White, please visit our About page. -

Learn How To Manage Money on a Small Income, with this helpful book:

- It is an honor to be the bookkeeper for the house! - 

Find detailed instruction and inspiration in budgeting on a small income, along with a method for keeping a handwritten ledger, with lots of thrifty ideas, in Mrs.White's book:

 -An Old Fashioned Budget: Humble Financial Management for the Christian Housewife. 

 Paperback, 77 pages.

Mother's Dress

J. F. K., his wife Jacqueline Kennedy and a nurse carrying their son John Jr. arriving from the hospital to their home in Washington, 1960. LOC.

Okay.. I admit it... I was a little envious while watching television. I saw this great family,  and they had nice, new clothes all the time. While I know it is not real life, I had a twinge of yearning for a trip to the local shopping mall. I wanted a purse full of hundreds to buy a sparkling new wardrobe. Not just for me, of course, but for my entire family. (smiles)

It took me a few hours to get over this horrid feeling. . . I remembered that in the 1800's, a normal mother had only one good dress. Mother would wear this to church, or on the rare trip to town. It was her best dress.

Then I thought of my own mother. During her childhood, the custom was to have three articles of each kind of clothing. She had three dresses, three pairs of socks. . etc. etc. The saying went like this:

- One in the Drawer.
- One on your Back.
- And one in the Wash.

Yet people still managed to look nice! Can you imagine not having new clothes all the time? I know, I know. . . I am spoiled beyond belief.

I think the only way I am going to cure this envy, is to get all dressed up today, complete with pearls and heels, and go about my day.  Maybe I will even take a trip to town.

Blessings
Mrs. White

From the Archives - 

Make it look like - The Maid was Here.

*contented sigh* - I love to have A Heart for Staying Home.

 To find out more about this blog, or Mrs. White, please visit our About page. -

Learn How To Manage Money on a Small Income, with this helpful book:

- It is an honor to be the bookkeeper for the house! - 

Find detailed instruction and inspiration in budgeting on a small income, along with a method for keeping a handwritten ledger, with lots of thrifty ideas, in Mrs.White's book:

 -An Old Fashioned Budget: Humble Financial Management for the Christian Housewife. 

 Paperback, 77 pages.

Church Bells and a Respectful Appearance

I love the sound of church bells on a Sunday Morning. It is like the whole town is awakened and being called to think about God and to come together to worship. It is a somber moment when those bells ring. I can hear them from my house.




For some reason, many people stopped dressing up for church. It used to be that we put on our best clothes and our biggest smiles and walked gratefully to the church building. We did this out of respect. We dressed up to show it was an important event and it meant something more than just being casual at home.



Ladies used to wear hats and gloves to church. The gloves were often a pretty white and were crocheted. You can still find gloves like this at The Victorian Trading company. But we should be able to buy them from our local stores. Why are they so hard to find?

I have a box of gloves we found in the attic of one of our investment properties we bought several years ago. This box has gloves of different colors and fabrics and were well worn. There were also letters and postcards inside, dated from the 1940's. It is a treasure!


Imagine the family getting their Bibles and heading down the street to the local church. What a precious sight! 


Blessings,
Mrs. White