I have been following along with Jenny of Elefantz book study and am thoroughly enjoying myself. As I read, I am finding that I am becoming more positive about practicing domesticity. Not long after I received my copy of Jane Brockett's book I bought a crock pot. As I have time in the mornings and not in the evenings I decided that I could provide more nutritious meals for my husband and son if I was better prepared. As my husband works permanent night shift and the days have been so hot it is not much fun trying to make a meal at the end of it we have been eating a lot of sandwiches, cereal or just not eating. The advent of the crock pot and the recipe book I bought at the same time has been wonderful. Now I look forward to cooking and am enjoying the creative process. I have also been reading a book about being mindful about what we eat. This has made me much more aware of all the elements that go into making a meal. I now look at the colours of vegetables and how they look together, the various shapes I cut them into and the feel and texture of all the ingredients I am using and how I lay the meal out on a plate. Today I even felt like I wanted to make biscuits so I took the butter from the fridge to soften but that urge didn't last very long!!!
This week in "The Gentle Art of Domesticity" we have been reading about Jane's favourite books about domestic life. After reading the reviews written by her I have ordered a copy of "At Mrs Lippincote's"and "The Diary of a Provincial Lady" so am eagerly looking forward to receiving them.
Jenny posed the question:-"What book have you read in the past which still holds an emotional connection for you? In what way?"
Without a shadow of a doubt my favourite books are those written by Miss Read (Dora Saint). For the main they are set in the fictitious English villages of Fairacre and Thrush Green during the 1950's and 1960's. Miss Read is the head teacher at a two teacher Anglican Church school at Fairacre. Based on Dora Saint's own experiences as a teacher in such an environment, these novels are an absolute joy. I had always wanted to be a teacher but circumstances dictated otherwise. I did however homeschool my own two children from 1999 until 2014. My Miss Read novels received a real workout during this time. Her gentle humour, her engaging characters and her endearing images of domesticity (although I didn't know that at the time!) were a real boon to me as homeschooling can be a lonely road at times and I felt I had a strong companion in Miss Read. I simply loves these stories and have the entire collection which took me a long time to collect as they had not been republished for many years. Thankfully this is no longer the case and they are once again readily available. What follows is a small exert from "Village Diary" published in 1957, which I am currently re-reading:
"After we had consumed an apple and blackberry pie, the fruits of Miss Clare's earlier bottling, we folded our yard square napkins - which were stiff with starch and exquisitely darned here and there... From the ceiling (of Miss Clare's pantry) hang ropes of bronze onions, dried herbs in muslin bags and a ham equally well-draped...Bottles of fruit...and jars of jam and jelly, flash like jewels...on the floor stand bottles of home-made wine, dandelion, parsnip, sloe and damson...as a true countrywoman she bottles, preserves, salts and stores all the good things that grown in her own garden and are given her by kindly neighbours and would count it a disgrace not to have a larder well stocked for any emergency."
"Miss Clare came over to tea and spent the evening. The little cat, still with me - and, I imagine for good now - rolled ecstatically on the hearth-rug in the warmth of the fire. Miss Clare was knitting a green pullover and the ball of wool had to be rescued every now and again."
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