On the urging of my friend Evan, I have been involved in some new activities of late. These are things that I have always wondered about and wanted to try, but have been too lazy and/or scared to try them on my own. These activities are canning preserves, making soap and knitting.
Preserves have always intimidated me because I am afraid of Botulism poisoning. For some reason, when I think of canning, it reminds me of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." This is a novel about a post apocalyptic society that is ravaging each other to stay alive. There is one particular scene where a father and son discover a long abandoned basement where some canned preserves remain, and they proceed to devour them to stave off death. While reading this I couldn't help but think that there is no way those preserves would still be edible after all that time. They would definitely have gotten botulism in the real world. At any rate, I tried canning for the first time and it was a success. I have strawberry and raspberry jam and apple sauce in the pantry and all of it is completely edible. I am one step closer to being able to survive in the 1800s!
Making soap was next on the agenda. I hadn't tried it yet due to fear of a bad chemical reaction, namely getting burned by the lye. Turns out, even though the lye jar has a skull and cross bones, as long as you don't fling it about the room, its fairly safe. Making soap is one of the easiest things to do . . . granted you have all of the equipment. You need 4 kinds of fats or fatty liquids, essential oils and colorant powders are nice to have and you must have some sort of mold to pour the liquid soap into to cure. Having procured these items however, making soap is an easy process. We made soap in two shades of green and scented it with Earl Grey tea and green tea fragrance. It turned out lovely. Take that suave!
Finally, I was persuaded to take up knitting, a process that I was acquainted with but had by no means mastered. When I was a little girl, my grandmother taught me to knit. I knit a few swatches and a scarf or two but once I discovered that crocheting was much easier, I gave up knitting altogether. However, there is nothing so beautiful as a knit scarf or sweater and I was convinced that I could still learn to make such things. Re-learning to knit proved challenging for a week or so, but persistence paid off and I made my first sock by week two. Of course, my first attempt was an absolute disaster and the perfectionist in me unraveled it and I began again. By my 2nd pair I was getting much better and my 3rd pair were pretty impressive if I do say so myself. By this point I am cranking out pairs of socks like a one woman factory and am ready to try more challenging projects such as hats/berets and sweaters. More on this to come!
As you can see, I am trying to complete the test to become an 1800's house wife, and I am loving it! Apart from not having nice roads and vaccinations, I could really love living in that era! Okay, we have things pretty good now, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy doing some things the old fashioned way every now and again. Now having broken out of my comfort zone and having some success, I am encouraged to try even more things that I have always wanted to. I figure, if my great, great grandmother could do it, then by gum so can I!
Preserves have always intimidated me because I am afraid of Botulism poisoning. For some reason, when I think of canning, it reminds me of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." This is a novel about a post apocalyptic society that is ravaging each other to stay alive. There is one particular scene where a father and son discover a long abandoned basement where some canned preserves remain, and they proceed to devour them to stave off death. While reading this I couldn't help but think that there is no way those preserves would still be edible after all that time. They would definitely have gotten botulism in the real world. At any rate, I tried canning for the first time and it was a success. I have strawberry and raspberry jam and apple sauce in the pantry and all of it is completely edible. I am one step closer to being able to survive in the 1800s!
Making soap was next on the agenda. I hadn't tried it yet due to fear of a bad chemical reaction, namely getting burned by the lye. Turns out, even though the lye jar has a skull and cross bones, as long as you don't fling it about the room, its fairly safe. Making soap is one of the easiest things to do . . . granted you have all of the equipment. You need 4 kinds of fats or fatty liquids, essential oils and colorant powders are nice to have and you must have some sort of mold to pour the liquid soap into to cure. Having procured these items however, making soap is an easy process. We made soap in two shades of green and scented it with Earl Grey tea and green tea fragrance. It turned out lovely. Take that suave!
Finally, I was persuaded to take up knitting, a process that I was acquainted with but had by no means mastered. When I was a little girl, my grandmother taught me to knit. I knit a few swatches and a scarf or two but once I discovered that crocheting was much easier, I gave up knitting altogether. However, there is nothing so beautiful as a knit scarf or sweater and I was convinced that I could still learn to make such things. Re-learning to knit proved challenging for a week or so, but persistence paid off and I made my first sock by week two. Of course, my first attempt was an absolute disaster and the perfectionist in me unraveled it and I began again. By my 2nd pair I was getting much better and my 3rd pair were pretty impressive if I do say so myself. By this point I am cranking out pairs of socks like a one woman factory and am ready to try more challenging projects such as hats/berets and sweaters. More on this to come!
As you can see, I am trying to complete the test to become an 1800's house wife, and I am loving it! Apart from not having nice roads and vaccinations, I could really love living in that era! Okay, we have things pretty good now, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy doing some things the old fashioned way every now and again. Now having broken out of my comfort zone and having some success, I am encouraged to try even more things that I have always wanted to. I figure, if my great, great grandmother could do it, then by gum so can I!
I've been having so much fun doing these things with you! We're going to have to find more ideas in the coming year!
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree!
ReplyDelete