It Was a Merry Valentine's

Dear Friends,

Thank you for coming by on yet another snowy day, and for all of your dear comments that truly lift our spirits and put a smile on our faces. How nice to know that we are loved :) .

Our Valentine's celebration, which was Saturday, consisted of making and sending LOTS of doll valentines, as well as the girls' annual in-house restaurant dinner for Mr. Graham and me. This year is was Chinese stir-fry, complete with chopsticks! We must say that we enjoy eating foods that have had love cooked into them, as opposed to being prepared by someone who just sees it as a job :) .

The table was beautifully decorated by AnnaMarie and Audrey~
with place cards and menus for all.

Evangeline did her own decorating with the left-over Baby's Breath~

After dinner was a little dancing time~

With a twirl for every girl (Unfortunately, it was nap time for Master Franklin)!

Mr. Graham kindly ordered these for me, after just a few hints :) ~

And we found a Mother's Magazine for only $5 on eBay, too! So much better than the $20 most folks want for them~

Today has been a "How do we go back to normal after having so much fun?" day, with lots and laundry and dishes, ad infinitum, but after re-grouping and getting some fresh air, we feel ready to "Do our best and leave God the rest". And having it sunny for just a few hours DID help, too!

We'd like to leave with you a gem found in our "new" Mother's Magazine (This month's theme seems to be laughter), which we REALLY needed to read today~

********************************************

The mother who laughs and teaches her children to laugh bars the door against a host of unwelcome intruders. If you want to see what gloom does, go down into some cellar and watch the pale sprouts of things reaching pitifully towards the light--spindling, unnourished, unwholesome. Note the dead-looking stalks and bulbs lifted from the garden in the fall and laid there to keep from growing. Then come up to the radiant sunshine-flooded bay-window in the sitting-room or library and see what light and cheer are good for. Don't make your family live-metaphorically-in the cellar.

The mother who laughs makes an atmosphere of courage for everybody to live in. The great thing that everybody is wanting, anyway, is courage. The father wants it, for out in the world where he lives mostly, discouragements fly thick as midges in August. The big boys and girls want it, for the lightest-hearted and most buoyant among them have their heavy moments when dark thoughts of the universe seem the only possible ones to entertain, till the drear mood passes. The very servants and house-helpers need it, for the clouds of household emergencies are big with trouble, till somebody laughs and scatters them. And oh, the little ones, they live on joy and laughter. 'Laugh, and say, "No matter!"' begged a little fellow who had broken something; and the sensible mother did laugh for love and pity.

~Mrs. A. B. Bryant


Love,

Marqueta

Valentine's is Coming~

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for visiting us today~ we welcome anyone that might be new here and hope you enjoy your stay.

We are grateful that February is such a short month, since it is such a wintry one! But in fact, it's hard to believe that the month is almost half over. Tomorrow we'll be celebrating Mr. Lincoln's birthday with a little tea party, and then Valentine's of course marks the middle of the month. The dolls have already begun sending their cards out, so we'll have to get busy and send some in return~ Tasha's "Kitten Post" will be busy, indeed!




We've been enjoying (or trying to enjoy) lots of snow storms lately, but thankfully we have not had the amount that other parts of the U.S. have been blessed with! :)

It's never too cold to play with dolls~ although we think that Kathleen's toes will be quite chilly!

The backyard~

And beyond the backyard~Wolverine Canyon is out there somewhere!

I don't think the poor chickens found any bugs outside today~
At least they could take a few dust baths!

We finally managed to finish the china shelves Mr. Graham made last February (hee hee), complete with curtains to hide the more prosaic items on the lower shelves~

All this pretty china came from thrift stores~as did the tea cup fabric!

We've been having fun getting ideas for Valentine's parties in the 1909 February edition of "The Mother's Magazine", although we're not sure we would survive inviting twenty children over for tea, as one article suggests! There are so many fun and interesting things in these old magazines; we grab them up when we find them at an economical price. :)

May you find joy in the tasks that each day brings, and find time to celebrate the little things that add up to mean so much.

Love,

Marqueta

***********************************

"A novel and exciting auction was held previous to the supper. Each girl had provided a valentine of some sort. These were offered at bargain prices to the young men by Madge's brother Bob, who cheerfully offered his services as 'auctioneer', gratis. No one was allowed to bid after one valentine had been knocked down to him, and many and laughable were the bids--a pound of candy, an escort home, constant and undivided attention one, two and three months, and proposals without number, and many too nonsensical to mention, appealing only to those directly interested."

~from "A Journey Through Valentine's Land", Mother's Magazine 1909

The Homemaker's Duty to Herself

Good morning, dear friends!

A happy Monday to you, whatever you do! We at Merry Hearts Cottage love to collect old home economics books (the older the better), to glean from them the wisdom of the ages. Here is a little bit from the "Household Science and Arts for Elementary Schools", dated 1912~

The Homemaker's Duty to Herself

"The duties of the average housekeeper who does her own work are so many and so varied that it is often hard for her to know just where to begin. She is frequently busy from early in the morning until late at night, taking care of children, preparing meals, cleaning, scouring, and many times she adds washing and ironing to her other labors. such a woman finds hardly a moment's leisure during the day, and if, after the evening meal is finished, dishes washed, and children put to bed, she has a minute to sit down, she must take up a piece of mending or sewing. Is it any wonder that such women, weary, tired, and overworked, break down?


A woman in this position often wastes much nervous energy by fretting over unaccomplished work. She grows nervous and irritable in the useless effort to get things done which are quite beyond her strength. Then, too, when the night comes on, the other members of the family do not always return from the day's work with a cheery and helpful spirit, but bring home with them the perplexities of the workday world outside. But the mother or home maker is expected to be unfailingly pleasant, cheerful, and patient, and to smooth out all difficulties, no matter how worn or tired she may be.

Now this home maker should not forget that she has a duty to herself. She should learn to plan and save strength and energy by having cooking utensils near the cooking table, and the table near the sink and stove; by sitting down when preparing vegetables and other food, and, in pleasant, mild weather, by doing such work on the back porch, in the fresh air; and if she could learn to take a few minutes' rest during each day, by lying or sitting down, if for but five minutes, completely relaxing, or, in other words, "letting go" muscle, brain, and nerve, she would find that she would be refreshed and strengthened for her work."

**************************

May we all take heed of these timeless words of wisdom, my dear homemaking friends!

Love,

Marqueta

The Sabbath Bell

Dear Friends,

This beautiful poem was published in 1850~We thought you would enjoy it.

The Sabbath Bell

Peal on, peal on, I love to hear
The old church ding-dong soft and clear!
The welcome sounds are doubly blest
With future hope and earthly rest.
Yet were no calling charges found
To spread their cheering echoes round,
There's not a place where man may dwell,
But he can hear a Sabbath bell.



Go to the woods, when Winter's song
Howls like a famished wolf along;
Or when the south winds scarcely turn
The light leaves of the trembling fern,
Although no cloister chimes ring there,
The heart is called to faith and prayer;
For all Creations' voices tell
The tidings of the Sabbath bell.


Go the billows, let them pour
In gentle calm or headlong roar;
Let the vast ocean be thy home,
Thou'll find a God upon the foam;
In rippling swell or stormy roll,
The crystal waves shall wake thy soul;
And thou shalt feel the hallowed spell
Of the wide water's Sabbath bell.



The lark upon his skyward way.
The robin on the hedge-row spray,
The bee within the wild thyme's bloom,
The owl amid the cypress gloom,
All sing in every varied tone
A vesper to the Great Unknown.
Above--below--one chorus swells
Of god's unnumbered Sabbath bells.

~Eliza Cook

Love,

Marqueta

p.s. Does your church have "Sabbath bells?"

Of Bird Song and Elegant Economy~

Good morning, dear friends!

Last night must have surely worn out Mr. Jack Frost, for he has covered every hard surface with beautiful, though sharp-looking crystals. The other day he did the same, and the sun came out and transformed everything into a beautiful fairy-land. As we drove into town, we felt that we had quite literally walked into a story book! I was certainly glad that there was no one else on the road, as I was most definitely not focusing only on driving :) .





I wanted to share with you my beautiful breast pins that were hand-crafted by my dear friend Lynn, of A Mother's Journal~

This one I bought from her brand new Etsy shop, A Bit of Bird Song~

And this one she sent me because she loves me :) .

Aren't they just perfect? Lynn has been quite busy, crafting sweet birdies, pins, and other magical things! I feel very blessed to have come to know her and her family through her blog.

Have you had a chance to watch the BBC's "Cranford" and "Return to Cranford", on PBS' Masterpiece Classics? The girls and I watched them both online, since we don't have television access. We have all fallen in love with the story, and the many little happenings of the simple, gentle folk of this small, fictional English town. I ordered the book by Elizabeth Gaskell and have been enjoying reading it, very much.

One of the things that I loved the most was learning the term "Elegant Economy". I believe that words are very powerful, and can change our perceptions of things. The ladies in Cranford are for the most part "of reduced circumstances", but all of them practice what they call "elegant economy", being careful with their funds, yet genteel and refined. Here is how Mr. Webster defines the words "elegant" and "economy":

elegant: Polished; polite; refined; graceful; pleasing to good taste; as elegant manners.

economy: A frugal and judicious use of money; that management which expends money to advantage, and incurs no waste; frugality in the necessary expenditure of money. It differs from parsimony, which implies an improper saving of expense. Economy includes also a prudent management of all the means by which property is saved or accumulated; a judicious application of time, of labor, and of the instruments of labor.

Isn't that wonderful? From now on, we shall be putting into practice "elegant economy" when we shop second hand stores and yard sales for beautiful, useful household goods and clothing, and when we reduce, reuse, and recycle! :)

Here is wishing you a most beautiful day,

Love,

Marqueta

**********************************

" 'Elegant economy'! How naturally one falls back into the phraseology of Cranford! There, economy was always 'elegant', and money-spending always 'vulgar and ostentatious'; a sort of sour-grapeism, which made us very peaceful and satisfied." ~Elizabeth Gaskell