A morning walk around the frosty yard with Annie assures me that Jack Frost remembers where we live.
The lavender’s delicate green leaves hide under a light winter jacket of white frost. I walk and think and feel grateful for a bit of increased strength these past few days.
I was touched by Laura Ingalls’ words in On The Banks of Plum Creek:
In the mornings after the chores and the housework were done, Laura and Mary studied their books. In the afternoons Ma heard their lessons. Then they might play or sew their seams, till time to meet the herd and bring Spot and her calf home. Then came chores again and supper and the supper dishes and bedtime.
There’s perfect order to the day outlined in that little paragraph: Chores, school, handicrafts, chores, supper, the supper dishes, and bedtime.
A lot of our modern-day distractions have squeezed in to clutter what could be an otherwise simple day for many of us. The carpenter told me not long ago that if you want to have a free day you have to plan for it, just as hard as you would plan if you were going to do something special. “If you don’t,” he said, “things will push in and take up all your free time.”
It strikes me too that chores and housework were done first. The home and preparation for life were placed highest on the list; higher even than lessons. I find even here that it is hard for me to focus on anything school-wise when the house is upsidedown, so to speak.
I am striving to bloom where I am planted, which means the century in which I was born and in the midst of the cares of life and struggles that have been placed in my own life. Still, I find myself purposing more and more to keep our days as simple as possible. I want my daughter and my sons to have memories of simplicity and order, family rituals and important priorities.
I find that learning to live life the way I am meant to live it is always a work in progress.
for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
Wow! Loved the post. I’m going to have to work on that.
We woke up to a dusting of snow which sent my children into fits of delight this morning. Schooling was an effort as they were certain it would melt before they could get outside. They were right, so I let them go outside early.
Jenn
great post and oh so true. simplicity and order are two things i strive for, as i also have trouble concentrating if my brain is too filled with “stuff”.
Wow Lynn! What a lovely post! It is like you read my thoughts on SO many days…We just finished Plum Creek. Tristan Loved it and so did I. You take beautiful photos.
Simplicity is a process. It takes time to form a rhythm that you would want your house to function.
Here at the cottage, most of my days move with their own pace…but there are those days that everything seems to go a bit hectic!
I agree with you, it is hard to concentrate on anything – either craft or school work – when the house is very chaotic.
Great post dear friend,
maria
ps: how is your health? Are you feeling better and with more energy these days?
Oh Lynn, I just love that last picture…
Is little tales from sage-bunny cottage a book? Hope you all are well. We have been blessed with lovely snow here lately!
Patricia
Dear Lynn,
Oh to quest for the simple joys in life that will become the memories that sustain us in days to come.
I want my loved ones to remember the times we share not cell phones,video games, or any of the other junk that interferes with the quality of our lives.
Simplicity in life is worth focus and attention.
Diane
I love the liturgy of plain, everyday life. There is such comfort to be taken in the ordinary. You expressed it so beautifully.
Susan, I am working on it every day.
Jenn, sometimes we just gotta break from the norm and enjoy something out of the norm!
Connie, many days lately my brain has been too filled and I don’t like the results!
Thank you Valerie. I just finished up Plum Creek last night. What great books! Tonight we’ll start the next one.
Maria, thank you for the kind encouragement. It’s something that I need to just keep striving for. Cares of life and chaos are like weeds in a garden. They WILL come in and take root if we let them! My health is much better since seeing the new doctor and I will post about that soon.
Patricia, Tales from Sage-Bunny Cottage is not a book…yet. Maybe some day.
For now it’s just the tales from my house which Michaela and I have christened Sage-Bunny Cottage. 
Diane, it is worth the focus and attention. Right now I am trying to find a way to keep everything done without feeling like I’m “keeping everything done.” Talk about a paradox.
Emily, I love the way you expressed it in your comment. Your comment alone makes me want to simplify even more.