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Audrey and Retro Baking

I got some gorgeous new books today.  It was raining again, the cold front is still wagging it's tail, and I don't know about you but it makes me want to buy books.  I had to drop a cheque into the bank and as the book store is two shops down I found myself wandering in.

In keeping with my new desire to get baking I perused the cook book aisle and found this...

How perfect it is to fit with my new 1950s lifestyle!  Cook books are now so much more than pages of recipes.  They are a real visual feast as well.  See...

...and they give you so much more than lists of ingredients and methods.  They bring you so much joy and wisdom.

I have decided that I am going to bake my way through it and try and bring you something new each week.  Starting with these....

I also found a fabulous book about living with grace and style and thought it would be illuminating to read!

'What Would Audrey Do? - Timeless Lessons for Living with Grace and Style', by Pamela Keogh.  I'll let you know how it goes.

 

If you are interested in what I wore today, this was my 1950s inspired outfit...

This skirt was $3 at the charity store by the way!

I know...I have teeny tiny feet.  But how cute are these shoes!?!

 



 

 

















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Rainy Day

Every now and then it's lovely to have a rainy day.  A proper one.  One where you can't go outside at all.  Today is such a day.  In fact it's meant to be the coldest weather that Victoria has been hit with in the last two years!  This cold snap is brought to us courtesy of Antarctica apparently, and snow is expected as low as 500 metres, which for Australia is pretty darn cold!  Looking out my window now there is a steady drizzle but no snow.  Snow would be kind of fun, especially for the kids, but I am feeling sorry for our lambs right now.  My husband moved them onto our turnip crop yesterday, so hopefully that is offering them a little more shelter.

Today I have spent the day tidying up and dabbling in the simple joy of baking.  School goes back tomorrow with the start of Term 3 so lunch boxes will need to be filled and what better treat to pack them with than Jam Drops.  This was my first attempt, and I really must say....they are DELICIOUS! 

They are lovely and light, a little bit crispy, decadently buttery and the splodge of jammy goodness in the middle gives them a sweet burst of flavour.  I'll be making these again for sure!

 

 







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A New Design

Over the last week this space has taken on a very different, and slightly unusual direction, and become more of a lifestyle blog, perhaps more specifically a 'simple lifestyle' blog, with a whole lot of country living thrown in.  Hopefully, in the not so distant future, the country living side of it will feature a lot more as the pathway to owning a farm becomes a lot shorter.  But for now I must satisfy myself with living in a small country town and visiting my parents and my in-laws farms on regular occasions, as well as riding my horse when I can and helping out with our sheep.  We have started lambing (a little earlier than planned!), which is always a lovely time of year, despite the slight stress that goes along with it.  Nothing quite like a woolly wriggly little lamb!

To celebrate the change of direction I have also had a change of design!  What do you think?  I wanted to keep it old fashioned looking, and keeping with the country theme I thought flowers were still appropriate, but I also wanted it to look a lot more simple.  My previous design was starting to make me feel cluttered!  I think the soft yellow is refreshing and the flowers remind me of an old picture out of a 1950s magazine or a children's Little Golden Book!  I have also switched my headings around, where before 'A Country Life' was the sub-heading, I have now made it my main title, with 'Sweet Words Pretty Pictures' below.  I hope you like it.



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A Simple Life

 



I'm still on this crazy curve where I have decided to drop back a notch and embrace the inner housewife, not only excepting where I am at this stage in my life, but doing it with a bit of style and fun of the 50s (see my explanation here).

 

So what does this mean?  For the modern women out there, which really is all of us, DON'T PANIC!!!!  I'm not submitting to a life of servitude and cleaning with a rosy cheeked complexion and a corny smile on my face, but rather changing a few things to make my days more cheerful, take a bit of pride in my appearance, make life more simple and let my husband...shall I say.."wear the pants" in our relationship.  And honestly, if you're a stress head like me, it takes away so much unnecessary worry in your life if you let your partner take care of things just that little bit more.

 

So what is going to change?  There are two easy categories and I shall label them "What I plan on doing" and "What I plan on cutting out and not doing."  Alright, I need to think of some better category names, but you get the general idea.

What I plan on doing

 

Baking - I really like baking.  I'm not brilliant at it, I can make some good things, but my repertoire is pretty limited despite the fact that I own a great stack of lovely cook books.  I find it a good stress reliever, strangely, and nothing beats the smell of home baked goodies.  Baking is also a big money saver and the things you make, despite the sugar, are better for your kids to consume in their lunchboxes because everything is minus all those nasty preservatives, colours and weird ingredients.  This category also stretches to general cooking and here I aim to use as much fresh ingredients (so no packet stuff) as possible.  Not a big change here because I generally don't rely on pre-made stuff and we butcher our own lamb and pork (literally...my husband does it), so I have a freezer full of meat.  Nothing beats home grown lamb!  Nom, nom, nom.



Gardening - We've done a bit of work on our garden in recent times, although it is still fairly sparse, but I found I really enjoyed it, even the weeding.  There was something therapeutic and totally simplistic about it that was quite calming.  I also plan on putting a vegetable garden in and have asked my husband to build me a veggie box, so I will just have to keep reminding him about it.  Being winter here it's a good time to get the soil prepared for planting in spring so I need to get on to it.  Ok, I need to get hubby to get on to it!



Glamour - Ok, when I say glamour I just mean taking a little more pride in my appearance.  As mentioned in my previous post about this, I am a jeans girl...like all the time.  This is usually teamed with a check shirt and cowgirl boots, or my R. M. Williams boots, so basically the wardrobe is pretty boring.  I also look like a boy, despite my long hair.  Actually my hair is always scraped back in a fairly messy ponytail so it's really neither here nor there.  This week I have made an effort and worn skirts, put on some makeup (although not to the full 50s pinup girl look...I don't think I'm brave enough to rock the bright red lipstick!....I will do a future post on my 'toned-down 50s style')...and done my hair a little more interestingly (is that a word!).  For example I did an interview on Tuesday for the magazine and I went dressed like this...

The skirt I picked up from the charity store the other day for the grand sum of $3.  It's quite a full skirt and a bit of fun!  The cardigan I already had.  It's Merino wool and is very cosy.  I mucked about with my hair (for ages...I'm hopeless at doing hair)...and came up with this...

It was nice to look a little dressy for a change!

 

Relationship - I think this warrants a post of it's own at some point because this is still a work in progress, but as I mentioned in my last post, I think there is a lot to be said for the attitude that women held towards their husbands in the 50s.  Of course some of that thinking is severely out of date nowadays and anything that reduces me basically to being a slave to my husband is totally out, (honestly, he wouldn't want that anyway), BUT the idea of letting him lead the decision making process is quite appealing.  Having input and my own ideas is definitely still going to happen, but I think that trying to let go of the reins a lot is going to reduce a significant amount of stress for me and make life a whole lot more simple.  I find this a good thing.  The whirly gig of this technological world, the mass of confusing decisions and feeling like the weight of the world is sitting squarely on my shoulders is getting tiring.  I am perfectly happy to hand it all over to hubby.  Don't get me wrong, however, I'm not passing on major stress and an early heart attack to my husband (!)  He's the most laid back, easy going guy so he will certainly take it in his stride.  I know he will also take great joy from looking after me and the family so it's a win win situation.  The other side of this decision is that there will definitely be a lot less head butting going on.  Where we might normal disagree over things I can just simply walk away, happy with the knowledge that he is quite capable of taking care of it without me (having to get the last word!)  Where you might think I'm handing over all the power (this is not the case), it's actually a relieving thought.

What I plan on cutting out and not doing





Television - I actually don't watch a lot of television.   My children hog it during the day, mostly playing different kids DVDs, which usually they then wander off and go do something else while it's still on.  In the evenings after they have gone to bed at 8pm, hubby and I will venture off to our room and sit up in bed and watch TV then.  There's never much on, and most of the time I am reading anyway and he is playing a game on his iPod thingo that requires him to build a fortress, keep his troops alive and go and attack other cities.  No idea what it is called.  Anyway, the TV is pointless and I am going to shut it down during the day so the kids are really limited to the amount they watch and I am going to stop my habit of turning it on in my room first thing in the morning (before I've even got out of bed), to watch the morning news program...which is usually depressing anyway.  I think a little bit in the evening is ok but I am going to try and ween us off it, because really, it's usually only on in the background anyway.

Technology - This is a big one.  I decided a little while ago that I am sick of how it is infiltrating every aspect of our lives.  This fact is really highlighted when you have children.  It's amazing, and quite frightening, that my almost 2 year old daughter can operate the iPad...and when you take it off her she screams.  When you take the iPad off my 4 year old and 5 year old sons they also scream and cry.  This is bad.  How quickly do kids become dependant on these things?  What happened to having a game of Tiddly Winks or going outside and building a cubby house?  How often am I having to yell at my kids and get frustrated at them for this behaviour and slowly and sternly say... "Back away from the Technology"!!  Enough.  I think the iPad has it's place, and admittedly it is really handy when we have to wait in a doctors waiting room and that type of thing, but every other time they can stop using them.  Technology also applies to me too.  Now I know I am writing this on the Internet....so there goes that idea....but really limiting technology can make a huge difference to your life and save you SO MUCH time!!  Other than using the Internet to write my blog, here is what I plan on cutting out.  No wasting time on Facebook, which basically is full of ads and crap and nobody needs it.  Seriously.  I broke my smartphone last year while riding my horse and since I was in the middle of a plan I bought a simple phone to take its place.  Honestly, it was liberating.  I had a phone that I used just as a phone.  Incredible!  What a concept!  I noticed immediately how much more time I had to do other things.  Like live!  I do like to take photos on my phone, being a photographer and all it's something I find enjoyable, and do like popping them on Instagram, so I shall do this on occasions, but I don't spend ages surfing that anyway so I think this is ok.  I'm not big on Twitter either, only sharing blog posts, so it's not like I really need to limit that either.  I do, however, check my email a lot on my phone because it's so easily accessible, so I plan on checking it once in the morning and once later in the afternoon, and that's really only because I do have a job and get the odd work related thing landing in my inbox.



Jeans - Alright, so I won't cut these out completely (!) because sometimes there are days when it calls for jeans (like today...tonight we are going hunting...which would be ridiculous in a dress....and horse riding...because I DO NOT ride side saddle.....) BUT it will be nice to wear them less.



 

Crap food - We actually don't eat a lot of processed food, as mentioned, so this won't be too hard.  And I do enjoy making up meals from scratch and trying new recipes so this will be quite enjoyable.

Wishing I was somewhere else - Yes, this sounds weird, but as mentioned in my previous post I have been finding that I wish I wasn't stuck doing the housework and left home with the kids.  But, this is where we are at now and it's no point in wishing myself to the next phase of our lives....because a couple of decades would zoom by and I've already hit the dreaded 40!  I don't want to speed it up even more!!  Accepting what is going on now and being happy in the moment it hugely important.  I have to look at what I am doing now as being vital for the team (ie. my family unit), and really, without me, nothing would function well at all.  Cooking, washing, cleaning and childcare might not sound important...but really...life would stop without me, there would certainly be no clean clothes, and hubby would go to work naked!

 

Stay tuned for more on my Step Back in Time! 

  







 

 





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Step Back in Time

Ok.  So this is going to sound really bizarre.  I even feel a little bizarre thinking it, let alone doing it, but honesty, the more I think about it the more it seems to make sense.

I'm going to step back in time.

Bizarre.  I know!  Ok, so now that is out of the way let me explain.

Lately I have been feeling unsatisfied.  I mean really unsatisfied.  And grumpy.  And moody.  Bored.  And downright pretty horrid to be around.  Hey, just ask my husband.  It's something that has been festering for a little while now and I haven't been able to put my finger on what it is...but then suddenly I realised why I couldn't figure it out.  My head feels stuffed.  My brain feels over taxed.  It's like the world is moving too fast and I sort of want to get off.  Does that make sense?  No?  Ok...I will continue.

Somewhere life has got so complex.  I blame technology mostly.  This crazy need to own everything and be so up to date.  Also the need to rush around like a mad thing all go, go, go...like all the time...and it's exhausting.  The complexities of life with things like technology (and that never ending feeling of having to be 'plugged in' all the time), plus the horrors of the world that are unleashed into our lounge rooms on a constant basis (thank you media) are wearing me down and make this world so unhappy.

For example, the news is so ghastly.  I've really noticed it lately.  Every morning I put on the television (which stupidly there is one in my bedroom) and the morning news program will herald the latest murder to take place.  And I'm not exaggerating.  Lately there has been one EVERY morning.  What is going on?  As well as that sort of stuff...murders aside...there is the whole social media thing.  It seemed to start innocently enough... Facebook was a great way to catch up with old friends, which is why I joined it in the first place......actually I didn't even know what it was for ages and since I was working on a farm didn't get near a computer much so didn't bother joining it for a long time..... but now it's full of ads, bullying and constant nastiness.  Yes, there are lots of funny videos, I do like those...and the cute pictures of puppies and kitties.... but really it's something we could all do without.

So....here's my experiment....I am stepping back in time.

As well as the reasons mentioned above, there are a few other reasons why, but firstly I will refer back to me being a grumpy bum and feeling less then pleased.  Essentially I am a housewife.  Shock horror!  The use of that dated 1950s term.  I could say 'stay at home mum' or 'career mum' or 'working mum'....which is what I am really as I do write and take photos for a magazine....but the majority of the time I am a housewife.  There, I said it again.  But the truth...the truth was it was pissing me off.  Big time.  Cleaning, picking up after four kids, cooking, washing, folding laundry..picking up after the kids AGAIN....etc..etc...etc..... Ok, you get the idea.  Frankly, it is boring and what was happening was that I was resenting my life and spending my time wishing away the time until the next phase of my life...which for me is when we finally own our own farm....finally came along.  But here's the thing.  Here I am wishing away my life and before I know it, it will be gone.  I'm middle aged now, which is slightly terrifying, and before I know it I'll be a little old lady.  With the pace that the world drags us along with all it's technology and Tweets and updating our statuses...it will all be gone before we know it.

 

If I'm not making any sense, here is what I am trying to get at.  I have decided to embrace the housewife tag because that is what I am, and instead of despising it...because really, I can't avoid being one..we have four kids (three of them ages 5 and under)..I have decided to step back to a time when being a housewife was good.  I know, it's sounding weird still, but by thinking that this is what I'm supposed to be doing at this point in time then I know I can be happier and better at it...and subsequently...a lot nicer to be around.  Grumpy bum be gone!

 

I mentioned other reasons which I will briefly touch on.  An important one involves my husband, who I don't like to chat about too much because he doesn't like it, but put simply (and I'm not trying to make it sound like he's a chauvinist, which he by no means is).... I know he would be happier with a 1950s wife.  Arrgghhh..!!  Did I just say that?  Ok, before you all jump up and down and say 'bastard' or whatever...I mean this in a nice way.  I don't mean '1950s housewife' who rushes to the door when hubby gets home, slippers and pipe in hand, lipstick freshly applied...the little woman who gets no say in life and all that rubbish... but more a snippet of a 1950s housewife.  I mean someone who treats their husband with respect, trusts him to make decisions (with your input of course...I mean it is the year 2015), and yes...looks after his kids and household without feeling grumpy about it.  Over the last couple of days I have started this experiment of mine, starting with a change of attitude towards my husband...as well as giving him my trust in making a MAJOR decision which will effect our lives in a big way...and already I have found an incredible change.  And I'm not just eluding to the change in me.  I mean a change in him!  By me being more willing to let him ...shall I say 'wear the pants'... I have felt a lot less stress, a lot more calm, a lot more happy...and he has been lovely towards me!  Now don't get me wrong, this is not some cunning plan to get him to be nice to me, it's simply a shift in attitude that I have realised is key to a happy marriage and stress free life.  Make fun of the 1950s housewife, sure, but somewhere in all that fluffiness a lot of it made sense.

 

So by stepping back to the 1950s...what have I done?  Well, as well as the attitude thing there has been a really fun part.  The fashion!!

There is something about those dresses and the full skirts and the beautiful hair styles and just how glamorous women were back then.  Dressing in the morning was dressing up and clothes were not just stopping you from going out naked but were fun.  Now I'm a jeans girl.  And I mean EVERY day.  It's pretty boring really.  Yesterday and today, however, I wore a skirt.  Yesterday my husband came home, and even though it took him a while to notice, said "why are you wearing a skirt?"  Now normally he doesn't notice what I wear but yesterday he did...and he liked it. 

 

Today I went out wearing a skirt, a button up cardigan, even stockings (!) and I wore my hair down in curls with the front pinned up (it did look quite 1950s...although not those incredible coiled hair styles that they did...I'm terrible at doing hair so haven't mastered that at all yet...) and I even wore makeup INCLUDING lipstick.  I thought I would feel really self conscious but you know...I didn't.  Not once.  Maybe because I've reached an age where I just don't care what people think any more and I don't have the need to 'wear what everyone else is wearing', but honestly...I felt good!  I had to go to the bank and you know the weirdest thing....I had so many men look at me.  Not young guys...honestly, they're not interested in me any more...but men probably late 30s and older...all look at me with appreciation.  I'm not trying to boast here, (and I didn't go out with the intention of attracting attention from the opposite sex) I mean I'm not super good looking or anything, but it was interesting to see that men appreciate women in a skirt and makeup and looking like she has put some effort into her appearance.  I had to sit and wait in the bank for a while, so this was when I copped these looks, but I also took note of the other women that came in the bank and they were all wearing pants or jeans...and one woman even had tracksuit pants on (sweat pants)...which I have never done..wear these out in public (blergh)..and they all looked decidedly frumpy.  Ok, I'm not trying to be mean, but they certainly weren't getting noticed, but the other thing...they didn't look particularly happy.  I put on something a little bit fun and I had a fun day! 

 

On the way home I visited a charity shop, there is a rather large one in town, and there I picked up four items of clothing that look so 1950s it's like they dropped in there via a time machine.  I got two skirts...one so full...exactly like something out of 'Grease', that it looks like it is going to be lovely fun to wear....and two tops that have the right 1950s look.  For a total of $9 I was pretty darn pleased with my purchases.

 

Anyway, I shall continue on with my experiment and keep you posted with how living a more simple...and more glamorous (!)...life goes.  I promise, however, that I shall never look like this....

...while hanging out the washing.  Never.  Not once.  Ok, maybe when I successfully get out a REALLY stubborn stain.  But that's it. 













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