1950`s House wife Challenge - Fall from grace!!!

Well I have to be honest, the last few days I have gone a little crazy with NOT doing the work of a 1950`s house wife to perfection!!

We all new this time would come and I would fall from grace!!

It`s really not my fault!!  As I see it I wanted to spend more time with Lord Huntingdon when he is at home as he has been so busy and working no less than 15 days straight from dark to dark.

I miss him terribly when he is not here as we do everything together and always have!!

So when it came to doing at our jobs for the up coming weeks  I went with him, when he went to look at our new boat I went with him.

However that being said I have not washed, cleaned or even baked as I was going to do today,  I put it all off to spend time with my ONE TRUE LOVE!!

Yesterday he said he wanted to have Eggs Benedict  for Sunday breakfast so on the way home I popped into Coles and brought the bacon and the turkish bread to have with breakfast.

We woke late and there had been no washing up done from the night before as I spent the night watching a movie with Lord Huntingdon and before I knew it, it  was time to head to bed.

Now I will say here that my pet hate is getting up to dirty dishes and as we are building a house and living in a caravan its not as easy as just popping it into the dishwasher. the night before!!

OMG I woke up to Lord Huntingdon washing up!!!

Sorry it`s not the best photo as it was taken in the caravan when I had just woken up but I wanted you to see it with your own eyes!!

He complained that he kept knocking his finger which recently had stitches in it. And as I said to him that he  obviously needs to do it more often as he must not be doing it right and therefore needs more practise!!!

Then he continued to cook eggs benedict minus the hollandaise sauce as we didn't have any lemon juice to make it which I had forgotten about!!! So really we had bacon and eggs on turkish bread with a nice chutney.

After a great breakfast and being waited on hand and foot - No it`s not my birthday - I had a shower got dressed , make up and hair done and off we went to look at a job we are doing in a couple of weeks.

I am sorry to say that the seal which I told you about yesterday was not there. The owner of the fish shop is away on holidays for a few weeks and the locals are saying that the seal knows he`s not there as he normally feeds him daily.

Any how we got a few photos for you all.

We came home and did a tip run, Lord Huntingdon packed the truck and machine for work tomorrow after he light the fire to keep me nice and warm. 

Lord Huntingdon has a nice new jacket which has batteries to warm the jacket, so you see some times he is sitting near the fire with the jacket turned up high being nice and warm and forgets to stoke the fire as he is hot and I am sitting there asking him to pop more wood on the fire as its cold!!

I warned him today that I was going to hide the jacket and give it to him when he goes to work in the morning to remind him of how cold it really is!! LOL

He is a wonderful Husband and Father I am so lucky !!!

I am sure I will return to my petal stool tomorrow!!

Chat soon
xx

1950`s Challenge - Our day out and about where am I?

Today we set off early and headed to ...........

No I didn`t forget to fill in the blanks it`s for you all to work out and as I said this is an easy one, next week will be more difficult!!

Then we headed home where we were having Jaimi-Lee, Ben and Charlotte pop up for lunch and Lord Huntingdon was going to change the front and rear brake pads in their car.

Our gorgeous 15 month old granddaughter is who I refer to as my Little Princess is growing so fast we are so lucky to live within a 35 minute drive to see her as often as we like.

She has just started walking and is very proud of herself. She likes to see all the animals at Nanna and Granddads and this is also a joy to me as I believe all children should grow up with animals.

I have no doubt that it won`t be long and she will be like her Mum and Auntie Moo and Nanna will have brought her her first pony!! Granddad says no but I believe she will have him twisted around her little finger as our daughters had him there before.

And here is the photo of me out this morning can you guess where I am?

So here you see our day. It was wonderful to have time with Jaimi-lee, Ben and Charlotte.

Miss Maddison was out Ice Skating with her boyfriend his best friend and her Best friend trying to play match maker, apparently it all went well so time will tell if love is in the air!!

I look forward to your guesses as to where we were.

Chat soon
xx

1950`s House wife Challenge and loving it!!!

I am having so much fun, although at times it is tiring as I try to have everything done and to be like the 1950`s housewife of yesteryear. I appreciate them more and more everyday!!

Making sure Lord Huntingdon has his lunch and thermos ready every morning before he goes to work which can be as early as 5am. I like to make it fresh in the morning instead of packing it he night before.

I have to make myself look like a 1950`s housewife daily so the hair and make up need to be done and this can take some time as I fight daily with my hands to work in co-ordination with what my brain is trying to tell it to do!!

Having Maddie who is an 18yo ready for school and drive her to the bus by 7:10 every morning which can be very hard as she has to shower, blow dry or straighten her hair, do her make up which takes forever especially if she is seeing her boyfriend after school. As she goes to a private all girls school she has to see him after school.

Back home and my job of cleaning, washing, feeding my menagerie of animals, baking etc.. continues.

I try to keep up with my blog but as you all know that can be a little hit and miss depending on how I am feeling.

We also work for ourselves so all issues of our business needs to be addresses.

Today was really hectic!!! I did everything I do normally but I also had to take Maddie`s dog to the parlour to be groomed, which takes 90 minutes. Then I had to bring her home which is 45mins from where we live. Then it was off to the craft fair which was another 45min drive to meet my daughter Jaimi-Lee, granddaughter Charlotte and my Auntie Tup.

The craft fair was not what I thought it would be as there was really nothing to buy which was already made. You had to buy the kit and make everything yourself. This would be  great if I was good at sewing but I am not therefore I wanted to buy all the gorgeous things which those clever people like many of you can create.

They had alot of gorgeous patchwork quilts, here are 2 photos that my Auntie took there were many many more!!!

I wore 1 of my new dresses which I had my daughter take some full length photos  for you to have a look at.  There are no slimming lenses here, I have asked but I am yet to find any. LOL

This is all for tonight, I will be back to chat tomorrow with some photos away from home, so those of you who know Tassie check in to see if you know where I am. I will make it easy for the first time:)

1950`s Challenge Day 10 - Sewing an apron

 I can not sew, I have not creative talent in my body at all!!

I was good at sports and represented the state in numerous sports, but now thanks to MS I cannot do any of the sports I once loved.

So I am now trying new activities!!

We brought a pottery wheel because I thought it would help my hands and I like the idea of being able to use it. Well I tried it a few times and now it takes pride of place in our shed.

I thought about tapestry, went out and brought a lovely country design with all the wool etc that I needed, tried it and found it difficult to hold the needle!

Next was knitting. I brought a pattern book which has some gorgeous items to make, I started a scarf and again found it to hard to hold the knitting needles!!!

I then said to Lord Huntingdon I wanted a sewing machine, his response was "will it be like the pottery wheel etc..."

To cut a long story short 2 days later I had a sewing machine, complete with patterns, material, odds and bobs etc to  make something. But what?

Well today I made something which I thought would be a little easier than the plastic bag holder I made a little while back.

I made a half apron as all 1950`s housewives had at least 1.

It wasn't too bad considering I forgot how to thread the machine!

This was fixed after about 1 hour of cursing at it, calming down with a coffee and trying again and again....

I had drawn a picture of what I wanted to achieve and then I tried to get it straight in my head, such as what I needed to sew first etc..

I was going really well and feeling like I was getting somewhere when I realised that I had sewn the opening to the pockets up side down!!

It was then that I got to know all about the quick - un - pick.

Although I have no idea why they call it that as I didn't find it quick at all!!!

I then sat down and pinned where the pockets should go and up the right way, you see I didn't do that step earlier as I thought pinning was a waste of time!!

Clearly unpinning is more of a waste of time so now I have learnt to pin!!!

Here is my finished apron, feel free to point out what to do and what not to do but don't be too hard!!

I appreciate the feedback as I would like to learn more!!

1950`s Challenge Day 9 - Rollers Please!

Everyday I go to the local Shop/Post Office and the owners are always happy to see me and  what I am wearing. They are a lovely family and have started taking photos, which is fine now but 1 year ago there was no way you could get me to stand still for a photo!!

A few days ago they requested that I wear rollers in my hair with a bandanna over the top. As she had remembered the sit com Here`s Lucy and said that was what she was wearing in an episode with pants and a shirt doing her house work

So the following day I had my daughter Maddie pop in the rollers and and do the bandanna for me, I popped on an apron that my eldest daughter Jaimi-lee had made as it was meant to look like a cleaning day from Here`s Lucy as requested.

In the car and off I went to take Maddie to the shops to meet her friends fully dresses in my apron, rollers and bandanna!!

"Do you want me to come in with you?" I asked before we got there thinking I would embarrass her but she simply said "If you like"

I had asked her before I had started if she would still walk with me dressed in 1950`s and she said she would and she would wear a T shirt with an arrow pointed at me with That's my MUM written on it!!

How sweet is she? We have obviously done a fantastic job raising our 2 girls. Pats on our back!!!

Anyway back to the rollers in the hair.

Sorry about the photo the apron is done up right at this stage, we fixed it later!!

The owners were so happy, out came the camera for a happy snap!!

1950`s Challenge Day 5

I am running a day behind in putting up my photos, sorry for the delay.

I have chosen to wear a hat for day 5.

I love hats, so much so that  when my girls were younger they had a hat to match every outfit!

At the time my Husband was in the Army and we lived in a Defence Home, he came home one night and I was so excited to tell him I had made a place to hang the girls hats. To his surprise and horror I proudly showed him the 3 inch nails I had nailed into the window frame to act as a hook!!!

Getting up early every morning to make sure I have a nice cup of coffee ready for Lord Huntingdon after he gets out of the shower and his lunch made for the day is becoming tiring!!

I don`t know how the women in the 1950`s did so much in one day. I guess I have a lot of improving to do!!!

Do not despair I have no intentions on giving up. I am running out of dresses and have just ordered more!!

Baking on day 5 I made a lovely Coconut Tea Cake that my niece kindly shared with me. She said her Nan use to make it and she now makes it for her Husband. Apparently he loves it straight out of the oven with butter on top. He even heats a thick slice in the microwave if it has cooled down!!

This is the cake I made, it was simple to make just the way I like them to be. Very moist and tasty!!

COCONUT TEA CAKE
Ingredients:
1 cup S.R Flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup coconut
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Method:
preheat oven to 200'c pre grease loaf tin or line with baking paper.
combine all ingredients and bake in loaf tin for 45 mins to 1 hour.

This recipe was kindly shared by my Niece Jade Hume.
Thank you gorgeous xxx

What do you all want to see.?

This is an interactive blog where you all get to share what you would like to see, share you recipes, photos and challenges.

We are all friends here get on board and speak up we would all love to hear from you!!

Chat soon xx

M.S Hug strikes again. Day 4 of the 1950`s Housewife Challenge

Today has not been a great day for me.

Last night I was woken at 1:30am with what is called the MS hug.

Please understand that this is a stupid name as it is far from a hug, it is more like being strangled by a boa constrictor!!

I could not sleep and nothing you do can ease the pain that you are experiencing.

The alarm went off at 5 am to wake Lord Huntingdon for work, by 6am he managed to drag himself out of bed, I was making him coffee and his lunch was ready and waiting for him.

I explained my bad night although I had spoken to him throughout the night when he kept asking me what I was doing as I was rocking the bed so much to try to relieve the pain it must have felt as though we were on a boat.

It was not long and Lord Huntingdon was off to work for the day with a kiss and enjoy your day.

I waited for Maddie to get herself ready for school and as anyone who has an 18yo daughter knows that getting her out of the bathroom in time to rush her down the road to catch the bus on time is a challenge in itself!!!

With Maddie on the bus on her way to school I drove home slowly as I now only had myself to think of and how uncomfortable I was with the MS hug still lingering!!

It took me a few hours to do what would normally take me about 30 minutes.

I felt terrible and although my body kept telling me to go back to bed I knew that would be no more comfortable than doing things slowly and pushing on with my day.

I managed to do my hair and makeup for my 1950`s Challenge. Although not great I still managed to get something done.

As you can see from the photo it needs improvement, but as promised I will try to post a photo everyday.

Karen thank you for your suggestion with trying the bandanna, as you see my attempt is not great but imagine in a few months we can look back and hopefully see an improvement!!

Dinner tonight was Satay chicken and vegetables with bread and butter pudding for dessert.

I have not done my baking today but will do double tomorrow and have it up for you to see.

Doctors appointment tomorrow morning so I will be busy catching up with baking and blogging tomorrow afternoon.

Just to throw a spanner in the works Maddie is not well and is also off to the Dr tomorrow as I think she has tonsillitis. Poor thing I kept telling her yesterday it was too much parting as she has just turned 18 and now of course all of her friends are turning 18 within months of each other so their schedule is full up celebrating!!

Hopefully tomorrow is a more productive day!!!!

Chat tomorrow xx

1950`s Housewife day 3

Today`s Hair is curled - well I tried.

I am loving this challenge more and more everyday, I feel alive and excited for the next day to come around so I can try new styles.

Lord Hunting was impressed today when I got up when he was in the shower and collected his work clothes from the wardrobe and had them ready to present to him when he was out of the shower.

Coffee made  and lunch packed for him to take to work, he does not eat breakfast so I had time to sit by the fire and chat with him before giving  him a kiss and wishing him a good day at work.

Maddie was next to get out of bed and make sure she was ready to get to the bus in time ready to head off to school.

She came out of her room and requested that she had the day off school to study as she has exams coming up and they were only studying at school so I agreed as long as study was to take place.

Well the first day of my challenge when everyone was either at work or at school was going well so far. Much easier than I had anticipated as between 6am and 7;30am is the busiest time of the day in my household.

Bed made, washing done and hang out.

Animals all fed and watered.

Quotes sent out as requested by Lord Huntingdon.

Now the hard work begins of getting my FACE on and HAIR done!! All before I head out to do the groceries and run other errands.

About 1 hour passes as I try and try to get my hair to settle and resemble a 1950`s picture I have chosen to try and resemble today.

Well as you can see from the picture above I managed to get it sitting and not frizzy as when I had started.

Off to run my daily errands I felt on top of the world. I have a gorgeous loving and supportive family who encourage me daily and if it was not for them I would be sitting at home feeling sorry for myself with this stupid MS.

Now I have an interest in getting up, putting on a FACE and doing my HAIR. It may not be perfect everyday but I am having fun trying.

I am not finished with my weekly menu as promised but I can tell you that we are having savoury mince and pasta bake tonight. The menu should be finished tonight and I will pop it up tomorrow

Chat soon xx

1950`s day 2

Hi again, I must say I am really liking this challenge.

My daughter Maddie asked me "why is it for 1 year I love you in this look, it really suits you, you should do it all the time".

Lord Huntingdon also has positive comments to say and says how beautiful I look.

                                                      


Did he think before in my old tack pants that I didn`t ? LOL

It is great to get such lovely comments, especially being a bigger girl!!




Apron on ready for baking.

Today is going well. I have made more butterfly cakes and also jelly cakes as these were both requested by Lord Huntingdon.

                                       
              There were many more of these, but this was all I found when I came back from next door!!

Lord Huntingdon has been busy cutting wood today with our neighbour on our property. It gets very cold here and will snow sometimes as we are up in the hills. So I appreciate the wood to keep us warm and luckily we have a lot on our property as it is very expensive to go out and buy it.

Wood all chopped and packed in the shed.  Fire light and lovely and warm.

Thank you Lord Huntingdon and Lord Lancewood!!

Tomorrow I will uploading the weekly menu, as in the 1950`s the housewife would have a budget to supply food for her family, and it was much easier for here to pre plan her meals for the family for the week ahead.

This is something that I have never had to worry about in the past, however I now believe that I should try to do this and live off a food budget and prepare food that will be made from scratch.

No takeaways here unless I make a substitute from scratch at home.

Any good ideas please post as I would love to try them out.

Chat tomorrow XX

1950`s Housewife Challenge has commenced!!!!

I didn`t sleep very well at all last night, tossing and turning waiting for the hours to pass by so I could commence living as the 50`s Housewife.

Finally it came time to get out of bed, it seemed that the night went on forever!!

Up early and showered.

That was the easy part!!!

Coffee made once out of the shower for myself and Lord Huntingdon.

I then went to work doing my hair.

Now this I found a huge challenge!!

As I can`t feel my hands very well due to the Multiple Sclerosis and the fact that I need to look in the mirror to see what I am doing and work my brain and hands all together just doesn`t work easily as my brain sends mixed messages and I can`t co-ordinate everything to work together.

Whilst getting frustrated trying to master my hair and watching movies on how to style my hair, Lord Huntingdon came in and lent a hand.

Between the 2 of us we managed to get something which looked OK for the first day. I am sure it will improve as time goes on and the time will also get quicker. Considering it took me about 2 hours to get ready from start to finish I really need to cut that time down considerably.

Once ready we set off in the car to travel the hours drive to Lord Huntingdon`s parents for lunch. His brother, sister-in law and niece were also there.

My mother-in-law had no idea I was going to arrive as a 50`s housewife. Nor did anyone else!!

Well it certainly got a reaction, they were all very supportive and overjoyed at how I looked and what I had set myself for the year ahead.

We all enjoyed a lovely lunch together with great company.

I had even made some nice butterfly cupcakes to share with a cup of tea. These were loved by all, especially Lord Huntingdon who has requested more to be made tomorrow.

Well all in all today was relatively easy except for my hair-which I plan to perfect over time!

Home for dinner where I made rissoles, chips and gravy with salad.

From next Sunday it will be a Sunday Roast every Sunday. With leftover meat for lunches in lunch boxes.

I am needing some ideas on a Pin Up name so any suggestions will be appreciated:)

Recipes will be posted tomorrow for the butterfly cupcakes and the jelly cakes which will be made tomorrow as Lord Huntingdon is cutting wood on our property and has requested them for morning tea.



Thanks for following.
Chat soon Mel xx

Some of the 1950`s Housewife Guidelines...

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed.
• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
• Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
• Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Run a dustcloth over the tables.
• During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
• Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.
• Be happy to see him.
• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
• Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
• Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.
• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
• Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.
• A good wife always knows her place.

Well this is the list of guidelines I have found.

Needless to say there are many which I don`t agree with.

I am very strong willed and normally get my own way!!

For a bit of fun and laughter follow my blog and see how it all goes.

I will not sugar coat anything its an open book!!!

Wish me LUCK I think I might need it:)

Chat soon Mrs.M
Lady of Huntingdon

1950`s House wife Challenge starts Sunday 9th June 2013

I have been told that I am crazy on numerous occasions but none more of late after I have mentioned that I wanted to challenge myself to live as a 1950`s Housewife  for 1 whole year!!

Yes you read it correctly 1 Whole Year. Sometimes I hear myself and agree with others that I must be crazy!!

With that being said I have set my commencement date for the 9th June 2013.

This date has no significance to me it just seemed like a great day to commence as my husband and I are going to lunch at his parents and he asked if I would be the 1950`s House Wife by then so I thought why not start then.

Today I colored my hair in anticipation for Sunday to roll around.

As I must look pretty for my husband as a 1950`s Housewife.

There will be a guide I need to follow which will keep me on the right path.

Which is why today I have done no house work, no baking or running after anyone. I have my favourite daggy trackie pants on with sandhoes and a sweater.

I don't have to impress anyone today or tomorrow so I am going to enjoy my last few days at home being lazy and it is all about to change in a few days time, I need to reserve my energy for the commencement of my 1950`s House Wife Challenge

I will add more a little later as I am off for a little nap now to enjoy my lazy day!!!

1950`s Housewife Challenge

I am about to become a 1950`s Housewife for a year.

Many say I am crazy, I even had a friend say her head would POP!!

As many of you know I have Multiple Sclerosis and just to put your mind at ease - No it does not make you crazy and this is not the reason behind me wanting to challenge myself.

I want to do it because I love vintage and would like to see what it was like to live in the 1950`s.

I know it won`t be exactly the same but it will give me an idea.

I will be documenting my journey along the way and throughout the ups and downs. I would dearly love this blog to become very interactive where you can all add your feedback and comments and hopefully ideas:)

I want to set myself challenges and have you set me challenges throughout this time.

I want you all to enjoy coming along for the ride with me and to see the ups and downs as its sure to get rocky along the way.

Fortunately my family are very supportive and are keen to have a nice meal 7 days a week - so my 18yo daughter says as many nights of late we have had what I call grab it!!!

My Husband thinks he is in heaven - we will see as time goes by if he still thinks this way!!

I will be dressing 1950`s everyday complete with hair and make up, I am hoping you will all help me with ideas along the way!!

I am in no way a model in fact quiet the opposite. I am short and cuddly (a nice way to put it) I hate having my photo taken but considering I want to document what I am up to I will have to get use to that!!

I will need to be using the computer as I want to keep in contact with you all and to keep you updated daily. But this time will be limited.

If you have any ideas on what to use and what not to use please let me know. I look forward to your feedback.

Time is ticking and the date to commence will be posted tomorrow.

Chat soon xx