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Monday, June 24, 2013

The older I get, the more I love OLD FASHIONED.....

 Hi, all...
Hope things will be going good for you and yours this week.

 The following bedroom is 
sooo much like the ones I had
growing up in the 40's and 50's.


I always had wallpaper...really pretty wallpaper...
(my mom always let me pick the paper....and I don't even remember
if SHE had a hard time removing the old paper....bet she did !!)

My bed was always a FULL size instead of this adorable half bed...
the reasoning behind this idea was that if we had  overnight company,
as in AUNTS and UNCLES,
they could have MY bedroom and I could sleep on the couch.
(Yep, I guess even the word COUCH  is old fashioned)
and I always had a BEDSPREAD...
one that, after straightening the sheets and adding sleeping pillows,
the bedspread was pulled BACK 
and then pulled FORWARD
over the PILLOWS......
as shown in the photo above.

and...my mother nearly always had WHITE  curtains,
just about like those in the above image...and I can't remember
EVER seeing them dirty....always bleached snow white, starched to HIGH HEAVEN,
hung on the clothes line,
then sprinkled, rolled up in a pillow case and removing each piece and  IRONED....
SOOO pretty.



In the hot summer time, we used just a COVERLET
and left our sleeping pillows....exposed....
just as I've done in this photo...
SOOOO much cooler...

Well, we didn't have AIR CONDITIONING in those early days...
slept with windows wide open and LOVED it.

Our olden house had large windows and the foot of my bed was in  front of one of these windows...



...during light, summer rains, I would sleep with my head at the foot of my bed, have the window raised, and
could feel drops of rain, hitting my face....

oh, how I loved the slight "sprinkling" on my face, watching the lightening, hearing the rolling thunder.

It made a memory that has lasted my whole lifetime...
every time...EVERYtime we get a nice, soft summer rain,
I am transported right back in my bedroom, sleeping at the foot of the bed,
and it's such a heart-filling memory.

Wish I could do it these days but I am too much of a SISSY GIRL and
HOOKED on air conditioning.....
*sigh....I am sooo spoiled...


We didn't have a million designer pillows on our beds, either.

Do you get as tired as I do of making the bed every single morning and adding
ALL THOSE PILLOWS ...?

There's 7 pillows on this bed alone...
not counting the two SLEEPING pillows.

Some days, I make my bed, leaving off those pillows UNLESS someone is coming over !!

Why I think THEY care if I have a million pillows on there or not is beyond me.

>

I adore THIS look...
old fashioned....
crisp...
uncluttered...



Bet the sheets on this bed were line-dried....

My mother had about 4 clotheslines out back and dried ALL our clothes and linens out there. We didn't have a dryer until I was a sophomore in high school.



No clothesline at
SWEET NOTHINGS...


but I do have a wooden drying rack that I often dry small linens on.


 Mother always told me to "shake" the clothes when I was gathering them...
to be SURE bugs weren't on them...

I sure didn't want a bug in MY bed so I shook the heck outa those sheets and towels...


I found this large rack on Ebay a few years ago.
The seller used it to dry herbs...

I used a smaller version of this when our little baby boy came along and I used, *gasp*, CLOTH DIAPERS.

I would put my drying rack over the
FLOOR FURNACE
and the little cotton diapers would dry in nothing flat.

By the time our Stacy Bug was born, PAMPERS had hit the scene and, boy, I thought they were the greatest invention since sliced bread !!!



Speaking of BREAD....


I do love my old fashioned, SOUTHERN CORN BREAD...
one of my most favorite foods on this entire planet...

SOUTHERN CORNBREAD....
NO SUGAR ADDED !!
**

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
a couple table spoons of melted shortening or bacon drippings, butter
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
enough milk to make a nice thick batter..
(I LOVE Buttermilk Cornbread so this is what I use)
***
Pour into HOT skillet that has a tad bit of shortening melted..
Cook at 425 for about 30 minutes...
 
  We love black-eyed
peas
with cornbread...
vine ripened tomatoes and sweet onion..
green beans and potatoes....

an old fashioned meal that orginated
ON THE FARM.....
 OR.....
a big ole bowl of RED BEANS with HAM...

UMMMMM.....yep.....
I'm lovin' "OLD FASHIONED" these days.

linking with:
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win these good products...
CLICK ON MY  GIVEAWAY BUTTON
AT THE TOP OF MY PAGE.
GOOD GOOD LUCK, LADIES...!!

37 comments:

Unknown said...

What a beautiful post - I grew up in the 60's - in the city - but that first bedroom looked like country houses we use to rent - just gorgeous in their simplicity!!!
We had white curtains on every window and dried everything on clothes lines ( even in the city ) in my last home we had a clothesline - and I used it for all our linens - there is NOTHING like the smell of sheets fresh from the line. Just loved this post!
Hugs,
Suzan

Stacey said...

I remember very well sleeping with the windows open. We had AC but it never worked. I didn't like it quite as much as you. We too eat beans and cornbread - no sugar. :)

Vee said...

There's nothing much more romantical than an old-fashioned bedroom with white frilly curtains at the window. I was allowed to choose colors, too, but I didn't have pretty wallpaper. My daughter did, though, and I allowed her to choose her own when she was four. She chose the sweetest pink rosebuds. She had that wallpaper until she was sixteen. I'm sure that, by then, she was pretty tired of it.

Now have you ever tried adding a titch of sugar to the cornbread? Heresy to your Southern ears I'm sure, but a pinch of sugar improves everything!

Kathleen Grace said...

There is nothing as wonderful to sleep on as line dried sheets. There are still a lot of people who love the look of a feminine, simple room, including me!

Gina said...

This is such a sweet post, BJ. It's like a journey back in time!

NanaDiana said...

bj-I grew up much like you did. I, too, had a bedroom with the bed in front of the window and OH the smell of the rain. We had Chinese bamboo that grew thick outside the window. It had huge leaves and the rain hitting those big leaves was music to me ears. I made my bed the same way you did, too- xoDiana

Mindy said...

I love, love, love that first room. Everything about it.

I can't remember how old I was, but my mom let me pick the wallpaper for my bedroom. I chose a hunter green and white vertical stripe for one wall and a big floral pattern for the other three in greens, mauves, and purples. It had cabbage roses, lilacs and other English garden-type flowers. Then on all four walls was a coordinating trim at the ceiling with a horizontal green stripe, ivy, and more flowers. And guess what, my mom still lives in the same house and the same wallpaper is on the walls. I should take a picture sometime for the 'ol blog. :o)

How awesome that you have such special memories in your old room. I too, can remember the exact sound the rain made in the gutter by my window. I still love the sound of rain.

Ceekay-THINKIN of HOME said...

I just took a bag full of throw pillows from our bed to goodwill. I folded my bedspread to the food of bed and have just a white lightweight blanket and our sleeping pillows. I am going to redo that bedding in the fall...and I am going less pillows. I am sick of doing all that every day...there is more to life!

Sylvia said...

What great memories. Nix the sugar in the cornbread. We Southerners need to stick to our ways :-)
I really miss Southern food. I cook it as best I can with grocery store veggies. Southern food is also such a part of our heritage. Once you get past the smoked salmon here in the Pacific Northwest you have nothing. Seriously, no culture at all.
Oh, I don't remember loving the heat at night trying to sleep with no air conditioning.

Anita Diaz said...

I cannot tell you how much I thoroughly enjoyed this post! So many beautiful images of things that I have been trying to add to my own house. I just dried some of my laundry on a clothesline today and my drying rack is an old plastic one my mom gave me. Lovely, lovely post:-)

Love Of Quilts said...

Lots of good memories there bj. The lined dried sheets had the best smell. I miss those sheet to this day. I don't miss the all day washing on Saturday's using the old wringer washer. I was the oldest of nine. Not fun!

Linda said...

I loved my visit with you this evening! What a walk down Memory Lane - hand in hand! I, too, share some of these same memories. I still love the words: bedspread, supper, starch, ironing, clothes lines.....

Sonya@Beyond the Screen Door said...

Hi, bj! Loved this sweet post and these inspiring photos.

Maureen Wyatt said...

What a lovely post! You sure made a lot of people smile with it. Like you, the older I get the more I like to surround myself with the simple, everyday items I knew as a child. I must say, though, that the best way a kid can enjoy a rainy night is listening to it patter on a tin roof!

Theresa said...

Oh my goodness... sweet walk down memory lane:) My Mama always hung clothes on the line! We also slept with the windows open, you could hear the sweet sounds of the night! Thanks for sending me down that lane of sweet memories, childhood memories! Have a blessed day dear friend, HUGS!

Latane Barton said...

Oh my lordy, girl, you had me wallowing in memories with this post. Oh how lovely it would be to have those good ole carefree days once again.... well, let's keep the airconditioning! It is summer after all.

The French Hutch said...

Hi bj, what a sweet post and remember all of that too. My momma used chenille bedspreads and I loved them. I have one she gave me I will not part with! I sure enjoyed reading your story and oh my, that vegetable plated looks so delicious. You are so right, no sugar in the corn bread please! Love your header..........

~Emily
The French Hutch

Linda Metcalf said...

I had an iron bed and a chenille bedspread...and I have a clothes line and hang all my bedding out to dry even in the winter..nothing like crawling into bed with line dried sheets and ironed pillow cases! After a trip to the Amish community yesterday we will be having new potatoes and green beans and they had fresh tomatoes!

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Ohhhh! Thank you for the delightful walk down Memory Lane! Oh yes, I remember my bedroom, from when I was growing up.

I love the looks of that first pic. Want to jump right into it.

Do you also remember having a .... what was it called.... A 'dressing table' maybe? Just a wee little table, mine was a scalloped design. And you had something like a white curtain... making a covering, for around the table.

Mine had moveable things, which opened up, and the "covering" could be moved out of the way, of one's legs.

Not that I really used it. I was too young for doing makeup. But it is a memory!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

"Auntie"

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Oh and now you have me going!!!! -giggggles-

I remember my room being painted a pale green. And the dressing table and etc., were kind of modeled on what was in an old black and white movie, of the time... I still remember the name of it... "The Redhead and The Reformer." With June Allyson and.....mmmm... he had redhair too, and was in zillons of those fun movies, of the time.

Van Johnson!!!

Anyway, when I saw it, with my Mom, I fell in love with the bedroom which June's character had. And we tried to kind-of duplicate it. :-)

Seeeee? You got me started!!!! -gigggles-

"Auntie"

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Ooops! It wasn't Van Johnson. And the name was "The Reformer and the Redhead." :-)

Just look at the pic of June Allyson, at this film site. Isn't that the 50's, in essence? :-)

Diane Duda said...

I am about to retire my bedspread, that I still love, but is at least 10 years old.
I ordered an new chenille one, pure white, and I hope I love it too.
Can't wait to redecorate with simple, old-fashioned accessories.
Love this post, lady. :)

Beverly said...

You have made my morning. I love this post. That is the way we made our beds, too. I thought chenille bedspreads were so pretty, and I would trace along the designs when in my bed at night. We never had wallpaper when I was growing up, but you can be sure I got some when I had a home of my own.

Love cloth diapers. My son was born in 1976, and everyone thought I was crazy to use cloth diapers. At least they didn't end up in a landfill somewhere. And, guess what! I still have a few of them. lol

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

What a wonderful post BJ. I remember having chenille bedspreads with fringe on them, and yes, we would do the tuck and fold over the pillows.

Patty Patterson said...

Beautiful post! And I only put the pillows on my bed when someone is coming over, too. I actually keep them piled behind the rocking chair in the corner of my room and keep the sleeping pillows on the bed. When someone is coming over I hide the sleeping pillows in the close and put the pretty pillows out. BUT - I almost always make my bed. Occasionally, I'll take a lazy day and skip, but it's almost always made.

Madeline's Album said...

The bedrooms are out of this world. I mouth is just watering for some of that cornbread, blackeyed peas etc. Have a blessed day. Madeline

Lorrie said...

That first bedroom is the epitome of country living - fresh, uncluttered and oh, so pretty.
When I was growing up in the 60s we also had chenille bedspreads and made the bed the same way, with the spread covering the pillows and a nice, crisp tuck-in under the pillows.
When we visit my parents' home, the guest room still has a chenille spread, thick and luxurious and I make the bed the same way.

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Oh, I just love this post! So many memories. I love old-fashioned, too, and remember the days before a/c and sleeping by an open window that had white curtains. I loved the smell of sheets that had been dried on the line. I have an old-fashioned clothesline, but I have to confess that I don't use it very often.

The plate of beans and cornbread looks yummy!

Speaking of olden things, we just got back from visiting the Laura Ingalls Wilder home in Mansfield MO. I loved the style and simplicity of it and wish they would have allowed inside photos. I could have cheerfully moved right in!

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

bj..I have a similar memory of my tiny bedroom. There was a slanted cellar door just under my window and when I got the mumps, my little friends would come over and play there..running up and down our cellar door. They kept me company until their Mom's called them in to dinner. I LOVED my childhood. I have wonderful memories. I wish all children did.

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

I loved this post! It brought back so many memories.
Before my mom and dad had a/c in the early 1960's, the giant window fan was in my bedroom window. I remember hooting and whistling through it when I was little. I guess I had better sense than to put my fingers into it. There was a concrete fish pond in our backyard under my window and wisteria grew near the pond. In the spring all of the toads in the neighborhood would come and do their little high pitched trilling all night long. So many nights I fell asleep smelling wisteria and hearing the toads sing.

I guess I am officially old fashioned. That is how I still make the bed. And I'm so old fashioned that I didn't know "couch" was old fashioned and I still have white curtains in the windows.

When the kids were little, I used a clothesline. There was nothing better at removing stains than putting lemon juice on the stain and letting it dry in the sun but I haven't dried clothes outside for years now.

I am thankful for air conditioning, but if I could go back to nights of wisteria and toads singing, I would turn that a/c off right now.



Pink Roses and Teacups said...

Oh BJ, what sweet memories! I too, had wallpaper in my bedroom, and the pretty white priscillas. I still love the sound of a soft rain at night or to listen to while taking a nap. Yes, we are spoiled with our air conditioning. lol!

Winnie said...

Well. I'm still young but I have to say that I've always loved old bedrooms. White curtains, and with white romantic furnitures

Pat said...

BJ,
Love, LOVE, L O V E bed linens dried on a clothesline, dear friend!!! Cute post this morning...as always!!!
Have a marvelous day, dear friend!!!
Fondly,
Pat

Blue Cotton Memory said...

beautiful. beautiful. beautiful. I remember sleeping with my head the the foot of the bed, waiting for the summer nights to cool - and waking up to the cardinals outside my window - and wall paper - if you've ever lived in an old house - you love wall paper. We were talking at home, that if you've ever lived in an old house with no central heat - you sleep with a window open in the middle of winter - LOL.
http://bluecottonmemory.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/sometimes-i-cant-love-em-right/

Sweet Tea N ' Salty Air said...

I remember all that only too well.The memories are so cherished. What ever happened to that crisp white line dried linens.This brings back fond memories of my gram...she would iron with a sprinkle bottle all day it seemed like. Forget the line dry, I live in a rainy season area but I can still sprinkle iron lol.

Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co. said...

Very sweet post BJ! I've been experiencing some of those very same "old fashioned" feelings! And I remember exactly what the wallpaper in my bedroom looked like - tiny blue and yellow flowers!

Linda said...

Oh thanks for the memories!! Mom had a clothesline as well and I can still smell the sheets drying over the furnace vent that she brought in out of the cold. No clothesline here at the White Weathered Hutch. Just a large rack. I have enough ironing and don't need more...lol