Quaint Cottage Homemaking Music and Musings with Video Clip ~ Beatrix Potter Series

"There's nothing like open air for soothing present anxiety

and memories of past sadness."

~ Beatrix Potter in Letter to Mrs. Wight (her friend & neighbor) June 1942

As the modern world has its set of challenges (though we can't forget the blessings too!), often we crave a bit of nostalgia and quaint charm. The following video will take you away to the old world of Beatrix Potter for just a few minutes...

Perhaps it will inspire you to take a moment outside and breathe in the "open air" where spring is a promise of renewal... The dreamy (and yet somewhat haunting) theme song is called "Perfect Day" and is sung by the talented Miriam Stockley.

The video "clip" is an excerpt from the closing credits of BBC's The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends. It was so charming that I felt the need to include it in our Beatrix Potter Spring Series. I thought it would be a whimsical way to start your morning! There was a sweet soundtrack that used to be sold from the DVD set but it is no longer being produced and unfortunately seems quite rare.

Included today are also some lovely photographs of the Lake District cottages and land which were owned (over 4,00 acres!) by Beatrix Potter and later donated to the National Trust.

Imagine walking through this countryside in a long Edwardian gown. Breathe in the fresh air and listen to the melody of the birds... Perhaps you will find some of the same creatures that enchanted Ms. Potter.

One way to transport you back to this world is by planting lavender bushes, roses and an abundance of cottage flowers. Imagine an assortment of delphiniums, hollyhocks and foxgloves. Include some beautiful cottage style stones in your landscaping. I am dreaming of the possibilities as I type this.

For those without garden space, you can still display a few potted herbs in your kitchen which gives your home that same old fashioned feel. The bonus is the fresh garnishes you will have for foods and teas!

For me, the playing of quaint cottage music can always transport you to the "Old World" while performing your daily duties. 

I have included some ideas (per the request of a kind reader). These would be fine choices for some peaceful homemaking moments or to enjoy with our free Beatrix Potter printable coloring book. Do you have any suggestions to add?

Note: All Photos are of Beatrix Potter's Lake District where she herself stands in the above photograph. 

Well, it is time to go... I hope this little post has refreshed you like a cheery pot of tea! 

 Happy Fun Friday to you and have a wonderful weekend!

All the fine print. This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, Awesome Life Friday Link Up and Create, Bake, Grow & Gather. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. This post may contain affiliate links (which are merchant links that help to support this site at no additional cost to you if you purchase an item through them).

40 Journal Entry Ideas for Nature Study Notebooks ~ Free Printable

"There are two books laid before us to study, to prevent our falling into error. First, the volume of the Scriptures, which reveal the will of God; then the volume of creation, which expresses His power."

~ Frances Bacon (1561-1626)

If you haven't tried doing nature study journals because you weren't sure on where to start and how to do them, I wanted to share 40 journal entry ideas with you. There really are no rules to a nature study and yet your children will learn so much from just a little observation and a few moments of time!

What is neat about nature study is that it also encompasses many of the school subjects during one sitting! If you spent an entire day outside with God's creation, you need not have the "homeschooling-mother-blues" (though 20 minutes a day is quite beneficial)! You have art covered as your children sketch and/or color in their entries. You have covered science and nature as they observe God's creation and learn more about the plant or animal life they come across. You have included language arts as you do copy work of nature inspired poetry or favorite quotes from nature books.  You can spend time with the Scriptures when you include Bible verses pertaining to the objects of nature you are studying. And if you have taken a vigorous nature walk, you have included physical education into your nature study time as well! I think you can see how nature study is more than nature. It is a lifestyle of learning through various subjects that the Almighty has prepared for us to enjoy and learn from (remember "Go to the Ant"?)!



You needn't be outside to do a nature study (though you should definitely make time to do so when convenient). Rainy days, chilly days and the hottest of days could still provide nature study time! There are always indoor plants to draw, identify and learn about, the occasional insect and/or spider you may find indoors to study, you can grow your own butterfly kits, maintain ant farms, study any indoor pets you may have, sketch still life such as pinecones and leafs, read books on nature that can be studied and used for copying drawings and recording information. The possibilities are endless.

And in the end, as your children begin to observe nature, our prayer is that they will be intrigued by the One who created it, the Master Artist. "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse..." (Romans 1:20).

You can view and/or print our 40 Journal Entry Ideas for a Nature Study HERE. Should you like further ideas on how to conduct a nature study, visit HERE. To view a sample of our nature notebook pages, visit HERE.

                       

For books to inspire mother in the art of nature study, I recommend a Pocketful of Pinecones by Karen Andreola (written in a sweet novel form that gently teaches), Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock (an old fashioned thick volume of interesting nature information and concepts), the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden (a romantic look at the natural world) and Nature Study the Easy Way (a casual conversational how-to-guide) by Cindy Rushton. For it is often that the teacher's love must first be ignited in order to pass the flame down to the student!

"With nature study in this easy way, there is a completely different focus. There is no undue focus on facts, trivia, and a sampling of information to learn off for a test. Rather, the focus is on recognition of nature ALL throughout the year and in every season, learning the life cycles of plants and animals informally as they go along, and growing in appreciation and attentiveness to the tiny details of God's creation! Amazingly, the children come to KNOW and UNDERSTAND God's Creation!"

~ Cindy Rushton, A Charlotte Mason Primer

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Roses of Inspiration, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, From the Farm Blog Hop, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.

Ode to Orange ~ A Day on the Homestead ~ Wordless Wednesday

"Everywhere were bits of dancing red and green, violet and orange…"

~ Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

Orange Related Posts:

Orange Bath Powders DIY

Orange Cleaning Products with Printable Labels DIY

Orange Inspired Beauty for Your Home

Orange Peel Body Scrub DIY

Orange Peel Projects DIY Kitchen Crafting

Printable Orange Labels and Gift Tags

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Roses of Inspiration, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Coffee and Conversation, So Much at Home, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Home Acre Hop, From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.

How to Identify Calendula {Pot Marigold vs. Common Marigold}

"With those bright, yellow orange flowers, you might mistake calendula flowers for any other marigold. But calendula is actually an entirely different plant. It's native to northern Africa and the south-central portion of Europe, but it can be grown elsewhere, including indoors. If you can't visually distinguish calendula flowers from marigold, you'll probably be more successful using your nose: regular garden marigolds give off a strong, unpleasant aroma (although some people like it); calendula flowers are comparatively milder."

~ James A. Duke, The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook

If uncertain whether you have a common marigold or the medicinal pot marigold (aka Calendula officials) growing, pluck off a deadhead of the flower and examine the seeds. The common marigold will be straight and stick-like while the calendula will have curved seeds with a toothed exterior (as shown in photo above).

Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis) verses Common Marigold (Tagetes Marigold)

One is a medicinal masterpiece, the other is simply a fragrant flower...

Calendula officinalis {Pot Marigold} ~ Medicinal Uses

According to herbalist James Wong, calendula, "having antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties" boasts a "wealth of potential uses" when prepared into lotions, creams, ointments, teas and tinctures. Using the proper preparations, calendula can help to heal minor burns, sunburn, insect bites, stings, sores, pustular blemishes, acne, cuts, abrasions, inflamed rashes, diaper rash, hemorrhoids, varicose veins while internally it can aid stomach disorders, ulcers and painful periods.

The part of the calendula plant that is used medicinally are the flowers. When the weather allows, take a walk outside, breath in the fresh air and really examine your surroundings. I found our calendula plant in the corner of our hay field. I didn't even know it was there until a few years ago when I began opening my eyes to God's healing pharmacy! In our climate, they introduce themselves in very, very early spring and have self-seeded each year. And you needn't be afraid to harvest the blooms as it will only encourage more budding!

In order to preserve calendula for future projects, you can dehydrate them in a dehydrator or lay them out on a screen or paper towel in a cool, dark area with plenty of air circulation. Flip them every few days until they are dry and brittle (which should take about two weeks depending on your climate).  For quicker results, dry only the petals. Store the dried flowers in an airtight jar (canning jars are great) and out of direct sunlight (like in your pantry).

If you can not find them in your backyard between early spring and summer, you can purchase them here. Calendula will be our next highlighted herb in our Home Pharmacy Series {see Calendula Collection of Recipes here} and we hope you will enjoy making some natural medicine with these pretty but powerful flowers! We are also hosting a link up of calendula exclusive posts so that you can share your information with us!

The following posts have been shared thus far in our series:

Create Your Own "Natural" Home Pharmacy {aka Apothecary}
Medicine Making Supplies ~ Preparing a Home Apothecary

Set of Apothecary Herb Labels ~ Free Printable

Should You Use Alcohol-Based Medicine?
How to Make a Medicinal Oil {Plus Printable Instructions and Labels}

How to Make a Tincture {Plus Printable Instructions and Labels}

How to Make Elderberry Medicine {For the Cold and Flu}

Everything Elderberry {Learn and Share ~ Herbal Link Up}
How to Make Calendula Medicine {Collection of Recipes}

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, From the Farm Blog Hop, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, Shabbilicious Friday, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. This post contains affiliate links. Web source.

Disclaimer: I am not a certified herbalist but a homemaker interested in the arts of natural healing. The information I have learned has been gleaned through study of some of the following favorite books; Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide, Grow Your Own Drugs by James Wong, and The Complete Illustrated Book of Herbs by Reader's Digest and websites of herbalists (such as the Bulk Herb Store Blog).

I am not a doctor. While I do seek scientific confirmation of the safety and effectiveness of the herbs and remedies I use, remember that using remedies is a personal decision. Nothing I say on this blog is approved by the FDA or intended to diagnose, treat or prevent disease. All things on this blog are my opinion or the opinion of others. Also, if you have a medical condition, are taking pharmaceutical drugs, or are pregnant, please consult your physician prior to taking herbs.

Elizabeth Blackwell's Tragic Tale & Her Free Online Herbal Book

(Note: This post is part of our "herbal series".)

Hers was a tragic tale... A genteel woman with an empty purse, a baby to raise and a husband in old England's debtor prison. "A Curious Herbal" had a curious beginning indeed.

One of the first herbals published by an English woman, Elizabeth Blackwell (not to be confused with the first woman doctor) created it in order to collect enough funds to free her husband from debtor's prison in the early 1700's. Alexander Blackwell was a lavish spender and reckless businessman. He was described as being a "...self-styled Dr. [and] handsome rascal…" by Emily Read Cheston in an article printed in the Herbarist in 1942.

With only her artistic skills to recommend herself and her husband's medical background, she sought to publish an herbal which would introduce plants from the New World (a much needed reference at the time). Taking lodging by a nearby botanical garden, she had access to species which where represented from all over the world, including the new varieties from the Americas. Her plan was to illustrate them and consult her husband (in prison) for their characteristics and medicinal value. He would also give the proper Latin, Greek, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and German names for each plant. She undertook this project with zero background in botany.

Who was Elizabeth Blackwell? 

There are two conflicting accounts according to Richard Garne from the Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900:

"BLACKWELL, ELIZABETH (fl. 1737), wife of Alexander Blackwell [q. v.], is positively asserted by James Bruce (Lives of Eminent Men of Aberdeen, p. 307) to have been the daughter of a stocking merchant in Aberdeen, and to have eloped with her husband to London before he found employment as a corrector of the press. No authority is given for these statements. Blackwell's biographer in the 'Bath Journal,' who seems to write with a knowledge of the family, asserts on the other hand that the marriage took place subsequently, and describes Elizabeth as ' a virtuous gentlewoman, the daughter of a worthy merchant,' who gave his daughter a handsome portion. ' Virtuous ' and ' worthy ' were unquestionably epithets applicable to Elizabeth herself, who extricated her husband from his pecuniary difficulties by applying her talent for painting to the delineation of medicinal plants with the colours of nature."

She would eventually draw, engrave and color over 500 illustrations in a two year span. In 1739, two volumes were printed which was quite an accomplishment. As it turned out, "A Curious Herbal" was somewhat successful and Elizabeth was able to use the funds to free her husband.  Her work was republished many times over the next two centuries and was used as a viable resource for apothecaries and physicians of the time.

Unfortunately, her beloved did not reform his ways and thus this tale has a tragic ending.

Alexander Blackwell led his family back into monetary troubles and scandal. Upon his release, he fled to Sweden (without his devoted wife) and after various events, his shady ways brought him to the "block" in a said consperacy against the Crown Prince! According to the Wikipedia account, 

"he was tried and sentenced to be decapitated. He remained in good spirits to the last - at the block, having laid his head wrong, he remarked that since it was his first beheading, he lacked experience and needed instruction. On 9 August 1747 he was executed as Elizabeth was leaving London to join him."

She was a determined woman who remained loyal to her husband all the days of her life, sharing her royalties with him until the bitter end.

Link to Elizabeth Blackwell's "A Curious Herbal"

Here is the link to the original volume which showcases her beautiful illustrations and herbal information. You may get inspired to create something similar for the plants found in your back yard once spring makes her entrance! Her pictures would be helpful for identification. And though her story was sorrowful, you may also be inspired by the devotion found in this resourceful woman of yesteryear.

Herbal Note: You will notice that each plant presented in an authentic herbal (see insert above from "A Curious Herbal") features information about its characteristics such as height, color of leaves and flowers, where it is found and during which time of year. It also shares the medicinal purpose of the plant and potential forms of preparation such as syrups, simple waters and tinctures, to name a few. To make your own modern day herbal, visit here.

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Homestead Barn Hop, Teach Me Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Make Bake Create, Wise Woman Link Up, Christian Homemaking, Welcome Home Wednesday, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Wednesdays, Homemaking Thursdays, From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. Information for this article was gleaned from the following web-sources: source one, source two and source three.

Land of Milk and Honey? ~ True Preparedness

When we purchased our farm, I had "dreams of grandeur"… I was imagining orchards full of peaches, bursting with purple plums and rows of sweet apricot trees. 

However, there were only three sources of fruit on the property. They were figs, pomegranates and grapes.

My husband kept mulling these plants over in his mind and proclaimed them "wonderful".

He reminded me that when Joshua and his men went to spy out the promised land, these were the three items that they brought back to showcase it's prosperity.

Moses told them to research and find out "what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land."

~ Numbers 13:20

"And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs."

~ Numbers 13:23

"...they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it."

~ Numbers 13:27

What we are continually learning is that "dreams of grandeur" take work! Sometimes it is downright discouraging. The tractor breaks down, rain delays, animals die and crops sometimes fail…We are in constant need of those inspired words to be "of good courage".  We have to realize that the land of milk and honey isn't heaven but the earth we have been blessed to live on and subdue. Our hope for perfection lies only in the next land to come for those who love Him. This is ultimately what every homesteader needs to be "prepared" for.  Are you ready?

"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

~ Revelations 21:1-4

Shared at: The Homestead Barn Hop