Are you like me? Do your your daydreams and wishes influence every aspect of your life?
Let me explain. Sometimes I am scared that people I know in "real life" will read my blog...and laugh at me. I am the first to admit that in many ways that aren't apparent on the outside, I am an oddball. I love bluegrass music. I really want to go to a big bluegrass festival one of these days in the Ozarks. I dare not tell people though! People my age are still going to rock concerts and pubs for fun. I'll pass. :)
I love anything from the depression...the music, the farmhouses, the cotton pickin', baptist hymn singin', biscuit crusted pie eatin', floral feedsack dress wearin' people and ways of a day gone by. My favorite hobby is quietly walking through shops full of old junk. And would I be politically incorrect if I said that I am usually the youngest antique-er at the thrift stores and old furniture auction? Not that I'm young...you know what I mean.
I have ALWAYS been an old soul. It's just who I am!
Yes...I really do love that term..."Old Soul". It describes me perfectly. I AM a VERY old soul. I appreciate the stories of the past and the toil, sweat,and GRIT of my ancestors before me. I have always felt the urge to connect to these stories of the past. And the best way to do that is to surround yourself with the "stuff" they used and treasured. To learn about how they lived. I feel like a weak person when I reflect on the chores and strife of living in the Dust Bowl. Could I handle even one day of it I wonder?
Life was hard. How did they cope?
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| Illustration by Miss Elliott for the book "Favorite Hymns for Children" c. 1942 |
How did my great grandmother make dinner? How did she tend to all of the washing and childcare and cooking that was required each day?
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| Excerpt from the book "Favorite Hymns for Children" c. 1942 |
I wish I could watch the bustling farmhouse kitchen before a family dinner.
Were the women of the house constantly wearing floral aprons dusted with the flour of biscuit and pie making? That is how I imagine them.
I even have movies I watch for vintage inspiration. Two of my favorites are
Places in the Heart
and the black comedy "Paper Moon"
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| Photograph: Paramount/Kobal Yeah...those movies are the closest I will get to going back in time and experiencing rural life in the South during the depression. Judging by the stories I've heard that's probably as close as a weenie like me should get anyways. :) I'll stick to crafting and painting for today. |
Shadow has the right idea!
Thanks for reading today, my fellow "Old Souls"!
♥Linsey
Sharing at:
Knick of Time
From My Front Porch to Yours
Primp
Wow Us Wednesday
Boogie Board Cottage
SNS Funky Junk Interiors
From My Front Porch to Yours
Primp
Wow Us Wednesday
Boogie Board Cottage
SNS Funky Junk Interiors
22 comments:
Hi Linsey,
I loved this post! I get it completely, I feel the same way. It's very hard to explain to someone who doesn't understand. Paper Moon has been a favorite of mine since I saw it with my GrannyBelle in 1973.
I was only 10 or 11, but I got it even then. "Give me my $200 dollahs!" I looked just like Tatum as a child and I really loved her sass. Places In The Heart...Mr. Will! Mr. Will! LOVE that movie. I have no idea how many times I've seen it. I have my grandmother's/ greatgrandmother's aprons from that era. Special keeps, for sure. Thanks for taking me back with you- I so enjoy being an old soul with you!
xo, Tina
I actually am getting quite close to being a "real" old soul, but your post reminds me of growing up and watching my grandma cook, complete with aprons; I love aprons and have a special one of my grandmas made. There is a part of my grandmas and my mom that live in in me, and the older I get, the more I get what they were all about. Being an old soul isn't about age, but about heart. I loved this post!
You said it so well Linsey and I know exactly what you mean! I am a fellow oddball. I personally can't get enough of the past whether it be through movies, music, books, antiques or junk. Thank heavens for PBS. The Dust Bowl is especially fascinating to me...I just can't imagine. Thank you for this post, it is wonderful to know there are others like me. Most people in my life just don't get it! XO Meg
Beautiful post, Linsey. I'm not as young of an "old soul" as you (huh?) but I totally get it. I feel very connected to old things too, and am so blessed to have quite a few things in my home that belonged to my grandparents.
You just keep embracing who you are, and the rest of us will happily come right along with you!
Jeanette @ Creating a Life
i love this post! I too feel like I was born too late. I love the forties fashions and feedsack aprons. Those times seem harder in some ways but more innocent in other ways. Jean
This is so cute, Linsey. Love your thoughts and pretty treasures! I haven't thought about Paper Moon in a long time. love that movie. I also love, "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Karen
Hi Linsey! I rushed right over from FB. Yup, I am one too. I have always loved old stuff, stories of the past, pictures, even as a child I loved taking to older ,wise people. As crazy as this sounds I have alays love the smell of must, I know wierd:). Beautiful post!!! Have a great weekend, Jen @ City Farmhouse
Linsey I too have an old soul.Ever since I was a little girl I have always been drawn to things of the past.The clothes,jewelry,furniture,fabrics and yes the music too!Furnishing my home with pieces of the past really warms my heart and feeds my soul!
xx
Anne
I'm a new reader and I can relate! I'm one of the younger furniture refinishers out there. I love antiques and old things and the simplicity of the 30's as well. Great post!
I am a relatively new reader, and I loved this post! I get it! And I feel the same way ;0 However, I am usually not the youngest person in an antique shop! LOL My parents were teenagers during the depression, and I was raised on a cotton farm, so I have had some of those work experiences first-hand--my parents referred to the depression many times. It left a permanent mark on them for sure. I enjoy your blog--keep it up!
I can tell from your blog that you love the simplicity and traditions of days gone by! My mother always called me an old soul, I always wanted to hear stores about her childhood and growing up in the 40's. What a wonderful, innocent time!
XO,
Jane
I don't think there's anything wrong with being an old soul my friends always say the 1940's would have been the time period I was in which I could have agreed with if WWII hadn't taken place. Loved your post the dishes and apron would be something I would have in my kitchen.
Denise
Nice post Linsey. . . I too, am an *old soul* My husband and I became the new owners of his Grandparents 1920's home a few years ago. The house was built by his Great Grampa. There is a lot I would like to change about this house, the rooms are small, the only bathroom is smaller than most modern day closets, the kitchen is so small you can do dishes (no dishwasher)flip pancakes and answer the back door all at the same time. BUT. . . there were 8 kids raised in this house and gramma didn't have all the modern day appliances we have today and she canned all her goods that she grew in her garden. . . it humbles me, and for that reason I won't change a thing.
Last summer I was lucky enough to visit the 100 year old homestead that my great grand parents homesteaded in 1902. The original cabin is still there, as well as the school house my gramma attended as a child and later ended up being the teacher. It was such a warm feeling walking on the dirt they once walked on, amoung other things. I didn't want to leave there. Dovetail,(that's the name of the homestead) is still being farmed today by my dads cousin and his children, I'm so glad it is still in the family and the history will live forever. . .
Wonderful post! Many of us say we were born in the wrong era but in reality life was difficult back then and we have romanticized it. It was darn tough! But we are lucky to be able to pick up some of the good things from that time and continue with them. Hanging laundry on the line, making homemade soaps, canning, or having backyard chickens....
Thanks for posting.
I think that's why I love blogland so much-we old souls 'get' each other! Love your pics :)
Susan
Sistah Linsey Lou I am right there with you! And honey anytime you wanna come to the Ozarks just let me know and I'll show ya around and share some ice cold sweet tea with ya! Yes indeed...old timey ways...down-home goodness...life on the farm...women-folk bustlin' in the kitchen putting-up jars of homemade jam...barn dances on Saturday night and Sunday go-to-meeting time to praise The Lord! Can I get an Amen! I am all about that! Love this post!!
Sugar & Hugs,
Ruthie
Sugar Pie Farmhouse
In my heart I'm old fashioned. Love my family and my home more than anything in the world. But girl - I'm so grateful for air conditioning and my washer and dryer!! :)
I think all of us that love vintage junk are really hankering for a different age. Me? I'm stuck in World War 2 England!
All that green jadite in your pictures is making me swoon.
Your photos really draw me in each time I visit. And does this post ever resonate with me. I always say I should have been born a generation earlier! Love this post, Linsey!
Mary Alice
What can I say, but me too!! Well, except I have no interest in living during the Depression. I LOVE bluegrass too. I have some friends that play Bluegrass in Fayetteville, if you can ever get out that way. I don't think any of my other city friends like Bluegrass. :) And you need a real farmhouse.
I have several pictures of my grandmother plucking chickens to cook for dinner, of course this was after she had killed them. She had a wood cook stove and coal oil lanterns in the kitchen, and we complain if we don't have pot lights and granite countertops!!!! My mom said when she would hear the threshing crew coming in a distance (no phone) that she would start preparing their lunch by killing chickens and making homemade biscuits. I do live in her 100 year old farmhouse and that's enough for me.
How I feel the same way as you! Growing up in Mammaw's house, I have loved old things. She always told me that I was born in the wrong era, lol. I have often wondered about how she raised 5 children(which was not a lot back in that day) on a manual washing machine with the ringers, hanging out the wash even in the Winter, cooking on coal/wood cook stoves, feeding a family from the garden, canning everything, ect. The list can go on. I complain about my laundry, but how easy I have it compared to her. Those days simply amaze me and I too catch myself gravitating towards older simpler times in movies and in my decorating. Thanks for sharing!
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