Simplicity in Tasks

We live in a world of gadgets for everything.  Machines clean our clothes, wash our dishes, vacuum our floors, and so much more, all with the touch of a button.

Sometimes I wonder if we've gotten a bit too caught up in gadgetry that we've forgotten the simplicity of bygone days.  Don't get me wrong--I LOVE some of these gadgets.  After a few years using a washboard, I'm extremely grateful for a washing machine and dryer.  My blender is a good friend and saves my arms from trying to mush things together.  Air conditioning is another wonderful machine. 

Most days you'll find me at some point in the day at the kitchen sink, washing dishes by hand in the old ceramic sink.  I get opportunity to look out behind our house through the window, see birds flying around, the trees and foliage reflect whatever season it is, sometimes the visiting kitties that love our community food bowls, etc.  I keep the radio close by on the counter and it plays the Christian station KVCY--it has moved off of that channel maybe 5 times in 10 years.  When my hands are in the sudsy hot water, I am slowing down and making sure things are good and clean.  I can take that time to pray, to sing, to think.  Often times while I'm doing these, the stove has a meal cooking, laundry may be going, the kids may be helping with other chores that they need to grasp for adult life on their own. 

Lena Horne at a gas stove--isn't she beautiful?

Nearly every day, I cook on an older stove.  It has no electricity to it, simply pilot lights.  No fancy timers and push buttons.  I like it that way.  It provides heat on cold days and ability to cook when the electricity goes out for whatever reason.  If I were blessed to own my own home, I'd be even more excited to have a wood burning cook stove to the side, where if something went wrong due to storms or something, there would be a back up and a good source of heat. 

Folks who make a lot of bread tend to use a bread machine.  I've been using dough hooks for years, but have transitioned back to the old fashioned kneading by hand for now.  At least until my shoulders decide they don't like it anymore.  It doesn't use electricity or any extra gadgets to knead dough by hand.  It's a good work out.  You get a tasty loaf afterward.  In past years I've used  my little Sunbeam Heritage series mixer with the dough hooks to make my bread dough, and it does a great job making a velvety dough that is thoroughly kneaded.  It's a great machine.  It's funny, when I do make bread by hand, I picture myself like the Mennonite family before me, bent over the bread board and trough doing several loaves at once. 

Treadle Singer 15

One thing I'd love to get a hold of is a treadle or hand crank sewing machine.  Well, I do have the head of a White Rotary from about 1924, but haven't found a cabinet for her close enough to actually go after.  I'd like to get at least one machine that is a hand crank in case we don't have power.  Don't get me wrong, I can hand sew fairly quickly, but something about having a black machine with an old fashioned crank on it is appealing to me.  I'd love to get a treadle Singer 66 as well, it hearkens to my old fashioned mindset.  There are kits to transform a machine with a motor boss to a hand crank, it may be time to invest in one in the future.  The current machines I have, they do not have electronics on them.  The ones I use the most, they were top of the line when they were built, but at that time top of the line was having back tacking (reverse).  My absolute favorite is a simple straight stitch machine.  It does one stitch, and it does it very well.  The most "elaborate" machine I use is a Singer 401A that dates to the late 50's.  It is not electronic.  It has a few built in stitches and capacity to do a lot with just those few stitches--the manual is over 100 pages and tells you how to do elaborate stitch details with just a zig zag stitch and straight stitch.  I've heard it's sister the 401G can be made a treadle. 

Line drying is another thing I'd love to do again.  We don't have a line out here, there's many trees and potential for lots of bird bombs, which defeats the purpose of washing and line drying (right??).  I do miss the smell of fresh line dried sheets and clothes, especially after they've been rinsed in the rain while out there.  Rain and jeans/towels are an amazing combination--they smell so nice and are soft as can be after a good rain shower and dried outside.  I've through the years hand washed on a wash board, and when I was a single parent, I used the bath tub to clean my scrubs and my son's clothing, using a drying rack in our apartment to dry them while I was at work.  This definitely saves on electric, gas, and water.  And there's plenty of time to think, pray, sing, listen to music or sermons while doing the wash. 

I'm looking for other ways to go back to a more gadget free style.  I remember growing up we didn't have so many machines and things, but life was slower.  If you have ideas, feel free to share!