Legacy of Home - Back, and as lugubrious as ever...

[August]

How are window upgrades a scam? There's a HUGE difference between 50 year old single pane windows and brand new, properly fitted double panes. HUGE.

Not as much as you'd think, with good storm windows. And the thermal bridging of new vinyl windows compared to wooden ones is significant. But, as I say, I've never been the one putting up the storm windows. But dig around the web a bit if you're ever in posession of a house with original windows, it's a Thing.

From the epa website

First, studies suggest that only about 10 to 15 percent of a home's energy is lost through its windows, The U.S. Department of Energy reports that windows can be responsible for up to 25 percent of your heating bill. For comparison, a hot water heater is typically responsible for about 13 percent of your utility expenses. Repairing older wood windows instead of replacing them can usually be done at a lower cost than replacing them, while achieving approximately the same level of energy efficiency. Even if an estimate to have your windows professionally repaired is in line with a new window, the end result will likely be a window that will last longer, therefore saving you money in the long run.

For additional energy savings, noise reduction, and/or security, storm windows that use low-E or laminated glass are also an option. While these will cost more than standard glass, the energy saving and comfort may make it worth the added expense. A historic window with a low-E storm window has been shown to perform just as well as a replacement window. Laminated glass has excellent sound dampening qualities and its strength provides an extra measure of security.

They go on to comment that in a cold climate low-e glass is a bad idea, because passive heat gain is an advantage.

http://epa.gov/region5/sustainable/energyadvice.html

[Lisa]

For people wondering about Mrs. White health issues:

thelegacyofhome.blogspot.ca/2010/01/chronically-ill-homeschooling-mothers.html

She had cancer years ago and still isn't well.

I would direct their school lessons (and chores) from the couch. I was laying down, almost all the time, just suffering. But I would smile through it, with loving compassion for my precious children. Who knew if I was going to die any day? So my spirit was calm with a "supernatural" kindness coming through me. It seemed like I only had this saintliness when I was helpless or very ill. So, in a way, it was a blessing!

I take this with a box of salt but also, :cry:

[Grimalkin]

It means sad. You are invited to join me in using that word in a sentence tomorrow. We will sound very smart! :D

Beware of those rabbit holes!

I am worried I may mispronounce said word and sound not so smart.

Speaking of unusual words I heard my 9 year old say shitty today ( that is not the unusual word) I called her down and asked her why she said it. She told me she said shinny not the other word. 16 year old asked her what it meant, how it's used in a sentance and all. We have been saying shinny all night. "This pizza is shinny." " can you shinny on over here?" "Has anyone seen the shinny?"

[BrownieMomma]

I am worried I may mispronounce said word and sound not so smart.

Speaking of unusual words I heard my 9 year old say shitty today ( that is not the unusual word) I called her down and asked her why she said it. She told me she said shinny not the other word. 16 year old asked her what it meant, how it's used in a sentance and all. We have been saying shinny all night. "This pizza is shinny." " can you shinny on over here?" "Has anyone seen the shinny?"

LOL! I think I could find use for the word shinny quicker than I can for lugubrious. Tried all day but never fit anything. Not giving up tho!

[NachosFlandersStyle]

She seems to find a weird moral high ground in being poor-- look how tough and thrifty and humble I am! Her posts about the past are admiring but they hardly make it sound like a happier time. In one she commends the women of the Depression for their ingenuity and gives the example of watering down milk so it goes farther. Yikes! I hope her kids (grandkids?) are eating enough.

I guess it's better than feeling morally superior for being rich. And I do think there are important lessons to be learned from the way people get by in hard times. But with her it comes off as defensiveness-- all those people who have more stuff than me are godless and frivolous! My life is better!

[KittenMitten]

Agreed. "I dare not dream of Dollywood because all our money has to be saved for coal," is not something a person happy with her life would write. She's sitting in her rocking chair longing for Six Flags and Disneyland and trying to convince herself she's happy.

She does sound unfulfilled and sad. I'm gonna defend her on her rocking chair by stove scene. I sit here March 27, looking out my window at the snow, still although melting. We still have snow showers in the forecast. Easter Sunday will have a high of 38. I love my woodstove lately, passionately. I understand about winter sports, many, not all, are expensive. Even the kids around here are sick of winter.

I feel bad about her heating issue. Our heat/electric has been about $400 a month and our house is well insulated.

I, like Mrs White pine for winter. Every day, in the protected areas where there is no snow I look for my first crocus. One day I will see it.

[nomoxian]

LOL! I think I could find use for the word shinny quicker than I can for lugubrious. Tried all day but never fit anything. Not giving up tho!

"Greg looked at the grave of the man he had secretly murdered in a lugubrious manner" :shrug:

The only time I heard "shinny" growing up was when my grandmother would talk about "shinny hockey"

[MamaJunebug]

[search][/search]

I have a lot in common with Mrs. White. My husband and I are the same age as the Whites, we live frugally, and we're homebodies. I also have health issues which make normal tasks annoying or painful from time to time (although I truly believe that Mrs. White has something very serious, MS or chronic fatigue, perhaps). The snark comes in because she homeschooled her daughters to render them unfit for college or the workplace on purpose, she insists that women should be dependent on men (and thus submissive, sweet, and grateful), and she glorifies poverty. My little family will be debt-free next month thanks to a bit of luck and deliberate choices we've made to put our money towards paying off our house. It works for us! When it comes to suffering in a cold house because supplementing Mister's income would be immoral... well, you've lost me.

Well, yes, that might change my mind (I thought I posted this yesterday, but apparently my changed mind is also lost).

I want the number of Katharine Ross' plastic surgeon. Nice work!

[salex]

"Greg looked at the grave of the man he had secretly murdered in a lugubrious manner" :shrug:

The only time I heard "shinny" growing up was when my grandmother would talk about "shinny hockey"

We had not hockey were I was a kid, but people would shinny up a tree or rope.

[Mary C Doates]

Reading her blog makes me want to lie on the chaise, weeping quietly into a lace-trimmed hanky.

[Sobeknofret]

Mrs. White was one of my favorite reads, along with her pal Lydia Sherman. Mrs. White is chronically ill, and I suspect that depression is taking a huge toll on her as well. She tries so damn *hard* to project this aura of cheerful and resilient genteel poverty, but it's never quite convincing. Constantly having to worry about money can wear people down, and I suspect the poor woman is chronically depressed, along with what other chronic physical illness she might have.

Frankly, I think she and the Mister need to sell the "Estate" and buy a smaller, less rural house and move into town; worrying about how you're going to scrape enough together to pay for heat come winter is a huge red flag that they just cannot afford the house any longer. Her constant isolation and loneliness cannot be helping either her mental or physical health, at all.

[August]

We had not hockey were I was a kid, but people would shinny up a tree or rope.

Funny. We shimmied up ropes.

[salex]

Funny. We shimmied up ropes.

Interesting, The shimmy was a dance, mostly involving boob and butts and serious sideways motion to me and my friends in the 70s. This video says it is the shimmy, but looks familiar to what we called the shimmy about 22 seconds.

[bBvideo 560,340:2kj7q83u]

[/bBvideo]

[Lisa]

Mrs. White was one of my favorite reads, along with her pal Lydia Sherman. Mrs. White is chronically ill, and I suspect that depression is taking a huge toll on her as well. She tries so damn *hard* to project this aura of cheerful and resilient genteel poverty, but it's never quite convincing. Constantly having to worry about money can wear people down, and I suspect the poor woman is chronically depressed, along with what other chronic physical illness she might have.

Frankly, I think she and the Mister need to sell the "Estate" and buy a smaller, less rural house and move into town; worrying about how you're going to scrape enough together to pay for heat come winter is a huge red flag that they just cannot afford the house any longer. Her constant isolation and loneliness cannot be helping either her mental or physical health, at all.

I like the modern trend of hipster homesteading, even when it results in unfortunate trends like rooftop chickens (what do you mean, they only lay for a few years???). Most of us have the luxury of baking our own bread for fun, or fulfillment, and saving money is an additional benefit. There's nothing wrong with being thrifty and learning life skills!

That said, there's a religious tendency to fetishize rural living that pushes self-sufficiency into isolationism. How do you keep them down on the farm, after they've seen Pareeeeee? Make sure they never see Paris. Or a shopping mall. Or a PG 13 rated movie.

Now I'm trying to think of more topic names featuring odd words. How about "syzygy" and "abstemious?"

[Sumeri]

Lugubrious! One of my favorite words. Totally one of those words that sounds exactly like what it's describing...kind of a dragging down, dismal kind of sadness. Just exactly like this blog. Perfect post title!

[August]

Yeah, that's why it's called shimmying. Same movement.

[Johanna25]

There's an old song, "I wish I could shimmy like my sister Kate."

[Lisa]

There's an old song, "I wish I could shimmy like my sister Kate."

Here's a great rendition by a modern singer:

[browngrl]

I feel equal parts anger and pity for Mrs. White. On the one hand she seems to be very poor and does not seem to have much that is very nice in her life but on the other she declined to get a job (made her husband promise she'd never work outside the home) and she declined to sell the house and get a more affordable (and better heated) more appropriate (for someone who is as sick as she portrays herself as) home etc

On the whole I find her to be very passive aggressive. Behind each vow that she is trying her best under trying circumstances is the accusation that her husband has not provided enough, that her children leave her with the burden of childcare etc

[BrownieMomma]

Yeah, I was kinda of thinking she was throwing a lot of shade on the Mister, seeing as how he can't provide vacations and can barely manage heat for the winter... among other things she said.

For all the genteel she attempts to portray, I get a lot of negative undercurrent, like maybe she secretly hated being a housewife but tried to make it be like the bestest thang evar to build herself up over educated, working women.

[Lisa]

Yeah, I was kinda of thinking she was throwing a lot of shade on the Mister, seeing as how he can't provide vacations and can barely manage heat for the winter... among other things she said.

For all the genteel she attempts to portray, I get a lot of negative undercurrent, like maybe she secretly hated being a housewife but tried to make it be like the bestest thang evar to build herself up over educated, working women.

Well, sure. Women working in the business have all those male bosses telling them what to do (this is an immutable truth in Fundyland where there are no female bosses or entrepreuneurs) whereas she only has one man bossing her around. If she dares to question or ask anything of Mister, however meager, he refuses or stalls or pouts to punish her. When Mrs. White posts something about "I dream of cookies and a warm kitchen, but will instead use a tea bag three times and nibble on a single rusk as my hands go numb (gentle smiles)" she's criticizing her husband for being shitty provider in the most passive-aggressive way possible. In her world, a man has to be a provider and if he isn't, well then there's just no provender.

[Lisa]

thelegacyofhome.blogspot.ca/search/label/Cooking?updated-max=2010-12-11T22:07:00-05:00&max-results=20&start=20&by-date=false

Why are so many fundies completely terrible at cooking, crafts, housekeeping, child rearing, etc? Hey, if you're not into cooking eat takeout or cereal every day, I don't care. But when you blog constantly about how being a mother in the kitchen all day and then post "recipes" like the above, I'm gonna snark.

[salex]

thelegacyofhome.blogspot.ca/search/label/Cooking?updated-max=2010-12-11T22:07:00-05:00&max-results=20&start=20&by-date=false

Why are so many fundies completely terrible at cooking, crafts, housekeeping, child rearing, etc? Hey, if you're not into cooking eat takeout or cereal every day, I don't care. But when you blog constantly about how being a mother in the kitchen all day and then post "recipes" like the above, I'm gonna snark.

OK, all this stuff about teaching her 15 year old daughter to be a helpmeet/homemaker.... good grief, what was she teaching that poor girl!

Category - Hospitality and Manners.

Amy and I worked together in the kitchen last night. We made homemade biscuits, chicken, stuffing, corn and baked potatoes. I was planning to do it all myself, but then got too tired. (I gather they are carb loading for some reason, to have biscuits, stuffing, corn and baked potatoes!)

First, I set the mood. I lit candles on the table and arranged the flower vase in the center of the table. (See photo above.) Then I put out the paper plates, napkins and silverware. I was listening to soothing classical music and wearing my apron. People would walk by, look at the table and say, "When will it be ready?" They were eagerly anticipating, what looked like, an exciting event! (Because paper plates and candles always indicated something exciting about to happen.)

Next, I went downstairs to see if Amy would help me. She was in her room listening to music. It was important that I made this fun for her, rather than just saying sternly, "Come and help me!" So I told her to bring along her music tape, that she could listen to while she helped me. (I NEVER let her do this! So she was shocked! - smiles)

I laid out the ingredients for biscuits. Amy set up her music and was smiling. I asked her to start the stuffing and get some cups for the table. But she did the most amazing thing. She offered to make the biscuits. I warned her about how much more work it would be. (I am always the one who makes the biscuits.) But she was still willing!! I explained what to do with the shortening and the rest of the ingredients. I told her to add a little flour and start kneading. She rolled out the dough. I gave her a cup for cutting the biscuits. (We don't own a cookie cutter.) Then I walked away to tend to other things. When I looked back, I was amazed that she was doing the rest without my help. She has watched me make biscuits hundreds of times. She knew exactly what to do! Um, she's 15... these are biscuits. why would this be a lot of work? And you've run a household for a couple of decades--get a cookie cutter...though a biscuit cutter is different from most cookie cutters...

Amy cooked the chicken using the microwave, poured iced tea into glasses, and took the potatoes out of the oven. She set out serving bowls and displayed everything neatly on the table. She even removed the candles and flowers to make room for the food.

Wow.... I have never cooked a chicken in the microwave. I've baked, fried, braised, broiled, grilled and even simmered chicken, and reheated it in the microwave. Is cooking it from raw a super duper only true housewives trick?

with paper plates.... what is it with fundies and paper plates?

[Jasmar]

Why does everyone have two bakes potatoes? Carb loading indeed. :shock:

[Lisa]

Salex, if you microwave your chicken it gets nice and rubbery, and the precious grand babies can use it for teething.

Also, I may be reading between the lines a bit, but I'm pretty sure of this:

(We don't own a cookie cutter.)

(Gentle smiles.)

(Deep sigh.)

(Stares at Mister with huge, sad eyes.)

(Looks to heaven.)

(Waits for cookie cutters to show up in the mail.)