Save like Nana did. Stewardship.
Continuing on from were I left off.... old fashioned, beautiful words and values. Stewardship. I grew up with many examples without knowing the word. It means to take care of things, supervise, responsible planning, to be a keeper, a guardian... to be responsible and to make the most of what we have been given.
Nan and Pa demonstrated this in daily life. Everything they had was well looked after. Tools were sharpened, machines were oiled, shoes were polished, trees were trimmed, things were kept clean and tidy, clothes were mended, nothing was wasted.
It is such an interesting subject because to me it leads to the concept that if you are not looking after a little well then why would you be trusted with a lot? I dearly wish I could have seen into my Great Grandmothers home. I don't think they had much, they had a very big family half way out into the desert. But I just know what they did have was looked after and made the most of.
Do you notice some people have the knack of turning not much into something lovely. Others can turn something lovely into not much! Maybe it is not a knack but an attitude. Being grateful for something surely makes us look after and treasure it and be good stewards.
I could entertain you for hours with dumb things I've done and ways I have not been a good steward in my life. But now I realise it is incredibly ungrateful to not take the best care of things and to be as responsible as possible with everything. We live and learn. Pat said how many opportunities come disguised in overalls as hard work. Well, that is so true. Gifts come our way and we might not even recognise them! So there is something in considering things and thinking things over. This would lead us into that out good word... being PRUDENT!
Something I think I have been a good steward of are my fruit trees. When we arrived here there were three big old fruit trees and I asked the people who had lived here before if they fruited. I was told no none of them are any good. This really wasn't the answer I wanted! Anyway I decided I would have a go and all I did was water the trees. All three blossomed and produced! The next year I studied how and when to prune old trees like these and we did our best to prune them in winter. They produced again and more. The next year we built frames large enough to cover the whole trees with netting. Establishing the frames was worth it as they stay up year after year. The netting goes up after the fruit has formed and taken down after the harvest. All Spring and Summer I keep up the water. We have underground water and a solar pump so this doesn't cost me anything. The fruit we have been blessed with has been overwhelming. Beautiful big juicy pink apples and two different kinds of pears. We brought them in with wheelbarrows, day after day. They blessed the whole family, friends and trading table. Just now they are coming out in blossom, we pruned them three months ago, they have had a lot of rain over winter.... I will begin to water them when the rain stops.
Something else I think I've been a good steward with is my cows. I have put together a crew of completely free cows and now I have fifteen. They were orphans, wild cows everyone else gave up on and then beautiful calves because a friend let us have a bull come visit for a couple of months. You all know how I watched over those cows when they were calving. And if anyone said we could catch those wild cows after six months of chasing them maybe we would not have stuck with it. But they are quite tame now. I just love my cows! It started when Dad sent me an orphan calf... someone I had never met dropped it off here at the house and said that Dad had used him as a courier as he was driving past our place. And so it began!
As I have said I have failed many times and let all kinds of opportunities slip by or wasted resources. We can't go back but we can learn and become better stewards.
There are so many ways to look after, make the most of, extend the life of, beautify, set things to good use. Seeing the potential in things and making plans to attend to the things we need to be doing.. it is all good stewardship. Nana and Pa really lived this and the result was a very frugal life but also a very beautiful life!
My grandmother taught me to keep things up and to buy quality. Today quality, in anything, is hard to find. Items last so much longer and save us money when we maintain them.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good subject to address. Too many have the mindset to throw away and just buy another. This is a big waste of money.
May God bless all the Bluebirds in these very troubling times.
As always,
Glenda
Dear Glenda, This is true... this is why the things like pure wool blankets and cotton sheets are often better than what we can get now. Old cotton linens are often beautiful quality. Things used to be built to last. Many thanks, Love Annabel.xxx
DeleteAnnabel, and Dear Bluebirds
ReplyDeleteAnnabel, you have become a great steward of your home. I remember when you were just starting your pantry in Adelaide, you have come a long way and have done amazing.
I love how you get the orphaned cows and how you have tamed them all.
I was brought up to be a good steward, I think as a child I didn't like the extra work involved in being a good steward.
My husband had a learning curve with me. I believe in washing and waxing your snow blowers and lawn mowers to make them last longer along with the usual maintenance. I always ask if we have extra filters, husband now waxes his machines without me nagging. I also believe if you use a tool you wash it and either oil or wax it, shovels should not be left dirty. Everything lasts a lot longer than uncared for tools.
I make everything last, reuse, repupose when things have gone past their life span. Old worn out clothing is cut and buttons, zippers, pockets are saved and the clothing then becomes rags, which have a life of their own, they start off in the house and then when stained beyond a washing they go out to the garage for use.
Taking care of ones belongings only makes sense, unless you really don't care how much you spend on things. Never letting anything go to waste is a life style.
In today's economy more need to become good stewards.
Well done! Some things become a routine or habit so they are always done as part of the job, that is a very good point! xxx
DeleteYou are one smart lady. I'm glad that you share your wisdom. Often people do not value what is free. I actually had a relative say, "If it's free, I don't want it."
ReplyDeleteFifteen cattle and gorgeous and healthy ones. They are living their best life.
I have eaten many pies and jars of applesauce from apples that were '"no good" or "wormy". Just a few years of cleaning up fallen apples will result in the tree producing unadulterated fruit. It's a gift to find trees that someone cared to plant 50 years ago.
Thanks so much Rita! xxx
DeleteYour post is spot on and your stories are an encouragement. So much of what we have here is out of date and not in style after 45 years of marriage but it is still perfectly good and useful so why spend money to replace anything. I read a quote many years ago that said if you feel like you need to replace something with new just give it a good cleaning and you will find that what you have is just fine. So true!
ReplyDeleteI agree. That is so true. A good clean and having a bit of a change around of ornaments/furniture works wonders!
DeleteThank you Lana! xxx
DeleteThis is a great post, Annabel. And I so appreciate the recognition that we all have times we look back on and wish we'd been better stewards. As you say, there's no point bemoaning spilt milk, except to learn from the past and move forward, doing better! Wonderful encouragement.
ReplyDeletexx Jen in NS
We were just talking about this with a church friend. I am known as the person who puts anything in a jar and is happiest when at least two canners are going…. I have five squash plants that have produced enough for me, family, and neighbors in addition to the nearly 60! pints I have canned or frozen…. And while I am not excited about it, I picked more today and will have more in two days to can. I think about pulling up the vines, but just can’t since God has provided and my job is to preserve it! I am always encouraged by you!
ReplyDeleteI just love the sound of two canners going at once. I feel the same about two slow cookers going! xxx
DeleteWhen I was a young married, I worked with a nurse who was only a little older than me. Her husband was a cowboy, and they didn't have much money. They lived in a little trailer on one corner of a ranch -- but she had made that little place into such a comfortable home through her ingenuity and hard work. She cared for free plants and flowers people had given her and kept the place so clean. She truly inspired me to make the most of whatever I had. And I have also seen what happens when small maintenance tasks left undone -- fixing a minor roof leak, keeping gutters clean, trimming a broken branch, or replacing a damaged piece of siding -- become much bigger, more expensive problems later.
ReplyDeleteDear Cindi, I just love the sound of that woman and her little trailer. That is really beautiful. That can inspire us all! With love and thanks, Annabel.xxx
DeleteBeing a good steward is such a positive goal. My childhood example made homemaking look like a burden. So of course I made many mistakes when my family was young. But thankfully it's never too late and now I relish taking the extra care to be a good steward and make my home a place of comfort and solace.
ReplyDelete~margaret
Dear Margaret, It really is a matter of attitude. A grateful heart makes us so glad to have our homes and glad to have family to look after. We certainly do learn as we go! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteA friend of mine recently told me that I can make quilts and other lovely items for the home, because I have the machines to do this. Yes I do. My sewing machine and my embroidery machine were both second hand and were gifted to me. I now have a long arm quilting table. This too was given to me. I am working with the local sewing machine doctor, and he is keeping an eye out for a suitable second hand quilting machine for me. I look after the equipment that I have and it pays me back by helping me produce some beautiful items.
ReplyDeleteFriends know I sew a lot. They gift me their no longer needed fabrics. I currently have a full roll of beautiful gold damask furnishing fabric that one friend gifted me. I will find a use for this eventually. I have storage to keep my fabric at it's best for future use. Like you have said Annabel this is good stewardship.
I am loving being able to use these new words as part of the life that we lead.
Dear Jane, This cracks me up. It is like being told you are a good cook because you must have a good oven. It makes me roll my eyes. We see a way to use things, make the most of them, practice, study and practice some more. Few people fall out of bed in the morning and are wonderful at any skill. Some people dont get that! There are also those that say "oh I dont have time for that." It is a kind of put down. Well we keep making, creating and producing! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteI love coming here.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a positive place.
I learn new things every time I read your blog. I enjoy your readers comments as well. They are great teacher too.
It's inspiring me to do things I think I can't.
I am currently in a motel room.
Hurricane idalia is ripping across my home town. So I am very stressed.
I am waiting to go home and find out if my house is still there.
So thank you all for giving me a pleasant distraction.
It was sorely needed.
I hope you and your home are ok! Thank you for your kind words. Please report in how things are. With love and prayers, Annabel.xxx
DeleteI love your postings and learn so much. My family has a reputation for taking anything others don't want any more. We will either clean it up, fix it, or pass it on. I know some of the neighbors snicker but then they don't realize how much money we are saving. My sons are all in their 30's and are quite talented in seeing the value of fixing up older things. Others wonder how they are so far in life as far as owning their home or having so much equipment to do things. We usually don't buy new. Seems the older things are made much better than todays. Bluebirds, I enjoy reading each posting and all the comments. It amazes me how many of us around the world are kindred. Keep it up. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteI love this topic. The Lord entrusted his servants with talents and responsibilities in the Bible, and it was the faithful ones who were good stewards of those things and turned them into increase, much as you have done with your fruit trees and your cows. You started with little and grew it into abundance because of your prudence and diligence.
When I find myself wanting more of something- more land, a bigger garden, more livestock, etc- I hear that voice whisper "Take care of what you have." It is as you said- if we cannot take care of a little, we cannot take care of much. So I have to prove myself with hard work before anything will increase!
I think maintaining what we have shows gratitude for what we have been given. I even try to instill this principle into the boys, as in, they need to take care of their books and toys. When things are left out, tossed around, or carelessly broken, it comes across as ingratitude. I don't want them to be that way with things I have given them, and the Lord doesn't want me to be that way with things he's given me.
I read an article years ago that helped me honor the office of stewardship. It goes all the way back to God's charge to Adam.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the excellent post!
Blessings,
Leslie in Ohio
Yes it does! We are to be good stewards of the earth and animals... everything. I love this! xxx
DeleteIn October I am supposed to be having my kitchen cabinets and work tops replaced. In the meantime what will you find me doing? Cleaning those old shabby cabinets! Bleaching those work tops so they look clean and tidy. I made up my mind I was going to take really good care of these very inexpensive cabinets when we bought this place and 25 years later they are still going. I'm very happy to be able to replace them with something better but until that day arrives, the old ones will be lovingly cleaned and kept up. After all this kitchen has worked hard for me for many years. I'm very grateful for it!
ReplyDeleteI used to have friends who would borrow things and then break them or lose them or destroy the. Loaned a book to them and found it in the trash with hair dye tossed atop and why? "Well you'd read it and I'd read it, what did you want it back for?" My books are mostly old ones that I read over and over again. I used to dream of owning a hard backed book of my own and I don't lose sight of the fact that it is such a privilege to be able to purchase them, even if they are often second hand!
In 2020, as foods were scarce at times, I began to go the extra mile in using all we had...What a lot I've learned! There's so many more ways we can eliminate waste than I ever imagined.