“How blest the maid whom circling years improve Her God the object of her warmest love
Whose useful hours, successive as they glide
The
This precious sampler was stitched by one Anne “Nancy” Mouton in 1796, and in her ten year old wisdom she added the words above to the more typical of alphabet and number fayre…
And what inspiration it has turned out to be for me, your dear old Vintage Housekeeper! For couldn’t we all do with a “useful” hour or two carved into our week? The very concept of an hour specifically destined for “useful” tasks delights me. Though I cannot be sure how our lovely Anne divided her hours between the
Think then not of
Do something practical. Do something that will make your life easier. Do something dull that you will thank yourself for doing later.
Do something useful.
Oh dear, I spent this cold misty November day curled up by the fireside with a long playlist of Christmas music on quietly reading one of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon on my iPad…Useful hours will have to come tomorrow:)
Well, it does say book and pen — reading and presumably writing letters ( don’t think it meant schoolwork, think of the Bennet girls.) And by useful time, I believe she means free-time. Don’t forget all the work women had to do back then that was just expected of them, and therefore, not considered “useful” time.I agree, though, about using free-time to DO something we are always planning on doing, and not wasting it. Try to get your regular “work” done in one big go (Times haven’t changed that much. Cooking and doing dishes are still considered just something that is done, it’s not really work), that way you have a bigger chunk of time in which to do something “useful”.
Oh I think you are absolutely right Ann Marie: that by useful time she no doubt meant free time… but I think we are all too willing to avoid what could now be considered useful and indulge ourselves with the pretty and the mindless now: so I was suggesting the re-purposing of the useful hour for something more well… useful!xOoooh and Gill I do believe these useful hours can wait!x
That is an inspired idea! An hour spent organising or fixing some niggly little thing would go a long way towards creating a more pleasant home to live in. I should get off the computer (the modern day book?) and do something more useful myself!
Allison, I do agree about indulging ourselves. I do it WAY too much. I have a few health problems, and use the doctors advise to take it easy as an excuse to sit for an hour at a time instead of 15 minutes. Plus, “Never put off ’till tomorrow what you can do day after tomorrow,” has become my motto the last few years.
But as an example of useful time, my garage door keypad hasn’t worked for almost a year. Right before Halloween, instead of sitting down and having a cup of coffee, and without planning on it, I grabbed my son (so I wouldn’t have to climb up and down the ladder), and we fixed it! It took about a half an hour — cleaning the light cover included — and we are still both walking around with that great feeling of accomplishment.
I can’t make it every day, but I’ll start with 1 hour on Thursdays, and take it from there. You know, I’m really Psyched!
Once a year, before the holidays,, I hire a cleaning service. That gives me time to think :and plan 🙂