Personal

Some vacation pictures:

We ate a lot of these:

If you read German, the above is very funny.

The one below was taken by a lake of volcanic origin:

These rocks used to be a part of a volcanic crater, too.

Women who like cats get a bad rep in some parts, but I actually have a husband who is a big cat lover, so there!

The one above and below were taken by castle ruines where now is a restaurant:

I bought this dress that very day.

The view from above the mountain and the reconstructed Roman temple:

An Empty-Nester Housewife

The same goes for the childless housewife, but I was specifically asked to write about empty-nesters.

"I got a letter from a woman whose children are grown and married and they have no interest in her, she feels really lost and she wanted suggestions"

This is a situation which, unfortunately, happens only too often, however, children don't even need to leave the house. As they grow older, they develop their own interests and friendships, and can basically take care of themselves, so that the mother feels somewhat lost, and the pressure often mounts to get a job.

That's why it's very important for a housewife to have some interests and hobbies outside of the realm of child-rearing and have her own friends who can drop by for a cup of tea.

There are lots of things an empty-nest housewife can do. First, let's not forget that most ladies who are in this situation fall into the category of older women, which means that they generally need more rest and housework is still there, plus there are no children available for help any more. When you get older, you need to invest more time and effort into preserving your health, which means taking long walks, exercising, and the like.

Remember, you still have your husband to take care of, and you surely would want to stay in good shape for him and for your children, when they need you. Your parents and other family members may require help, too.

Another ages-old way to occupy yourself is needlework and crafts. That's the traditional female work which even aristocratic ladies didn't count beneath themselves to perform. You have a choice between knitting, cross-stitching, quilting, making clothes, household projects etc etc, and some adventurous women even learn spinning and weaving. Neeedlework can give you hours of pleasurably spent time (it can be combined with watching movies/listening to audio books) and you will have some beautiful hand-made product in the end.

If you have a garden, now it's time to give it the attention it always needed. Gardening is another  "genteel" occupation. You can also learn to draw or play a musical instrument or take classes in gourmet cooking. I once met an older lady who got interested in Ancient Rome, learned Roman cooking and became a historical reenactor. You can learn a foreign language or study calculus. There are lots of things to do, if only you realise that first, life didn't end because your children left the house and you are older now, and second, you can be a childless housewife and still find enough to do.

 "Women like that are vulnerable to home business or careers or ministries"

I think I covered the subject of careers well enough, now a couple of words about home businesses. I think they are OK, if they bring money instead of costing money, and if they don't distract women from running the household, which often happens. I keep reading stories of men who complain that their wives lose money on their home businesses and the house is never clean, or that their wives babysit for less than minimum wage when the husband makes a decent living.

The same is true about ministries. Your first ministry is your home and your husband, it's fine to help in the church, to sing in a choir or to teach Sunday school but when the ministry starts resembling a full time job, you are probably taking it too far.

 There is a wonderful blog, called Mias Landliv which I mentioned several times before, where the lady owner shows her garden and her beautiful handworks. It can give you a couple of ideas. I also suggest watching old TV series like I Love Lucy where Ethel was a childless housewife (Lucy was also one till the middle of Season 2), or I Dream Of Jeannie where Mrs Bellows kept an ideal house and practised hospitality.

Well, I hope this was helpful!

An Announcement

Today Holland is mourning for the victims of the plane crash/attack MH17 as their bodies are brought home. May they rest in peace...

Today we are also leaving on a short vacation, till Sunday so there will be no blog posts for a couple of days.

It's Everybody's Fault

If you are in the habit of reading "alternative" blogs, you'll notice there is a lot of blame going around for the modern state of the society and various problems connected with liberalism. All sorts of conspiracy theories are being put forward. It must be illuminati, masons, women, certain ethnic groups, communists, capitalists, Wall Street, bankers and whatever else comes into your mind.

Some of these accusations, such as the problems with the modern debt-fueled banking system are at least, partly true, but it doesn't change one simple fact: in a modern liberal democratic society it's basically everybody's fault. People complain all the time of the propaganda of bad values by the TV and filmmakers and after they have posted their rant on the net, they switch on their TV set and continue watching.

 In the times past, men were often ready to die for what they believed in (think of the first Christians). A modern liberal Westerner is so morally weak that he lacks the will power to forego some insignificant entertainment. He will complain of feminised/anti Christian Hollywood movies but will keep watching them. By now it must be evident to anyone that the majority of MSM don't promote healthy values and yet the same people who complain about it, keep consuming their product. It's not like anybody is putting the gun to their heads and forcing them to watch the TV, either.

And it's the same story with many other things. Here in the West, we are accustomed to live above certain level, and our poor are rich by the standards of the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this fact doesn't create gratitude in many, but rather entitlement. We all feel we have a right to a certain level of material comfort and some go even further, expecting a perfect life.A perfect marriage, healthy children who come exactly when planned and living till 95 without ever being sick even for one day.

We take for granted that nearly all our children live till adulthood, that we have free education and relatively cheap healthcare, that the government is ready to send a social worker when we need him, but we forget that there is a price on everything and that actions have consequences. We are so removed from the real life that we forget that someone always has to foot the bill.

And in the end, while complaining of the drawbacks of liberalism, we all end profiting from it in one form or other. For instance, certain men keep complaining about the modern welfare system which subsidizes divorce and single motherhood, and they are right, to a degree, but there is one thing they keep forgetting (and again, it's very typical for modern individualistic liberal society). There is no such thing as abstract "women". Those women are part of extended families. If the government stops supporting them, their family members will have to do it, as most people wouldn't want to see their daughter/sister and her kids starve.

Jane Austen and her sister, both old maids who lived in the times of the patriarchy, ended up being supported by their married brothers, who had to divert resources from their own wives and children. Now just ask yourself a question, how would you like it if your husband's divorced sister and her four kids came to live with you? Or even his unmarried childless sister? You see, it's all very simple, we all profit from liberalism and government handouts, in one form or another.

I'm not writing this post to defend modern welfare state, which seems to be rather close to collapse, I'm just trying to point out a simple fact: as a society we, all of us, collectively have become accustomed to an easy life in which "all men are paid for existence and no man has to pay for his sins" and in a certain sense, everything what happens is everybody's fault.

Heat Wave

We are dealing with a heat wave at the moment! The temperature has risen above +30*C, which is quite high for these parts. The only thing I'm capable of doing right now is sitting in front of the ventilator with a glass of alcohol-free lemon beer. Am I the only one who has concentration problems when it's so warm?:) So I guess those articles I was planning to write, will have to wait.
Cheers!

Flight MH17

R.I.P. all passengers of the Flight MH17 Amsterdam Kuala Lumpur. Sincere condolences to those left behind. What a terrible tragedy...

There Is Nothing Private On The Internet

I sometimes have a feeling that people are surprised I don't share many personal details on my blog. After all, most women's (and some men's) blogs are all about them, complete with pictures of their children and detailed stories about their love life. This desire to bare one's soul to complete strangers probably started with talk shows, however, there is one difference between TV and the internet. Namely, the internet is interactive, which means that you are bound to get a lot of feedback, and not all of it positive.

I'm always amazed as to what sort of thing people are posting about themselves. Look, there is nothing private on the net, unless you have a private blog/account. Even if you leave a comment as anonymous, the server will register your IP address and unless it's a public library, it's relatively easy to figure out who you are and where you live or work, and even in the case of a public facility, it's still possible to find out who is the poster, that's why it's really unwise or should I say retarded, to post death threats or advertise any illegal activities.

It's even worse when you set up an account on a public forum, open to anyone, have a public blog or write articles for gossip sites, discussing your private life, as so many women do, and then under your own name. That's why I don't care for having a Facebook account. I have always been a rather private person and I simply can't fathom sharing intimate details of my life with people I don't even know.

There are certainly plenty of men doing the same mistake, but women seem to be especially prone to it, but they usually get very upset if the details they so eagerly shared with others, become the subject of less-than-savoury discussions. Victorians have been criticised for being stuck-up reserved prudes because they refused to discuss certain things in public, but there is definitely something to say in their defence.

Nowadays people have an idea they should discuss everything in public. Heck, I've seen women posting pictures of themselves  in child birth. What next? Selfies of oneself while using the bathroom? Is there no limit to attention whoring? The same girl who posts provocative pictures then has the cheek to turn around and accuse the commenters of having dirty thoughts. Apparently, it's OK to advertise but not to react to advertising.

I keep reading on some blogs that Western IQ's are in decline and honestly I start believing it as so many people seem to be totally unable to see the consequences of their own actions. Look, it's really simple. If you don't want people discussing your private info, then don't post it on a public forum. The net is full of all sorts of people, and some of them could be perverts and criminals. Protect your privacy, and especially that of your innocent children, who didn't consent to their pictures being spread all over the internet.

Lydia Sherman had a post on her blog about refined speech. She approached the topic from a slightly different angle, that of public decency and not of privacy, but her overall points are very good.

She wrote, among other things:
Avoid talk about personal bodily functions. Even discussing your digestive tract can be a problem when other ladies just want to have polite, cheerful, uplifting conversation. Keep your monthly cycle totally private and never mention it in a sewing circle or a ladies Bible Class (here I must point out that ít's even worse to discuss it with men on the interwebz forums, while posing as a traditional Christian wife)...Do not talk about the details of your family finances to anyone outside of the family...

How much more important is to follow this rule while posting on the internet!