I'm riding off into the sunset (at least, for now)

me on a horse - the only time you will ever see this

I’M RIDING OFF INTO THE SUNSET (AT LEAST, FOR NOW)

The time has come—at least, for now. I’m taking a break from this blog. Along with my writing of novels and my historical magazine, I’m starting an author’s newsletter and a blog about my MacPherson clan on my author’s website. (You can find the historical magazine at worblysmagazine.com and my author’s website at mischellecreager.com)

You can always check back here every once in a while. Who knows when I might come up with an interesting tidbit from the past about our family?

Until then—Thanks for reading my family blog and stay happy!!!

Memory Monday: Precious Memories

four generations of our family

PRECIOUS MEMORIES

I was traveling in the car the other day and the song “Precious Memories” came on. The lyrics nestled in my heart. I thought of all of who came before me—the examples they left, the words of wisdom they shared, the stories of perseverance they left behind.

My grandmother raised seven children as she cleaned other people’s houses and took in laundry, while her husband had a shoe repair shop. The thing I remember most about my grandmother was when she was about 95 or so, she needed paint for her house but she insisted that it come with a 25 year guarantee. Oh, and another thing, my mother said Grandma didn’t care what grades her children got in school, as long as they got an A in deportment. She knew how her children acted and treated others was so important. Growing up, the thing I remember most about my grandfather was that he hated to have his picture made, even snapshots—NO PICTURES. That is until their 50^th anniversary—which by the way was when my grandmother got a wedding ring. After that, he seemed to love having his picture taken. I just realized that I have something in common with my grandfather—I hate to have my picture taken, too. Maybe when I have my 50^th wedding anniversary, I won’t mind so much.

My daddy always dreamed of trying to do things to improve his life, from reading to trying to start some type of business, to changing types of jobs. For him, it never seemed to work—BUT HE TRIED. I guess that’s where I got the part of me, where at 60 years old, I published my first three novels. My mother always voiced her acknowledgement of God’s working in her everyday life. When it rained, she would always mention how God had washed her car or watered her flowers and vegetables. Her words still live on in my heart and make me recognize how God is in all the things we do—big things and little.

I hope that my children have precious memories of me that will live in their hearts and minds for years to come, and maybe even be passed down to future generations.

I wonder what memories of me my granddaughter will cherish in years to come. Will those memories help her in trying times? Will they nestle in her heart and help her to be a better woman? Will memories of a loving grandmommy help her when she feels lonely or troubled as she goes through life?

What precious memories do you have of your parents or grandparents that have helped you through life? 

Memory Monday: What Would You Save?

my husband, his grandmother, and our daughter

WHAT WOULD YOU SAVE?

The other evening, my husband and I were watching a movie on TV. A question was asked during that move that has had me thinking ever since—If your house were burning down and you could grab one thing to save, what would it be?

Now you notice, the question didn’t ask who would you save, so I guess that I’m the only one in the house. So what one THING would I grab? We don’t have any expensive artwork or anything like. There are lots of family “treasures” in our home. But for the most part, those things are only treasures because I have personal memories of them. As I have said before, most of those things aren’t things my children will want. Then there are lots and lots of photo albums, but I can only take ONE item. Which one of those books of pictures, would I choose—the one of our wedding, the one containing pictures of our daughter’s first year, our son’s? Or one of the several others that contain photos of our families (my husband’s and mine) through the years?

I have decided what the one thing is that I would grab—my external hard drive. It contains all of the stories I have ever written (some of which I might revise and publish one day), as well as much documentation for different things. It also contains a lot of our family pictures—especially those from several generations back. I know I need to scan more photos into that drive (from all those photo albums), but what I have now would be a good selection to pass down to our children.

If you had to choose ONE ITEM to grab from your burning house (and yes, assuming you had the time), what would it be?

Memory Monday: Origin of Words

My Great-Grandfather's School Picture

ORIGIN OF POPULAR WORDS

As some of you may know, I put together and publish a “reprinted” historical magazine each month. I have been doing this for almost two years. The first edition was dated May 1865—just weeks after President Lincoln was assassinated. I “create” a new edition each month 150 years after the date listed on the monthly magazine—in May 2015, I did May 1865, June 2015, I did June 1865, and so forth.

Other than the front page, along with Letters to the Editor and Manners Matter columns, all the tidbits, articles and book chapters come right out of books and magazines published before the date of the magazine. It’s a lot of research, but I love it—and I learn a lot from it. Doing this also helps me connect with family members that lived during that time. These were the books and magazines that were available to my great-great-great grandparents as well as their children and grandchildren. My great-grandfather is in the picture above, although I’m not sure exactly which one he was. I do know that it was taken in Illinois because that where he lived at the time. Maybe, his mother read from some of the magazines I used. Maybe she read some of the children’s stories to my great-grandfather and my great-great uncles and aunts.

Anyway, one of the things I came across this last month in the bound book of The Ladies Repository, from 1865, was an interesting article. I will show part of it below:

BANKRUPT. Few words have so remarkable a history as this. The money-changers of Italy had, it is said, benches or stalls in the boruse or exchange in former times. At these, they conducted their ordinary business. When any of them fell back in the world and became insolvent, his bench was broken, and the name of broken bench, or banko rouo, was given to him. When the word was first adopted into English, it was nearer the Italian than it now is, being bankerout instead of bankrupt.

BIGOT. This word is not, as generally, supposed, of religious but of secular and political origin. Rollo, Duke of Normandy, receiving Gissa, daughter of King Charles, in marriage, and with her the investiture of the Dukedom, refused to perform the usual ceremony of kiss ing the king's foot in token of subjection unless the king would hold it out for that purpose, and when he urged it, answered hastily, "No, by God," whereupon the king gave him the nickname of by God or bigot, and the name has passed to all stubborn and peevish insisters on their own notions.

CANTEEN. This is, perhaps, the only word in our language which, originally English, passed into a foreign tongue and was afterward taken back in a modified form. As originally spoken by the Saxon it was simply a tin can; but the Gaul, as is his wont, placing the noun before the adjective, and pronouncing the letter i as e, brought it out as cantin, pronounced canteen. Adopting a thousand other French terms, the dull Englishman took back his own original word in a new shape without any inquiries on the subject, and hence we now say canteen instead of tin-can.

GROG. Admiral Vernon—the same after whom Mount Vernon was named—was the first to require his men to drink their spirits mixed with water. In bad weather he was in the habit of walking the deck in a rough grogram cloak, and hence had obtained the name of "Old Grog" in the service. Such was the origin of the name applied to rum and water.

HURRAH. Thousands of people have shouted "hurrah!" "many a time and oft," but comparatively few know its derivation and primary meaning. It originated among the Eastern nations, where it, was used as a war cry from the belief that every man who died in battle for his country went to heaven. It is derived from the Sclavonic word Hurraj, which means "to Paradise."

LADY. In an old work of the date of 1762 is the following account of the origin of the term lady: "As I have studied more that appertains to ladies than to gentlemen, I will satisfy you how it came to pass that women of fortune were called ladies even before their husbands had any title to convey the mark of distinction to them. It was generally the fashion for a lady of affluence once a week, or oftener, to distribute a certain quantity of bread to her poor neighbors with her own bands, and she was called by them hlaf-day; that is, loaf-giver, or as it is sometimes explained, the bread-giver. These two words were in time corrupted, and the meaning of the term is now as little known as the practice which gave rise to it."

WINDFALL. Some of the English nobility, by the tenure of their estates, were forbidden felling any of the trees upon them, the timber being reserved for the use of the royal navy. Such trees as fell without cutting were the property of the occupant. A tornado, therefore, was a perfect Godsend in every sense of the term to those who had occupancy of extensive forests, and the windfall was some times of great value.

If you wish to read all of the article, or if you wish to see the magazine archives for my magazine—Worbly’s Family Monthly Magazine, go to http://worblysmagazine.com/ It is a lot of fun to explore the world of the mid-19^th Century.

Memory Monday: Grammar in the Mid-19th Century and How It Differs from Today

My great-great uncle, born in 1833

GRAMMAR IN THE MID-19^TH CENTURY AND HOW IT DIFFERS FROM TODAY

Since May of last year, I have been putting together and publishing a magazine titled Worbly’s Family Monthly Magazine. I date each edition 150 years ago, so last month’s magazine was dated August 1866. As I read through books from that time period (and before), I have noticed several interesting things concerning grammar and punctuation. I “correct” them in my magazine so the reader of today will have fewer problems reading the magazine.

Below are a few of the differences in the way they did it back then and how we do it today.

Contractions: Back then, do n’t or is n’t, now don’t or isn’t

Compound words: (they didn’t seem to use them) Back then, any one, now anyone

Open quote marks: Back then, there is a space between the opening quote marks and the first letter of the quote, now there is no extra space

Question marks and Exclamation points: Back then, there was an extra space between the last letter of the sentence and the ? or !. now there is never an extra space after those two punctuation marks

Semi-colon: Back then, there was an extra space in front of a semi-colon, now there is not that extra space.

Not every one of these differences appears in all books. Each book or magazine seems to have its own set of rules. I know that I spend a lot of time in the editing process of putting the magazine together “correcting these “errors.”

If you like things from the 19^th Century, I invite you to take a peek at Worbly’s Magazine. There are over a year’s worth of editions archived here: http://worblysmagazine.com/

By the way, everything in the magazine with the exception of “Manners Matter”, “Letters to the Editor”, a few of the ads, and the tidbit on the front page is right out of books and magazines actually published prior to 1867. So the things in the stories, poems, book chapters, and recipes are things my great-grandparents or my great-great-uncle (like the man in the picture above) might have read.

Blog Editor's Note: Grammarly was used in the editing of this post, so I didn't have to worry about grammatical mistakes. :)

Memory Monday: How to Dress for Housework

My mother's paternal grandmother

HOW TO DRESS FOR HOUSEWORK—HAVE WE BEEN DOING IT WRONG ALL THESE YEARS?

After reading this article in the book Putnam's Household Handbook by Mae Savell Croy, published in 1916, I realize that I haven’t been wearing the right clothes for doing housework all these years. But that will all change now. Read the article and think of my great-grandmother above. Think she would want to exchange her long skirts and long-sleeved blouses for the gymnasium suit—she was married about 20 years when this book came out. See if you think you will change the way you do housework.

HOUSEWORK WITH THE AID OF A GYMNASIUM SUIT

A gymnasium suit worn during the morning hours when sweeping, dusting, cleaning, washing, or in fact, when doing any work where exercise of the body is practiced, will leave the wearer far less fatigued after her duties than when wearing a clumsy dress or heavy skirt, as is usually worn by housewives.

One is always nearly exhausted after a hard day's work on the day set aside for cleaning, but the adoption of this method of dress for doing housework enables the worker to do the work in less time and hardly feel the strain when the day is over. There is a certain amount of freedom felt in the gymnasium suit. If this is questioned let the reader visit a gymnasium class for adults and see the light-heartedness and care-free manner of the members while at their exercises. It makes one feel almost a child again. A heavy skirt is a handicap and is constantly in the way if one must climb up for dusting pictures or cleaning windows.

Too, it gathers much dust and grime and no skirt worn constantly for housework looks tidy very long. A light weight cotton union suit is all that is necessary for wearing under the suit. It is easy to get out of this costume into the tub when the work is finished and the wearer, instead of feeling tired and worn, is refreshed and brightened simply through having effected a change in dress.

The gymnasium suit gives free play to the muscles that are otherwise bound down by tight bodice and sleeves, and the weight removed from the body and lower limbs enables the wearer to move with rapidity and ease and to get the full benefit of the exercise taken in a very easy and comfortable way.

While it is really better to wear the suit without corsets, as is done in gymnasiums, if the wearer does not care to leave her corsets off, the suit is still far preferable to the old form of dress.

Aside from the freedom of the muscles and the light weight of the costume as compared to the dress and petticoats, it is a much more economical apparel than the dress. The suit can be made from five yards of fifty-cent serge, and two such suits will last with good hard wear a couple of years. They are easy to wash and iron and a great saving will be experienced in the laundry. The serge should be thoroughly sponged before being made up, in order to save the wearer the discomfort of the suit becoming too tight after being washed.

An outer skirt should be kept conveniently near to slip on over the gymnasium suit when the door bell rings or when tradespeople call, and a much neater appearance will be presented than to go to the door with a soiled cotton dress on, or a heavy shirt bearing spots from cooking.

As a last and very important argument in favor of the gymnasium suit, the disposition of the wearer will be immensely improved, for nothing will so quickly cause a woman who does her own work to become irritable and nervous as to be in a half exhausted condition while having to face the annoying little problems that come up daily in her home life.

Wait!!!! I just remember—I don’t do housework. My husband said he would do it so I could have time to write. Now, I wonder if he wants me to get him a gymnasium suit so he can feel refreshed after he finishes all the housework. Nope, I don’t think I’ll even ask him. I know he’ll prefer his jeans and tees. Which is fine with me as long as he keeps cleaning.

Memory Monday: The Bookcase and What's On It Now!

My daughter (years ago) and the bookcase my mother made 

THE BOOKCASE AND WHAT’S ON IT NOW!!!

A long time ago, my mother built a bookcase to hold all my father’s books. As we moved from town to town, it always went with us. I don’t ever remember it not being in my parents’ house. After Daddy died, Mother moved to the same town in which I lived, and she brought it with her.

After she passed away, several years ago, my husband took the book case apart and stored the wood in our garage. After I started writing (and collecting so-o-o-o many books), he took part of the wood and made me shelves above my computer.

The bookshelves my husband built

 And now I have to cull out some of the books because I have something new to put on those shelves—MY BOOKS!!!

Don’t my girls look pretty? And don’t you think they will look good sitting on my shelves?

If you like inspirational historical romance, I invite you to get the first one (it’s free as an e-book), and lose yourself in a time 150 years ago in the Colorado Territory. Then I hope you'll get them all. Happy reading.