Looking back to the future

Today, 3 years ago, I posted the first blog not realising the journey of discovery upon which I was embarking. I am learning so much about the history of the cultural landscape in which the house is located. Our food culture, practises and traditional produce that I once thought was lost, I have discovered can be found, if one looks in the right places.

I enjoy sharing my discoveries with readers that might benefit from the information, or who simply enjoy the story behind them.

I have discovered that practices that worked in the past are still relevant today and often just as effective. We have become so accustomed to instant solutions and quick fixes that we tend to overlook the practical solutions that were applied in the past that improved our lives in and around the home. These are normally a lot more cost effective as well.

Historical books on gardening, cooking and maintaining furniture that I bought as curiosities, I find I am consulting more frequently for handy solutions. I am amazed by the innovative ways people historically approached every day challenges.

Thatching Legget

So many answers and solutions can be found in the recordings of information by passionate people in their field. It may be a housekeeper that saw the need for recording the day to day running of an old farm house. Or a lay gardener whose passion for roses made him record every interaction with his garden from which other gardeners might benefit.

I am learning every day and I still get excited when I discover some old forgotten craft, or find the use for a curious tool that I have seen at a market.

Fig liqueur

I appreciate every new invention that makes our lives easier in the kitchen or garden. But chiefly, I love the charm that is to be found in doing something in the original way.

Bonnievale 1937

I am always looking at history to understand the future and will embrace the new, knowing that I understand the old.