Nostalgia Notes, Oodles of Links, Free Patterns, Halloween Project

Rule #8 Concentrate on the memories- the good, the happy, the tiny ones too.  I am now free. I no longer need to prove a point, win an argument, get my point of view across, retell my side of the story. I'm done with all that. None of that matters to me or anyone else anymore. Let all that go and instead, remember and concentrate on the good and sweet stuff. 

Nostalgia has been proven to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety. It makes people more generous to strangers and more tolerant of outsiders. Couples feel closer and look happier when they're sharing nostalgic memories. On cold days, or in cold rooms, people can use nostalgia to literally feel warmer. NY Times.

I'm a member of Facebook groups for places I have lived and I like to have Fb friends from all those places as well. The connections from the past and memories they stir seem important to me. And not just me. The remembering of streets, events, buildings, people seem enjoyable to all who take the time to read these posts judging by their comments. And not just us old folks; sometimes it is grandchildren chiming in with their memory of things as well. 

 I can also feel quite nostalgic sometimes for aspects of my childhood. For instance, books were there right from the beginning. Though money was tight, both my parents were readers and belonged to a mail order book club and the library when I was growing up in Corner Brook. Seeing a certain kind of illustration will take me back to school and my readers that I enjoyed so much. And the simple rhyming verses too. They certainly had a strong influence on my own early writings too.

From The Bumper Book by Eulalie

 Subscribing to Brain Pickings has taught me lots of interesting things. Pearl S. Buck is one of my favourite authors and I spent many happy hours reading my way through her books as a young university student. (When I should have been studying my textbooks no doubt!)

 Here is an article about her Nobel Prize for Literature win for The Good Earth. She remains still the youngest woman to receive that honour. I just love when an author can write simply yet beautifully and tell an interesting story at the same time.  I reread this book when I lived on Baffin Island and remembered how it made me nostalgic for the university campus days I enjoyed so much. 

                                     

Early  memories of  Mom are often of her, apron on, standing at the stove stirring something. Certain dishes our Moms make often stay in our memories all our days. ( There is the story of the elderly lady who while deep in Alzheimers had only one real memory left- that being of the pulled taffy her mom would make for her and her siblings when they were kids).  Here is a great link to some of the same sweets or very similar to ones I got to enjoy when even I was a kid. I wonder will you recognize any from your youth too.

27 Nostalgic Baking Recipes That Will Make You Feel Like a Kid Again From the folks at Taste which is Australian I think because we would call these bars or squares instead of Florentine Slice. But they look delicious so I've bookmarked this recipe.

For the knitters, I enjoyed this article and I know Mom knit some just like these back in the day and crocheted doilies that looked just like this too.  I may not need another knitted dish cloth- I still have some she knit, but I would like these made a little larger for cushioning under my plant pots. Here is the link.

Michele, at what I think of as her other blog, Pennsylvania Piecemaker, writes interesting posts about the history of bygone day quilt making. I admit to having a real love of old patterns. In that link, Michele shows a quilt with leaves as a motif, something that is on my long list to make. Melva at Melva Loves Scraps loves to share diary entries from the past and link them with quilt patterns; she also loves hosting SAL 's featuring those patterns sharing free copies and lots of tips for making them. 

In keeping with the nostalgic theme, I got out my autumn/Halloween project from last year. Some of the start of this project is featured in the post on the right, back in 2019.

The one I had embroidered vintage Halloween motifs for...

Such enjoyable stitching and I have it about half way hand quilted.

This will get a share of my stitching time now for the month of October and I'm thinking doable to finish. I got some of the free patterns from Martha at Q is For Quilter who no longer blogs but has kept her posts up for reference purposes...well worth a visit. The others came from a bundle I'd purchased from Homespun Hearth by Buttermilk Basin. Another site with lots to explore.

Hubby and I just finished watching this series on Brit Box and enjoyed it very much. Him for maybe the third time. Here is a great article about it...4 Reasons You Should Watch The Duchess of Duke Street.

He had a tear when we finished the last episode as he suddenly remembered how much his mum had loved the series. 

Our connections with the past are meaningful and usually consoling to us. I'm grateful I have a bank of memories too that are dear to me and worth rekindling even more going forward. 

  This unusual strange time in history will be ushering in new memories. Hopefully, some of them will be good ones, good enough for folks to feel nostalgic about in the future. 

So happy to link with Not Afraid of Color, Texas Quilt Gal, Alycia Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Wendy's Quilts and More and Life in the Scrapatch.