After canning hundreds of jars of jam, jelly, and fruit over the last few years I have been very, very lucky. Until today.

I broke my first jar of jelly in the canner!

Am I a real country woman now?

Man decorates basement with $10 worth of Sharpie

Kratzer’s basement suggests that the great cultural influences wandered out of college humanities class — here a Churchill for eloquence during harsh times, a Joan Crawford for cinematic vampiness, Holmes and Poirot for great literary characterization — and set up shop together in the carefully hand-drawn markings of an educated imagination come to life.

Kratzer might be a lawyer by day, but in his off hours he is a man who has taken the artistic influences and heroes of his life and imagined them onto his walls, that he might keep company with them while he uses the pool table.

home
- noun
1: one’s place of residence
2: a familiar or usual setting : congenial environment.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

homemaking
- noun
The establishment or management of a home.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

at home
1 : relaxed and comfortable : at ease
2 : in harmony with the surroundings
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary


Homemaking is the establishment or management of a familiar setting, a congenial environment. When we are “at home” we shoud be relaxed and comfortable, in harmony with our surroundings.

I don’t think that definitition precludes anyone from becoming a homemaker. Everyone has a place where they reside, whether that place be a single room in dormitory at college or a 5000 sq ft palatial estate. Even when we still live in our parents home, we have our little corner of space called a bedroom.

When we work to make our homes a reflection of ourselves, it becomes a place of refuge from the rest of the world. The place where we can sit back, relax, and recharge our batteries.

I want to challenge every reader, regardless of age, sex, marital status, or income level to commit themselves to one small step towards making their living space a home. I won’t choose what that step should be, because it should be a personal choice. Here are a few suggestions:

• hang a family picture on a wall
• start an indoor garden in a corner
• paint a wall or door in your favorite color
• place fancy candlesticks and placemats on your table
• put a bowl of fruit on the dining table
• display your favorite books on a shelf
• start a collection: e.g. spoons, serving bowls, salt & pepper shakers, flowers
• make homemade bread and soup one night a week; invite a friend to share

This is only the tip of the iceberg. I’ll be posting more ideas as they come to me and I hope that my readers will post their suggestions in the comments. We are only limited by the extent of our imaginations!