I'll admit it. When I'm working on other things (lately, of course, it's been baby things) my mind is sifting through ideas for another landscape and this one has been working it's way to the fore. To put the fact that I want to do something as 'interesting' (or not, depending on your viewpoint) as an outhouse into some form of context, I'll tell you a little story. I grew up on a farm where our family had very little money to spare and so we had no indoor bathroom. We had an outhouse in the warm months and a porta-potty in the basement in the winter. Baths were only on Saturday nights and were taken in a big round metal 'tub'. The bath water was heated on the stove and poured in and in I would climb. When I was done another kettle of hot water was added and Mom took her turn. Lastly, another kettle of hot water and Dad had his bath. The water (at least in the summer) was kept and the following day was poured onto the garden plants. There were no daily showers to be had. Water itself was in short supply and the farm animals got first dibs on what there was.
When I was in grade 11 my paternal grandfather passed away and left a little bit of money which my parents turned into drilling a second well and they converted a bedroom into a 'real' bathroom. It was heaven to know that trips to that outhouse were at an end. Little did I know that by that time my parents were losing money on the farm and their putting in the bathroom meant the farm was about to be sold. Having indoor plumbing was a good selling feature I suppose.
All that to tell you the reasons/justification for the subject matter for the next landscape.
Today's quote is from Dale Carnegie..."Remember, happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely upon what you think. So start each day by thinking of all the things you have to be thankful for. Your future will depend very largely on the thoughts you think today. So think thoughts of hope and confidence and love and success"
I wondered how long before another landscape came along. This is certainly intriguing, and the back story, too.
ReplyDeleteThere's always several landscape ideas percolating in my mind and it's just a matter of finding time to act upon them.
DeleteI love it because I used an outhouse until I was nine at our babysitter's house.
ReplyDeleteAh, the memories!
DeleteAwww...outhouse memories! LOL We got our 'indoor' bathroom when I started high school! Sure do miss the 'frosty' seat!! LOL
ReplyDeleteI never had to really cope with a frosty seat because we had a large 'can' in the basement equipped with a proper toilet seat that we used in the winter. It wasn't a place you wanted to spend much time though because it was a dull dingy corner filled with cobwebs. One did one's business and skedaddled in a hurry!
DeleteI love your new landscape Mary Anne and your childhood memories of using an outhouse add so much to the artwork! Christine xx
ReplyDeleteMost people these days wouldn't have a clue what an outhouse even is, but it's fun to make anyway
DeleteThe outhouse is perfect for your early memories. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that it's one I should dwell on, but at least making an outhouse is fun.
DeleteThanks for the links to the beautiful art! It rather makes on very humble, doesn’t it? I loved your growing-up and bathroom/outhouse story. It does lend context to the “privy” which has been part of human culture in one form or another forever!
ReplyDeleteThere certainly is a lot of beautiful art out there, much of it to inspire our own work. As for my outhouse experiences, I still to this day sometimes stop and think just how much I appreciate indoor plumbing!
DeleteSo we have something else in common. My family didn't have an indoor bathroom until I was in the 8th grade when we built a new house, This also meant with didn't have to heat with coal and wood anymore. Our Sat night was the very same tradition. My sister and I first, then Mother and finally Daddy. We thought we were "uptown" people when they got the long tub. When I think back, I really wonder how adults fit into those round tubs. In the winter we were in the "back" room right beside a stove to take our baths. That's also where the "honey" pot sat. We had a fabulous outhouse that Dad built. It was huge! A big 2 seater, that was large enough to hold the lawn mower, some lawn furniture and garden tools. Now that I think about it, that's crazy. We were encouraged, even in winter, to not do BIG business in the honey pot but rather trek across the yard to the outhouse. In the summer, the Honey Pot was only used in the middle of the night. Today, I have that old pot right beside my present commode. Ya never know.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your story Joy....interesting to note the similarities in our lives. We had a big old farmhouse that was heated on one side by a wood stove (kitchen and dining room) and there was a furnace with one big floor register for the other side (the living room). My bedroom was above the kitchen and it was bitterly cold after the wood stove died out overnight. I would wake up to frost on my bedposts (iron bed) every morning. My mother would heat a big bath towel beside the stove and then put it in my bed so it would be warm enough so I could go to sleep. No electric blankets then!
DeleteYes, our Honey Pot would freeze. We had so many blankets on us, couldn't move. However, we later had electric blankets which were so nice. By the time we got up, the fire in the living room was going where we would drag our clothes to get ready for school. Somehow we made it, lol.
DeleteMy dad owned a plumbing business, so I was fortunate to have only known indoor bathrooms in both of my childhood homes. Some of our relatives, though had outhouses, and I was so glad when my dad helped one of his brothers plumb for an indoor bathroom. Whenever we visited that part of the family (several of dad's siblings were neighbors), I was so glad to be able to walk over to the aunt and uncle's house that had a bathroom. I was slightly terrified of the outhouse in one of my aunt and uncle's back yard. I enjoyed reading about your childhood experiences - both in the post and in some comments above. I can't even imagine waking up to a house that cold. You are surely a hearty soul, Mary Anne.
ReplyDeleteYour new quilt will be fun. I'm sure it will delight whoever its owner is someday.
Yes, crawling out from under the covers on a cold winter morning was an experience I don't wish to repeat. Could be one of the reasons why I hate winter!
DeleteHow sad you were able to enjoy the 'new' bathroom for such a little while. It must have been heaven to enjoy the conveniences of a 'modern' bathroom. When you moved, was it to a house with an indoor bathroom?? 'Tis good to see a new landscape at the end of your stitching fingers, Mary Anne.
ReplyDeleteYes, we moved into a brand new house in the village which most definitely had indoor plumbing. I still don't take indoor plumbing and tv for granted. I suppose not having a tv until well past my more formative years has made me have little interest in it now.
DeleteI love this landscape and the memory it brought to you.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Not so sure it's such a great memory but the thought kept churning around in my mind so I had to act upon it. We'll see where it goes from here.
DeleteI totally relate to how you grew up because I have a very similar backstory. Using an outhouse was all we had for most of my youth. The same story with once a week bathing in a round metal large bucket. Thank goodness I got to be first of seven. Amazing we are here to tell the stories! I love outhouses with the typical moon slice on the door. Funny tale is the day we returned home after a long drive, dad said we girls had to wait for him to go first. All of a sudden he came running out of the outhouse saying he saved all of us girls from disaster. There was a skunk in the hole. LOL.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love that skunk story! I was always taught to 'check in the hole' before sitting and that probably was good advice now I think about it!
DeleteGlad to hear you finally got a bathroom for sad for the reason. Great start!
ReplyDeleteI guess you don't miss what you don't have so I didn't realize that there was any other type of bathroom BUT an outhouse when I was a kid.
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