Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Before Botox - Part 1



One of the odder books in my possession is Helen Hede's Dein schöneres Gesicht: Verjüngende Gesichtsgymnastik und neue Pflegemethoden, published in 1952 by Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag in Munich. The title roughly translates to "Your more beautiful face: rejuvenating face exercises and new methods of care."




The premise of this 60-year-old book is that signs of aging in the facial area can be staved off using two approaches:

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Of the essence: travel alarm clocks


Before I got my first smart phone, I would always travel with an address book, a watch with alarm function, a small photo album, some sort of music player, etc. These items, while necessary, added a small but significant amount of weight to my luggage, so when a device came out that included all these functions plus many others, I was elated!

Still, I must admit that there is one distinct benefit to having a dedicated alarm clock while on the road: you can set it up and have instant access to the time at any point without having to flip open or wake up your cell phone. Just look at the clock face on your dresser or nightstand and you know what time it is!

Even though I take the pragmatic approach these days and leave my travel clocks at home, I still have a small collection of these lovely timepieces.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Red Cross nursing tips from 1955



Right now I'm battling a fever, sore throat, and aching muscles courtesy of the influenza virus. Still, I won't let a few pernicious strands of RNA get the best of me! Thus through sheer willpower I have hauled myself out of bed to bring you some excerpt from a Red Cross pamphlet for home patient care.

I will let the illustrations largely speak for themselves since typing is more strenuous than I thought.


How to make a bed with hospital corners

How to give a back massage

How to fold a hot water bottle in a towel

How to set up a station for water vapor inhalation

How to keep your patient occupied

How to make a bed jacket from a towel

Now back to bed!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Are you trying to steel my heart?



Saw this in the laundry room just now. It must be a sign!

Will you be my Valentine?

Source: ansichtskarten-briefmarken.de

Some of my fondest childhood memories involve Valentine's day: curling my hair into pretty locks, dressing up in frilly red and pink dresses trimmed with lace, exchanging homemade cards with everyone. And then there's the heart handkerchief which always got pulled out of the dresser drawer for this occasion. Actually, it looked kind of like this one:

Source: All This Stuff

Traditionally, this holiday emphasized platonic love as much as eros, thus many people still take the opportunity on this day each year to celebrate their relationships with family and friends in addition to any romantic connection they may have to another.


In that spirit, I would like to wish all of you readers a Happy Valentine's Day!

Source: ak-ansichtskarten.de



Of course, today I will also be celebrating my love for my dear husband. This afternoon, during our visit to a local mineral spring, he will be enjoying the taste of the heart-shaped chocolate cake bites I baked this morning!

Source: gruesse.de


Here's a curiosity for all of you lovebirds: heart-shaped cucumbers by Bavarian Farmer André Busigel! You can read the full article (in German) about this man's ingenious, heart-healthy innovation at schwaebische.de.

Source: schwaebische.de

Wishing you a day filled with with joy and love,


Hausfrau


Source: akpool.de


Thursday, February 9, 2012

Linky Follower Blog Hop


Hello, lovely readers!

Inspired by Eclectically Vintage, who was in turn inspired by It's So Very Cheri, I've decided to host my own Linky Followers Blog Hop Party!

The reason? Google Friend Connect is disappearing on February 29 for anyone that is not on the Blogger platform, and it might even disappear for Bloggers as well. Linky Followers is a new tool similar to Google Friend Connect that blog writers on all platforms can use to follow other blogs. Those without blogs can use it, too! I just signed up for it (for free), and it took me about 9 minutes to finish creating my profile.

Linky Followers has certain features that Google Friend Connect does not. One I especially appreciate is the control I have over how my profile appears. The company also promises not to divulge its users' personal information.

Disclaimer: I copied the wording of the remainder of this post from Eclectically Vintage, who I believe got it in part from It's So Very Cheri.


The Rules:

1. You MUST have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool on your site to participate. (You can have both LINKY FOLLOWERS & Google Friend Connect on your site but you must have LINKY FOLLOWERS to participate in this blog hop party).

2. You MUST follow me through Linky Followers (leave me a message and I'll follow you back).


Click here to follow this blog and view my other followers...


3. Just add your blog button to the LINKY PARTY below.

You can have your own open Blog Hop Linky Party!

4. Just grab the BLOG HOP code (find the code right under the Linky Party where it says CLICK HERE TO ENTER - just under that it says: WHAT IS A BLOG HOP? GET THE CODE HERE. Copy the code and paste on your site. The link party will appear on your site, too. Adding the Blog Hop code to your site will get you new followers (see rule #2).

You can grab information from my post if it helps you with your post.

5. Then you follow other bloggers, as many as you want.

Just leave a comment on each one of the blogs you follow letting them know you're following in Linky Followers and asking that they follow you back.

And remember to leave me a message so I can follow you back!



And now for the Hausfrau's personal musings on this subject:
If enough people sign up, maybe Linky Followers will catch on as the industry standard for all bloggers. Google Friend Connect was horribly buggy, probably due in part to the fact that Google had stopped putting so much effort into it since the company knew it would be phased out anyway. For what it's worth, my goal in hosting a blog hop is not to gain a bunch of followers just for the sake of having more followers, but rather to introduce my readers to what I consider an acceptable alternative to the soon-to-be-obsolete Google Friend Connect.






(If you are viewing this in Google Reader, the Linky Followers blog hop list will not show up. Try visiting the original website instead.)

Monday, February 6, 2012

Perfume bombs for your closet



Just the slightest hint of perfume can be ever so alluring. Here's is a trick you can use to imbue your clothes with a subtle scent that is attractive without being overwhelming:

Friday, February 3, 2012

The hair receiver: a rat's companion

Source: The Victorian Trading Company

Several of you lovely readers expressed interest in my technique for making an all-natural hair rats, so I thought I would write a follow-up post on the issue of where to store the hair you are collecting.

Hair Receiver from 1902; Source: replacements.com

During the Victorian era, a common fixture in a women's toilette or vanity was the hair receiver, a round container with a hole in the top that could be made of porcelain, glass, metal, crystal, or some combination of these. The hair left on a brush or comb would be collected and pushed into the finger-sized opening.