What's old is new again

I often wonder if we were born in the wrong century.

I have always enjoyed working with my hands, both in a crafting sense (needlepoint, sewing, knitting, and hopefully soon crocheting), in creating our food from scratch, and working in the garden.

I find it relaxing, and there is something rather wholesome knowing that the results you see are directly related to your hard work and sweat equity. It is so different from our "day jobs" where both Chris and I stand in front of computers. You can work for an entire day and at the end of which, not really have anything to show for it (other than a paycheque, that is!). That is probably why I have such urges to work on some sort of knitted/sewn projects; they may be time consuming, but once I am finished I can look back and say I made that.

Now Chris too is able to experience and reap the rewards of working with his hands in all the improvements he is making around the house, and in the gardens. Last weekend, he came in from a full day of working in the pouring rain, and commented on how even though it's physically hard work, he never thought he would actually enjoy the labour the way he does.

And of course, we have to do things the hard way.

When I want a loaf of bread or other baked good, I can no longer justify buying it, now that I have the time to make it. And I do not own a bread machine or mixer; each loaf/pastry is mixed and kneaded by hand.

And when Chris made the raised beds, (and he is doing the same working on the arbours) his brother had brought over a circular saw for him to use which he is refusing, and instead has cut each piece of lumber by hand with a small wood saw. It's not that we are Luddites; not by any stretch of the imagination. We both embrace technology, particularly when it helps our goal of becoming more sustainable (I cannot wait until we can add our first solar panel or the wind turbine!) or has anything to do with computers!

I suppose it is just that fact that we can no longer justify using an outside power source if it can be avoided, especially when we have perfectly good ones built right in!