Due to having too many things going on; this post is a day late. Also due to lack of planning on my part this post is a day late! I decided to take a look at the pictures on my external hard drive and see if I could find some inspiration for a post. I did find some that reminded me of stories my husband tells of simpler times.
When my husband was a kid he did not have an indoor bathroom until he was in grade school. When he first told me this back when we were dating (this is a long way back!) I did not believe him. As a plumber’s daughter I guess I assumed everyone my age had indoor plumbing……not so.
I finally saw a photo of his home. He and two of his brothers were sitting on their front porch. Imagine my surprise when I realized that the exact location where they were perched on the steps was where the bathroom was now located. For a long time I heard, “I told you so.”
His oldest brother now lives on the home place. A few years back he offered the outhouse to my husband. My husband was thrilled and a few days after the offer was made, we were headed down the road with a trailer, to go retrieve this heirloom.
At this time, that heirloom is standing behind a shed on our yard. We have yet to decide where to give it a permanent location. I would love to put it near my garden. I am thinking that might be a handy place to have an outhouse. People have asked me if I am going to repurpose it as a garden shed. I don’t think I will. I already have a summer kitchen for that use.
I would really like to give it a new life for it’s original purpose. Yes…..I would like to see this two-holer outhouse, functional once again. My husband likes to ask me if I am trying to create my own “pioneer village” in our back yard. I think he sees the summer kitchen and chicken coop and thinks I have a pretty good start.
Maybe he is right. Maybe I am just liking the idea of old buildings put back to use. Maybe I just like the idea of what those little buildings represent…….a simpler time. A time back before indoor plumbing. Or a time when every farm had a summer kitchen for those hot muggy summer days; when a farm wife did not want to heat up her house cooking for the family.
I love the thought of how self-sufficient those early farmers were. Their big gardens, full pantries, milk cows and windmills to pump water kind of fascinate me. I know they worked hard as everything was done manually. No automatic washers, no garden tillers, no riding lawn mowers just to name a few things.
To be honest, I would hate to have to use this outhouse in the wintertime. That part does not fascinate me at all! I also would not relish having to share my space with the spiders and other critters that always seem to inhabit outdoor sheds.
I think for my husband this little white building represents the wonderful innocent years of his childhood. The good memories stand out and what a blessing that is. His stories mirror those my grandparents have told.
From the stories I have heard from my grandparents, they worked hard but they also had wonderful times. I think they learned how very important family and neighbors were. I think they realized that the important thing in life was relationships and it was easier to do life; if you did it with the people you loved.
May your life be filled with people you can count on and may you be blessed with memories that bring you joy. And may something as simple as an outhouse bring a smile to your face.
Read more: http://www.searchquotes.com/search/Simpler_Times/#ixzz4X7nxA4RT
Your quote is so very true! I have seen relationships with our friends give us strength in such difficult times and in the happiest of times. Our friendships have lasted because we know that we can count on each other for joy, sorrow and all of the in-between times! Now…about the outhouse…I also love saving old structures and the outhouse would be handy by the garden. I am not sure that I want one at the farm and I am sure that there was an outhouse at one time. I wonder what happened to it. I might not want one because I am concerned that a critter like a skunk or a possum or a snake might greet me one day! However, I do need your one room schoolhouse and I am on the lookout for one…along with Pete.
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My husband just laughed about you wanting Pete! I will have to put some photos on a post sometime of our schoolhouse. Right now it is the holder of architectural salvage from multiple acreages and houses that were being torn down.
I wouldn’t worry too much about a skunk in the outhouse unless I used it towards evening. Then…..who knows what would be in there!
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I will never stop looking for Pete the Pirate! I am obsessed! I am always searching! I told Mike about the outhouse and now he wants one! I knew that would happen! I will put it behind the hay barn, plant some daisies around it and paint a moon above the door! I have to find one first. I am also looking for the one room schoolhouse! I will put it beside the dairy barn and paint it red with a little bell tower on the top. I have so many plans! My outhouse is for an “architectural piece of beauty” behind the barn and for desperate times for people other than myself!
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My husband says to tell Mike that this one is a deluxe model as it is a “two-hole” outhouse. We are never sure why two holes. Not sure why anyone wants company for that task?
We could take measurements and you could build one! And yes desperate times might call for desperate measures in the use of an outhouse.
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Faye,
First, what is an outhouse ?
I love your post about simplicity and minimalism. An antitheses to the general trend in the current generation. I wish we could go back in time and get the good things of those times back. Simple desires and ambitions- desires that were probably un- achievable at those times (but are easily satisfied in today’s time), a time when politics was difficult but seemingly with ethics and to speak religion was not taboo. I liked those times for the work ethic portrayed- hard work and good rest at the end of the day- no need for sleeping pills or sleep enhancers. I like the times of family prayers at the beginning and end of a day- the times of singing a hymn together at day break and at dusk and readings from the Holy Book to lead us and enhance our faith. And most of all I like those times for ” time”- the time they had to socialise, talk to others, say ” good morning” or go for a quiet walk together or help each other in times of trouble.
I love your post- please remind us of the good old days by more posts like this.
Also a post about a dish cloth pattern from your grandma.
Susie
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An outhouse was a little building that was the outdoor bathroom facilities. It basically had a bench (of wood) with a hole in it. No insulation, and a half moon cut into the door for ventilation.
I am grateful for indoor plumbing. I would hate to travel out there in the winter time….too cold.
I love hearing stories from my folks about when they were kids. My husband also has wonderful stories of fishing with neighbors and fish fries, working with neighbors and family and playing with them. Relationships were so important and people took the time to nurture those bonds. We could learn a lot from that support system. And yes, they took time to thank the Heavenly Father for what they had and were grateful no matter how much or little it was.
I will get on that dishcloth post!
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Great read and I like the thought of your own little piece of architectural history 🙂 I love the idea of simpler times…but I enjoy central heating…hot water..lol! Great read 🙂
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I love my heating and my cooling in the summer! I would hate to have to journey outside to an outhouse in the wintertime. And hot water on demand…..what a blessing….one of the joys of life. I am totally with you on that!
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I remember being snowed in when we lived in the country in the ’80’s…ice on the inside of the windows but I didn’t have to go to school ha ha!
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The school age kids in this area had two days off this past week due to snowstorms. 8-18 inches of snow, depending where you lived. They were pretty happy from what I hear!
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Brr! Two inches and the whole county ground to a stop last year…we had to borrow grit from the neighbouring county!
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I think we must be more used to lots of snow out here. Lots of big equipment to open roads and put down salt to melt the ice.
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My in-laws still had an outhouse when I married my husband. My grandmother had one on her farm until she died. I was once in one of those lovely houses in Arizona with a rattle snake. I got out before he got me. Hope you find the perfect place for this little house.
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Whoaaa!! A rattlesnake. We have garter snakes here and they are not a big deal…..but a rattler. That would be scary.
I have camped at campgrounds where the facilities were only outhouses. Some not so bad….some not so good. I guess it is just an adventure :).
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Outhouses are an adventure! Lol
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A delightful post, as usual, but I was totally surprised by the subject. The only time I used an outhouse was when I spent a weekend with my best friend at her granddad’s farm.
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Thank you so much! I was at a loss as to a post for the other day and saw the words simple and automatic on the dailypost word prompt. I thought what was less automatic than an outhouse LOL.
I have only used an outhouse when it was fairly desperate while camping and at my uncle’s place on the farm.
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It wouldn’t be my first choice, either.
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another favorite! those last two paragraphs were especially beautiful! Best wishes for the outhouse project. Bet your grankids will love it! Also, there is some system that I have read about maybe from modern homesteaders or tiny house dwellers. eco friendly and simple.
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I hope to introduce the grandkids to the handiness of the outhouse. I think they now make composting toilets for modern homesteaders. I always wondered how good they worked.
So many memories in such unique places.
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I have a friend that uses that system and loves it-worth looking in to maybe. Can you believe we had an outhouse for the far away fields and there was a baptismal!! must have been a church there long ago?? In the south, folks always planted day lilies around out houses-maybe you could plant things that bugs don’t like.
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I do have day lilies here! I may have to transplant some of them. I am hoping the chickens keep the bug population down around it….once we get it moved to a permanent spot.
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good! and I think mint would be good as bugs do not like it-bet you end up with the cutest outhouse ever!!
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Adore looking back with you. That little White House…I’d transform it…a potty shed with shelves…a tack room!?!? Thanks for the memories!
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I would have made it a potting/garden shed but I have my summer kitchen that we moved into a corner of the backyard for that purpose.
I just think it would be handy for when I am out there gardening and don’t feel like running to the house.
My husband was so excited to haul this little White House to our home.
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Works for me!
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Love this story. Enjoyed the comments Deluxe white house. Thanks for sharing.
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My husband got a kick out of seeing the photos of his family “heirloom” again. He still wonders why is was deluxe with two places to sit.
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The family that ……….together????
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bwhahahahaha…..that is kind of the comment that kept surfacing over here…..followed by “awkward!”
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Well you could say misery loves company.
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Oh how I remember those trips “out there”. I was little and staying at my Grandparents farm in Ocheyedan. I look back now and think..I used to be brave!
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“I used to be brave” that made me laugh because I say the very same thing…..often. And then, depending on the topic, I am not sure if I was brave or stupid LOL
Ocheyden is really not that far from where I live!
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A great post as usual grandma, that outdoor house is what most families have back home in Cameroon. I grew up using something similar (less fancy) outdoor bathroom. Love the relationship quote at the end.
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I wondered about the facilities in Cameroon. We are really quite spoiled in the US…..in more ways than one. When I do use the “smelly” ones in a campground, I am grateful for my indoor facilities.
I do think it will be handy for the times I am outside, in the garden, mowing the lawn, etc.
I really like that quote too!
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I know what an outhouse is as my uncle Paddy in Ireland (yes I really had an uncle called Paddy Murphy!) Had one. But what is a summer kitchen? Is it an outdoor cooking area?
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A summer kitchen was a little building set close to the kitchen entrance of a house. When the weather was really hot they would do their canning and cooking in the little summer kitchen so they would not heat up the house.
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Aaah. I want one. I don’t need one, but I want one anyway! Maybe I could have one for salad tossing?!
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For sure you need one for salad tossing! I know some women deck theirs all out and call them a “she-shed” ….their answer to the man cave.
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I think my craft room probably qualifies as a she-she’d. But a salad annexe seems like a very reasonable request.
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it certainly does. There may be a time when you are crafting with friends and also hosting a salad luncheon….how handy that annexe would be.
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You are a wise woman!
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I am gaining wisdom…..reading blogs hahahaha
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Your writing keeps me smiling…”Simpler times” Amen to that. 🙂
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It’s funny the things we learn to appreciate as we go through life. I hope you do get to use this little outhouse. 😊
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I hope so too! It would save time when I am out in my large garden.
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How fun! Love those old white outhouses. 🙂
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Me too! And I love this one because it came from the place my husband grew up.
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