Its a Southern Belle thing....

Since all of the Christmas decorations made their way back into the closet for next ten months or so, I have been poking new items into the china cabinet to make up for the emptiness.  Well, not "new" things so much as maybe different things.  My china cabinet rarely, if ever, holds china.  Perhaps this is because I really do not have any what my grandmother used to call "good china".  Instead I have what my favorite great-aunt used to call a matched set of odd dishes.  Great-aunt Thelma was one of those little old ladies that fit the Southern Belle thing to a T as did my mom, grandmother and several of my dear aunts.  She was always the classy lady and if anyone could make a bunch of mismatched dishes into a beautiful set, she could.  So, now, I have taken over her idea of a set of odd dishes!  Works for me!  But, like I said, rarely does my china cabinet hold china!

As I was poking random objects into the cabinet, I was thinking of Great-aunt Thelma.  It was then that I realized what I was holding in my hand as the next treasure to place in the cabinet.   It was a tiny ribbon-bound book called "A Colonial Belle's Message".  I have no clue where the book originally came from but I do know that Mom had it for years and years before I came to own it.  The book is tattered and torn and is faded beyond belief but that matters not to me.  I love it!  Inside this tiny book are a lot of lessons that are not taught much any more.  Where have we gone astray?  Why do we not teach our daughters these things any longer?  Well...I can say that both my daughter and my daughter-in-law, could have followed this tiny book as their guideline of maturing.  If ever there were two Southern Belles of today's crowd, it would be Elizabeth and Joanna.  They both have the grace and beauty that, simply put, are required to be a true Southern Belle.

In the little book, the pages show different items that would have been on a lady's dressing table of days past.  Each page has a passage pertaining to some item...say "Genuine Rouge".  If you lift a little tab, inside you would see an important trait that applied to the message.  For instance...rouge being "Modesty" to be applied to the cheeks for a "bright glow".  (Modesty...hmmm..that is something lacking in so many young ladies of today!)  So many virtues are listed in such a tiny book!  What wonderful lessons for the growing girl!  While being slammed with all of the "un-ladylike" things in the world today, wouldn't it be delightful for some young girl to follow the ideals in this little book?  I am glad that my girls are such Southern Belles!  It does the heart good!