Craft For The Soul Listen/Watch/Read Pip-Life

Prairie-Day Prepper

February 15, 2016

 

(Possibly) excitingly, they are making a Little House On The Prairie movie. Of course, for die-hard fans, there will never be another REAL Laura or Mary, no matter who they cast, but I’m kind of excited to see what they do with this much beloved series (of books and TV eps!)

The project’s already had a bit of a false start, being dropped by one studio and then picked up by another. I’m looking VERY much forward to finding out more about how it’ll all unfold.  I’m so looking forward to it, in fact, that I’m Prairie-Day Prepping by re-reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder series (I last read it in primary school) – starting with Little House In The Big Woods.

 

“The attic was a lovely place to play. The large, round, colored pumpkins made beautiful chairs and tables. The red peppers and the onions dangled overhead. The hams and the venison hung in, their paper wrappings, and all the bunches of dried herbs, the spicy herbs for cooking and the bitter herbs for medicine, gave the place a dusty-spicy smell.

Often the wind howled outside with a cold and lonesome sound. But in the attic Laura and Mary played house with the squashes and the pumpkins, and everything was snug and cosy.”

Little House In The Big Woods : Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House On The Prairie was my very favourite show when I was a little girl. I loved Mary and Laura and even Nelly Olsen (because fancy wardrobe/curls, of course!) I wanted to be Mary, because she seemed so good and pure. In truth, I was probably more of a Laura, complete with skinned knees, messy hair and torn frocks.

I very much wanted Michael Landon to be my father and pined for an attic bedroom with a little bed and a Ma-made quilt. The idea of sitting around the table eating every meal together, trying to have nice manners and telling stories about our day pretty much made me melt with delight.

Someone on Facebook wondered out loud if those of us who loved this show might have modelled our lives a TINY BIT around it, and I am fairly certain that – in spirit – I sort of did.

Cosy meals, an industrious life, lots of stories, from-scratch creations, twirly frocks, kindness, naughtiness and love. Quilts. Baking. Trying to grow things. Learning. Making mistakes. These are all prairie things that have snuck into my life.

How about you? Maybe you are a bit of a Prairie-Day Prepper too? Or a Laura? Or a Mary?

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7 Comments

  • Reply Martine Oglethorpe May 23, 2016 at 12:44 PM

    My absolutely favourite show growing up! (that and Young Talent Time). I can hear the opening music now and see the youngest one falling down the hill as she ran! Laura of course was my favourite. Thanks for the lovely reminder. x

  • Reply Joanna Francis February 26, 2016 at 2:12 PM

    Ha, I’ve only just remembered now that I see these photos, but I think Michael Landon as Pa was actually my first crush! So handsome, so lovely, so capable!

  • Reply Sarah @ Say Little Hen February 20, 2016 at 12:04 PM

    I still enjoy the Little House on the Prairie books, even though I know they are for children. I see them with different eyes now than when I was a child.

  • Reply Jans Schwester February 19, 2016 at 7:44 AM

    Oh, I loved the show so much, just about anything, thanks for the reminder!
    (I feel much younger in this moment…)
    regards from Germany,
    Kerstin

  • Reply Isabel February 16, 2016 at 8:12 PM

    I don’t recall ever watching this show as a kid, but somehow, I also have that longing for an attic bedroom of my own. Something about the steep-sided roof, where you have to duck your head to get things from either side, and the secretness of a little room in the top of a house, all your own. It’s still an unfulfilled dream of mine! x

  • Reply Kate February 15, 2016 at 9:05 PM

    Oh man I loved this show when I was in primary school. I always wanted to be Laura but really I think I was more Mary. Always afraid to do the fun stuff and a little risk averse. The bed and the quilt and the attic room, swoon. I wanted MA and pa to be my parents too, they were so understanding and always listened. Sadly I got hooked into a life far from the prarie its only been the last few years as I’ve allowed myself to be true to me that I’ve started to come back to those very same values from my childhood. I think finding a community on social media has helped me to have the courage to be myself.
    Thanks for reminding me how much I loved that series.
    Cheers Kate

  • Reply Kathryn February 15, 2016 at 8:16 PM

    I don’t mind admitting, Pip that I ADORED Little House on the Prairie. I can still cry in most episodes today. And you know, I never thought about the hand-making bit. I do love craft and have such big ideas about what I’d like to do ‘one day’! I love the idea of making bread and big pots of soup – as I write I can see them all in their cabin, with Pa playing the fiddle, Ma rocking her chair….I am a tragic!

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