Newly Found Treasures

I have to confess something. I have an addiction. I have an addiction for books!! I just love them, old or new it doesn't matter to me. Just ask my children! Anytime we are at a yard sale or thrift store they can always find me in the book section. They have to "talk" me out of that area by reminding me of how many books I already own and where in the world would I put another one! I am blessed to have a school room to home school the boys in and we have a small library in there. I have an antique china cabinet full of antique books. My kitchen cabinet is full of cookbooks and farm books... it's an addiction I tell you! My family is keeping a close eye on me, though. When I stop stocking the pantry with food and start putting more books there I know they will call for some professional help ;-)





I do have a special place in my heart for old books, however. I love to touch them, smell them and imagine what life must have been like in days past. My sweet husband just loves to collect old things. So, you can imagine my excitement when he drove up to the front door recently with a trailer behind his pickup full of old things! Someone called him and wanted their storage building cleaned out. The contents belonged to this person's grandfather who had recently passed away. Monroe didn't have to think twice about it. He would be glad to clean the building out! Some of the belongings were just junk and had to be discarded but packed away in a box was a treasure just for me....OLD BOOKS!! There were other great finds too like a collection of cast iron wear and old ball canning jars. I will blog about those later but I just had to share my "new" books with you.



The Farmstead Magazine is from 1977 and was published in Maine. Hot Weather Dishes was published in 1888 by Mrs. S. T. Rorer!! She writes in the preface: "During the hot weather old housekeepers frequently become embarrassed over the arrangement of seasonable dishes. The Author, feeling this difficulty, sends this little directory as a helpmate to her fellow housewives." Now come on ladies, it doesn't get much better than that!







And just look at this little recipe booklet, copyright 1933, from K. C. Baking Powder!! Priceless!

The red book on the left from the first photo above is a cookbook compiled from the Ladies Aid Society of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, South Jacksonville, Florida, copyright 1905! On the page for the bread recipe section I found this quote; "But tho' so much of learning had been crammed into her head, she couldn't for the life of her compound a loaf of bread." Ha! Ha! How funny! And the dedication page reads: "To all the housewives and sweethearts throughout the land who are aiming at greater perfection in the art of cooking, this little book is respectfully dedicated." Wow. That is a sobering thought for we women of the twenty-first century! We have lost our "aim" somewhere along the way, ladies.

From the same red book I found some interesting Home Remedies and Household Hints. I must share one remedy with you. It is "Cure For A Felon: A felon may be cured by tying the affected finger in a poultice of pulverized rock salt and turpentine, renewing as the poultice becomes dry. Usually twenty-four hours application of the above will cure the felon."

Are you as confused as I was when I first read this home remedy? What in the world is a felon? I conjured up in my mind a thief that a family caught on their property. They must have brought him into their house, and hanged him up by his finger while applying a painful poultice...tee hee hee. That will teach him!

Luckily, I found out what a felon is by looking in this Webster's New World Dictionary, copyright 1952.
This dictionary was also in with the goodies from the storage building. This is what Webster's definition is for felon- n., a painful, pus-producing infection at the end of a finger or toe, near the nail. Ahhh, now that makes perfect sense and I learned a new word for the day, did you?

Last but not least, a songbook by Bill Monroe. It is dated 1947 and is in fair condition.

I also got several old magazines. I have the perfect place for them, an old, antique trunk Monroe brought home a few years ago. Actually, he brought home two old trunks. Oh, the goodies I found in those trunks.

There were old letters, baby clothes, wool scarves.....well, I better save that for another post. I am sure you have heard enough!

We have been very busy this summer with a camp/ministry our church has been blessed with. We were gone last week to the camp with the youth from our church. It was awesome! I am gathering photos and video to post soon.

Stay tuned...

The Best Birthday!

Wow, is it already the second week in November???? My days have been extremely busy lately and I don't "do" busy if you know what I mean. Also, my family has been taking turns with a stomach virus for over a week now. Just about the time traffic slows down to the bathroom and I breathe a sigh of relief....someone else darts by me headed to the bathroom. It has been a couple of days now with no "incidents" - dare I breathe that sigh of relief? Ahhh, such is life in a large family.


My birthday was the last week in October and I was fortunate to spend it in my favorite place ever, the Appalachian Mountains!!!! Monroe and I sort of had a trade-off. You see, he was invited to go to Texas on a hunting trip with a friend. As a matter of fact, he has been gone this week on his hunting trip (he missed out on the sharing of the stomach bug...lucky). So when my dear friend, Kay, mentioned that she had a trip planned to the mountains to see the gorgeous fall leaves it was a done deal ;-) I think we hit the autumn show at the peak time too.


This time Bran and Bryce were able to go along as well. We had such a good time just being out in nature enjoying God's creation. We went on long drives every day we were there. I know the pictures don't really capture the true beauty we saw but here are a few of my favorite shots.

This red tree just stood out all alone. Isn't it beautiful!




I don't know if you can see it but there is a farm down in the valley in this picture. Ummm....what was that tenth commandment?....something about coveting?....ah geeez!

One day we went for a drive on the Cherohala Parkway. You could hear the ooooo's and aaahhhh's as we climbed higher and higher. The contrast in the colors of the leaves was just amazing. Then we began to notice bare trees. When we made it to the highest point it was a completely bare forest as you can see in this picture with Bryce.

We enjoyed delicious picnic lunches each day. Kay baked a turkey breast before we left Georgia and it was so good. We dined on cheese and crackers, sandwiches, hummus and chips. I think it tasted even better because of the atmosphere and chilly weather!! Yummy!

Another picnic spot by the river. This was another day, I promise! We did do more than eat!!

Even on a rainy day Tallualah Falls Gorge was breath taking!!

Another shot by falls. I can't remember the name of these falls.

A highlight of the trip was our visit to Foxfire. The boys and I are studying American History this year and this was a perfect field trip to add to our school year. How about that for creativity. I was able to add in a day of school on our vacation. Shhh, don't tell the boys.

This is a picture of the gorge at Tallulah Falls. It is out of order with the other pictures. I can no longer move my pictures around with blogspot. I'm not sure why. Anyway, views like this one always make me stand in awe of my Creator. He is so big and powerful and yet he takes notice of ME?

"When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers,

The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained;

What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him?

And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him?

Oh Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is Thy name in all the earth!"

Psalm 8: 3-4 &9

Alafia River Rendezvouz

This past Friday was our annual field trip to Homeland for the Alafia River Rendezvous. This day is always a highlight in our school year. The setting is a pre-1840's encampment of fur trappers and Indians. The participants actually live on the grounds in either tents or tee-pees for one week. They dress in period costume. The last two days of the event are open to the public. Doesn't this beef roast look tasty?


Here we have an Indian and a fur trapper having a pow-wow. Sure hope they come to a peaceful agreement on their trading! There are lots of innocent people around that may get hurt if a fight breaks out!!

My two younger ones save their money for this event. There are always lots of things they would like to buy like knives, tomahawks, bows, arrows, furs, arrowheads...well you get the idea. Definitely a "mall" for guys!! This year Brandon purchased a bowie knife and Bryce decided on a tomahawk.

How about a fresh, warm loaf of brick-oven baked sourdough bread?

This lovely couple kindly posed for a picture with the boys. See the bow Brandon is holding? He picked it out last year on this field trip and it was his birthday present from his Dad and me. However, he didn't have it but maybe a month and the string came off. Well, this is a REAL longbow and we couldn't find anyone around that knew how to restring it so it hung in his room for the rest of the year. Torture! He was so happy when we found a gentleman that fixed it for him at the rendezvous. Needless to say, these two boys have been shooting arrows every day since.

There are also competitions for all ages. This picture is of the younger guys in a tomahawk/knife throwing competition.

There is also a shooting range for black powder guns.

We had a great time enjoying our day of living history. Our entire family loves history-any time period! I remember hating history in school but since we have been homeschooling it has really been a fascinating subject for everyone. We use "living books" to study with and add awesome field trips such as this one. It is the icing on the cake!

By the end of the day we were all exhausted but happy. On the drive back home Brandon thanked me several times for great field trip and said that it was as much fun as a day at Disney. Wow, can you believe that?! And at a fraction of the price!! I love boys!!