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...

Thinking Outside Of The Box

I watched my college son trying to accomplish his Life Of Christ homework assignment one weekend recently. The assignment was to draw or trace a map of Israel. Bradley tried tirelessly to come up with an acceptable copy of Israel. He had the colored pencils out and everything. After finding the correct map of Israel he tried drawing it freehand. Ummmm....not so much. So he attempted to trace the map but the problem was that he couldn't see through his piece of paper well enough.

I was trying to be a supportive mother and give him some ideas but I wasn't much help. I thought to myself, "I am just going to sit back and see how he solves this one". I left the room for a little while. When I came back in this is what I saw...


Now that was a pretty clever idea! I have to admit that I was a little surprised. I don't know if I would have ever came up with this plan. Then I was reminded of some of my goals for home schooling. I wanted my children to be able to think "outside of the box" of education. I wanted them to be thinkers/problem solvers. I wanted them to discover for themselves who they are and know their passion in life believing that our Creator has a blueprint for everyone's life and we are all unique. Not all children fit into the "cookie cutter" mold that our public education system tends to rely on.

So, watching this little scenario play out in the dining room on a Sunday afternoon was amusing and rewarding at the same time. I realize his solution is not complicated. In fact, it is rather simple but he didn't give up and produce a sloppy product. Just look at how accurately he traced this map. Yep, it made this Mamma smile.
Bradley was literally thinking Outside Of The Box.....get it???? Ha! Ha!

Okay, Okay, I know. Reese has NOTHING to do with this blog topic today but I just couldn't help myself. I just had to share this picture of my little baby doll!! Do you recognize this outfit, Kay? It was from you! It looks adorable on doesn't it!

Egg Hatching News

I almost forgot to give an update on the egg hatching experiment.
Well, if you remember from a previous post, Brandon thought that he heard some peeping coming from the incubator that morning while he was doing his math. Of course I was a little skeptical because it was a perfect plan to take a break from the dreaded math book!
He was right, however!! What an exciting science lesson. The boys wanted to reach in and help this little one out so badly but I wouldn't let them.

Finally she made her grand entrance into the world.

The boys liked to put the chicks on the school table while they wrote. The chicks would chase their pencil around and peck it.

The final results of our egg hatching was not an accurate count due to some help from my sweet, but curious little grandson, Parker. He was looking at the eggs in the incubator one day and Bryce remembered hearing him say, "What's dis?" Hours later we realized he was asking about the temperature knob, which he apparently turned higher :( So...we got 4 chicks out of 13 eggs. We will try again in the spring. Maybe we will use the primitive method and the incubator method and record our findings. Hmmm...I see a great science and math lesson in the future!

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

Bees For B

For those of you who may not know, Brandon's nickname is "B". Thus, the title Bees For B. This nickname goes all the way back to when he could barely talk. Someone would ask Brandon what his name is and he would reply "B-man". It stuck.

Anyway, Bran has been wanting to start his own bee hive for about a year now. We have dear friends that have several hives and graciously agreed to teach Brandon about beekeeping. We had to wait till the spring to start because the bees have plenty of pollen and nectar to keep the hive healthy in the spring and summer. Brandon was patient but regularly mentioned the bees during the fall and winter months.

Finally, the long awaited day arrived. Ethan, our beekeeping friend and teacher, delivered the bees and taught Brandon all about the hive. I watched from a SAFE distance!!

Ethan taught us so much about beekeeping. He has a passion for bees and it shows! We are so very thankful for Ethan and his willingness to help our family! What a science lesson we had that day for school. I don't think we could have ever learned that much from a science textbook!! Yes, we all got our science lesson that day. Before Ethan left, he made sure Brandon knew how to check his hive for pests and to check on the progress of the honey. He also has to monitor the hive for over-crowding which would lead to a swarm....yikes!

Well, today was the day Brandon had to check on the bees by himself. Once again, I watched from a SAFE distance. As I was watching, I began to think about just what I would do if he ran into trouble. I don't think I would be much help. I would probably just scream and tell him to "RUN!!" as I would head for the back door.

Thankfully, we had no problems. In fact, I was very proud of my son. He just went right out to that hive and worked like a pro. Here are some pictures.

First Brandon must smoke the hive to calm the bees so he can take a closer look.

Here he is inspecting the frame for hive beetles, one of the pests a beekeeper must keep a close eye on or they can destroy a hive.

Next he takes the super (top box where the honey is stored) off of the hive and smokes the lower section of the hive before removing another frame.

Once again he removes the frames and takes a look at the bees and looks for any signs of beetles or ants. He also must make sure the comb that the bees are making is smooth and even so that the frame can be lifted out easily.

Wow our bee population has certainly grown in the last 2 weeks!! EEEETTTTHHHAAANNN!!!

Yes, we will be calling our faithful friend, Ethan!

We are looking forward to some wonderful orange blossom honey! Yummy! I have to ration it with my boys. They love it so much! I'll let you know if we are successful this season.

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!!

Animal Rescue 911

Our home is becoming known as the animal shelter around these parts. All family and friends know that whenever they find a homeless or orphaned creature they can call us. We usually have an extra pen and lots of loving arms to accept just about anything. This all started many years ago when Brad, now 17 years old, wanted to work with animals for his vocation when he grew up. At that time, we lived in a very confining neighborhood so his love for animals was limited. However, since we have moved out in the country things have really changed for him and his passion has spread to the two younger sons. We have raised countless abandoned squirrels, snakes (against their will), opossums, raccoons, dogs, cats, rats, pot-bellied pig, the list goes on and on. I thank the Lord that my boys have a love and respect for God's creation. They have learned so very much about the different animals, insects, and reptiles that He created. We have various resource books with wonderful pictures and information. The pages of many books are worn down by curious fingers searching how to feed or house a particular pet they captured/rescued. This is home schooling at its best!

Over the holidays, we have opened our home and hearts to two more needy pets. On his way home from church one night after dark, Monroe saw a man on the highway near our house. He was pointing to the ditch on the side of the road and was very excited. My sweet hubby stopped to see if he needed help and found that his dog had been hit by a car. There was a language barrier so Monroe wasn't sure he understood the gentleman. After making a phone call to a friend that speaks Spanish, Monroe was able to understand that the man had given his dog to a friend that didn't take care of the animal and had let the dog run lose. That was how the dog got hit. The man wasn't able to care for his pet and asked Monroe if he would take the dog. Of course you know what his answer was! So, we now have a bull dog mix puppy that the boys named Otis. He is a cutie. He is recovering just fine from the accident. No broken bones just a badly bruised hip. I suggested the name "Lucky"! ; )

On Christmas Eve we received a phone call from some dear friends. There was a stray baby goat roaming in their neighbor's yard. They also live out in the country but the owners of the goat neglected it and pretty much didn't care if it lived or died. We learned that the mother died giving birth to this lovable little doe. That is all we know about her. I have no idea exactly how old she is. We are bottle feeding her. We appropriately named her Eve.

I don't know what animal the Lord has for us to shelter in the future but as long as we have the means to feed and shelter it we will say "Yes!"