A Trip Back in Time

Last Friday we spent the morning going back in time and discovering how life was for farming families in the 1930's at the Selu Farm in Radford. The home,whcih is maintained by Radford University, was a reconstruction of a previously existing home. Some of the original outbuildings were still there. A few weeks ago Cailin and I had read all of the American Girl--Kit series, she's a girl who lived in Cincinatti, OH during the Great Depression. In book 4 her aunt from coal mining country of West Virginia comes to live with them. It was fun to see that many of the things the tour guides told us of the farming family's life we had learned about already through Kit and her Aunt Millie. We're also reading "Where the Red Fern Grows" which is also placed in the 1930's time period.

We toured room by room to investigate what life was like. Here we learn in the front living area what some of the responsibilities of the women folk were about. It's much of the same as our day, only very few convinences (and we would certianly not consisder them to be such for us) They wasted nothing, flour sacks became cloth for quilts, curtians, dish towels, and dresses.

Here the guide is showing how 'wonderful' a sewing machine was....(It was rather difficult for her to keep the maching going consistently for a seam to be sewn. I'm really thankful for my more updated Singer sewing machine. I'm sure the ladies who used these machines many years ago were grateful, as they didn't have to do all the work by hand anymore.
We also learned about the straw ticks that they slept on, how a full sized bed slept 3 or more people. We also know where the saying 'Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" came from. Bugs like to sleep and eat in straw mattresses too.

Connor and Jared, the only boys in our group, were eager to see where the 'men' stuff was. Ahhh, that was the next stop, out to the corn fields. The kids were given many math problems to solve--they had to know how much corn to plant to feed all the animals and people. Plus they figured out how many miles a kid the age of Connor and Jared would have walked from the begining of planting time to the end of the harvest. (About 400 miles)

Plowing, furrowing, and then the planting of the corn. Here the boys play the part of the horses to plant the fields with corn.

The next station was the bee keeping. Finding a bee tree was a wonderful thing indeed. Not only would they have sweet honey for thier corn bread and biscuts, but they could sell it to obtain additional income.

Here is a narration on bees by Cailin:

The Queen Bee and Her Workers

by Cailin Hale

A bunch of homeshooled people got in their cars and drove off to a place where they showed us what it was like to live in 1930. We went because we wanted to learn. The person who showed us about bees, who was a homeschool dad, is also a beekeeper in Pulaski. I like bees. He showed us the queen bee. She might be called the queen bee, but she is not an extremely powerful bee, she is a slave to the hive. He explained she had to lay eggs. She must lay tons of eggs every day. To become a queen bee a larva is given a lot more royal jelly that the other larva. It makes her abdomen bigger and fatter. The queen bee kills off all the other queen bees unless they go off and make a new hive because there's only one queen bee in a hive.

Bees provide us lots of things- fruits, berries and vegetables by pollinating the flowers. They also use pollin to make yummy, yummy honey. That's why I like bees.

Upstairs in the girls room we discussed quilting and what names were given to the different squares. I was amazed at how small the hand stitching was. In the boys upstairs bedroom we saw a cross cut section of the house....no insulation! I can relate to how cold it must've been for them during the winter.

Next stop, the Parlor

The Parlor

by Connor Hale

The parlor was where the family welcomed guests. This room was only used when company was over, so it had the fanciest furniture. It is here they would keep their musical instruments like the pipe organ, Victorla, or bangos for entertainment. The radio, which they listened to sparingly because they couldn't go to town often to buy new batteries,was kept in their living room. The parlor was my favorite room because I got to play the organ. You play it like a piano except you have to press a peddle up and down to keep the sound going. They also have string instruments such as a banjo or guitar. I learned that the banjo originated from Africa. That's the fancy living room parlor.

Two of the guides played music from the time period on the banjo and guitars. The song was 'The Sunny Side of Life" it was orginally performed by the Carter Family, a famous singing family from this area in the 1930's.

The next station was very hands on. We got to play again with another of their modern conveinences.....a machine that took the corn off of the cob...

...and another one that ground the corn. This grinder was able to be adjusted so the corn could be very coarse to a more fine powder type meal.

This was a favorite station as the kids all got turns shelling the corn and grinding the corn. Liam loved to play in the dry corn like it was dirt.

It was lunch time and we found ourselves outdoors learning of the botany of the area. Connor must've been extremely hungry because he actually ate hemp. Hemp is a naturally growing root that tastes like onion or garlic, only much much more stronger. (smelling his breath made me sick to my stomach) The guide also showed and shared many black walnuts....the kids ate them eagerly.

The last stop was the kitchen, how creul to be talking of food when they were all so hungry. I saw many items in this room that I've seen in my Grandma's house too. It almost felt like I was back in her kitchen as a little girl.

Finally, a picnic lunch was enjoyed by all. A very delightful ending to a wonderful day.

A Weekend Getaway

Last weekend we headed north to spend time with Uncle Brian and Aunt Risa. The kids have been eagerly awaiting this trip for a month or longer so when plans started to fall apart--Barry's work schedule had to change and he had to stay in town for physical therapy on his back,-- the van had to go into the shop due to mechanical problems, well they were greatly disappointed. In the end I went and my mother in law joined us for the trip. It was a win-win situation for everyone but Barry, Beulah and I got to attend the temple and the kids had a great time with their uncle and aunt.

We arrived in Rockville, MD around 3pm and Brian directed us to a local park where the kids had fun playing on the climbing structures and playing in the nearby creek. I've been wanting to update the photo of the kids on this blog and the stream provided a great backdrop.

Risa found us at the park and we followed her home. Once there we made yummy pizza-- our favorite family Friday night tradition. Uncle Brian had a longer than usual workday, but he finally made it home for some wrestling fun. Pile on Uncle Brian....or "get him" was the war cry of the night. Ryan's been eagerly waiting to play Brian's new XBox 360. He had fun interacting with others with the online multi- player aspect of the game. Guess what he's saving his money for now? :)

Not sure who is winning, but fun is being had by all

The next day, Saturday dawned bright and beautiful. Beulah and I headed off for the Washington DC temple while the kids stayed back and prepared for the day with Brian and Risa. Seeing how I wasn't there, I'll turn the narration of the trip to Ryan......

We left around 9:00 am in the van to go to the Washington mall, which is a park with muesuems and the Smithsonian. We parked a little ways from the Jefferson monument, because there was no parking closer to the monument. When we got out of the car we had to walk all the way to the printing beaureu. On the way there I curiously asked Uncle Brian which building was the beaureu and he told me it was a big red building near the Holocaust meusuem. We found out when we got there it was closed. We decided to go to another muesuem. I didn't want to go instead I wanted to go back to the apartment. We hurried to the square and scurried into the National History muesuem. We looked at the mammals hall, special exhibit, soil exhibit, Hope Diamond, and ocean hall. After that we ate lunch outside and started on our way back to the van. Delaney complained she was tired of walking and wanted to ride in the stroller. She didn't ride in the stroller instead she had to walk like the rest of us. To take her mind of her feet we stopped frequently and took pictures. The picture taking seemed endless to me. When we got back to the van we got ice cream from McDonalds. Afterwards we finally got back to the apartment. It sure was one busy day for me.

What a bunch of cute kids....

Here are some more great photos from the "....picture taking that seemed endless." :)

I really like this one, Ryan and Cailin are often at each other....who can irritate the other the most, yet I know they love each other. I love the hug he's giving to Cailin, and she's not pushing him offf.

Ahhh, a big stretch, we're at the end of the picture taking day. Whew. My thanks to Risa and Brian, I could never get them to cooperate with me for these many photo takes.

A long ride home was next on the docket....Why is it that the ride back from a trip seems to be twice as long as the one to begin it? Suffice it to say a four hour trip home took over 6 hours to complete.

An Easteriffic Weekend

The Easter weekend fun began Friday night with the arrival of Aunt Elizabeth from Charlottesville. Of course a game of "get Aunt Liz" ensued and fun was had by all. Early the next morning I drove Barry and Connor to find Ryan on the AP Trail and join him for the last eight miles of the hike. It took us a while to find the correct road--after many turn arounds and "let's try this road" we finally found the right turnoff from the main road. (of course we had been on the right road the first time, had we gone another 1/10 of a mile, we would have found the turnoff :} ) The road was quite rough, full of deep pot holes and large rocks. It reminded me of some of the roads I traveled with my Dad when I was a child, while we were out wooding,--gathering wood to burn for winter heat.

For the past few years we have attended the egg hunt that the Buchinsky's have held at their home. All the children pile onto the hay filled trailer pulled by a tractor for a fun ride around the country side. Here Liam, Delaney and Cailin cuddle with each other and their friends trying to stay warm on the cold and windy day.

The windy chill didn't stop them from their quest to find as many eggs as possible. I helped Liam learn what an egg hunt was all about. It didn't take him long to catch on and he quickly filled his basket. Yum, a sugary feast will soon be enjoyed.

After the fun of the egg hunt we headed for Vinton, VA.....I found a deep freezer on Craigslist and we needed to pick it up. That was followed by a delicious lunch at Macado's. When Elizabeth lived here with us while Barry was gone we would often pack the kids into the van and head to Macado's for dinner on Tuesday--kid's eat free night. We love that place and couldn't resist another delicious sandwich from there.

Easter morning dawned bright, beautiful, warm and sunny. Ryan, Connor and Barry returned from the hike on Saturday. Come Sunday morning not even the candy filled baskets could entice Ryan out of bed. The hike had worn him out. The others were quick to find their baskets and delve into the sweet treats.

In the evening, some of Barry's family came to join us in a traditional ham dinner. Mmmmm, I love deviled eggs, ham and potato casserole.

The kids, (here pictured with Eli and Jake) loved to play outside in the warm evening weather. Afterwards we had to say goodbye to Elizabeth and the rest of the family. It was a terrific weekend.

Barry's New Baby

Barry's been drooling over riding mowers for quite a few years now...finally he got one of his very own.I mentioned to the kids that I was going to going outside to take a picture of Daddy and his new baby and Delaney quickly asked "Do I have a new brother or sister?" Thankfully no, although Barry's always telling people he's hoping for a baseball team, this will have to do.

It's Gardening Time!

I love to gardern! I love the fact that we are able to follow the prophet. I love the fact that it helps us live more providently. I love growing beautiful green lush garden plants. I love createing something wonderful out of brown dirt. This year is no exception, we are again planting a garden. I eagerly await for the sun to warm the earth so I can play in the soil.
I began in February by starting my tomato, peppers and flower seeds indoors. Delaney and Cailin helped me get the planting trays ready by filling them with dirt and then planting the seeds.

I keep them under grow lights.....actually, this year, I've kept them under the wrong type of light so they aren't growing so well. However, that minor detail has been corrected, so the plants should flourish and will be ready to plant outside in about a month.

This year we are extending our harvest options; we planted raspberries, black raspberries, and blue berry bushes. We also bought some dwarf fruit trees--peach, cherry, and pear. Yum, I know it will take a few years till we get a harvest from them, but till then I'll dream of fresh sweet fruit. Connor helped plant the trees one afternoon, he greatly loved the experience as he got more mud on him than I thought humanly possible. Unfortuately I didn't get a picture of him in all his muddy glory.

Barry has tilling helpers....Liam and Pete followed him as he went back and forth, back and forth till the ground for broccoli, onions and summer vegetables.

I love to work the soil, making the lumpy dirt smooth and ready to plant, however, I'm not as thrilled with the actually planting of seeds....weird, I know. Yet the chore is more fun with the help of my little garderner.

Cailin and Connor, both want to plant a garden of their own, here she is planting zinna seeds.
She also added sugar snap peas, lettuce, spinach and carrots in her portion of the grow box.

Cailin loves flowers, I just need to educate her on what a sutiable flower is to grow. No, dandylions aren't flowers cultivate in our garden.

Although I think she much perfers her cat America to any flower, any day.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail

Ryan packed and ready to go.....

Ryan with his Young Mens President, Rick Fisher. These two braved the rugged trail for four days and three night.

Connor and Ryan pose for a picture that Vicki made me get of the boys in case we forget what they look like from the last time we took their picture. Here we are about 3 miles from Angel's Rest towards the end of the hike.

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On April 8, 09 Ryan began a 50 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail with some of the local LDS boyscouts. The hike concluded near Pearsburg- Giles Co. on Saturday. I think that you would have to ask him if he had a good time or not. Since he came home he has been hobbling along and grimicing like some left over Civil War survivor. But I also note a look of pride about him when you speak of it. I know that he did well.

Connor and I went out to Giles county and hiked the last 8 miles with him. Okay, maybe I should refrase that, we hiked along in the back and he moved out with his new found friends. Connor and I brought up the rear. I have old legs and bad knees, Connor's legs are just short.

If you have never been on the trail before, let me tell you a little about it. The trail begins, (or ends, depending of your direction of travel), in Georia and runs north all the way into Maine. It is over 2000 miles in lenght and covers some of the best landscape you will ever see. It is largely maintained by private volinteer groups. They really do a great job.

As you can understand, it often covers some pretty rugged tarrain. The trail is not often wider then your stride, about a foot or two wide. To keep you on the straight and narrow, all along the way are white paint flashes that are painted on the trees. These flashes are about 50 feet apart and usually easy to see.

Sorry for all the unask for info, but in order to tell our story, you have to know alittle back up history. Anyway, Connor and I were at the very rear of the pack, moving at our own speed. As we went along, we played a game of being the first to find the white flashing on the next tree. In order to be fair to Connor, he beat me really bad. It seemed he always found the next flash way ahead of me.

The game had some good benefits for us both. One of the benefits was that in looking for the white flashes we were constantly aware of being on the trail. There are other trails that tie into the Appalachian and then go off on their own. We were always aware of where we were headed. The next benefit was that it kept us from constantly thinking about my sore knees and his sore legs.

As we moved over the ridge, the highest point in our hike, a heavy fog moved in. All of the partly sunny skies that had been predicted surely didn't show themselves over us. It rained a fair amount of the time. In walking through the fog the game became much more inportant. We found that from time to time the trail was blocked by fallen trees that you had to move around, finding the white flashes meant not getting lost.

We all came stumbling out of the woods somewhere between Pembroke and Parisburg. I was very happy to see a member or two with vehicles waiting on us. While Ryan and Connor went to recieve their long awaited treat at Dairy Queen, I caught a ride to the Stake Center and retrieved the van.

I am told that next year the boys will be taking on DePriest. I guess this is the highest mountain around here. Yea, I know you western types think of our mountains around here as hills, but if you were walking them with me maybe you would rethink that. Anyway, I think these old knees will take a "pass" on this challenge. I will be the one in the truck waiting to bring them home.