Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party: Post 19

I'm starting to think I bake too much. :) I am really enjoying taking these photos. Even though I don't always have my good camera with me, I am learning a lot by just having a camera with me. There are a lot of times when something happens and you just wish you had a way to capture it. For me, whenever I see something inspirational, it kills if I can't capture it somehow.

I love photography and the ability to capture a moment in a few minutes. I am continually amazed at historical photography methods and the moments they captured. I am equally amazed at the ways people conveyed beauty and moments to their loved ones, such as in this Civil War letter from James R. McCutchan to Rachel Ann McCutchan in March of 1862:

"We left Winchester on the 11^th, of this month + fell back to Strausburg; we stayed there a few days, + we are now about to middle way between Edinburg + Mt. Jackson. Our encampment is a very pretty one, in a beautiful pine grove, on the bank of the Shenandoah River. The surrounding country is exceedingly beautiful rivalling any in natural charm that I have ever seen. 

I felt sad when we left Winchester...Our last stopping place was between Woodstock + Edinburg; we stayed there one night. It was the most romantic place I ever saw. Right on the edge of a high cliff on the side of the Shenandoah River. The cliff is on one side of the turnpike + the railroad on the other side crosses a deep chasm on trussel work 130 feet high. I will send you some Spruce Pine that I got there. I must write some to your Ma. 

Yours truly

J.R.M."

  

5-16-2014

There is such a thing as too much icing. :)

5-17-2014

Had an art day in the park.

5-18-2014

Memorial day is a difficult one to decorate cakes and things for. I know people will be barbequing and having fun but it's hard to make festive cakes about the memory of dead Civil War veterans.

5-19-2014

Made cupcakes for my friend at work's birthday. It was the week before but the weather cancelled the school programs we would be working together. My coworkers were excited the I decorate them with Hog Island sheep. Characterized by their white fur and black faces, Hog Islands are endangered descendants of sheep that were abandoned on Hog Island off of Virginia in the 1930s. Due to the island's exclusivity, the breed is one of the closest we have to the one settlers brought in the 1700s. There are fewer than 200 of these sheep left on the planet and our site used to own a few.  

5-20-2014

A lot of people say that they would love to have my job. I do love it. But a lot of people get the wrong idea about what I do. I don't just get paid to sit around and reenact. We actually teach hundreds of kids a day about life on a Colonial farm. I routinely make dessert with the students. That means making enough food on the hearth to feed an army. 


5-21-2014

Got out the paints.

5-22-2014

The storm clouds from that crazy storm we had. We had flash flooding while close by had huge chunks of hail falling from the sky.

5-23-2014