Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party Post

It's been awhile since I've done a blog party post. The weather has been odd, spring like days mixed with snow storms and I've been keeping busy.

I've been spending a lot of time with the Chester Historical Preservation Committee in trying to preserve the Old Third Presbyterian Church in Chester, PA, which is a beautiful church that pioneered the very first vacation bible school. It's very beautiful on the outside but as it has been abandoned for the last few years and faced demolition, it's in pretty rough shape on the inside. Once finished it will hopefully be the new home of the Chester Historical Preservation Committee and their archives and a center for the performing arts and culture of Chester. 

Some pictures of the church and what I've been up to these last few weeks:

Old Third Presbyterian from the outside just to give you a visual.

The Third Presbyterian Church on the inside. Vandals ripped out all the metal railings, the heating and the plumbing. This leak is from where they ripped out part of the heating and exposed the room to the outside.

So far we have removed over 110 huge contractor bags full of trash from the building but we still have a long way to go. There are tons of rooms in the church and the weather is making cleaning difficult.

This storm was quick and disappeared almost over night. The weird weather is confusing birds and plants. Some trees have already started budding.

My dog generally loves the snow but today he wasn't having it.

My awesome friend Eva took the people from work on a tour of Glenncairn, a crazy house built by a wealthy businessman in the 1920s. I just loved the mosaic tiling.  

Another shot from Glenncairn, many of the rooms feature a mix of real and reproduction medieval stained glass. The family also collected religious artwork and artifacts from around the world. I have to say my new found interest in stained glass windows might have something to do with having to replace a lot of the stained glass in the Third Presbyterian where people threw rocks through. 

We also took a look at Bryn Athyn Cathedral which was built around the same time as Glenncairn.

Bryn Athyn on the inside. We sat and listened to the organist practice.

This was the sunrise of of the blizzard. That old saying "Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's warning" is true.

Snow.

Snow.

And more snow. At over 30 inches I think people are finally tired of it.

I hope everyone has been having a good winter and would love to hear what everyone is up to!

Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party Post

Hello! October and November have been busy! I can't believe it's already November. There has been

a lot of excitement these last few weeks but now I am looking forward to a relaxed winter. There's a lot that's been going on that just didn't make it to the blog but i'm excited to share them now.         

I always wonder what it will be like to get older. Will I still be able to do the things I love? Will I still have people to share things with? Then I see these sisters at the Chester Historical Preservation Committee Chester Days event who found an intimate spot to drink hot cocoa, help preserve historical structures, and giggle like teenagers.

The first frost like gemstones on the tips of everything.

Had my first try at plowing with oxen. Glad the oxen knew what they were doing, they didn't even need me. 

We have been seeing some crazy murmurations lately. A few days ago we had a group that was so massive and loud it was hard to talk to people only feet away.

Ghost tour of Fort Delaware, a Civil War prisoner of war camp. We didn't see or experience anything at all and were actually just interested in seeing the fort at night. Weren't disappointed. It's still one of my favorite sites.

The 1700s archaeological dig at Newlin Grist Mill has moved from the Trimble pit to the mill house. 

Here the covered mill race is being exposed for the first time since it was covered. 

I did not take a lot of fall leaves photos this year. Went to Jim Thorpe, PA to see the change but after hiking up the mountain we ended up getting snowed on.

Got caught in the rather early first snow of the year.

Weird weather. It was warm and yet snowing. Everything was covered in fog.

You might not have heard but I died of Yellow Fever 7 times during the Halloween event at the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation. I got better. 

My favorite from a Civil War era photo shoot. The dog knows how to pose, right? 

Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party

It's October already? What happened to September? Normally these are my two favorite months out of the year. But instead of cornfields and colored leaves we've had pouring rain and frigid days. I'm still recovering. I've also been doing way too much work on the computer to the point that my brain is fried so I will probably be taking a short hiatus soon. Technology, how can I love you and hate you at the same time?  

Fun trip to Valley Forge for a nice walk. The hurricane canceled almost everything we had planned for the weekend.

Monarch caterpillar chomping away.

 Remember the blood moon from the lunar eclipse? Most of us almost missed it because it was cloudy.

I made a friend a faux hairwork watch guard for Civil War Reenacting to replace a modern chain.

I don't post a lot of photos of myself. I'm tring to get better about this. Here's me with my mysteriously migrating kerchief. 

 I've been spending a lot of time sewing but it's mostly boring stuff like 18th century short gowns and aprons. One day I'll sew a pin cushion.

"Oh, but we forgot Ariya! Lets take the photo again!" I had the cutest class come to work. One of their friends and classmate couldn't make the trip so a group of girls made a paper doll of her and made sure to take photos of themselves and her doing all of the activities.

Fun find at an antique bookstore! I don't collect many antique books because I don't have the time to properly care for too many but I do still collect antique cookbooks, recipes and domestic books. <3 br="" nbsp="">

The Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia now has a fantastic exhibit where you can watch artifacts being conserved.

Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party

It's been a busy month, especially with the Chester Historical Preservation Ball coming up. I've been enjoying the weather and new things. 

Today is the day of the ball. It's been busy. Really busy. I've been sick for the last month and working furiously on projects. I knew I should have taken the ballgown out of the box in the basement where it has steadily been accumulating dust for the past 5 or so years. But I didn't, until this morning.

It didn't take long for me to realize something was amiss. My hoopskirt looked like it was run over by a train. Now I remember I lent it to my sister. What she did with it I will never know. I look at the top. It's MUCH smaller than I remember it but I try it on anyway. Perhaps this was the real reason I slacked so much in going down to look at it. **grumble** The skirt was ugly to begin with.  

I had three options:

1. Get myself to Joann's Fabrics and try to sew a ballgown before 3PM today.

2. Wear modern formal wear.

3.Try to adapt the things I currently have to make something vaguely ballgownesque. 

But true to my theory that "here/done" is generally better than perfect and that people are more important than perfection, I'll be attending the ball in whatever and will have a good time. I can't stress over it and neither should you in a similar predicament. :)

Without further ado, my photo post for the past few weeks:

Possible cherry pits carefully collected from an archaeological pit at Newlin Grist Mill.

I've been getting more involved with archaeology which is something that has been on my bucket list for many years. If anyone knows of any sites looking for people, please send me an email. I'm on the lookout for new projects. This ceramic dog is a rare find for the time period.  

The Delaware River in Wilmington, DE.

 

 Beautiful pathway out of the 18th century.

It's cat season so my yard is full of cats, none of which are mine. 

Escaping a summer shower under a lovely leaf canopy. 

Reach for the moon. 

Rolling summer storms almost every day this week. They were welcome as it was really hot but I also did have to wear a sweater in June. 

Ben Franklin (Mike Kochan) came to the farm with his experiments. They were so interesting to watch. Some of them are pretty dangerous.Go over and like his facebook page, he's working on some cool new projects so stay up to date.

Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party

Hi everyone! Long time no post. I've been busy as I know most of you have been. Sometimes I wonder if my life is too history focused. In some ways this is a "lifestyle" blog dedicated to the weird world of living historians and reenactors. 

Sometimes I find myself clueless when others mention current events, other times I have no concept of the current month and year. Maybe the saying is true: "Historian: I'd find you more interesting if you were dead?"

The kids at work participating in Bells Across the Land to commemorate the symbolic end of the Civil War.

Our herd.

 

I told my friend I needed some adventure. So we climbed a big rock.

The frogs are out and noisy.

 

Had a weird day of pouring rain one minute and sun the next. Went to visit some friends.

Went on my first archaeological dig. It was pretty basic and close to home but one of the things on my bucket list. I really had a lot of fun and we found tons and tons of stuff which is typically uncommon at this sort of a thing.I hoping to do more in the future.

WWII guys holding Thanksgiving dinner.

I don't have to tell you that reenactors can act like school children, do I? Yes, that would be grown men writing kick me signs on each others backs. This was at the posing for a new painting by Jeff Trexler, the "it guy" for Civil War paintings. 

New babies born at work. The mom gave birth during a tour with school students who were very interested in the process.

I've been horribly sick ever since a kid sneezed on my at work. I couldn't stand being in the house doing nothing one day longer so I ended up at another WWII event. It was held at Graeme Park, a place I had not been to before but I heard a lot about from my former boss who did a lot of archaeology there. It was nice to be out but I still was completely sick and probably should not have gone.

In another attempt to leave the house while sick I went for a short walk but it looked like rain.

I hate to keep sharing lamb pictures but they're just so cute.

I hope everyone is enjoying the heat after that cold winter.