Thanksgiving at the Cabin

For the first time, in the history of the world, we had our Thanksgiving dinner at The Cabin. The cabin is my aunt's place, that her father (my PopPop) built a generation ago. We spent lots of time there when I was a little girl, but never once did we have Thanksgiving there. Oh, sure, lots of birthdays, almost every 4th of July, but never Thanksgiving.



We did the cooking at home, then brought our goodies with us. We had turkey, dressing (not to be confused with "stuffing"), gravy, green beans, green bean casserole, broccoli, broccoli casserole (I'm detecting a theme here), cranberry relish, rolls, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake...are you getting hungry or is it just me?

I think my sweetie ate too much.

The cousin-who-shall-not-be-named.

The aunts
How was your weekend?

Getting the Etsy Shop Ready for Christmas

I've been busy getting the Bede Sisters etsy shop ready for Christmas. We have 18 Christmas stockings now available, most made from vintage quilt tops.

Lori found several really funky old quilt tops at an auction and I've been looking for the perfect use for them. Last week, it hit me--OOAK (One-Of-A-Kind) Christmas stockings!

We also have stockings available in red and white toile and black and white toile--elegant, beautiful, classic.

We are also having a Black Friday sale, starting at midnight Thanksgiving night. (Take that, retail stores!) And you don't have to go out and fight the crowds; you can shop Bede Sisters in the comfort of your pajamas with a warm cup of coffee in your hands.

Have I painted an irresistible picture for you, yet?

Three Quick Updates

Domino the Cat is doing fairly well. He's still on antibiotics, which he hates, but is otherwise behaving normally. Well, normal for him.

The tree across the driveway has been moved. It involved a diesel tractor and a very determined husband. We are cleared for travel.

The Farmer Boy unit study is going along nicely. My son likes the country life.

Farmer Boy Unit Study

We are taking a break from our usual school work to do a unit study of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy. It is the story of a year in the life of her husband, Almanzo Wilder. The book tells of his life on the New York state farm where he grew up.

Last night's menu included a version of Mother Wilder's chicken pie. I didn't have a whole chicken, but I did have canned chicken. (My apologies to all you purists out there.) I did, however, make my own pie crust--from scratch. The chicken pie includes bacon, gravy and boiled eggs. Quite rich, but a hit around our house.

The Wilder Homestead has been restored and opened as a museum. I'm thinking field trip.

Storm in the Swamp

A thunderstorm in our area last night was apparently quite windy. A large pine tree, already dead possibly from a long-ago lightning strike, was blown over. But not just blown over, blown over our driveway.

My husband, Andy, got about halfway down to the road before being forced to back up. Fortunately we have an alternate route, a road cut during logging some years ago, so he was able to get to work.

The tree is large enough that it will require a saw and the tractor to move it out of the way. So, guess what my sweetie will be doing tonight?

Stuff We Did Last Weekend

It was a busy weekend for this homeschooling family. We had two, yes TWO, field trips! Both, as it happens, involved grown-ups dressing in period costumes.

The first event was Friday night at Congaree National Park. Congaree National Park is the only national park in South Carolina, although there are other National Park Service sites such as Fort Sumter National Monument and the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.

The event this past weekend was the Congaree Campfire Chronicles. We followed a guide along the park's boardwalk to "see costumed interpreters reenacting life in the Congaree floodplain from the 1500s to the present." I think my favorite thing, though, was being in the park at night. Perfectly spooky.

On Saturday, the "costumed interpreters" continued with a trip to Givhans Ferry State Park in Ridgeville, SC. The event was put on by "South Carolina's only group of Roman Soldiers", Legio IV. Whew! I'd be nervous if there were more.

The Castra Romana Festival was actually quite well done and great for children (no feeding Christians to lions at this event). We talked to one of the Roman soldiers with a great sense of humor about it. He said that he only does events in the fall and spring, when the weather is good for camping outside. He's a former military guy who's had enough of being miserable in real life; he's not going to do it for fun.

Hmmm...I'm not sure how we'll ever top this.

Never, EVER, Beam Down in a Red Shirt