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26 November 1857 Letter from Fort Bridger During Mormon Wars
John Wood writes home to his mother, Isabella Wood in Texas describing the events and circumstances surrounding him at Fort Bridger, Utah Territory. He promises he will come home as “soon as Brigham Young will let me”. Transcribed Letter: Fort Bridger, Utah Territory November 26, 1857 My Dear Mother, It is a long time since I wrote to you, but it is a longer time since I heard from you. I left Paducah, Ky, for St. Louis, Mo. Not finding anything to do there. I went to Ft. Leavenworth and there I engaged to go as a teamster to Salt Lake. I intended to have wrote you from that place,…
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Notification of John Wood’s Death Cloutierville, Louisiana 26 July 1864
John Wood’s commander wrote home to his parents, notifying them of their son’s death. The letter is a bit of a jumble of words in places. One can only imagine how terrible it would have been to write home about death. I didn’t try to correct his grammar or add missing words. I’ll leave that up to the reader. Cloutierville, LA July 26, 1864 Mr. and Mrs. Wood, It has become my painful duty to give you the sad news of the death of your son, John Wood. He was taken sick over three days ago. He was taken with a chill and was not considered dangers until yesterday evening…
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Playing with Baby White Tigers in the Limpopo Region of South Africa
Have you ever dreamed of cuddling with a baby white tiger? Well, I had the chance to do just that when I visited a wildlife sanctuary in the Limpopo region of South Africa. I had an unforgettable experience with these beautiful baby white tigers and wanted to share it with you. What are white tigers? White tigers are not a separate subspecies of tiger. They are a color variant of the Bengal tiger or the Siberian tiger, or a hybrid between the two subspecies. White tigers have white fur, dark brown or black stripes, and blue eyes. They are very rare and beautiful animals. White tigers are not albinos. They…
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Historic Airbnb in Pensacola
Our “New” Historic Airbnb in Pensacola, Florida When we finally moved into our dream home in Texas, it was our 29th home. I thought we were finished. I thought we had caught our limit and I knew we were where we wanted to spend the rest of our lives. Of course, fate is funny and now we also own a historic Airbnb in Pensacola. Who would have ever guessed? We spent 20 years being moved around by the Navy, but were never stationed in Pensacola. Jerry wasn’t associated with the aviation side of things and that is the largest group here in Pensacola. We hadn’t even vacationed here on the…
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Concrete Floor Staining Failure – Revisited
Once Upon a Time Once upon a time our floors were beautiful. They were the product of hard work and they were exactly what we had envisioned. Unfortunately, that beautiful dream didn’t stand the test of time. In fact, it didn’t stand the test of contractors or (to be fair) normal use. I have already discussed the problems we had with the concrete in “A Colossal Error in Concrete Staining” What happened? What went wrong? Most importantly, how on earth are we going to fix it? You can read that post, or continue here for a recap and our attempts at finding a solution. In the Beginning… In the beginning,…
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Welcoming Additions: Front Steps and Sidewalk Make Visiting Easier
Once Upon a Time… Once upon a time, our home was a simple four room dog trot house. It had one door in the front and one in the back. Those who lived here before us eventually needed to center, open hallway space and they enclosed it, leaving the front porch open. It was easy for people to see how to get into the house. See the gate above? Go through it. Walk carefully on the (mostly) flat rocks that lead to the front of the house. There is one door. Knock on it. While there wasn’t a real side walk and no need for front steps, it was welcoming.…
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Magnificent Mullein Plant…My New Obsession
Beauty and Usefulness: Magnificent Mullein Plant is Both I love learning about how things were done in the past. The building techniques used on our 1846 Homestead were fascinating. I learned how to milk goats so I could authentically make cheese. Winemaking is also on the list of things I have mastered in the name of learning the “old ways”. Now we can add cultivating magnificent mullein plants to the list because of its usefulness and general coolness. Medicinal herbs and such are fascinating, but I am very much a novice. As we continue to put in our flower beds and our garden beds, herbs that we can cook with…
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Our New Antique Eastlake Style Dresser
Antiques Tell a Story Antiques tell a story. They were present in homes of the past, quietly participating in lives of people long since gone. Antiques need care, of course, but caring for antique dressers and other antique furniture isn’t difficult. They just need some tender loving care. I recently “inherited” this beauty (along with several other pieces which will eventually find their way into a blog post). The finish was dry looking and it had a build up of dust on it that had to be removed before we could begin. I was excited about this dresser. The marble top is free of any chips or breakage. The mirror…
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A Majestic Old Door Gets Its Day
An Irony of Antiques It was time for an antique door installation at White Rock. This meant that another project would be completed but it always means that we were about to face another set of problems, challenges, and issues! That is the way it is with antiques. The irony of antiques is that they tend to flock together. When we started this adventure, several people said that when people find out that I like old things, they will start giving antiques to me. I didn’t doubt the person, but I was surprised when it started happening. So far, we have been gifted pew benches from a local church, the…
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Homemade Spaghetti Sauce From the Garden
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce From the Garden Our garden is bursting. It has overrun its beds like a river rises out of its banks after heavy rains. Ironically, those heavy rains are what has caused the garden to be so productive. We are firm believers that, even though it was “free” food, we don’t want to waste it. Our new favorite meal from the garden is homemade spaghetti sauce with grilled eggplant. Of course, the Italians call it sugo con melanzane e pomodori. That sounds so fancy. Making the Homemade Spaghetti Sauce I usually grab the tomatoes that are the ripest and blanch them so that removing the skins is easy. …