Sunday, July 12, 2009

Catch up with photos

Okay, so I have the proper time to post a picture-filled post. New from last night: the birthday was lots of fun. We ate at the Northampton Brewery, then the 21 year olds went to a few bars while the two DDs hung out in CVS and Urban Outfitters. It would have been a great night except for the rain. Fortunately, most of us brought rain gear, so it wasn't as miserable as it could have been. I also made a cheesecake for the birthday girl, which we tucked into after we got back to Deerfield. It was one of those mixes I bought at the craft show. I can't wait to make the other two when I get back to IL. I probably will have to wait until I get to Knox since cream cheese isn't a good choice for the family, but it will be delicious whenever I decide to make it. This afternoon we get to have a craft activity with the educators who work in the history workshop (the family area of Historic Deerfield). I'm excited about it, but hope it doesn't last all afternoon so I can research. I HAVE TO BUCKLE DOWN WITH THE RESEARCH! These three weeks are going to go by so quickly that I don't know what to do with myself. I don't want to write a poor quality paper, but if I don't get even research done, that is what is going to happen. No more movies; that is what I'm going to have to do. But enough with worries and sadness.

Okay, so I will let you see images from the Hancock Shaker Village. Remember, this was the outdoor museum with the farm animals that I was really excited about. I enjoyed this museum a lot, but we didn't have enough time to go through to all the buildings. Most of the pictures are landscapes, but I'll try to find buiding pics too.

These landscapes are to put you in the geographic context of the village. It was a very beautiful location, and it being outcast that day actually added to the romanticism of it all.

A stone round barn. It looks just as impressive as the round barn at Johnson's Sauk Trail. Of course, it being of stone adds an extra wow factor. The Shakers were known from their efficiency. They were "progressive" in the sense that they built and worked in the most efficient way and adopted technology that would help with that (like electricity and water power). This barn shows the architecture aspect of this because a round barn can be kept cooler for the animals thanks to the wind factor going around the interior of the building.
This is one of the barns that is connected to the round barn. This has some of the livestock in it, but there was also a barn complex that held most of the animals.
This is the laundry and machine shop. This is the building that holds the working water turbine I was talking about. Naturally work such as laundry and sawing/carpentry would be done in a building with a turbine to run the machines.

Moving on to the Strawbery Banke field trip. I really loved looking at the gardens at this place. Again, we didn't have a full afternoon to explore, so I didn't see even half of the site, but it was still cool. My favorite part was the fairy garden in the Victorian garden. I want to design a fairy garden for my garden. I'll show you.

Here is one of the views of the Victorian house and the gazebo. There is also a fountain behind this view, but I would love to live in a house like this with such an impressive garden.

There is also a children's treehouse on the side of the house. The museum used primary sources to find a description to this reproduction. Wouldn't it be sweet to hang out in a place like this? Imaginations running wild!
These two images are the fairy garden. Notice the little furniture and tea set. There are wind chimes around the garden, and everything is made from nature. Including the fairy house seen below:I really want to build this for my garden. As I'm sure none of you are surprised by this statement.

One of the buildings at Strawbery Banke also had a Masonic Lodge in the upper floors, so I was able to take pictures of that as well. Here are a few highlights.
Here is the charter for the New Hampshire Masonic Lodge. The reason why the Masons run one of the buildings is because the inn keeper at Strawbery Banke was a Mason and the organization still uses the upper floors of the house.
I thought this was cool. A carved Masonic symbol in cement sitting in the fireplace of a second floor room.
In that same this needlepoint was hanging above the fireplace. One of the Mason's wife made this and someone found it in mint condition in an attic. The frame is original as well, but the craftsmanship is most impressive.
In another room on the second floor hangs this hair art. This a a family tree of one of the Mason families. People would use human hair for an art media. Weird, right? But very pretty.

Okay, so the final two pictures are the exteriors of the houses I guided in.
Here is Wells-Thorn, the house with each room set up in a different time period. This was the first house I guided in. And it looks like I don't have a picture of Williams House. Sorry about that.

I hope you all enjoy these pictures. If there is anything you want to see more of or hear more about let me know! Until later!

3 comments:

  1. I have no objections to you making the cheesecake at Knox. :)

    And yes, those are hills. Little hills. Still pretty, though.

    I fail as a historian. The two things I was most interested in were the fairy garden and the water turbine.
    The needle point is impressive. The painting it came from is more impressive. And I'm not even gunna touch the human hair thing. I suppose it is pretty, though.

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  2. In regards to the treehouse reproduction: this reminds me of a book we had go through ILL full of tree houses that people build like some people have cabins or beach houses. Most of them are built to coinside with nature. None tops the eleven story one that some crazy bank robber built though.


    Also, I have seen human hair art before, mostly in context of civil war era. They used to make these wreaths out of them for some reason, I think it had to do with funerals but I could be wrong.

    I had a you moment today where I almost got sick at a restaurant. :P I feel better now though. Damn you buffets!

    I will send you an email later and if you have some time I would like you to reply to that one, it's mostly going to be one or two questions, and nothing to freak out about. :) Hope you are having a productive weekend!--Megan

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