The Reality

You've got to read this article: THE REALITY

Baby Nursery Pictures!

A little while ago, my sister and I sewed baby room fixings (bumper pads, dust ruffle, and throw pillows) for my Uncle and Aunt's baby girl, Sadie Rose, whom is due Dec. 30! I wanted to share pictures of her CUTE room.

Rockin' around the Christmas Tree~

To the Wright Family Band's newest CD, "I Feel Like Travelin' On"...

We also made candles yesterday. You can see pictures on my sister's blog.

*First Snow*

We thought it was very appropriate to have the first snow on December 1st! :o) It doesn't look like it will be staying the night though. It's starting to rain... The Lord blessed us with a special winter gift.

Our friends' silly cat, hanging out on top of their snow man!

Kody's Poor Paw!

Our dear, ole' (he's not really OLD, so I can't say that), faithful, sweet, chivalrous (are you allowed to use that word for a dog?? If so, he deserves it.) , brave, Kodiak. (his middle name is Bear... :o) ) He has gone and sliced his paw. So, Dr. Kami and Dr. Keslie D.V.M., fixed him up last night and wrapped it with a cute, pink rag.

Latest Creation

Here is my latest creation in the process of being made. (It's pinned together for the most part in the picture.) I'll have to post a better picture when it's finished!

Back

Close up of bodice

Close up of sleeve

Thanksgiving Pies

My sister and I have made and sold pies for Thanksgiving for the last two years, this being our second year. This year we offered Handpicked Blackberry Pie, Apple Pie, and Pumpkin Pie. We ended up making a total of 29 pies! We started at 9am and were totally finished (except delivering, which we did the next day.) by 5pm.

The end of October~

I've been terribly busy this month. I simply cannot believe that October is over.

Earlier this month my sister and I entered a fiddling contest, and we both won first place! But, I have to tell the whole story...we were 2 out of the 4 people who entered and we were all in a different category. :o) I like those kinds of contests, where everybody wins first!

Two weeks ago I stopped by a book sale and got a lot of old treasures. One of the books I bought is titled "Ettiquete" (published during WWII). The chapter on Flag Etiqutte amazed me, how little people now days really care (or I guess don't care) about our flag. So many men fought for us to be able to have this flag, which stands for so much more.

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN???

You may call it an old piece of bunting,
You may call it an old tattered rag,
But thousands have died for its horor
And shed their best blood for the flag.

You may call it an old piece of bunting,
You may call it an old tattered rag,
But Freedom has made it majestic,
And Time has enobled Our Flag.
~Author Unknown

God Bless America

~Birthday Ball~

Here are some pictures from our recent Old Time English Country Dance.

We also made a CHOCOLATE cake, my favorite.

The Wedding Cake~

Here is the wedding cake! It turned out wonderfully.

Wedding Pictures

Here are some pictures from the wedding we helped at last weekend. You can view more HERE

Mrs. Miniver

Last night we watched a very good movie called "Mrs. Miniver" .
It was made during WWII and was a great morale booster. Winston Churchill said that this moive helped Britian more than a fleet of destroyers.

You can help!

Even if you aren't able to adopt children in need, you can still help! Help the children of Acres of Hope Orphanage by collecting, and sending them much needed items. You can find a list of their needs HERE.



Pcitures from Acres of Hope Liberia

Kittens~

Today we met a mama and her kittens at the blueberry patch. Meow!

Appalachian Clogging

Recently my sister and I have taken an interest in Appalachian clogging. We got a video from the library called, "Beginning Appalachian Clogging; A Lark in the Morning video lesson"
Here we go.......!



www.fiddlekicks.com



Here's an article I found on-line,


Cloggers shuffle and skip
to save Appalachian tradition

By Angela Charlton
The Associated Press
Charlestown, W.Va., June 1997




COAL MINERS do it. Librarians do it. Politicians do it. Some keep their feet barely on the floor, heels and toes thumping with dizzying speed, torsos virtually motionless. Others skip and stomp, or slap their thighs.
They’re clogging, and carrying on an old Appalachian tradition.


“You don’t need fancy clothes or fancy steps. It’s not important what you do, just that you keep time,” says Jane George, who spent decades teaching clogging and other mountain dance in rural schools.

Clogging and its kin are becoming more popular because of standardized steps and increasing interest in southern Appalachian heritage. The dances are no longer relegated to barns and back porches.

Millions watched a North Carolina clogging group kick and click at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. The Irish group Riverdance, with its modern version of the jig that inspired American clogging, earned a Grammy and a spot on this year’s Academy Awards program.

Rep. Bob Wise, D-W.Va., clogged his way to Capitol Hill. Wise is often called “The Clogging Congressman” for dancing through campaign events and small-town parades.

“A woman once said to me, ‘I’d rather see you clog for one minute than listen to you talk for 10,”’ Wise says. “I decided I’d take that as a compliment.”

He picked up his passion for clogging at a barn dance in a nearby hollow. He calls clogging “exhilarating, exhausting and the best aerobic exercise around.”

Appalachian clogging is a blend of dances brought by early settlers. The Irish and Scottish brought their jigs, the English came with their clogging, and blacks contributed their high-kicking buck dance. Some clogging steps include a stomp thought to come from Indians.

Their descendants melded those moves and have been doing their own to the tune of a fiddle or dulcimer, or to the hum of their own voices.

Clogging can be done in shoes with taps or without. It doesn’t require costly costumes or a college education.

Some call it flatfooting, step dancing, hoe-downing, back stepping. Older mountaineers just call it dancing.

“Clogging is something seen as more structured. Flatfooting is freer,” Mrs. George says. “You can watch a bunch of people flatfooting and they’ll all be doing something a little different.”

Christine Ballangee Morris, who teaches dance at festivals and dance theory at Ohio State University, says the difference is in the music. Brisk, banjo-picking bluegrass is for clogging, she says, while more percussive mountain music is better for flatfooting.

Others say the name of the dance isn’t important. Everyone says the important thing is having a good time.

“It’s a lot more fun than boring speeches,” Wise says.

At a recent West Virginia heritage festival, preschoolers hopped alongside mechanics, some melting into the music, others stumbling along in blissful oblivion to the beat.

“People danced to enjoy themselves, for a break from daily hardships,” Ms. Morris says. “They weren’t concerned with standardized steps.”

In fact, many cloggers still take pride in the distinct steps that vary from hillside to hillside, moves such as “Wringing the Chicken’s Neck,” “Stepping on a Snake,” and “Briar Patch.”

West Virginia is one of the last places to retain those differences, says Jerry Duke, a San Francisco professor who has written a book on Appalachian clog dance.

At least, for now.

“It’s a given that regional distinctions will continue to disappear,” Duke says. “It was inevitable once it became easier to navigate the mountains and people became less isolated.”

Traditionalists criticize competition clogging, saying its rigid rules threaten to suffocate individual styles.

“You lose the flavor and history of home-grown dances, like ‘Mr. Hilt Goes to the Mailbox,”’ Morris says. That dance mimics the unusual gait of a local man.

But standardization has made clogging marketable.

The Leather ‘N’ Lace Cloggers, based in Leicester, N.C., made it to last year’s Olympics’ entertainment with carefully choreographed stomps and cheery accessibility.

Mrs. George’s grandchildren are cruising the competition circuit. But that was not her main goal in teaching them how to dance.

She says she taught clogging to paint children a fuller picture of their mountain history, one that is not just of poverty, coal and isolation.

“It’s a part of Appalachia, but it’s not something to be ashamed of,” she says. “We understood that we had to start talking about (our history), and make kids feel proud of it instead of hiding.”

Mrs. George says Americans’ recent fascination with all things Irish has helped revive interest in Appalachian dance.

“I love to show people the Irish and Scottish dancing, but I always point out how it relates to our own mountain dancing, and then they start getting interested in that,” she says.

©1997, The Associated Press

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The Kentucky Long Rifle

My 8th Great Grandfather, Robert Baker, invented the Kentucky Long Rifle (originally known as the Pennsylvania Long Rifle). It was the deadliest weapon of it's time.




"Robert Baker married Mary Mollie Bowling who is believed to be from the same Bollin family with ties to Pocahontus, but not to Mary Mollie Bowling's line.

John "Renta" Baker, son of Robert & Mary Mollie Bowling, was one of the famous "Longhunters". Men who went west of the Blue Ridge Mountains for the first time on extended hunting & trapping trips. He was also a memeber of the "Cleveland Bull Dogs", who ran the Tories out of Wilkes/Ashe County, NC and surrounding areas just before the Revolutionary War." -Information in " " are written by BYRON BROWN

Astoria Bed and Breakfast

http://www.clementines-bb.com/index.html

Colonial Williamsburg Dolls

Our great-aunt just gave us these colonial dolls made out of clothes pins. They are from when she went to Colonial Williamsburg, located in Virginia. You can visit Living History Colonial Williamsburg online HERE.Did you know that Williamsburg was the first capital of the USA?

Wedding Cake

This is a picture of wedding cake design. My sister and I are going to make it for a wedding in September.

Click on picture for larger, more detailed view.

Mother's Day Tea

Here are a few pictures of the Mother's Day Tea we hosted for Mother and friend.

Continental (Raspberry) Cheesecake~

For my Daddy's Birthday I made him a "Continential Raspberry Cheesecake".
The recipe originally calls for strawberries, but I used fresh raspberries instead.
By the way, he LOVED it...as did everyone else. I guess it was a "hit".



Continental ______berry Cheesecake

Crust-
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup finely ground almonds
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 T. (3/4 stick) sweet butter, softened

Filling-
1 & 1/2 lbs. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup sliced berries

Topping-
1 cup berry preserves (I just boiled raspberries and added sugar to taste)
1 cup slivered almonds
_________________________
Crust-
In a med. sized bowl, combine cracker crumbs, almonds, sugar, and butter. Blend well with fingers, fork, or pastry blender. Press mixture onto bottom and sides of a well buttered springform pan. Chill for 30 min.

Filling-
In a large bowl beat cream cheese, sugar, and eggs until very smooth. Add the heavy cream and vanilla, continue to beat until very smooth and creamy. Fold in the sliced berries. Pour the mixture into the chilled pan. Place the spring form pan inside of a larger pan (can be a large cake pan, casserole pan, etc...) containing 1 inch of water and bake at 325 for 1 and 1/2 hours. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Topping-
Spread preserves over the top of cake. Sprinkle slivered almonds on top of preserves.

After chilling for appx. 1 hour, remove sides from pan.
Enjoy!

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Last night we watched an enjoyable movie called "Yankee Doodle Dandy". It's based on the life of George M. Cohan, a good old Irish American who became big in Brodway. He wrote numerous plays some of which he starred in. This movie is full of songs you will be singing over and over again to yourself, especially the song "Over There". It was written for the American soldiers of WWI.
"Send the warning, the Yanks are coming...and we won't come back 'till it's over over there!"

Shoulder Purse

Today I finished crotcheting a shoulder purse. Here is a picture.

Victorian Dresses Finished

My sister and I finished our dresses in time to wear to the "Old Fashioned Independence Day Picnic". Here are pictures of them.





Sleeve with eight buttons





Sister's Dress (note different sleeves)