Lilies of the Field: May 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010

All In a Weekend, Part 2

The boys went home Sunday afternoon, except Graham and Pa who stayed in NY for Monday and Tuesday to hunt with Graham's friend Jim. We went to Letchworth State Park during the afternoon on Monday, then visited Grandpa and Grandma for the evening.

Middle Falls

Graham- the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Me -at the rainbow's end:)

Graham on some of the vast amount of stonework done by the CCC (civilian conservation camps) in the 1930's.

Middle Falls, Upper Falls hidden from view behind the tree tops. Note the Portage High Bridge in the back ground. It stands 234 feet above the river, and spans the 675 feet gorge. There are No Trespassing signs on the bridge, but Graham and I were naughty and walked to the middle of the railroad bridge to get a better look at Upper Falls. The view is spectacular! The water from Upper Falls drops 70 feet, then rushes over Middle Falls at a drop of 107 feet, before winding through the gorge and over Lower Falls, a pretty little cascade of 30 feet.

I don't mind heights as long as I don't look down for too long...

Graham by the tracks. it's hard to see in this picture, but the railroad ties are spaced far enough apart that your foot can slide through...as you can imagine, we stayed on the grating!

My brother is a nice guy to do stuff with; not a daredevil, but not chicken-hearted either. Thanks, Graham!

On the other hand, don't let him hold the camera; he's apt to use it. I'm not showing you, but he took several shots of me wriggling under the "NO TRESPASSING" fence. In this photo, I'm outside the fence-Graham's inside!

Have you ever heard of "The White Woman of the Genesee"? Mary Jemison was captured by the Indians from Chester County, PA in 1758 taken to Ohio, traded to the Seneca Indians and brought to the Letchworth area. She married an Indian chief and had several children. When given the opportunity to return to the white people, she refused and died well respected by her neighbors, Indian and otherwise.

She is buried here, and a statue was raised in her memory.

Graham and Jim reading the plaque on the Indian counsel house. In the background is the cabin that Mary Jemison built for her daughter in 1817, I believe.

Graham and Jim doing dishes for Grandma and me. After the long weekend & meal fixin', it was a welcome treat!

All In a Weekend, Part 1

On May 1st, I went with the Long Family to the Anne of Green Gables play at the Family Life Ministries headquarters in Bath. As you can see by the way Ruthie's ice cream is melting, it was a hot & humid day. Little Miss Janie is really owning her ice pop-love the expression on her face!

Timmy making a "whoa-that-Root Beer-is-fizzy" face!

Beautiful Becca-she played to role of one of the townspeople in the play. What a pretty girl! The outfit with the braids really suits her well! Her dad, David is in the background.

Eric (on the far right) got the role of Avonlea mailman. He had several singing parts-wow! He has talent! It's so much more fun to watch a play when you know the people; I was very impressed by the great acting I saw by all the kids! Micah was also in the play as a townsman, I love his outfit! Janie has his hat, and Ruthie is sporting Becca's! I had a wonderful time, thank-you, Long Family!

Louisa had her fourth birthday party Saturday evening, she ordered a "brown cake with brown frosting and pink sprinkles please, Aunt Jessie." Grandpa Vanderbosch is holding Retta and Diana. It was hard work for Diana to keep from blowing out Louisa's candles! (Louisa blew them out in two puffs)!

Uncle Asa reading to Retta. It was an all-boy weekend at The Little Farm on West Creek (my folk's NY place, where I grew up) as they were here on a Spring gobbler turkey hunting expedition. I'll just let you in on a secret-the turkey's fared very well, the boys did not fill any tags :( :)

On Sunday, Kelvin and I went to church with the hunting gang, visiting a Mennonite church in Rockstream, NY. Afterwards, we went to visit and old friend of the family's that we haven't seen in about 10 years.

John Coffer is a tintype photographer, which is old-time photograghy like they had during the civil war. He does the whole process authentically, and teaches classes at his homestead in Dundee. He lives very primatively-when you step out of the car, it's like turning the clock back a hundred years or more. He has chosen this lifestyle, and it is evident that he really enjoys living like an "antique"!

Photos soaking in the solution. Note the photo hanging on the tent wall-an example of his work. You can see many more examples of his photos, etc, by looking up his website http://www.johncoffer.com/ or looking up his name on google.

John's most recent acquistion is a 1927 Model T. John is very good at giving demonstrations, and ours wasn't abriviated. Pa, Sheldon and Marlin all got rides in the Model T-On the farm lanes because John doesn't have a driver's licence!

Kelvin and me trying to look like we stepped out of the 1930's-do we pass?

Giving the car a crank to get her started.

John's cabin-it looks just the way it did 10 years ago when my family came to John's house for meeting every Sunday. I remember many,many Sunday afternoons at John's. I must admit-back then, as a teenage girl, I was bored out of my mind most of the time!

Da Gallery.

I love chickens! The bedframe is for the camper that doesn't like sleeping on the ground. I wonder if there's a matress hidden away in the gallery somewhere? I know I would hope so if that were my guest quarters! (I would also hope for a clear forecast-a rainy night would be a real bummer!)

This, folks, is the bathroom. Or at least the bathing area, complete with a curtain and V05! Want a bath?! No problem. Haul wood. Haul water. Start fire. Feed fire. Wait for water to heat. bucket water into tub. Pull curtain. Hope it's warm out. Or-have someone willing to hand you more warm water! Gee! I'd have to smell myself comin' before I went to all that work!