Visiting a Shakertown

If you live in the Eastern part of the United States you have probably heard about "Shakers". I won't go into detail about the religious beliefs of this group, but you can read more about them here. To my knowledge, there is only one, tiny community of Shakers left in Maine, but the group did leave us a few of their villages, or "Shakertowns", that are incredibly interesting to visit. There are two such villages in Kentucky. I visited Pleasant Hill when I was much younger and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to find out when we moved to Kentucky last year that we now lived near the other Shakertown, South Union, in this state. This month we were finally able to take a "field trip" there and had a great time!

This is the Centre House where most of the daily living happened. It is segregated by two mirroring sides of the building: the women's side and the men's side. Today it has been restored to a beautiful condition and if full of fascinating Shaker artifacts and antiques.

table necessities

Shaker clothing

a Shaker bedroom (women's side)

a Shaker hymnal

exploring one of the many passageways

a Shaker classroom

poster of the final auction of this particular Shakertown

Shakers can certainly teach us a lot about orderliness and being industrious. Their buildings were immaculate and so creatively arranged. We also enjoyed walking around the grounds of this Shakertown. Originally there were over 200 structures in this community, now there are only about 9 left standing.

the smokehouse

the kiddos feeding clover to the friendly neighboring horses

a Shaker barn

exploring

the ministry shop (workshop)

enjoying our day

a punched-tin lantern

the Shaker Tavern (now a B & B)

It's fun to be a "tourist" in your own state, there is always so much to explore and learn about! While we may not be doing regular school lessons throughout the summer, we are definitely still learning. And since this has only been our "home" state for not-quite-a-year we still have much to explore! Can't wait!

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

One Way I Refresh During the Summer as a Homeschool Mom

As our homeschool takes some time off this summer, my mind almost never stops thinking of and planning ahead for the upcoming school year. This is probably because I'm Type A and an obsessive planner...lol Whatever the reason, I do enjoy this season of planning. But I also need to be refreshed as a homeschool mom. Homeschooling can be incredibly exhausting and all-consuming. It's not easy and it's a lot of responsibility. And I take that very seriously when I am researching curriculum and planning toward the next school year. So also taking some time to rejuvenate and refocus myself is very important. How do I do this? Each summer I take some time to read something inspiring and motivating that speaks to me as a homeschool mom. Some of my fave reads from past years--that I have nearby on my shelf and refer to often--are Educating the Wholehearted Child, The Well-Trained Mind, The Charlotte Mason Companion, A T...

Arkansas' Crimson Clover

One of my favorite things about Spring is the crimson clover that grows along the highways and interstates here in Arkansas. I say Arkansas because this is where I first grew to love it. We actually saw some in Mississippi on our way here and I saw it in our town in Alabama for the first time this year. But it spreads like that, each year it grows and looks even more beautiful. I'm not sure who decided to plant it in the medians of the interstates , but it was genius! It seeds itself and just comes back more lush the next year. I always want to take pictures, but of course it's almost always in the median of a very busy interstate~which is a little dangerous for photography. However, the other day I found the perfect patch of it on the side of a not-too-busy highway, so Vince obliged me and pulled over:) Isn't it beautiful? I just had to share it with you...

my blessed life

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