Bama Planter

The season is changing and it's porch sitting time again. The 98 degree days and 90 degree nights are done again. I can back off the grass and only cut it twice a month to keep the mower battery going. I can work on sidewalks, fencing, digging the sunflower/okra/zinnia bed to a new length ( 40 feet ) to extend the 20 ft. I had this year. I have four trees to plant and three azaleas. And, a ton of sticks to pick up. I'm already gathering magnolia pods from my friend Janice's trees and freshly fallen pine cones from my neighbors' forest. The walnuts are falling, so that is a job in itself. The green hulls have to be stomped off with a heavy set of boots and then boiled in linseed oil to make the best wood stain. Then the walnuts themselves need to be cracked with a hammer. ( Squirrels are crazy to tackle walnuts but they usually try a few anyway. They bury two or three and forget where they buried them; that's how walnut trees get planted ) . I shall continu

A LOVING TRIBUTE. My cousin has a friend whose mother was a quilter. She recently passed away and her children decorated the church with their mom's beautiful quilts for her funeral.

R. S. Prussia. The great porcelain made for the wealthy. My favorite from the era, circa 1890 - 1910 . Genuine RS Prussia marks have red letters, a red star and red outlines to the wreath. Leaves in the wreath usually appear green. Red areas can look rusty brown.

Oliver W. Hunt was born 9 January 1843 in Canton, Massachusetts, the son of George and Mary Hunt. His father was a blacksmith in Canton. Oliver joined the Union Navy on 5 September 1864 when he was 21. He joined as the lowest rank, a Landsman, being a person with no experience. He served on the USS Iuka and the USS Ohio. He was discharged on 15 June 1865 a few months after the war ended, as his enlistment ended then also. He returned to Boston to blacksmith with his father. He married and moved to Minnesota. The back of his ferrotype has a tax stamp, which was necessary for photographs from 1864 to 1866 to help pay for the war. The photograph was found at the seller's favorite antique shop in Minnesota. She knew nothing about Oliver, so her finding the photograph in Minnesota ( where he moved after the war ) further confirms that I have the right identity for the sailor. I was lucky to find him for sale in a group of photographs being sold in an 24-hour auction, and rese

Henry was born about 1831 in Washington, DC. In 1860 he is residing in the 4th District, Post Office Rockville, Montgomery County Maryland. His family begins at the bottom of one page of the census and is completed on the next. Above is his family in 1860. -- Henry age 29 born in Washington, D. C. -- Louisa born in Delaware -- Ida their daughter age 7 ( born about 1853 ) -- Harry or Henry age 5 -- Charles age 2 -- Andrew age 1 -- George Crawford age 25 a hired farmhand. -- Henry owns real estate valued at $10,000. His personal estate is valued at $5,000 ( personal belongings such as farm equipment, furniture, and servants ). Both values are confirmed by adding up the figures from the page and checking the totals at the bottom of the page. ( The total value of personal estates for everyone on the page is only $6,075. What looks to be $50,000 by Henry's name is actually $5,000. The comma is not a zero ) Henry and Louisa's four children are all born