Farming, as it used to be

The family photo album has given me a first-hand look at farming and farm life less than 100 years ago. How quickly that lifestyle has gone! I'm not so sure it's been for the good, either. I heard yesterday that we spend less of our income for food than any time in our history. But I bet we're paying more for health insurance and drugs than any time in our history. I think I'd rather pay more for food.

If I could remember how to put these into a slide show it would make it easier to look at!

I found it very interesting to see WHAT they thought was worth photographing. They didn't have much money, but they recorded very everyday events!

 Must've been pretty proud of that stack of hay. I think this photo is from 1913. Even a wooden wagon.

 Huge stacks of corn cobs!

 Not sure if this is Sweden or America or even who this man is, but the horses look good!

 Out for an afternoon. Looks like something from Little House on the Prairie! My great-grandmother with a couple of great-aunts and a great-uncle (or is it my grandfather?)

A threshing machine?

So happy about the new calf!

 So many hens!

 I noticed several photos of family members holding kittens, cats and puppies. They loved animals!

 Is he plowing? Looks like about four horse here.

 This dog does this in several photos. These great uncles think they look pretty good. And "Mamma" is peeking out the window!

white hens now

 Ah, ironing in the fresh air! No need to be near the plug!

 The family all poses with their berries. Not sure what they are, but they're pretty proud!

 I wonder who's in charge here?

 Love these horses. Looks like they're off to work!

 Add some pigs to the sheep, cows and hens!

 More sheep

 And pigs

Grass-fed cows

Talk about diversified farming!

So teach us to number our days....

I haven't blogged in a month. Nearly 5 weeks. There are so many things going on in my head that I just don't know what to blog about. I do manage to communicate a bit with friends and family on Facebook, so I'm not totally out of the loop. But I must say, I do love hibernating in the winter! Here are some of my many thoughts consuming me/us:

• the opportunity to buy family property in Minnesota
• how much?
•  when?
•  financing?
•  retirement (if and when)
•  a trip to Minnesota to try to figure out some of this
• organic gardening and mini-farming because of Minnesota land opportunity
•  archiving family photos and letters
•  Andrew onboard the USS Ponce
•  William moving to California
•  Linnea debating what to do next year

 As the oldest grandchild on my mother's side and one without children at home AND one who lives near enough to make regular trips to Minnesota, I have become the family archivist. On my last trip, I brought home four very full photo albums to scan. I have been scanning off and on all week, have scanned over 200 photos and I'm just a wee bit over half-way through the first album of which the oldest photo is from 1889. Most of them have dates written on them, but I am beginning to distrust some of them.

Back then the photos were small and one could just put those little black sticky corners on the page to hold each photo. It didn't matter what size the photos were. Some pages have as many as nine photos on them! I crop, enhance and save each one. I am really getting to know these ancestors!

One thing that struck me as I flipped through all four albums: the brevity of life. In this photo my grandfather is second from the right. The photos archive his and his siblings lives as well as my mother and her siblings and cousins. I see photos of  their childhood, graduations,  courtship, wedding, children, and funerals. The cycle continues with the next generation, and the next. The albums go up to about 1990, when the aunt, whose albums these are, stopped gathering photos.

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12