Day 47... Where is this all leading to?

No, I did not cast my special project yesterday. It was cold and rainy. Sixty degrees in the barn is not warm enough for me!  Instead, I cleaned the attic.

The attic of this old house is filled with almost 200 years of stuff.  There was the tape loom, that I took down to reproduce and is now one of my favorite hobbies... weaving tapes like the old days. Before zippers and velcro, folks used buttons and ties for their clothing.

Then I met Eleanor Bittle. She is from Pennsylvania and a wonderful person to talk to with a knowledge of tape looms. I met her at the Mercer Museum in PA. She got me going on the loom business.

Above the one I found in the attic. It is a flat pine board. Crude holes and slats that are now warped. I made a replica below and painted it with milk based paint and a imaginary sketch of my great grandparents, George and Elizabeth Jeppe.

There was also a walking wheel in the attic. I thought my sister may like to take that home as she spins.  Somewhere I have a photo of my daughter Erin using it.

There is a knitting basket that was my grandmothers, a wood block stamp set that was my uncles. Lots of stuff.

There is way too much stuff. Me and my girls are savers, and it was to the point I couldn't walk through to open the windows. It sure is hot up there in August.

The attic is like strolling through the lives of all the folks who have lived here. You can imagine them putting cherished stuff up there, saving it for next generations to share.

We started a tradition in 1982 of putting hand prints on the wall opposite the attic stairs.  We now have Erin, Emily, Isobel and Meta's hand prints. The new generation to enjoy this old house.

A list of all the people who walked these floors and slept between these walls:

Simeon, Experience, Hamlin, Experience, Ransley, Clarissa, Betsey, Sally, Roswell, Luther, William, Nathaniel, Olive, Jenette, Mariette, Martha, Alice, Nellie, Louise, Alpha, Jennie, Reginald, Winthrop, Walter, Corabelle, Paul, Helen, Charles, Frank, Julia, Irene, Phyllis, Newell, Isabel, Richard, David, Regina, Donna, Barbara, David, Alan, Erin, Emily, Josh, Isobel and two little babies, unnamed because they died way too young.

And then there were all the visitors! Hundreds! I have friends whose house has been in their family since 1786!  Their house is really cool. It is brick too. Their stairs are so worn that they have turned into bowls!  Our house has been in just two families. It was also rented out twice. There were two sets of twins here. Babies were born here, people died here.

Someone once asked me if it was scary living in such an old house where so many people have died. In an old house, most of the occupants died at home.  I am more afraid of the living.  We had a family funeral just the other day. A very nice man died way too young. We all have a 100% chance of dying.  What is important, is how we live why we are here and how we treat each other.  There will always be hard and sad times, but somehow we persevere.  I have a slide show on my computer when it is in down time. All my photos flash randomly in front of my eyes as I pass by the computer. Photos are always of good times, people we have lost make me cry, people laughing make me laugh, places I have been, and I think, Life is good. Home, friends, family. Life is good.

And today, while I am still well and getting around, I will go out and make some pottery, pack my students work to take back to school, cast my special pot... maybe.

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