On my way home to Spokane, I stopped in Roslyn (big farmers’ market going on that day) and was double-delighted that the Roslyn Museum was open!

Roslyn town began in 1886 with the discovery of coal which was mined from 1886 to 1963. The railroad was the biggest buyer of Roslyn coal until the 1950s. Some 460,000,000 tons of coal was dug out of the mountains, “but only abut 15% of what’s available,” said Larry, the docent of the day on duty. “A 22-ton piece of coal was shipped to Chicago in 1893 for the World’s Fair.”

The museum has wonderful memorabilia and “stuff” pertaining to Roslyn mining history. BUT. It’s the “wonderful” Rosyln cemeteries that draw folks. “The most visible legacy left by Roslyn’s early immigrants can be found in Roslyn’s Historic Cemeteries. The cemetery complex covers 19 acres and is unique as it consists of 26 separate cemeteries formed prior to the turn of the 20th century.”

You really must, MUST visit Roslyn on your next I-90 driving trip………… especially visit the cemeteries.

Goiter. Ever heard of this condition/disease? A goiter was a non-malignant growth on the thyroid gland. It was only ugly and not a problem unless it grew large enough to impinge on the esophagus or windpipe. Nobody has goiters today….. know why?

This photo, ca 1900, was of a lady living in Wisconsin. She obviously has a horrendous goiter. Here’s the story, as I understand it:

People living along the seacoasts ingested plenty of iodine….. salt water, salt spray, etc. But those living in the Midwest had no such natural source of iodine and it was iodine deficiency that caused goiters. That’s why today we have iodized salt.

Now you know.

Ever heard of handfasting? In times past (long times past) trial marriages were popular with the young couples all along the border regions of England and Scotland. That area was so unruly that very strict laws were made on those living on either side of the border about marrying without the consent of the English and Scottish officials. In 1587, some couples were even hanged because they had not obtained permission to marry. So the custom of handfasting, or trial marriage, was introduced. At the annual fair, the couple would join hands and be “married” until the next year’s fair. Or forever, if they chose.

Marriages were conducted in this way well into the 19th century when the requirements were relaxed. Today, Google handfasting, especially Images, and you’ll see it’s a popular thing to do today but not for the same reasons as for our ancestors.

Ah, summertime. Double ah, ice cream time. How come summer and ice cream go together? And so many flavors! What is your favorite? According to a bit in the Tidbits grocery-store-newspaper, here are America’s Top Ten Ice Cream Flavors:

1. Vanilla
2. Chocolate
3. Cookies N’ Cream
4. Mint Chocolate Chip
5. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
6. Buttered Pecan
7. Cookie Dough
8. Strawberry
9. Moose Tracks
10. Neapolitan

Notice the common thread of CHOCOLATE here?? My favorite would be something called Mississippi Mud…… it was like frozen fudge. Ohmy, ohmy.

I love summer; to be more exact, I love the going-into-water that summer brings. John and I spotted this at a little public park last January in New Zealand. The park, lake and playground was empty because it was their winter and was a cold-to-them 70 degrees.  Would you have loved a lake-playground place like this? Or maybe you had one?

You already know me to be a bit quirky (don’t agree too quickly!) but was reading an article about the evolution of the porch on early Colonial Dutch homes. A photo of the Van Cortland Manor House (in New York) looks so much like the Chief Factor’s House at Fort Vancouver, don’t you agree?

So does this prove anything? Well perhaps to a deeper-digging scholar than I am today. But oh so interesting.

Is there a town in Washington with the name of Allyn? You betchya!

Located in Mason County, Allyn has been a town since 1921 and as of 2010 had a population of nearly 2000 folks. Ever driven through this delightful little town? It is beautiful and looks like a nice place to live.

When I attended the Clark County Genealogical Society seminar in May, we also enjoyed a World War I display and entertainment. I took these two photos, one of a local lady and author of the book she’s holding and one was the daughter of another reenactor there. I show these today just to highlight the fashion. So relatively modest, so grown-up-style even for the girl, and so really girlish and feminine. So different from today, eh?

One more tidbit about World War I. While on that trip to Vancouver, and at that WWI museum exhibit, I met author Diane Green-Hartley and bought her book, “Lillie’s Jasper: The 1930 Pilgrimage of a Gold Star Mother.”

For openers, did you realize that after WWI many of the bereaved mothers formed into chapters of Gold Star Mothers and between May 1930 and August 1933 a total of 6,654 of these mothers traveled to Europe at U.S. government expense, to visit the graves of their sons or daughters who died in the war. Diane’s book is the journal kept by her great-grandmother, Lillie Green, when she made this trip to visit the grave of her son Jasper (who had died in 1918).

This was a very moving read; I recommend it to you. The book is available at Amazon.

How many of us have a nice hanging rack over our stove where we hang our utensils and perhaps pots and pans? This is not a new idea. People who cook have always wanted their utensils handy.

I took this photo in the cooking building at Fort Vancouver National Park in Vancouver, Washington. Notice the variety of things…. big pans, little pans, ladles, hooks, cups, forks, lifters….. all with L-O-N-G handles for reaching into the fire. Notice the in-fireplace racks on the right? For baking?

Does this kitchen look anything like YOUR kitchen??

** I always think: how did they keep the ash out of their food?