Invading Israel

OH Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Having finally realized my dream of a trip to Israel and experienced the land of God's chosen people and walked where Jesus walked, I feel an overwhelming urge to recount  and share my adventures with you.It is awesome, phenomenal, overwhelming, and humbling to retrace the history of God reaching out to man and see the Bible come to life right before your eyes.  

Jerusalem has been destroyed 3 times,so that very little that remains is original. These paving stones that are under my feet are a few of the original. Just think the very stones that Jesus, the desciples and Paul walked on.AWSOME!!!

Some great recycling ideas from the ladies of Jerusalem. It must be the latest craft fad!These were displayed on the walls along the street in old Jerusalem.

                      According to Jerusalem women their purses make good planters too!!

From Reticule to Ralph Lauren

Tooled leather purchased where else but Kingman,Arizona

Down through the ages,the woman of the household was usually the shopper. In very early times it was a daily task since there was no refrigeration. Today it is a necessity, but also a pastime(in my case). Now if you shop you need to have a receptacle to safely carry your money.
The first such item was simply a small drawstring bag that could carried in the folds of the voluminous skirts or petticoats that were the fashion of the day.But as in many other basically utilitarian items of daily use, women began to decorate the so called bags with needlepoint and beads.  These early bags were called reticules.Beaded,needlepointed, encrusted in seed pearls,these reticules began to appear with hinged frames and handles for the most part,making them easier to carry and to display to other envious women.It is said that certain artists would leave their identification on the beaded bag by placing a  bead in the design that was a different color than it's surrounding design,appearing to be a flaw.
Today our bags, ladies, are still an important fashion statement and have evolved into veritable suitcases,carrying all the necessities of life. Need I mention,Dooney and Bourke,Prada,Gucci,Louis Vouton and of course Ralph Lauren...all displayed to impress. I recently was compelled to empty my purse in a restaurant the other day and was amazed at what I was actually carrying around...dental floss,church program,multiple register receipts,Bible,nail file, and of course you never know when you may need a crystal prism.

beaded purse with maker's mark,note dark wine bead at tip of orange floral center

note wine colored bead that appears to be a flaw

purse shown on opposite side without the wine colored bead

seed pearl purse with makers mark in the form of a whiter pearl near frame

white pearl shows better when flash not used

glass bead reticule

a later glass beaded reticule with beaded handles instead of drawstring

this is a beautiful iredescent blue bead bag,fringe was removed because it was in a very bad state

silver mesh reticule

seed pearl with nicely decorated clasp

clasp on above seed pearl purse

more intricately beaded seed pearl purses

needlepoint purse

this one is needlepointed on both sides

for some reason this is my favorite

A Visit to Plimouth 's First Residents,The Wampanoag

The native American's that first greeted the Puritan settlers was the Wampanoag. What surprised me was that the Puritans and Pilgrims were not the first Europeans the native Americans had seen.They were used to seeing European traders that had been coming into the bay for quite awhile...not far from the Puritan village is also a replica of the native American village.. Extremely interesting.

The  Wampanoag abode

The dwellings are made of long pieces of bark. In the spring as the sap runs there is a space between the bark and the tree. An incision is made at the top and bottom of the tree and the bark is easily removed.

This young man is making a canoe by controlled burning of the inside portion of the tree.

I asked the young man if he didn't feel cold as you could see his legs are bare."Actually ",he said," I am very warm right now".

drying skins

The family was enjoying a soup of corn,beans etc.

The chief,not as threatening as the picture looks.

Enjoying his soup

Inside the bark dwelling,The lady would answer any questions we had.The dwelling was lined with animal skin covered benches that served as beds.

I was amazed that there was very little smoke inside the dwelling as it escaped upward through the hole in the roof.

woven baskets and bags hung around the perimeter holding extra food,clothing etc.

Pilgrimage to Plymouth

The Plymouth settlement

One last place I just had to visit was the Plimouth  Plantation,a representation of  the first Pilgrim village.It is especially meaningful to me as I recently learned that my landed ancestor,Thomas Eames ,lived in the Plymouth Colony. His was a tragic story as all but four of his children and his wife died at the hands of marauding Native Americans. The story is that the Native Americans were actually friendly with the Puritans and even attended church with them.

There was another group of Pilgrims(not Puritan) who also were living just north of the Puritan settlement and they were roudy and disrespectful of the Native American ways,ridiculing them and desecrating their burial grounds etc.  When enough was enough King Philip's war erupted against all the settlers.King Philip was a name given to th native leader. At any rate the tragedy occurred as a result of this uprising.

One thing I noticed about New England,there is a church,sometimes two on every block.

The town of Plymouth,itself, is a beautiful destination. Perfectly poised on the shore with every bit of New England ambiance one would desire

Time for a lunch break

So much atmosphere in this bakery shop. They didn't shove all the furniture out and place tables with chairs. Instead they left the sofa and it's chairs in place with small occassional tables placed in convenient place for coffee and snacks...all antique furniture,by the way.

Just to show a sample of the beautiful mums that are used profusely in the area

Some of the homebaked goodies just sitting there beckoning

As pleasant as the coffee shop was, we opted to go down by the ocean to enjoy our repast

Here we are at the town meeting house , the upstairs affords a good panoramic view to spy any approaching predators..with the added protection of cannons

Ready for Battle?

It boggles my mind that all these antiques are just sitting around and no one guarding. I warned this lady that I have her picture ,in case something comes up missing...a girl after my own heart,she answered she needed a closer look so she would know what to buy if she sees anything similar.

these folks have done their laundry,like dutiful Puritans

my eye caught that old rug on the fence

"Under the spreading chestnut tree,the village smithy stands"

a bucolic scene if I say so myself

Sharpening a spear

Many of these lovely chests came with our early settlers

Many of the homes had one room serves all concept and a few had two rooms.

airing the bedding,needs a little more than airing!

beautiful antiques

These ladies are baking bread. One was supposed to be the wife of Gov. Bradford. They role play as if they are the actual colonist.I had a little conversation with her ,just to see if she was up on her history facts...she was.

Every back yard needs a cannon or two

And so It's goodby to Plimouth Colony with all the reminders of the great struggle our forefathers endured that we might have religious freedom. Thank you Lord.We are so blessed.