Seeking Ancestors

 

Some people love to travel and see the world. I don’t seem to be one of those. Oh, I like to travel alright. It is just not real high on my priorities list. When I do travel I prefer to travel to the places where my ancestors once lived and try to imagine what life might have been like for them in their time. I am somewhat of a family historian.

One place I like to visit is Denmark. My maternal grandfather was born in Denmark. I have accomplished quite a little genealogy work over the years and I know right where my grandfather’s parents lived back in the mid 1800s. I’d like to see it in person. I am not sure if I will ever get there though.

Last year my wife and I went to Montana to visit a relative. It was a driving trip, meaning that we drove from Minnesota to Montana. On the way we stopped in Medora, North Dakota. It is a tiny town on the western edge of North Dakota. That is where my Grandfather’s brother, James Christen Rasmussen, homesteaded some land in late 1800s. At a book store in Medora, I paged through a book about the history of Medora. There in the book and to my surprise were old photos of young Uncle Chris. He was one of the original pioneers of Medora. I bought the book.

The Teddy Roosevelt State Park now sits on the land that was once my uncle’s homestead. If you ever visit that State Park and you step into the lobby of visitor’s center, you will be standing approximately where my uncle’s log cabin used to sit.

Speaking of books, I’d like to call your attention to a couple of old historical magazines that I have in my store, Sirocco’s Curios. They tell about the American West. You might appreciate these magazines whether you fancy travel or not.

 

Technorati Tags: american west,genealogy,medora,north dakota,historical,montana,travel,teddy rosevelt,statepark,rasmussen

A Minnesota Winter Storm

Yesterday (Sunday) a strong storm passed through Northern Minnesota and dropped nearly a foot of snow here on the ole homestead. I spent most of today (Monday) running the snow blower clearing paths.

I cleared the driveway and a large area for parking. I cleared a path to the big garage 100 yards away and another path to my little studio. I cleared a path to the wood pile, a path to the bird feeders and a path to the deer feeder. I also had to do a path to the mail box. The whole place is becoming a labyrinth of paths. Oh well, it’s better than wearing snowshoes. The image on the left is a photo of the deck from inside the house.

I sometimes wonder what it was like for my Native American ancestors who lived here 200 years ago. They lived in teepees or wigwams with just an open fire in the middle of the structure and some animal skins to keep warm. It must have been a hard life.

On the other hand, a few days ago I found myself stuck in traffic just barely creeping along. I was on my way to the appliance store to get a replacement heating element for the kitchen oven. It had burned out. Frustrated, I was thinking, “wouldn’t it be nice if we could just live the simple life of 200 years ago.”

Well, so much for my ramblings. Instead, let’s talk about jewelry. I came across some boxes of vintage fashion jewelry and I have begun adding some to the Sirocco’s Curios store. This item is a fine Trifari goldtone necklace. Take a look. I will be adding many more items over the next few days so keep coming back.

Valentine Hearts

 

This week’s blog theme word is “hearts.” I suppose it is an appropriate theme since Saint Valentines Day is just a couple of weeks away. I could also think of it as an invitation to blog about heart healthy activities and diet.

I don’t have anything in my Sirocco’s Curios store that lends itself very well to the blog theme. So, I started surfing around and looking for an idea to blog about. I came across the lyrics to the song Peg O’ My Heart, published back in 1913. Now I can’t get that song out of my head. It just keeps playing over and over in there. That picture above is a forest somewhere in Spain. I thought it was kind of cool.

Since I didn’t have anything in my store that fit the theme, I found items that other Ecrater Stores Network (ESN) members have for sale in their stores. I made up a little collage of the items.  

Just click on any of the links below and you will be whisked over to that store.

Great Works of Heart

Red Boots

Forest in Spain

Be My Valentine

Welcome Heart

Heart Dishes

M&M Heart Candy Dish

Heart Shaped Cake Pans

Horses and Western Cowgirl Boots

 

Horses…When I was a young boy (that was a long time ago) I had a horse. Yes, my parents owned horses and I had one of my own. His name was Smoky and I rode that horse all over creation. The kind of horses we had was quarter horses. They are known for their short distance speed and their agility. They were show horses and they were entered in events at various fairs and rodeos. Usually, the event was a short race or a barrel race (a woman’s event). And, they were frequently in parades. I personally was never in any of those events or parades. I just liked to ride around at will and I did.

Many people go to a dude ranch or some such place to go hose back riding. But that is a much different experience than riding around at will. At a dude ranch the horse thinks of its rider as just a lump of cargo and the horse just follows the horse in front of him. When one rides around at will, the rider must steer and control the animal. It is not long before a bond forms between the horse and the rider. The horse knows just what the rider wants and the rider understands the needs of the horse. They become close friends, each speaking to the other in their own way. That is how it was between Smoky and me. I haven’t ridden a horse in years and, of course, Smoky is long gone. But sometimes I think about old Smoky and it is then that I realize that I miss my old friend.

I didn’t look for anything in my ecrater shop that fits this week’s blog theme of horses. But, just across the way at the Le Petit Marche store you will find some fine western style cowgirl boots in the window. I encourage you to mosey on over and take a look. Just click on the links above.

Native American Winter Wonderland

It looks like we will have a white Christmas at our Northern Minnesota outpost after all. This is the home of Sirocco’s Curios. Winter finally arrived when just a few days ago we got our first significant snowfall. Winter has been slow to get underway here and I was beginning to get a bit worried. We have been in a drought situation for over a year now. There was not a lot of rain or snow last year and it was unseasonably warm. It is still too warm. The snow came down in big giant flakes and collected on the trees. There they froze giving rise to a picturesque winter wonderland. I snapped a few pictures and added one here for you to see.

When I am not sitting in the cabin and looking out the big picture window at the winter wonderland, you will find me in my little studio working with beads, leather, and silver fabricating various adornments in the Native American style. I just recently completed these two necklaces. You can find these and other such items in my on line store, Sirocco’s Trading Post. I invite you to stop in and take a look around.

 

Angels Trimming the Christmas Tree by Peggy Toole

Angels! It is the Ecrater Stores Network (ESN) theme for this week. And, I have just the item in my curios shop that features angels. It is the 1995 Christmas plate by Avon titled “Trimming the Christmas Tree.” The plate features two winged angels draping a garland of roses on a Christmas tree. The image is from an original painting by Peggy Toole. Peggy Toole is a contemporary artist and fabric designer from Colorado Springs, Co. She also designs greeting cards and produces art for license. The plate is fine porcelain and is a worthy collectable. Click on the link above to find the plate or click on Sirocco's Curios to find other interesting curios.

Arrow Maker, a Goudey Collectable Chewing Gum Card, Ojibway Tribe

 

This week’s blog word is “arrow.” While many thoughts come to mind when I think of the word arrow, “Indians,” with their bows and arrows comes to mind first. That is because I just recently listed in my curios store a collectable, Goudey, non-sports, chewing gum card featuring an Indian. You can find the listing by clicking here. Arrow Maker is the name of the Ojibwe Indian pictured on the card.

The Goudey gum company was one of the first companies to introduce collectable cards with their chewing gum in the 1930s. In addition to Indians and sports related themes they also had famous Americans, show biz celebrities and other themes. You can find many other curios in my store, Sirocco's Curios. I invite you to stop in and take a look around.