Yesterday we spent the day at Living HistoryFarm in Urbandale, Iowa. Our daughter Kayla has a summer internship there working as an interpreter.
This is Kayla at the entrance of the exhibit. Normally when she is working, she is dressed in period clothing, doing period appropriate activities. This day, she is just visiting with us.
Kayla splits her days between the 1850 Pioneer Farm, the 1875 Mrs. Elliot’s Millinery, and the 1875 Flynn Mansion. While she is at each location, she tells visitors about history and works on projects that are historically appropriate. Here is a photo of the hat she made while working at the Millinery.
She has had a great summer working as an intern even though she works in long dresses near cookstoves or in the hot garden weeding.
There are lots of great things to see at the farms and in the town….my favorites were the 1900 farm and the Tangon Home. Both of the homes didn’t have cupboards but instead had HUGE pantries.
I would love a pantry like this!! I have always had a secret fantasy about having an old fashion home. I would love a reproduction wood stove that is electric. I would love the hard wood floors and the whole look. If fact, after visiting Living History Farm, I have this huge desire to purge the house of the the knick-knacky stuff around here. I just love the simple look and feel I would love the simplier life that goes with it….I just want to keep the computer and my sewing machine…I could give up the television though.
If you are ever near Des Moines, Iowa, Living History Farm is well worth the visit. The great thing is that you can tour the farms and the farm homes as well as the 1875 town. If you are teaching your kiddos about Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House on the Prairie fame, this would also be a good experience for them as there are many things that would be close to her time period.
I can’t close this blog post without showing you the hexagon quilt the gal at Tangon House was working on….
She has been working on her quilt for much of the summer. It is going to be a baby quilt that will be on display in the crib in the home. She will be hand quilting the whole things too!
On the way to Des Moines and home again, I worked on my hexagon quilt. I’ll take a photo of it again in couple weeks so you can see how I am doing on mine. On the way home our daughter Kalissa asked what I liked best about the day. As much as I loved visiting Living History Farm, seeing our daughter Kayla was definately the best!
“Secret” implies no one else knows, and EVERYBODY knows about your old-house fantasy! :)
Thanks for visiting me, I had a great time to!
Other variant is possible also