back to Old Sturbridge Village

Ok, I really overdid it with photos this time, but we just had too much fun not to try to include a least a fair representative of the day. I'll try to make up for it by not gabbing so much....

On Monday we took advantage of our free returners-tickets to Old Sturbridge Village -- and BOY did we take advantage! We were there all day. Doing fun stuff like this river boat ride on the Quinnebaug River.


And talking to all sorts of "townfolk", like this store keeper...










...this cobbler...










...this printer...










...this blacksmith...










...and this potter.

And we learned all about their professions and how they ran their businesses in the 1830s.

The boys' personal favorite was the potter, we got to watch him make a really cool mug...


...then we visited the kiln where he wood-fires all of his wares (and then they are available at the village shops for visitors like us to purchase)...











...and they even got to run the clay mill, which is how the clay from the potter's field is broken up and stirred up and made ready for him to throw on his wheel.

We also met this farmer's wife who was busy with the first of the fall harvest. She introduced us to all sorts of heirloom vegetables, such as ox-heart carrots and a squash that looks sort of like a brain, and she taught us how to prepare root vegetables for storage in the root cellar.

It was just a gorgeous day to be in the village, and it was laundry day at the Freeman Farm (they are doing their laundry in this photo, you can see them towards the back of the house, slaving over a boiling cauldron of wash water).

Zoo Boy checked out the portion of the harvest being stored in barrels in the barn -- in this case, apples.









And speaking of barrels, here's the boys in the cooper's shed, trying their hand at preparing barrel pieces.

Oxen grazing in the pasture across from the orchard.

Did I mention it was a gorgeous day?!

The boys play a game of flying hoop outside the meetinghouse.

Walking on stilts outside of the schoolhouse.

That's the "carryall" wagon that we rode on, parked in front of the gristmill, with the carding mill in the background. We got to see all the inner workings of these mills, the boys loved figuring out how the waterwheels turned the gears which in turn turned the carding machines and the grindstones.

The boys outside the sawmill, which they were both very anxious to see, but we missed it in operation today. Maybe next visit!

And there will be many, many more visits if the boys have their way!