Day 3 of working 12 days straight.

Day 1: Swept out the historical homes. I was supposed to help Peter mow but since it is so dry we are going to put off on mowing for a little bit cause it would just cause the water to run completely off.

Day 2: Drove out to Fernland. It was so amazing out there. But the trip down there had it's hightlights. We were supposed to leave at 8. Didn't leave until about 9:15ish. I also got doughnuts for us.

On the way down we had: Helen's truck- with me and Helen; the Silver Bullet- the museum truck driven by Mike and Sandra riding it; and renting/ borrowing a university truck with Mac and Peter. Helen and I were in the lead and right when we get to Conroe we get a call from Sandra that the clutch and transmission went out in the Silver Bullet. (Which is a Ford F150 from the 80's or earlier). So we turn around to go get them.

Well I had the Fernland Key to the gate and Mac and Peter beat us there and were waiting on us to get there after we had picked up Mike and Sandra. Finally we all arrive and go to the cabins.

It was like stepping back in time to the 1800s. The cabins looked amazing the stuff in them was amazing. Just that it was put there in the 1970s by Mr. and Mrs. Thaurp. And basically hadn't been taken care of since. I forgot how the University managed to get it but it was given to the Museum. That day was the day we went down to get some of it.

Unfortunately. We can't take it all. Sandra had a list of what we were going to take. We ended up come back with 1 blanket chest, 2 beds, 1 washstand, 1 table, and 2 pie chests. Some time later on in July or the end of June Sandra, Helen, Rebecca and I are going to go back and box up some of the smaller things to bring back to the museum. We are doing that to either use or might end up selling on ebay. We might be able to get some money for some things but not really sure about the rest.

The reason we are trying to get the stuff from Fernland- a collection of Jardine, Crane and Bearbend Cabins along with a blacksmith shop, and several storage/ work sheds- is because the Unversity is planning on selling the property and basically the cabins on the land. The museum wants the Bearbend cabin but there is just so much involved in getting it to the museum and actually putting it on the grounds.

Some of the concerns involved with the adventure are:

• Funding will be needed for it- Sandra and I were talking, we are going to need more than a grant, we will need funding from an institution or organization
• When will the move take place if we can get them here?- the sooner the better so the university can sell the land
• How will it happen?- Will we hire a company to do it? Will the museum do it? Will there be a class offered to help?- It's too far to really ask for a class or trustees to help. Will it be taken apart and re assembled?- very time consuming. Will it be just loaded onto trailers and then driving up to the museum?- Where would we get the vechicles to do?- We would have to rent. Have to cut down trees to get it done. Get permits to move it on the freeway.
• Where will it go on the grounds? - There isn't a whole lot of room unless we aren't picky about where it is placed
• Who will be in charge of this?
• If the University was to keep the property and therefore the cabins down there. How would the cabins be maintained? Would need plumbing, electrity, welcomeing center, staff to be at each cabin to watch them, demonstrate or be there to talk about like a living farm. Parking would be needed, better pathways to get to each place. The rodent and insect infastation would need to be cleared out.
• And so on and so forth.......

Anyways... it took forever to pack this all up and figure out how to load it on the trucks because we had one less truck to work with. Somehow we made it all work. Well on the way back up to Huntsville we passed two tow trucks and an 18 wheeler about in the place we had left the Silver Bullet. Since the Silver Bullet wasn't running we had to call our Secretary, JoAnn (even though she does more than just secretary stuff) to call the Unversity to have them take a truck out there to pick it up and work on it.

Hopefully we will get a new truck. Unfortunately with our boss you tell him something that needs to be addressed or taken care of and you are lucky if it gets done. Peter, Mac and Mike had been telling Doc that the truck needs a new transmission, a new clutch or a new vehicle period for months now. Well the running joke now is that anything Mike drives for museum purposes breaks down and we should have done that a while ago; of course now we don't have anything that will work. So we are going to have to buy a vehicle to use now.

Back to the 18 wheeler. After we see the 18 wheeler- which by the way has a smashed front end- we wonder if accidentaly the 18 wheeler hit the truck and trailer and that is what caused the accident so we are waiting to get back to the museum to talk to JoAnn to make sure that the truck was picked up and not sitting in a montgomery tow lot.

Turns out the truck is sitting in the lot on SHSU West campus to get worked on. We finished unloading the trucks, brought the furniture into the back of the exhibit hall to be cleaned and repaired and then placed in the houses. I will be helping Sandy with that this summer at some point.

Day 3: I now know how to work a surger machine, the thing that makes a chain stitch on your clothes so it doesn't unravel. I had to surge the ends of my fabric. Then I washed it and in a few minutes will iron it to then start laying out the pattern to work on cutting and slowly putting my dress together.

Summer To-Do List

Here is a list of the tentative plans for the summer here at the office:

1. Make my day dress.
Have the material, pattern, thread, machine... just need to do it.
2. Make another work dress for me to use in the kitchen.
Indirectly have the pattern.
Just need to get the material and actually do it.
3. Do an inventory of the things in the historical houses with/for Sandy.
Not sure exactly how we are going to do this but we are going to do it. If anything thing it will be good to add to my CV
4. Vacuum out behind the display cases in the Rotunda.
i.e. become a Ghostbuster again. :)
5. Read some of the books that I have made a list of to read at work that in some way reference work and can get away with reading at work.
6. Work with Rebecca on updating the teacher packets.
Put it all in the same font and format; organize it better; save as one document in Word Publisher; update the information for k-3rd, 4th-6th and 7th-11th; possibly re write the confirmation letter; upload it to the website for teachers; possibly have a page up there for the teachers for them to find all the information that they need; and quite possibly more to come there...
7. Booklet of the Sam Houston Children
Sandy did a PowerPoint on the Sam Houston Children but that is it. So I got roped into doing a booklet for that indirectly by asking her if anyone had done anything on them. Most of them went on to be authors, novelist, politicians, writers, poets and stuff like that.
Need to do research for it.
8. Work on the Garden.
Maintain it; put veggies in there for the fall; learn more about growing vegetables.
9. There might also possibly if Peter has a say about it more tractor lessons.
10. Helping JoAnn with some filing.

I am sure that more will be added to this as it goes on.

Ghostbuster Vac and Red Hats

Today was another day that I can add to my list of things to put on my resume. (Or at least a CV. I really need to get that started or at least a list down.)

I helped the Collections Registrar clean the top of the display cases. In detail: Climb on top of a rickedy ladder behind the cases; swiffer dust cloth the dust on top of the plexi glass; vacuum up the pile with one of those vacuums you put on your back; climb down and go to the next case along with readjusting the angle of some of the lights. It was interesting because I got to go behind the cases and see what's back there. Nothing really just a little dust and extra lights and maintenance stuff like that.

The only cool thing from the experience is that the vacuum looks like a Ghostbuster's backpack. I even told Sandy that the vacuum might be lost during Halloween and use that as a costume. It would definitely be a classic. The one we have right now is in bad shape but the museum has no money in the budget to get a new one so we are going to have to make do with this one.

While doing it Sandy and I thought of a to-do thing to add to the summer to-do-list: vacuuming all of behind the cases- inside the mini walls-because there are little slots that are gathering dust.

Also 2 ladies from the Red Hat Society came in. That was a nice little diversion. I ended up googling it and reading how it started it is actually pretty interesting. It actually didn't start that long ago and has just completely come off the ground into something of its own. That and some of the things they were are fun to look at. I can see my aunt doing that unofficially with some of her friends. They get together every Thursday morning and have coffee at a hole in the wall cafe in Cali some days only a few show up others, everyone and they all can bring friends. I have even gone to a couple.

Heavy Machinery and Crops

AAARRGGGG I just typed out an entry and then lost it. Stupid computer!

Well Peter held his promise of teaching me how to drive the John Deer tractor. Wasn't on it more than 20 minutes and then decided to get off and try again later. It was a little intimidating I will admit. Tons of knobs and gears. I do know how to put the emergency brake on though, simple just put the scoop down.

I spent the last 3 days mowing part of the grounds. It was really easy to get the hang of. You just have to remember when to stop and start the blades rotating. Haven't figured out the patter to do it in though to get the most for your circuit. The John Deer mower is way easier to work than the Kubota one. The John Deer has a steering wheel while the Kubota has the levers on either side that you move. That takes a bit to get the hang of but is the more maneuverable one of the bunch. I was on that about 15 minutes and called it quits... way too confusing to work properly. I was doing a pretty good job mowing for my first time all things considered. And now I can put that on my resume. Not that it will help that much but at least I now know how to do it. The only thing with the John Deer is that the steering is really loose and easy to turn so when I got into my truck afterward the steering felt hard even though it is one of the easier vehicles to steer that I have driven before. I just have calluses now on my palms, but they will come off with Nivea or a least heal. They don't look like they are there but I know.

I also helped tickle the potato plants yesterday. Basically just moving the top soil around to find the potatoes that are growing on the top. It is really interesting and amazing the amount of potatoes just three rows will produce. It was a lot of fun to get out there and dirty up your hands just to see what your hard work of nurturing, weeding and watering can produce. Of course if the weather changed a bit we would be able to get some more but I don't think that that will happen anytime soon. Helen made the new potatoes with green beans and garlic and rosemary chicken for lunch.

I have some Cauliflower and Broccoli frozen in my fridge right now at home, waiting for me to make Baked Cauliflower and Ziti with. It is amazing how good fresh produce tastes. It almost makes me want to get a house right now just so I can have a garden. I know that when I do finally get a house I will have a vegetable garden and a lemon tree at least. I love fresh lemonade, nothing can beat it!

Also on the grounds we have 2 fig trees, 2 plum trees, and Helen's Herb garden. Any time you pass by you can just smell the herbs and they taste amazing. Helen used some in lunch today. There is also a patch of jasmine growing by the steamboat house and it smells amazing. It really helps make up for having to open the house 1.5 hours earlier than you are supposed to on a Saturday for a building rental.

Overall been a good week and not a whole lot more going on.

Folk Fest Summary

Well the Museum just got done with the General Sam Houston Folk Life Festival. It could have been a better success.

1. It rained Monday and Tuesday. By rained I mean poured so that meant there was hardly a chance it would clear up and be dry for the weekend, especially since it was fore casted with 30-50% chance precipitation all week. Yet I put my foot down and it said it wasn't going to rain and it didn't rain until Sunday morning.

2. Sunday morning it poured early in the morning. Nothing could be done about it. It just affected the museum grounds. Which had already been affected by the rain earlier in the week and the people walking on the grounds. (I'll talk more about the grounds in a minute.)

3. Because of the Swine Flu or H1N1 Flu as it is more professionally known, there were NO kids on Friday. Which is set aside as the educational day for the festival. Of 39 schools that scheduled to attend, 26 cancelled within the 2 days before. (We only found that out because I was tired of waiting in the Rotunda on Friday for kids to show up that never did.) The schools were required to cancel because from higher up the ISD's all school activities outside, field trips and extra curricular had been canceled. So of the 5,000 students expected to attend, maybe 500 showed up and this is being generous with the number.

4. Webb society decided to do a bake sale again this year which I get myself into heading again. Made enough cookies to sell some 200 bags turning a $1 profit for each bag after taking out the 46 that I spent on making the cookies and such. Well there are bags sitting on my dining room table right now. Since the kids didn't come we hardly sold any of the cookies. We even resorted to 2 bags for $1. I don't know how much we even made off those.

5. There were twice the number of food vendors this year as last because the person in charge of food vending didn't put a cap on the number of entries. So there was already going to be hostilities there. Well when the kids didn't show up, not only Webb, Folk Fest, and the Museum lost out of money but so did the food and craft/ product vendors.

6. Webb also spent money on binding cook books. I think that possibly 6 were sold, out of 50. Assuming they (the ones selling the goods and books) were able to keep up with the tally sheet I gave them. Also had left over coloring books from last year that we tried to sell, I'm not even sure we sold one.

7. The grounds looked amazing before; no I'm not sure that there is a correct way to describe them. They look awful because of the rain.

8. That reminds me, the Gulf Coast Boys were supposed to be here all weekend to pick up the trash around the grounds. Well after the lack of turn out on Friday they decided not to come the rest of the weekend. At least they told Folk Fest about it but that meant that the Volunteers had to pick up the slack.

9. There weren't as many volunteers as we would have liked there to be had we had the large group. But there wasn't so it really didn't hurt us this time.

10. Haven't seen the ducklings....

The bright things about this weekend:

1. There was no rain Friday or Saturday or Sunday afternoon. We are only open in the afternoon on Sunday. The sun was out. Heck it was hot and muggy but way better than it could have been.

2. Saturday wasn't as bad as it could have been with the Swine Flu. People still showed up and the weather was nice. There were things being sold and spirits were higher all around.

3. Sunday some of the food vendors didn't bother to come back. That meant that the ones that were there were able to scrap off a profit, if hardly.

4. I now have a new duty as assigned as a photographer. Last week I went around taking pictures of the grounds as before shots. I did some during on Saturday. (Side note: got an excellent one of port-a-potties underneath the Sam Houston Memorial Museum: A National Historic Landmark Sign.) Those were more of how the damage is caused. Trackers, vans, trucks from people driving in to set up. The high traffic areas, that sort of thing. Then there are the after shots... big divots in the ground, mud everywhere. It doesn't look good at all.

5. Friday turned out to be relaxing with out the school groups there. Saturday was as well for the most part. I heard the same about Sunday.

6. Thursday all of the tours for this week called to cancel because of the ISD's being grounded. That gives us more time to work on getting the grounds and our heads back in order for tours.

7. Some sodas were liberated for the Museum.

8. The dutch oven cooking was amazing. Amazing as always. We even started a Donation tub that I heard racked in some money.


This really isn't a plus or minus just more of a thing. Got the kitchen cleaned out. Then spent some time working on getting the kitchen cleaned and the stuff in the kitchen, like the crockery and the dutch ovens. We rinsed them off, scrubbed the dirt off and then ended up rubbing them down with shortening. My hands are fairly exfoliated now.

And Palmolive works wonders. Hands covered in grease, ashes, dirt, rust, etc. I turn on the hot water obviously to help get it all off and grab the dish soaps, it has to help cuts grease right. At least a little bit. Well let me tell you that stuff does work and it works wonders! One go with a glob of it hands were spot less. Helen and I even went into the office to show Mike and Rebecca the before and after to praise Palmolive.

Ducklings

Well now there are ducklings. I come into work last Thursday and am told I should be a proud mom. Turns out the nest that I couldn't get to had fertilized eggs in it and they hatched. There are now numerous ducks running around. Two almost adult ducks that I call teenage ducks. And 8 baby Mascovy ducklings. Used to be 11 but over the weekend nature got to them. IE nature being: the hawk, turtles, other ducks, car, cat, dog or the numerous brats running around the pond not being controlled by their parents.

That reminds me of the things that get on my nerves the most. People who can't be bothered to throw their trash away even though there is a trashcan less that 10 feet from them and instead are so inclined to throw it on the ground. People who throw trash out of their cars while they are driving. And people who let their children run around unsupervised with no regard for those around them, won't discipline their kids when they are doing something they shouldn't, get upset when someone tells their kids to stop doing something they shouldn't. URGGG I HATE STUPID PEOPLE!!!!

Back to the ducklings. Since the General Sam Houston Folk Life Festival is in 4 days, that means in 4 days there will 5,000+ students running, literally running around the grounds with their teachers/chaperons. So there basically is a small chance that the ducklings are going to make it through the weekend. Sad but true. Then today while picking up trash and cleaning around the grotto I found another nest, didn't know was there with 8 eggs. Had to pick them up because it would be better than her hatching them and having to watched them get picked off one by one. It hurts because the ducklings are so cute but you know what could and with a very significant chance hurt them.

Right now there are 9 geese eggs on the nest. Finally found a goose sitting on them. It was the one that the other geese wouldn't let hang out with them. So there is no telling if her eggs are fertile, if she is just laying them or if she was bullied into sitting on them. There really is no telling. But for right now the eggs are just going to stay where they are.

Back to the Folk Fest. Not sure how it will go this year since I will be working the other end of it. Basically all should be fine as long as I am just doing Museum stuff on the clock and as soon as I start to do Webb stuff I get off the clock. I don't mind working this weekend but some other social things have come up so I might not do it.

I received another duty as assigned last week officially. Wood to Kitchen hauler. LOL Its not that bad just got to take a bunch of trips cause I can only carry so much. But by the time you take into account picking up the wheelbarrow from the barn and taking to the Kitchen and back it is basically the same distance as just making the small trips.

I just did big trash in the creek and cleaning out the grotto instead of the big stuff. A. it was getting hot and humid outside. B. what is the point if in a few days it will be covered in trash. C. the Gulf Coast boys can do it during the weekend. D. I really didn't feel like picking up the little trash and glass today, even though it would have been a good day since the creek is low and the water isn't flowing.

Right now I am basically doing nothing. Can't really think of anything exciting that has happened. Oh wait I just remembered. But I'll save that for tomorrow.

Goings on of the past 2 weeks

Today, I saw another bride taking pictures at the Duck Pond. They were pulling up as I was walking over to unlock the building.

Duck Update: Daffy the black duck has two babies. At least she did Monday. Haven't gone to check on them. There are 4 geese eggs in the nest. Haven't seen any sitting on the nest but not too sure. Sandy said that we are just going to leave them for now unless they get to be too much. There are 6 geese total now, 3 weeks ago there were only 4. Duck eggs have slowed down quite a bit. That or they have found a new place. Just Monday I found that under a rotten tree where they were hiding them, there is a ledge in there and one duck sitting on something and she is not willing to move at all.

Monday, I finger painted with glue. LOL We are still working on making sure the new Margaret case is visually appealing and were re doing some fabric covered sticks. And we were spreading the glue with our fingers because there was nothing else. Mac then walks in to see what we are doing and Helen and I say we are finger painting with glue. It made me smile.

Since the Museum ran out of the general brochures, it is hard to direct people around the grounds without having a map to show them. So I scanned an old brochure took the map image, enlarged it and put in word document and now we have been using those. I feel accomplished because I was the one who did it.

The Tuesday we had a group of 7th graders that just didn't want to wake up. Well behaved but couldn't wake up. Wednesday we had the typical 4th graders but 150 of them. And the teachers need to realize that we can't accommodate that many students in the amount of time you want us to. They didn't get a chance to look around the grounds until about 10:30 for the tour and then weren't done until almost 12:45. 10 minutes isn't enough time to get the effective perspective of the grounds and houses.

The most annoying part is that the teachers get upset with us. Well maybe if you got here on time or earlier and already have your 8 classes split up into 6 groups instead of making us do it then it will run faster or maybe if you had even scheduled the tour to be 2 days instead of 1.

Another thing I noticed now, you have no idea how much money these kids are given by their parents that they are allowed to spend on field trips. TONS OF MONEY!!! I walked a thousand dollar deposit over to the Cashier's office. A thousand dollars spent on crap that kids will probably only use or play with for a little bit and then never see or use again. Granted I know I did that too but still. Little rocks, wooden pop gun, walking stick, stuff like that.

That reminds me... some people can be just plain rude. Tuesday night I worked late to cover for an rental. We need a staff member to be present to basically just make sure the place doesn't get burned down. It's easy and simple. Since I took the reservation and the student workers couldn't work it. I did it. While I was there a man came by and asked me if the Walker Education Center was the Museum. I said "No, this building is part of the Museum that has the gift shop and shows a 15 minute video about Sam Houston. The Main Museum is down the Wilderness Trail." "But the sign says Museum entrance." "This is one of the two but the place with Sam Houston's memorabilia is at the Main Museum." "Well then label this place right." And then storms off.

A. It was 6:30 at night. What museum do you know of in a small town is open at 6:30 at night? We have the hours posted on the Museum web page, Huntsville web page, on the multiple signs around the property. Take a chance to read those.
B. You came in through a back door. The sign that you had to obviously pass in the front to circle around the building to get to the back informed you that you were about to enter the Walker Education Center. Not the Sam Houston Memorial Museum
C. Be nice and don't walk away when someone is trying to help you buddy!