I almost forgot with all the crazy things going on here, like one little boy chipping his tooth, getting it repaired, then chipping it again, my kitchen windows being torn out so that new windows can be put in, along with new siding, getting the house somewhat presentable so several little girls can come to quilt, getting ready to go to Jamestown, homeschooling, etc. But today is a special day.

I’ve been blogging at Buried Treasure for SIX years! I never dreamed I’d be here for so long or get to meet so many wonderful people because of my late-night scribblings.

I would love to hear from you today. I don’t usually ask much of you, but if you would leave me a comment for my anniversary, it would make me happy and maybe even convince me that this has been a worthwhile endeavor .

I also would like to give away some more books (to be announced later, when I have more time, the quilting ladies are due soon) in a drawing for anyone who comments today, before midnight, left coast time.

Thank you all so much for reading!

I have been doing some heavy-duty research about Jamestown in order to be better prepared for our trip, reading the best history books to glean information which will enrich our time there: children’s books. Today, I was looking through our American Heritage Junior Library copy of Jamestown: First English Colony, and I discovered a fascinating fact.

In 1609, several ships of the Third Supply venture of the Virginia Company were sent to replenish the stores at Jamestown and to bring new colonists (most of whom were “loafers and renegades”). The supply ships were a welcome relief as the Jamestown colonists had discovered that rats had destroyed half their grain supply, but the new colonists were a great disappointment. Two of the ships which had been sent in the fleet had not finished the journey to Virginia, both disappearing in a violent hurricane which lasted 44 hours. One was the flagship Sea Venture. Though the ship was damaged, all aboard survived and made it to land at Bermuda, including John Rolfe, who would later marry Pocahontas, as well as contribute to the financial success of Virginia by introducing a milder form of tobacco for cultivation.

One of the investors in the Third Supply was Henry Wriothesly, Shakespeare’s patron. Admiral Sir George Somers, captain of Sea Venture was also a friend of Shakespeare’s, and the company’s secretary and scribe, William Strachey, had been a part-time playwright in London. Strachey, during the ten months they were stranded in Bermuda, wrote a detailed account of the shipwreck and life on the island. Shakespeare read stories and letters of the hurricane and dramatic shipwreck and was inspired to write his play, “The Tempest.”

The Bermuda survivors, which also included governor-elect of Jamestown, Sir Thomas Gates, built two new ships from the wreckage of Sea Venture and some local cedar—the 30-ton pinnace Patience and the 80-ton barque Deliverance. Patience and Deliverance set out for Jamestown, arriving in ten days. There they found only 65 survivors of almost 500 people who had been in Jamestown when Captain John Smith returned to England the year before. They loaded the pitiful survivors of the “Starving Time” on board and prepared to return to England, when God providentially sent Lord Delaware, the new governor, with relief, and they all returned to Jamestown, where a sermon of thanksgiving was preached.

And to th’ adventurers thus he writes be not dismayed at all,
For scandal cannot doe us wrong, God will not let us fall.
Let England knowe our willingnesse, for that our worke is goode;
Wee hope to plant a nation, where none before had stood.
~from “The Lost Flocke Triumphant” by Richard Rich, published in 1610

This state may have problems, but where we live we have the best thrift stores. Maybe it’s all the people leaving the state, unloading unnecessary items, but by buying wisely this big family manages to dress pretty snazzy and read pretty widely and now we are sitting pretty pretty.

While on the never-ending quest for glossy black 6-inch square bullnose tile, I stopped by a thrift store on the way home to look at the furniture, as our new office/guest house digs are going to need some furnishing soon. I found a black highboy dresser with silver pulls which will be very classy in the blue bedroom, and I also snagged a sofa. We had two sofas in the family/living room (not to be confused with the parlor). One was a sleeper sofa, very convenient for guests, but not much else to recommend it as the cushions were going flat and it lacked panache. Since we are going to have new guest quarters soon, it didn’t take long for me to decide to buy the like new Lane sofa with tan, brown, and blue stripes, in a style which matches the other sofa. Out with the old, in with the new. I wasn’t driving the pickup today, so when I got home, Pieter went to pick up the new furniture in the pickup for me. We can fit about five people on the sofa, if one doesn’t mind a little propinquity.

I also bought one other item which I sadly don’t need, but I thought maybe someone could make a home for it. It’s a long black evening maternity dress, size Small. It was so pretty, I just couldn’t leave it hanging in the store. I was hoping someone out there would like to have it. It’s floor-length, nylon, and dry clean only. It has short sleeves and a square neck and a tie in the back. It is slightly fitted in the back and has darts in the side of the bodice front. There is a vent at the bottom to make it possible to walk comfortably in the dress. Since I am such a midget, I doubt it would fit me properly, but someone 5′4″-5′5″ (with heels) or taller would be lovely in it. I don’t think the hem could be raised as the bottom of the dress has a velvety pattern embossed on it, similar to a paisley print, also black. I think there is quite a bit of room for a growing tummy in the front, though it will cling to a fairly large tummy; it is adjustable with the ties. This is a modest dress, but depending on your comfort zone, be aware that the square neck is rather wide and you may need to do some pinning of straps. If you are an extra-small (size 4) it might be a bit too large for you. I hope that’s enough detail!

The first pregnant person to email me (carmon(at)softanswer(dot)com) asking for the dress, it’s yours, my treat. I will send it out Priority Mail. I hope someone can wear it while going out for a nice dinner with her husband My only requirement is that you send me a picture of you wearing it . If you promise, then I’ll post a picture of me on Memorial Day, going down the zip line wearing camo.

I am very morbid. I have a fascination for epitaphs, something I have written about here a few times. I have even written my own epitaph.

Magistramater posted a lovely picture of the brave Margaret Wilson, who died for her faith in Scotland, with her elder friend, also named Margaret (the “two Margarets”). The younger Margaret’s epitaph reads:

Within the sea, tied to a stake,
She suffered for Christ Jesus sake.

I’ve been working on another collage journal, for all my notes on our Jamestown trip, and I have been searching all over for items to make it look really noteworthy . I dug through the box of postage stamps we have collected over the years (which keeps getting passed from child to child, and which I have found is a great source for adding just the right touch to a collage), and hit paydirt with a couple of Virginia stamps. I looked at the Jamestown Quad Blog for a couple of quotes to print in an appropriate font, and I found Captain John Smith’s epitaph there, also poetic:

Captain John Smith
Sometime Governour of Virginia
and Admiral of New England
who departed this life the 21st of June 1631

Here lyes one conquered, that hath conquered Kings,
Subdu’d large Territories, and done Things
Which to the world impossible would seem
But that the Truth is held in more esteem.
Shall I report his former service done
In honour of his God and Christendom?
How that he did divide from Pagans three
Their heads and lives, Types of his Chivalry?
Or shall I talk of his Adventures Since,
Done in Virginia, that large Continent:
How that he subdu’d Kings unto his yoke,
And made those heathen flee, as wind doth smoke:
And made their land, being of so large a Station
An habitation for our Christian Nation
Our god is glorify’d, their Want supply’d
Which else for Necessaries must have dy’d.
But what avails his Conquests, now he lyes
Interr’d in earth, a Prey to Worms and Flyes?
O may his soul in sweet Elysium sleep,
Until the Keeper that all Souls doth keep,
Return to Judgement, and that after thence,
With angels he may his Recompense.

There’s a lot to satisfy one’s morbidity in that!

The girls and I were singing an Indelible Grace version of the hymn “Jesus, I Come” (you can hear generous samples of all their hymns on their website), when it struck me that it would make a great hymn for a funeral. Every once in a while (usually during church, where I whisper it), I notice that a certain hymn would be nice for a funeral and I tell my children. Tonight it was “Jesus Paid It All.” Gracie told me to write them down. If I write them down, that seems rather final, though, and I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.

Though it does appear I just did it…

What songs would you want at your funeral?

(Note: I finally changed out of my exercise clothes in the sidebar, and I added a new poll.)

This afternoon I had to head to town in the pickup truck to do some errands. Tell me if these things sound like your idea of Prairie Muffin meanderings:

• To the gun store to take a test for a handgun safety certification (I got an A+)
• To the outdoor equipment store to take in a sick weedeater for repairs
• To the hardware store, to pick up more tile for a construction project we are trying to wrap up

After all that, of course I had to turn into the parking lot of the thrift store on the way home, and it was a no-brainer to grab the handmade purple apron covered with black, pink, and white cross-stitch and kloster blocks and put it in my basket. Some books also found their way into my basket(s). I don’t have time to list them all tonight, but I was thrilled to find a bunch of picture books with quilting themes, all from the same person’s library (her name was in each book). The girls and I have picked up quilting with Miss Em again, finally finishing the sampler quilts we had begun but laid aside when we became busy in Coloma. I can’t wait to show her these books. They were half-price today, each costing a whole quarter, except for the last one, which was 50 cents.

The Bedspread by Sylvia Fair
Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt by Lisa Campbell Ernst
The Boy and the Quilt by Shirley Kurtz
Texas Star by Barbara Hancock Cole
Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet by Ann Whitford Paul
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco (this one is autographed!!)
My Grandmother’s Patchwork Quilt by Janet Bolton (this book has a pocket in the back with muslin quilt “blocks” with pictures from the story printed on them, to make the quilt that is in the book as you read it, and there are instructions on how to assemble a real quilt using the blocks)

From My Grandmother’s Patchwork Quilt, illus. by James Bolton, thanks to Art.com