When we bought our land here in Texas it was our first time to live in the country. At first it seemed that we had even bought my ancestors land but was a different family and we were 1/2 mile from it. We have had chickens, geese, ducks, horses, cow, numerous dogs & cats. We have made soap and tanned our first hide. It isn't as soft as storebought but we learned a lot. Every time I go out or drive down the roads I picture what our family just 100 years ago saw and experienced. We are attempting a larger than normal garden this year. I truly recommend the experience if at all possible. With the economy as it is we may all need the skills. It is getting really serious here in Texas as well. Peggy ----- Original Message ----- From: "d bellis" <dbellis@agsourceinc.com> To: "germanna colonies" <germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 11:36:30 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] Walking your ancestor's step When my husband retired, we bought an old farm (house is 120 yrs) on the Little Kanawha River, a tributary of the Ohio River, in WV - only to learn later that Abraham Thomas (and perhaps his father, Michael, my 5th ggrandfather) claimed and settled, at least temporarily, on "land in Monongalia Co on the Main fork of the little Kanaway (Kanawha) on the south side of said Kanaway to include his Settlement made in the year 1774" (Core). They have paddled up and down the river that runs by our house. We garden, have chickens, eat deer meat and fish, and are 2 mi of dirt road to the nearest neighbor, and it's dark at night and quiet. I often think I have some sense of how folks lived -- and then use my satellite internet connection to learn the weather forecast and whether the river will flood, and have my fresh roasted coffee beans delivered by FedEx - so I remind myself, it's only the slightest inkling. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GERMANNA_COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message