THE ALLING COVERLET MUSEUM - PALMYRA, NY

The building that the Alling Coverlet Museum is in, was originally owned by Senator Henry and his wife, Agnes Griffith, for the Palmyra Courier Journal Newspaper.  After the Senator's passing the paper merged with another paper and Mrs. Griffith donated the building to the Palmyra Historical Society.  I remember, as a child in elementary school, having a class tour through the building when it was the paper.

The Alling Coverlet Museum was established in 1976 by Historic Palmyra, Inc. to house the coverlet collection of Merle Alling.  In the early 1980's, descendants of Ira Hadsell donated to the museum diaries and account books which provided a unique look into the life of one of the more famous nineteenth century weavers.

Since it's founding many quilts and coverlets have been donated to the museum.  I donated the one and only quilt that my Mother made to the museum.  As there are so many quilts and coverlets in the museum they are rotated or changed every once in a while so they are all shown and appreciated.

What is not shown is the kitchen and conference area that it is the back of the museum.  In that area is their annual books sale, Christmas Sale, lectures, and more.  Most of the activities are used to raise money to support the museums.  Also not shown is the store that is in front of the Alling  museum where you can buy books, postcards, and more to take with you after the tour.

THERE ARE NEW POSTS FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

DOREEN HAS A POST ON COVERLETS FOR OCTOBER 18th.

ELMER: OCTOBER IS NATIONAL DWARFISM AWARENESS MONTH

First of all, I would like to say a belated Happy Birthday to New York State of Mind for it's one year on this blog.  I appreciate being let to put posts on here.  Marilyn was looking for a special post this week and in knowing me, you know I can always come up with something to say.

Thought you might be interested in knowing something about myself.  I was born with Ellis-van Creveld Syndrome.  I am a dwarf.  That is why I titled this post as a reminder that October is National Dwarfism Awareness Month.

People are considered dwarf if they are between the heights of 2 feet 8 inches to 4 feet 10 inches. I am just an inch shorter than 4 feet, with my boots off.  When I have my boots on, I stand 4 feet tall.  The chance is 1 in 150,000 that a child may be born with dwarfism.  The chance is higher (1 in 5,000)  in Old Order Amish because of intermarriage (someone marrying a distant cousin).

They believe this dwarfism can probably be traced to one Sameul King and his wife (who were Amish) who immigrated to the United States in 1744.   In tracing my genealogy, we found that we are distantly related to Sameul King who had brought Ellis-van Creveld into our country. In tracing genealogy of both my parents, it was found that both sides of the family were distantly related to Sameul King.

People come up to me and ask if I would like to be called dwarf, small person  or midget.  I tell them, I would prefer to be called Elmer.  If describing me, I prefer to be called small person or dwarf.  Dwarf people do not like to be called midget.

Both of my parents are average height.  In our family of 10 children, I am the only living child that's a dwarf.   As I got older, my parents told me that before I was born, they had another son that was born a dwarf, but died a few days after his birth.  When I was born, I had an extra pinky finger and toe, which were removed as a baby.  I had a great deal of problems with my teeth which ended when I had them removed and got dentures. Fortunately, as yet, I do not have heart problems which is in about 60% of the children born with Ellis-van Creveld. In obtaining the death certificate of my dwarf brother, I found the cause of death was heart. My parents were afraid that I, too,  would die of the same thing at a young age.  So far, thanks to the Lord, they have been proven wrong.

Regarding Anna and our children, we do not have any dwarf's among our children - they are all average height. Anna is also average height.   All of them and our grandchildren, so far, there are no dwarf children.

This leads to the question I was asked what does one of my son's do.  He has a furniture store, but he also has a store where he makes and sells items for dwarf people, as myself.  I remember when he and I went to a Dwarfism Convention and saw this little dwarf boy in this big wheel chair.  They make wheel chairs for average people and big people, but what about small people.  So my son got these people's name and after a lot of measuring the boy and figuring back home, came up with a wheel chair for the small person.  Word spread.  Small people wanted chairs, dining tables and chairs, bedroom sets and more.  Now, with the new box springs and mattresses beds being really high for us small people so he built me stairs to get into the bed.

Ellis-van Creveld Syndrome is not the only one. There are other syndromes that cause dwarfism.   Also, I want you to know that dwarf's, depending on what their church allows, are: farmers, accountants, doctors, teachers, actors and more.

Hope you have found this interesting and understanding of dwarfism or small people.   Have you ever met a dwarf and wanted to ask questions, but were afraid to ask?  This is the place to ask the questions, I will answer them in another post.

Trust God's Wisdom,
Elmer

THERE ARE NEW POSTS FOR FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

KEEP QUESTIONS FOR ELMER COMING.  ELMER WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ON OCTOBER 28th POST.

JEAN'S WALDORF SALAD

JEAN'S WALDORF SALAD

2 medium apples, diced (about 2 cups)
2 medium stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped nuts
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
1/3 cup raisins
lettuce cups

Toss apples, celery, nuts, marshmallows, raisins together with mayonnaise.  Spoon into lettuce cups.  If you like, you can garnish with maraschino cherries.  Makes servings for 4 to 6 people.

TOMORROW ELMER TELLS SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT HIMSELF.

SUE ANN'S PUMPKINS, TOMATO WORMS, SALAD DRESSING AND CHRISTMAS APPLES

  PUMPKINS ,  TOMATO WORMS,  SALAD DRESSING, and CHRISTMAS APPLES

Sounds like a great menu , hmmm?!!! hahaha......
Pumpkins are all the rage for this month, most everyone is doing pies, cakes, breads, rolls, puddings, BUT, do you know anyone making pumpkin / apricot butter?
Now, tomato worms..everyone gets them, everyone hates them, because they eat the leaves down to nibs on the tomato plants, and the plants need those leaves . Tomato worms are the "babies" of the five spotted hawk moth. They are the size of a hummingbird and are beneficial in flower pollinating.  Once the worm eats its fill, it will cocoon, then open into a "woolie caterpillar", in the case of the hawk moth, it will be a yellowish colored one. If you feel inclined to try this, do! It is a fun project, and you can watch Nature at Her best. Take a tomato worm, on the leaf it is on, stem and all, and put in a large jar, with a screen on the top. Feed it every day, fresh leaves , and it will shortly cocoon. You can watch it spin its silk. The woolie guy emerges, and you have to feed him too!!!! since it is almost winter, add different types grass clippings, and weeds to the jar. clean it out each day..the woolie will eventually bury itself in the grass and
 leaves. Keep the jar from freezing....put in the basement, in the dark, and come Spring,
put it on the porch and you can watch your Hawk Moth come out! You can also get the complete cycle, if you find one early in the Summer.....then you can release the moth, in early Fall.
hornworm_hawkmoth_1.jpg

           PUMPKIN, APRICOT BUTTER
1/2 lb. dried apricots
1 1/2 c water
2 c cooked, mashed, pumpkin
1. 3" cinnamon stick
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 1/4 c sugar

Soak apricots in water overnight, drain. reserve the water.
Cut apricots into thin strips, add reserved water, pumpkin, cinnamon stick, lemon rind, in a large pot. cover and simmer, 20 mins. Stir often.
Add apricots& sugar-stir til well blended. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer 30 mins., or til thick. Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick. Pour into pints, hot water bath- 10 mins. Yields 2 pints. can double recipe.
                         CHRISTMAS APPLES
2 lemons
4 c sugar
2 c water
16 crab apples ( 2 lbs)- NOW....crab apples are not common in markets, and are hard to find a tree, if you don't know anyone, use smaller apples, they will be just fine. Crab apples are the size of a golf ball., a tad bigger...not by much.

Core the apples whole, and carefully peel,
Halve, seed, thinly slice lemons, mix with sugar and water in pot, heat to boiling, cook, stir, skim, til syrupy- about 5 mins. cool to lukewarm.
Put WHOLE  apples in syrup. Heat to boiling, simmer 10 mins.,remove from heat, let stand overnight. The next day, heat to a boil , simmer til apples look clear-about 30 mins.
Put in 16 oz. jars, hot water bath 10 mins, yields 6, 16 oz. jars.
It is nice to do these early in the Fall, as they will be ready and tasty by Thanksgiving, or Christmas.

                                 WALNUT / BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

1/2 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c finely chopped shallots or onions
1.4 c lemon juice
3 T honey
1/4 t coarse salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
3 T walnut oil

Blend all well together with a whisk, keeps well up to 3 days.
If you cannot find walnut oil, use a T olive oil, add to it, smashed walnuts- 4 or 5 halves, let sit in the oil overnight, then strain. I have actually left the walnuts in the dressing..adds a bit of texture.
Yields: 1 1/4 c
Enjoy these treats! make what you can, while they are all in season...they will be fun to eat a few months from now...especially in January!!!!
                        An Extra Added on recipe

Have apples and pears left over and are maybe not so fresh anymore? Get out your cast iron skillet. Melt 6 T butter in the skillet, on the stove. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, peel, core, apples and pears, about 5 med of each. Put them in the frying pan with the butter and let them simmer low-mix 6 t sugar, 1/4 t nutmeg, 1/4 t cinnamon, mix well, sprinkle over the fruit in the skillet. Whisk well, 4 eggs, 1/2 t salt, 1 c milk, 1 c flour-whisk til smooth. Pour over fruit in skillet, put in oven. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 mins, turn heat down to 350 degrees, bake 10 mins more. Take out and eat! It is a cross between a pancake and a pudding....great for a quick warm supper, or lunch- add 10x sugar over the top, or use syrup or a jam.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

JEAN

Happy Birthday for New York State of Mind.  This year has sure flown by.  It seems we just started, but it has been a year already.  I guess, it was partly my fault in how New York State of Mind got started.  When Richard was going to change Amish Stories, which is now Pure Country Living, I would only go on posts by either Richard or Marilyn - no one else.  Marilyn agreed to have a blog, but didn't know how to make one up or how to use it, so a year ago today Richard told Marilyn to go to a certain place on the computer - and there was New York State of Mind.

I thank everyone for coming and reading my posts, my Grandmother Olive's posts, Martha's posts, Kevin's post , and Elmer's posts.  Also, I thank you for putting up with my families movings, our good times and not so good times.  It does surprise me that you are interested in all of our lives and ways of living.  I thought that my posts would only be on for just a few weeks on Amish Stories.  No one would be interested. and yet I have been on both Amish Stories and New York State of Mind.   I thank you all for reading the posts, asking questions, praying for us and more.  You are all so kind people.

What gets me, is that on a computer, my posts go all around the world.  It is hard for me to understand even though Marilyn, Edward and Michael try to explain how it works.  I don't understand, but am glad it does.

Again, thank you for coming to New York State of Mind.  Lord willing, we will all keep going on with the posts and I hope you still find them interesting.

Be With God,
Jean

MARILYN

As Jean said, this year has flown by.  I thank Richard, so much for starting New York State of Mind.  I thank Jean and all that have put posts on here both Old Order Mennonite, Amish and Englisher's .  You are what keep New York State of Mind going.  Also, I thank all the people from the United States, Canada and all around the world that read and comment on this blog.

Just for some interesting facts on New York State of Mind.  This is post 249 that has been put on since it was founded.  We have 46 members, but lots more people that read, and comment. Please keep coming.  Your readings and comments are the reason I keep going.   So far our total page viewers as I write this are 85,092.  In the month of September, alone, were 10,111.  The posts that had the most views are: Jean's Creamsicle Salad (3/27/13), Amish and Mennonite Items (2/19/13), Gorham Fire Department (5/10/13), Jean's Grandmother's Wood Burning Stove (1/25/13) and Jean's Day (3/18/13.

What surprises me is that some posts I put on that I think a lot of you would be interested in gets low views, while some I think won't get a lot of views get hundreds of posts.  All the posts I put on, I hope will interested most of you.  I try.

We have covered a lot of topics on here in one year.  Jean, her family and the others she has gotten to put posts on are, I believe, the most interesting.  I have put on some posts, not to get you angry or upset, but to let you know what is going on especially in the pet area.  Also, I have tried to keep items on that would interest, at least some of you, in one way or another.

As we start our second year, I hope you will all stay with New York State of Mind.  Of course, Jean, Grandmother Olive, Martha, and Elmer plan on giving us more posts. I thank them so much for all they have done and will do here.  Even Pierre wants to put on some more posts.  I hope I put on things that interest you and keep you coming to New York State of Mind.

Thank you all for coming.  All your posts and comments mean a lot to me.  I hope you will continue coming.

Happy Birthday New York State of Mind,
Marilyn

ELMER IS COMING THURSDAY.  HE TELLS SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT HIMSELF.

I HAVE PUT SOME AMISH AND MENNONITE ITEMS IN MY STORE WITH MORE TO COME. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LOOKING, JUST PUSH WHERE IS SAYS FAMILY LIFE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS BLOG.

LAST JIM ERDLE TRACTOR AUCTION POST - PART 5

In addition to the tractors are the special sign they had for this auction, the screen they sold the tractors from, some of the people that came and finally different items they had for sale on the screen.  This is the last of the Jim Erdle Tractor Auction posts.  I hope you enjoyed them.  Thank you all for viewing them.

JIM ERDLE TRACTOR AUCTION - PART 4

Here are some more of the tractors at the auction.  Tomorrow will be the last post of Jim Erdle Tractor Auction.