Historic Howland House & 19th c. Farm Museum

If you are coming to the Chistmas Music on the porch tomorrow, hopefully the red phase screech owl will be around to see!! A blowy, snowy afternoon doesn't stop this magnificent creature from getting some shut eye before the night time hunt!

Setting up for Saturday's LIVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!! Hopefully it will be calm with just a little snow like this!! But dress warm!! I've got 10 lawn chairs, but it's good to bring your own and just leave them in the car in case... Setting up seating groups more than 6' apart to be safe!!

I put lights on the Ice House!! My first outdoor Christmas lights!! I LOVE them! And it totally reminds me of Snoopy's dog house with lights on it

The bonfire is ready for Howwlll-and Halloween on Oct 30th!

There are several fun, Covid-friendly things to do this Saturday for Christmas in Aurora!! Stop by here for LIVE Christmas Music at the Museum. I've got 2 groups playing, starting at 1:00. TBD how long they play for, about 45-60 min each, depends on the weather! Prizes for "Best Christmas Cheer Costumes"!!!! More information in the EVENT!

Here is me with some other totally great Christmas Cheer Costumed folks!! You've got one week to start picking out what your ensemble will be for the Dec. 6th Christmas Music event!! There haven't been many opportunities this year to dress up and have fun, so here's your chance to go all out!! (Pro tip: long underwear!!) I'll be posting what the PRIZE is for 'Best Christmas Cheer Costume' later this week!!

The Red Phase Screech Owl was very interested in looking down at the #howlandhousekittens who were also interested in looking up at the owl!

The red phase screech owl in the horse chestnut tree yesterday seemed like it was taking a rest before it's evening hunt. I was surprised to see how BIG it's eyes looked and it was cool to see them blinking and closing for restful moments.

Look at the beautiful Red Phase Screech Owl that was sitting in the horse chestnut tree closest to the Ice House for 2 hours yesterday afternoon! My step-dad, an avid birder, says they are quite uncommon! #redphasescreechowl #owlsofnewyork

The chickens have been helping me in my search for artifacts! Their gentle scratching in the dirt behind the kitchen has helped to reveal several more items, including this tool yesterday! If you look closely, you can see that the weight at the bottom is a different metal than the handle. It is heavy, and my first thought is that it's an old plumb, but I've never seen a plumb bob attached to a handle - anyone else have any ideas?? ** One of my followers responded on my Instagram post that it could be a soldering iron - and after looking it up, that is most definitely what it is!! I've attached a pic below.

Here is a front view of the chicken coop I built, which was based on an 1891 illustration. I decided to flip flop the location of the egg hatch and human door, and moved the chicken arch door to the other side. I haven't put wheels on yet, and will be choosing ones that are much more stable than the narrow ones in the illustration. And the slats on the vents I did not add in order to get maximum air flow over the summer. I repurposed old deck boards for the siding to best imitate the Victorian illustration. I had these laying around from a deck I dismantled about 5 years ago, just waiting for a great use!! The rectangular chicken run on the front is not attached so as not to interfere with the historic integrity of the coop.

This is the primary source illustration from which I based my design for my chicken coop. It is from the 1891 book by Edward Brown: Poultry Keeping as an Industry for Farmers and Cottagers. I thought it was cool that the moveable chicken coop, which is so popular today, was not a new idea!! I actually came across a handful of moveable coop illustrations in a variety of Victorian books!

Enjoy a socially distanced Halloween parade, dance performances by the Witchy Women of the Finger Lakes and a bonfire on October 30th, 6:30 - 9:30! See the Event for all the details!!

There are so many fantastic pieces in this large donation of historic clothing, but they have been unused and boxed up for so long that I'm finding a lot of mold and some severe water damage. It is critical that I get all of the items out of boxes this November to access the ones needing immediate attention. I will be looking for volunteers in November and December so stay tuned!

The beige silk dress, black coat and red velvet hat on the mannequin to the left, and the tan duster on the mannequin to the right are all items from the large donation of historic clothing and accessories I received over the summer! I'm so thrilled to be gifted these items and to be able to display them for the community!

Last week, I unpacked about 6 boxes of the historic clothing donation in order to find items appropriate for the 19th Amendment Celebration. I put items on the best hangers I had that fit their shoulders and filled up one rack.

If you want some eggs and would like to bring your kids over, LMK beforehand and I'll make sure there are some in the nest so they can learn what it's like to get eggs right from the coop! There's nothing like the experience of collecting your own eggs to learn about where our food really comes from!!

The full moon was still out early Saturday morning when I was up getting ready for the celebration! It was such a beautiful morning!! Stay tuned for an event post about the Oct 30th Costumed Parade and Full Moon Witches Fire!