.... not what we hoped for, but the kids were so delightful! And the food was pretty good too. We ate out, missed the live music that was supposed to be at the restaurant, oh well... But Katie made yummmy blackbean and sweet potato burritos. Monica made quiche and I got the easy ham for Christmas day.
We went to a living history museum nearby called Vermillionville. Vermillionville is situated on the Vermillion Bayou and features plants and natural history as well as the craftsman and building styles of Louisiana settlement.
These are the "knees" of the cypress trees that grow along the waterways.
A certain little boy thought the tornado model was worth chasing.
A certain little girl loved the natural history hands on table with her uncle Seth.
This is the Spanish moss that hangs from the trees. It is soaked for a few weeks to dissolve the outer layer. What is left is called bousillage. It is mixed with clay and hung over rough lathe to build the homes. It then has thermal mass and is cool in the hot weather and warmer in the cold weather. The next photo is of a bale of bousillage (boo see auge)
The sticks poking out of the chimney are so the chimney can be pulled off the wall in case of a chimney fire. The chimney is bousillage and so is the house. The house has siding. I wonder if the siding is Oak or sweet gum or cypress? All of those are large timber trees that seem native to the area.
I enjoyed the textile area. The warping frame was about as big as one of the walls of a bedroom in this house. They were able to warp about 100 yards on that frame. They had cotton of various colors
The loom was impressive. It was roughly made overall, but smooth where it needed to be smooth. The reed was most impressive to me. The reed is the part of the loom that space the warp yards and keeps them lined up. It was made with small strips of cane threaded on the support structure and spaced by winding the same thread around the support. It was amazingly accurate.
T tasted the cotton.
His sister liked spinning the wheel.
It was fun to be somewhere new while everything was decorated for Christmas. This little vignette was in the school house.
French was outlawed in public schools until 1968. Yet is survives in families and ...
This fiddle player (in his nineties) had a nice soft French voice.
Some building details are shown in the above picture and the next several pictures. Homes are built up about 18 inches above the ground.
Doors were almost all double doors like this.
The front porches were broad and roofed
a water tank
a shutter holder
Don't know why they built the roof like this. I loved the soft blue, green and red paints
Many homes had exterior stairs from the porch on the back to the upper sleeping rooms. A way of providing for travelers and still having privacy I think.
This is a close up of the door hardware.
The last pictures of Vermillionville illustrate ways of living not common today.
Mosquito netting and trundle beds
hand dipped candles
1 comment:
what a neat christmas vacation! thanks for sharing!
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