Treadle Sewing Machine and Tennessee Sorghum

One of the last blooms of the summer on my pink hydrangea.  I'd been putting coffee grounds on my hydrangeas so the blooms would be blue or purple, but I've stopped doing that since I noticed the one I put the most on didn't bloom at all this season.  Oops, live and learn they say.  Better pink than none then.

 In my last post I mentioned I'd been looking for a treadle sewing machine, and find her I did at an antique store near us.


 They are getting hard to find so I was glad to get one in pretty good condition.

She's a very basic 1926 Model 66, but I'm a basic sort of seamstress so I think we'll get along well.   

In this photo she is still very dirty and without a few necessary parts like a belt and spool pin, but she's clean now and new parts have been installed.  I really wanted to have a machine that doesn't require electricity.  This one fits the bill beautifully.  I'm still learning to treadle efficiently, but I'm really enjoying the learning.

Have you ever seen one of these? They smelled like a perfume when we first found them then slightly of an orange scent after a day or two. I'd read about them in books, but I had no idea what they were until we were out driving one day and found them in the roadway.  They are the fruit of a small tree that was popular with Native Americans and also early settlers, the Osage Orange.  Native Americans used the wood of the tree for their bows because it would bend just right.  Early settlers planted them profusely as hedges for cattle as they have long thorns that discouraged wayward cattle from leaving their homesteads.

This is our turnip greens bed and much fuller and nearly large enough to pick now.  Love them greens.  One of our favorite meals consists of turnip greens and country ham on biscuits.  Can't wait.

Yesterday Goodman and I took a 2-hour road trip to Muddy Pond, Tenn.   I wanted to get a jar of fresh sorghum, and a family there makes it the old-fashioned way which is fun to watch.  I took pictures with my cell phone, but they are not good.  I'm posting this youtube video from Tennessee Crossroads so you can get a good tour of our destination.