Animals

We have lots of animals here in Nauvoo.

When we first came, the deer were so little Elder Knudsen started calling them greyhounds.  It's pretty much like home though - deer in our backyard.

 

There are lots of raccoons but we've never seen any live ones - they're pretty sneaky - but we see lots of dead ones on the highway.  I tried not to show too much gore.

We have lots of turtles too.  In the spring they lined up on the logs in the Mississippi.  It was hard to get pictures though because if you stop the car, they just slide into the water.

 





 

There are squirrels everywhere.

 



And rabbits.

 



During the winter there were thousands of geese.

We had several eagles.

There are the bluest blue jays (no pictures - sorry) and really pretty red cardinals.  My picture came out really blurry though through the screen door.

The pelicans liked to line up on the logs too.

 

Elder Knudsen went to the woodshed at the family living center and yelled.  I came running and found this interesting creature plastered across his stomach.  He didn't leave it there long enough for me to take a picture though.

 

 

Here's another little friend Elder K found at the Family Living Center.

 







 

And then there are the horses that rule Nauvoo.  They work really hard pulling wagonloads of people all day, so they deserve to rule - and rest when it gets too hot.  There are several teams and they are GORGEOUS!!!  Here are just a few of them.

 

Tim & Tom

 

Chad & Champ

Mick & Chuck

 

Dan & Doc



 And then there's Jesse and Owen - the oxen

 

We have some baby oxen too - well they were babies last summer but I didn't get pictures and they got lots bigger.  They are still being trained.  Their real names are Abe and Ike but Sister Brown unofficially renamed them Oreo & Double Stuff.  They wouldn't cooperate so I could get their picture together of course.  They look very much alike so I don't know which is which.

 

 

 

 

We also have tons of bugs.  I didn't get pictures of the huge mosquitos or may flies or the awesome fireflies or the nasty little chiggers.  But I did get a picture of a cicada - I love to listen to them but they are UGLY!

 

 

This is how big this one was.

 



 

We also have lots of possums and skunks.  We smell the skunk behind our apartment often enough that I don't want to chase him down for a picture. 

 

The animals here seem to know what a special sacred place this is.  Many of them will just stop and look at you and listen to you talk to them.  I'd love for SOME of them to answer back.



 

 



 

 

 

 



Nauvoo Sunsets

This one's for you Jason.  I can't get my pictures to look like yours but we have some pretty nice sunsets here too. 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started walking in the morning so I even got a few sunrise pictures.

 

 

 

 

But sunsets are my favorite.















 





Family Living Center (Breadmaking)

I'm sorry I haven't posted for so long.  We have been REALLY busy.

Bread making at the Family Living Center is very interesting.

 We make our bread the old fashioned way - no bread mixers here.

 

Have you ever seen a bustle oven? 

 

 

We bake bread in ours almost every day in the summer.  It's built on the outside of the wall so it makes a little bump (like a bustle) on the outside of the building.

 



 

 We build a fire right inside the oven and let it burn for a couple of hours to heat up the bricks. 

 

Isn't that just the cutest little wheelbarrow?  The wheel was made the same way the wagon wheels were made back in the 1840's.  Elder K loves it.  Here's a better view.

After the fire burns for a couple of hours you test it by holding your hand on the bottom brick above the door.

If you can hold it there for not more than 5 seconds, it's time to take the fire out.

 

 

Then, to see if the oven is hot enough, you roll up your sleeve and stick your whole arm inside the oven as far as you can.  If you can hold it there for 15 seconds, it's perfect for bread.

 

 

Hopefully your bread has risen at the same time the oven is ready - so in it goes.

 

 

Put in the wooden door and time it for about 20 minutes.  If it's too hot it will come out black on the outside and doughy on the inside in only about 10 minutes.  But if you do it right - YUMMY

 



 





 

Family Living Center (Candlemaking)

Candle making was a family activity in Nauvoo (as most of the hard work was) and usually took place in the fall of the year.

The young girls would unravel old worn out clothing to get the threads and braid them together to make the wicks.

The boys would go out and gather rocks (jagged ones) and sticks.  They would whittle the sticks to make them smooth, tie on the wick, and then tie the rock to the bottom of the wick.

They would make up a whole bunch of these ahead of candle making day.  A good candle maker with the help of her family could dip about 200 candles a day, but it took many more days to get prepared.

The father would butcher an animal, the meat would be prepared for eating, and the fat saved for making candles. 

They would build a fire outside and put water in this big pot along with the fat.  They might boil it for days.  The impurities in the fat would go to the bottom and the good fat would float on the top.  They would scoop it off, dump out the dirty water, put in clean water and boil the fat again, until all the impurities were out. 

They added alum to the tallow to keep it from getting rancid and smelling bad.

Then they would start dipping.  The tallow had to be the right temperature because if it was too cool, it wouldn't dip smooth, if it was too hot, it would just melt off what they already dipped.  Dip once, hang it up and dip the next one.  When they were finished, they would start over again, continuing until they had their candle the size they wanted.  Then they cut off the rock and put it back in the pot.

Each time the candle was dipped it became a little more useful and would burn a little longer.  Just as each spiritual experience we have, strengthens our testimonies.  Each good thing we do helps us to become a better person, a better example to everyone around us.   

When the candles were made, they needed a place to store them so they built little boxes with lids.  They put in straw to keep the candles separated and then either put them in their root cellar or dug a shallow hole and buried them until they were needed.

 
Inside the house they could use a candle safe made of tin to keep the critters from nibbling on those yummy candles.

 

And outside, they would need a lantern to protect the candle.  The tinsmith would punch the holes so that the rough side was out.  That would deflect the wind and not allow it to blow out the candle.

Candle molds were available, but they were expensive and the people didn't have a lot of money.  What they did have they were using to build the temple.  The molds seem like they would be easier to use but when the tallow was poured in all at once, it took longer for them to set up and they also were full of bubbles, so they didn't burn as efficiently.  Also notice how skinny the candles would be - they wouldn't burn as long.

 

We are not certain that "courting candles" were used during the Nauvoo period, but everyone loves hearing about the courting candle anyway.

 

If a young man liked a young woman, he would come to visit at her home in the evening.  The father was in charge of the courting candle. The rule was that when the candle burned down to the first rung on the candle holder, it was time for the young man to go home.  If the father did not like the young man, he would adjust the candle as low as it would go, so he would have to go home right away.

 

 

 But if Daddy liked the young man, and thought he would make a good husband for his daughter, he would adjust the candle up high so he could stay a long time.

 

 

So, boys, if you really like a girl, impress her Dad !!!!!!

 

I cannot even imagine living without electricity.  I guess if you like to camp, it wouldn't be so bad, but most of you know how I feel about camping.  It's just one more reason I am soooooo grateful to live now and not back in the 1840's.



Prairie Grass Fire

I'm going to interrupt my description of the Family Living Center to tell you about a really cool activity/tradition that happens every spring here in Nauvoo. 

When we first came last May, we were shown how the Saints were assigned land.  The blocks were laid out in 4 acre plots and then divided into 1 acre for each family.  One of these blocks is left kind of like a park - no houses, just trees and grass.  One quarter is not mowed all year - it's allowed to grow to show how big the 1 acre plots are.  This is what it looked like when we first got here.  (in the background)

 

Through the summer it grew and grew until it was taller than Elder Knudsen.

 

 

Then the drought came and dried everything up.  So this is what it looked like on April 1, 2013. 

 

 

The prairie grass is burned in early spring of each year to show the danger prairie fires were to the pioneers.  Prairie fires can burn up to 70 mph and can be very dangerous but the fires help prepare the land for a new growth of grass.

 

 As soon as everyone completed their site shifts at 5:00 p.m. we gathered at a house across the street for a hot dog roast.

 

 

 

Then, when it was time to burn, it only took 3 - 5 minutes to go from this . . . 





 

 

 

 

 



 

 

To this . . .

 





 



 

We were protected by our local fire department,

 

 

but I can only imagine how frightening a prairie fire must have been to the pioneers.