Thirty-One Thresholds – Memories of Ginger Cookies and Grandmothers

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Making Cookies © 2014 Bo Mackison

I started a new photo/travel project a few weeks ago, a project, called Thirty One Thresholds.

Quite basic in its undertaking, the project encourages me to get out of the house. (A coping method when life gets a bit overwhelming, I morph into a hermit!)

Once out of the house, I go somewhere, almost anywhere, camera in tow, and consider the many thresholds I cross – literal or metaphorical…  Not a lot of rules. Keeping this low pressure and easy…

As I wrote in the first post when exploring the start of this project, I’m not sure what nuggets of wisdom I’ll discover or exactly what  I’m looking for… but I’m willing to believe I’ll find what I need to find — or it will find me!

Since I began on December 1st, I have visited a Mustard Museum (for fun and amusement), a tropical paradise in Madison’s Olbrich Gardens (for the illusion of summer and warmth), a walk in the neighborhood (which is as far as I could make it that day!) and a state capitol building (in search of spaciousness and the grand gilded art of an earlier time in architectural decor.)

Fun. Warmth. Tiny steps. Space. Art. A good start!

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Gingerbread Cookies © 2014 Bo Mackison

Last weekend I went to Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor history park that offers a glimpse of Wisconsin life — historic farms, artisan handcrafts, heirloom gardens, daily routines in rural Wisconsin in the mid to late 1800s.

A docent was baking gingerbread cookies at an old wooden table, the surface scattered with flour, a treasured rolling pin, cookie cutters hand fashioned from scraps of tin, and dark gingery dough! Though the time period was off by a few decades, the ginger cookie baking scene was reminiscent of the countless days I spent baking with my grandmother and great-grandmother.

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Keeping Warm © 2014 Bo Mackison

What a perfect threshold to walk across.

Hands warmed by an open fire. Hearts warmed by memories of the best of childhood times. And, as a bonus,  just-baked ginger cookies to enhance the memories.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Give Us This Day

Give Us This Day ©2009 Bo Mackison

Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse. ~ Henry Van Dyke

No matter the circumstances, there is always much for which to be thankful:

For the new dawn breaking in the eastern skies;

For the trees standing in silhouette, its stark beauty of a tree readied for the winter as it follows nature’s rhythm’s in preparation for new life;

For the earth in readiness for winter;

For my body in health, with the ability to stand and walk, to speak and sing, to think and write, to see and hear, to create, to take me where I need to go, to provide not only me, but for my family, my friends;

For those that love me and those that do not, I am thankful for the connections, the support, the lessons that I learn;

For all that I need and for much that I want.

I am thankful.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  Bo also gives thanks for the Brownie Holiday Camera she received when she was 8 years old, a gift that was the genesis of a lifelong passion.


The Gifts of Generosity – Sunday Series

Threshing ©2012 Bo Mackison

Generosity in working together to provide food.

Whitewashing the Fence ©2012 Bo Mackison

Generosity in working together to provide beauty and fun, memories in the making.

Gathering © 2012 Bo Mackison

Generosity in working together to make clothing and quilts for comfort and warmth.

Gardening at Koepsell’s Heirloom Farm © 2012 Bo Mackison

Generosity in working, growing food for the community.

Generosity — sharing talents for the betterment of self and community.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Photographs are from Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor museum of history. Eagle Wisconsin.

How to Make a Buttonhole Bouquet – Sunday Series

Flowers for Buttonhole Bouquets

Flowers for Buttonhole Bouquets © 2012 Bo Mackison

We visited Old World Wisconsin, a Wisconsin State Historical Site, during Laura Ingalls Wilder Days, August 4-5, 2012. We didn’t know about the special event, so we were pleasantly surprised to see all the hands-on activities at the different villages. When we arrived at the Koepsell Farm, in Yankee Village, a young farm couple (museum docents) were making tiny bouquets for anyone who wanted one to wear.

It was a rather celebratory crowd, since the weather was cooperative. It was a perfect walk-around kind of day.

Buttonhole Bouquets, Written Instructions c. 1870s

Making Buttonhole Bouquets © 2012 Bo Mackison

We stepped up to the table to pick out the flowers for my mini bouquet.

Each bouquet had three flowers, plus a bit of green foliage, fastened together in a foil wrap. The docent said the folks at Old World Wisconsin were following instructions from a womens’ publication dated from the 1870s, the oldest reference they’d found for making buttonhole bouquets.

I picked a peach colored rose, a purple zinnia and a yellow dahlia for my bouquet, plus a bit of greenery whose name I can’t remember. There were huge metal pails filled with flowers and greenery. What fun to choose from the many flowers and foliage!

Buttonhole Bouquets, Written Instructions c. 1870s

Wrapping Flowers into a Bouquet ©2012 Bo Mackison

Once I’d picked the items for my bouquet, the young woman cut the stems to arrange the flowers, then arranged the placed the foliage behind the flowers. She put a dab of wet moss in a square of paper, tucked in the bottom, and then rolled the paper around the stems. A large pin held everything in place.

 

A Lovely Woman and Entertaining Docent - Wearing a Buttonhole Bouquet

Docent with her Buttonhole Bouquet © 2012 Bo Mackison

One of the docents kindly gave me permission to take a quick portrait of her, wearing one of the buttonhole bouquets. She was taking a short break and she needed one! Her role that day was to rake the hay in a field into a large pile so the adventurous children could climb the hay pile and jump in the hay. The kids loved the activity, and she was enjoying herself, too.

Buttonhole Bouquet

My Buttonhole Bouquet © 2012 Bo Mackison

Here is a photo of my bouquet, propped on a wooden bench. What a fun and easy idea. And my bouquet stayed fresh until the next day. The moistened  moss provided enough moisture to keep the flowers in good spirits! And it was fun to walk through the outdoor museum, and see what flowers the many women and girls chose for their buttonhole bouquets. Great variety!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Each Sunday she posts a group of photographs on a theme – the Sunday Series.

Giving Thanks!

Window to My Heart © 2010 Bo Mackison

All the windows of my heart I open to the day. ~ John Greenleaf Whittier

I have much for which to be thankful. People who care about me, love me as I am. All the necessaries and many of the un-necessaries, too. A life filled with creativity and meaningful work. The big things. And, yes, the little things, too.

There is so much that opens my heart and fills my life with meaning. For that, I am immensely and deeply grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.