More gifts............

I am not one for perfumes but there is one that I do love and it's because it smells fresh and clean like soap and water freshness.  It is by Philosophy and is called Amazing Grace and it is...........

I have been without it for several years now and I missed it.  So, I bought myself some and I am so glad I did.  I love it and it makes me SO happy!

I  have been searching for a long time for some books that were out of print....and I finally found them at a reasonable price.  They are big "cocktail table" books and those are usually pretty pricey.  

These 2 books were written and photographed by Archie Lieberman and I wasn't even aware they existed until a few years ago.  They are a photographic journey through the life of a farm family that farmed in the same area where I grew up.  In fact, he started photographing the Hammer family about the time I was 5 years old and the Hammer son was 13.....he would be 86 this year.  I wonder if he's still alive?  How I would love to sit down and talk to he and his wife if they are still living. 
The book is called Farm Boy.......

Here are just a few of the photos but there is also text throughout with a history of Jo Daviess County and also a brief description of how the glaciers formed this beautiful part of Illinois.  For me, this book was like visiting my childhood all over again.  The activities, the farm, the animals and most of all the people.  I was beginning to think that I had maybe romanticized my childhood and maybe it wasn't really as great as I remembered it.  But this book confirmed my memories and these people really were that kind and gracious.  It was the greatest Christmas present I could have given myself.....a trip home.

I was 5 years old when he started photographing this family and the book was published in 1974, I think.  He went back several times a year and took pictures for a span of 40 some years.  He went there at first on an assignment to photograph the daughter who had won a Singer Sewing contest but ended up being entranced by the simplicity and genuine lifestyle that these people lived.  Their hard work and yet their joy in it amazed him......so he asked if he could come back and he did.....again and again trying to capture with his camera what these people emanated from their souls.....a hard work ethic, unshakeable faith in God and love for what they did!  Did they have problems....sure....but they were always able to rise above anything that tried to bring them down.  These people were the role models I had growing up.  I am so thankful for having been led to these books....and now I have proof that my childhood was not just a fairy tale!
He wrote 2 books about the area where I grew up and I haven't started reading the second one yet but here it is..............another big book.............I'm pretty sure the man in this photo is the boy in the one above.........

I am so grateful I found these books and I will cherish them forever and hand them down when the time comes.......but for now I will keep them close so whenever I get homesick I can open those pages and go back home.
Happy Trails!