Keeping History

I picked the name for my cow. 

Now, before I announce the winner, let me tell you it is a total coincidence that I know the winner.  Ok?  This wasn't rigged!  An early commenter, Sandy, suggested Blanca and I was totally sold on that name until this afternoon.  Several people had suggested Adele and that kept sticking with me.  I glanced at the painting a few times today and I knew Adele was her name.  It just fit.  So, I ran a search to see who the first person to suggest it was and...

It was Layla!


I know my grain sack is going to a super good home!  Thanks so much to all who participated...850 entries!  I read each one and loved the stories about farms and grandmothers and beloved aunts and sweet dairy cows.  It helped me get to know you a bit more.  We'll have to do this again some time!

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I have loved old things as long as I can remember. 



I love collecting and hunting for old things.


...things that were once functional...



...things that were written or collected by my grandparents and their grandparents.






I sort of have lost dog syndrome for antiques.  I hate the thought of a piece of history rotting away in an attic or being thrown away. And I'm always amazed at what I'll find at yard sales and thrift stores. 

This Saturday, I hit a great yard sale with tons of antiques at great prices.  I found this military bag and thought it was interesting, so I threw it on the pile.  I just looked at it closely for the first time today and was overwhelmed at what it was...


It's a record kept by Pfc Albert L. Crombie during World War I.  He served in military hospitals and kept track of the casualties and deaths...


...where and when he traveled...  (It caught my eye that he was on the Mauritania, which he calls the "Murtania."  I looked it up and it was used as a military hospital during WW I.)


...and when he was finally finished, or "Finsh", as he wrote. 


Can you believe this was at a yard sale?  A YARD SALE?!?  For $10.00!!!  Really.  Anyway, I don't know what in the world I'll do with it, but it's a really neat piece of history, it's almost 100 years old and I just couldn't stand the thought of it going to a thrift store or in the trash.

Maybe I should've been a museum curator...

...but then I couldn't have "name that cow" contests and fun stuff like that.



Just an update, I called the curator at the National WWI Museum to see if they would be interested in this bag.  I'm not sure if they will, but it was worth asking.  Thanks for the suggestion!