It's time for show and tell with our lovely host, Mary.   This week we were so excited to meet my blogging buddy, Deb and her family.  They are visiting America from Ireland  (read about their travel adventures here) and stopped by our area for a visit. 
My son and her children are blogger friends and were soon chatting like they had known each other all their lives.  Here's my son, Ash, and some of Deb's kids in the backseat of my car after a visit to Steak and Shake.

We toured some of the local sites around town and at the national Civil War military park.  Here's my kids and Deb's kids sitting on a cannon.

Plus, the kids even snapped a shot of Deb and me standing beside Wilder's Tower, which was built as a monument to the soldiers, on both sides, which fought in the Civil War.

The kids all had a wonderful time and we were sorry that they had to leave.  All the kids wanted a longer visit!  (Me too!) I enjoyed talking to Deb about the differences in homeschooling in Georgia compared to the UK. I didn't realize there were so many differences in public policy!
We had such a great time that now I think we should go visit them in Ireland to see them again.

This week I would like to share a picture of my small Medieval herb garden as well as pictures of some of my other gardens and how they have grown.

My small medieval herb garden includes: tansy (the taller green plant in the background) which was used as a strewing herb, disinfectant,  and insecticide. In some ancient cultures, it was also used to preserve the dead.  It also includes yarrow  (busy plant on below the tansy on the left) which was used to staunch blood flow.   Included also are: lavender,  sage, mint, oregano,  and one cilantro plant in which the seeds blew into the flower bed.

I included some flowering plants for a cottage garden look, as well as chamomile (used for fevers, insomnia, and asthma,) and catmint  (which had medicinal uses.)

Plus, here is some of  my chickory and comfrey, which have grown tremendously in the past few weeks.

Finally, here is a picture of my wormwood, valerian, southernwood, artemsia, beebalm,  new fennel, lavender, oregano, and more.

We are studying our family and community history.  Today I want to  share our area history and the family stories that go with them.  (I'll try to keep it short. )

Our area was the site of  the bloodest battle in the south.  Over 35, 000 men from both sides were killed during  two days of fighting.  Here's a picture from the battle.

Here is the same area today:

The hand to hand combat was fierce. The wounded and injured were so numerous the creek that the soldiers drank from ran red with blood and dead men. 

The only building left standing after the battle was the Gordon-Lee Mansion.  It was used by both sides as a hospital. So many limbs were amputated from the soldiers that wagons were parked under the parlor window. The limbs were tossed from the window into waiting wagons.  The floors were so blood-stained that they were later covered with mats.

The Springs, once  used by the Cherokee Indians until they were forced out,  was the main water supply for both the Union and Confererate armies.  Now it is an area that my children "accidentally" fall into every summer.

How does this fit into our family history?  Most of the relatives from my Father's side were killed in this battle.  My husband's relatives were captured.  We have enjoyed learning our history and hope you enjoyed it too!  Visit our sweet host Mary  for lots of interesting show and tell's.

This week I would like to show some of the herbs from my Medieval Herb garden.  Most of these herbs no longer have a "practical" purpose,  but I like them because of their historical value.  I've also added a couple of herbs from my "culinary" garden.

This is valerian, which was used as a medicine, and wormwood, which had several used, including repelling pesky insects.

This is two different types of artemsia, southernwood and golden artemsia. Southernwood was used as a strewing herb to spread across your floors and make your home smell more pleasant.

Comfrey was used to stop bleeding and to help aid the healing of broken bones.

Another medicinal herb, St. John's Wart...

Lavender..

From my culinary garden, fennel....

and cilantro....

Check out Mary's blog for more great show and tell's. It's a great way to learn neat things and make new friends.

It's Friday and time once again for Show and Tell hosted by Mary aka Canada Girl.  This week I decided to show some of the strange things that go on around our home.  A couple of weeks ago we had major storms move through our area, dumping gallons and gallons of rain.  As soon as it was over, my son rushed out to play in the large "puddle" left between our house and the neighbor's house.   He and my husband played "sink the ship" in which my husband threw my son's water shoes at him and tried to hit him. (He missed each time, of course, but still I never have understood why boys want to play strange things like that.)

When people ask me why I usually so calm in strange (or emergency) situations, I tell them it is because of things that happen in my family.  Take a look at this picture:

What is this, you ask?  It is the remains of my two garbage cans after they caught on fire.  This is probably an experience most families have not dealt with.  I was in the house Tuesday night when someone knocked on my door. This was unusual because it was 8:15 pm, and also because most people just walk on in without knocking.  When I opened the door, my neighbor said, "Your garbage cans are burning to the ground."  I look outside and reply, "They are, aren't they?"  I yell through the house for my husband, "Honey, could you come here for a second?"

My neighbor and I stroll over to the garbage cans where she asks, "Were you trying to get rid of your garbage cans or did you just want new ones?"  "It looks like I want new ones," I reply.  My husband comes out to investigate.  "Our garbage cans are on fire," I say needlessly.  "DS must have put the ashes from the box he burned in our garbage can," my husband says as he leisurely strolls to the backyard to get the hose. Soon the fire was put out and the remants scooped up into this wheelbarrow.

Do these things happen to anyone else? Or is my family the only weird one? Today is the day of my daughter's oral surgery, so I would appreciate it if you would keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  I look forward to visiting all your show and tell's as soon as I can!

This week I thought I would share how my poor children have always had to suffer through educational experiences.  This has been extremely trying to them, as evidenced by my daughter last summer.  Most kids would have been thrilled to spend two weeks in Florida, but not her! "You'll just turn it into one big field trip," she complained.  Here is actual proof that she is correct.  This picture was taken when she was around eighteen months.  We were visiting Fort Frederica, Georgia.  It is one of the oldest settlements in Georgia and was built to protect South Carolina from an invasion of the Spanish who were located in St. Augustine, Florida.

This is a picture of my son at the same age visiting the Museum of Appalachia near Knoxville, Tennessee. This place has many actual pioneer buildings, including  the cabin  where Mark Twain was born.

On another note, my friend  Suzy Scribbles made me these lovely buttons  for my blog. Didn't she do an awesome job?

Join Mary  for other show and tells.