The Art of the Archive

Elesha Coffman at The Christian History Blog has a great article on archive research. Not for everybody, but there are a few of you out there who, like me, will want to tuck this information away for future reference. Here's is just the beginning:

1. Contact the archivist before you arrive. Archivists are an underappreciated lot. Most of those I’ve worked with are based in university libraries, tucked away somewhere far from any windows that might permit deadly sun rays to strike fragile manuscripts. They know their collections, they know their policies, and they’re generally eager to help any researcher who actually manages to find them, but they need more lead time than your basic librarian

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that time again

it's that time again. summer project update.

i've cleaned out the school room (and cleaned and cleaned), patched the holes in the walls, and started masking. i'll start with painting the ceiling and then move on from there. want to guess the wall color the wee one chose? here's a hint: it's the color of a fruit.

here are a couple of photos. I'll have more on my facebook page for anyone who wants to go there to see them.

almost empty

where it all went

summer

Summer is in full swing here now. I'm preparing for my annual summer paint project- this year it's the school room/study, and will be augmented by the wee one's tastes and choices. (read- it's going to be a bit wild.) But that's okay- it's her room too. It will be fun, once I get all the books and projects and shelves and computers and junk out.

This coming week I have jury duty for the first time. My daughter has violin camp, which Keith will take her to since he'll be working from home due to my aforementioned civic duty, and we will have a house guest. If you see me, don't be surprised to see my head spinning around. It isn't demonism--just confusion.

Here is a photo of our vegetable garden this year. It's doing well. The squash are again affected by mildew/mold but I've learned that spraying with a milk and water mixture is better than fungicide for treating plants with that problem. I haven't yet worked out how often and what concentration of milk is optimal in our garden, but i'm optimistic (er- overuse of "opti" words). We've had a few good squash grow to maturity and that encourages me.