I'm still here.

I haven't gone anywhere, yet! 

We had our last show of the year. Rain came and went during the day. It did not dampen the spirits at the Munichburg Festival.  It's always fun to do a local show.

I never tire of photographs like this one.

The day we did the show, a lot of the Blacksmith's cousins from Iowa were in town for a wedding. Almost all of them came by to see him in action. One even brought us a bag of nice big tomatoes. So the next morning,  nothing doing but we had BLT's for breakfast!

Oh, I did get a new TV. The blacksmith installed it on the wall between my machines. So now I can see it while sewing at any machine. Not that I have that many!

I will end this with Tiramisu! So delicious. We were in St. Louis Saturday for a blacksmith get together. We ate at Viviano's.  OMG, to die for!

Until you hear from me next time, where ever I might be, I just want to say, 
Life is Good! 

Munichburg 2012

Saturday we had our booth at the Old Munichburg Oktoberfest in Jefferson City. We couldn't have ordered better weather. It was a cool crisp morning with a nice comfortable afternoon. The crowd was great. The guys enjoyed their on-tap beer, I loved my apple strudel, the kids  enjoyed their white chocolate covered marshmallows rolled in mini M & M's, Lori enjoyed  her chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick, and Jeremy enjoyed his huge caramel covered apple with pecans. Our lunch of grilled hamburgers and/or Jamaica pork steaks with rice were awesome too. 

Here the guys work on a project together. The blacksmith says his new little grinder is Jim-dandy! 

Shortly after we got set up, the basket maker across the street from us asked if he could have a special tool made. This is how it finished out. 

Here is Mike Yeoman working on his rye grass baskets. Notice his shoes!  His baskets were beautiful! He does museum quality work. 

His wife was working on a hand appliqued quilt. The applique pieces were wool, some of which she dyed with Kool-Aid! She tells me that when you dye the wool in a dish in the microwave for 5 minutes, the water comes out clear and all the color soaks into the wool. This will only work with animal fibers. 

 Alex loves to help his Grandpa. Luckily both boys had brought their child size safety glasses along. 

Here Alex shows off one the S hooks he made. 

 It seems both boys like Grandpa's little grinder too. 

 Jeremy enjoying his mega sized caramel apple. 

 Brady enjoying his white chocolate covered marshmallows. 

Lizzie is wearing her daddy's safety glasses as she checks out the grinder too. 

Life is good!

Munichburg 2011

It was a gorgeous day!  The weather was a little cool, but no rain. There was always a steady crowd coming by. I was so busy I hardly got out of the booth to take pictures.

These little sailors were dancing across the street from us. We had a great view of the all day entertainment, from dancers to live music.

I did get to see the old cars every time I took a trip to the porta pottys.

Here you can even catch a glimpse of our friends Pat and Melvin in their authentic German dance clothes.

Surviving Munichburg 2010

It was a beautiful morning at 6:45 as we drove out the drive way. As we got closer to Jefferson City we could see the fog rising from the Missouri River. Arriving in Munichburg at 7 AM, we could still feel the dew on the grass.

The area was quietly busy. Canopy's were going up every where. It took us a little over an hour to set up the blacksmith shop, both the demonstrating area and the sales area. We had three 6 foot tables full of wares, both our's and our friend Terry's goods.

Shortly after we were up and running, this obnoxious red balloon thing goes up across from our booth. The motor buzzes all day long as the crazy thing flapped in the air.

This is an early view taken of Dunklin Street. I was so busy with sales the rest of the day that I never got any good action shots. However, blogger friends like Missouri Gal stopped by. You can view a few of her pictures here. In the first picture on her blog, not only do you see me, but fellow blogger Rural Rambles is in the navy blouse. It was my first in person visit with her.

Terry helps the Blacksmith out here as they double strike. That is always an attention getter.

The blue canopy is the funnel cake booth. We thought maybe it was a requirement to have a large waist line to purchase one, but that was just our opinion.

Grandson Alex helps Grandpa out here.

Here the grand kids rest up after the bouncy house and kidsville. Shortly after this we had a visit from My loves, my Life. When Elizabeth woke up Deanna filled in cuddling her while I was busy with a sale.

I was luckily enough to met up with another blogger friend, Opulent Opossum. She and her dad are really into the history of Munichburg and I loved visiting with them.

Just behind us at 4:00 the strong man pulled two beer trucks with his hands. (Thanks Brady for taking this picture for Grandma!)

The weather was just picture perfect. Not too hot, not too cool, and always a gentle breeze blowing. It was a great day with great customers, great friends, great bloggers and great family all showing up. Thanks everyone!

And then when I got home I had these waiting in the mailbox for me. If only they had come the day before!

Oktoberfest and German Heritage

This Saturday, the area that is known as the southside of Jefferson City, will celebrate Old Munichburg Oktoberfest. This area was established in the 1800's, mainly by German emigrants.

When the blacksmith was asked to participate, little did they know that he had ties to the area.

The Sunday News Tribune paper ran an article July 1934 about a house in the area. Here is an excerpt from that paper:

In 1850 John and Margaretta Asel bought an acre of land to built their log house. They had two sons to fill the house. Three more sons and three daughters would later fill this small home. The house was located only a short distance away from a group of Indians. Mrs. Asel at first was very terrified of them. Later they would become not only her friends but her customers. As many as thirty loaves a day were drawn from her huge oven in the side yard, to be replaced by as many pies. All of which found a ready market.

Great piles of logs, salvaged from Missouri River driftwood, supplied the fuel for this oven and for the little log smokehouse now resting in a corner of the flower-filled yard and wearing a modern coat of cement. A great ice house, forty feet square and holding many tons of ice cut from the river during the winters months, also was built upon the premises and was a great factor in the success of their business. A never failing deep wall, in times of drouth, refreshed the throats of the Indian Camp, and citizens came with their buckets from far and near. A dry cistern was used as a storage room for the valuables of many residents during the Civil War. As the bounds of the Asel property widened, much of the butchering , curing and cooking of meat was done on the place.

Margaretta, with the aid of John after market hours, was said to have made a thousand dollars selling fried sausage to the soldiers. Many sandwiches of home-made bread, pig ears and pig snoots were handed out to neighborhood boys who stood with watering mouths.


The little house does not now belong to a member of the Asel family having been rented several years ago and later sold to Anton Monat (the Blacksmith's great uncle). And if no member of the Asel family longer cared to live in the little log house, no more fitting family could have been found to occupy it.

Seated at a shining walnut table in the center of the front room, when the writer approached the open door, was Anton's father, Peter Monat, playing solitaire. In the middle of the table was a vase of lavender, hardy sweet peas. Peter Monat understands and speaks no English, and so his son, Fritz, came from a painting job across the street to act as host. Peter Monat's wife died two years ago. An enlarged kodak picture of her standing among her flowers and shrubs was near him upon a dresser. Sacred pictures upon the walls bespoke the religion of this family and a furled flag of the United States standing in the corner of the tiny stairway landing attested their loyalty to the land of their adoption. Peter Monat and his sons were born in Germany. Since the mother's death Fritz has been the housekeeper. Shining floors, spotless furniture and crisp curtains evidence his ability and his efforts. Even the kitchen cupboard, with its rows of sparking glass and glossy china, was in perfect order when he opened the doors to show us a cup brought from Meiderich, Germany, bearing his father's name and his title of Reviser in the Artsverein.

Outside, along the porch railing, and all about the house were well-attended plants and shrubs. Could the little pioneer home built by a young German immigrant nearly a century ago, have fallen into better hands?

This was the home at the corner of Ashley and Madison Street. Unfortunately it is no longer there. In the early seventies it was torn down. A concrete parking lot covers the area now.

This is Anton and Fritz, the two brothers that occupied the house.

Great Grandparents Peter and Anna Nauerman Monat.

Saturday we will proudly display the above pictures to show our German heritage.