Be Optimistic Felt Badge

via bestmade
“An emblem of hope in times of despair. Sew this sturdy felt backed patch onto a rucksack, jacket, or favorite cap and let it be a spark to buoy you up in the tiresome trenches of work, or on the inclement trails of adventure. Proceeds from the sale of this badge to the It Gets Better Project.”
Visit “Best Made” here, the “It Gets Better Project” here.

Image of the Day: Three-Legged Crow

My son created these origami creations of The Three-Legged Crow.

Amanda Lucinda Schucker and Children Captured by Native Americans

via delanceyplace
“…many children such as Jeff Smith were captured by the Native Americans in the mid-1800s, and though heartbroken, most were treated well. Most were returned as adults, where they faced the struggle of adjusting to a way of life they had forgotten, and the second heartbreak of having lost their Native American friends and a way of life they loved:

‘Eventually, most of the captured children were sent back to their families, often against their will. Usually, a federal Indian agent, working together with a friendly Indian chief, arranged their release. But the redeemed captives found it much harder to readjust to their own people's ways than it had been to adapt to Indian society. Jeff Smith put it best: 'Everything seemed mighty tame after I got back home.’

‘As adults, many of the former child captives lived in limbo between their original and adoptive cultures. A number of common characteristics set them apart. They were often reserved and did not talk much...”
Read the rest here.
. . . 
Amanda Lucinda Schucker
My paternal great-grandmother was one of the children that were captured by Native Americans and later returned. Recollections by my grandmother and great-aunts were that she never talked much about her time living with them, that she was quite reserved and stern, and while off tending the family’s flock of sheep she would carve small stones into decorative shapes. Dozens of her stones were dispersed through several family members over the years, and I am fortunate to have some photographs and photocopies of the stones.

Amanda Lucinda Schucker was born May 27, 1871, and married Henry Elmer Gable January 19, 1891. They had six children together. She died November 23, 1942 and is buried at the Church of God Cemetery in Valley View, PA.

Just a few of the stones that she had carved over the years.
These were in possession of a distant niece. 

My great-great-grandfather and Amanda’s father, Paul.
How did he feel about his daughter being taken, and how she had changed years later upon her return?

Tombstone in Valley View where she is buried with her husband and one of her sons. Elmer committed suicide at the age of 21 after years of battling epileptic seizures.

Whisky found in Sir Ernest Shackleton’s hut recreated

via howtobearetronaut
“Three crates of Mackinlay’s whisky and two more of brandy were recovered last year from beneath the floor of the hut, where they had been abandoned by the unsuccessful British expedition to the South Pole in 1907-09. One case was taken to New Zealand to be carefully thawed at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, and three of its bottles were later flown to Scotland. Now Richard Paterson, master blender at White & Mackay, which own the Mackinlay’s brand, has painstakingly recreated the original. The Glasgow-based distillery plans to produce 50,000 bottles of Shackleton's whisky at £100 a time, with 5 per cent of the sale price going to New Zealand’s Antarctic Heritage Trust, which recovered the hoard. Mr Paterson has dedicated eight weeks to blending and fine-tuning a range of malts to come up with the replica...”
Read the rest here.

Scandybars: Cross-sectional Chocolate

via edible geography
“Scandybars, which has been scanning its way through the global chocolate bar canon since June, fully deserving of the term ‘eye-candy’…”
Visit Scandybars here. My favorites so far: Mallow Cups and Malted Milk Balls