333 Years Ago....

 333 years ago today

...Mary Easty and 7 others were hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.

Mary was my grandmother, 7 times removed.

This was the largest number of hangings during the witchcraft panic but, thankfully, it was also the last.

One contemporary recorded some chilling details of this particular day - including how the cart carrying the condemned to Proctor's ledge on Gallow's Hill became mired in the mud on the way to the ledge.

The accusers (i.e., the "afflicted") cried out that it was "the devil himself" who hindered its progress.

The writer also noted that, when Mary Easty stood upon the ladder of the gallows and faced the crowd prior her hanging, her words were "as serious, religious, distinct, and affectionate as could well be expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present."

Happy autumnal equinox my friends.

Miscellany

Like the thoughts in my head of late, this post is just a random tangle of things.

My streak of bad luck seems to be continuing...and I'm not willing to believe it' this charming fellow's fault.

I'm still trying to get things back to working order from the lightning that struck the end of September.... The wells, pool system, backup generator, and septic pump have been repaired or replaced and I'm (slowly) adjusting to the new pc.  I'm having problems getting the lighting on garage working though. The contractor has been here three times but was successful in getting only one of the lights working.

For every issue resolved, however, it seems a new one (or two) presents itself.  The concrete sink in the master bath cracked and now leaks...and, on Thursday, the huge vanity mirror glass in my bathroom disconnected itself from the frame and started slipping down the wall.

I seriously think I'm beyond sage and Palo Santo...I need an exorcist.

I've not accomplished much in the handwork department.

I put my needle down for a bit and picked up my hook but don't have enough progress to properly share. (OK...actually, I'm too lazy to take it off the frame to photograph.)

I am trying to focus on getting some things fully finished (ha!) and did get Lucy Nowlen (a Pineberry Lane design) framed.

I initially thought I would go with a very simple, stark, frame...but changed my mind wholly and completely.

What can I say?

While I am NOT an early Christmas decorator (I still have remnants of Halloween up), I transformed some old peach crates into Santa crates and I am (for the most part) happy with them.

(I intended to do only one but the first one, below, I did upside down on the crate, so had to do another.)

I'm not certain what I will do with them but, hopefully, something will come to me.

The weather continues to be fairly mild here - although the nights are cold and days extremely windy it seems.  Tomorrow we are to have winds of 42+ mph.

I am not fond of the wind...it makes me uneasy and make me edgy (edgier??)

Some of the sunsets, though, have been spectacular. 

And since I haven't done one in a while, an episode of what I've been reading:

When you've read as much material as I have regarding the Salem Witch Trials, you can be more than a bit skeptical about yet another telling.  But this...this was a welcome surprise.

As many of you know, Rebecca was my great aunt (7x removed) and her sister, Mary Easty (also hanged as a witch), my grandmother (7x removed).

The book is based on Mr. Gagnon's primary source research (love me a book with footnotes) and while it addresses the myriads of events and circumstances leading to the perfect storm culminating in the trials that other researchers have brought to light, it is one of the few I've encountered that traces the history and biography of the Towne and Nurse families so thoroughly.

Obviously, this is not for everyone...but for anyone with an interest in this historical tragedy, or in legal history, law, and religion, this book is a definite must-read.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

That's all I've got....

Have a great new week ahead! 

{Oh...just a blogger note:  Like everyone else, every single commenter on my posts is now coming up as being from a "no-reply commenter" even though the commenter has their settings configured to allow replies. This means that I can no longer reply to comments personally/privately (when and if they miraculously find their way to my email).  I prefer individual/personal replies (rather than using the reply feature that appears on the actual comment list).  If I have your email, I have attempted replying that way but if I don't, I can't.  If you would care to receive a reply to your comments, please share with me your email and I will do my best to do so. (You can just click the "email me" link on my sidebar and I will keep a list for future reference so you do't have to repeatedly make it publicly available.)

I have received so many wonderful comments and I feel very neglectful when I cannot reply.}

I'm Here...

...and so is the funk.

Hence, there is little noteworthy to share with you and, further hence, why long time, no post.

Thinking a change of scenery might be the antidote, I took a road trip with the Cat down the road (i.e., Cathy Stephan from Red Barn Rugs).  

I spent 2-1/2 days hooking with 4 incredibly talented artists thinking, surely, I would find at least a morsel of mojo but, no...I just ended up feeling like the red-headed stepsister.

I think, therefore, that the hooking project I started at the workshop in January is going to be banished to the Isle of the Unfinished (which is growing as quickly as the Isle of Misfits and Castaways) and I will pick up my needle for a bit - although my stitching mojo hasn't fared much better than my hooking mojo of late.

I did finish the hooking on my Simple Santa.

The above photo is reading washed-out on my screen, but the colors are, in person, more vibrant. 

Now I have a whole year to get it bound.  😬

In other news, this little guy has given me several scares. 

He had 2 emergency surgical procedures within 8 days of each other.

It was the same issue he had surgery for almost 2 years ago:

He gets a blockage in his colon and starts shutting down.

He had been on medications previously and put on a prescription diet -

but, apparently, neither worked.

Given that it had reoccurred so quickly this last time, they are concerned that his colon is not working properly.  Unfortunately, the only permanent "fix" is a specialized surgery in which they remove the non-functioning portion of his colon.

😳

It is not a common procedure and would require many pre-surgery tests.

For now, he is on yet another medication (fun times for a cat with claws).

While my mojo is out on its walkabout, I continue to read - books were my first love and they never abandon me.

I have fallen woefully behind on my posting of recent reads, but will attempt to get back to it soon.  But, in the meantime, I treated myself to this:

{"Records of the Salem Witch Hunt," Bernard Rosenthal editor}

It is a comprehensive record of all the legal documents pertaining to the Salem witch trials, in chronological order.  I had been holding out in the hopes of some day getting the hardcover version, but it is no longer available except on the secondary market at crazy prices.

(The paperback version is just shy of 1000 pages, so the hardcover version is in two volumes.)

Since it will be used primarily as a reference book, I suppose it doesn't matter - and I will feel less guilty should I be unable to resist making notes.

Of all the documents within the covers of this book, I was humbled to see that the editor chose a portion of my grandmother's petition as the preface page.

Hope all is well in your worlds.

Thoughts and prayers to the residents of Palestine.

I can't even imagine.

Bibliography of a Witch

As many of you know, I have a direct "ancestral" connection with the Salem Witch Trials and I, therefore, read a great deal about them.

I have a recollection of someone, at some point, asking me for recommendations for books of that genre and me replying that I would put together a list for them.

Dear Someone: I confess that I forgot about that promise...and, yes, even who you are. I hope you will overlook my absent-mindedness of late.

Better late than never they say.  And I'm as good as they get in that regard.

Because I cannot remember precisely to whom I promised this, I am posting a list here in the hopes that you will find it.

This is, obviously, not a comprehensive list...there are more books written about this subject than...well, fill in the blanks, and it seems a new book is written every day.  (Imagine that...330 years later.)

It is not even a complete list of such books in my personal "library" (nor does the photo of the shelf of books show all those books or even all the books in the list below).

But it is a place to start.

The titles with an asterisk before the title are ones that stand out to me as ones I like/found helpful, etc.  It all depends upon how "serious" you want to get.

Francis Hill is a favorite of mine on this subject - even her fictional accounts are historically accurate due to her extensive research and knowledge on the subject.

 

I hope Someone finds some value in this.

(And a Happy and Blessed, albeit belated, Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends and followers.)