Texas, Waco - Friday, May 03, 2019 - Homestead Craft Village

We headed out for breakfast again on Friday morning.  This time to Café Homestead.  I don’t remember where I heard about Café Homestead, but the information I read raved about their great food so I had put it on a list of places I would like to visit.  I knew that there was also a craft village nearby that I thought sounded interesting.

The table settings immediately caught our eye – all appeared to be hand crafted, in fact, exquisitely hand crafted.

This coffee cup was filled with the best coffee I have ever tasted.

I wandered around since we were there before most people and I could take pictures without offending anyone.  As I wandered I became aware that everything I was looking at was probably made by someone in the craft village.  The oil paintings, pottery, table settings, curtains, furniture and even the building itself.

Breakfast was wonderful.  I had Texas pecan pancakes and turkey bacon.  Greg had biscuits with beef sausage gravy.  No pork was available on the menu, I didn’t ask why.  My pancakes were very good – the turkey bacon was good, but much different than the turkey bacon I’ve purchased in the grocery store.  

There was a hard rain the night before and today looked cloudy so we were among just a few who ventured out.

The woodworking barn wasn’t open, but we peeked in the windows and saw some amazing furniture.  No electric saws and routers here just hand cut joints, steam bent wood and hand carved details.  Some furniture from here is in the White House.

All of the shops have stained glass windows representing the craft inside.

You can learn to make one of the Brazos rockers, classes are available.

The Potter’s House.  There is a large kiln next to it.

Lessons were going on.

The pottery displays were amazing.  I was seriously considering a purchase here but I kept thinking about those road trips and would it survive?

“The Barn” contains hundreds of handcrafted items produced in the village, hand-forged iron beds, handmade soaps, quilts and beautiful wooden bowls.

Baskets made with antlers and cloth so very soft.

My mom saw a lot of these potholders when I was growing up.  I also used to sell them around our neighborhood for 25 cents each.  I’ll admit mine didn’t look this good and my colors tended toward the primary colors rather than lovely shades of brown.  I almost paid $12.00 for this one.

The Barn was originally built around 1810 on the “Hope Farm”, a small homestead in the Hackensack Valley of New Jersey.  In 1997 it faced demolition to make way for a new development.  It was brought back here and restored to a beautiful building.  The craftsmen at Homestead do more saving and restoration of old barns than most anyone else in the world.

In spite of the heavy rains last night, the walking trails were still a pleasure.

The forge makes all of the wrought iron hinges, decorative work, tables, beds and chandeliers throughout the village.

The gristmill is one of two working mills in Texas.  It is the only one producing flours, meals and mixes for sale.

The fountain outside recirculates water to run the wheel.

The water runs from the fountain, down the trough, moving the wheel.

This building was built around 1760 in western New Jersey and moved in 2001 to Texas where it was restored to once again grind grain.

Wood burning stove.

30” horizontal stone water powered mill.

The Fiber Crafts building was built from a small barn that was originally built in Middleburgh, New York around 1830.  It was literally saved from the burn pile.

The inside is a real “happy place” with all of the colorful yarn and looms.

Continuing our walk through the herb garden.

Took this picture for daughter Desira.  Look how neat their berry bushes are!!  Mine never looked like that.

We didn’t explore the herb garden too much, the grass was really wet.

Wildlife picture of the day, a huge snail.

The Basket House wasn’t open yet but I saw examples of the baskets at The Barn and they were beautiful.

The Homestead Market had a wonderful selection of bakery products, spices, fresh produce, meats (no pork) and canned goods.

The Homestead General Store on the other side of the parking lot had lots of home and garden supplies and many books on homesteading.

David, we found the hand scrub you need.

From Homestead we headed to the Waco Mammoth National Monument.

Our tour guide didn’t stroll down the trail, she moved at a pretty good clip.  This young couple and Greg and I could keep up, the stragglers missed some of the information she was giving out.

Live oaks are native to the area, this one is 250 years old.

In 1978 two men exploring a dry creek bed spotted a bone.  They took it to nearby Baylor University where it was identified as part of a leg bone from a Columbian mammoth.  Columbian mammoths differ from wooly mammoths in that they come from a warmer climate and they are much bigger.  Under protective tents the Strecker Museum staff and volunteers uncovered the remains of at least 23 Columbian mammoths.  Eighteen of these were grouped in what the National park Service called “the nation’s first and only recorded evidence of a nursery herd of mammoths”.  It is believed that this herd got caught in a low lying area during a flash flood.  At least three juvenile mammoths were included in the group that perished. 

The Waco Dig Shelter opened to the public in 2009.  Our senior national parks pass didn’t work here because there is no charge to get into the monument or to park.  There is a $4 charge per senior for the tour.

I have to admit that I could tell what bones the guide was talking about as long as she was pointing them out with a laser.  On my own the only ones I probably would have recognized were the long tusks.

The Dig Shelter provides a steady temperature and humidity.  Windows are placed so as to prevent UV light from directly touching the fossils.  The walkway is suspended from the ceiling to prevent soil disturbance.  Most of the work is done during the summer when college students are able to participate.

Our purchases for today.