My Turn to Time Travel

Today, after some more spring cleaning (I did the ovens today), I joined Youngest, Middle, Oldest and The Dad for a day-trip to Blists Hill Victorian Town in the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge Gorge. When they asked me if I wanted to join them, I said: "Yes, please!", but in my head, I was like: "Absolutely, I do!" I was pretty excited to go; Ironbridge was on my must-see list!

Blists Hill is kind of like 'Black Creek Pioneer Village'— it's a living museum. When you enter the museum, you can change your pounds into shillings, farthings, sixpences and other Victorian-era coinage at the bank. You can then purchase your various and sundries at the wide array of shops in town. First, we visited the grocer, followed by the sweet shop, the post office, the drapers, iron and leather works, the photographer, the bakery and more. My favourite shop was the print shop. The room was hung with freshly-printed posters and cards and there were drawers and drawers full of lead and wood type! It was awesome!

Once you get past the High St, the path takes you into the fairgrounds, where you can play old-fashioned games to win a coconut.  You can also ride one of those 'swings of the century' rides, like at Wonderland. You can also visit a rich doctor's home, a common-man's 2-room cottage and a mid-size brick house.  There is also a school, a church, a shipyard and even a mine!

I had a good time wandering around the town and seeing the girls get so excited to try things like home-baked bread (even though they can have much better home-baked bread at home) and candle dipping. It was nice to join in their fun! My only problem was that they were so excited that they would often run off and leave me to wander on my own. It's okay, though, it gave me more time to explore the stuff they thought was boring, haha.

We took a break from the museum to take a walk in the nearby woods. It was such a beautiful day! We came to some old railroad tracks and Youngest had fun trying to balance on the rails… and so did I.

I really enjoyed the whole 'living museum' thing and I'm excited to visit more museums like this one… like Eden camp! I think I'll stop by there when my friends and I are in Yorkshire this summer!

P.S. God totally provides. I have been super stressed about money lately— I even woke up on Monday morning in the middle of a nightmare that was about me not being able to pay off my credit card bill or afford any kind of activity beyond sitting at home watching TV. I have had so much anxiety about money and I've been praying so hard for God to just help me trust him! Jesus says: '…So don't worry about these things, saying 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?" These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.' 
… and then today, I received my tax return from the government of Canada. I couldn't believe how much it was; I was able to pay a huge chunk of my credit card bill! Praise God!