Survey Results

And the survey says...

78% of you have watched The Little House Years from Season 6.

15% of you haven't watched it, but have heard of it, while

5% had no idea what I was talking about.

I wish this had made it onto the DVDs somewhere, but I guess I should be glad you can still see them from time to time on TV.

Look for a new survey, coming soon!

By the Shores of Silver Lake Book Discussion - Evening Shadows Fall

That night the horses were comfortable in their stalls with the smoke outside the door. Ellen lay in the grass in the smoke of her smudge. Inside the house there was not one mosquito thanks to the netting on the windows and the screen door.

The family was snug for the night. Grace and Carrie were already in bed when Pa asked Laura for the fiddle. Ma sat in her chair rocking and the moonlight came in through the window and cast its glow on Pa and the fiddle.

Mary and Laura sat and listened. Laura's thoughts went to the fairy ring where the violets grow. Surely the fairies would love the moonlight of tonight. Soon the girls headed to bed with the smaller girls. As she fell asleep, Laura was still thinking of the fairies, the violets and the moonlight as Pa's fiddle played a song about there being "no place like Home".

Synopsis provided by Marilyn

By the Shores of Silver Lake Book Discussion - Mosquitoes

Pa felt that it was time to build a stable for the horses before a severe summer storm came or the colder weather. Laura helped him to build it. Ellen stayed outside though, as he felt that a cow could live just fine outside. But he wanted the horses instide.

The weather got warmer and misquitoes were coming from the Big Slough. Ma didn't like the slough and had wished that they had moved farther away from it. But Pa liked living near the slough. It was filled with good hay that no one else would homestead and it was there for the taking. He was happy to be near it to use. But something had to be done for both man and beast to fix the nasty bugs.

Pa went to the store and bought some netting and some wood. He soon had a new screen door made and hung. Ma put the netting on the windows as well to keep them out of the house at night. For the stock, Pa made a smudge in front of the barn door and another for Ellen to stand in. They were made out of damp grass that would cause a lot of smoke that the misquitoes would not fly through. They all had a more restful night.

Synopsis provided by Marilyn

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your family a blessed Christmas!

Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder Now Available on DVD!

Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder is now available on DVD at Amazon.com.

While there is some uncertainty whether this DVD includes the first Beyond the Prairie movie and its sequel, fans have anxiously awaited the release to DVD.

Using Wilder's books as the source of inspiration, Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder finds a teenage Laura Ingalls (Meredith Monroe), Pa (Richard Thomas), Ma (Lindsay Crouse), and Laura's three sisters living in De Smet, SD. Eventually she meets the dashing Almanzo Wilder (Walt Goggins), they marry and set up a little house of their own.

Crop failures, the death of their infant son, a chimney fire destroying their home, and a bout with diphtheria that leaves Almanzo permanently impaired, leads the Wilders to the decision that they must say goodbye to Ma and Pa and leave De Smet in search of new opportunities.

In the sequel, the Wilders end their journey in Mansfield, Missouri, where they purchase a small farm and some apple trees. They meet a man who helps out around the place since Almanzo is still weakened by the effects of his stroke. Their daughter, Rose, experiences some trouble at school, and Laura travels back to De Smet, SD to see her dying father one last time.

I always felt these movies were a nice way to honor Laura's legacy. While they followed the books more closely than Michael Landon's Little House on the Prairie series, I still felt they took a bit of creative license in spots. Almanzo and Laura consummate their marriage in a field. That was a stretch for me. Rose is only a toddler when they leave De Smet at the end of the first movie, but she is at least 5 or 6 at the start of the sequel, which finds the Wilders still riding in their covered wagon to Missouri. The scene between Laura and her dying father is very touching, but it almost seems like they wanted to infer that Charles Ingalls (Pa) was responsible for Laura writing her books so that Rose wouldn't forget about their triumphs and trials. As Laura enthusiasts know, it was Rose, who was an adult and also a well-established writer, that prodded her mother to pen her now classic books.

I plan to purchase this DVD. If this is only the first movie, which seems likely, I hope it sells well so that they release the sequel.