Texas Ranch House!

Are you watching this series (8 episodes total) on PBS? It just started last night, and I believe most PBS stations are showing each episode a couple of times, so it's not too late to get into it.

This is the latest in the Hands On History series produced by PBS, and even though life on a Texas ranch in the 1800's isn't something that would normally appeal to me, I love the whole idea behind these shows and am always excited when a new one comes on. I think it's been called "the thinking man's Survivor", and I think that's accurate. They take group of people and put them in a full-immersion experience of what life was like in whatever timeframe they are working with. It is very, very interesting!

The first one I watched was Frontier House, which came to my attention because it was filmed near our hometown in MT. Since then I've seen "1940's House" which was set in London during the Blitz, "Manor House" which was Edwardian England, "Colonial House" which was colonial (duh) New England, and now "Texas Ranch House". I still haven't seen what I believe was the first of these documentaries to be made, "1900 House", or "Regency House Party".

Our local library carries both Colonial House and Manor House, and I am encouraging them to order in the rest of the shows as well. I was first introduced to these as an excellent homeschooling tool, and even though we are no longer homeschooling I consider them to be great entertainment.