Before we left home, I found a butter churn online for a fantastic price that I just had to have, so we bought it on the way down on Friday. Paddy and I drove down with Archie, and although it seemed to take forever, we arrived in mid-afternoon in plenty of time to set up before dark. Captain Kyle had brought the company stove, so we heated a stew I had brought and had dinner on the farm.
At the end of the weekend, the guys were saying what a lovely, relaxing weekend they'd had without their regular soldier routine of drill, sentry duty and battles. But for me it was the busiest Civil War event I've ever been to besides the school show! We opened to the public at 10:00 on Saturday and I was stuck at the front of my tent area straight through until nearly 6:00. Friday night was so cold that I slept in my modern clothes and I actually came out of my tent on Saturday morning still in jeans. I never come out of my tent in modern clothes after Friday at dusk, but I just couldn't bring myself to strip down in the pre-dawn chill and put on an icy corset! So between breakfast, dressing and hair, I was barely ready when the public arrived.
I set up a laundry station and the new butter churn with some cream I'd brought. It was a huge hit! An endless stream of kids and parents came by to try churning butter and washing clothes on the washboard, and I was busy showing them how and talking a bit about the war in between. I even managed to squeeze in making some really tasty (and period-correct) macaroni and cheese for lunch. I told the children that I had managed to obtain some special imported macaroni for lunch, and that I thought it really peculiar that the Italians at home in New York eat it with tomatoes. One pair of older ladies looked at me like I was nuts for thinking macaroni and cheese was so special until I finally said, "You understand that it's 1863?" Oh! They laughed.
Ice in Greta's washbowl on Saturday morning. See the frost on the bowl?
Early morning sun through ice bubbles.
I had never used a real butter churn before. After washing and drying it, I poured in a quart of heavy cream and let the kids have at it. If you haven't seen inside a butter churn, you may not know that at the bottom of the stick (the "dash") is a flat, cross-shaped paddle that splashes the cream all over the inside of the churn. At first, little drops of cream splatter up through the small opening around the dash handle. After awhile, the cream feels thick and gloppy and nothing appears on the handle anymore. That's when you've got whipped cream. It's also when you think the whole process will never work, because it seems like nothing happens for awhile. Then suddenly, the dash handle looks wet with milky water and splashes appear through the hole again, and you have butter! The butter separates from the buttermilk and washes all down the inside of the churn leaving it clean of all the creamy mess that was there a minute ago. It's a very exciting process to watch!
On Saturday, the sun was shining and almost hot, the kids had been churning intermittently for several hours, and I thought the butter was a fail. Then I saw water around the edges of the dash! It totally worked.
My new butter churn!
While I was busy with butter and laundry, Archie drilled an army of children using some of the school show rifles from our Alabama unit.
I wore my new pink dress, so I finally have a picture of it. I wish I'd worn a hoop though.
On Saturday night, I cooked corned beef with cabbage, carrots and potatoes. We had a potluck in the big shelter where the farmer holds wedding receptions. The twinkly lights, although farby, added a soft glow to the evening as we all gathered around long tables to eat together. After dinner, Captain Ulshafer, who is a bit of a pyro, built a huge fire. The mist rolled in on the ground, but the sky was clear, the moon nearly full, and we heard an owl and a pack of coyotes in the distance.
Sunday morning I made corned beef hash out of our dinner leftovers.
The officers gathered around the stove to keep warm.
After the crowds left on Sunday, some of the guys took Paddy with them to a nearby shooting range where she fired live rounds with a modern pistol - exciting stuff!
We also took a walk around the farm to view the Pumpkin People. Every year the farmers line the road with scenes from books and movies made out of pumpkins. This year we saw Edmund and the White Witch, Robin Hood, Winnie the Pooh, and D. B. Cooper.
Brian, playing "Minstrel Boy."
Archie noticed how cool our shadows look (apart from the scarf around my neck), so we took a picture.
The usual crowd stayed over Sunday night for another fabulous after-party. We went out for Mexican food and then returned to a campfire, s'mores and rounds of jokes. Donny told a story of when he was working on some kind of hotline. A woman called about her daughter, but no one could figure out the daughter's name. The caller spelled it K-a. After many questions, the woman finally blurted out, "Kadasha! The dash isn't silent." Dang - I wish I'd thought to name my children with punctuation. How about Forsberg, Claire, (Forsberg Comma Claire)? Or : Firth, (Colon Firth)? Or ? Or ! Or " Oh, the possibilities!
Captain Kyle introduced us to a funny new song. I had heard of it, but I'd never listened to it, and it's pretty funny.
I've come up with a name for the after-party crowd. We refer to anyone in reenacting who is willing to go the extra mile of discomfort or expense for the sake of authenticity as "hard core," or even "super hard core!" So I'm calling our crew the Hard Corps.
Here are some pictures of the beautiful farm.
Early morning, with the moon still visible.
Our tent.
Monday morning we all got a very slow start. The air was freezing cold, everything was very damp, and packing took forever because my fingers were numb. I also didn't have anything to dry things off with, because some enthusiastic children on Sunday had washed every last dry towel I had and all of them were still wringing wet. So we very sensibly went out to breakfast (at noon) to let things dry for a bit, and consequently didn't arrive home until nearly bedtime.
With perfect weather, a stunning location and a great group of friends, it could not have been a better weekend!
Monday morning.
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