Guns Aren't as Fun as Lye Soap, Bluing and Wringing Out Sheets!

I think I have abandonment issues. I miss my BBG! Darn that infantry! How can she feel that guns are more fun than lye soap, bluing and wringing out sheets? I mean, whats up with that? With my issues aside I must admit it's really fun seeing how excited she is. Instead of sitting around shaving soap (Lily's specialty) and whining (another of Lily's specialties) she's out there absorbing the military experience with gusto! Even Captain Jack and Roy, her ever supportive mentor, have complimented her on how fast she picks things up and demonstrate a decent performance. I'm proud, very proud.

I miss my son Wil. He started college this semester and is more interested in girls, studying, girls, classes, girls, computer programing and ...well...girls. It would be so nice if he and Lily could be in the infantry together but he is so selfish and self-absorbed he continues to desire to live his own life and ignore the nagging and whining of his over bearing mother who wants him to live exclusively for Civil war reenacting! Oh the insolence!

Oh, yeah I forgot, last weekend we were at Lawnfield, that's President Garfield's home, doing living history. And guess what?? IT RAINED!!! OMG we actually arrived on time this time but had to wait out the rain to put up the tent! I honestly thought we were going to have to go home but it stopped and the rest of the weekend was beautiful. I had a really exciting moment there. A member of the 8th Ohio compliment my presentation. It made me so happy! I'm a positive reinforcement addict!

Time for work, I bid you adieu!

Mrs. Peters

All about Zoar and Lyle Cleaning Her Gun!

I think Lyle was the belle of the ball! (not speaking literally of course) She is really picking up the Infantry stuff really fast! Everyone is impressed! Lily is even cleaning her own gun after use! Here are a few pictures of her first lesson. She was so eager to learn it all. She is so excited to go to events now. Our next event is in Zoar, Ohio. Its our biggest event.

I can't wait for Zoar. Zoar , if I remember correctly, was settled by German Separatists. They borrowed money from their church in Philly and headed out to the Western Reserve. I think the story is that no one told them it was cold in Ohio and also that the foot traffic was zero to none! So there the poor Germans dwelled, almost starving and freezing to death until by the grace of the gods the canal was scheduled to come through. By then the little town had become a communal society to survive. Everyone worked, everyone got the same food, cloth, fuel etc. Soon the young men and women started to marry and stop working in favor of raising their families. That caused a severe man/womanpower issue resulting in a ban on marriage. And also, of one had a child over 3 years old, the poor kid was forced away from Mom and Dad to live in a dormitory, one for boys and one for girls. Can you imagine? Talk about living in Suckville. Well the folk in town were paid to dig their part of the canal and they made enough cash to pay off their debt. However, being exposed to the the people who came down the canal enlightened the young men and women to the 'real world.' They wanted their freedom and later the communal community was disbanded. I'm sure there is more to it but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. The buildings and stuff have all been restored and its really a pretty cool place to visit.

Anyway, I guess I'm alone in Suds Row for the rest of the summer and fall. It's no big deal, the amount of people who stop by are really interested in hearing about the Company Laundress is unreal. Very few people walk away before I'm finished and there are always questions. I get kind of a high when a spectator stops by and knows nothing about the Company Laundress; The first woman with official status in the U.S. Army. Men and women alike, they want to know more!

Anyway, I still don't know why the gun thing is such a big deal. I mean...everyone had toy guns as a kid right? Everyone has played with a toy gun! Old news! How many people get to play with Lye soap? With wash tubs and with an honest to goodness yoke to haul water...huh? Huh? We laundresses have LOTS of fun! TONS of fun! I mean when you think of fun the first thing that pops into your mind is the washboard! Yup! Not only does it have a mundane job during the day, it's part of the music scene at night!

So Many Rusty Irons in the Fire!

Yes, yes, I've had many Irons in the fire over the past few days, both figuratively and literally. I have been promising myself to clean the irons for a few months now. I started having them on the fire for the spectators to see. Good God, I have no clue as to how our founding mothers kept the soot and ash off the freaking things. They got caked with dirt and soot and who knows what else. I tried to give them a quick cleaning in Chesterland but honestly there is no quick cleaning when it comes to cast iron. So, and I have no idea why, but for some majorly moronic reason, at Hale Farm, I left my cast iron metals outside in the rain. Talk about rust. It was nasty, so nasty that I was always 'going to clean them later.' I guess what motivated me was that my brother Rick found a cast iron pot in his chicken coop - I think that's what it was built for- and offered it to me. It was caked with rust. That thing had have been buried in that building for well over 30 years at the least! Its really a nice pot and I figured if it couldn't be saved, at least I could use it to put a fire inside for the rainy days when one can't keep a fire going.

So, yesterday I decided to tackle the rusty issues in my life. I did the first round of cleaning and I must say, I've completely impressed myself! Most of the rust is gone! I still need to do another round of cleaning though. I saw a few different methods on the internet I'd like to try one being a rotary Iron brush. But like I said before, they came out really good for the first try considering the heavy rust that originally covered them. Its really strange too; I guess it must be the lighting but I can't see the rust that still remains on them unless I take a picture of them and look at the photo! They look black to the naked eye, but rusty through a digital lens.


My one of my figurative irons in the fire is my washing dolly. As I described in an earlier blog, the stem broke the first time it was used in a tub of heavy laundry. I guess pine is a soft wood and not suitable for the workload of a washing dolly. So over the weekend I visited my Mom. Mom, my Sister-in-Law, Linda and I visited Home Depot and I got two oak dowels. The maiden voyage of the new and improved Oak Dolly will be this weekend.

The third iron in the fire, is that I finished one of my little washboards. It turned out great until I got the stupid idea of staining it and now it looks horrible. Oh well, I guess that's what sanders are for. Seems to me that I need to build a nice little altar to Hephaistos. I sure can use the help! I also I started a wooden sign for my presentation hours. Its one of those wooden calendars people used to love years ago. You know, the ones where you slide the little tiles in for the days of the week, the date, the month, etc... People soon learned it was a product unworthy of the time it takes to remove and reset the calendar. I found it one reasonably priced at a thrift store and am reworking it to suit my purpose. Its kinda neat! I really like it but I'm not sure if I love it yet.

OH! I forgot the most important of all my irons here! The fourth iron! Woohoo! I got my sewing machine fixed! Now, let me make one thing perfectly clear. I don't know how to sew. Recently I did take a learn-all-about-your-sewing machine class too and now I am rip roaring and ready to go! I'm working on an apron. One might say I'm cheating on that first project but what one calls cheating, another calls brilliance! Will talk more about that in a future blog


Sincerely,

Mrs. Peters

When All Good Little Civil War Reenactors Die, They Go to Broadview Heights!

I you are a good little Civil War Reenactor, when you die, you go to Broadview Heights, Ohio! Our last reenactment had to be the best one yet! It was a small event, yet a wonderful event. I'd planned to arrive the night before but ended up not feeling well at all. I have this pain-in-the-butt thing called fibromyalgia that (among other things) just annihilates me with any tiny-teeny weather change. What a waste of a day-off. Anyway we arrived that morning, late. John and Roy, two, wonderful, awesome , great guys of my unit put my tent up for Lily and me.

Oh wait a minute...Did I say Lily? You know, Lily, my adorable, wacky daughter and side-kick? Sorry, I mean to say "Lyle", my adorable and wacky teenage girl pretending to be a boy in the 7th Ohio Volunteer infantry. "Yes!" I emote, conflicted with her choice to abandon her mother in the laundry in favor of having great fun out in battle with the unit. Hmmm...Laundry, or fun...Laundry or fun...God that's a tough one! lol, oh well, I have to say, I do enjoy watching her be so enthusiastic now. Its obvious that she was enduring the laundress gig just for dear old mom! Love ya Lyle! Yes, she not only has a new persona, Lyle the transvestite soldier, she has a new enthusiasm. One can't help but chuckle!

So anyway, So I started to set up on Suds Row. It was slow going as bad as I was feeling. I didn't get my fire this time, which to me is a huge buzz-kill. My impression seems half-assed without it and feeling as cruddy as I did everything was an excuse to bum out. Gosh darn those Broadview Heights folks! Every time I was all revved up to shut down they came over like guardian angels! No lie! Get this! I'm putting up all my sstuff all...'Oh god I have to get water...I don't want to haul water...I'm going to die hauling water...I HATE water! I wish water didn't exist....blah blah blah blah...blah!" So suddenly, out of nowhere, this I don't know what it was...maybe a golf cart kind of thing? Two guys stop by and say..."Need anything?" I'm standing there with my wretched buckets in hand. "No, but thank you for asking", I say. "We can fill your buckets for you!" They say with a smile. I'm all "Huh? Really? OK!" and hand over the buckets. No lie! They came by to fill by buckets constantly though-out the event! Water is a good thing! Water is a good good wonderful thing! Oh, oh and it gets better!!!! On one of the Angelmobile visits that morning I ask, "Do you have ice?" Probably all events offer ice, straw too sometimes, for not what I would call a small charge. One of the Saints on the vehicle replies,

"Oh yeah! How many do you want?" "How much?" I ask.

"Nothing." The young man responds, It's free."

"Really? Can I have two bags?"

"Sure!" They motor way happily and return with 2 large bags of ice! I'm telling you people were rejoicing in the camp! Lyle was called away to guard the Mayor's tent. An ugly mood was rising. Talk of sucession was splitting this boarder town right down the middle! I heard that shots were fired! Duck Lyle!

It was Lyle's first battle! Lyle was shot and killed in the latter part of the battle. She shot the gun, which is hysterically, almost as big as she is! I loved every second of it. I wish my son Wil wasn't so busy with college stuff. It would be so cool to have both of them there. Here is a link to a few photos from a professional photographer's site. They took the pictures there.

So anyway, Dinner was like, half a roasted chicken, corn on the cob, omg..to die for little red potatoes drenched in butter , cake , watermellon, coffe, iced tea or lemonade...My God, I'm not worthy!

They did have a dance, and gave away kick-ass cookies there. Lyle and I got lost going to Giant Eagle to find provisions for the next day. she/he missed the first dance since she/he started reenacting. It was indoors! So we retired for the night, exhausted but incredibly happy. Next morning breakfast was provided. Pancakes, sausage, coffee and orange juice! Someone who was organizing the event must be a perfectionist, obsessive compulsive or something that motivates them to strive and achieve infinate perfection! The pancakes were served by flipping them into the air and the diner having to catch them on their plate! OMG it was soo entertaining!

For lunch we made sandwiches with the items we bought the night before, Lyle survived that battle that day and again was called to guard the mayor's tent. Someone told me they saw 'my boy' talking to the women of ill repute, Ha! Lies! The joke is on them! 'Lyle' likes the plumb cake Miss Lily, madame of the Chateau de reposte, serves. She is a very nice lady!

lol we packed up about 3pm. Thank you Broadview Heights! I look forward to next year!