HELLO THE FIRE!

[subdjoe]

((carefully adjusts fly to drain off water, then stokes the fire a bit))

Ah! This is great! Got some rain, it didn't put out the coals from last nights fire. There is even a bit of coffee left in the pot to get me going while I get a fresh pot started.

[Mink]

Oct 3, 2008 23:15:34 GMT -5 subdjoe said:

Inside? Why? Put up a fly, build a fire under it. No big deal.
Make sure your boots are greased, pull out your slicker, life is good.

Makes coffee taste better, too.

A fly? Why would one grease their boots, wouldn't that make them slippery?

[subdjoe]

Oct 4, 2008 19:32:43 GMT -5 Mink said:

A fly? Why would one grease their boots, wouldn't that make them slippery?

On the off chance you aren't making a joke:

Yeah, a fly. Kind of like an awning. A tarp held up by poles and ropes. www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/images/civil-war-032.jpg

You grease the UPPERS Mink. Makes 'em a bit more water resistant.

I'll tell ya, the smooth leather or wooden sole brogans are slicker than ice. You need hobnails in 'em to get any traction. Those work pretty well. Until you to indoors and find a tile floor. Then you can go skating all over again. And what they can do to hardwood....

[Mink]

Thanks for the visual subdjoe. So, it is like a tent.....ok, I can handle that

I never knew there is so much to know about outdoor living (whew)....thanks for the lessons and I'm sure I could learn more Who'd thought about the boots/grease only on the uppers? Hobnails and brogans....whatever the heck those are

[subdjoe]

If you look at that photo, the awning in front of the tent is the fly.

And here you can find out a little about brogans and hobnails: fcsutler.com/fcshoes.asp

As far as outdoor living, I like my comforts and prefer a Civil War era look, so it gets a bit more compicated.

But you still need to cook, wash up, relax, and sleep. Just a different technology to do some of it. Once you get used to it, other than having to carry the water and wood, it isn't all that bad.

On our trip to PA, we camped at KOAs on the way back, took about 5 min to set up our Civil War tent, a few more minutes to get our bedrolls in and ready. A fire takes about 15 min to get ready for cooking. You might be able to get it ready in 5 min if you don't mind cooking on the flames, but it is better to wait for some coals, you get a more even heat.

My wife had some sort of reaction to insect bites, and then got poison ivy on her feet when we were back there, so we stayed in motels on the way home. But even the rain in PA wasn't really a problem. You get used to it. We had some youngish guys with the unit who had the honor of keeping the woodpile by the fire well supplied, everyone took turns at fetching water and cleaning up the dishes. We had someone in camp all day, so the fire never died, and we could lay out some of the wood near it to dry out.

[Mink]

Ok, so the awning is the fly....makes sense. I suppose outdoor living is possible...who knows, we may not have too much choice soon. Better to learn to survive.

Thanks for the link. It is very informative about not only civil war period, but also for those who still use htese items. I was quite impressed and was glad to see at the bottom of the link, a pair of shoes in women's sizes (actually, I liked that style the best).

Your wife is something else, to do all this with you and tolerate those pesky insects...she is one in a million, for sure.
I bet all the extra help in PA made things easier and I think it must have been fun for them too!

[subdjoe]

Glad you found it interesting. A lot of the stuff that sutlers sell makes nice "rustic" decorations for the house, as well as being useful.

Here is a page with a bunch of sutlers: crew862.nwsc.org/sutlers.htm

and another one: www.lhsmn.org/links/sutlers.html
I have no idea if they are all good links. If you like shoes, check out Fugawee.

Yes, my wife is quite a wonderful woman. Not only puts up with me, but helps with cleaning and painting the cannon, works on the crew, is great at tending the fire and cooking over it.

[Mink]

I checked the links last night and was surprised at what I found. Some people are so talented with their trades and I actually found a few links that have affordable Christmas presents!!

Thanks

[subdjoe]

Oct 6, 2008 20:45:44 GMT -5 Mink said:

I checked the links last night and was surprised at what I found. Some people are so talented with their trades and I actually found a few links that have affordable Christmas presents!!

Thanks

OK, I am officially curious about what caught your eye. And, I think this is the first time I have heard a sutler called "affordable."

Oh, wait, I did hear of one about a year ago in Fresno. Had a special on some uniform items. I think she didn't want to pack anything back home with her.

[Mink]

I spent hours looking at most of the links of the two that you provided. I can't remember which ones as there are so many, but I found silk scarves for $3. ea. in many different colors. They had purses, fans, parasols and trinkets. Of course not all is affordable, but I still enjoyed the shopping.

[subdjoe]

Yeah, it is fun to browse. Sometimes you will see something that makes you say "Of course! THAT is what they used for (fill in the blank)." Or "Oh! Now I see how it was made. I can do that."

And sometimes, no matter what, you can't find the item that you need. I ended up having to buy some suspenders because none of the sutlers had a Stitchall (Handistitch) either for sale or to lend. I did find one who was able to put a rivet in the scabard for my knife - only had to go to 5 or 6 to find that guy. He wasn't going to charge me for it either. But I pressed him on in, and he finally said, how about a buck? That worked for me.

It's a lot of fun. Not only the camping and being with others who enjoy being out like that and playing at history, but talking with the public either in camp where the questions tend to be about food and how daily life was, or on the gun line where people ask about the politics of the day, the reason we fought, and of course about the cannon.

There are always a good number of people who play a civilian impression at reenactments. You should give it a try sometime.

[saunterelle]

Those sutler sites sure make for fun browsing. Followed a site for "cookies" that turned out to be crackers - "nothing but water and flour." Somewhat disappointed.

Regarding JMO's post on Mollydooker wines (I'm in the wine biz), they are definitely a good value if you enjoy the style - thick, big fruit, plenty of oak, high alc./low acid, a bit sweet. You can currently find them for a great price at Bottle Barn in SR.