Looking back at the posts in this blog I got a walk down
memory lane for the first event we did at a log house in Ohio. That was in April of 2014 and we have had
many more adventures there since then.
We do an event at the cabin not three times a year. Generally in the spring, fall, and Christmas
with occasional one that has been in February and summer. In this post, I will share a bit from the last
three times we stepped back in time there.
The most recent was in June and we had amazing weather. Thankfully, the summer had been dry and the
mosquitoes were not out of control! This
has been the case in a past summer event after a wet spring and summer.
We used having a picnic on Saturday as an end of war
celebration as the catalyst for the event.
The time was spent preparing for the gathering. We had a plethora of food to enjoy in the
shade on our sunny day. This started off
with mulberry ice cream (the mulberries being picked earlier that day) because
I was concerned with the ice melting. A
visiting friend and daughter brought a plum cake and blanc mange. Both of these were amazingly good. Besides desserts we enjoyed ham, bread,
pickles, hopping john, cucumber salad and other items that I am forgetting at
the moment.
Afterwards we played various games such as graces and horseshoes.
Sunday we had just three of us with nobody visiting for the
day. We agreed to provide living history
for any public until 3pm so we wanted to be prepared for visitors in any
case. We set up a smaller picnic that
included a lemon pie from a friend. We
laid down on painted floor clothes while eating, drinking lemonade, and reading
the news in the reprinted local newspaper from June 1865. We then had a lot of kids came back to see
us! We showed them how to play with
racing hoops, graces, and there was a sack race. Even as adults we really enjoyed playing
graces! After they departed it was time
for us to take our leave as well until next time.
Spring Time
In April we occupied the cabin on the same weekend that a blacksmith was at the
museum. This was great as he adjusted
the height of my spider legs. He did it for nothing but did offer him some
of the maple candy we made. This was
something I wanted to try while we were there.
I really would have liked to have tapped some maple trees and boiled the
sap down from the start. But we had to
start at the syrup stage already. We
took pure maple syrup boiling it down to a candy and then went on until it was
pure maple sugar. It was amazing!
Christmas Time
Perhaps this event has grown to be my personal
favorite. It is a lot more work to
prepare for which I am sure I complain about before! We get the log house decorated for the holiday
on Friday and early Saturday. Including greenery
around the windows outside and some inside. Along with other decorations such
as a table top tree and stocking over the fireplace before we go to sleep. We make a large meal that is German inspired
to include sausage, sauerkraut, noodles, and stollen bread.
There are some highlights from the last few times we stepped
back into rural Ohio cabin living in the 1860s.
