Check up

Today was my six month check-up at the doctor to monitor my hypertension. While waiting, I studiously tried to ignore the CNN health channel that was playing in the waiting room. I was sewing the growth tucks back in SD’s gown where she had pulled them out last weekend when I hear “Warfarin”.

Rat poison??

I looked up, and the actors were discussing the Warfarin the elderly-ish father is taking. Aha. A blood thinner.  Fine. Whatever. Back to sewing when …

The next segment was about the dangers of sugar. They actually called it a “poison”.  I gritted my teeth, shrugged at the irony and kept sewing. It just underscored what we tell SD … the difference between medicine and poison is the dose.

The next segment? It featured Gabby Giffords.

Then they had a “chef” who took unhealthy recipes and made them unrecognizable  but healthy.  What did she do besides ruin a perfectly good fish chowder recipe?

She pronounced every single syllable in “Worcestershire Sauce”.

I’m surprised the doctor didn’t  end up doubling my Rx.

Battersea

Sweet Daughter and I headed down to Battersea Plantation last Friday afternoon for their annual 

Revolutionary War event. The forecast was calling for strong scattered thunderstorms all afternoon and evening. I don’t know what I did right in a previous life, but we got all set up and snug before the rain hit, and it did. Sideways. With gusto. Other than what blew in through the door flap, we stayed dry inside. SD read for a while, and when she finished her book, she entertained herself with shadow puppets. She thought it was absolutely hysterical that every time I untied the flaps to make a run to the porta potties, the heavens opened up and let loose.

 

Very funny.

The other part about this site is that it sits near a well-used railroad track. Tornado watch anyone? I finally just decided that if I heard a train and the tent was gone, we’d dive for the ditch behind us. No sense sitting up and worrying about the train/tornado question.

 

Saturday was beautiful. The AIT students from Ft. Lee were there, and they are always a pleasure to talk to. SD got to pick buttercups. The crowds weren't huge, but they were steady.There was a service for Major General Phillips and a battle reenactment. I wore my riding habit, and … got to sit on a horse! Of course, it was a last minute thing, and the pictures have the sun behind me, but … I got to get on a horse. I was thrilled.

 

Trying to get from the porch to the saddle sideways.

  

I really miss riding.

Sweet Daughter got a little horse-time, too.

They had 18th century dancing and SD learned a dance or two, and I reached back into dark, dim recesses of my memory and managed to keep up for the most part.

 

After the public left, they put on a dance just for the reenactors, with games and general jollification.

 

I cast a mighty fine shadow, if I do say so myself.

Sunday was cooler, but dry. There was a nice crowd for the battle. SD helped with the chores ...

 

 

... and went exploring. She made a friend for the weekend, and they had a blast running around exploring and whacking each other with wooden swords and the like. All in all a great weekend, and one of our favorite events!

Comfort Zone

Today I tried something new … something outside my comfort zone. I did push mower maintenance.

I know. It’s not rocket surgery or even brain science, but I taught myself to change the oil, the blade and the spark plug. The air filter was changed too, but I learned that 20 years ago. I took pieces off, went to my local hardware store, picked out replacements and had a trained professional confirm that I had the right stuff. I went home, put pieces back on, primed the hell out of it and IT STARTED.

The rumors that I did fist-pumps in the air while doing a “Snoopy dance” are greatly exaggerated. Maybe.

 

Observation 1. So that’s what clean oil looks like. I couldn’t even see it on the dip stick.

Observation 2. Well that explains why I had to overlap my rows so much last year.

Observation 3. Wow. It even smells different while running when it’s got clean parts.

Observation 4. Next up – the riding mower. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Sewing notes ...

One of the things I did this spring was sew three linen shirts for Dr. Mike of the Detached Hospital. The first one was 90% hand sewn. In the interest of actually, you know, getting them done, I took some shortcuts on the other two. And I swear by all that is good and holy, that I took pictures.

I must have dreamt it, because there are no pictures. And I was rather proud of some of the detail work, too.

Anyhow … here are my observations for those that aren’t OCD or are sane enough to not want to do the whole thing by hand.

1.       Use quality linen. Using cheap linen means all of your hard work falls apart sooner. If you can tear your linen, find something else. As I understand it, this means the fibers have been chopped up to work on equipment used for spinning and weaving cotton. One of the major features of linen is the long staple length which means it will last forever.

2.       Go ahead and do all the long interior seams on the machine.

3.       Go ahead and do the side slits and hem on the machine. I thought it would bug the hell out of me, but unless the recipient is waltzing through camp in nothing but a shirt, nobody will see it. And even then, it didn’t bug me nearly as much as number 7.

4.       Made sure all the finishing details, like the top stitching on the collar and cuffs is done by hand. Ditto with the front slit and the openings in the sleeves. People see these areas. It’s subtle, but it makes a difference.

5.       Make sure the cuffs are narrow as in no more than an inch wide.

6.       Gathers … I didn’t notice a big difference between the ones I gathered and sewed by hand vs. the ones I gathered and sewed on the machine. This tells me I need to work on the gathers I do by hand.

7.       Oddly enough, the thing that bugged me the most was overcasting the interior seams with a zig-zag stitch. I figured nobody would see it, it wouldn’t matter, but it really changed the way the garment ended up being shaped. Go ahead and flat-fell your seams.

8.       Buttonholes: The fastest cheat? Do them by machine with the narrowest stitch you can, and then re-do them by hand. I did the first set by hand, and the linen was so coarsely woven, they pulled out, so I had to sew over that by machine, and then over that by hand. Again.

In other news, Sweet Daughter got two new shifts made out of cotton muslin. (The 18^th century kind, not the modern kind.) She really, really likes her shifts to be as light as possible. These were all sewn by machine except for the neck opening, the sleeve hem and the flat felling of the sleeves which were all done by hand. All the interior raw edges were overcast with a zig-zag stitch on the machine - oddly enough, this didn't bug me like it did on the shirts. I think it was a matter of scale. The shifts were a lot smaller, and made of  much lighter material. The hem was blind-stitched on the machine – I even put the growth tuck in by machine. I figure that nobody will ever see those details. And the hems by her hands and face were done by hand, and that’s all anybody sees. And as a result, these were knocked out in two evenings.

Your mileage may vary of course, but when pressed for time, this is what worked for me.

Last Saturday

Hi! I'm still here. I've been sewing a lot. When you bend your English steel needles because the callus on your needle-pushing finger has gotten so thick you don't notice the needle not moving ... well, maybe it's time to take a break.

Last Saturday was the annual Easter egg hunt at Stratford Hall. Each year the local FOP sponsors an egg hunt and grills hot dogs. One family bakes cupcakes and the local grocery stores donate drinks.

Lining up...

The kids are divided into age groups, with each having a large roped-off rectangle. Every age group has its own golden egg. This year, it was mayhem -- there were twice as many participants as usual.

 

The late spring meant the grass was still short and the eggs were easy to find. Once the signal to start was given, it was all over in a matter of minutes. At least it didn't snow on top of the eggs like it did a few years back. THAT was a real challenge.

 

 

Sweet Daughter, who took second place a couple of years ago, didn't do so well this time.

 

And then there was an additional hazard ...

For the first year ever, the squirrels got into some of the eggs.

The FOP grilled 500 hot dogs, and one family made 340 cupcakes.

SD found a patriotic one. She was thrilled.

 

We may have gotten a little silly.

 

We enjoyed the few brave daffys that were blooming in spite of the fact it was STILL COLD.

And, on the way home, we stopped by the little beach on the Potomac river by Washington's Birthplace and hung out for a while. It's a lovely spot, and we even got to see some bald eagles.

 

 

 

All in all, it was a lovely day.

More Stewed Pears

Been busy. Really, really busy. Two shifts for Sweet Daughter, three linen shirts, all hand-finished, leather binding on my stays, and tonight I'm trying to get my documentation together for the cooking competition at MTA this weekend. While looking through the 1781 version of Hannah Glass, I saw the "Pears Stewed Purple" recipe that I am NOT using.

To Stuff a Chine of Pork

Make a stuffing of the fat leaf of pork, parsley, thyme, sage, eggs, crumbs of bread; season with pepper, salt, shallot, and nutmeg, and stuff it thick; then roast it gently, and when it is about a quarter roasted, cut the skin in slips; and make your sauce with apples, lemon peel, two or three cloves, and a blade of mace; sweeten it with sugar, put some butter in, and have mustard in a cup.
 
Hannah Glasse, "The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Simple"

Modern adaptation here.

Since the chine is the backbone, and those are hard to come by, I went with the suggestion of using a pork loin.

"Take your pork loin and unroll it with a knife as you slice it lengthwise about ½ to ¾ of an inch thick. You should end up with a long rectangular piece of meat."

Uh, this sounds suspiciously like "foodie" territory. But I gave it a shot.

 

"In a large mixing bowl combine the bread crumbs, parsley, thyme, sage, nutmeg, pepper, salt, shallots and bacon. Blend these well with your hands."

 

"In another bowl, whip the eggs, and add it into the bread crumb mixture. Mix well with your hands until it is a stiff 'stuffing' consistency. If it is too dry, add another egg."

 

Since I wasn't roasting this, I went ahead and pre-cooked the bacon.

"Spread this stuffing over the loin to cover the entire surface of the pork. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect."

 

 

"Gently roll up the pork from one end to the other. Tie it with cotton string in three or four bands around the meat. Place it in a greased baking pan."

 

 

Here's where things changed. The recipe says to roast at 350 degrees and baste with butter. What's not to love? Except that I'll be doing this over an open fire and I'm not sure if it's going to be raining (read: Will I have coals for a bake kettle?).

 

So, I wrapped it up in a linen pudding cloth, tied it up with string and boiled it in apple cider.

 

 

This worked well. Really, really well.

 

 

Add the seasoned apples or the mustard, and you have a winner!

EDITED to ADD: If you make the "sauced apples" I suggest you substitute nutmeg for the cloves, and maybe cut back on the amount. The cloves completely overpowered the pork and stuffing.