Camp Floyd 2010

Okay, lots of pictures, but it was such a great weekend I want to remember it!
This weekend Emmitt and I attended Camp Floyd for the Civil War Encampment. This occurs every Memorial Day Weekend. Camp Floyd is about an hour from my house and since my tent is not quite ready, I just drove back and forth. Matt and the girls went down to the ranch for the weekend, camped out in the Outfitter tent at the ranch, rode horses, got sunburned, rode 4-wheelers, ate hot dogs and marshmallows, killed a rattle snake, played with cousins and Grandpa, caught lizards, and had a super fun long weekend also.

Friday night Amanda and I drove down and just spent a fun evening with the soldiers around the fire telling stories and munching. Amanda played her dulcimer and we had the boys singing their little Confederate hearts out. I have never heard "Hooray hooray for southern rights hooray" belted out so loudly and with such gusto! And on a sweeter note, I did tear up when we all sang "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief." The setting was so beautiful, the dulcimer notes so clear, the men singing, it just made my heart swell up and land in my throat.

Saturday Amanda returned with her entire family, and Emmitt and I also returned to Camp Floyd. I was pretty nervous about the weather because it was supposed to get up to only 52 degrees and rain. But it turned out very nice. There were quite a few more public folks there than I expected, a nice little surprise. A fellow in our group named Bill made this cannon. This is a picture of his brother with his cannon. They got to shoot of 9 pounders. It sure is beautiful.

This is our groups camp. It was so fun to see Russ and his wife Deb. Russ just had hip surgery so he came as an injured soldier. It was perfect, he had good stories for the kids that asked about his crutch. He told them his Yankee friend (Scottie) had captured him.

The Friends of Camp Floyd had some fun uniforms for the kids to dress up in and play around. They would dress up, get a musket, and then learn a few drilling moves and then drill in the park center. It was pretty cute. Camp Floyd does a great program with the Boy Scouts of America and has quite a few uniforms, muskets, and games for that age group.

I made some new friends. This is Tracy, Toni, and Honey. They can knit amazing things and the little girls all loved to go visit with them and learn about spinning wool and knitting.

We tried to have the soldiers sing the Hooray for Southern rights song with as much enthusiasm as they did the night before, but they were a little on the timid side in front of a crowd. Emmitt looks like he is trying to lead the music. Amanda did a great job on the dulcimer and answered so many questions about the instrument.

I also got to meet Richard the barber. He is fabulous. He does straight razor shaves for the guys and he has so many deliciously manly smelling things in his tent he uses with his shaves and cuts, I kept walking by just to get a whiff!

Camp Floyd has a small museum in the building that is called The Stagecoach Inn. It was a stopping spot for the Pony Express 150 years ago. Emmitt tried out some of the great furniture!

I had to try out one of the rooms in the Inn also. Emmitt did not want to sit and rock though!

This darling picture is Lydia, Amanda's little girl. The pinafore Amanda made Lydia is so darling. I just love love love it. Amanda's kids were so good. The boys played swords and hoops, and actually, so did Lydia. She loves playing with the boys. Don't let the beauty of her fool you!

Here is Private Mark Jones and the Mrs Mark Jones.

William did a great job of watching Emmitt for me. Those two are little buddies.

Now here is Emmitt and I. He was such a good little boy all weekend. I am so blessed.

I have been piecing this cot quilt together and on Friday I bought a wool batt so I could be busy hand quilting it during the weekend while at Camp Floyd. I did not have enough time! I swear the clock moves much faster when in a corset! Jake appreciates my cot quilt and right here he is bartering with me - he wants one.

Cot sized quilts were made by both Northern and Southern ladies to take to the war hospitals and to just send with the men when they left. They are about 8 feet long and 4 feet wide - they fit a hospital cot nicely. When folded in half, they fit perfectly with the bedroll on the soldiers' backs. I used all early 1860s reproduction fabrics in this quilt and I think it turned out well. It comes from a pattern of one of the few cot quilts that actually made it through the war.

Private Jones is getting Emmitt ready for service and teaching him the basics of wooden sword fighting. I got so many comments on Emmitt's clothing. Of course I had to explain that boys did wear the same thing as girls did until they could go to the bathroom by themselves. The newspaper photographers loved him and took his picture so many times.

Emmitt found Lydia's fruit basket and demolished a few apricots or nectarines before I realized it. He also found some dirt. And ate it. And loved it. He was such a happy little boy!

Amanda and her dulcimer - the crowds loved it. She even took requests!

Saturday after the public left, we hung around with boys for awhile before we headed home. Amanda got out of her hoop, petticoats, and corset and a little more comfy. This is Kevin, Kris, Amanda, and Jake.

We all went back Monday for more fun. The soldiers had all left so it was just us and all the civilian group. There were twice as many public there because the Sunday papers were full of pictures and stories about the Civil War Encampment and all the fun at Camp Floyd. I am glad we went back. The weather was so perfect - warm with a little breeze. We set up under a huge tree and spent the day set up for tea and with Amanda playing her dulcimer.

I wore the dress I just finished but started months ago! I don't know why I love to start a project but not finish it! I have a spiffy little hat for this dress, but I wasn't sure if it was 'period correct' so I only wore it for a little while at the end of the day.

There were free stagecoach rides for the public so Amanda and her kids took advantage of that and had a nice little ride.

We found a new reenacting friend at Camp Floyd and she just happens to live in Heber City! Hooray! Ladies teas and socials - here we come! This is Gail, me, and Amanda.

Amanda and her hammer dulcimer drew a crowd all day. The folks loved it and at one point there were many chairs set up around her just listening to her play. Amanda asked for requests and one guy in the crowd shouted about "How about Goober Peas." Well, we all love that song. You should hear Kendal sing it -so darling. Anyway, so Amanda told the guy to come sing it with me and her. Now, I don't sing. I can barely hum. But, for the sake of the moment, I sang Goober Peas with that super nice guy and Amanda. The crowd thankfully joined in on the chorus parts! Thomas, Amanda's shy 8 year old, sang My Old Kentucky Home with her and it was darling.

Amanda was playing for a group and this gentleman asked if he could join in with her. He played his harmonica with her and it was so beautiful. I am not musically blessed, but I have a love and admiration for it. I have a deeper understanding of it now too, I see how it can bring strangers together for a special few minutes of unconditional friendship. Everyone enjoyed the music.

I mentioned that the newspapers loved Emmitt. Sunday morning I broke the Sabbath and purchased 3 newspapers. Amanda and I were interviewed for and included in the Salt Lake Tribune and The Daily Herald. Mine and Emmitt's picture is in the online version of the Tribune, but not the printed version. The Deseret News took some pictures of Emmitt so he is in the online photo gallery. All three papers did excellent articles on the Camp Floyd event and our little group got some great publicity. My friend Russ was a favorite with his bad leg and crutch. Kris and Jake were also interviewed. The Deseret News has a 3 minute video on their webpage and it was fun too. What a great time!


http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700036188/Civil-War-re-enactors-have-a-blast.html

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_15190147?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

These last pictures are just a few of my favorite so I sepia-ed and blurred them up a bit. What a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.

My Stinkbug

Yesterday my little Stinkbug would not have a nap. We tried 3 different times and they all ended the same - no sleeping! So last night I was feeding Emmitt some crackers while I was cooking dinner and look at what I found. He is so sweet and he tried so hard to be such a big independent boy, but sleep did get the better of him. He napped here for about 40 minutes. Nighttime a little early last night!




I made this petticoat for him yesterday also. It is pretty stinking cute. He needed at least one to wear this weekend under his dress, gown, frock, potato sack, formal evening wear, or whatever you want to call it. I love how it turned out. The buttons are in the back.

dress and garden almost complete

Yesterday one of my goals to accomplish was to put this skirt (on the left) onto this bodice (on the right). Well, I stayed up late and did not accomplish that goal, but I did finish it this morning! HOORAY! I started this dress months ago and put off finishing it to get my kids outfitted for Civil War events. But, this weekend is the Camp Floyd/Stagecoach Inn Civil War Days and I needed to finish this dress. Tonight I will add the rest of the hook and eyes for the dogleg closure in front. I am so excited! Then I heard about the weather - cold and rainy for Saturday. Maybe I won't be wearing this dress . . .

But on a sunnier note, I just came in the house from planting my garden. Yep, I finally got around to it. I don't feel all that bad about being so late though because with snow again yesterday, that soil can't be too warm! I figure those seeds did just as much growing in the packages in my laundry room as the seeds my fellow neighborhood gardeners' planted in the soil a month ago! I planted the peas, the beets (I adore pickled beets), the tomatoes, and the cucumbers. I will wait another week or so before I put the corn and squash in - just in case we have another crazy weather weekend!

I worked so hard my back is aching and my mouth is watering with pickled beets on my mind. I think I will go open up a jar!

rhubarb, honeysuckle, and snow

My rhubarb is so happy and the other day I noticed it was starting to shoot up some flowers. I told Kelsey to go break them off. I went out there a little later and Kendal had also broken off 8 or so stems. She made a nice little hole because all the stems she took were from the same spot! So, that means I got to make Rhubarb Crumble. We love it and so does everyone else that has tried it. I think I will make more next week.

Rhubarb Crumble

4 cups diced rhubarb

1/2 cup sugar

1 3 oz pkg red jello

1 pkg white cake mix

1/3 cup melted marg or butter

1 cup water

In an 8 inch baking dish (I use a 'small' 9 by 13), place ingredients in the order given. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream!

Now I saw 'small' 9 by 13 because I have a few rectangular pans that are not quite 9 by 13, but for some reason that is what I still call them instead of 7 1/2 by 12 or 8 by 11 1/2 or whatever they are! The recipe overflows a normal 8 by 8 inch pan.

Over a month or so ago I got tired of my scraggly looking and aphid invested honeysuckle shrub. I whacked it. I thought I might have killed it, but look! I didn't! We have fresh, new, green growth!

Here it is next to the 6 foot fence, and below is it's twin next to the same fence, but further down the yard. I am so glad it decided to live. Maybe I will give the twin a haircut next spring!

Now last but not least, on Friday the 22nd of the beautiful month of May I woke up to big fat snowflakes falling. I didn't think to take a picture while the big fatties were coming down, but I did take a picture before it melted. Crazy, this May has been! Kendal had a birthday party on the 22nd also, and gladly it warmed up a bit by the afternoon. I wish it would have been a little warmer though - we had to build a fire!

cute kids all dolled up for Civil War pictures

Okay, I have tried to hold off on more Civil War pictures, but I just can't wait anymore. These are some of the pictures I took last Saturday at Heber Old Town. My friend Amanda and I dressed our kids up and took them to Heber Old Town because that is where we (the Utah Civil War Association) are having the Heber Valley Civil War and Living History Weekend in September and we wanted some pictures to put on Facebook and also to make a website.



The kids were great sports, although Kelsey was irritated because the pinafore I spent hours and hours making didn't fit very well with this dress. She is definitely going to be exciting as a teenager when it comes to clothing!
Kendal was just happy to run around in her dress and pinafore, but it was getting a little too warm for her.
Emmitt was also super happy to just run around the boardwalks, as long as I didn't make him wear his bonnet!


So here are my kids and Amanda's kids. They are so darling!

Our event in September will also spill over to Southfield Park so we went there to get a few pictures also. Look how manly Emmitt looks with his wooden sword! I took this picture for those of you who think I am horrible for making my little boy wear a dress. See, he is so happy! I did take off his brown pinafore because it was so warm though.

If you look in the background of this picture you can see a white truck and a blue car. That is the animal control officer giving Amanda a ticket for having her dog with us. He was not a happy or nice guy about it at all!

Now for the drum roll . . . . .

Please go check out the website we (mostly Amanda, okay, ALL Amanda!) made for our fun Civil War event this fall. There is still work to do, but the bones of it are there - including the fun pictures of our kids! We will be adding some more 'military' pictures as soon as we can con some young man and a few of his friends into dressing up for us. http://www.hebervalleycivilwarlivinghistory.com/