A little bit of cloth

When I talked about aprons I brought up accessories. If you reenact you know accessories are important. There is one that I think gets forgotten the most but I love almost as much as an apron but is equally important to remember. Here is a riddle for you.

What does a rich man keep but a poor man throws away?

For me it starts with a family tradition. As far back as anyone can remember my mother’s mother’s family has made the christening bonnet out of a small square of fabric. Most of my cousins all had ours made by our Great Grandma B and when I was in high school I figured out how to make them. You take a handkerchief and with certain stitches, in certain spots you get a bonnet small enough for a baby.

All of my Great Grandparents and me on the day I was baptized. The one holding me is my Great Grandma B who made my handkerchief baptism cap and her Grandma made my gown

In my family they aren’t just a decoration in the pocket of a man’s jacket, or an accessory used to wipe one’s nose. In the Victorian era, (and other ones too) they would be sprayed or laid in something that would make it smell nice. They would bring it up to their nose to help ward away bad smells. I found this very useful to help me on very hot days when I was doing Civil War reenacting. It helped me stay focused and with water helped me keep from getting heat sick. They are great for wiping away sweat, or keep it wet and place it behind your neck to help cool you. If you faint and you still have the nice smelling one, might be more readily available then smelling salts.

A hankerchief I made with open work embroidery on the hem

Today some still use them for cleaning up their nose. Some brides will continue to use them on their wedding day. (One with a bit of blue ties in the bit of blue very well.) They are used in decoration or as a doily on an end table. They have been used both historically and today to make dolls. They aren't as prevalent as they once were, used in favor of more modern disposable tissues but they are still used.

A spin on a 1860s handkerchief "church" doll with a little tatting on the corner. A simple thing a mother could make and a quiet toy for those quiet moments.

So don’t forget your handkerchief. How useful, and important to keep on you. Bilbo Baggins even wanted to return home because he forgot his handkerchief.

A handkerchief in progress

So the answer to the riddle.

Snot. A rich man keeps his snot on a handkerchief in his pocket, and poor man throws it on the ground, or wipes it on what-ever is nearby. (If he is really crass or a three year old, whips it on his neighbor or his own clothes.)

Maketh Oatcakes....

In my work I have a come across a really cool book, The English Housewife; Containing the inward and outward virtues which ought to be in a complete women. Yea it sounds a bit condescending and sexiest, but it was written in a bit of a different time, 1600 to be exact by an Englishman named Gervase Markham. It was written by a man to contain “all the virtuous knowledges and actions both of the mind and body which ought to be in any complete housewife” In it you find instruction to help keep a garden, keep animals, cook, weave, make pie, “dress” a fish, garbage birds and pigs, brew beer, and how to make medicine. There are even directions on making a salve for burned privy parts. So what does that have to do with this week’s blog? I found, (well a former coworker brought it to my attention), a very delicious treat, Oatcakes.

On page 202 of the edited by Michael Best version, Markham discusses this yummy treat and as with just about everything else that he did is vague. As with all his instructions there is no measurements and well let me show you.

“Also there is made of it both thick and thin oaten cakes, which are very pleasant in taste, and much esteemed: but if it be mixed with fine wheat meal, then it maketh a most delicate and dainty oatcake, either thick or thin, such as no prince in the world but may have them served at his table”

It continues about making puddings with oats. Doesn’t say much on how to make them but other recipe books from the time period helped to fill in. I have taken that and made it tasty for the modern world.

2 C. Old fashioned oats, (If you need to release stress get regular oats and beat them up in a mortar and pestle)

½ C. Flour, all purpose or whole wheat

½ C. brown sugar or white sugar

2/3 C. water

1 egg

1 tsp of butter  (melted or softened, both works.)

Your choice of raisins, cran-raisins, chocolate chips (peanut butter or white too), dried fruit, spices, nuts, candy, or honey as wanted

Mix it all together and either fry it in a frying pan thin, or thick till it is as crispy as you like. Try different styles.

Looks yummy

fried in a little bit of butter

Or bake it in a pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Yummy…

I used glass pie plates but any pan you Can make them in works just try to keep them thinner than one inch.

Yummy….

The end result made my mouth water and I ate He white chocolate one in one night... so worth it.

Do the Math...

I don’t remember much of the math I took in school but the math I remember has to do with one or two things, budgeting my checkbook and figuring out a sewing or knitting pattern. I exceeded at math in school but I really didn’t want to spend my life doing more of it then I have to. However now I wish I remembered how to do fractions, geometry and basic algebra better than I do. The number of times I wish I could remember the how to figure out a circumfuse of a circle, or how to figure out square feet of a room are starting to abound. That phrase if you don’t use it you lose it has never been more true and I wish it wasn’t.

We all remember the basics but we all do that every day, when we are handling money, cooking, figuring out time vs. distance when we are driving and if we have children helping them with their homework, at least until they get to a certain age and we don’t remember that grade never mind how to do the math. We even scratch are mind trying to remember the name of the math teacher we had when we had that complicated puzzle your child has placed in front of you. My mother’s words, “We’ll let that rest till your father comes home.”

Recently was trying to figure out how I did the math for a scarf I did back in August, when a customer asked for one like it but a little wider and longer. I scratched my head for an hour looking at the math problems all over my pattern page. I needed to know how many more stiches I needed to add to the side in order for it to be the width she wanted. I figured out the math, re-did it for my new inches and low and behold I still got it wrong.

Now I am looking at replacing the floors in my house. Problem with that I have to figure out square footage. After a bit of research, I had it figured out. Now when I go to get the flooring I really hope my math is right. Maybe by the time I get to the last room I’ll have figuring out the square footage down to a science. 

Coat of Many Colors

I am a huge country music fan and when I was growing up one of my favorite singers was Dolly Parton. I loved the songs, they were filled with spirit, love and humor. One of my favorite songs was Coat of Many Colors. I loved the song as much as the story of Joseph and his coat. I always wanted a coat of many colors but my mom wasn’t sewing or knitting as much back then. I still haven’t seen the movie recently showed on television about Dolly’s coat but I will when I get a chance.

In the song someone gives the family some scraps of cloth and her mother sews them together to make a coat since winter is coming quickly. When she goes to school she is picked on for being poor. She doesn’t understand why they are doing this because to her the coat was handmade for her with the love of her mother she felt that coat made her rich. She remembers trying to explain to them and telling them the story of Joseph from the Bible’s coat. She saw that poverty was not in wealth and ownership but in love.

In school I remembered over hearing someone I thought was a friend telling someone “she uses those folders because she is poor.” At the time I was using the yellow manila folders for a filing cabinet. I remembered as the year came up deciding I wasn’t going to buy new folders for school so I dug through the house finding folders instead.  I was in 8^th grade and was so proud when I found these folders to use, they had little tabs on them so that I could write the name of the class on them and didn’t have to go out and buy new ones. That day I dropped the envelopes and my papers went all over the floor. I gathered them up when I overheard those words. I couldn’t help but smile. I didn’t feel poor, I felt smart I had found them and didn’t need to buy new ones. I was going to Florida in February. We were going to Canada in the fall. Canoe season was coming up and I was excited. Those girls didn’t know me and didn’t understand that I picked those envelopes out because I wanted to. Plus they were smooth on the top so I could doodle on them without having to deal with the bumpy feeling folders that were popular at the time.

In the song Dolly says “one is only poor, only if they choose to be.” It isn’t about the cost of something always but the meaning of something. At the time of Middle School I was starting to understand the value of money.  I remember a few times that year when people commented on my economic standing but I just smiled because they didn’t really know. They didn’t know my dad fixed his own cars not because he had to but because he liked to and to save money so we could go to Florida and Canada. My mom didn’t keep a garden, and today neither do I because we have to but because we want to. It saves us a little money but also and more importantly the food is better. I have never felt poor, broke yes but poor, no because I have my family, a home, clothing on my back and I am proud to say most of them I made. Now my “coat of many colors” is a plaid cloak I made and it is my favorite .

My cloak of many colors. Find others like it at my Etsy Shop , etsy.com/shop/GrandmasTools