Presenting in Watebury VT

On Tuesday, January 26 2016, at 7 PM - The Waterbury VT Genealogy Quest Group will be having a presentation on Ancestry.com. Learn some new tips and tricks on how to use Ancestry’s records to search for your family’s information. Attendance is free for the public, and will be at the new Library facility (behind the old Library) on Main street in Waterbury. Presented by Rebecca Cornell, Family Historian and Genealogist for the last 20+ years

Do you sleep in the tents?

 "Do you sleep in the tents?" This is one of those questions reenactors are asked quite often. This answer differs based on who answers, but I figure folks just want to know more about how reenacting works. Here are some of our answers.

Am I sleeping in a tent tonight? Yes I am. I spent a fair bit of money to buy a period appropriate tent.  I hauled it here in a vehicle that was bought only after knowing it would haul the tent poles.  With some help from other reenactors we put the tent up where the quartermaster indicated it should go. I put all my belongings into it, set up my sleeping area inside, and I will indeed be sleeping in it for the weekend.

Are most the tents occupied at night? Yes, most the tents have one or two people sleeping in them at night. Does every reenactor sleep in a tent at night? No, some reenactors are within 45 minutes of home and go home at night. Some reenactors prefer to sleep at the local hotel. Are we required to sleep in the tents? No we are not required. We're volunteers, and very few places we go have rules that are that strict. Do the tents belong to the site? The tents are private property, same as almost everything else you see. It all belongs to the reenactors participating for the weeknd.

Did the soldiers sleep the same as we did in the tents? Well in the 18th century, the British Army assigned 6 men per tent. 2 would be on duty and 4 off at any given time. They slept crosswise, not the long way as we do today.  The doors were staked shut so the guy sleeping across the front would be responsible for opening and closing the tent. There were two or three blankets for each tent and the only bed would be either some straw or pine boughs. The soldiers had much less space than the reenactors do. Soldiers also carried less stuff than your average reenactor too. However I can tell you there isn't all that much space for two people in a 6 X 6.5 foot regulation tent. I would hate to have to try to sleep in one with 3 other people.

Why do I sleep in a tent instead of in a hotel? Well, for one thing its less expensive. Depending on how many weekends you reenact, hotel expenses could quickly add up over one season. Staying overnight in the tents gives you a bigger appreciation of what it was like in the 18th century. After the evening meal there is socialing by candle-light. Sometimes a soiree or dance or tavern is happening in camp. The sounds of the camp waking in the morning add to the whole experience as well.  After all, we fall asleep to the sounds of period songs being sung, and woken by either a cannon (morning gun) or the drummers and fifers playing throughout the camp. You just don't experience that sleeping in a hotel down the road.

Conquering the laundry.

Here's a shot of my little bathroom. The shower is cool, two sliding glass doors meet to make a corner of it, something I'd never seen before. I discovered its reallyeasy to clean and the black bits around the caulking you see here cleaned up with just a little scrubbing and hot water. Something else new is the way the toilet flushes - it has a little knob on top you pull up for flushing, no push down handle here. The sink here is definitely bigger than the kitchen sink too.

However the most unique thing in my bathroom is the washer/dryer. Now when i saw this place advertised on craigslist, I'll admit it caught my eye that it included a washer/dryer in it, not many little apartments do. I should have paid a tad bit more attention. Theres just one machine that does the work of both, and you can see it on the left there. Its a Malber WD 1000, and am I ever grateful the instruction booklet is here.

So on moving day, I'll confess there was some wet wash that came with me - a few things that just didn't make it through the dryer when we packed the last things out. As we're moving boxes, trying to assemble the bed (it was trickier than it looked) and we were starting to turn our attention to Lunch... we had this laundry to finish doing.

I recall handing the instructions over and several folks crowding around the Malber. A couple of folks gave it a try, we did manage to get it to spin and to wash the load again... but the dryer continued to elude us. We finally gave up shortly after lunch and went on with our day. Once it was all completed, We returned the U-Haul, did some last minute cleanup at the farmhouse and came back to the piles of boxes. It was then that Jp managed to determine how the Malber worked. We had to put the laundry through another wash cycle, but we did get it to switch over and then dry afterwards. (Success - Yeah!)

The following week I did some research online. I read and reread the instructions. There must be a way to just dry things - especially since it said it could wash 10 pounds of clothes, but the dryer worked better with just 5-7 pounds of clothes. That seemed to indicate to me it could do a "dry only cycle" even if I couldn't figure it out. I did discover an extra spin helped it dry more, and keeping the spin speed under 700 would reduce wrinkles. I fingured out orange was for more sturdy stuff, the blue was more gentle, and the gray was the for the delicates. I could wash only... I could lightly wash and dry... I could spin & dry...but the dry only was my quest.

It was two days of trial and error and it suddenly hit me (DUH, i can be so clueless!) Malber has a web site, I had looked at it and there were no extra instructions there, so I had crossed it off my list as a place for help... but when I went back and looked at the web page again, they had an email address. Lo and behold, when iIsent a note out to them, the next day I recieved an email back with very simple directions, the wash dial need to be in the stop position, except only the stop position at 6 o'clock on the dial would work for a dry only cycle. I tried it that night and sure enough, it worked. I sent a thank you note out to the Malber folks right away. I just wish the instruction booklet had been more helpful. I'll leave a note with the instructions when I go for the next tenant, thats for sure.

Anyhow, thats been my excitement - figuring out how the Malber washer/dryer works. It doesn't hold much, it does seem to take a while to work, and if you over load it it wrinkles like you wouldn't believe. However it is supposed to be very energy efficient and as a front loader, uses very little water for each load. I can do a small load every couple of days and that seems to be working out fine for me now. In Reenacting season, I might find it helpful to stop at a laundromat or something, but I've got a few months to figure that out yet. Anyhow, here's a glimpse of another corner of the new place for you.

My new kitchen with the minature sink

Well I've been in the new place a week now. Still have boxes to unpack and figuring out what to keep and what to pass on to others.

The kitchen is taking shape.

Its a lot smaller... but seems fairly user friendly other than the minature sink. I'm not exaggerating - the sink not as big around as a piece of paper. Washing the cookie pan has been a challenge to say the least. Just wait til the real baking begins, I may have to follow up on that suggestion from a friend to wash stuff in the shower, it might be quicker and with less water spilled/wasted.

It's nowhere as big as the last kitchen - but for now this will work just fine. At least one corner of the place has gotten organized. The rest... will be done someday, hopefully soon.

I have a new home!!

I have found an apartment and will be moving next week to the new place. Anyone up for moving a few boxes??

UPDATE

I am ever so thankful to Marc, Eddie, Jp, Sue & Rob Rowell, Wally, Debbie, Lydia, Johanna, Rich, & Richie for all the help moving things out of the farmhouse, moving the piano to Lydia's and moving things into the studio apartment. I could not have done this without the help of my friends.

There's no place like home...

Well it looks like I'm going to be moving again. The folks who own the house I'm living in at the moment have decided they would like to close the house up for the winter, so I have a month left to find a place for me & my stuff. I'm hoping to stay in Waterbury, but if not I'm looking to find something between Waterbury and Berlin, which is where i work. Hopefully I'll find something reasonably priced in that area soon.

The Burning of Kingston, NY

October 17 & 18 - Revolutionary War - Crew of the HMS Dark & Stormy - The Burning of Kingston, at Kingston, NY.

The Royal Welch Fusiliers will be at this event in force, however the HMS Dark & Stormy is involved in the naval battle. So although I may wander from the one camp to the other, look for me with the boats as I'm doing my naval impression here.

Weekend details: (feel free to share with anyone you think might be interested) There is a Revolutionary War event happening this weekend at Kingston (rain or shine) and I'll be there playing a sailor on HMS Dark & Stormy. If you've ever wanted to see 'one of those things i do' this is about as close to Pawling as I get. We'll be camping at Kingston Point Park.

Saturday, 10-12 AM the boats will bombard the shore and then there will be British troops landing & fighting the Americans Around 1:30, someplace uptown, there will be a small squirmish and the brits will round up some refugees & capture them. There is also going to be some sort of Boat action at the same time; i should be on the boat. that evening there will be a ball at City Hall, but i do not expect I'll be there. I have a formal dinner to go to, and then I will be at the Pillaged Tavern in camp, or can be found singing in the Naval Camp. Its one of those sailor things we do.

Sunday Boats lauch at 10, bombardment of the shore starts at 11, troops will land and then there is a land battle then a boat battle at 1ish. Battles should end before 2. Once Battles end and folks get back to camp, everything starts coming down in a hurry. A lot of folks like myself have traveled many hours to get there, and have to work the next day, so getting home becomes pretty important. I figure what with stopping to eat, I'll get home after 10 if I'm lucky, probably closer to midnight.

Typically you can observe the camps and wander through during the day. See the different folks and ask them about what they are doing. Also there will be Sutlers there (Merchants) selling different things you might use or keep as souveiners. (shoppings good no matter what the century.) If you wander through the camps, check the boat camp after the battle, see if the crew of the dark & stormy are around; thats who I'm with. I go by "Beck" in my sailor impression in case you're asking for me by name. Hope to see you there.

The Season Schedule

The re-enacting season is almost here, and I for one am getting antsy. Our annual meeting was held a while ago - there's bound to be a few changes to the schedule, but I thought I'd post the current plan here so folks can see where I'll be when. Mind you this is liable to change, so if there's an event happening that you think you might want to see, drop me an email so I confirm the details for you.

- May 16-17 - Revolutionary War - 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers - Jerusalem Mill Village, Maryland HAS BEEN CANCELLED due to Flooding.

- May 16-17 - 1745 - Culloden in North America - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - We're going to try to get to this event as Jerusalem Mill Village is flooded out. We've done one Culloden event years ago; We play Goverment Troops (the bad guys) here so we'll be vastly outnumber by men in kilts everywhere. Details at http://www.fortplainmuseum.com/eventdetails/2009culloden.html

- June 27 & 28 - French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Fort Ticonderoga, NY. This is a nice event that usually has lots to see. This year the event will be smaller than last year but still a fun time. Some details can be found at http://www.fort-ticonderoga250th.org/french-indian-war-encampment/index.htm%20as well as pictures of last year.

- July 3, 4 & 5 -French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Fort Niagara, NY. About 8 years ago I went to this fort with a different group and was amazed at all there was to see. We are right on the lake, and the falls are close enough to visit in the same weekend. Details to be found at http://tiny.cc/8lwhP. We're planning on having a large group at this event so we should be easy to find, Just look for the fellows in the pointy hats.

- July 11-12 - Revolutionary War - 23rd Royal Welch Fusilers - We'll be participating in the Battle of Hubbardton, in Hubbardton, VT. This is one of the least disturbed revolutionary war battlegrounds and has a visitors center with a lovely setup explaining exactly what happened there. A great place to talk with the reenactors and see things up close.

- July 18-19 -French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Fort la Presentation in Ogdensburg, NY. Here you can find not only land battles, but also a strong naval presence. if you've never seen an 18th century boat up close this is a great place to do so. Currently we're portraying land troops at this battle, its too long a haul to bring the Dark & Stormy (our boat.) http://www.fortlapresentation.net/foundersday.htm

- August 1 & 2 - French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Battle on the Plains of Abraham, Quebec - this event HAS BEEN CANCELLED due to threats of violence by Quebec separatists.

- August 1 & 2 - The crew of the Dark & Stormy - Lake Galway, NY. We'll be camping on a small private beach for a naval event on the lake. Depending on how fast our Captain Darling can sew, we may be under sail at this event. It seems fitting that we test our sailing skills for the first time at the site where we first discovered the boat does indeed float.

- Sept 12-13 - War of 1812 - The crew of the Dark & Stormy - Plattsburgh, NY. This event has both land and naval troops in the battles. Also Saturday there is a period boat race. Last year the Dark & Stormy came in 5th, this year we actually know what we're doing so the hope is we'll do much better. http://www.battleofplattsburgh.org/index.html

- Sept 19 & 20 - Revolutionary War - 23rd Royal Welch Fusilers - Gelston Castle in Warren, NY. This is a new site for the company, but we are looking forward to the event, which is sponserod by both the British Brigade& the Continental Line organizations.

- Sept 26-27 - French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Rogers Island, Fort Edward, NY. A smaller location than most, this event gives guests a chance to visit with the troops and you'll be just yards away from the battle action. Several boat crews will be on the river here, depending on the plan you may see them in action during the battle. This event some of us will portray the 27th troops, some of us will be crewing on the Dark & Stormy. http://www.rogersisland.org/Rogers%20Island.htm

- October 17 & 18 - Revolutionary War - Crew of the Dark & Stormy - The Burning of Kingston, at Kingston, NY. The Royal Welch Fusiliers will be at this event in force, however the Dark & Stormy is involved in the naval battle. So although I may wander from the one camp to the other, look for me with the boats as I'm doing my naval impression here.

There's other events happening this season; this isn't all of them. However this is the basic schedule, as events get added I will update the blog so folks know where I'll be when. I'm always happy to see folks when i'm out & about, so come check out the fun!

Moving Day

I have to thank all my friends who made Moving Day possible: Christine, Randy, Debbie, Dave, Jp, Sue B, Rob, Sue R, Johanna, and Eddie. They are my heroes.

Moving day didn't start off all that well, I got up off the cot (the king size bed was already dismantled) and looked out the window to find a foot of snow had fallen overnight, and there was still snow coming down. ACK! We got lucky and it stopped mid-morning just like the weather man said it would. It didn't get all that warm, the temp was somewhere in the teens. I was mighty glad to see my buddies show up despite the less than perfect weather. Once we had a car or two, we started the actually hauling of things out of the apartment.

A couple of things still needed packing; folks pitched right in. I loaded some stuff in cars & trucks myself but most often to be found in the kitchen answering questions of this person or that one while moving things out from the back rooms to the front. I didn't even see the piano going until they had it on the porch maneuvering it onto the trailer ramp. We had an open trailer; everyone brought tarps (& I bought one - for the cost of the thing it should outlive me)One of the funnier moments was watching the king size bed being wrapped like a Christmas present before going out the door. constant flurry of activity, and then suddenly there weren't any more boxes. Most of us headed out to the new place while the Barbers and a few others stuck around to help John move the remaining furniture around to his liking.

We traveled the 4 or so miles up the road to the new place in Waterbury Center. Our "plow guy" had done a great job clearing all kinds of room in the yard. My roommate Z was out running some errands, so we had the place to ourselves. The neighbors did call the house though, to find out what all the commotion was all about. What with the local speed trap being a 100 yards from the driveway and the neighbors checking things out, I'm feeling pretty safe here, even though it is not on the main road.

I called in a wings and pizza order for lunch, and we emptied out the vehicles in record time. The back porch has a ramp on it, which made it somewhat easier to move the big stuff in. The Parlor ended up the resting place for most the boxes until I could go through them. A lot of the furniture went right up to my bedroom, a 15 X 14 room with a couple of windows and a hole in the floor (this appears to be the place a stovepipe once went up to the chimney) which was "covered" by a Frisbee. We got all of it unloaded by the time lunch arrived.

An enjoyable meal was had by all, or so it seemed. the party broke up after the eats, as most folks had a bit of traveling to do to get to their homes. I found out later Dave had been bested by my office chair - it gave way at the wrong moment and he took a tumble. He was shook pretty hard but survived it just fine. Apparently the piano move wasn't perfect, even with the two furniture dollys - there were a few spots where it still needed to be lifted. The fellas made it look easy though. I had a few tense moments when I realized there only was an inch to spare around the sideboard as it went up the stairs as I hadn't measured the width of the stairwell, and although the glass lamp made it intact the other ones needed to have the bulbs replaced.

All in all though it was a very busy day, and every body worked hard. Eddie, Sue B & Jp stuck around and helped me set up the electronics and set up my bed. Sue was was intrigued by the furry sheets mom had found for me down in Pennsylvania. We also were able to set up the rugs Canadace had given to me; everything fit just so, and except for the hole in the floor, It was turning out pretty good. We all went out for dinner at the local wings place, and then since Sue & Jp had a room at the Best Western, we went over there to do some swimming and met back up with Johanna who was also staying there.

I eventually found a piece of plywood that currently resides over the hole in my floor: Eddie is working on a better fix for that. Jp came up and helped us re-caulk our shower. I replaced the dark shower curtain , and Eddie put in the handheld showerhead I got. Its better than it was, but its still the smallest shower I've ever seen. I managed to empty 20 or so boxes within the next week; another 12 or so last week, and the remainder are things that probably won't be used here as the house is fully furnished (in Early American hand-me-down style), with dishes and everything. I'm settling in and this big 4 bedroom farmhouse is beginning to feel like home. Here's hoping I'll be here a while. Look me up if you're in the neighborhood!

Moving Right Along

In case you didn't hear, John & I are splitting up. We've been having issues for quite some time now, and to make a very long story short, I am moving out. January 3rd is the move date, lets hope for clear and maybe a balmy 30 degrees? (only in Vt would 30 degrees be considered balmy!)

Some genealogy friends, co-workers and reenacting buddies are all coming on the 3rd to help move me out of the apt. I found on craigslist a homeshare type situation in Waterbury center, only a few miles from where the apt is. Big house, another single gal (by name of Z) who describes herself as quirky, enough room for the piano, the king sized bed and even all the boxes. If you don't have the new address or phone #, and would like it, email me at the new email (mizrebecky@gmail.com) and I'll send it onto you.