052 Rain walks

Getting Exercise in a Downpour:

Shopping with Tootsie, the holy terrier!

Not wanting to cancel our walk on a story day, Frances, Tootsie (the Jack Russell terrorist) and I decided to evaluate our options.

Every summer, you hear of dogs (and children) left in hot cars. Why can't people figure this out?  The web lists many stores that are dog friendly, including some surprising ones. Unfortunately, many of the list are not nearby--Pottery Barn, Macy's, Gap, Bloomingdale's, Old Navy, Nordstrom's--to name a few.  The website points out that local store managers do not always follow the corporate line.

People! Come
pet me & feed me!

But there are a few stores in the Winchester area that allow dogs and can provide good exercise.  I found Tractor Supply on the list of dog-friendly stories but I have not yet tried it out!

A recent news story told of a Florida sheriff breaking into a car in a Home Depot parking lot to rescue a dog.  The rescuers took the dog into the garden center to hose it down. I am not sure where they took the owner!  Ironically, Home Depot is a store that allows dogs.  On one rainy day, Frances, Tootsie and I walked every aisle in our local Home Depot and logged 1.5 miles.  You could get 3 miles if you repeated the route.

Lowe's has a few more aisles in the garden center so you can get slightly more that 1.5 miles walking every aisle.  Tootsie prefers doing two stores rather than repeating rows.  She pulls to the exit whenever we walk close to it.  She also smells everything as we walk, but finds hardware store merchandise boring!  

We try to maintain discipline and do not look too closely at all the interesting things while walking for distance.  A few aisles in Lowe's and Home Depot are so boring that we have trouble remembering whether or not we walked them.  Tootsie insists we stop if anyone seems interested in her.  She tries to charm everyone into petting her because I give each person who stops a yummy to feed Tootsie--a great way to train a dog to like everyone! We often circle back to check out some must-have items and often end up buying something!

Now, this is a
place to shop!

So on a recent rainy day, the three of us walked Home Depot, Lowe's and Petsmart. Pet stores, of course, welcome our furry friends.  We walked almost every aisle of Petsmart and reached just a quarter mile. 

If you are not sure how your dog will behave in a store, a pet store is the place to start.  Petsmart has "doggy oops" stations with clean-up supplies. Until Tootsie outgrew her submissive wetting whenever anyone petted her, Petsmart was her only shopping location.  Several times when she was a puppy, the store dog trainer would stop to check her out and I received some excellent puppy-rearing advice!

I love getting a treat at checkout!

I know this is just a photo-op,
but I like riding in the cart!

An elderly dog might not enjoy walking on concrete floors, but would enjoy riding in the cart while you exercise. Remember to bring a towel to make the ride more comfortable. 


If you are as afflicted as I am, walking without your dog is no fun.  Store walking is great for rainy days. The added benefit is that the terrorist finally tires out!

        Trish         

052 Chocolate

Chocolate

A Brief History

Recently I read about a new diet – the chocolate diet. Eat your favorite chocolate before dinner and you won’t eat as much at dinner! What a way to save calories. Oh, I wish! Maybe I am a chocoholic?

The history of sweets goes back 4000 years or so to ancient Egypt. Their treats, however, were dates and/or honey. Humph! That’s not as satisfying as CHOCOLATE. No, indeed!

Chocolate first came from the Aztec and Mayan cultures from trees growing along the Amazon and Orinoco basins. (Just a random thought here: if we taught the history of chocolate in school, maybe current immigration questions could be resolved.)

Some interesting facts about chocolate’s history are easily found on the internet and in cookbooks. Here is sort of a timeline about how it came about that we Americans now consume one half (yes, ½) of all the chocolate produced annually or roughly three BILLION pounds. Yes, I eat my fair share.

• In records from the about 300 B.C., the Mayans restricted consumption of cocoa beans (xocoatl) to the elite; the beans were ground and made into to a drink.

• The Mayans, about 600 A.D., migrated to northern areas of South America and established cocoa plantations in the Yucatan. Beans continued to be used for an elite drink and also for currency. Records show that a turkey traded for 200 beans and a tomato cost 3 beans.

• Early Mexicans gave the beans even more status as the goddesses of food and water were named as guardians of the cocoa beans.

• In the 1200s, Mayans and Aztecs began trading; the Aztecs added local spices to the beans – chilies, cinnamon, and vanilla were common – and they thickened the liquid with cornmeal; now chocolate could be both a food and a beverage.

• Columbus brought back to King Ferdinand of Spain the beans from his fourth visit to the “new world” in 1502. Columbus failed to get the royals interested. However, Cortez conquered parts of Mexico and King Quetzalcoatl thought Cortez to be a god come to earth in shiny armor. Cortez built his own cocoa plantation to “grow money” for the Spanish when he learned of bean trading.

• In 1585 the first shipments of cocoa beans arrived in Spain. Spanish Princess Maria Theresa was so enamored of the treat, she gave her fiancé Louis XIV of France chocolate for an engagement gift. Suddenly cocoa beans become popular all over Europe.

• Cardinal Richelieu’s brother was a physic or doctor who described the use of chocolate for medicinal purposes, particularly for the spleen and for digestion. (Here’s another factoid: DON’T eat sugar-free chocolate- it is essentially ExLax!) In 1662, Casanova, known as the great lover and womanizer, touted chocolate as “a lubrication to seduction.” (from thenibble.com/reviews)

• In the mid-1700s as the world gets colonized, chocolate goes worldwide. The French took it to India and Madagascar, the Dutch to Ceylon and Java, the Belgians to the Congo, the British to India and the Portuguese back to Brazil.

• 1851 was a banner year for chocolate’s growth. Prince Albert Exposition in London introduced the world to pressed chocolates (pastilles), bonbons, creamed chocolates (truffles). This exhibition medal was known as the “chocolate medal.”

• Soon afterward, American companies grew: Ghirardelli in San Francisco, Nestle, and in 1895 Milton Hershey begins his factory town. 

• Fannie Farmer included a recipe for “brownies” in her 1905 cookbook; the next popular recipe was for Toll House cookies! (Which chocolate chip cookie is best? I still use the one on the back of the chip bag.)

• Now, with fusion cooking the current rage, maybe you can pretend your chocolate is a salad.
  

I know! I know! This is too, too much information! Go enjoy some chocolate! It was a history lesson. And I didn’t name candy bars on purpose. There are just too many of them….

p.s. White chocolate is not chocolate: it is cocoa butter or other vegetable butter substitute, sugar, milk (solids and fats), vanilla, and lecithin to bind it together!!

Glenne (M&M’s are all gone!)    

051 Patsy & Willa

Patsy and Willa--Winchester’s finest

A powerhouse duo — Willa Cather and Patsy Cline, a legendary singer and famous novelist --- are both from Winchester, Va. Not many small towns can boast having two such amazing figures, gracing their geographic limits.

Sometimes it amazes me that I can drive by landmarks often on a daily basis where these women were born and once lived. It is where they went to school, visited family, and started their lives.

I always admired Willa Cather’s writing and life adventures. I remember being impressed by her use of the English language, weaving stories of her beloved prairie, before I moved to Winchester in 1968.

She was born in 1873 in the Back Creek area of Frederick County. Her family left Virginia for Red Cloud, Nebraska when she was nine years old.  

This new life formed the backdrop for most of her works – 12 novels, 58 short stories and essays --- winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1922 for “One of Ours.”

But Winchester and Frederick County were featured in her last novel, “Sapphira and the Slave Girl,” which is a most impressive read for all citizens of the area.

Likewise Patsy (who was born in 1932 in Frederick County) impressed me with her unique voice and lasting legacy of memorable music way beyond her years --- she died in 1963 at age 30 in a plane crash.  Her tremendous music abilities landed her in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973 as the first solo woman performer inducted. She recorded more than 100 songs, including such hits as “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” and “Walking after Midnight.”

How could so much talent come from this small rural area at the top of Virginia? Certainly there are no answers to this question, but the strength of the work of the two women has definitely withstood the test of time and endured into modern days. Patsy’s music is played not only in this country but in many foreign lands. Willa’s books still sell and are read worldwide; some have even become TV movies.

And yet many residents of the area are unaware of the obvious sites where these women lived and prospered or are so used to them it doesn’t have the impact as it does on those new to the area like me. I have visited every site, listened to most of the songs, and read most of the books. 

  TEXT OF HIGHWAY MARKER: "Here Willa Sibert Cather, the novelist,

  was born December 7, 1873. This community was her home until 

  1883 when her family moved to Nebraska. Nearby on Back Creek 

  stands the old mill described in her novel "Sapphira and the Slave Girl."

Two highway markers trace the roots of Willa’s family on U.S. 50 west of Winchester. One marker denotes the house where she was born and the other sign tells about the house, Willa Shade, where she lived when the family moved. Both structures are privately owned and not open to the public. A road near the houses is named for her – Willa Cather Lane. A postage stamp bears her likeness and a replica is available at the local visitors center. She died in 1947 after a busy life of teaching and writing, while receiving awards for her work. She spent the last four decades of her life in New York City.

The local One Book One Community committee honored Willa by choosing her novel “O! Pioneers” as the 2013 selection which was read by area citizens, and programs were designed around the book. Also the archives at Handley Library in Winchester house some of her first editions, and a reading room at the library has been named in her honor.

Patsy’s days in Winchester are recounted in the Patsy Cline Historic House at 608 S. Kent St. in Winchester, where she lived in the late 1940s to the late 1950s with her family. Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc. has restored the house to the time period when she lived there. It is open to visitors from spring to late fall. A highway marker in front of the house marks the historic location. A road named for her is within the city limits of Winchester --- Patsy Cline Boulevard. A postage stamp bears her likeness, as well as many items in the historic house’s gift shop. She is also buried in a local cemetery, Shenandoah Memorial Park. 

I invite all residents to join me in celebrating these very talented, award-winning women. Read one of the novels, check out the highway markers, visit the historic house, or listen to some of the music. Their work has lasted and flourished way beyond their time on earth after beginning at the top of Virginia.

Frances     

049 1860s dress

Dressing as an 1860s lady



When I am dressed as a mid-1800s lady, I get many questions:

• "Are you a re-enactor?"  No, I am a historic interpreter, mainly at or for the Old Court House Civil War Museum in Winchester.  No campfire living for me!
• "How do you drive, sit (you can guess the other question) in that hoop?"  I push all the hoops up and to the side to drive, making certain I can see out to the side. To sit, I arrange the hoops so I am sitting between them, being careful not to have the hoops go way up in the front.  No comment on the third question but more on that below.
• A very young lady recently asked, "Did you know George Washington?"
• "Are these clothes from the Civil War?"  No, they are not 150 years old!
• "Aren't you hot?"  Not really, the clothes are all cotton and when I swirl the hoop skirt, there is a nice breeze.

If I had on all the layers that the typical Civil War era lady wore, I might not be quite so comfortable.  Which brings me to the question that I think has the most interesting answer: 

                   "How do you get dressed in the full outfit?"

I confess that my period clothing would not pass muster with exacting re-enactors, also known as thread Nazis.  My clothing is machine-made, not hand-sown, and I omit quite a few of the seven layers typically worn by the ladies.  I will start at the bottom layer and also describe what layers I wear.

Starting with bare skin, a period woman would wear bloomers or pantalets, which come to the knee or ankle, depending on the weather and the the maturity of the lady. Older women typically wore the longer bloomers.  Some bloomers are in two pieces, one for each leg, and typically either style was crotchless  Aha! The answer to the third question. Except I usually wear regular panties not pantalets. 

The next layer is the chemise, essentially a night gown that is worn under the corset to keep the corset from being soiled by being right next to the body and to have a layer of fabric under the corset.

Of course, I don't wear a corset or a chemise.  I don't have the requisite maid to lace up the corset and cannot imagine my husband lacing me up.  Plus too tight!  According to the experts, the corset in the 1860s was not used to get a narrow waist or a big bust.  It was merely to provide a smooth line from waist to bust.  [And I think a way to imprison women.] The stays of the corset were made of whale bone.  Women put it on by hooking the hooks and eyes in the front and then it was laced up in the back. 

Keeping the corset clean must have been a major concern because the next layer was a corset cover. Not only did it provide a smooth line over the corset but also kept color from rubbing or fading onto the corset.

The next layer is the under-petticoat.  This is where I start putting on layers.  It also helped keep dust off the hoop and preserve modesty.  If the hoop flew up in the wind, the under-petticoat helped hide those split drawers. 

Layer six is the hoop skirt, but wait, you have to do other stuff before you put on the next imprisoning item--the hoop! You cannot put on stockings, with garters, or shoes while wearing a hoop. It probably is possible but takes some contortions!   Usually period ladies wore boots out--no paved streets or sidewalks.  They wore slipper-like shoes in the house.  Fancy slippers were worn for dancing.

The hoop skirt and petticoats have draw-string waists that are tied to tighten.  I have never had one come untied and drop to the floor, but it is a worry!  The actual hoops were often steel covered in cloth but could be whale bone sewn into the cotton. 

Not pictured is the over-petticoat which also served to keep the crinoline clean and provided a smooth line, no hoops showing, under the skirt.  In colder weather more over-petticoats were worn beyond the typical two worn in warmer seasons.  In the cold women would wear from four to five at a time! I don't wear the over-petticoat.  If we count multiples of the same thing, the ladies of the time would be up to as many as eleven layers!  And forget the smooth line from bust to waist when there are eight (pantalets, under-petticoat, hoop skirt, and five over-petticoats) tied with little bows around the waist!

Next comes the blouse or bodice, tighter fitting than the blouse, and the skirt.  I do wear them!

There are, of course, more accessories.  In the photo with my husband Harry (before he shaved his beard), I am wearing a hat with hatpin, drop earrings, a locket, a shawl, a cummerbund that ties in the back, gloves, and a purse. There can also be removable collars and sleeves.  (Clothes were washed much less frequently so ladies changed collars and sleeves more often.)

I usually fix my hair before I start dressing.  I keep my hair long enough to pull back and have a variety of hair pieces to wear under nets, bonnets, or hats. The one hair piece that get the most compliments is the circle of curls I bought at Rite Aid!

I do have one period piece that I wear when portraying a woman in mourning.  Many Civil War women were in mourning since almost 700,000 died in the war.  They lost fathers, sons, husbands as well as many friends.  It was very common to wear jewelry made of the hair of the deceased. There are pins and earring with woven hair.  I prefer the jewelry in which the hair is behind glass. You can see the woven hair in my mourning broach on the right.

I do not wear all the layers and I do not faint, either. I still get the feel of a woman in the 1860s, and am happy to live in this day and age!

Trish