A Simple Happy Life...

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Gingerbread

If you don't happen to have the cookbook, let me direct you to Laura's Sweet Memories which includes the gingerbread recipe along with a lovely picture. Now, Laura's recipe in the cookbook calls for 1 cup of molasses (which I've always used) and Rev. Jim's calls for 1/2 cup of molasses. I wonder what the difference makes in the taste.

I may have to make some gingerbread now.

Have a good G-day!

**Join me and many other Laura fans at LauraPalooza 2012 (the second-ever Laura Ingalls Wilder Conference), which will be held July 12-14, 2012, in Mankato, Minnesota. For more information visit Beyond Little House and look for the heading "LauraPalooza 2012". The pull down menu will have all of the information that you are looking for!**

Fiddle

Pa stretched his arms above his head. he opened and closed his hands and stretched his fingers wide, then ran them through his hair till it all stood on end.

"I believe this warm weather has taken the stiffness out of my fingers," he said. "If you will bring me the fiddle, Laura, I'll see what I can do."

Laura brought the fiddle-box and stood close by while Pa lifted the fiddle out of its nest. He thumbed the strings and tightened the keys as he listened. The he rosined the bow and drew it across the strings.

A few clear, true notes softly sounded. The lump in Laura's throat almost choked her.
-The Long Winter, Chapter 33: Christmas in May
by Laura Ingalls Wilder

If you know anything about Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House books, then you'll know that Pa's fiddle, the music it made, and music in general played a huge role in Laura's life. So much so that it became a huge part of the books. After I read the original series (this was in the early '70s), I looked for more. I needed to know more!
And one day I found this:

This is my own hardcover copy! I paid $5.95 for it and
I can remember just going through its pages over and over
trying to sing the songs in my head.
(in my head because I can't carry a tune to save my life!)

I began taking guitar lessons with the lofty goal of some day being able to play the songs in the songbook. I wasn't at it very long when I had to give up my lessons. I tried to keep up on my own, but soon gave up. Even a few years ago I bought another guitar and...you guessed it. Nothing. Now with arthritis in my hands, I have pretty much given up all hope. Pffft...years wasted when I could have played.

If you have a few minutes, please watch this video. It explains a wonderful project...

Jim and I were lucky enough to be there at the Loveless Theater. In Nashville. For the taping of this PBS special! If you have another couple of minutes I wrote about it for Beyond Little House. Go here if you'd like to read about my experience.


Jim took this picture while we were waiting for it all to begin. I'm in there. See all those empty chairs to the left? We were in the first row of that section. Right by the fiddler. Here's the official preview (if you have a few more minutes):

Look for this on your local PBS station during the June pledge drive. If you want to make sure that it will be shown locally, contact your PBS. I did.

For more information:

Pa's Fiddle Project

Hope you had a wonderful F (as in fiddle)-day!

**Join me and many other Laura fans at LauraPalooza 2012 (the second-ever Laura Ingalls Wilder Conference), which will be held July 12-14, 2012, in Mankato, Minnesota. For more information visit Beyond Little House and look for the heading "LauraPalooza 2012". The pull down menu will have all of the information that you are looking for!**

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Eggs

Laura's hand felt gently over the sleeping chicks, huddled together in a corner of the coop. Then she stood looking at the summer night. She did not know how long she had stood there, until she saw Ma coming from the house.

"Oh, there you are Laura," Ma softly said. As Laura had done, she knelt and put her hand through the coop's door to fell the huddled chicks. The she, too, stood looking.

"The place begins to look like a farm," she said. The oatfield and the cornfield were shadowy pale in the darkness, and the garden was bumpy with lumps of dark leaves. Like pools of faint star-shine among them spread the cucumber vines and pumpkins. The low sod stable could hardly be seen, but from the house window a warm yellow light shone out.

-Little Town on the Prairie, Chapter 7: Nine Dollars
by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Did you know that, on Rocky Ridge Farm, Laura Ingalls Wilder was well known for her chickens and was able to get her hens to lay eggs even during the winter?

Here's my little connection with Laura - my chickens!
Ida, Alice, Minnie, Lena, and Hetty
They give us five (sometimes four) beautiful brown eggs every day!

Have a Happy E-day!

**Join me and many other Laura fans at LauraPalooza 2012 (the second-ever Laura Ingalls Wilder Conference), which will be held July 12-14, 2012, in Mankato, Minnesota. For more information visit Beyond Little House and look for the heading "LauraPalooza 2012". The pull down menu will have all of the information that you are looking for!**

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Drat

"Well," Laura began; then she stopped and spun round and round, for the strong wind blowing against her always made the wires of her hoopskirt creep slowly upward under her skirts until they bunched around her knees. Then she must whirl around and around until the wires shook loose and spiraled down to the bottom of her skirts where they should be.

As she and Carrie hurried on she began again. "I think it was silly, the way they dressed when Ma was a girl, don't you? Drat this wind!" she exclaimed as the hoops began creeping upward again.

Quietly Carrie stood by while Laura whirled. "I'm glad I'm not old enough to have to wear hoops," she said. "They'd make me dizzy."
-Little Town on the Prairie, Chapter 23: Schooltime Begins Again
by Laura Ingalls Wilder

So, besides that this passage always paints a funny picture in my head, I always think that Ma would have reprimanded Laura for saying the word "drat".

**Join me and many other Laura fans at LauraPalooza 2012 (the second-ever Laura Ingalls Wilder Conference), which will be held July 12-14, 2012, in Mankato, Minnesota. For more information visit Beyond Little House and look for the heading "LauraPalooza 2012". The pull down menu will have all of the information that you are looking for!**

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Charlotte

In each stocking there was a pair of bright red mittens, and there was a long, flat stick of red-and-white-striped peppermint candy, all beautifully notched along each side.

They were all so happy they could hardly speak at first. They just looked with shining eyes at those lovely Christmas presents. But Laura was happiest of all. Laura had a rag doll.

She was a beautiful doll. She had a face of white cloth with black button eyes. A black pencil had made her eyebrows, and her cheeks and her mouth were red with the ink made from pokeberries. Her hair was black yarn that had been knit and raveled, so that it was curly.

She had little red flannel stockings and little black cloth gaiters for shoes, and her dress was pretty pink and blue calico.

She was so beautiful that Laura could not say a word. She just held her tight and forgot everything else. She did not know that everyone was looking at her, till Aunt Eliza said:

"Did you ever see such big eyes!"

-Little House in the Big Woods, Chapter 4: Christmas
-by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Did you know that in Laura Ingalls Wilder's unpublished (so far) Pioneer Girl the cherished Charlotte is really Roxy?
I love Charlotte, or the idea of her. Several years ago, I had an order form from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri. At the time, I was still very busy raising my kids and helping my husband operate a very busy business. I could only dream of visiting Laura's homesites (except for the quick drive-through of De Smet in 1978). The closest I could come was filling out the order form with what I would wish to have, then my husband would pick from it and place an order for Christmas that year.

That year, I got Charlotte for my Christmas. I was well into my thirties.

She is beautiful!

And then, in 2007, the dream came true and I was able to go to Rocky Ridge (Laura's homesite in Mansfield). In 2009, my husband and I made a marathon Laura trip and Walnut Grove, Minnesota and De Smet, South Dakota were two stops that weekend.

In De Smet, my husband surprised me with a Charlotte (with a matching quilt!). He snuck her in with my purchases.

She's beautiful too!

When we went to Walnut Grove the day after De Smet, I just couldn't get another Charlotte. She had to wait another couple of years and I sent for her.

The first Charlotte must have started the tradition of the blue calico dress.

I guess you could call this a collection (some might call it an obsession). Charlotte. ♥

Have a happy C-day!

**Join me and many other Laura fans at LauraPalooza 2012 (the second-ever Laura Ingalls Wilder Conference), which will be held July 12-14, 2012, in Mankato, Minnesota. For more information visit Beyond Little House and look for the heading "LauraPalooza 2012". The pull down menu will have all of the information that you are looking for!**

Monday, April 2, 2012

Buffalo Wallow

My theme for the A to Z Challenge is Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura Ingalls Wilder was the author of the Little House books and there was a television series very loosely based on the books. I began reading the books when I was eleven years old (which even I have a hard time believing is over 40 years ago!). If you would like to read about my feelings about Laura, visit this site. I have also listed helpful sites and blogs in my sidebar if you would like to learn more.

B is for Buffalo Wallow. I chose buffalo wallow because it leads to one of my favorite passages from the Little House books.

During the days that buffalo roamed the prairie, they would stop to roll in the dirt (or water if it was a watering hole). Herds of buffalo always seemed to stop in the same areas so that over time, the earth would wear away and buffalo wallows would form. Buffalo wallows are some of the only evidence left by the once thriving enormous herds of buffalo.

I will probably post passages from the Little House books on most days this month, just because they have stayed with me over the past forty years of reading and re-reading the books. I'm sorry that this one is going to be a long one. Laura's littlest sister, baby Grace, had wandered off and the family was in a panic trying to find her. I can still feel the sense of guilt and urgency and terror in Laura's words all those years later when she was writing the book.

From By The Shores of Silver Lake, Chapter 30: Where Violets Grow
By Laura Ingalls Wilder ---

Laura was running straight toward the south. Grass whipped soft against her bare feet. Butterflies fluttered over the flowers. There wasn't a bush nor a weed that Grace could be hidden behind. There was nothing, nothing but grass and flowers swaying in the sunshine.

If she were little and playing all by herself, Laura thought, she wouldn't go into the dark Big Slough, she wouldn't go into the mud and the tall grass. Oh, Grace, why didn't I watch you? she thought. Sweet pretty little helpless sister -- "Grace! Grace!" she screamed. Her breath caught and hurt in her side.

She ran on and on. Grace must have gone this way. Maybe she chased a butterfly. She didn't go into the Big Slough! She didn't climb the hill, she wasn't there. Oh, baby sister, I couldn't see you anywhere east or south on this hateful prairie. "Grace!"

The horrible, sunny prairie was so large. No lost baby could ever be found on it. Ma's calling and Pa's shouts came from Big Slough. They were thin cries, lost in wind, lost on the enormous bigness of the prairie.

Laura's breathing hurt her sides under the ribs. Her chest was smothering and her eyes were dizzy. She ran up a low slope. Nothing, nothing, not a spot of shadow was anywhere on the level prairie all around her. She ran on, and suddenly the ground dropped before her. She almost fell down a steep bank.

There was Grace. There, in a great pool of blue, sat Grace. The sun shone on her golden hair blowing in the wind. She looked up at Laura with big eyes as blue as violets. Her hands were full of violets. She held them up to Laura and said, "Sweet! Sweet!"

Laura sank down and took Grace in her arms. She held Grace carefully and panted for breath. Grace leaned over her arm to reach more violets. They were surrounded by masses of violets blossoming above low-spreading leaves. Violets covered the flat bottom of a large, round hollow. All around this lake of violets, grassy banks rose almost straight up to the prairie-level. There in the round, low place the wind hardly disturbed the fragrance of the violets. The sun was warm there, the sky was overhead, the green walls of grass curved all around, and butterflies fluttered over the crowding violet-faces.

Laura then took Grace back to the shanty, gave her to Mary, and went to find Ma and Pa to tell them that she had found Grace. Laura wondered to Pa and Ma about what she thought might be a fairy ring where Grace had been. And Pa explained:

You are right, Laura; human hands didn't make that place," Pa said. "But your fairies were big, ugly brutes, with horns on their heads and humps on their backs. That place is an old buffalo wallow. You know buffaloes are wild cattle. They paw up the ground and wallow in the dust, just as cattle do.

Pa explains the buffalo herds had these wallowing places and, for some reason, always wallowed in the same place as other herds had. Maybe because the ground was mellowed there. Now the buffalo were gone and grass grew over their wallows. Grass and violets.

Grace in the Buffalo Wallow
from a Sewell/Boyle illustrated edition of
By The Shores of Silver Lake

Have a wonderful B-day!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Almanzo

In an attempt to try to keep my posts short (which is sometimes difficult), I going to write about my favorite things about Almanzo, mixed in with a few facts.

Almanzo Wilder was the husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Almanzo was the farmer boy in Laura Ingalls Wilder's book Farmer Boy, where we discover that young, hardworking Almanzo loves to eat.

Almanzo at the sweet, mellow baked beans. He ate the bit of salt pork that melted like cream in his mouth. He ate mealy boiled potatoes, with brown ham-gravy. He ate the ham. He bit deep into velvety bread spread with sleek butter, and he ate the crisp golden crust. He demolished a tall heap of pale mashed turnips, and a hill of stewed yellow pumpkin. The he sighed, and tucked his napkin deeper into the neckband of this red waist. And he ate grape jelly, and spiced watermelon-rind pickles. He felt very comfortable inside. Slowly he ate a large piece of pumpkin pie.

Farmer Boy, Chapter 2: Winter Evening
by Laura Ingalls Wilder

He was born on February 13, 1857 and died on October 23, 1949.
Almanzo was quite handsome with blue eyes.
Did you know that he was only 5' 4"?
He was a quiet man, a man of few words (as I call my husband).
He was hard-working, a life-long farmer.
Almanzo was a talented woodworker (like my husband).
Almanzo had a life-long love of horses, particularly Morgan Horses.

My favorite passage from Farmer Boy:

"Father!" Almanzo exclaimed.
"Yes, son?"
"Can I? Can I really tell you what I want?"
"Yes, son," Father encouraged him.
"I want a colt," Almanzo said. "Could I buy a colt all my own with some of that two hundred dollars, and would you let me break him?"
Father's beard slowly widened with a smile. He put down his napkin and leaned back in his chair and looked at Mother. The he turned to Almanzo and said:
"Son, you leave that money in the bank."
Almanzo flet everything sinking down inside him. And then, suddenly, the whole world was a great shining, expanding glow of warm light.
For Father went on:
"If it's a colt you want, I'll give you Starlight."
"Father!" Almanzo gasped. "For my very own?"
"Yes, son. You can break him, and drive him, and when he's a four-year-old you can sell him or keep him, just as you want to. We'll take him out on a rope, first thing tomorrow morning, and you can begin to gentle him."

Farmer Boy, Chapter 29: Farmer Boy
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Interesting facts that only I would think of:

Almanzo's middle name was James. My husband's first name is James.
Almanzo's initials were AJW. My husband's initials are JAW (his middle name is Arthur though and not Almanzo).
My first name is Laura (although I was not named for Laura Ingalls Wilder).
My middle name is not Elizabeth, but it is Jean. Yeah, I know, I couldn't come up with anything to connect the two.
Our last name begins with a W, ends with an R, and has six letters in it as does the name Wilder.

Really...I am a normal person. Mostly.

Have a wonderful A-day!