October 2019 – Cabin Crafted

Podcasts – 10/30/2019

I am a recent listener of Podcasts. The first one I heard was an edition of 99% Invisible while riding in the backseat of eldest son’s car on the way from their house to the Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA to see my first play there. I am not a daily listener, I don’t follow but a few and I don’t listen to all the episodes, I pick and choose. I follow 99% Invisible, The Moth, The Way I Heard it, and some of the Ted Talks episodes. I also follow a local sustainable farmer’s podcast, Can Your Beans Do That?

Some daily/weekly tasks around the house I enjoy and find meditative, cooking and the prep is one. Some I find very onerous, laundry being one. Some get neglected until I can’t stand the dust or dog hair bunnies and then pull out the dust cloth or vacuum. That task is one that is neutral. To get through the more onerous tasks, I often listen to a Podcast. Folding T-shirts and socks seems to go more quickly if my mind is otherwise occupied.

On morning when I am up a couple hours before my spouse, and have finished the daily animal tasks, I will sometimes sit and listen to a cast or two through headphones so as to keep the house quiet until we are both moving about. When I am home alone, the television never is turned on, instead music or podcasts provide my entertainment and sometimes a level of education.

On a visit to son’s house, I asked how he downloads them to listen offline as in the car. When traveling I listen to NPR until I lose the station and then switch to downloaded music. I thought listening to a few of my favorite Podcasts might make the trips seem shorter. He gave me a lesson, I thought I had it and prior to my last trip up to help them, I downloaded 5 podcasts to help pass the 3 1/2 hours it takes to reach them. Alas, as I stopped for an iced tea to travel with, I turned on my Podcasts to play through my tiny Bluetooth speaker, the only way I can hear downloads from my phone (my car is 14 years old and the sound system lacks Bluetooth, the cassette play no longer works, the CD player is intermittent) . There were no downloads there. I must not have learned the lesson well. I guess I will get him to try again next time we are in the same location together. It would have been nice this morning as I cleaned the chicken coop. My WiFi doesn’t reach that far, so the one I was listening to while folding laundry was suspended until I was back in the house.

When time comes to replace one of our ancient vehicles, it will come equipped with technology that far exceeds our current knowledge and a new learning curve will be presented.

Between Gigs – 10/29/2019

Last weekend was the start of the season. As a volunteer at the Wilderness Road Regional Museum, I am usually the spinner. Sometimes events stack and I have to be elsewhere. Sometimes, my role is different. The last weekend of October, they plan a Spirits Along the Wilderness Road event. It isn’t a scary event, instead a Percheron pulled wagon travels a path through local history with stops for the “Spirits” of actual historical figures from the region to share their moment in history.

Photo credit April Martin, Wilderness Road Regional Museum

There were many spirits, Colonels, soldiers, gamblers, slaves, Seminole indians, founders, shop keepers, Politicians, a tiny Werewolf, and more. I portrayed an older Mary Draper Ingles displaying her angst at being away from the ferry and her home as dark descended.

In all there were 9 wagon loads of visitors, one every half hour and we could have filled more if there had been space and time. Last year the event was rain delayed to a week night and was less successful, but this year was especially great. The period depicted for my part was just after the Revolutionary War, so I wore that period clothing. As folks could wander the museum before or after their ride, I also was able to share some fiber history and demonstrate spinning on one of the old Walking Wheels that I helped restore to use.

The upcoming weekend, I will be with a friend demonstrating wool and spinning at the Booker T. Washington National Monument again in costume, but this time closer to the Civil War so a bit of change up to the clothing items. It will also be outdoors and a chilly weekend, so there may be some hidden woolen layers under the two piece dress, and my Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em huge shawl and fingerless mitts to help try to stay warm. At this event, my friend and I can also vend, so yarn, knits, soaps, and salves will accompany my spinning wheel and baskets. When demonstrating in costume, I have a canvas seated wooden folding chair (a period camp reproduction) and a Jacob sheep pelt that I sit on. If I get too cold, the pelt can be in my lap.

After this weekend, there are a couple of weeks off, then the craft shows for the holidays begin in earnest with Catawba Valley Farmers Market Holiday event on November 23rd. The Blacksburg Farmers Market Holiday markets the first 3 Saturday’s in December. The first two Saturday’s and Sunday’s in December, I will also be back at Wilderness Road Regional Museum in period clothing, demonstrating spinning and vending at their Christmas Bazaar in the old German Barn during the Wassailing and tours of the museum in Christmas greens and candles.

This is such a fun time of year, never knowing what the weather may bring or the crowds that may show up.

Old Dog, New Trick – 10/26/2019

Depending on the trick, this old dog can be taught a new one. About 2 years ago, ads for the Instant Pot or it’s other brand variations were prevalent. I suggested to hubby that it would be a good birthday or Christmas gift (those events are only a month apart). He didn’t know what one was and I had a coupon for Bed, Bath, and Beyond that was about to expire, so we went looking. They had a different brand that I didn’t like all the features on it, and we had to go over to Target for something else and they did have two sizes of Instant Pot brand on sale. I didn’t get it for my birthday or Christmas, he told me to go on and get it right then as it wasn’t very expensive. It has totally changed the way I cook. To be able to cook dry beans in 40 minutes, stew, or brown rice in about the same amount of time was luxury. I have used it for making yogurt, but that is as easy in a cooler. I cooked a dozen eggs for deviled eggs, but a steamer works just as well. The Instant Pot gets used about 5 times each week. Now that I know it’s features and how long it takes to make a recipe, I have begun to experiment with other recipes.

One that I used to make for the family is Greek Stew. It takes hours to prepare, but is delicious and even better as left overs. The farmers market had green bell peppers and the last of the season’s eggplants today, both are ingredients necessary for the stew.

Because I needed the kitchen for one last soap session, but because I wanted to prepare the stew while the ingredients were fresh, I set about altering the recipe for the Instant Pot. The recipe starts by sauteing onion quarters until golden. It has a feature for that. Once the onions are spooned out, stew beef dredged in flour and cinnamon is browned, again the saute feature. The browned beef and onions are added back together with tomato sauce and beef broth and simmered for several hours to tenderize and cook the meat. Instead of hours, 40 minutes on the pressure setting will handle it. Then you add raw rice and cook til the rice is tender, the Instant Pot has a rice setting. Then you add cubed eggplant and cook for 20-30 minutes which can be done on the low saute setting and finally 10 minutes with large chunks of green bell peppers. Instead of more than 4-5 hours, this stew will be ready in just a little over an hour.

The beautiful pottery bowls are from a local pottery and friend, Dashing Dog Studio, the wooden ladle is from Chester P. Basil’s Wood, purchased at a craft fair at least a dozen years ago.

Sometimes, I don’t know how I cooked without it, but if necessary, I can still cook on the stove top, the top of the woodstove, or the gas grill when Mother Nature takes out our power.