CITIZENS OF THE OLD NORTH STATE...

This past weekend we participated in our very first event with the CONS group. We made a lot of new friends, and learned so much about re-enacting! It was overall a wonderful experience and we are all happy to have made the decision to become Civil War re-enactors.

The boys played in the creek most of the time and were a showstopper for spectators! Amelia began learning tatting and drop spinning... something she has been wanting to do for quite some time. Lora and I learned a lot about wardrobe... which is so detailed and year specific. Lora had made pumpkin bread from a Civil War cookbook I had given her and it was good. We heated it up on the campfire... very fun!

The children are writing a journal about their time in Averasboro and will continue to do so for each event. I know this journal will be a treasure to them when they are adults. Alex is dictating his to me. It is so cute, he is using words like "flank" and "cavalry" and "artillery" to describe the battle to me, but he still wants a "good guy" and "bad guys"... It is hare to explain that both sides were the "good guys"!

Granny and Papa were invaded by us for the weekend. Granny had sewed up the boy's second shirts for me and made lunch and supper for us each day. It was wonderful to have such good food to fuel us for the weekend! Papa fixed Alex's gun and tied my apron bows for me. It has been a LONG LONG time since my Daddy has tied a bow for me! It was nice for him to do it again. *the photo above is the children walking back from petting the horses at Granny and Papa's our second morning*

Mark came to spend part of Saturday with us and brought Euri and Bradley. Bradley tried the rum soaked cigar and about turned green! Then Mark came back Sunday and helped Lora load her truck for the trip home.

Aunt Cornelia has loaned me a family book that documents our ancestors back to England in 1633. I have been searching names trying to find a soldier in the list. So far, it looks like a great, great Uncle may have been in the Navy during the Civil War... but there is mystery surrounding the story. There is a story about Yankees invading a family home because the woman was cooking for Confederate soldiers. We also found ties to the Revolutionary War. Now if only there is a book for my mother's side and we can see if there were any Yankee soldiers in the family line...

*A far in the future note: at one time there was a slide show with many pictures from this event... our blog has changed so much since then, as well as our living history experiences.. but we still enjoy them both!  We are no longer with CONS... We are members of Carolina Citizens and the Olde South Blackmiths.