Love Entwined Border Two

Finally completed!

A Jane Austen Family Album

Barbara Brackman's new block of the week is a Jane Austen Family Album and I am going to try to participate by actually making the blocks this time.

I have followed her last projects and always enjoy her posts and learn a lot. Her last block of the week was Grandmother's Choice which celebrated the women's right to vote.

I have been so busy on Love Entwined I hardly get anything else done. I am embroidering the second border, but have yet to cut out and baste the longer side borders. This will take me a week or so to do! Applique is always a good summer project. Meantime, my hand quilting my Green Heroes quilt has stopped, and I never put the border on my Dickens quilt yet. I can't keep up!

I am using French General fat quarters I bought a while back and added two more fabrics from my stash, a dark red and a cream. I will need to get some more fabrics if I am to complete the entire quilt.

Here is block one, Bright Star, to represent Jane Austen.

I may remake the block and add a print instead of the grey on beige floral stripe. But at least... I did it!

War, Revolution and Terror: Elihu Washburne's Ambassadorship in Paris

Elihu Washburne: the Diary and Letters of America's Minister to France during the Siege and Commune of Paris by Michael Hill

Several years ago I read The Greater Journey by David McCullough, an author well known and whose books are well reviewed. It was a very enjoyable and enlightening book, and I especially was interested in the American writers, painters, physicians and thinkers who spent time in Paris.

Then I got to the third part of the book. I was totally ignorant of the Siege of Paris when the Prussian Army led by Bismarck surrounded the city for 131 days, nor had I known of the collapse of Napoleon III, the rise of the Third French Republic, and the government takeover by radicals called The Commune. And I had never heard of the American ambassador to France, Elihu Washburne.

After finishing The Greater Journey I wanted to know more about Washburne and found and ordered Hill's book. Hill is a researcher who has worked with McCullough, as well as Nathaniel Philbrick (Mayflower, The Last Stand, The Heart of the Sea), and Ken Burns (Baseball, The Civil War). The book uses excerpts from the diary and letters written by Washburne during the ordeal.

Washburne was born in Maine to a hard working subsistence farmer. He knew he wanted more in life and decided to study law. He went West where opportunity offered quick wealth. He and his two brothers all served in Congress at the same time. Washburne was an abolitionist who was in close contact with President Lincoln during the Civil War.

After years of Washington politics he was offered the posh spot in Paris by his old friend, the newly elected president Ulysses S. Grant. Washburne thought it would be a wonderful way to serve out his last years before retirement. He and his family, hobnobbing with the Emperor and Empress in Paris of the Second Empire, the most lush and glorious civilization in the world!

Things did not work out that way. Instead France went to war with Germany. Washburne's wife and children left Paris, except for his son Gratiot who stayed to volunteer with the American Ambulance. Often ill, lonely, and bombarded with people seeking aid, Washburne put in long days.

Washburne was one of the few foreigners who did not leave the city. He not only protected American interests, he worked to save the Germans in Paris, many arrested as hostile aliens; others lost their jobs and income. He provided food for the starving, sometimes from his own pantry. The price of a half bushel of potatoes rose to $155 in today's dollars. The poor were reduced to eating horsemeat, dog and even rats. Washburn sent firewood to the families who were freezing in one of the coldest winters remembered.

"Oh, this horrid war...I have had enough of all this terrible business and I begin to hate Paris...It is not living [,] It is simply a wretched, fearful, almost unendurable existence." Dec. 8, 1870 letter to Adele Washburn

After the Germans won the war they entered Paris for two days of occupation, then left town. Washburne's family returned, hoping for that lovely sojourn they had dreamt of....and everything changed again.

After the death of Napoleon III, The Third French Republic allowed a few radicals to cease control of the country. The leader, Raoul Rigault, was a psychopath who wanted to resurrect the French Revolution just for the fun of it. A new Reign of Terror descended upon Paris.

"Anarchy, assassination, and massacre hold high carnival..." March 25, 1871 letter to Secretary Of State Fish in Washington, D.C.

The damage done by the Commune, the people they killed, the destruction of monuments and buildings, the arrest and murder of Catholic priests, was more horrifying than the war. Arbitrary arrests and the takeover of personal property was rampant. Anyone who dared express sympathy toward the victims was turned upon by the crowds. And killed.

Washburne was called upon by the Vatican to help save the life of Archbishop Darboy, the beloved elderly priest who stayed in Paris to help the people during the Siege. But before the fall of the commune, all the imprisoned were put to death. Including Darboy and 70 other priests.

Washburne is a forgotten hero of a forgotten war. His commitment to his job, his country, and to helping people was remarkable. When most fled the country or thought only of themselves, he risked his life and health to do his duty. He was a real American hero.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk2f1b9207M is a nice interview from CSPAN with Michael Hill

Songs My Mother Sang Me: 1940s Novelty Songs

When I was a kid Mom was always singing snippets of songs she grew up with in the 1940s. Such as One Meatball by the Andrews Sisters.

One Meatball

A Little Man walked up and down,
He found an eating place in town,
He read the menu through and through,
To see what fifteen cents could do.

One meatball, one meatball,
He could afford but one meatball.
He told the waiter near at hand,
The simple dinner he had planned.
The guests were startled, one and all,
To hear that waiter loudly call, "What,
"One meatball, one meatball?
Hey, this here gent wants one meatball."

The little man felt ill at ease,
Said, "Some bread, sir, if you please."
The waiter hollered down the hall,
"You gets no bread with one meatball.

"One meatball, one meatball,
Well, you gets no bread with one meatball."

The little man felt very bad,
One meatball was all he had,
And in his dreams he hears that call,
"You gets no bread with one meatball.
"One meatball, one meatball,
Well, you gets no bread with one meatball."

Another song I remember her singing was this silly little tune:

Three Little Fishes

Down in the meadow in a

little bitty pool
Swam three little fishies
And a mama fishie too
"Swim," said the mama fishie,
"Swim if you can."
And they swam and they swam all
over the dam

Boop boop diten datem whatem choo
Boop boop diten datem whatem choo
Boop boop diten datem whatem choo
And they swam and they swam
right over the dam

"Stop!" cried the mama fish,
"Or you will get lost."
But the three little fishies
didn’t want to be bossed
The three little fishies
went off on a spree,
And they swam and
they swam right out
to the sea

Boop boop diten datem
Whatem choo
Boop boop diten datem whatem choo
Boop boop diten datem whatem choo
And they swam and they swam
And they got lost in the sea

"Help!" cried the fishies,
"Look at the whale."
And quick as they could,
They turned on their tails
And back to the itty bitty
pool they swam
And they swam and
they swam
Back over the dam

Boop boop diten datem
whatem choo
Boop boop diten datem
whatem choo
Boop boop diten datem whatem choo
And they swam and they swam
Right over the dam

Boop boop diten datem whatem choo
And they swam and they swam
right over the dam

Mom loved Boogie Woogie, and bought a piano book hoping the piano teacher could learn me some jive, but I have no rhythm and it was a failure. I remember she'd sing snatches of this song:

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way
He had a boogie style that no one else could play
He was the top man at his craft
But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft
He's in the army now, a-blowin' reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

They made him blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam
It really brought him down because he couldn't jam
The captain seemed to understand
Because the next day the cap' went out and drafted a band
And now the company jumps when he plays reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

A-toot, a-toot, a-toot-diddelyada-toot
He blows it eight-to-the-bar, in boogie rhythm
He can't blow a note unless the bass and guitar is playin' with 'I'm
He makes the company jump when he plays reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

He was some boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
And when he plays the boogie woogie bugle he was busy as a "bzzz" bee
And when he plays he makes the company jump eight-to-the-bar
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

Toot toot toot-diddelyada, Toot-diddelyada, toot-toot
He blows it eight-to-the-bar
He can't blow a note if the bass and guitar isn't with 'I'm
Ha-ha-hand the company jumps when he plays reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

He puts the boys to sleep with boogie every night
And wakes 'em up the same way in the early bright
They clap their hands and stamp their feet
Because they know how he plays when someone gives him a beat
He really breaks it up when he plays reveille
He's boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

Mom (Joyce Ramer) and her best friend Doris Waterson

Sometimes Mom would just burst out with a line or two: “Yes! We Have NO Bananas, we have no bananas today!” Or “Shave and a haircut, two bits.”

Now I have to admit I learned this bad habit and have done the same thing. Say I am playing Uno and the card color to play is blue. I would sing out, “It's a blue world without you.” Heaven knows what other songs my son will remember his mom singing as he grew up.

Mom was a real jitterbug era Dancing Queen, never without dance partners at the Project dances. She loved the Big Band music, especially Glen Miller, but also liked Country and Classical. She collected a set of classical recordings from the grocery store, basically classical 'pops" and from those records, I learned to love many an orchestral piece. Some of my earliest memories are of Mom paying 45 records when I was not even five. Later in life, I identified several of those records as The Poor People of Paris and Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White. I still love that music when I hear it.

So thanks to Mom for teaching me a love of music. And a love of silliness.

Mid-Cenury Value Life Lessons From Our Childhood Bookshelf

Everything I Need to Know I Learned From A Little Golden Book was just too cute to pass up. Bound like a classic Golden Book, complete with gold printed spine, the book was only $9.99. It is filled with great illustrations from the books.

I was a toddler when Mom started bringing home Golden Books from the grocery store. I would run excitedly to met her to see what she had brought me. Looking back, it was quite a luxury because we did not have a lot of money.

The illustrations alone kept my attention for hours, even when Mom was not reading the book to me. I had amassed a long shelf full of Golden Books before childhood ended. I went away to college and they disappeared. When our son was born I started recollecting classic and new titles.

 Some of my favorite books included:

I Can Fly by Mary Blair, an artist who is well known for her concept art work for Disney animated films including Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Cinderella. She designed Disneyland rides like It's a Small World. Blair's work has garnered much attention in recent years.

I Can Fly by Mary Blair

Frosty the Snow Man. The kids looked like me and my cousins, at least that's what Mom told me as she read it. I thought it was truly about us kids--Linda, Stevie, Elaine and I.

Frosty the Snow Man illustrated by Corinne Malvern

The Blue Book of Fairy Tales has some of the most marvelous illustrations.


The Blue Book of Fairy Tales illustrated by Gordon Laite

Lucky Mrs Ticklefeather has a pet puffin who goes to great lengths to fulfill her sickbed wish.
I loved J. P. Miller's art in all the Golden Books.


Lucky Mrs Ticklefeather by Dorothy Kunhart and illustrated by J. P. Miller

 Pantaloon has high hopes to become a pastry chief. The illustrations were some of my favorites.

Pantaloon by Kathryn Jackson and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard

An article with pictures from the books can be found at:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/documentsgallery/exhibitions/goldenbooks/

For information on the illustrators:
http://www.thesantis.com/who_who/illustrators___authors.htm

Diane Muldrow is a Random House editor for Little Golden Books. She looked at the world today and thought that we needed to revisit the basic values found in the Golden Books of our childhood.

She chose classic illustrations from the books and added tips for life.

"Is your life starting to feel like a circus? Don't panic...Today's a new day!"

As she wrote in the forward: "Maybe these books can help you. After all, Golden Books were first published during the dark days of World War II, and they've been comforting people during trying times ever since."

Don't Let the Parade Pass You By

Richard Scary illustrator

  Be open to making new friends...even if you are very, very shy.

Those words from The Shy Little Kitten by Cathleen Schurr and illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren must have been written for me, for I was a very shy child.

I dare say I took this advice to heart. I spent many an hour day dreaming!

Day Dream

from I Can Fly by Mary Blair



Swiss Family Robinson

The Swiss Family Robinson

Johann David Wyss (1743 - 1818) was a Swiss pastor who wanted to teach his sons specific character strengths, including self-reliance. Wyss died leaving a disjointed collection of stories. The book was arranged and completed by Wyss's son Johann Rudolf Wyss (1781 – 1830).

The main character is a pastor who with his family were on their way to New Guinea when a storm over took their ship. They become stranded on a deserted island, but after devising ways to remove the animals and every useful item from the ship, they recreate civilization.

Since its initial publication in 1812 it has been translated and rewritten many times and was the basis for a Disney film and a television series.

I read the book several times when a girl and loved the Disney movie. Overall, this is a can do, positive, upbeat book. The characters never met a disaster or crisis they cannot handle. They seem to have read every book ever written on exploration, primitive cultures and their material world and industry, and every book on flora and fauna of the known universe.

Among the prickly stalks of the cactus and aloes, I perceived a plant with large pointed leaves, which I knew to be the karata. I pointed out to the boys its beautiful red flowers; the leaves are an excellent application to wounds, and thread is made from the filaments, and the pith of the stem is used by the savage tribes for tinder.

"How happy it is for us," said she [the other], "that you have devoted yourself to reading and study. In our ignorance we might have passed this treasure, without suspecting its value."

One problem after another is solved by the resourceful father and sons. Mother suffers a fall from the treehouse, one son suffers a serious burn and another son is shot, a hurricane destroys their fruit trees, and mom and a son are abducted by cannibals from the next island over. All crises are met head on and solved. Dad even makes rubber boots!

Warning: wild boar coming!

The second half of the book concerns Father and his older sons returning to find mother and the younger son missing. They fear that cannibals have abducted them. The menfolk sail to an island and after many adventures with 'savages' and a priest they are reunited.

Goodreads comments on the book are mostly negative, especially because the boys sometimes go around shooting animals willy-nilly.

The next morning, Ernest had used my bow, which I had given him, very skilfully; bringing down some dozens of small birds, a sort of ortolan, from the branches of our tree, where they assembled to feed on the figs. This induced them all to wish for such a weapon...I gave my boys leave to kill as many ortolans as they chose, for I knew that, half-roasted, and put into casks, covered with butter, they would keep for a length of time, and prove an invaluable resource in time of need.

We are today repelled by the sense that all creation is there for mankind to use. We know what happened to many species and to our environment as an outcome of that sad attitude towards creation.

We know that ostriches, wild boar, bears and penguins do not live side by side not to speak of kangaroos, pineapples, water buffalo and a multitude of other things the Robinsons find on their island. It is pretty absurd by today's knowledgeable readers.

The book is pre-novel in the way Robinson Crusoe is, episodic and without depth of character, lots of life instruction and little sense of plot. Wyss was to have told the book as a series of stories or tales.

Prayers for safe delivery

There is a strong religious ground to the novel, and 18^th c values are clear. Mom is revered and loved, a paragon of virtue. Father is a fount of wisdom, strength, and knowledge and clearly is in charge. The family always gives thanks to God their preserver, defender, and guide. The sons represent different personalities and are accepted and esteemed for the gifts God gave to them. Education and self-improvement are esteemed. And in all things they hold strong to their faith in God.

Our path became every instant more intricate, from the amazing quantity of creeping plants which choked the way, and obliged us to use the axe continually. The heat was excessive, and we got on slowly, when Ernest, always observing, and who was a little behind us, cried out, "Halt! a new and important discovery!" We returned, and he showed us, that from the stalk of one of the creepers we had cut with our axe, there was issuing clear, pure water. It was the liane rouge, which, in America, furnishes the hunter such a precious resource against thirst. Ernest was much pleased; he filled a cocoa-nut cup with the water, which flowed from the cut stalks like a fountain, and carried it to his mother, assuring her she might drink fearlessly; and we all had the comfort of allaying our thirst, and blessing the Gracious Hand who has placed this refreshing plant in the midst of the dry wilderness for the benefit of man.

Another aspect that upsets moderns sensibilities is the attitude towards the local indigenous people, the 'savages' who are just becoming Christianized. Just the use of the word savage sets one's teeth on edge.

So why did I love this book as a girl? It is clearly a 'boy's' book, with many adventures and more knowledge about how to identify and prepare edible vegetative matter than any fiction book ought to have in it.

1. It starts with a shipwreck---a storm has raged for six days already, and on the seventh day the ship strikes a rock. What can be more exciting than that?

2. Father and Mother are models of strength and courage. Every child believes their parents are--or wants to trust that their parents are--strong protectors they can rely on.

"Take courage," cried I, [the father] "there is yet hope for us; the vessel, in striking between the rocks, is fixed in a position which protects our cabin above the water, and if the wind should settle to-morrow, we may possibly reach the land."

This assurance calmed my children, and as usual, they depended on all I told them; they rejoiced that the heaving of the vessel had ceased, as, while it lasted, they were continually thrown against each other. My wife, more accustomed to read my countenance, discovered my uneasiness; and by a sign, I explained to her that I had lost all hope. I felt great consolation in seeing that she supported our misfortune with truly Christian resignation.

"Let us take some food," said she; "with the body, the mind is strengthened; this must be a night of trial."

3. They have adventures, suffer hardships, and are pressed to solve huge problems but prevail and flourish. Wish fulfillment! Illusions of superhuman ability! What child can resist!

4. The boys all have a special pet animal. They get to ride animals. They have two dogs. Kids love animals.

5. They live in a treehouse! They build a grotto in a cave. They live in a tent. What could be grander?

6. The boys are respected for their contributions to the welfare of the family. The older boys are relied upon to do adult work.

I don't expect to ever read Swiss Family Robinson again. But after rereading Robinson Crusoe, and as I have been revisiting childhood favorite books, it seemed fitting.

For an overview on the author, developent of the novel, and influences see:

http://www.jimandellen.org/montolieu/robinsonsuisse.html

Project Gutenberg's free ebook with illustrations can be found at:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11703/11703-h/11703-h.htm

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

Kathleen Kent's book "The Heretic's Daughter" is set during the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692. She envisions the story of her ancestor Martha Carrier who was called "The Queen of Hell" by the Rev. Cotton Mather. To confess and name other witches allowed some mercy from the court. Of the 200 men and women arrested for witchcraft, Martha was the only person who would not perjure herself by confessing falsely to being a witch.

The Carrier family were free-thinkers, something that Puritan society held in suspicion. Thomas is a huge man of silent strength who inspires fear in his neighbors. Rumor has it that he was a murderer in old England when he served Oliver Cromwell, the Puritan leader that took over the government, resulting in the death of Charles I.

Martha is a distant and stern mother with a backbone of steel and a literal iron rod. She has three boys and two daughters. The middle child Sarah feels alienated from her family, especially after a sojourn with her cousin and her story-telling father and gentler mother. The novel is told through Sarah's eyes.

The Carriers have come to Andover to live with Martha's mother, not knowing they have also brought smallpox. Thirteen people die. After Grandma's death Thomas and Martha stay on the farm, which causes trouble with Martha's sister's family who had believed they should inherit the property.

Martha's surety and aloofness makes her no friends. Petty squabbles arise and community conflict escalates. Meanwhile in Salem young girls have been naming women as witches...and the Andover girls decide to join the movement. It becomes a way to get even with Martha and Sarah.

Martha is arrested for witchcraft, plunging the family into turmoil and disorder. One by one the children are also taken into custody as witches.

Kent spent five years researching this novel. The descriptions of home and prison life are detailed, and often disturbing. Their life is harsh, enduring the brutal winter cold and scathing summer heat. The boys take up the yoke to pull the plow. Cleanliness is a luxury. The fear of an Indian attack is always with them.

The suffering of the imprisoned women, whose family must provide their food and even pay for the manacles they are bound with, is exquisitely painful to read. A four year old child is jailed along with her mother, and left in jail after her mother's execution....because her father could not pay to have his daughter released.

The novel made me think about how groups will gather and attack those who don't fit in, who are different, who don't conform to the norm, who think freely. But also how one or two people can influence a way of thinking that escalates into a movement, for good or for bad.

I myself have seen modern day witch hunting in action. The gathering of a group of like-minded people reinforcing their shared beliefs, justifying their actions. The targeting of the person or persons believed to be a threat. The vicious attacks, the rumor mongering, the campaigning for others to join them. That scene in Disney's Beauty and the Beast where Gaston leads the villagers to attack the Beast, selling a vision of the threat the Beast posses, well, it happens outside of cartoons.

We know that McCarthyism was a 20th c. witch hunt. The pressure to name names is right out of old Salem. The passivity of bystanders during Hitler's rise to a power based on racial superiority and genocide is viewed today as remarkable. The Civil Rights movement was met with hatred and prejudice and fear. The Suffragettes were mocked, jailed, and abused because they asked for voting rights. All around the world tribal warfare, genocide, and repression occur.

Civilization is a process that does not follow a straight line. Human enlightenment is not a march as much as a dance that circles back before moving forward. What witch hunts are we willing to join today?