Who Do You Think You Are?

If you shake the family tree you'd better be prepared for a few bad, or at least slightly bruised, apples to fall off.

While seeking information for a recent post we found this intriguing and somewhat shocking story from a 1907 edition of the NY Times.

So many questions occur, and other than the one about palm reading patients, most of them have to do with Miss Wetmore's supporters, "the fifteen nurses many of whom were fresh-cheeked Canadian girls". Well what about the rest of them? Not so fresh-cheeked? Able to bamboozle Miss Wetmore and the Board of Trustees? Perhaps Miss Wetmore doth protest too much about the need for having "The Flirt Rule" on the books. Hmmm...

Miss Wetmore we presume. (Or as we presume to imagine her.)

Image: The Graphics Fairy

Abandon Ship

Here is guest blogger Tacitus to tell us a little more of the story of the ocean liner Muenchen.

I am glad that Gramps got off that ship without incident beyond the grease stained collar of his mother. It was very fortunate that on their journey they were spared the call for "women and children first" as the Muenchen seems to have been an unlucky vessel.

In 1930 it was tied up to a pier in New York City . It caught fire and despite the efforts of the entire NYFD it exploded and sank.

Remarkably it was raised and salvaged. The owners thought it might be time for a new name, so the steam ship Muenchen became the S.S. General von Steuben after the famous German officer who helped train the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

The outbreak of World War Two found the Steuben in home waters, so she became a troop transport plying the waters of the Baltic Sea.

Late in the war the advancing Russian Army had cut off a large part of German East Prussia. A naval evacuation was ordered, ultimately rescuing 2 million people. But not without cost.

On February 10th, 1945 the General von Steuben was torpedoed by a Russian submarine. Nobody knows for sure how many were on board but figures of about 2,800 wounded German soldiers, 300 nurses, 1500 refugees plus the regular crew seem about right. Somewhere between 300 and 600 were rescued from the frigid water. As a maritime disaster it was far worse than the Titanic.

Here is video of divers exploring the wreck of the Muenchen/von Steuben. No doubt some of these spooky corridors were once toddled down by “Our Sunshine” as a wee lad…

Diving on the wreck of Steuben in the Baltic Sea. from Peter O on Vimeo.

Sea Cruise

These pretty little ship's menus are from a long ago voyage Grandma made with her little boy to visit the relatives back in Bavaria. It looks like they traveled over in April 1927 and back in October of the same year. The cover images of ships at sea morning, noon, and night are lovely. The meal offerings provide an interesting look into 1920's international cuisine. (double click an image to enlarge and read) Whatever Rollmops are they are called the same in two languages.

Dad has one very vivid memory from this trip - He got to go to the ship's engine room and loved it so much he pestered his mother to take him repeatedly, which she did until on one visit grease dripped onto her fur collar. That was the end of the trips below deck, but just the start of Dad's long love affair with greasy engines.

Our Little Sunshine

Grandma and Grandpa were German by birth. Grandpa went to Cornell University and then practiced medicine in Northern Indiana.

Here are grandma and grandpa at the Indiana Dunes. Their age difference was twenty years. They died in 1940 and 1955.

In 1982 we went to Germany on our hochzeitsreise. We traveled to the town we were told grandma had come from. We walked into a konditorei (bakery) called by the same family name as Grandma, asked the people there if they might be related, and within minutes the owner produced a photo of my dad as a child. The baker-owner was dad's cousin and his home above the fourth generation bakery was the same home in which grandma was born and raised. After grandma died the cousins' families did not keep in touch, but the German kin were still in the hometown hoping to hear again from the American relatives. When we (the long lost American relatives) finally showed up we were not allowed to leave until we had met and stayed several nights with each of the existing branches of the family tree. We were treated like visiting royalty for a week and have remained in contact ever since.

Here is the photo sent to the folks back home in Germany of "our little sunshine" aka, dad.

Fighting Fire with Fire

Or beating cabin fever with log cabin quilting using Denyse Schmidt fabrics from Jo-ann.

Traditionally the center block of a log cabin quilt square is red and symbolizes the glowing hearth in the middle of the cabin. With the large gold center in our rather summery fabric combo we are thinking "summer cottage with sun through the open window". Indulge us please.

A Sad Day in Bear Country

Jan Berenstain half of the writing and illustrating team of Stan and Jan Berenstain, has passed away at age 88. She was preceded in death by husband Stan in 2005. Best known for their gentle, instructive Berenstain Bears stories, Stan and Jan sold over 250 million copies of 300 books in the 50 years since the first Berenstain Bears book, "The Big Honey Hunt," was published in 1962.

Jan is fondly remembered in articles by Michael Cavna , and Emily Langer of the Washington Post.

In an interview with Scholastic, the children’s magazine, Ms. Berenstain said she and her husband were always being asked why they had decided on bears rather than some other animal. Their standard answer was that “they stand on two legs, their mothers are very good mothers, and so on,” she said.

“One student asked why we didn’t use a fish,” she said, recounting a visit to a classroom. “And our answer was that they aren’t enough like people.”

Why not monkeys, then, asked another student.

“Because they are too much like people,” she replied. - NY Times, February 27, 2012

Stop by the tree house in Bear Country to spend a little time exploring. You can even send a letter to the bears to let them know how you feel.

Bonus Day

To make plans for this year's garden.

We want ours to look just like this one at Klehm's Song Sparrow.

What We Know Now

We understand that we will never be natives of our little town, but we may have finally gone from "not from here" to being locals.

Some might think we would have achieved that status because we've owned the same house for 25 years, delivered three babies in the hometown hospital and soon will have graduated three Chi-Hi Cardinals.

But the true signs came slowly, and very subtly added to our localness. Let's see...

There was the first successful making of the Chippewa hot beef.

Then we learned which day of the week fresh cheese curds come to the mom and pop grocery and that they remain squeaky only if left out of the frig.

Next came the ability to call the plumber, mechanic, paint store, and library without having to look up the numbers or needing to identify ourselves by more than a first name.

We quickly learned that anyone we are talking to could be related to the person we are talking about.

After a relatively short while we could not walk the six blocks to downtown without getting a honk or wave from at least one, and usually many, passing motorists or pedestrians.

If we forget we have gone to the store on foot and unthinkingly buy the five pound bag of potatoes or watermelon on weekly special we can always find someone in the store who will offer to take our heavy load and drop it off on the front porch.

We finally know which way we should be heading if someone tells us to go up Porkchop Hill, across the Silver Bridge, out to Shafer's Corner, past Pooh's on the Pond, or across from Ray's Beach.

And now it seems, the deal has been sealed. Yup, NDL is a bowling league sub.

We have arrived (in striped rental shoes and with a 93 handicap).

At Ease

Photo: S. Plasch

Sew Still

Faithfully, silently, sweetly waiting to be of service.

This longtime companion of a dedicated, skilled seamstress now keeps us company in the sewing room reminding us of the many generations of artful women before us who knew how to "make do or mend".

Photo: S. Plasch

Silver Bullet

Lightens the burden of the housewife.

The helpful thimble as symbol of the burden-lightening, lighting enhancing product advertised on the other side, Delco Light - a small internal combustion generator with battery intended to provide a source of electric illumination and mechanical power to rural residents (mostly farmers) who were not yet connected to the nascent electrical grid system. - Wikipedia

Found in a tin of buttons gifted to us by a friend.

Behind Every Great Man

Is a proud mom willing to do most anything for him. No, no, we're not talking about Jon Hamm. Although we're sure his mother is very proud.

Behind him? A model who needs you to buy the March issue of Esquire so that she can earn enough money to buy clothes that cover her whole body.

But the real reason to buy the current issue is to see the picture chosen for publication from a photo shoot held right next door to NDL HQ, by NDL, of the Queen of Cream of Mushroom Soup herself - Honeybee.

Her son, yet another neighborhood kid made good, is photo director for the illustrious Esquire magazine. When he called to request a photo of dear old mom for an article on Moms and pantry cooking we were all over it like Shake'n Bake on a drumstick and had a darn good time trying to get a shot that would capture the true essence of our favorite convenience food gourmand.

There are several great articles you will want to read...

...but page 139 131 is the main attraction as far as we're concerned. Bring your copy on over and you might just score an autograph and some free cooking tips. For example: the best brand of can opener to use to avoid repetitive stress injuries.

Yum yum.


Did You Know?

Trivia:

Honeybee's favorite secret seasoning to enhance a canned soup sauce is Mrs. Dash.

The secret to making her sloppy Joes mouthwatering and her wedded life spicy? Manwich.

Goofs:

The photo crew did not notice until the shoot was over that Honeybee was holding the supposedly hot skillet barehanded by the base rather than the handle.

Quotes:

"Not bad for cold Ragu."

"A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal."

A Head for Buttons

Couldn't resist these clever buttons from johncaswelldesign. They make us smile.

Cool stuff on his blog too.

Funny Up, Down, and on Both Sides of the Pond

If you are a fan of Downton Abbey you might enjoy this silly version that rings oh so true (as does most great parody) created for The UK's 2011 Red Nose Day - Comic Relief Night. Some of our very favorites make very funny appearances here. Remember Patsy and Edina, AKA Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, from Abfab? How we've missed them*.






If you loved that here's the, possibly even funnier, Part Two.


* They're back on their own too!

White Glove Love

When you marry a fastidious homemaker you shouldn't be surprised when scouring and scrubbing get in the way of love.

It is hard to ease up on our stringent standards, but maybe just for today we'll let the cobwebs and dust bunnies hang around while we focus on domestic arts in matters of the heart.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bell Boy Oh Boy

Aren't you cute!

My Punny Valentine

Henrietta could tell from Floyd's choice of Valentine that accepting his invitation would result in the most excruciatingly painful first/last date ever.

Choose wisely fellas.(and gals)

Driven to Distraction

Valentine, you drive me crazy.

Vapid Valentine

It is said that the eyes are the windows of the soul. Well, sometimes we part the curtains, peek inside and there is not a soul at home. But if the house has a vacancy sign in front maybe that means there is plenty of room for uncomplicated love inside.

Here's a little secret,

Promise not to tell -

If you like me as I like you

You like me pretty well!

And if the Hearts and Flowers Don't Work

...Try a Valentine that may get you a sweetheart, but more likely, a restraining order.

Money Can't Buy Me Love

I'd like to be a millionaire,

And in my private car to fare

Across the continent in ease,

Or sail my yacht on seven seas;

But more than all, I'd like to sign

Myself as your true Valentine.

Birds and Flowers All Agree

That you are just the one for me.