Back to Louisiana!

[mlh]

You look the part in your blacksmith suit. The only minus is your arms aren’t muscular enough to have been swinging a heavy hammer.
As always thanks. I always enjoy your updates.
Lynwood

[twindman]

I spent 7 years in Dubuque Iowa. (Speaking of revolutionary war stuff) The original shot tower used for war of 1812 is still standing. The round shot was formed by climbing the tower with hot lead and dropping a small amount into a buck of water from 50/60(?) feet. As it falls it forms into a round(ish) ball and then hardens in the water. Oh, Dubuque is on the Mississippi, so a short boat ride down to La.
p.s. You probably knew some or all of this, but if not you do now! LOL

[Foldbak]

You have to change your profile picture!

[DutchmenSport]

Friday, December 6 was the official "School Days" where over 250 kids were in the park experiencing 12 "stations" again. This time, they had a Christmas theme going on.

One station was focused on historic Christmas Traditions. Another made over-the-fire Wassail, historic children's games, 1800's Christmas dance demonstration, musket firing, and more. I did a blacksmith demonstration for the kids, and actually had 2 "volunteers" pound iron on the anvil and another working the hand-crank wind turbine (billows were replaced with the hand turbine in 1830). And of course, we had 15 minutes for each ground and there were 12 groups. What a rush. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday, November 7 was the Jane Austin Christmas event. The event started at 5:30 and ran till 8:00 pm. The entire "yard" of the plantation was lit up with bon fires, tiki lights, and torches. The Oakley house was decorated inside and out.

The events for this was historically period dated dancing in the visitor center. They also set up a Wassail station, a roasted Chestnut fire pit, and in the plantation kitchen they served quail, 1800 style mashed potatoes, an 1800 dated recipe for bread pudding, pies, roasted carrots, and bread and rolls. Everything was fixed, backed, cooked in the plantation kitchen via "open hearth cooking."

Inside the Oakley house, they allowed everyone to have a walk through of the house with all the Christmas decorations (1800 style), with candles and everything. In the grand parlor they had a Dulcimer group (6 people with Dulcimers) and they played continuous Christmas music and gave talks when questioned about the Dulcimer and it's history.

My wife and I were "guides" in the house, directing people into the right direction. They used one door for entering, had a specific path everyone was to follow, and then exit a different door. So we were one of about 6 people directing people through the house.

It was really a fun event, and they had around 300 people that came through in the 2 and 1/2 hour event. Many of the folks who visited said they do this event every year. It's part of their Christmas Tradition now. How sad, the staff only do this one day and then it's all over. But to do it more, through the month, would take a lot (a lot) of work on everyone's part. So, it's only done 1 time.

Sorry folks, you'll have to wait until December 2025 if you want to experience this event now.

Today, I pulled 2 of those old Church pews sitting in the front of the Oakley House on the bottom porch to begin refinishing them. I'm doing only 2 at a time. There are a total of 7 of them. I have 2 done now.

Main bonfire, burning of the Yule Log.
The 1800's tradition was: As long as the Yule Log burned, the slaves did not have to work. So the slaves would find the largest tree and actually soak it in a body of water to make it burn slower. Then the log was set on fire and the festivities began. The longer the log burned, the longer time off the slaves had. So, the long would sometimes burn for a couple weeks or longer. It was also this time the slaves got their annual clothing allotment as Christmas gifts from the plantation owner (planter family). It sounds really cheezy based on our standards today, but back then it was a very, very big deal.



My wife and where I'm dressed for blacksmithing:



My wife and where I'm dressed as a plantation gentleman. (My bride of 39 years and 9 months sure looks good, don't she!)



"Big House" dining room table:



Other areas of the "Big House":

[DutchmenSport]

Another Update: December 27, 2024.

We've been at Oakley almost 3 months now (this time), completing a total of 8 months (Jan, Feb, Mar ... May, June ... Oct, Nov, Dec) and staying through Jan 2025, returning again in Apr, May, June 2025, and again Oct, Nov, Dec 2025. Dates all fixed and scheduled. We're not doing Pilot Mountain State Park in NC (Mount Airy) in 2025 as a camp host. Going to forfeit this year and go to Iowa and Nebraska in July to see the daughter and grandkids. (2025)

Time sure moves on. It's been a fantastic year.

The latest "project" was to refinishing 7 church pew / benches that sit outside under the galleries at the Oakley House. I have them completed and they do look great now. They were so weather beaten.

Here's a photo of the before and after shot. On this one, the "after" shot is only after I applied a new coat of stain.



Here's an "after" shot, after applying the polyurethane:



Here's an "after" shot with one of the benches back in it's original location:



I'm now currently engaged in refinishing about 20 rocking chairs that sit outside the visitor center front porch entrance (set up like a Cracker Barrel Restaurant entrance with all the rocking chairs in a row). I don't have any photos of them yet. But, I'm in the process.

I'm still doing house tours, blacksmithing demonstrations, and still chopping and splitting and shaving fire wood for the plantation kitchen hearth and kindling for the blacksmith forge. When I'm doing demonstrations for the blacksmith shop, I started trying my hand at a bit of woodburning. I figure, why not put some of that wood I split and turned into shingles to a new use. So, I'm burning with the tools only in the blacksmith shop. It's slow, but it's fun.

For Christmas dinner we had quail! That was definitely a different menu for us.

A bit of history: The original family that lived on this plantation had a pigeoneer. That's a habitat for raising pigeons. Pigeons were raised for food. As I understand the history, they ate a lot of pigeon!

[DutchmenSport]

Forgot one more thing: I've also been working, helping, to set up the main hall way in the barn to make it accessible for visitor traffic, showing off the old farming implements. It's been a slow project, but it's beginning to take some shape. The problem is, management isn't quite sure how to set it up. So, I keep working in the space, coming up with different ideas for them. The biggest problem is safety. Some of these old implements are quite heavy and dangerous if they fall over. So that's the challenge: how to set everything up in a narrow space and keep things safe for the public.

[ScottnSue]

I appreciate the updates you give us. Looks like a fun retirement job for sure.
Hope you and your wife had a Merry Christmas.

[mlh]

Some of this old stuff I’ve used to farm with. The pan, plow, corn planter, harrow the 4 foot plow. I never actually used a 4 foot plow we had 3 and 5 foot plows. My brother and I used to plow gardens with a horse and equipment just like this. Thanks for sharing.
Lynwood

[twindman]

Originally Posted by ScottnSue

I appreciate the updates you give us. Looks like a fun retirement job for sure.
Hope you and your wife had a Merry Christmas.

The key word here is JOB. A lot of work, but I know Dutchman enjoys it.

[DutchmenSport]

It might be a "job" for some, but this is strictly a volunteer position, no pay at all. It's part of the Louisiana State Park Camp Host program. Audubon State Historic Site near St. Francisville is the only "Historic Site" run by the "state" that has such a position. In exchange for 24 hours a week, the "host" gets a full hook-up campsite. Well, it's not exactly a "campsite", but it is a full hook-up site. There are 2 of them here. There is no "campground" here.

When I do tours of the Oakley House, I am often offered a tip. I decline the tip. I want no pay of any kind for my volunteer work here. It's my gigantic playground! I want to keep it that way! The only thing I'm required to do is house tours, 3 days a week. That's the agreement. But, that's been modified by a mutual agreement. I still do house tours, but sometimes not 3 days. I'll pump a bunch of hours doing all the wood working tasks and the blacksmith and woodworking demos. In addition to polishing, cleaning, and plantation house and the artifacts in it, as well as the plantation kitchen and the slave cabins. Basically, I've become that "handiman" that every home needs!

The park still has their state employee maintenance people who do the heavy maintenance work, maintaining the grounds, and sometimes assisting with special programing, like guiding traffic or setting up special displays or signage. Where as, I do more of the repairs and services on the historical artifacts and the historical aspect of the buildings and such, as well as the demonstrations and tours. They've got me truly engaged in history. It's great!