Summertime – Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm

Adapting to Health Guidelines, Summer Solstice, Father’s Day

Deb D (Aunt Eunice) — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 17:26:00 +0000

Hello Folks,

Aunt Eunice here. I hope you are all doing well. Monroe County, PA, where Quiet Valley is located, has reached the Yellow Phase of the quarantine. We all hope nothing interferes with our progress to the Green Phase. One step at a time.

Adapting Our Programs to Current Guidelines

Now that June is here, our thoughts at Quiet Valley generally turn toward our summer tour season. That is going to be different this year as gatherings like this are not able to happen quite yet. Fortunately, we will be able to hold our camp groups for ages 6 through 14, with a limit of ten students per camp. Camps in each age group will have a different focus though all will be fun and the activities interesting. Part of the good times will involve the farm animals, heritage crafts, and hikes through the 114 acres of the farm. If we move into the Green Phase, modified historic farm tours will begin. We will be live streaming the sheep shearing that will take place on Saturday June 20th. If you have never seen it before, it is an interesting process. Stay tuned!

Summer Solstice, Longest Day of Sun

June is also a time to celebrate the longest day of sunlight during the year, the Summer Solstice. In 2020, the Summer Solstice is Saturday, June 20, at 5:44 pm EDT. This date marks the official beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring when Earth arrives at the point in its orbit where the North Pole is at its maximum tilt (about 23.5 degrees) toward the Sun, resulting in the longest day and shortest night of the calendar year (by longest “day,” we mean the longest period of sunlight). At the June solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight at the most direct angle of the year. The first day of summer is said to be when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky, which occurs on the summer solstice (June 20–22). Therefore, the summer solstice is considered to be the first day of summer, astronomically speaking. The summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere ranges in date from June 20 to 22. This occurs in part because of the difference between the Gregorian calendar system, which normally has 365 days, and the tropical year (how long it takes Earth to orbit the Sun once), which has about 365.242199 days. To compensate for the missing fraction of days, the Gregorian calendar adds a leap day every 4 years, which makes the date for summer jump backward. However, the date also changes because of other influences, such as the gravitational pull from the Moon and planets, as well as the slight wobble in Earth’s rotation. Visit almanac.com for more info.

Father’s Day, Purpose & History

Another special day is June 21st, Father’s Day. Oftentimes, this holiday is celebrated with a cookout in honor of the patriarch of the family. Dads work hard to take care of their loved ones, teach manly skills like throwing a baseball, changing the oil in your car, mowing the lawn, grilling a perfect steak, and so much more. Long gone are the days only father and son learned these skills together. Fathers and daughters also bond over many of the same learning experiences. If your father is still around, make sure he knows how much he means to you.

According to Britannica.com, Father’s Day in the United States is celebrated on the third Sunday in June. Credit for originating the holiday is generally given to Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, whose father, a Civil War veteran, raised her and her five siblings after their mother died in childbirth. She is said to have had the idea in 1909 while listening to a sermon on Mother’s Day, which at the time was becoming established as a holiday. Local religious leaders supported the idea, and the first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, the month of the birthday of Dodd’s father. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge gave his support to the observance, and in 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson officially proclaimed it a national holiday. Observance on the third Sunday of June was decreed by law in 1972.

As the summer season gets ready to kick off, remember social distancing is still very important. Keep wearing masks when out and about and wash hands regularly. We are all tired of it all, but it will truly help us get past this pandemic. Well, that’s all for now. Take care and stay safe. Aunt Eunice

July 4th Fireworks & Founding Fathers, Dog Days of Summer

Deb D (Aunt Eunice) — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 14:50:00 +0000

Hello Folks,

Aunt Eunice here. I hope you had a chance to celebrate the Fourth of July in a special way. Cookouts and fireworks are typical occurrences, along with parades. My family enjoyed all three activities. The cookout food was delicious and included a fresh corn salad that is easy to make and can be tailored to your family’s taste. Barley Corn Salad If you don’t want to use the barley just add more fresh corn kernels. The parade had bagpipe groups, marching bands, fire trucks and lots of floats, though I must say my favorite float is a root beer one! The fireworks were beautiful and something both young and old look forward to seeing.

Fireworks & American History

USnews.com shared – Thought to be invented by the Chinese 2,000 years ago, fireworks have been a tradition of America’s Fourth of July celebrations since the country’s inception, with the founding fathers themselves seeing fireworks fit to mark the birth of their nation. In a July 3, 1776 letter to his wife, John Adams declared that the signing of the Declaration of Independence should be a “great anniversary Festival” and “solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” A year later, Congress itself ordained the tradition, enjoying in Philadelphia “a grand exhibition of fireworks, which began and concluded with thirteen rockets on the commons,” according to the Evening Post. Boston also saw a fireworks display in 1777. In the following years, the tradition spread through the Boston area to New York and other cities.

Dog Days of Summer?

Now that July has arrived, it has been a bit humid and hot. My mother was from the south and she said days like that were “close”. She and my aunts would also say the dog days of summer were here. According to almanac.com – The Dog Days aren’t just when your dog starts panting on a sweltering summer day. These days once coincided with the year’s sunrise rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. Ancient folks thought that the “combined heat” of Sirius and the Sun caused midsummer’s swelter. The rising of Sirius does not actually affect the weather, but for the ancient Egyptians, Sirius appeared just before the Nile River’s flood season. They used Sirius as a “watchdog” for that event. Because it also coincided with a time of extreme heat, the connection with hot, sultry weather was made for all of time! According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Dog Days of summer are traditionally the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, which coincide with the dawn rising of Sirius, the Dog Star. This is soon after the Summer Solstice, which of course also indicates that the worst summer heat will soon set in. The Old Farmer’s Almanac for Kids tells us all about the Dog Star, Sirius! Here are some of the most important facts: Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, if you don’t count the Sun. Under the right conditions, it can even be seen with the naked eye during the day. Sirius is one star in a group of stars that form the constellation Canis Major, meaning “Greater Dog.” It’s no surprise, then, that the nickname of this big, bold star is Dog Star.

Upcoming Highlights & Events

Well, hot or not the farm is a nice place to visit in the summer. There is always a good breeze wafting through the valley and the buildings are fairly cool. If you get a chance, come out for a tour of the historic farm this week. As a bonus on Tuesday enjoy a Pottery Highlight, on Wednesday it is Quilting, Thursday is the Paper Craft Highlight and Saturday is Bake Oven Day. These activities are no additional charge to your admission and are worth seeing.

That’s all for now and I hope to see you soon. Aunt Eunice

Summer is for Picnics, Games, Gardening & Cookies

Deb D (Aunt Eunice) — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 01:21:00 +0000

Hello Folks,

Aunt Eunice here. Well, our Frolic weekends were blessed with beautiful weather and we want to thank the community for coming out to support our farm museum. It was quite busy and there was plenty for guests to see and do. Now it’s time to look ahead.

The Great Outdoors

Spring season for school tours ends this week so that means summer can’t be far behind. While the summer season on a farm is plenty busy, folks in the past knew it was important to have some lazy days mixed in. There is some saying about “all work and no play makes Aunt Eunice a dull gal”! I prefer to be sharp as a tack. There are a number of old fashioned activities that are still relevant in this day and age. Picnics are fun and get you out of doors. People today spend far too much time indoors, unless you’re a street sweeper. A fine traditional job that keeps you fit. Your mailman in town gets outdoors quite a bit as well. Pack up a basket with some cold fried chicken (skinless and grilled for you who are health minded), some nice potato salad, fresh fruit and lemonade. Throw in some tin plates and cups along with cutlery and a pretty tablecloth and you are ready to go. Find a spot near a cool stream and take your fishing poles. Maybe you will catch a nice trout for supper. If nothing else, teach your children the basics of fishing. It’s a good lesson in patience.

Game On!

Old fashioned games can be a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I hear there are newfangled yard games today called Corn Toss, Can Jam, and Washers. I recommend horseshoes for the menfolk and croquet for the ladies and children. A scavenger hunt is a good way to involve everyone if you play with teams. A prize for the winners of a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies keeps things competitive.

Who Invented the Chocolate Chip Cookie?

Here’s some information from kitchenproject.com on the origins of chocolate chip cookies, which happens to be one of my favorite cookies. Like many great discoveries (and this is one of the greatest) it occurred by mistake.

Ruth Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies in 1930 at the Toll House Inn she and her husband Keneth ran near Whitman, Massachusetts. Like a bed and breakfast, she made food for her guests. One evening in 1937, she got the idea to make a chocolate butter cookie so she broke up one of the bars of semi-sweet chocolate that Andrew Nestle gave her. She thought that it would mix together with the dough & make all chocolate cookies . Needless to say, it didn’t. However the cookies came out decent so she served them. They of course were so good they had to be done again. She published the recipes in several newspapers and the recipe became very popular.

This gem of Ruth’s she named the Chocolate Crunch Cookie. She made a deal with Nestle allowing them to display the recipe on their chocolate bar only if they supplied her with free chocolate for her cookies at the Inn. Nestle tried to make it easy for people to make these cookies. They even included a small chopper in the package. Finally, in 1939, the Chocolate Morsels that we know today as chocolate chips were introduced.

The Chocolate Chip cookie is the most popular kind of cookie in America. Seven billion chocolate chip cookies are eaten annually. (I swear, Aunt Eunice only eats about a million!) The Toll House produces thirty-three thousand cookies each day. Some Vendors only sell chocolate chip cookies. Half of the cookies baked in American homes are chocolate chip.

Let the Living be Easy

Let’s make a pact to find time to relax, play and have fun this summer. Let Living Easy be our motto for a few months. Mow the lawn, wash the clothes and dishes, but try to simplify life from June through August. We all need time to regenerate and get back to nature. On that note, come visit Quiet Valley on our opening day of summer tours, Saturday June 15th. In addition to the historic tour, you can enjoy the Summer Garden Party at no additional cost. Learn about growing herbs and vegetables and different ways to use them, try some tasty samples, make some garden inspired artwork and just breathe in the fresh air. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

That’s all for now, folks. I hope to see you soon at the farm. Take care and take it easy.

Aunt Eunice