Remick Museum By: Leo

Yesterday our family went to Remick farm. As we arrived in the parking lot we anticipated the fun day ahead of us. We walked to a nearby field. Here we came upon our friends waiting for us. As soon as every one arrived, we were introduced to the staff. Then we were split into two different groups. Those in fourth grade or under joined the smaller group (Rus & Tert were included in this group.) Stella and I joined the older group. We went first to make biscuits. Almost as soon as we walked in we felt the heat of the hearth fire. Before making the biscuits we went to the bathroom to wash our hands. After washing our hands we went to the counter to bake.:) Soon after an introduction to the colonial tools displayed, such as the spoons made of horn, we split into two different groups to make the biscuits. We found out that the the younger kid's project was to make butter to go with our biscuits. We began reading the recipe. Soon we had a large mound of fluffy dough. We then used a biscuit cutter to form the biscuits. We put the biscuits into a dutch oven. We then shoveled embers out onto the brick hearth. We placed the dutch oven onto the embers. Next we placed embers over the dutch oven so it was surrounded on all sides by heat. After this we had to wait for a while. While waiting we were scheduled to do another activity; we were going to dip candles. As we walked we encountered several colonial structures. These included the ice house which I thought to be very interesting. It got its ice cut from a pond across the path. Soon we came upon the large house in which we were to do our candle dipping. As we walked in, we smelled the strong scent of beeswax. The dipping was tedious, though I enjoyed it immensely. As we waited in line we were given a quiz on the colonial tools on display. The one which I thought was interesting was a long candle wound many times against a metal frame. At the top it had two handles resembling built in pliers. In colonial days a young man would visit the women at her parents house. Depending on how much the parents liked the man they would raise or lower the candle. As soon as the candle died down the date would end. An interesting fact I learned about candle dipping was that each year children were required to make 400 candles! This made me appreciate the colonial children who made 400 candles according to the needs of their families and not 1 for entertainments sake. We soon finished and walked back to enjoy our biscuits with the younger kids butter. We walked to the car thinking back on this fun day!