Happy Frigga!

I'm going to stick with the Happy Frigga theme from last week.  This is lovely Bonnie above, she is full of attitude but her looks let her get away with it.  Wooly beast.

Every now and again I pull out this book and read a few excerpts from it. I may have even blogged about it a long time ago. Anyway, I tend to pull it out in the winter to remind myself how cushy my life is.

It is an anthology of women pioneers.  It is full of stories from "kitchen skivvy to ambassadors' wives: emigrants who settled the wilderness....."  I opened the book to this one the other day:

During this very cold weather I was surprised by the frequent recurrence of a phenomenon that I suppose was of an electrical nature.  When the frosts were most intense I noticed that when I undressed, my clothes, which are at this cold season chiefly of woollen cloth, or lined with flannel, gave out when moved a succession of sounds, like the crackling and snapping of a fire, and in the absence of a candle emitted sparks of a pale whitish blue light, similar to the flashes produced by cutting loaf-sugar in the dark, or stroking the back of a black cat.  

Catherine Traill, The Backwoods of Canada 1836

The author of this book is Jane Robinson What a fascinating woman and I just added a few more of her books to my list.  We have that same crackling phenomenon going on here because it's so cold and dry but what is loaf-sugar?  Sure enough I found the answer HERE

I'm sure most of you have a little spark going on.  Stay warm.

~Marjorie~

Comments

[Lisa W.]

And that we will...so cold here too! Thinking of you, and hoping all your animals are safe and warm too:)

[darlene petee]

Thanks for the pioneer women for teaching us so many things. The other day a young girl asked an old lady do you know anything about green. The old lady went off on her and told her in those days we did not call it green and listed so many things the young girl could not keep up with her. To all the tough women stay warm.

[Jill Stanford]

I know! I know! Pick me! [hand waving in the air]
Oh -- you looked it up!