madPete

When I talked to him a couple weeks ago, he was planning on coming.

received these from Michael today. Even a note sealed with wax and your stamp. Thank You! Looks like Hudson Bay company, Dutch East Indies Company, Mercury, and block made for Bo's WTF company. I'm gonna stamp some canvas and then pass them along.

Some new socks arrived today. When I went thru mine before Long Beach, some had huge holes and I gave a couple pair to my son. These were from Etsy Penny River. so far they look pretty nice. I found if you wear anklet socks under your long socks, they last much longer! Provides some additional padding too.

Pockets always slow it down, but they are necessary. Lookiing good!

Canvas, Canvas, canvas... We'll have to do Ice runs periodically. There's a bulk ice machine across form Circle K as you enter the island. its 1-1/2 ish [miles] from there to the fort.

Anyone have a decent soft side cooler? I was looking online and surprised how expensive they are. We can buy cheap ones there at walmart and just keep them full of ice, but a quality one would be very useful as it holds the ice longer. recommendations?

So we have two big dinner nights Friday and Saturday, and a smaller group Thursday. Sunday will be teardown so no production dinner. Those staying on til Monday morning will need to forage or ad-hoc something. (Thinking we need to get cooking gear back to Chris on Sunday, and someone deliver women's tent to Chris on Monday) Here's another Williamsburg recipe, basically thin beef wrapped around a stuffing and kebob on the fire. (no olives LOL). might be a good side to the above Ragoo French beans https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/learn/recipes/beef-olives/ Proposed dinners... Thursday Dinner: Pasta and white sauce, greens, bread, vegetable dish Friday Dinner: Ragoo-french-beans and Beef olives (see recipes), greens, bread Saturday Dinner: Vegetable stew with BBQ'd Beef or BBQ'd chicken on the side that can be added to stew (or not), greens, bread maybe need some sort of dessert dish as well like sweet potato pie? other ideas, comments?

I ran across this dish on the Colonial Williamsburg site. Maybe served with a meat dish of some type (or bacon on the side of course)? https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/learn/recipes/ragoo-french-beans/

I think taller eliminates dampness but increases chill. The ground provides insulation. Less air circulating underneath you when down low is a good thing. I would even stuff things underneath to block the air. I was a on a normal height cot at one event in Northern arizona, with 2 wool blankets doubled up underneath me, one on top and a wool great coat and I was still cold. Yet when I sleep on the ground on a self inflating camp mattress (1-1/2 inches tall at most) I'm fine with a single blanket underneath.

That's a serious breakfast. If you had 10 people buy in, can you estimate the cost per person?

Thanks HalfPint!

It was a good question which allowed me to set the expectations. We'll try but no promises. I ran into something similar at a Rev war event and someone was put out because there was no kosher food at a potluck. Better to set the expectations on the front end. We do have limited resources but we'll do the best we can to feed our group.

Nice! I have a short cot like that also, but uncomfortable. Maybe the mattress would fix it. That does give me an idea...

Speaking of coconuts...

Mine arrived today - thank you for the excellent reference! ( I guess the spray will get shipped along with something else)

$60 is a bit steep, not gonna deny people because they have a modern trencher from the thrift store. I like your philosophy, A true scientist!

William says they will have porta-potties but your question is excellent. Will they have them on Wed/Thu/Mon for those arriving early, leaving late?

First, this is an optional buy-in. You dont have to buy in to any specific meal or any meals at all. Every single Mercury member will be from out of town and we dont have the luxury of our own kitchen or knowing what grocery has gluten-free/peanut free whatever to meet specific allergy requirements. If this is a concern, I recommend individuals make their own plans or review closely what we propose as a menu and ask questions at the event. We'll do our best when we get there to choose ingredients wisely, but the likelihood is we wont know specific brand ingredients until we get to the local grocery and see what is available. I'm not indifferent to the issue, my GF has very specific requirements which she will need to deal with separately. But we dont pretend to be a restaurant, cooking meals is an auxiliary thing and thats asking a lot for ad-hoc cooking volunteers who also want to participate in the event. We need a basic menu first, for people to decide if they will participate. Balancing a meal with sides like greens, veggies, bread etc is the magical part that helps accomodate, but needs planning. i.e. Greens/bread with every meal, possibly a meat free stew, with optional chicken or beef on the side that can be added to portions. We do welcome suggestions, If there is something we can cook that satisfies the majority of the crew, we'll do that. I have some period ideas like the above stew, as well as possibly a macaroni and cheese pie in a crust (not dessert) and possibly onion pie (potatoes, eggs, onions, apples, cheese) along with some sides including a meat dish. Iron Jon made a braised cabbage dish one year that was excellent. So please make suggestions that can accommodate most or all of the group.

William says there are 17 Mercury members signed up for the event. It's not likely that they will all buy in for every meal, or even buy-in at all, and we haven't asked for a count yet. Probably cant get a confirmed count until we get the menu a bit more nailed down. Having said that, if you know you want to participate in at least one meal, let me know and I'll add you to the list so we can get a rough head count. For now I think we limit this to Mercury members so it doesnt get out of hand. We're looking for at least two cooks/helpers at each meal so you wont be alone at breakfast, and not likely you will have to cook for all 17. I think we will set out the dishwashing tubs and pyrates can clean their own dishes.

hmmm.. I bet I could make those square trenchers with a router bit. Just what I need, another project...

The trenchers you find in thrift stores rarely look like the one in the original post, but they are flat and take very little room in luggage, unlike the bowls.

I believe this is the office entrance inside the fort... and the parking lot near the entrance... Thank You Chris!

More pics: from the Ramparts looking left to right...

More pics... This is left to right Looking at the entrance to the fort from the parking lot.

Half Pint does nice work! This is a deal compared to commercial sources which are more expensive and machine sewn