Voyage of the Mayflower

Originally, the Mayflower set out with a companion ship the Speedwell, but the Speedwell had a leak so both ships turned back. On the second attempt, the ships reached the Atlantic Ocean but again were forced to return to Dartmouth because of the Speedwell's leak.

It would later be revealed that there was in fact nothing wrong with the Speedwell. The crew had sabotaged it in order to escape the year-long commitment of their contract. For other uses, see Sabotage (disambiguation). ...

After reorganization of the passengers and crew, the final sixty-six day voyage was made by the Mayflower alone. Some of the original company stayed behind, while others switched places with passengers on the Mayflower. With 102 passengers plus crew, each family was allotted a very confined amount of space for personal belongings. Smeatons tower on the Plymouth Hoe Plymouth is a city in the Westcountry of England, situated at the mouths of the rivers Plym and Tamar in the traditional county of Devon. ... The 'tween deck of the Mayflower where the passengers lived was 8o feet long and 24 feet wide at it's widest part. And the passengers area was a large open area below decks with the deck area reserved for the crew.

The ship probably had a crew of twenty-five to thirty, along with other hired personnel; however, only the names of five are known, including John Alden. William Bradford, who penned our only account of the Mayflower voyage, wrote that John Alden "was hired for a cooper [barrel-maker], at South Hampton where the ship victuled; and being a hopefull yong man, was much desired, but left to his owne liking to go or stay when he came here; but he stayed, and maryed here."

The intended destination was an area near the Hudson River in "North Virginia". However the ship was forced far off-course by inclement weather and drifted well north of the intended Virginia settlement. As a result of the delay, the settlers did not arrive in Cape Cod till the onset of a harsh New England winter.

The settlers remained on the ship until homes were built in the spring. Disease took it's toll in the crowded conditions on ship board. Of the 102 passengers plus crew members, only 52 survived the winter.

One of the interesting stories for the John Howland descendants is the tale of how John Howland was washed overboard in a storm. Fortunately for his many descendants (including the house hunk), he was able to grasp a rope trailing in the water and the sailors pulled him back aboard.

Quite a few years ago, the house hunk and I visited the Mayflower II, an accurate replica of the original Mayflower. What struck me about the area below decks was the tiny, tiny area available to the settlers. There was no privacy. Most of the settlers slept on pallets or hammocks. And they shared their space with the supplies.

A bricked box served as a stove. The diet was limited and included salt pork, hard biscuits and dried beans. Small wonder that so many died of a combinations of scurvy, tuberculosis, and possibly pneumonia. Of the eighteen adult women who sailed on the Mayflower, only four survived to spring. Four women, helped by half a dozen teenaged girls were responsible for the care and feeding of the colony.

While we can't credit the colonists with establishing the first Thanksgiving, we can certainly honor them for the spirit and strength they exhibited when they sailed from Plymouth, England. Due to their incredible will, there are thousands of descendants today who can proudly state, "My ancestor came on the Mayflower."

For an easy website with wonderful information and pictures regarding the Mayflower and Plimoth Colony please click HERE!

anny

The First Thanksgiving

Among the lies my teachers taught over the years was the story of the first Thanksgiving. Back when I was a kid, we learned all about the pilgrims, those stern, black-clad puritans who fled England, sailed on the Mayflower to America, and had a big feast for the Indians.

I think the only fact they had correct was the one about the pilgrims sailing on the Mayflower. The house hunk is descended from six of the original pilgrims, Francis Cooke, John Howland, Elizabeth Tilley, John Tilley, Joan Tilley, and George Soule. Elizabeth Tilley's parents died the first winter leaving Elizabeth, a thirteen year old orphan alone. Two years later she married John Howland.

About half of the passengers were Separatists, the other half signed up for material reasons. Of the 102 original passengers nearly half died the first winter, leaving 53 survivors...mostly men. In the fall of 1621 when the harvest was finally gathered in, William Bradford, governor of Plimoth proposed a harvest feast. It lasted three days. For a wonderful interview with the food historian at Plimoth Plantation, click on Kathleen Curtin.
Other fun facts. They didn't wear black. Black was too hard to keep clean and also was expensive so it was reserved for Sunday services. Generally, they wore colored clothing. Heavy woolen fabrics.

A few years ago we went for a weekend to Plymouth and spent some time at the Plimoth Plantation speaking with the reenactors. Each reenactor picks a specific person to represent. They remain totally in character as they talk about their lives in Plimoth and before traveling to the New World.

So we were talking to Hester Cooke (wife of the Francis Cooke listed above) She did not travel on the Mayflower, electing instead to remain in Leiden (Holland) until later, with their children. One of the other tourists in the tiny Cooke house (see the pictures above) asked her about her clothing and commented that her skirt was wrinkled. "Didn't they iron their clothes?" the tourist inquired.

I've always loved 'Hester's' reply. "But that would be vanity."

I figure if it's good enough for the pilgrims, it's good enough for me.

The houses were tiny. For that matter, the beds were tiny. The bed would be too short for me and I'm only 5'2". When I asked where the kids slept, 'Hester' pointed under the bed and said, "They sleep on pallets."

Hester and Francis had eight children. I just wonder when and where they found privacy to start them! Certainly, there was no bedroom door to shut. Actually, the entire house was only two very small rooms. And one of those was the room with the "kitchen".

The harvest feast had little that we would recognize today. No potatoes (white or sweet)--the pilgrims weren't familiar with the potato as a food at this time. Cranberries might have been added to dishes for flavoring, but certainly there wasn't any cranberry jelly. And pumpkins, though a staple in their diet, were not used for pies. Actually, it's highly unlikely they would have flour or sugar to make pies. Nor did they have ovens.

For that matter, imagine the amount of food you would need for 50 people plus the 90+ guests over a three day period. Nooooo thanks!

I think I'll settle for my modern conveniences and the menu we're planning on. We'd hate to be without our pumpkin pie!

anny

Crossroads

How much we appreciate accomplishments in ourselves or others depends on our viewpoint. A vivid demonstration of this truth was the brou-haha over Harlequin Publishing's various business decisions in the last two weeks.

Readers, by and large, were entirely unmoved by the shenanigans that gave authors so much heartburn. If they're Harlequin readers, they'll continue to be Harlequin readers with unimpaired tranquility. Their interest in the inner workings of the publishing world is nil--unless they anticipate submitting to Harlequin as an aspiring author.

The same can't be said for writers who more or less fell in two camps. Inevitably, the Harlequin writers themselves had some qualms about the changes that affected their professional futures. Many of them enter the RWA's Rita contest--a contest they are no longer eligible for because of the changes Harlequin announced. Though I do not belong to the RWA, I do appreciate their unhappiness. Among the print writers, the Rita is a prestigious contest with such winners as Nora Roberts and Tom and Sharon Curtis.

The opposite camp, if you will, is comprised of those writers who've been on the outside looking in because their publishers don't pay an advance to their writers. They have a different business model that the RWA doesn't recognize and therefore, they are not eligible for such things as the Rita. The decision isn't based on quality, but some nebulous combinations of royalty numbers and methods of reaching the public marketplace. Bluntly stated, an e-published author doesn't qualify unless they make one thousand dollars or more on the title they wish to enter...in that year. Much of it depends on timing and that is not always under the author's control.

So. Two camps forever divided were suddenly united when the RWA announced their decision. The situation is fluid at the moment while Harlequin, a huge juggernaut of a publisher, backpeddles madly. Will they change their stance in order to make their writers happy and bow down to the various author's groups such as RWA, SFWA and others? Probably.

Will any of it make a difference to the readers? No. And that ultimately is the bottom line. At a time of cutthroat competion in the romance market, the readers have the ultimate vote. If they buy, the publisher stays afloat. If they take their money elsewhere, the publisher sinks.

Readers may not realized just how critical their purchasing decisions are. Especially in this day and age of limited incomes and lost jobs, their votes with their credit cards are all the more critical. Who dreamed that romance would become so powerful and respectable that at most print houses, it's the primary seller?

For that matter, who could have foreseen the way the digital market growth has exploded? Three years ago, as I carried my digital reader around, using it as I waited for the doctor or while I was doing laundry, the average citizen had no idea what it was. And they usually pooh-poohed the idea that it would ever "catch on".

Now, when I haul out my reader, the questions are entirely different. The average citizen is quite knowledgeable about brands, how many books can be saved on the reader, how long the battery life is, and whether or not DRM will be a problem. Ready or not, the e-book world is here to stay.

While readers may not care about the internal struggles in the publishing world, their buying decisions directly affect the swiftly changing landscape in the world of books. All of us are racing toward the "back to the future" era.

anny

Sixty Years

I've always wondered why people get so uptight about their birthdays. Personally, I think every birthday is a blessing. After all the alternative is not a lovely picture.

I'm sixty years old today. When I was ten, that was unimaginable. When I was twenty, the day was far off when I would turn sixty. Now I'm here and I'm wondering how I got here. What happened? I'm not ready to be sixty already. I still have a lot of things to do.

Sixty is a pretty significant number, you know? So in order to celebrate with my friends and readers, I'm having a Birthday Bash at Joyfully Reviewed from 7 PM to 10 PM EST! Drop by and say hello! If you're a writer bring an excerpt to post. If you just want to chat with the guests, then come on over and talk! If you don't belong to the loop, the link is up above...click on Joyfully Reviewed.

Earlier in the afternoon the house hunk is going to take us all out to Don Pablos for Mexican food. I always love to eat Mexican food and the restaurant is family friendly.

Until tonight...blessings on your day!

anny

Happy Weekend!

Rest and relax! anny

Life Skills

As you make your way through life, you acquire strange little skills and odd bits of experience that you usually never expect to use. And then the day arrives when you need that odd skill in a way you never imagined.

In this day of job shortages and down-sizing and retraining, one of the bits of advice that job coaches are sharing is to think out of the box, look at your skills with an eye toward how those skills are related to new jobs you're applying for.

In the past I worked for a small manufacturing company where I ran a drill press to drill holes in knobs, McDonald's, Friendly's, a Waldenbooks warehouse, and a county-wide school where my position was executive secretary. I also taught adult education vocational classes at that last job. Filling out a resume or a job application can be a challenge. But there are commonalities in all my past jobs.

One of the skills I have in common from every one of my employers was that I was the job trainer for new employees. Nope, that wasn't in my job description when I started, but in some strange way, training became one of my duties every time.

In each job, I also wrote and compiled a manual for the job. Hmmm. That wasn't in my job description, either. But it seems that most jobs need some type of reference manual--whether one done professionally by an outside agency, or one done in-house.

Every one of those employers needed an inventory compiled. In all but one job, I made up the forms and process as I went along. But the job was finished and the counts were accurate.

Along the way, I've picked up other oddments of information that I'll use one day. I'm convinced that nothing we learn is wasted. When the day arrives that I desperately need a skill or information, it will be ready to hand.

What is the strangest skill you have acquired in life?

anny

Review!

"I just wanted to squeeze Joe Harris. What a sweety! He handled Becky with kid gloves when appropriate, but also treated her like a woman. Becky, though she’s had a hard time, was no shrinking violet. Their romance moves along nicely until Joe drops an unintentional bomb on Becky. Her interpretation of his comment makes for a tense moment or two, but Joe saves the day. And he saves Becky too, in more ways than one. A delightfully romantic and steamy read."--Chris of Night Owl Reviews, 4.25 out of 5

To read the entire review...NOR!

Tonight the authors of the Carnal Reunions anthology will be having a chat at Coffee Time Erotic. We'll be there from 7 PM-9 PM. I hope you'll join us for sample excerpts and perhaps... a contest or two!

Wow! The suggestions for the Assassin's Creed were fabulous! Thank you so much for playing! The winner (picked by my daughter in a random draw) of the autographed copy of Carnal Camelot was Jacquéline Roth! Congratulations, Jacquéline! Get in touch with me about a snail mail addy so I can mail this out!

anny

Assassin's Creed

So I'm tootling around looking at e-mails and stuff and I see this list of "most popular searches today" and lo and behold, number ten was "assassin's creed".

Now I'm a literal minded person so I thought. Hmmm. Assassin's have a creed? What the heck kind of creed would a bunch of assassins have? Maybe like, "don't kill innocent bystanders" or "collateral damage is not acceptable". Or it could maybe be "if possible assassinations should look like an accident" or "don't carry out a mission when children are present".

Anyway, curiosity got the best of me, I admit! So I clicked on "assassin's creed" and... it's a game. Bummer. Who would name a GAME something like that? Apparently, the second version of it is coming out so there are all these posts and forums about the new game. Gah.

That's sort of like searching for information on fairy lore and only finding pages about fairy characters from Dragons and Dungeons type games. I was soooo disappointed.

So I've decided to put together my own ASSASSINS CREED. And I need your help. Put in your suggestions. I'll be drawing one entry at random for a free autographed copy of Carnal Camelot. So make 'em good.

anny

Doll House

When all your belongings are packed up in a storage facility--including your toys--things can get sticky. This last weekend my granddaughter wistfully mentioned her Barbie dollhouse. The next thing I knew, my daughter had an empty cardboard box and she was requesting a craft knife, heavy duty tape and scissors.

Then there were intermittent requests for other items... glue, fabric remnants, yarn, etc. I remembered a box full of craft items I purchased years ago with the intent to create a Christmas village. We dug those out of the closet, discovering with delight that there were long forgotten items such as miniature candle sticks and tiny clay pots.

With a flare of creativity, Mama and the girls decorated their house with repurposed foam furniture, toilet paper "log seats" out by the fire pit on the patio, and an aluminum foil mirror over the couch. The addition of about five dollars worth of doll house odds and ends from the craft store finished off the house.

Since then, the little one has happily played with her dolls in the doll house. Happy and contented--even proud, because she helped create the doll house.
Overall, it beats her last set of toys--one of my pots and the clothes hamper. Amazing how little it takes to entertain kids, isn't it?

anny

Doctor's Visit

I can with confidence state that I'm not contagious. No flu, no strep, not even a cold. After a visit to my new doctor--mostly to convince my family that I'm not going to kill them all off with my new virus--I can assure them they're all safe.

First the doctor's visit. It was fabulous. We went to the clinic at 5 PM on Saturday night, prepared to wait a long time. Walked right in. Registered. The nurse, a real cute guy named Chris came right out and took me back for the usual weigh, bp, temp, etc. No temp! BP was good, lost four pounds... all good. Then we went into one of the little exam rooms where he swabbed me for strep and flu--not fun at all--and whisked off to check the results.

After a bit, a very pleasant (also attractive) doctor came in. First thing he said? "You can take off the mask. You're not contagious!" After a few more questions and listening to my lungs, etc., he pronounced me over-all healthy. I have a mild sinus infection and the reason for the cough??? Allergies. Something in my apartment doesn't like me.

He ordered an antibiotic and an allergy meds. Prescriptions were ready before I even had a chance to get re-dressed. We paid $10 each for the prescriptions on the way out the door.

Total time from leaving to returning home? One hour. Really pleasant people and a quick visit. I think I'm gonna like my new doctors.

Do I feel better? Maybe a little in that way that you feel better because you know you have a perfectly ordinary cold instead of the H1N1. Still coughing intermittently for no apparent reason. My family is now taking my allergy/asthma difficulties seriously as we slowly work our way room by room to clear out whatever it is that's setting off the coughing attacks.

And today? Today, I'm going to get back to writing! There are tales to tell and stories to write! What about you? What are you doing today?

anny

Happy Weekend!

Yay! The week is over. Long live the weekend!

anny

Yarnia Tales

Ah, winter. Soon it'll be time to re-visit Yarnia. You know that place with beautiful, colored yarns, some silky, some fuzzy or lumpy or multi-textured. Time to haul out the collection of crochet hooks, knitting needles and afghan patterns.

I'm one of those people who can't resist a ball of yarn. Maybe I'm part cat. But don't let me loose in a yarn store or even the yarn aisle at the local Wal-Mart. There's just something about yarn...

Of course, I'm also an acquisitive person when it comes to other strange oddments like antique and one-of-a-kind crochet hooks. So a store that specializes in both is a double whammy for me. I'm twice as dangerous to my debit card/bank account when I find myself in a store like that. Probably, it's best that there aren't too many of them around here.

I come by my love of yarn and crocheting honestly. One of my earliest memories is watching my mother crochet the edge of a doily. I still have a tiny dress, a wooly shawl, and a baby blanket she crocheted. I also have a picture of me wearing that dress.

Years ago--about thirty years ago--the house hunk had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands. I taught him to crochet so he could keep his fingers moving while he was recovering. Now that was quite a fortuitous thing I did. Since then, he's crocheted numerous bed-sized blankets--at least two for each of our children, grandchildren, parents, and various other objects such as hats, scarves, and shawls.

Yep. If we want to embark on a knitting or crochet project at my house, there's no need to run to the store for yarn. Just look in the closet. There's plenty of skeins in there in just about every color.

Someone suggested I give it all away. But the last time I discussed it with the househunk, he was horrified. He's been infected with the Yarnia bug, too. Instead of giving it away, he hauled a bag of skeins out and started a new project. And it wasn't even winter yet!

anny