July 1, 2008

 anada Day! Or Dominion Day, which it was originally called.

I went to a historic town (living museum) for part of my job and had alot of fun there. Any excuse is a good excuse to go there. I have been talking to the new blacksmith there for a couple months, has invited me to bring my grubbies and come play at the historic forge for the day. He is called a master craftsman by someone I consider a master craftsman, so he must be very good indeed.

I learned to work with a forge about 10-11 years ago. Although I own my own portable forge and 2 anvils at home, it is so much nicer working alongside someone else and it would be an honor to work with the historic equipment. One day I will build a permanent stone one.

The anvil I learned with many years ago was a 300 pound, 300 year old Mouse Hole Forge Anvil from England, so I got spoiled. My 75 pounders are good, but a 'step down' from what I learned with.

Originally Mousehole anvils were made by the building up process, that is, the corners of the base or feet , the horn and the tail of heel were welded on to a centerpiece. After this the steel face was welded on in sections. The anvil was the n trimmed and finished to the desired shape by the use of hand tools. The face was then ground and hardened. After hardening, the face was again ground and the anvil then received the finishing touches. You can hear a distinct difference in anvils between the 'ting' and the 'ping'.

I also went and sat in the kitchen of a woman in one of the historic houses and gabbed with her for some time. Just the ambience of the 1880's kitchen was awesome. She was mixing up a pound cake and cooking it in possibly the original wood cookstove for the 1880's home. She portrays life in the house in 1906 however. We had a nice chat, but I left before the cake was done.

The skies turned black and the thunderstorms raged for hours, but it was a nice day anyway.

Being that it was Canada's birthday, there were lots of historical games as well. I participated in one. Ladies nail driving. The nails were handmade square ones. I did not win, but I did receive an old fashioned candy stick for joining in on the fun.