| | "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" | |
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+12Krissy ChristineLovesLHOTP Honeybee Joe Vanesa laurasangel Savannah Kristina LIWnut Prairie Wind charles ingalls Carol 16 posters | |
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Carol Adventure Seeker
Number of posts : 8665 Location : California Country Mood :
| Subject: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:25 pm | |
| "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Wolves and panthers and bears roam the deep Wisconsin woods in the late 1870's. In those same woods, Laura lives with Pa and Ma, and her sisters, Mary and Baby Carrie, in a snug little house built of logs. Pa hunts and traps. Ma makes her own cheese and butter. All night long, the wind howls lonesomely, but Pa plays the fiddle and sings, keeping the family safe and cozy. ================== This thread is for the discussion of "Little House in the Big Woods" | |
| | | Carol Adventure Seeker
Number of posts : 8665 Location : California Country Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Sat Feb 24, 2007 1:49 am | |
| - Carol wrote:
- Okay everyone, we are starting with Book one in the series.
CHAPTER 1: "Little House in the Big Woods"
*What are your thoughts on this chapter? Anything you didn't like? What caught your attention? Let's discuss. :study: - Rhonda wrote:
- My books are up at the office and I am at home sick today. I need to read through the chapter before I actually commit to a reply on it. I can say that I especially like how she starts it all out.....
A long time ago, when all the grandfathers and grandmothers of today were little boys and little girls or very small babies, or perhaps not even born, Pa and Ma and Mary and Laura and Baby Carrie left their little house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin. - Carol wrote:
- Rhonda, I think what you put is from 'Little House on the Prairie' because they are in Wisconsin in this book.
Laura was born in 1867 and she wrote this first book when she was 60 years old. I don't think she had any idea how famous her books would become. Anyway, I really liked the first chapter. I can see from this chapter that they are a very loving family. Pa takes good care of his family, making sure they have food for the winter. It sure was a lot of hard work back then! Now you can just go to the store and buy the meat you need, whenever you want. But in Laura’s days, you could see there was a ton of work they had to do with cutting, preparing and storing the meat. I think that is why they appreciated things more back then, they saw the hard work it took them.
I thought it was funny how Laura had a “doll” named Susan who was really a corn cob…, but like she said “it wasn’t her fault she was a corn cob”. LOL That’s too cute.
*Rhonda, I hope you feel better!!! - Rhonda wrote:
- oops, my mistake...see what happens when you don't have your books at home. I have that in my signature area on Prairietalk.com and since it is called Prairietalk and Prairiefans, I DID use the quote from LHOTP...LOL
Thanks for the well wishes. My youngest is home sick too. He has been sick off and on for the past 2 weeks, and just can't seem to shake it. First a stomach virus then this coughing crud, I just don't know......He is sleeping now.... - Carol wrote:
- LOL... Yes you did....
Also in this book there is part when Pa kills the pig and Laura runs to the house and covers her ears because she doesn't want to hear the pig squeal... poor pig! That's something I would defenitely have done.... I would not be able to stand that sound.... It was so sweet of Pa though to explain to her that it didn't hurt him because it was done quickly. They sure did have fun w/ the baking of that pig though! lol - Misti wrote:
- Yep, and Pa blowing up the bladder and them playing with it like it was a balloon! And eating the pig's tail. the way they describe it cooking, it even makes me hungry!
- Carol wrote:
- LOL I know! I had to re-read that to make sure I read it right... hahaha...
- Rhonda wrote:
- Well girls, they couldn't go to their local Wal*Mart store and buy a bag of balloons, so they had to do with what they had. Imagination was what a person had to have back then, and is what a lot of people have lost since the invention of TV and Video Games....
EQUALS - Dianne wrote:
- This is one thing I love about the books. They made their own fun and it didn't cost anything. They played games, sang and danced and had a great time.
I think the first chapter really shows how hard they had to work to get enough food for the winter. I really like how Laura explains how everything was done. It is a look back to the past. I feel sorry for Laura that she only had a corn cob for a doll, but I admire that she used her imagination and loved 'Susan' just the same. - Rhonda wrote:
- OK, I have my book in front of me and am in the process or refreshing my memory.....This might take a while, so be patient with me.....LOL
Since Carol brought up the pig being butchered, I thought I would comment on this as well. Killing and preparing animals for food was so important to the pioneers and Laura goes into such detail as to how they did this and the whole process. My oldest son is a vegetarian, and has been for three years. He became one after seeing some video about how animals were treated and all in the process of preparing them for market. It is amazing to me that the pioneers had to do all of this to survive and were still able to eat what they had prepared. I would think the image of how the animal was prepared to eat would be in my mind and I wouldn't be able to eat it. I don't imagine there were too many vegetarians back in pioneer days.......God gave us the animals to eat and survive on, and that is just what they had to do, but I can see my son's point of view on the whole issue too.....I am glad that I can just go to the grocery store and pick out what I want to prepare for my meal, because if I had to do everything Pa and Ma had to do just to have a meal....I might be a vege too.... - Savannah wrote:
- I might, too, Rhonda! I helped some friends when they were getting their roasting chickens ready a few years ago, and I couldn't eat chicken for a very long time after that. I rarely eat any meat anyway, because I love the taste of vegetables so much - but that scene. *ugh*
Back to the book....... Isn't it something how they used every part of that pig?? They didn't waste anything. I was so shocked, as a little girl, that Ma let the girls play with a pig's bladder! LOL I always wondered what it looked like, all blown up like that. Maybe I'll call up a local butcher........hmmmm - Carol wrote:
- Yeah, that bladder sure proved useful.
I had an great aunt in El Salvador who was not afraid to kill the animals.... You name, she would kill it. LOL Pigs, chickens, turkeys.... whatever, and she would prepare some delicious meals.
I on the other hand, wouldn't be able to... but if I live back in those days I would HAVE to, although I think I could only kill small things like chickens... so I would have to be on a chicken diet LOL - Savannah wrote:
- I have a great cookbook I could give you some recipes from, then, Carol: 365 Ways to Cook Chicken.
That's a good point, Carol - they did what they had to, to survive. I can't imagine shooting a deer for meat. Not that I think it's wrong. I don't, as long as it's for meat, and not just sport. I just don't think that I could do it. But if my family was starving . . . . that's another story. Bye-bye Bambi. - Vanesa wrote:
- My grandpa, go lived in the country, in Argentina, told me the same than Laura wrote in this book. He used to play with the pig bladder as the girls did, and he didn't like to hear the pig squeals and he covered his ears like Laura...He didn't want to hear the pig squealing! Howver, he liked eat its meat, and he never thought in becoming a vegetarian!
My great-grandmother, when living in country-yard didn't like to kill herselg the chicken to coock them, but she MUST do it, She was a nice ladylike woman..Very much like Nellie! The first time she killed a chicken, she cut her head off...And she was horrified when she saw the chicken stating to run away..WITHOUT his head! - Savannah wrote:
- LOL!!! Vanesa, I still have childhood memories of seeing that at my Grandma's house, too. I was 3 years old at the time! But I can still remember seeing that chicken running around her back yard - with NO head!! (Something like that tends to stick in a child's memory)
- Rhonda wrote:
- LOL....As busy as life is these days, I'm sure you will see me running around like a chicken with its head cut off!!! I am constantly running in circles just to get the daily stuff done....WHEW!!!!
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| | | Carol Adventure Seeker
Number of posts : 8665 Location : California Country Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:11 am | |
| - Alaker wrote:
- Do you think Ma had the girls wash their hands or at least use a hand sanitizer after playing with the pigs bladder? LOL
- Rhonda wrote:
- eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww! I hadn't even thought of that!!! They didn't have a clue about Salmonella.......Kind of like that commercial where the kids are saying, "I think Salmonella is a kind of dinosaur" LOL
- Vanesa wrote:
- You make me laugh, people! What an hysterical-hylarious thread!!!
- LIWnut wrote:
- I liked the way Laura described the smoking process. It must have smelled wonderful around their house when the deer was being smoked. I think that maybe one of the reasons that Laura writes about the amount of food that they had in this chapter is to compare to later books, like the Long Winter, when they had very little.
Can't you just see the two little girls playing in the attic with all of the produce hanging and sitting around them. What fun they must have had. I love this book. This is going to be fun! - Rhonda wrote:
- Marilyn,
I know exactly what you mean, because I can remember when my sisters and I were young, we could find all sorts of places to play, and with imagination, you can go anywhere and be anything.......It had to be so cozy up there with all the supplies in the attic, not to mention colorful!!! - Brenda wrote:
- I don`t think a vegetarian would have lasted long in those days. Especially in the winter. They had to get by on what they had. I also thought it would have been interesting to have a pig bladder for a balloon. I live on a small farm and we have killed chickens. And I have joined in on eating them. My Mom will not though. She says she won`t eat things that she has seen alive. Even in these times most of my family and I eat venison and other meat from animals we have killed ourselves. Though it isn`t very often but it does not bother us. We enjoy the taste and the feeling of providing for ourselves.
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| | | Carol Adventure Seeker
Number of posts : 8665 Location : California Country Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:26 am | |
| - Carol wrote:
CHAPTER 2: "Winter Days and Winter Nights"
POST YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS CHAPTER
I love this chapter. You can see that the Ingalls are a very hard working, loving family. Both Ma and Pa work hard and Laura & Mary help also. Ma was really sweet, she knew how to cook and made it pleasant for everyone, doing things like coloring the butter in the winter. :)
I like how Laura says: "But the best time of all was at night, when Pa came home" We first hear Laura's nick name when Pa calls for her saying, "Where's my little half-pint of sweet cider half drunk up?" lol.... that's too cute.
Pa was such a gentle person, I loved the relationship he had w/ the girls, telling them stories and playing with them. I thought it was so funny when they played "mad dog" (lol) with Pa getting on all fours and chasing the scared girls. :) Great chapter... :study: - Rhonda wrote:
- In this chapter, you can see how close the family is and how well they work together to get things done. Pa spent his days hunting in order to have food for Ma to prepare and the family to eat. The girls helped Ma with the chores and Ma in turn, helped the girls with little games so they weren't always working. I think using Ma's thimble on the frosted window was neat and how they could make patterns and play with the windows in that way. When we were growing up, you didn't dare blow your breath on the window and make pictures and stuff. We did it anyway, especially in the car, but we had to clean it up too....LOL I also liked how Ma had her little saying for each chore that needed to be done each day of the week.
"Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Mend on Wednesday, Churn on Thursday, Clean on Friday, Bake on Saturday, Rest on Sunday"
I loved Pa's stories and how he spent time playing with the girls, when you know he was tired from hunting all day. I thought it was an interesting process that Ma took to color the butter because it wasn't the color that it should be in the winter time that it is in the summer time. And I love how Ma would make paper dolls for the girls to play with...What a family!!! - Carol wrote:
- Well I think my favorite days would be Saturday and Sunday. :mrgreen:
- Rhonda wrote:
- Ain't that the truth!!! I couldn't find any butter churning!!!
- Carol wrote:
- LOL... that' too cool Rhonda.
- Lori wrote:
- It seems like the bake and clean days are backward. I'd have to clean all over again after baking.
- Savannah wrote:
- An old friend of mine, before she passed away, gave me some old, old embroidered pillowcases. Each one had one of those daily "chores" embroidered on it, along with a little picture of a lady doing her chore. I'd forgotten about that........
- Vanesa wrote:
- I love this chapter, for it teach you a lot of livelihood in those days. I like how Laura depicts how Ma would make her chores and teach the girls how to do them too, little by little. These relationships between mother and daughters can't bee seen anymore. Because of this, girls of nowadays didn't know how to coock, or sew a button.
It's very important too, the relationships between Charles Ingalls and her daughters. He was a very kind man, who could play with Mary and Laura as he was a child himself. And yes...I love "Mad Dog"!!!!!
Vanesa. - Rhonda wrote:
- It is amazing how life has changed so much that children do not know how to do things for themselves. And to me, that is so sad, because not only do they not know how to do for themselves, but they have lost the respect that children used to have for their parents and grandparents and the elderly. Kids in schools these days have lost all respect for the teachers, principals and authority that helps keep the community running...
- di-anne wrote:
- Awwww Rhonda those smilies are awesome :)
I love Ma's daily chores list. I have tried to use that in my life but so far it hasn't worked lol I admire so much how hard they worked and how they enjoyed and appreciated every thing they had. - Vanesa wrote:
- Yep...Perhaps, we have too much material things nowadays.
Vanesa. - LIWnut wrote:
- "The lamp was bright and shiny. there was salt in the bottom of its glass bowl with the kerosene to keep the kerosene from exploding and there were bits of red flannel among the salt to make it pretty. It was pretty."
Do you think it would have exploded because of the cold? I love how Ma's house was always pretty. In each book Laura describes what the rooms look like so we can imagine a little bit. - Rhonda wrote:
- I don't know what the reasoning was behing the salt in the bottom of the lamp. Something to do research on....hmmmmmmmmmmmm...
- Carol wrote:
- I never thought of that... that's interesting.
I read somewhere that people would polish their Kerosene lamps with salt though.. for a brighter look.
I also remember in chemistry class doing something like this: Dipping a platinum wire in salt solution and holding it in a gas flame which would turn the flame from almost invisible blue to bright yellow. - Savannah wrote:
- I read that putting salt in the kerosene was supposed to remove carbon, and increase the intensity of the light. Now, whether that's true or not, I'm not sure. But it would be interesting to find out.
- Savannah wrote:
- PS
I also read that the salt in the kerosene tended to cause corrosion (on the burners) if the lamps weren't kept very clean. Cleaning the lamps would have been a very important job, then. Because if you were out in the middle of nowhere and your lamp's burner became too corroded for use, you couldn't just walk to the store and buy a new one. - brenda_m wrote:
- Vanesa wrote:
- Yep...Perhaps, we have too much material things nowadays.
Vanesa.
You bet! That is one of the reasons Christmas sometimes depresses me people worry too much about material things and some children probably don`t even know the true meaning.
And about this chapter I love mad dog too. And my favorite days would be Saturday and Sunday. I wish Sundays were the same now. I need rest sometimes :sleep: - brenda_m wrote:
- Savannah wrote:
- PS
I also read that the salt in the kerosene tended to cause corrosion (on the burners) if the lamps weren't kept very clean. Cleaning the lamps would have been a very important job, then. Because if you were out in the middle of nowhere and your lamp's burner became too corroded for use, you couldn't just walk to the store and buy a new one. My Dad collects hurricane lanterns and oil lamps. We used one tonight! Mostly we used them when we sit outside at night in the Summer and Fall. | |
| | | Carol Adventure Seeker
Number of posts : 8665 Location : California Country Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:45 am | |
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| | | charles ingalls Ingalls Friend for Life
Number of posts : 2009 Location : Cincinnati Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:43 pm | |
| i got that and little house on the prairie from the library the other day | |
| | | Prairie Wind Farm Land Owner
Number of posts : 1369 Location : Virginia
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:30 am | |
| Just reading the title of this book makes me feel warm, cozy and happy! | |
| | | LIWnut Proverbs 3:5-6
Number of posts : 2539 Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Mon Jun 09, 2008 3:02 pm | |
| I love this book. I remember reading the series for the first time in grade 7 after I found the show on tv. I can still remember where they were in the school library. Even looking at the covers of the books give me a funny thrill. I can't explain it. | |
| | | Prairie Wind Farm Land Owner
Number of posts : 1369 Location : Virginia
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:06 pm | |
| I know what you mean. | |
| | | Kristina Ingalls Friend for Life
Number of posts : 7864 Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:14 am | |
| this is probably one of my favorites out of all the books Laura wrote! it is so simple, and so interesting at the same time! I loved reading it! :woohooo: :thankyou: | |
| | | Prairie Wind Farm Land Owner
Number of posts : 1369 Location : Virginia
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:18 am | |
| Me, too! Let's all go live in the woods! :cabn: | |
| | | charles ingalls Ingalls Friend for Life
Number of posts : 2009 Location : Cincinnati Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:52 pm | |
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| | | Savannah "Psalm 34"
Number of posts : 54428 Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:14 pm | |
| I'd really like to live out in the woods, in a little cabin. I think it would make my dog nervous, lol, but *I* would enjoy it. | |
| | | laurasangel New Pioneer
Number of posts : 13 Location : Watching over Laura and Grace Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Fri Mar 25, 2011 6:08 am | |
| I already live in the woods with bits of prairies thrown in and it seems safe to me since i haven't run into any coyotes or cougers so there's a 50% percent chance of Laura being safe since i could be wrong about wild animals naturally being afraid of Homo Sapiens "she shall be free and welcome to explore the Galaxy i have reclaimed for our species" Imperator Jeremy on the fate of Laura Ingalls Wilder "A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power, nothing else matters" Nietzsche | |
| | | Vanesa Ingalls Friend for Life
Number of posts : 5136 Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Sat Mar 26, 2011 12:49 am | |
| This book is a little jewel to me. It warms my heart every time I read it and I can understand why it was a favorite when it was published for the first time. The sense of coziness, family care and wilderness is in every page of it. Laura is only a little girl there, but the whole story is so sweet...Pa's stories, the mad dog, the sugaring off...There's a kind o magic inside "Little House in the Big Woods" Vanesa. | |
| | | Joe Prairie Settler
Number of posts : 875 Location : Tucson, AZ, USA, Earth Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Sat Mar 26, 2011 1:11 am | |
| Ok. You ladies settled it. I was going to post a thread asking which book to read first but I think I have my answer. "Willie, were you or were you not looking at the corsett ads in the catalogue?" - Nels | |
| | | Honeybee Ingalls Friend for Life
Number of posts : 3565 Location : Michigan Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:23 am | |
| This is my favorite book. I'm game, too. I'll love lived in the woods. | |
| | | ChristineLovesLHOTP New Pioneer
Number of posts : 227 Location : Western Massachusetts Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Fri Feb 17, 2012 10:37 pm | |
| I loved this book....I don;t remember how many times I read this “I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” ― Laura Ingalls Wilder | |
| | | Honeybee Ingalls Friend for Life
Number of posts : 3565 Location : Michigan Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Thu Sep 06, 2012 5:39 pm | |
| re-reading this book again. | |
| | | Vanesa Ingalls Friend for Life
Number of posts : 5136 Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Sat Sep 08, 2012 12:15 am | |
| This book es one of my very favorites. Never get tired of re-read it.
Vanesa. | |
| | | LIWnut Proverbs 3:5-6
Number of posts : 2539 Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:46 am | |
| I just loaned this book to a coworker who has never read the Little House books. She devoured it in one night. I took her the next 3 to keep her busy over the weekend. It is so awesome to share these books with new fans. | |
| | | Carol Adventure Seeker
Number of posts : 8665 Location : California Country Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Thu Oct 18, 2012 7:18 pm | |
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| | | Savannah "Psalm 34"
Number of posts : 54428 Mood :
| | | | Carol Adventure Seeker
Number of posts : 8665 Location : California Country Mood :
| | | | LIWnut Proverbs 3:5-6
Number of posts : 2539 Mood :
| Subject: Re: "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS" Fri Oct 19, 2012 6:36 pm | |
| Ok, I'm going to gross you out! I saw a 15 year old pig bladder at Laurapalooza this summer. One of the ladies who do Laura presentations had 2 of them. One was blown up and the other wasn't. The deflated one looked all shriviled up like you would think it was supposed to look but the one with air in it looked very cool and I can see how the Ingalls girls would have had a lot of fun with it. | |
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