Q & A with Michelle Voorhees

A very special thanks to Michelle Voorhees of Colonial House, without whom this section would not be possible. Michelle generously gave her time to 'fill in the blanks' about parts of the show that we didn't see - on behalf of all Colonial House fans I would like to say thanks!



What inspired you to join the project?

What was a typical day like?

There seemed to be tension when Amy K. left, do you keep in touch?

How did you feel about the punishments for avoiding Sabbath?

How do you feel about the way you seemed to be represented in the show?

What dishes were cooked?

Was it a surprise when Oprah spent a night in the colony?

Were there any health problems caused by the smoke from fires and cooking?

What was grown in your gardens?

How was laundry done?

Was housekeeping difficult?

Were cheese and butter made or included in your provisions?

How were the peas prepared?

How did Giacomo adapt to the colony? Did he miss much school to participate in the project?

After having worn one for months, could you see any practical reasons for wearing a corset, aside from bust support?

The men were supplied with straight razors for shaving, did the women attempt to use these as well?

Did John and Giacomo have any woodworking experience prior to the project?

During the show you were referred to as a seamstress and in the 21st century, you own a business. What do you do?







What inspired you to join the project?

MV: I went on the project to learn more about the life of these early Americans. Having grown up in Massachusetts it was interesting to me to explore the fact that not all colonies were Puritan ventures. It turned out that those who were not from New England thought that was all they came here for, hence the conflicts. I'm not sure what I've brought back as far as using any 17th century techniques but the lessons learned go far deeper than that. Mostly the experience solidified my beliefs in community. Good people working together towards a common goal. That is hard to experience in todays world.



What was a typical day like in the colony?

MV: A typical day: as I slept very little on the project, due to insomnia, I would get up with the sun, or rooster, and start the fire while the rest of my house slept. I always had two, one for heating water and one to cook oats for breakfast. Often there would be a line outside my door of the other households wanting to light a candle from my fire to start theirs. Several mornings a week I was responsible for milking the goats so, once the water was warm and breakfast was boiling it was off to the goat house. By the time that was finished the rest of my house would have eaten breakfast and it would be time for the morning meeting, to outline the days schedule. I usually ate while standing in the village square. The men would go off to work and I would be left with the dirty dishes and pot. After cleaning up it would be time to start dinner(lunch). Dinner had to be planned a day or two in advance so peas or meat could be properly soaked. All of this became easier after a month or so when we figured it out. Once the fire was roaring and peas where boiling I had a chance to sit and have a cup of tea,(cinnamon boiled in water) and a smoke. Yes, I know, I became a chimney! Not being a smoker when entering the project this surprised me but if you take into consideration how much smoke was being inhaled just by cooking I'm sure the pipe did not much more damage. Oh, it was just plain tobacco, unfortunately! I stopped smoking when we walked off the project.

While cooking dinner, I would either be washing clothing or mending it. I was continually ribbed for keeping my house and my family's clothing clean, but for me it was a coping mechanism. At first, the dirt really freaked me out. When the house has a dirt floor there really is no chance of really being clean. But I gave it my best shot. I think that a 17th century woman would have taken pride in the ordering and cleanliness of her house. So.....the pace of cooking picked up as the food became ready, we usually served at least two dishes each meal and coordinating it all to be ready at the same time was a challenge. Once the meal was ready, everyone came in, ate, and took off to swim or take a 15 minute nap and I would be left with a mountain of dirty dishes and pots. More boiling water, washing, and planning of the next meal. Sometimes, I could sneak off for a swim, IF the tide was right. But usually it was sewing or gardening or more laundry. Supper was eaten right before sundown as it is impossible, not to mention dangerous to cook in the dark. Debbie Verdecia burnt her finger quite badly trying to cook in the dark. Lucky for us, after supper, there would always be someone coming to our house to chat, smoke, and drink a meager bit of alcohol. We would play cards and just chill. Those times were definitely my favorite part of the project. As was shown in the final episode, in our 21st century lives we often have a house full of people so this made the time on the colony bearable. Most every day I was alone in the house. That was extremely difficult.



There seemed to be tension when Amy K. left, do you keep in touch?

MV: Amy K. and I are definitely friends, we talk a great deal on the phone. Yes, there was some tension when we were living together, due to her tenuous position in the colony, she never really found what her role was. Production definitely set up the tension in the packing scene. They told her to pack up all her stuff, however, since Plimoth (the people who supplied each of the households) knew we would be sharing a house, they didn't give either Amy or us everything needed to run the house, they figured we would share. Which we did, but if she would have taken all her things there would have been a severe hardship in our house. Not to mention that there was a shortage of eating utensils, dishes, and bedding. Most of her wares were distributed amongst the houses and the few things that completed ours, stayed. When she left, Jeff Lin and Craig moved into our house and they came without cups, spoons, plates etc...



How did you feel about the punishments for avoiding Sabbath?

MV: I had absolutely NO problem with being punished for my trangressions in regards to Sabbath. In fact it was Jeff Wyers who had problems with the punishments! And we were told that if we skipped Sabbath services we would have to go through the punishments, we felt that was part of the project and had no objections. If the punishments weren't visited a very real part of 17th century society never would have been visited. And the real reason the laws were removed in regards to Sabbath is because when Danny Tisdale had skipped Sabbath for the second time and it was his punishment to be tied to the stake he flatly refused. Stating, "as a black man NO ONE will tie me to anything" end of story. Of course it makes better TV to make me the villain, so be it. I can't say I was portrayed unfairly but the edit does cut things to give me a bit more of an edge, I wasn't constantly complaining. I had too much work to do. But the camera was there to ask and record our thoughts and feelings. In the woman's meeting, Amy and Julia were angry that Carolyn and I had made up a schedule without consulting them first (Carolyn's idea) and they were not happy about cooking for the Freemen. Carolyn and I felt it would have been period correct to cook for them most every meal, we let them do their own breakfast, anyone can boil oats, but the rest of the time we had them covered. The other two threw a wrench into that. So, yes, I was telling them to suck it up because there was really no choice. That is what we signed up for. People needed to eat, it was paramount to survival. My not attending a Sabbath meeting here and there was not paramount to anyones survival. The services were divided into two parts, the first being community building, our therapy if you will, in order to survive the experience. The second half being the more religious part. We always went to the first half. Only once did I not go at all. That was the time John and I went out on the boat, at sunrise, to check the fishing lines, re-bait them, and pick up the Brits who had spent the night across the bay. The Brits declined to come back, not returning till Monday am. I was annoyed because I would have liked to sleep out also but was feeling beholden to my household and the colony for all I was relied upon to do.



How do you feel about the way you seemed to be represented in the show?

MV: I'd like to think that I contributed more to the project than just being the "woman who wouldn't go to church". At first it really irked me but then the whole show is so harshly edited that it is a very small representation of what went on. It seems I made a good scapegoat for the Sabbath thing because I express my opinion when asked. I have to say I was pretty surprised to hear Giacomo say that about me being governor. The first time I heard that was when it was on t.v. I wouldn't have wanted to be governor at any price! Major league thankless tough job. Most viewers didn't pay much attention - you were listening, and if you were watching closely you would have seen me in almost every aired Sabbath service! So, they all think I went once and said forget it.



What dishes were cooked?

MV: Many of the dishes cooked we created: fish chowder, fish cakes, flat breads, cakes, corn fritters, pulled pork sandwiches (with a little bit of imagination here), sweet fry breads, blueberry cobbler, pies, turnovers, salads, stir fried greens, sauteed veggies, etc...

Our gardens produced carrots, radishes, parsnips, beans, squash, purslane(an amazing green succulent!) and several herbs.

In the scene where you all thought I was missing cocaine, I was saying that I was loosing my enthusiasm for cooking. I tried to be as creative as possible to keep the men full and satisfied with the meals. I tried to always make them something sweet to finish off the meal. However there were several suppers where all we ate was cake! A simple meal to make, and only one pan to clean. I had my moments of being positively inspired to cook and others of just heating up yesterdays leftovers.

The spatulas were the most useful thing I made for myself. Craig made me a whisk but by then I was so used to using my knife for everything I often forgot to use it.

I was very leery of food when we returned to the 21st, not wanting to make myself sick, but the ability to eat anything I wanted took over after about a month. Unfortunately I gained back a good deal of the weight I lost...c'est la vie! As for junk food, I try really hard to limit its intake for myself and my family (both before and since the project), not always appreciated by them but we laugh about it alot. And incidentally, I didn't cook a meal for almost 3 months after we came back!



Was it surprise when Oprah spent a night in the colony?

MV: We were told that two "journalists" would be coming to spend a couple nights so they could write stories for their publications. Yes it was a surprise, but it got old very quickly. We were at the last weekend before we left and were more interested in getting the most out of the last few days rather than entertaining. She also came with two film crews and a whole entourage, including body guard. They were all dressed in black and outnumbered the colonists and production crew combined. It was novel at first but we were relieved when they decided to only spend one night. Our family and the Verdecias were scheduled to appear in studio for Oprah but 5 days before we were to go to Chicago they called to say they had so much footage from being on the colony they had decided to not have anyone in studio. I must say, her show, which aired on 5/17 did a very good job at showing the day to day life.



Were there any health problems caused by the smoke from fires and cooking?

MV: I often said I wished the producers had lung x-rays taken before and after to see what effect the smoke had on our lungs. Except for those men who spent considerable time in the Freemen's house, I would bet the womens lungs would have had the most severe repercussions. The men at least got out in the air all day and worked up a good sweat. But we just cooked all day, every day breathing in the smoke. I'm sure that would have been the most serious of health issues caused. We really were quite strong from the physicality of the lifestyle.



What was grown in your gardens?

MV: We had carrots, parsnips, beans, lettuce, purslane,squash,herbs and a few other greens. Everyones garden sort of did better at some things than another, we shared at the end.



How was laundry done?

MV: Clothing was washed by soaking in boiling water or scrubbing against the rocks in the ocean. I only used soap in the case of really stinky pits. There were no washboards, they hadn't been invented yet.



Was housekeeping difficult? Were there any problems with dust or dirt? MV: The floors were dirt. There were no extra boards laying around and in order to make boards the men would had to have made a pit and staging, not high on the priority list. The Wyers family put hay on their floor but then their house was positively infested with mice. Our house was built on a pile of sand and the floor had to be flooded occasionally to keep the dust down.



Were cheese and butter made or were they included in your provisions?

MV: We did make goat cheese quite a bit at first but when it got warm there were spoilage issues. Once you've tasted rotten goats cheese you won't be too excited to try it again! Besides, it takes alot of milk to make only a little cheese. You cannot make butter from goat milk. Something to do with the fat content. All those photos that are said to be of people churning butter are actually people mashing oats. Butter was one of our stores that we brought with us. We had only a tablespoon or so per person per week. We also brought: peas, oats, dried salted beef, cod and pork, prunes, whole wheat flour, spices, vinegar, olive oil, wine, beer and aquavitae.



How were the peas prepared?

MV: The peas were boiled for many hours or soaked till they sprouted then marinating them to make a salad.



How did Giacomo adapt to the colony? Did he miss much school to participate in the project?

MV: The kids hit the ground running and never stopped! Giacomo was the only child on the colony for quite some time. He worked with the men most every day, and when he wasn't with them I had him hauling water. He missed approximately 6 weeks of school, 2 at the end of the year and about 4 at the beginning of the next. Dominic tutored he and Tony at the end to get them ready for re-entry, but the experience was far more valuable than any classwork he missed! They used quill and ink to write an essay Dominic assigned them, but were allowed pencil and paper for math work.



After having worn one for months, could you see any practical reasons for wearing a corset, aside from bust support?

MV: The main function, as I remember is for back support, it helps tremendously with posture also.



The men were supplied with straight razors for shaving, did the women attempt to use these as well?

MV: Those razors were mighty scary! The thought of placing one near major arteries like the ones under ones arm kept us all hairy till we hit Bar Harbor. The hairy legs are not pretty either but with those long skirts no one was seeing anything so who cared?



Did John and Giacomo have any woodworking experience prior to the project?

MV: John and I have restored/renovated our 1888 house virtually ourselves. John has a good deal of woodworking experience. Giacomo only had his "whittling chip" from Boy Scout camp going into the project. He now spends much of his free time carving swords and other medieval weapons that he and his friends play with.



During the show you were referred to as a seamstress and in the 21st century, you own a business. What do you do?

MV: Yes, I own my own business. I make slipcovers, cushions, pillows, bed and table linens for designers, interior design stores, and I also have a large private client base. I assumed I would lose some clients after skipping town for 5 months but I have so much work that I need to hire someone! Go figure!