The Marchioness

17thC Project

2012-01-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

17thC Project is plodding along. I'm not used to dealing with such a quantity of uncut fabric. It takes a lot of time to wash and cut so much material!

I had fun dyeing parts of the white material to the bright coral pink, golden yellow, and odd red you see on the left. I also used dye remover on four yards of the brown to soften it a little. This way not all the petticoats will be the same shade of brown. The deeper colors on the right are for the girls who will be sewing their own bodices.

I have three bodices in various stages of construction; five caps and three petticoats. All in all, my bottom line goal is to sew five complete outfits and at least five aprons, five neckerchiefs, and ten caps by late April. I don't doubt there will be additions to the list.

Progress

2012-01-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

My test bodice, nearly done. No, I don't have a dress form.

I added cap sleeves and peplum, and finished the neckline and bottom front with bias tape. Bias tape is one of those things I love when it comes to making costumes, so I make allowances for it and try not to think about the fiber content and historical accuracy. In other news, the linen arrived today!

Arrived!

2012-01-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

Fifty yards of linen!

Aniticipation

2012-01-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

Last week I ordered fifty yards of linen from Fabrics-store.com. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of all that gorgeous linen. This session in performance group there are ten couples, and none of the ladies have appropriate clothing for our first planned performance, the Renaissance Faire.

For our more colonial/RenFaire performances I'm aiming for Seventeenth Century clothing. I know I probably shouldn't have chosen what seems to be a difficult era, but it appeals to me somehow. I spent a week or two doing research(many thanks to helpful people) and came up with a basic bodice pattern I can use for the ladies' bodice. About half of the ten ladies are sewing their own outfits, so I needed something simple to give them to sew on their own.

Bodice back: altered from my Colonial gown pattern. This is made out of some cheap Wal-mart fabric I bought some time ago. There are three layers of fabric here, so the bodice is fairly stiff. I'm not sure if I want to keep the tab or not. This is the test garment; the linen is supposed to arrive today. I pushed hard to get my group wearing mostly linen this time around; maybe next year we will be able to afford wool as well. I have hope.

Sewing historical clothing to be used as rental costumes greatly changes the pre-garment planning. The ladies who will be wearing the costumes will not be wearing stays; and the costumes need to be worn by different sizes of ladies throughout the season. To that end I'm going to have them lace up the front to be slightly more adjustable.

The front before sleeves and eyelets.

Once this project is done performance group will have two standard rental costumes in stock: Regency, which comes in handy for the usual Jane Austen/fancy dances, and Colonial, which works well with the RenFaire/rustic performances. I'm hoping that these costumes will be adaptable enough so that I won't have continue to have such an enormous sewing workload.

In other news, my quilted petticoat is nearly done!

The Holiday Season

2012-01-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

We went caroling with friends twice in one week, and got very hoarse.
We had the Famous Fox Family over for a Christmas dinner. They have such adorable boys. We put the mistletoe to good use.
We visited family friends in town on Christmas day.

And finally Jen and I stayed with the Famous Fox Family over New Year's Eve. Our family traveled to TX for church business without us, so we spent the day out on the town and the night with our friends. We did stay up until midnight and we did drink a bit of alcohol.

And that's how we spent our holidays. Or at least, that's all I can mention publicly.

Finds

2011-12-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday my performance group danced in downtown Omaha as part of the Christmas festivities there, and afterwards when we briefly shopped around I bought the book above, "Art of Dressmaking" put out by Butterick pattern company in 1927. It cost $10, which is a lot for me to pay for a book, but I'd like to store up more old books about sewing.

Then in the free pile at church on Sunday I picked up this beat-up leather jacket. It had a hole, a tear, and some stains, but I figured I could cut it up and maybe make a cap or some small bags for my reenacting kit.

Since I can't afford to buy much material by the yard, I often utilize already made garments by cutting them up and re-making them. Here's the coat again with cuffs, zipper and lining taken off. There are quite a few seams, so there aren't any really large pieces of leather, but I'm sure I can still put it to good use. It's always interesting to take a garment apart, especially tailored coats and jackets. There's obviously so much work that goes into these more heavy duty items.

Event of the Year

2011-12-05T08:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, I've been.... missing. My excuse is I've been organizing this big event that happened just last Friday. So now it's over and I feel so relieved. I've been working on this event off and on since I paid for the facility in July, mostly sewing costumes. I'm surprised now to realize how much pressure had built up. I feel better now. I'm sure that next year, if I decide to do this again, it will be much easier.

Caleb playing at the Ball in his 1820's military jacket.

The epaulets and collar are still untrimmed because I haven't gotten the white wool and extra button from my supplier, but I think Caleb looks great. Military coatees are the best.

Besides being the dance event of the year, it was also my birthday. I didn't plan it that way on purpose; that was the only weekend the facility was available, and what better way to spend a birthday than dancing? I told Jen that I didn't want anyone to sing Happy Birthday, but they did anyway, and gave some very kind gifts.

If you live in Omaha you might know where this is; I have to say having the Ball in a real ballroom was totally worth the extra cost. I can not say enough about excellent facility and staff. I'm very thankful it worked out to have our last dance in 2011 here.

More details will be posted on the dance website, for those of you who know it. Now that the costumes are made and the public is satisfied, I'm really looking forward to enjoying the last few dance events of the year. Jen and I are calling for a private Christmas party and we have two performances, and then I get to start planning a whole other round of workshops, performances, and public dances!

Sewing like the Dickens

2011-11-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

The guest room has become a costume closet for items going to the Fezziwig Ball and coming dance performances. What you see above is about half of what I've been preparing in the past few months; the other half was given out at our dance rehearsal last week. Since this is our first year performing outdoors in the winter, I've been scrambling to add warmer articles for the ladies to wear. I've taken two women's suit coats and cut them down into Regency Spencers. I've finished Caleb's coatee, except for the collar trim which I don't have yet.

Lamentably, Scrooge's coat requires more work. When I enlarged the pattern from a size 38 to a 43 I forgot to enlarge the sleeves, so they turned out way too tight. I added a strip down the underside of the sleeve, and now they're too big, and they hang funny. Poor Scrooge.

This is the bodice for Mrs. Crachit, also known as my mother. How do you sew a historical looking outfit for someone who doesn't care if it looks correct or not, and is only going to wear it once or twice? Plus she keeps insisting it's too tight and it makes her claustrophobic. This is our last year as the Crachit family, since next year Jeremy will be too big to be Tiny Tim. And frankly, our family is not very good at acting, so we don't make the best Dickens characters.

People

2011-11-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

This has been an interesting year for relational interaction, in three specific ways:
One. The longer we stay in this church, the closer we become to those in it. As we all grow and change, especially as many of us ease out of school into "the real world", maintaining healthy relationships in church can be a lot of work! Specifically those friendships with people who have very different personalities, and learning how to better relate to young men as friends.

Two. In the past year I've come to know my Grandma better. Hard of hearing and with poor eyesight, Grandma is changing from being an strong-minded independent lady to a someone needing in-home care. Taking care of a person who can hardly walk down the hall has been challenging, and I haven't even done that much. Yet.

Three. I've done a great deal of traveling this year, from Nebraska to Scotland, from California to Illinois. I've met people and made new friends at Presbytery, Liberty Day, and Reformation Faire. House-sitting, babysitting, and dance events have kept me out and about a great deal. Dance acquaintances, church family from other states, and new contacts through the dance business have added to my acquaintances. My family is planning a trip to Texas over New Year's, and I'm thankful that since Jen has to stay home to teach and watch the dog, that I can stay home too. It seems like every other week I'm packing to go somewhere, and I confess as thankful as I am for the opportunities I'm getting tired of it.

People are difficult. How do you deal with people?

Adventure is out there!

2011-11-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Jen and I traveled with some friends to an Advanced English Coutnry Dance Workshop in Iowa. We stayed in a seedy Super 8 motel. We got the last non-smoking room in the place, which happened to be a handicap accessable room with one bed. And it smelled pretty bad, too. Our view out the window was an old truck from decades past.

The band was Bare Necessities, whose recordings we use heavily at our own dances. The location was a neat sort of 1950's dance hall. The music was great quality and I really enjoyed it; but the cross-dressing flute player really unnerved me. The hall with the wooden floor was neat, but the drawings of nude ladies in the refreshment room made getting drinks a perilous mission.

We all got sore. It was eleven hours of dancing in two days. The dances were more advanced than what we teach, but I think I can say we more than held our own dancing among the lifers(those who have been dancing all their lengthy lives, which most of them had).

We got all dressed up for the formal dance on Saturday night. Colonial clothes are the best.

We were very glad to have our friends there. The atmosphere between the two different dance camps, conservative and liberal, is extreme and can be stressful. We joke that there the people who dance ECD are either home schoolers or hippies, and that's really fairly accurate. It was an adventure to attend, and I'm glad we went.

Thankful

2011-11-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

This being the month of thankfulness, I thought I'd post about something I'm thankful for.

My Sewing Room.

Our house is two old houses put together, so in the middle upstairs is this medium-sized room with low slanted ceiling on both sides. It makes an awkward bedroom because everyone else has to walk through it to get to the bathroom and storeroom. The slanted ceiling makes it hard to place furniture. But in our unheated second story it's the warmest room because the stovepipe runs through it, and the antique floor grate is in there too. We girls use it as a sitting room, retreat, and most importantly, a sewing room.

I've become very thankful for this space during the dump of costume sewing in the past year. I can spend my morning upstairs alone, concentrating on my work. I can make a mess and not have the pressure of cleaning it up for lunch. If we move it's doubtful whether or not I'll have a space for sewing.

Thank you, God, for my sewing room.

Caleb's Coatee...

2011-11-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

Is too large. Anyone have any tailoring tips for me? All I know to do is take if off, take in the seams. Put it on. Take it off, take in the seams. I already have one tail completely done, and I do not want to take it out.

Make Do

2011-10-31T11:16:00.000-07:00

When you have to sew a large quantity of costumes, like I do, with a deadline, like I do, improvisation can be your best friend. For myself, for paying customers, and for my brothers I sew period correct clothing, but for performances I don't always have the time or the money to sew the right way. Thrift stores and donations are my supply stores; coupons and creativity are necessities. Here you see before you a wool suit coat, probably from the 1990's and too large for any of my family members. Rescued from languishing in a dusty closet, it is ready to be transformed to a new purpose.

Chop it up.

Cut out the sleeves and the collar. Hack it to pieces. Vent your anger at the people who gained weight between costume fittings, and those sour individuals who don't like their costumes. Forget your mountain of waiting projects and scissor that thing apart.

Take your traced, borrowed or stolen but certainly not bought pattern of a nineteenth century man's waistcoat and place it where convenient. Make it fit. Save the front seams and buttonholes if you can.

At the end of cutting you should have the all the parts for a basic, not entirely correct waistcoat- an easy way to spice up any man's wardrobe. You may have to add some lining to the back piece, if you take out the usual polyester lining like I do. Take off the plastic buttons and buy some metal ones at Hancock's when they go 50% off.

This is how I sew. Shocked?

2011-10-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

My little camera doesn't take very good quality close-up photos, so I had Caleb take a few with his super fancy camera. Here is tail number one, close to completion. All the buttons are plugged in, the pleat is stitched down, and the lining is ready to be put over all.

The top of the tail with its beautiful and expensive buttons.

Caleb has a nice camera.

Caleb's Growing Coatee

2011-10-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

I hope you're not all sick and tired of hearing about the coatee, because it's a long ways from finished.

I had to cut the tails down to a shorter length to fit Caleb's class and era. I've tacked down the front flap of the tail and stitched on the fake pocket, which will have four buttons on it for decoration. The tail pleats seam to serve no purpose since they're going to be stiched closed as well.

The tail pleat with its two decorative half hidden buttons.

Plugged buttons, on the underside. Poke through the wool with an awl, push the button loop through, and thread a bit of fabric through. The button is secure and flat on the outside of the coat.

Reformation Faire 2011

2011-10-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

I've just returned home from a whirlwind trip to our sister church in Illinois to call a dance for their Reformation Day Faire. We had a wonderful crowd of dancers. It's always fun to call for a different group. And it's always cool to see so many men in kilts. The food was amazing, and we even got paid to be there. Was that a good deal or what?

(Picture stolen from someone I barely know on Facebook- I didn't take a single picture)

I somehow managed to pull a muscle in my back the last evening there. It certainly wasn't because I was doing something athletic, so I'm rather disgusted with myself. If one is in pain they at least ought to have an interesting story to tell why. I spent the ride home trying not to move, breathe, cough, sneeze or laugh. The last time I pulled a muscle it was because I was trying to reach the gas pedal in Dad's pickup.

It took us an extra hour and a half to get home because road crews are taking down the large sandbags along the highway that runs from Blair to Mossouri Valley. The highway is closed for five days while the road is returned to normal after the extensive flooding.

We're glad to be home.

1820 Military Coatee: The Continuing Saga

2011-10-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a dance trip this weekend, so the coatee is at a standstill until next week, but I did get a hold of a completed coatee to use as an example. I took a few pictures for your information.

This coatee is definitely in need of some TLC: a good cleaning, new lace and buttons. It's a much used hand-me down, roughly 40 chest and rather short. The owner is something of a collector who regularly loans out clothing to the less fortunate, so far as I can tell.

The cuffs are sewn right side to right side and then folded down, and the lining stitched under. I learned how to plug buttons the other day, which creates the buttoned-down look you see above.

There's a slit on the side of the cuff to allow freedom of movement. The cuffs should fall down the knuckles.

The collar has yellow wool trim, which means the wearer is Artillery. Caleb is Infantry, which would be white wool trim and different buttons.

The tails fall mid-thigh. The pockets are fake, and the edge of the wool folds over the front of the sides.

Here you can see the side-edge folded over and part of the fake pocket.

Notice the placement of the curved back and shoulder seams related to the underarm seam.

To the modern bystander or experienced reeactor these details may seem obvious and boring. But I am learning by trial and error, tooth and nail, and if any fresh, new 1820 military reenactor ever finds my blog I hope these pictures help just a little. I'm very thankful to those who have helped me and answered some of my many questions.

Finished

2011-10-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

Two green waistcoats with metal buttons.

Sneak peek at the Fezziwig Ball: The Ghost of Christmas Present

To Move or not to Move?

2011-10-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted about our thoughts on moving for quite some time, and since some people have been asking what's going on I thought I might summarize it here.

Our moving saga of four years continues to grow in drama. It was four years ago that we decided we needed to move closer to our church and Dad's work in the city. Since that time we've considered almost every living condition under the sun, from building our own house to erecting tepees. Then when the price of building materials went up we started actually looking at houses. Jen went for the ones with tall white pillars where ladies wear evening dresses, and Dad went for the unique ones like the $800,000 western movie set.

With Grandma's growing need for in-home care we began to seriously consider the few options open to us. All the houses on the edge of town within our price range are either small compared to where we're living now, or in need of much repair. It's a hard choice to make: is it worth it to move and go into debt if we will be moving to a smaller or needy house?

Just last week we made an offer on a beautiful old house, much smaller than our own but fifty miles closer to Dad's work. The family in residence is a really sweet family that decided to move because the Dad lost his job. We're waiting now to hear if they will negotiate with us, since they thought our offer was too low.

So that's our current state: we may buy this house. We may move. We might also stay where we are, and if so, turn the library into a bedroom for Grandma. Either way, life is changing.

The Coatee

2011-10-11T07:28:00.000-07:00

My two goals for this house-sitting jaunt, are, you recall:

Relax
Sew

It's not really happening that way! I feel like I've been dragged hither and yon most of the week. Yesterday, though, I did very little because I had "Low spirits," ie I wasn't feeling well at all. So that counts as relaxing, and today I'll get back to sewing. I sewed the side seams and sleeve seams for the coatee the other day, and tonight I'll be fitting it on the handsome model to make sure it fits.

The sleeves are slightly curved down the side. I've never sewn with wool before, and this material seems so stiff that I don't know how it will ever press down.

On the right here you can see the two back peices with a center seam attached to the side front, using a very curved side seam. Very different from the straight modern seamlines we have today.

Hunting Frock: The Saga Continues

2011-10-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

The hunting frock pattern that was kindly copied for me is a size 40 chest. My brothers are several pounds, inches and years aways from possibility of having a 40 chest. I've enlarged patterns with success before, but never cut them down ten inches.
The cut of the pattern and shape of the garment are unlike anything I've ever constructed, probably because I've never sewn men's outer garments before. The person who devised this article of clothing was clearly demented, or maybe just evil. I understand now how it goes together, but I've given up on it fitting smoothly, especially with the size change. My sewing standard has become "You're wearing it, no matter what!"

Start your day with Nutella- especially if you're going to be sewing all day long. I've cut out three waistcoats and three ladies caps for the upcoming Christmas Ball.

As far as Caleb's coatee, I thought it was going to be simple. I bought a pattern from Smoke and Fire because I got tired of borrowing patterns. The trim is different, but the basic pattern is, I think. the same. It still scares me, though. The navy blue wool material was given to me for a donation of what I had on me, which was $5 total(I think the cheapest wool I've ever seen was $10 a yard, and this is nearly three yeards). The white linen lining I bought at Hancock's for probably $5 a yard. Caleb and our costume fund are paying for the 38 buttons at $2 each(sigh), and I'm doing the labor for free. We're doing it the cheap way, but I can totally understand how with the cost of materials and hours of labor these coats go for hundreds of dollars.

The coatee front and back from the top.

House-Sitting Again

2011-10-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

I am watching someone's house again, and I'm already on day six. I was trying to figure out the other day how many weeks I've spent in this house over the past year, and I guessed that all told it came to ten weeks. The residents have had a busy travel year.

I'm glad to be here. September was a rather stressful month, with guests, the History Festival, and house-hunting(just thinking about moving is stressful). I'm enjoying the relaxing sensation of silence, my own bathroom(three bathrooms to myself!), and the freedom of my own basic schedule. Jen is always warning me how dangerous it is to live alone, because it's easy to succomb to independent living. But it's so relaxing.

And I do have chores. Today is domestic day: water the immaculate flower beds, laundry, dishes, and an afternoon trip to take Grandma to the Doctor. My goal while here is to get a great deal of sewing done. So far I've cut out three bonnets and three waistcoats, but what I really need to work on are military coats for my brothers. I'm just scared to start on them.

This Week is the Providential History Festival

2011-09-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

This week is the Providential History Festival. PHF involves, among other things, packing meals for four days; showering in outdoor temperatures; calling a dance with a live band; meeting old and new friends; exhaustion.

I have a cold. Yesterday, Sept. 11th, I stayed home from church, blew my nose, and watched videos of the terrorist attacks that ten years ago changed America. After ten years, it was good to be reminded of what happened that day.

Sewing is put on hold until after the event. After the event we're planning to relax with good friends for a day before getting back into the ruotine. I'm looking forward to starting a new dance session with new dances and dancers, and the upcoming challenge of sewing historical clothing for my brothers.

Hunting Frock: Green Glory

2011-09-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

The coat(some assembly required) and it's wearer.

Sewing a Hunting Frock

2011-09-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

I have easily a dozen sewing projects to complete between now and December, one of those being a military hunting frock for my brother Andrew. When he re-enacts at the Ft. he has to borrow a frock, and besides being old and much used all their frocks are much too large for him(he is still growing).

I came upon a large quantity of undyed cotton canvas, and since it was practically free I decided to take it home and dye it the correct shade of green. Several weeks ago I used normal Rit dye to stir up this mass of cotton(wet material is heavy!) and it turned out disappointingly tie-died and in the end, faded in parts from being out on the line. My first experience with hand dyeing was less than perfect.

So today I took to the tub again for a second and final try, whatever the outcome. I believe it turned out well enough. It was very hard to adequately stir the material to achieve an even dye; the material was heavy and bulky. Dye got everywhere, and even my hands are a sickly shade of green. But it worked. Stay tuned for glimpses of the long awaited hunting frock!

Coming Soon

2011-09-06T15:08:00.000-07:00

For better or worse, I have two weeks to print my booklet.

Trousers, Trousers, Trousers

2011-09-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, period 1820's clothing hang regularly on our wash line.

The final summer dance performance was on Saturday. My sharp looking group of dancers knocked the socks off friends and family at Ft. Atkinson State Historical Park through three performances throughout the day. Then I went home and collapsed. What exhaustion! What relief! Summer session is well and truly over.

The trousers held up well. No buttons popped, though everyone's hems were six inches deep in mud, after dancing in the rain on wet grass. Funny thing, after measuring all the men for waist size I made the trousers accordingly. But at dress rehearsal everyone's trousers were much too snug. At that point they just had to wear them. I figure it's their fault for gaining weight, right?

Since we got home Saturday night with everyone's dirty clothes, the trousers soaked in the bathtub all of Sunday until Labor Day morning, when I labored to wash them all.

The ghost of Christmas Past is taking shape. I'm making an underlay of thin cream polyester(shocking, I know) with a layer of white cotton underneath that since it's so thin, and on top of everything will go a layer of this pale green stuff, which is terrible to work with. It's fairly stiff material, so as you work with it the little threads get stuck in your skin like invisible slivers. To finish it I'm planning on adding some emerald green beading around the neckline. Think 1920's flapper dress, here. It should be interesting. Hopefully the ghost I have in mind will consent to wear it.

Performance Group: the Good and the Bad

2011-08-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

(I actually wrote this last week, and delayed posting until now.)

This week was dress rehearsal for our English Country Dance Performance Group, summer session. This Saturday is our first summer performance, at the local Pirate Festival. We have two more performances and then this session will be done. I have been amazingly stressed over building number of dance events, so even as much as I enjoy dance group I will be much relieved when this session is over.

Last week my family went to family camp. I've probably mentioned here before that I do not enjoy camping or sports, so other than the possibility of meeting new friends I wasn't excited about attending. However, despite sleeping in tents and all that, it turned out to be surprisingly relaxing. Jen and I did call dances one night, but being disconnected from the World Wide Web forced us all to stop thinking of upcoming this and looming-on-the-horizon that. Which was good for all of us.

I've been surprised at the amount of stress generated by dealing with a few really outgoing people, who really don't mean any ill but cause disruption by simply being unknowingly loud. How can some people be so loud and just not notice it?

Oh well. Session is almost over. Performance group has it's ups and downs. I've learned the hard way lately, but made some good friends, and I look forward to continued relationships and new friends too.

Trouser update

2011-08-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

Sewing helps: Chocolate, music, and extra thread.

The trousers, dictators of my life, are getting done:

And after that I have five shirts to sew:

I'm getting tired of sewing white.

The two main points of my Life

2011-08-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

Dance activities are going well. The Ballroom has been rented for December; I may actually make more than $20 on the classes I'm teaching next week; and we have two more performance practices before dress rehearsal and actual performance. I will be very glad when the summer classes and performances are over, because as enjoyable as it is to teach dance this round has been rather stressful: exhausting physically with all the sewing of costumes, and relationally as I deal with unwitting and unruly performers. People can be so(to put it bluntly) rude without(I think) even knowing it. Do I ever do that? I hope not.
The trousers are coming along. I have the six aforementioned pairs mostly constructed, and I have to cut another soon and then move on to the men's shirts. Our sewing room is not air conditioned, and with this abnormally hot weather sewing is a real chore. Plus I'm really getting tired of looking at the boring white bedsheets that make up the trousers. It may come to a point where I say to the guys, you're wearing them whatever stage they're in so just deal with it!

Sewing Projects

2011-07-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

The ghost of Christmas past. Should be interesting.

A new colonial gown in grey linen with blue linen cuffs.

Six pairs of small-fall trousers.

Obligatory post

2011-07-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

I've been bad about posting lately. My life just isn't very thrilling right now.

I've been planning dances: Every Tuesday now we have dance practice for our upcoming summer performances. Between now and the end of August I have two performances, four dances, and a week of classes(if I can get enough people signed up) scheduled, and all that the little details that go with them. In September we'll take a short break from performances and extra events, and then plunge back in for Christmas with the rental of a REAL ballroom for our Fezziwig Ball and whatever holiday performances we can handle. So the dance group is my main "job" right now. I seem to have a tendency to gain unpaid work.

The Last Days: Reflections on House-sitting

2011-06-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, privacy. I've been here in this clean, spacious house with only Jen as company for over a month now, and it's time to go home.

Thursday was my last day with a master bedroom and bath all to myself, and tomorrow will be my last day with unlimited high speed internet, last day with wholehouse AC, last day with automatic ice machine. No more parties and no more quick trips into town. I'm sure I've been utterly spoiled.

I'm trying to think of the bright side of going home, because in comparison our house is full, loud, and less comfortable. The only obvious plus is being around family. Here's hoping I can make the transition back to home life quickly and painlessly!

The owners are certainly glad to be back.

Recital Week

2011-06-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

Although I am not a ballerina myself, somehow I spent all last week at ballet classes, rehearsal, recital and performances. I guess the alternative would have been to stay home alone all week, since Jen had to have the car. It was fun to talk to some of the little girls; many of them were amazingly outgoing. Much more talkative than I ever was at their age, and so cute.

Obviously the busiest person at a recital is the teacher. The teacher is indispensable in every area. Next come the dancers; then the stagehands; everyone else is just a blur in the background.

I have to say that I'm glad it's over, and hopefully I can have my sister and my car back.

By the way, we did get the AC fixed amazingly fast; and then the temperature dropped under 70F. So we've been enjoying both the AC and the cooler weather.

Remembering Scotland.

2011-06-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

I guess I miss it.

Even the snow(she said as the temperature hit 90F).

I love old things.

Think Cool Thoughts

2011-06-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

Growing up the way we did Jen and I didn't experience modern conveniences like dishwashers, automatic sprinklers, dryers, thermostats, dumpsters, and ice machines. Really, we have none of those things at our house. We're probably the only family left who still uses plastic ice trays in 1970's colors to make ice.

So we're staying in someone else's house, right? They have all these things and we have to take care of them. It's been interesting. The most serious happening so far is the fact that the air conditioner is not working. It took us a week to figure it out, first because it wasn't hot when we got here and second because we don't know much about how air conditioners work. But when it got up to 85F inside we knew surely something wasn't right. So we duly consulted the owners and called a repairman, who will hopefully be stopping by today, because it's awfully hot for June; 97F today. Toughness just goes out the window when it's 91F inside with 60% humidity. We take breaks from panting in the basement to empty the dehumidifier.

Imagine what it was like in 1778, when people had no such way to escape discomfort like we do. On June 27th, 1778 George Washington's motley contenental Army engaged Cornwallis' trained soldiers in what is known as the Battle of Monmouth, where Mary Hays gained fame as "Molly Pitcher." And it was very warm: many men died of heatstroke instead of battle wounds. We don't like to work in such heat, but they had to fight a battle in it.

What a weird borrowed life I live in

2011-06-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

In addition to living in house that is not technically mine I am also caring for children who are not technically mine:

Remember these fellows? Mine for the week.

They make life more interesting. It's strange: I have a house, and I have kids. What next?

My New Home

2011-05-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

So here I am, house-sitting the cleanest house ever. Alone while Jen teaches class.

Back when blogging was new there was a family who cautioned us that blogging was dangerous because people could stalk us online. They would have a cow over this post. Well, it's been six years since I started blogging, and I'm still alive. And just to warn you all, I'm sleeping with my knife tonight.

Last post about California, I promise

2011-05-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

The Prince.

The Invisible Photographer.

The Church Elder.

The Darling Boy.

The Marchioness.

Still life from CA

2011-05-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

This counts as a still life, right?

Ok kids, who here knows who the Sweet William is named after? (hint: he wasn't sweet)

Lilies at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.

Trees: don't let the bedbugs bite.

A tree and a hill: Yosemite defined.

I guess I'm getting away from still life here. This is the "small" falls at Yosemite.

More Snapshots from California

2011-05-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Rest stops can be interesting places.

Sunset on the beach(alternately titled freezing to death at the campgound)

They sure grow funny lookin' trees over thar

The thinker at the Legion of Honor museum.

Also the Legion of Honor museum.

Travel perpetua

2011-05-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

We are home from California. Finally. Two weeks of a eight people in a mini-van is plenty, and I hate tent camping. California actually turned out to be rather cold. Apparently the commonly known fact that all of California overlooks the beach and is always 70F is a myth, since the night temps were below 40F. We were all very thankful when the church offered us a host family for the days before Presbytery.

My sister and I are leaving today to house-sit(there's got to be a better way to phrase that- "house-sit" sounds juvenile) for a month. I've hardly been home for the past three months, but it's still so odd to be packing for another weeks-long adventure. Our plan is to get jobs in the big city(Omaha) for the summer.

I never imagined this year would bring so many varied travel experiences. I feel like I've been living out of a suitcase ever since February. And it's still the spring- what on earth will the fall season bring?

San Francisco in three days

2011-05-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

Pier 39: we can do it. We saw the stores, ate seafood sandwiches, toured a WW2 submarine and an arcade museum. Ghiradelli Square and the Maritime museum, which wasn't worth it.

We went through a big park super fast.

There was a small Shakespeare garden as part of the larger park.

We walked around the Legion of Honor museum and lawn as well as the botanical gardens, visited Japantown, and generally drove all over the large, steep and crowded city of San Francisco.

Presbytery 2011: The Trip

2011-05-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Driving to our campsite in CA took two sixteen hour days of driving. I can now honestly say that I would never choose to live west of NE.

At a rest stop in Wyoming, just before it started to snow.

Watch for snakes and scorpians!

Standard lunch fare for the traveling circus.

2011-04-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

Sew in haste, repent in leisure? I hope not. The stays are not quite finished, but I will be wearing them tonight for a dance to see how they fit and feel.

For Easter,

We closed our business in town and cleaned out the building to prepare for rental. Sunday we spent with Grandparents in the big city. I took a turkey roast to church with me, knowing that it would be cooked by the time church was over(we have long services) but we all forgot to plug-in the crockpot and turn it on, so we ended up having chicken from Hy-vee. Which was fine, too.

Next Monday we leave on our lengthy trip to California for Presbytery 2011. We'll be tent camping, and I am dreading it.

Remembering Scotland

2011-04-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

Cool Tombstones.

Peace and Quiet.

Quaintness.

I'm ready for another vacation.

Latest sewing projects

2011-04-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been working on half a dozen waistcoats and a new set of stays. As the reenacting season starts up again and we gain more opportunities to perform through our dance group, I am becoming resigned to the fact that our costume collection(we already have two plastic tubs full) is doomed to be always growing. Not only do I have a large family to outfit if I want them dressed historically, but the more I organize costume events the more I will (apparently) need to have costumes on hand to loan out. I enjoy the sewing, but the end product just takes up so much space!

As for the stays, I've been wanting to sew a second set for a while now. The one set I have is only a few years old and little used, but they are made of very thick cotton and just a tad too big, which can be uncomfortable in such a fitted garment. I'm using the same pattern that I used for my first set, and I'm finding it easy to recreate again. I had help the first time which makes it easier to remember the instructions. I'm using blue linen as the outer fabric and white linen as the inner lining. These stays are much more dainty than my other set and I look forward to using them well.

2011-04-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

Cream Cheese.

Second-hand find.

Fattening food.

What I've been Doing

2011-04-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

Cleaning

Dancing

Hosting

Driving

Dancing Again

Sleeping as much as possible(which wasn't much)

Delightful Duties

2011-04-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

At present I am watching over three young gentlemen while their parents are traveling to a conference. Not only is there high speed internet here, but I get to hug handsome little men as well.

Even if they did wake me up at 5:30am.

People have been asking me, how was Scotland, and what was your favorite part of visiting Scotland? How does one answer such questions? There's no short answer. Really I've been so busy since I've been back I've hardly had time to think on it.

And I'm going to be pretty busy for a while yet.

The End of all Things

2011-03-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Since I arrived home exactly a week ago, you're probably all wondering why I've not been posting. Simply put, I've hardly been home. Two days after I arrived home in my deadened(and I do mean deadened) state I left for a weekend trip to Illinois, to call dances at Liberty Day.

But I should start where I left off. A week ago on Monday Mrs. W and I took the everlastingly long train to Edinburgh. We arrived and had a late lunch:

Art Nouveau and pizza in Edinburgh.

I had more ethnically diverse foods in Scotland than I've ever had in before: Indian, Italian, Asian. Not quite what one thinks of eating when traveling to Scotland, but it was all very tasty.

The Maiden from the Museum of Edinburgh

After lunch we walked up the Royal Mile looking for tartan ties for the men in my life. It took half a dozen stops in the myriads of woolen shops to find the tartan I was looking for. Don't tell me that tartans are a Victorian tourist trap, because I don't need to know that. We finally found the right clan name and I went ahead and paid 12 pounds each. People ask me(Americans ask me) if I'm Scottish. What they really mean is, were your ancestors Scottish, in which case the answer is yes. But I technically, I am not Scottish and really my family hasn't been Scottish for two hundred years. God Bless America!

We walked on, leg muscles burning and feeling like a pack horse with my travel bag on my back. We stopped and bought some really great truffles for 60p each: I bought all mint dark chocolate while Mrs. W got six different flavors. Then we stopped at the Museum of Edinburgh. It was free- how could we pass it by? It was full of neat things like swords and a guillotine and even a few articles of clothing.

A padded jacket.

The most awesome part was the small section on the Scottish Covenanters.

Standing in front of some covenants signed by Scots Reformers

The museum closed at 5pm along with everything else, so we headed over to Greyfriars Churchyard across the way. Greyfriars has such a rich history, and I'm not talking about Greyfriars Bobby when I say that. What a thing for a cemetery to be remembered for, a dog. I prefer to remember it for it's part in the history of Scotland's Covenanters.

It was a very pretty cemetery, but not as isolated as I like cemeteries to be.

History.

By the Covenanter's Prison, trying to look alert. I could have done without the fake flowers.

After the cemetery visit we had a great deal of time before our train left the station at 11:20pm. We went to see a movie, "The King's Speech," and had dinner(more Italian). The train we took was a sleeper, so we each had our own small cabin with a bed and small breakfast in the morning, though neither of us slept very well. Upon arrival in London we took a taxi to Heathrow(We passed Hyde Park of English Country Dance fame) and that cost 60 pounds. My flight didn't leave until the afternoon so I had quite a while to sit around. I had no trouble with customs and had shrimp as my last meal on UK soil.

The flight was long, sleepless, boring and I suppose thankfully uneventful. We flew over Ireland, so now I can say I've seen Ireland as well. The inflight movie was Megamind, same as on the way over, and they played it four times. I was a bit worried about the time I had in Chicago to get from the one terminal to the other: I have short legs and it takes me a long time to get anywhere. But again, thankfully, I had no trouble with customs and made it to my gate with ten minutes to spare.

What with the two hour flight to Omaha and the hour's drive home I fianlly arrived at midnight U.S. Central time and who knows what Scotland time. I was in a state of foggy exhaustion that made speaking or coherent thought nearly impossible. And then two days later I went to Illinois.

Sunday

2011-03-21T00:29:00.000-07:00

After church with the W ladies.

Reflections

2011-03-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day in Helmsdale. Tomorrow I'll be headed to Edinburgh and on to London Heathrow for my journey home.

All in all, five weeks turned out to be a good length of time. I'll be glad to get home to my family, who have had two family funerals in as many weeks. If I had some work to do, or if it had been summer and the weather had been nicer, perhaps a longer stay would be alright. As it is I am glad I was able to experience rural Scotland in the off-season. I mean really, how many visitors get to experience the end of a Scottish winter?

General Impressions of Scotland:

I was a bit thrown off guard by the general reserve in people I've met. Now, granted, I didn't truly get to know many Scots, and I admit I should be the last one to complain about people being reserved, but still. The Church here has certainly been very generous and hospitable, and in some cases very formal. But Americans seem to have very bad reputation here. I thought I was used to stereotypes (i.e., the French are rude and obnoxious, the Scots are cold and reserved, Americans are arrogant and loud); I was home schooled, for goodness' sake! I could be holding a intelligent conversation with someone and they would still ask me, what about socialization? Does anyone besides me see the irony in that?

I think the only conclusive statement that can be derived from my observations is that all people all over the world are fickle and naturally sinful.

What will I miss the Most?

The landscape. The hills especially, with the sea as a backdrop. I generally hate hiking, but walking here was a bit different than those forced walks we take every year on vacation. Why? A: this is Scotland, and as such it is infinitely more interesting to walk here than is it in the midwest. You have the very different topography plus the element of a history. B: in this case I could set my own pace, go as far as I wanted and go where I wanted. C: There's not a lot to do in Helmsdale, so as far as recreational activities go, this was it.

What am I Bringing Back with me?

To all those people back home who demand I return with a Scottish accent, really and truly I cannot do it. My ancestors have been in America for two hundred years, and there's no going back. As far as material purchases, everything's so expensive here, most of my purchases were small. Except I spent 30 pounds on Scottish-made wool to take home and sew into a skirt. I knew coming over that material would be the ideal souvenir, but I've never spent so much on one piece of material before! There's wool everywhere here, and I love it: wool yarn, unspun wool, wool material, wool on legs, 100% wool in every state you can think of. Yesterday the W ladies and I stopped at a textile fair and I got to try peg weaving and spinning(which I would love to do at Ft. A, but they guard the spinning wheel carefully). And other than wool I mostly bought books, which I will have to pay to ship home because they will not fit in my bag.

If I went Again, what Would I do?

I would have liked to visit the Banff area, where all my family place names seem to be, but the railway doesn't go to Banff so it wasn't accessible for me. Though if the Lowlands truly are more domestic and agricultural I think I would prefer to stay in the Highlands. The landscape is worth the isolation. If I came again I would like to go where there's an active dance group. I was very sorry not to be able to dance in Scotland.

Finally

I've had a wonderful vacation. The W family treat me like a queen, and I haven't cooked a single meal the whole time I've been here. No laundry and really no cleaning work to speak of. It's been amazing! I'm very grateful for the restful time I've had. I wasn't expecting that but it's made for a very nice break, and I feel ready to plunge back in to the fray once I get home.

A song I learned:
Psalms 23(Sing Psalms) to the tune of Tarwathie

Last Walk

2011-03-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

I took one last walk up the hill yesterday evening. It was getting a bit dark so it was hard to take pictures. My poor old camera has held up very well, but night pictures are beyond it's capabilities. Anyway, I walked a ways on a trail to the west of Helmsdale. It was a public path but there were sheep on it, and I saw some deer as well. I get the feeling that deer are as much of a pestilence here as they are back home. Thankfully both deer and sheep are nonagressive. It's so quiet up in the hills that it's easy to get spooked.

Hopefully all this walking has prepared me for my upcoming mad rush through Chicago O'Hare.

And that was my last walk in Scotland.

York, Day Two: York Museum

2011-03-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

From the Minster we walked to the York Museum.

I was very glad there were no "Do not touch" signs, and when I got up enough courage to ask about taking pictures that was allowed as well.

We were all getting a bit footsore at this point. I'm sitting on a replica of a Roman mosaic.

I bought a thimble replica of this helmet, so now when I'm sitting at home sewing and quilting I can think of savage murdering Vikings and my trip to York.

Now that's what I call a wax seal.

World's largest spider? Notice how large it is in relation to the reflection of my head.

Such sentiment ought to be posted everywhere.

The Church ruins outside the York Museum.

Our train back to Inverness left York at 2pm, so all in all we had twenty four hours in York. I believe we used them well.

York, Day Two: York Minster

2011-03-19T03:10:00.000-07:00

Our first stop on day two was the York Minster. How to describe it? Large, grand, and old.

One can't help but apreciate the amazing workmanship and detail, but to my Presbyterian mind it seems that as a place of worship the setting is vastly overdone and destracting.

Underneath the Minster one can view origional foundations dating back to the Norman and Roman eras. It's hard for me to grasp the age when I look at something 2000 years old.

Looking up.

The brother of the Black Prince.

And this memorial is supposed to what, endear us to decadent clergy past?

We had a good look around and then left as a German choir was organising around a grand piano.

York Minster.

York, Day One

2011-03-19T02:39:00.000-07:00

The W family and I made a foray into Viking country, and lived to tell the tale. We caught the 7:55 train(this time) for York and arrived around 2:15pm. It just amazes me how long it takes to get anywhere in such a small country, though first class seating makes it infinitely more bearable.
Our first stop was the Jorvik museum. Jorvik was very interesting and gets five stars for being a great family museum. Besides viewing the many artifacts, visitors go on a(very slow) ride past moving wax figures with audio explanations. There were also a few costumed museum staff who I of course asked about the construction and authenticity of their clothing.

A wax figure at Jorvik

We had dinner at Betty's, which is apparently the place for refined dining(thus no pictures). I had salmon. I've really enjoyed the fresh seafood here; it's something we don't get much of in Nebraska.

Of course all the shops close after 5pm so we went back to our B&B(I was horrified to learn they allow dogs) which was a large Victorian-era house. Our rooms were likely the servants quarters way back when. I had my own room, and even more amazing, my own bathroom- the height of luxury and privacy. The towel unto itself was a luxury. Back home we use Japanese towels, which are infinitely smaller but more practical than normal towels. The hotel towel was the size of a toga, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

The Haggis

2011-03-19T02:16:00.000-07:00

Our dinner from Dingwall: the champion haggis(though it had MSG in it. Champion haggis shouldn't need MSG). My experience with the great chieftain of the pudding race was pleasant, and I think haggis is something I could eat again.

Attempt for York, Part One

2011-03-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

Moray Firth with hills in the background and broom in the foreground.

We arose earlier than usual this morning anticipating our special two-day trip to York. Long story short, we missed the 7:55 train, so we're going to try again tomorrow. Which means that for the second day in a row we'll all be getting up at 5am. Oh boy!

There's still quite a bit of snow on the hills, with a heavy frost and fog this morning.

On the way home by way of consolation we stopped to buy some Haggis, and not just any haggis: Champion haggis. Apparently there's good haggis and there's bad haggis.

The Haggis shop in Dingwall.

This is the Marchioness poo-pooing King George. Independence now and Independence forever!

After the Haggis shop we stopped at the Hector MacDonald Monument(and adjoining cemetery) to eat our enjoyable but very greasy pasties. There was a beautiful view and some very large cannon.

The cannon was actually cast in 1805.

Here is the actual monument.

Ahhh, cemeteries. So picturesque. Got to love 'em.

One last picture; see the frost?

Last Week

2011-03-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North

The birth place of Valour, the country of Worth;

Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,

The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Clothing, Glorious Clothing

2011-03-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

The Inverness Museum has two 18th century gowns on display, so I immediately started to discreetly take pictures. Miss W, very conscientious, admonished me. Museums are so snippety about allowing photography: if it's the flash that damages the materials, they really just ought to say no flash photography, which I never do in museums anyway.

This lovely embroidered saque-back gown above is from Inverness museum.

Seeing first-hand the type of clothing I've been trying to sew is really cool and such a help.

Also at the Inverness Museum was this tartan wedding dress from the late 18th century.

A descendant of the original owner actually wore the dress a few years ago for her own wedding.

Eileen Donan also had two late 18th century gowns on display, but of course, no photography.

Moving on, at the Highlander museum in Stirling castle there were three military jackets and a drummer boy's coat from the mid 19th century. I took pictures until I was caught.

Just gorgeous! You can see replicas of this jacket in the Sharpe TV saga(As much as I adore the historical uniforms in the Sharpe chronicles, some of the content is decidedly mature)

Someday my brothers will have such jackets.

Only perhaps not with such nice buttons....

2011-03-12T08:39:00.000-08:00

Lay the proud usurpers low!

Tyrants fall in every foe!

Liberty's in every blow!

Let us do, or die!

Stirling

2011-03-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

I took the 8am train out of Helmsdale again with the purpose of a day trip to Stirling. I changed trains in Inverness and again in Perth, to arrive in Stirling at 1:15pm. I feel I have adequately experienced and conquered the Scottish rail system. In Scotland everything closes at 5pm, so I didn't have a great deal of time to sightsee, and all on foot too. My first goal was Stirling castle, which is thankfully only a few minutes walk from the rail station.

A large group of buoyant Frenchmen who were obnoxiously loud and rather annoying entered the castle at the same time. It did not endear me to the French at all.

Stirling has a great view, but it was very cloudy and hard to get good pictures.

My impression of Stirling was that it is mostly reconstruction and very little origional building. The Castle is also currently under construction, so most of the rooms were empty and there were parts blocked off. Above is the Castle Chapel.

There was a modern art display of tapestry in one room.

The Great Hall would make an excellent dance hall. Can you imagine??

See the differences in stonework.

The guardhouse kitchen- that fireplace must have been fifteen feet across. Watch your step!

And for dinner we have plastic hog's head with an acrylic glaze! Oh boy. The great kitchen was the only room that had plastic figures and other museumish replicas.

There were all sorts of nooks and crannies.

Day's End

2011-03-12T08:23:00.000-08:00

After Stirling Castle it was too late to see the Wallace Monument which is apparently an hour's walk from there, so I set out to see the Holy Rude churchyard and Cambuskenneth Abbey. The cemetery was pretty neat:

A Victorian monument to Scottish Covenanter Women.

A winged soul tombstone- they sure don't have these in Nebraska.

The Abbey was closed, which I expected, but it was also fenced and locked, which I didn't expect. I suppose I could have climbed the gate, but I was a bit tired at that point. So I took pictures from afar.

You can't tell, but it was raining. The Abby was beautiful and worth visiting, especially if you can come when it's open.

This is as close as I got to the Wallace monument. It's that speck in the distance.

So finally, tired and cold, I treated my self to a romantic dinner alone. It was one of those times I wish I was married. Thinking positively, though, if I was married I would probably not have been able to travel to Scotland.

So, all in all, I viewed the castle despite the invasion of the French; saw the Abbey albeit in the rain; and defiantly ate dinner. The train out of Stirling left at 8pm, and the W's very kindly picked me up in Inverness, so we all got home at 1am.

When winds frae off Ben Lomond blaw, An' bar the doors wi' drivin' snaw

2011-03-10T02:43:00.000-08:00

While winds frae aff Ben-Lomond blaw,

An' bar the doors wi' driving snaw,

An' hing us owre the ingle,

I set me down to pass the time,

An' spin a verse or twa o' rhyme,

In hamely, westlin jingle.

-Robert Burns

I took the train to Inverness yesterday. Why, you ask? I had a train ticket to use, and pretty much all trains lead to Inverness. Even that is a 2 1/2 hour trip one-way. Train travel may be smarter in some aspects, but it's still very limiting. So I took the 8:01 out of Helmsdale and arrived in Inverness around 11:45(there were delays because it snowed) and stayed all day to take the 5:54 out of Inverness and get home at 8:30. You would hope that all this walking would toughen me up, but it still just wears me out.

I visited Tomnahurich Cemetery first, since the weather was iffy. It had snowed during the night and everything was wet and squishy. The cemetery is very large but not very old. There were lots of Victorian era Celtic style crosses. The grounds are formed around a high hill, and there are paths up to the top that would make for a very nice walk in the summer.

And then I went shopping. It's so hard to find anything that smacks of Scotland for a reasonable price, and I am trying to find presents for family at least. It's killing me! Inverness itself is not very large: it's smaller than Omaha, if that means anything to you. So I walked hither and yon and bought a few presents, and it snowed and blew and sleeted.

I stopped in the Cathedral of St. Andrew(be shocked: I would have gone in the Presbyterian Church, which is much older, but they keep it locked) which is a Victorian age building and what the Reformers would have called "popish." Pretty, but not quite the type of building I would want to worship in.

I was glad to rest and warm up a bit.

Then I said goodbye to the warm popish church and headed out towards the train station with a stop at the afore-mentioned Inverness Museum(mainly because you have to pay a pence to enter the "water closet" at the station, and I'm not one to spend money loosely) where you can see fascinating things like:

A great Auk egg.

And then I went home and went to bed.

Monuments

2011-03-10T01:46:00.000-08:00

The Helmsdale monument commemorating the Highland Clearances, still remembered today as the "Cruel Clearances."

Road Trip

2011-03-08T09:22:00.000-08:00

We started out as early as we possibly could, taking the A9 down to Inverness and west from there. However, about five minutes out we ran into a snag in our plans. An accident on the A9(Apparently known as the Road of Death) completely blocked traffic both ways. Now, there's no other road option for travel other than the A9. You literally cannot get anywhere unless you are on the A9, and since there was already a long line of traffic build up it was going to take hours to clear the accident. Our only option was to turn around and take a country road that would loop around and take us out farther up the road, and hope it would come out above the accident.

So we took this little one-lane road through the most beautiful backwoods hill country. It was amazingly bumpy and a lot of fun. The drivers here don't drive: they hurtle. Seriously. The cars are tiny, the roads are small and curvy, but people drive like there's no tomorrow. There are also a lot of one lane roads, so I can understand why there would be frequent accidents.

Anyway, the detour while long, was beautiful. It's hard to take good pictures through a car window, though, so you'll just have to imagine it.

The object of our quest, Eilean Donan Castle on the western coast of Scotland. The roads from the east coast to the west coast are not what you would call direct, so with the detour the trip took us about 3 1/2 hours one way. Since this is the tourist off-season there aren't many castles open to visitors. Eilean is one of the few that remain open year-round. Unfortunately no photography was allowed inside.

The Marchioness wore Linen to Eilean Donan.

After lunch, the tour, and a quick stop at the gift shop, we drove to the Isle of Skye just to say we'd been there. And on the drive home we passed the famous Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.

Anyone see Nessie? It was perfect weather for a sighting, and I'm perfectly convinced that Nessie is real.

Obviously, it was getting late by than. We ended the day by eating at a Asian buffet in Inverness, and we still had a two hour drive home after that.

Church Tradition: a Sunday Post

2011-03-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday following the service up in Thurso Rev. MacL and Mr. W were discussing various interesting situations that come from having small congregations, especially in very old churches.

Understand that many of the churches up in the isolated north seem to be made up of under a dozen attendees, mostly elderly people(think 70+ years). So picture this: an old stone church building with a nice long center aisle with the minister standing in the pulpit up in the front, and the entire congregation sitting in the very back.

Now, most churchgoers are guilty of sitting in the very same pew week after week, and that's simply what these people were doing. For the last two hundred years their respective families had sat in those particular pews, which happened to be in the very back. And the remaining parishioners absolutely refused to sit anywhere else, even when the church size dwindled and the preacher was so far away from the congregation that his face was unrecognizable.

One minister tried to force his flock to the front by putting up a curtain right through the middle of the church, so the pulpit couldn't be seen from the back of the building. Come Sunday he couldn't see a single one of his parishioners- they were all behind the curtain. Another Reverend gave up and simply preached from the center pew. This just goes to show how hard it is to break tradition.

Note: the photos are from our quick stop at St. Magnus.

How the Sun Sets

2011-03-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

Golspie Pier.

6pm

"Ingigerth is the most Beautiful of Women"

2011-03-05T04:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we traveled to the Orkney Islands. Our sojourn began when we left the house at 7:45am and drove just under an hour to the northern point of Scotland, ending up at Gill's Bay. The ferry ride to St. Margaret's Hope on the Orkney mainland also took about an hour. Apparently the biggest industries of the Orkneys are tourism and oil. You can see the oil rigs as you drive along the Scottish coast. We appeared to be the only tourists on the ferry, which is understandable because it's off-season right now. Most of the passengers were men who work with the oil industry: they were a rather rough looking bunch. I was trying to listen to a nearby conversation to see if I could understand what the men were saying(I'm having trouble deciphering the accent here) and once I did I was sorry I had. I guess that's what I get for eavesdropping.

After reaching the mainland we drove another almost-hour to Skara Brae, and ancient village uncovered by a huge storm in 1850. I'm still a bit boggled by all the oldness available for viewing in Scotland, so when I say "ancient", think B.C. It's very cool that we can still see such places today.

This is me standing in the replica of Skara Brae. Standing in the fake fireplace. Searching for warmth.

This is me again celebrating American Independence(No taxation without representation!). As we walked down the the actual site one was supposed to travel back in time, and there were several markers to that effect. Only in our case we more like struggled painfully against the blustery wind through time, and if you're wondering why I have a giant mushroom on my head it's because it was very windy, wet, and chilly.

You're not allowed to actually walk in the houses, just on a path around them. The village was right on the coast.

When viewing such fascinating historical locations under such circumstances, one must ask, why on earth did they live here? Well, originally the coastline wasn't so close to the village; it's been eroded over time. Also, think of the environmental changes since the time of the flood: was it always really so cold here? Obviously the land was populated and good for farming. Perhaps it was attached to Scotland at one time as well, and not so isolated.

Then we stopped briefly at a circle of standing stones, the Ring of Brodgar.

This is me standing on a fallen stone. As with all the monuments we visited yesterday, almost nothing is known about these stones. Were they used for some horrible pagan practice, or were they for astronomical purposes, telling time and the like? Everywhere we went yesterday we saw the old "millions of years" mantra, as well as the "stupid caveman" idea. I know that the people living on Orkney thousands of years ago had just as much brain power as we do today, so I can easily believe them capable of better-than-primitive living and intellectual works. No doubt one reason archaeologists can't figure out what ancient artifacts are for is because they assume the people who made them were ignorant animals just out of the explosive soup puddle.

So were the stone pagan or practical? If pagan, then phooey on them. And if practical, than phooey on the evolutionists. I ran all the way around the circle and then we all squeezed back into the Green Haggis and went on to Maeshowe.

Pictures were not allowed inside Maeshowe, so the above is Miss W and I in the bathroom trying to warm up afterward. Maeshowe is in the middle of a field, so it made for a very windy wet walk there and back. The mound itself was very interesting. I think that was my first time in a burial chamber. The neat thing about Maeshowe are the Viking runes all over it from when some vikings wintered there way back when. One of my favorites is the title of this post, "Ingigerth is the most beautiful of women." You can read more of them on the website.

THEN, after hearing from our tour guide several fascinating ways that Vikings killed each other, we drove to Kirkwall to very quickly see:

St. Magnus Cathedral, one of only two remaining pre-Reformation cathedrals in Scotland. It was truly a beautiful old building.

This is me touching history. Seeing it is all very well, but touching it is more fun. Rich people used to be buried under their churches, and that's why all the old old "tombstones" are inside. Eventually they ran out of floor space and the smell just got to be too much, and thus the switch to outdoor burials.

By that point it was time to head back to the ferry for part one of our trip home, so I just got a glimpse of the churchyard. Short but sweet.

Now, I am not what one would call an accomplished seaman. Where I live it's a good ten hour's drive to any body of water resembling an ocean. I was on a ferry once, but that was for thirty minutes in a sheltered bay. The second largest flotation device I've been in was a canoe, and there weren't any waves in that case. So once we got into open water I began feeling a bit peaked, and wouldn't it be embarrassing to get sick from a ferry ride? The Miss W's loved it(Now we're going up! Now we're going down! Wheeee!) and thankfully I managed to keep my insides inside. It was probably thanks in part to not having much of a lunch, due to our rushing around.

I was very glad once we were on land again. Give me a wild ride in the Green Haggis any day over any kind of water travel. Finally, we got home at 9pm, had dinner and went to bed. It was a full and really very educational day.

By yon Bonnie Banks, and by yon Bonnie Braes

2011-03-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

We went walking on a riverside trail in Golspie yesterday, for a change of pace. It was a well-kept path with several bridges that worked their way up to the falls.

We went under the railway bridge...

Past this really old neat tree....

Everything was very wet. There was moss all over. Even though there aren't leaves on the trees yet, there's so much green!

There were also a great many ferns.

The W ladies and I at the falls end of the walk. The whole walk was only 1 1/2 miles. I'm learning it's best to work up to long walks: the rambling-over-the-hills episode had some painful ramifications.

The Falls. Yes, they're sideways. You'll just have to deal with it. Not very large falls, but Scottish falls nonetheless. And the whole walk was very pretty.

So two days ago we finally got the Church owned car and handed in the rental vehicle. Our new mode of transport is compact and cozy in traditional UK style, and it's green to boot. Mr. W titled it the "Green Haggis." The above is a glimpse of us ladies in our new space. If it could be called space.

And then we had fish and chips for dinner. Only I had scampi and chips. Very tasty. Miss E.W. would have fish and chips every night if she could, but her mother has limited it to only once a week.

Hie on the Hielands

2011-02-28T12:43:00.000-08:00

Monday, Feb. 28th

I took a walk.

The scenery here rather warrants more exploration than back in Nebraska, and here you can actually walk places instead of having to drive. Places like the library, the shoreline, the post office, even Church. So I've certainly been doing more walking than usual.

This morning I walked up the hill to the south of Helmsdale, since the map said there was a path into the hills in that area. So I walked up and up and up. The view down to the sea and nearby hills was beautiful. We've had very nice weather so far. I did reach the footpath after a few twists and turns, and once I got past the gate I was truly in the hills.

I didn't want to come back the way I came, so to make things interesting I decided to walk off the path(taking comfort that there's only one poisonous snake native to Scotland and the monument for the last wolf killed is down the road) and down and around the hill to the highway that runs past the cemetery. Now, the hills are covered in bracken, which ranges from ankle to knee high. I also discovered that the hills are wet. Wet all over. There were miniature streams running down to a creek all over the face of the hills, but my boots held up pretty well. Anyway, it took me a long time to get to the other side of the hill and then down it once I got off the path, and when I got to the bottom I had to climb over a fence. Everything is fenced in here! Over the fence was the railway, and beyond that was the river, so I had to walk on the rail a ways(which is more risky here than in Nebraska) to get to the road which turned out to be the right one but still a long ways from the cemetery and thus the manse.

I'm not used to hills. I'm not used to walking long distances. I'm not used to walking up hills for long distances. No doubt tomorrow morning my legs will be stiff and unmovable. I won't be doing it again but I am glad I did it. Imagine two hundred and fifty years ago when my Scottish ancestors lived in this country and had to walk the hills like that. Completely quiet and solitary, and utterly brown. No wonder the Scots are famously dour.

Saturday, Feb. 26th

2011-02-28T11:28:00.000-08:00

Mr. and Mrs. W and I took a walk along the coastline, looking for fossils and shells(the Helmsdale beach is supposedly famed for it's fossils). None of us found anything spectacular. The shore was made up of large rocks, and getting back to the road was quite the adventure. We climbed over heaps of rotting seaweed covered with gnats, halfway up a steep hill by a little waterfall and then back down, over muddy areas, past ruins of an old stone house, up a hill, past a farm and onto the highway. And we visited a little cemetery on the way too.

The stream down to the ocean had made the cemetery almost an island. I managed not to get too dirty, but I did get stuck and scratched by brambles. It was a very beautiful view, but sadly there was a great deal of trash along the trail and the shoreline.

It wore me out. We walked roughly three miles up an over and down.

Saturday evening we were scheduled to attend a ceilidh in Brora. Now, we learned about this event when asking the librarian about dance events, so naturally we all assumed there would be dancing. It turned out there was no dancing. We arrived at the Royal Marine Hotel to discover a packed room listening to a group of musicians.

To drown our sorrows, we decided to have dessert in the hotel. I had dark chocolate mousse, which was basically like two big truffles. As we were sitting there eating our disappointment away, the ceilidh ended and all the musicians, mostly high school students, poured into the hotel lobby and started an impromptu jam session right in front of us(literally, we could not get out). They were really good. There had to be nearly thirty musicians, and at least ten of those were on fiddle, all playing the same tune with no sheet music in sight.

Mr. W enjoying the music.

It was a neat bit of culture right in front of us, even if we didn't get to dance.

Inverness and Culloden

2011-02-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

We left the manse around 8:15am for the hour and a half drive to Inverness, the closest “civilized” city. Helmsdale and Brora are all very well, but there's not much in them. The drive is mostly along the coastline and very curvy. Travel by boat used to be most common along the coast for that reason, and even now it would be faster to travel by boat, but these days everyone has a car so that isn't an option. When we climbed Helmsdale Rock the other day we could see the more southern coast of Scotland across the water.

Anyway, we got there. We first went to Culloden battlefield and museum on the outskirts of Inverness. The museum is well done and informative. The number of deaths in such a short timespan(an estimated 7,000 in 3 minutes) is staggering. It's very sobering- as are all battlefields. I'll admit I'm (slightly) biased on the part of the Scots, and I have to wonder, why were the Jacobites so badly defeated? As with all happenings there must be a providential reason. We came up with a few possibilities:

(My Catholic followers should skip this one) Bonnie Prince Charlie was Catholic. Would Scotland have become a Catholic nation under his rule and hindered the Presbyterian movement? And were the Jacobites truly a good representation for the Scottish people? (There were Scots fighting on both sides of the conflict.)

Would the Prince have been a competent leader? Obviously he must have had some sort of charisma, but he ended badly and showed poor strategic military judgment. English blockades stopped French supplies from reaching the Jacobite army. A night march and failed surprise attack in the rain exhausted the Jacobite forces right before the action at Culloden. It would be easy to view these happenings as tragic mishaps, but they're not. This is Providence in action. After the battle, Charles fled and after being disguised as a woman reached France, where he died an alcoholic. I think it's safe to say the the Bonnie Prince was not God's chosen model for Scottish leadership.

The sufferings imposed on the Scots following the battle caused many to immigrate to America. I am firmly convinced the Scots population of Colonial America contributed heavily to the victory of American Independence, not to mention the spread of Reformed Christianity throughout the new country.

After walking through the museum we stepped out onto the battlefield, where the positions of the government and Jacobite armies were marked with blue and red flags. It was WINDY. We took a picture and went back inside.

The Marchioness at Culloden Battlefield.

I thought the museum was well done. It did a good job of not being horribly prejudiced on either side. There were two re-enactors there, and I have to say I thought their clothes were not at all up to parr. No stays!

Old High Church

After lunch we drove into Inveress and made use of the public transportation system: our legs. We completely wore them out. We walked to the Old High Church and attached churchyard, where the remaining wounded Jacobites from Culloden had been shot.

We walked to the Art and history museum(FREE! Donations requested). It was a very family-friendly museum.

We then walked to a second-hand bookstore full to the top of old books(very tempting, but I didn't buy any). In desperation to find somewhere, anywhere with internet we walked another ten miles(well, maybe not quite that much) to a coffee shop which then closed at 6pm at which time we walked(crawled, staggered, hobbled) back to our car. Scotland has no nightlife.

We had dinner that night at an Indian restaurant in Brora, a nice place. The W's aren't the type of people who patronize McDonald's, like a certain family who will remain unnamed. I'd ever had Indian food before: Nebraska isn't exactly known for it's Indian population except in the case of medical workers. It was good food. I ordered prawn in a cream sauce, and it turned out to be very sweet. The W's also ordered several appetizers so I got to try several different dishes. Apparently we weren't meant to take our leftovers home with us, so the staff got a bit huffy when we asked.

2011-02-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

We finally have internet at the manse, so I've gone back added pictures to all the posts that didn't have any.

This is the Helmsdale Free Church. It used to be the Police station, so the local joke is that it went from law to grace. Mr. W will be preaching here for the next three weeks, morning and evening.

Days Past

2011-02-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 22nd

There's been some difficulty with the Church's car insurance. Apparently the insurance company is absolutely convinced that Americans are only qualified to drive automatics, and never stick-shifts. So while we were supposed to get the car today, we still have the rental vehicle and I'm not sure when we'll get the car.

In the afternoon we drove twenty miles or so to a Broch, which is a ancient structure(or rather ruins of an ancient structure) that acted as fortification against the Vikings.

This particular broch had part of the circular wall remaining, high up on a hill overlooking an inlet in the sea. The weather was beautiful and we had fun imagining times past.

Yours truly in the Broch doorway. It was just my size.

Wednesday 23rd

Rain is in the forecast. A quiet day at home. We walked up “Helmsdale Rock”(i.e. Hill). It was a vigourous walk up a slippery slope and then down again on the other side. At the top there was a good view and a flagless flagpole.

Helmsdale from above.

The suburbs of Helmsdale.

Nearing sunset.

Thursday 24th

Still no car. The tide was out at 9:45 this morning, so I walked to the beach and viewed the waters. The shells here are very small due to being smashed against the rocks. The rocks themselves are very pretty and varied in color and pattern. I wasn't kidding when I said all my family members were getting rocks for souvenirs(Hey, I have a big family and not much money!).

In the afternoon we drove to Brora to see the town and try to get internet. There is no internet in Brora. I am frustrated with the internet situation. Trying not to be. We did stop in the Brora library, which is much nicer than the Helmsdale library of which we are members. We were able to check out some books(“Cranford,” “Scottish Kirkyards,” “The Elements of Drawing,” “I never knew that about Scotland.”) and get some info on local events. This Saturday there is a local ceilidh dance with a live band. We are tentatively planning on attending. SO EXCITED.

Tomorrow we are going to Inverness to see Culloden, the art museum, and hopefully a cemetery(joy!).

Braes of Dornoch

2011-02-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

Bear in mind that until we get our internet set-up, my internet access is very erratic and I am not able to post pictures. Once we get wifi I'll come back to these posts and add in the appropriate photos.

Monday the 21st

The Miss W's started school while I tidied up my quarters and did a bit of reading myself. Then I walked to the Helmsdale railway station to see the departure times. The station here is unstaffed and fairly small, but there is, for a price, public transportation from Helmsdale.

In the afternoon we all drove down to Dunrobin castle, about thirty miles south along the coast. Dunrobin was an estate of the Duke of Sutherland, who was much disliked because of his part in the Higland Clearances. The castle itself is not open to visitors until April, so we walked around the gardens and the outside of the building. Standing on the portico surrounding the castle one can see out to sea. There are three fountains in the gardens, lots of hedges, fruit trees, and flower plants that weren't yet budding. There were quite a few snowdrops, however. Even without the flowers it was still very pretty.

The back view from below.

A garden from above.

The gate to the sea.

There were several garden ponds.

The clouds were cooperative.

Then we drove to Dornoch and stopped in Dornoch Cathedral. Dornoch Cathedral is a rather confusing mixture of old and new. The original building was built in 1239, but was burned down in 1570. The building was then restored throughout the years at various times starting in 1616.

I wanted to touch something from the earliest part of the church, but not knowing exactly what was what I settled for the sarcophagus of Sir Richard de Moravia(there wasn't a sign saying not to touch it), who was killed in battle around 1240.

Then we had tea at the Dornoch castle hotel, which used to be not a fortified castle but just a really nice house for a Bishop way back when. The young ladies I had hot chocolate(still not really getting into tea), and it was quality. We were served a mug of hot milk with a block of Belgian chocolate on a stick to melt in the milk. I also had a scone, which of course was served with butter, real whipped cream, and jam. Do you believe me now when I say I'm going to be fat when this is over?

Days Past

2011-02-22T08:50:00.000-08:00

Saturday

We discovered our car wouldn't be out of the shop until Wednesday, so Mr. W ordered a rental car to be delivered Saturday morning. We drove forty miles to the town of Wick and spent the afternoon at Tesco(the UK version of Wal-mart) buying staples for the barren manse cupboards. We bought Scottish made cheese, fresh fish, and Scottish honey, among other things.

After lunch I made my first purchase with British pounds: Walking boots. They were originally 50 pounds(bear in mind I exchanged my American dollars for 1 pound=$1.76), but were on sale for 17, which is still more than I've ever paid for footwear before. They seem sturdy and I'm sure I will put them to good use.

Saturday evening we had a church service to prepare for communion on Sunday. This church only takes communion twice a year, so it was nice we were able to be here for a communion Sunday. The speaker was a recent seminary graduate and associate pastor at Rosskeen. He was a very good speaker and other than being sleepy I enjoyed the sermon.

Sunday

We woke up to find someone had planted half a dozen garden gnomes on our garden wall during the night. No one from church knew anything about them, so we surmised a inebriated rascal had filched them and left them on our wall as a joke. Some of the small gardens here have dozens of gnomes and ceramic animals in them. In the end Mr. James from church called the PC(police constable?) and he took them away to the lock-up. We hope they will find their way home.

We had one Church service at 11am and one at 5pm: a total of three services in twenty-four hours. They were all hour long services, though. I'm used to having all three services at once. The church here is fairly small, perhaps fifteen people, and all of them easily over forty. We sang psalms without accompaniment. We had wine for communion, which I expected, but it was quite a bit stronger than what I'm used to. The W's and I all managed not to allow strangled coughs to escape from our mouths. There aren't any children there, and the services are so quiet. Everyone can hear every little noise. There's certainly no ambiance. I missed the crying babies back home(and yes, of course I missed everyone else as well).

We had tea and biscuits after service on Saturday, lunch after service on Sunday(three courses: soup, salads, and desserts), and tea with cakes after Sunday evening service. I thought I might get thinner in Scotland because I'm not doing the baking, but apparently not. I'll have to fast before I leave so I can fit in the airplane seats on the way back.

We walked to the cemetery (I was wearing my new boots) and it was absolutely freezing. The temperatures here are above freezing, but there was a very strong wind and when it's not sunny it's easy to get chilled. We watched the weather and hopefully this week it will warm up. I found the forecast rather confusing: chance of rain, strong winds, possible clouds, hopefully sunny, may warm up, possible rain, more possible rain, more wind, chance of clouds, and on and on.

Snowdrops.

Day Four

2011-02-22T08:44:00.000-08:00

I have been learning about jet-lag. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep for a long while, then woke up at 11am after having a dream about spanking someone else's child who really needed it. I've been rather foggy all day.

I exchanged my American dollars for British pounds at the local bank this afternoon, and got a library card for the teeny tiny library. We all visited the local coffee shop for internet service and met the very accommodating owners. We don't have internet yet, though we hope to have it sometime next week. It's sadly crippling not to have internet.

We don't have a car yet either. It's in the shop due to the mandated annual inspection, and apparently needed some welding done. I was told that the salty sea air makes rust an issue here. Helmsdale's a very pleasant place, but there's not much in the way of grocery shopping, so our menu has been limited to the local corner shop and restaurants. I had a scone today at the coffee shop. Very tasty.

Views

2011-02-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

The view from my ceiling window, if I stand on tiptoe. That's the front lawn.

The scene from my side window. That's the old church, which is now a private property now.

We walked down to the river yesterday, which is just below the manse. Across the river is the cemetery!

The Manse

2011-02-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

The manse is probably not what you would think of when I say “Scottish manse.” It's not very old; really all of Helmsdale is not very old compared to other Scottish towns. The decorating is a kind of 1980's style, with turquoise carpets in some rooms, pink in others, and the living room painted green and rust. The light fixtures are an interesting type of pleated fabric covers that remind one of Chinese lanterns. The manse, when we arrived, was practically bare of any furniture. The bedrooms had a bed and a chair. The living room had a chair, a couch, and a TV. Most of the other rooms were completely empty. I gather this house hasn't been lived in for long periods for some years now.

This is me relaxing in my room.

After lunch Mrs. W discovered the garage, which had odds and ends of furniture in it: a few old chairs, one covered in red velvet; some small tables; and a large wooden wardrobe. Obviously it doesn't lead to Narnia, because I'm still here, posting for you all. So we all updated our rooms with various pieces of varied furniture. Now I have a bed, two chairs, and a table.

After re-arranging the furniture we walked down to the beach. It's a short walk, and we enjoyed picking up rocks and a few small seashells. Then we had fish and chips for dinner.

A Wee Bit of Travel

2011-02-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

Starting with the plane ride: I was as comfortable as one can be in economy class breathing recycled air while turbulence shook the plane like jello on a card table. Really, it's painful to see how people have to squeeze themselves into the tiny airplane seats, and I don't think some of them could even fit into the miniscule cupboard they call a bathroom. Anyway, my flights went through without any problems, and after eight hours in the air I arrived at London Heathrow airport at 7am London time, 1am Nebraska time.

Customs also went smoothly, though the customs officer made me nervous, asking questions like I was out to destroy the UK. But they let me in in the end. Providentially I saw my bag going by as soon as I stepped out of customs. I am ashamed to say that from this point on even with only a backpack and thirty pound bag, walking was very painful. Then I had the adventure of figuring out I was in terminal 3, and I needed to get to terminal 5, and that was my first ride on the public transport system.

At Terminal 5 I met up with my hosts, the W family. At this point(3am NE time) things were getting a bit foggy for me, so I should have been relaxing, but I couldn't figure out if it was 9am or 10am and that made me worry about missing my friends and then what would I do? But it turned out it was 9am and they arrived right on time. We hauled our collective luggage back to the railway and zipped over to Paddington Station. We wrestled our bags to an authentic London taxi with an authentic London taxi driver(he looked like an action movie assassin, as all London taxi drivers should), and after being strategically crammed in subsequently drove backwards in the London way to King's Cross station. We dragged our bags inside and left on time at 12:30 London time.

Thus commenced our eight hour train ride to Inverness, Scotland. I am so very thankful we were in first class. We all dozed a bit. We arrived on time at the Inverness station to be picked up by friends of my friends for the almost two hour drive to Helmsdale. At this point we were all fried, and we went to bed promptly upon arrival(10pm-ish Scotland time, 3pm-ish Ne time) at our manse(i.e. Parsonage).

First sunset in Scotland, taken from the train.

Departure

2011-02-15T07:29:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I am not absolutely saying I will finish reading these books while I'm away. I'm just taking them, that's all.

Well, I'm leaving today. For Scotland. My suitcase is full to the brim, mostly full of clothing. It's around thirty pounds, well under the fifty pound limit, but still plenty heavy for me to carry. I also had several last-minute purchases to squeeze in, such as a pink travel umbrella, an electric outlet adapter, and a bar of chocolate(70% cocoa!).

Friends have been asking me, "So, what are you going to do in Scotland?" And I feel kind of bad that I'm not going to do anything. Do meaning, of course, something of a higher purpose like missionary work or a job or a training conference, etc. But I remind myself that this is perhaps my one chance to experience this different culture and see the sights, and how many people can just live in Scotland with few responsibilities(for example, children) for six weeks on $2000(dowries are wonderful things, ha ha!)? So, everyone, just know I am not going for any higher exalted purpose other than experiencing a different lifestyle, and if I can do that Coram Deo, that will be enough.

One week until Departure

2011-02-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

I caught a cold last week, my first one this winter. Not at all pleasant, but I'm glad it came now and not any later, because I'm leaving for Scotland in a week.

I had a bit of a scare with my passport last week. I received a letter from the passport agency in New Hampshire that was handling my application, saying my signature as unacceptable since it was printed. This a little less than three weeks before I leave. And I don't write in cursive, so it was my natural signature. But I rushed to re-send my application papers and paid $14 to overnight my passport, because it was doubtful that my new application could be processed fast enough. But the net workday when I called the agency, they told me my passport had already been sent, the day after I received the letter telling me to re-apply! Glass half full: so glad I got my passport and can still go. Glass half empty: A weekend of worry and $14 down the drain because of government inefficiencies.

Our dog Calvin was hit by a car a few weeks ago. He had a bad habit of chasing cars, so even though it wasn't very nice of the person to come and tell us, Calvin was the one to blame. We had Calvin for a little over a year. I think we paid $20 for him because he was a lab-border collie mix, though you couldn't tell it: he looked like a border collie. We were all sad to lose him. The boys buried him with a brief eulogy: "He was a good dog." At least they understand the life span of farm animals. People who treat their pets as children are a bit off-balance, it seems to me. I am vehemently against ever owning pets of my own, unless they serve some practical purpose.

Travel Plans

2011-01-13T12:54:00.000-08:00

About three weeks ago, Dad decided I should go to Scotland. Former church friends of ours will be staying in Scotland for a few months, and what better way to travel than to stay with friends?

After confirming that our friends didn't mind me tagging along, we rushed(through a snowstorm) to apply for my of-necessity expedited passport(my former one being very much expired, like, eighteen years ago) and purchase plane tickets.

I'm leaving on Feb. 15th, traveling to Chicago O'Hare to Heathrow London through the night followed by a estimated six hour train trip to Inverness, ended by an hour and a half car ride to Helmsdale, Scotland. Oh boy! Jet lag. I'll be staying for six weeks, returning just in time for the busy month of April. Unfortunately most of the castles in Scotland don't open to visitors until mid-April, but I am sure the experience will be very exciting nonetheless.

Dancing through Life

2011-01-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

Jen and I had the privilege to instruct a group of young ladies from the Catholic Homeschool Association of Omaha Sunday afternoon in the art of English Country Dancing. The experience made us both decide that we're not doing dances on a Sunday again. Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, and while dancing itself is not, in my opinion, stressful, teaching it is. Or can be; imagine this: twenty giggling girls, most of whom have never danced before. And then the CD player started skipping.

I know calling dances is good for me: it's helped me expanding my speaking skills, grow in confidence, and it always requires patience. But sometimes I need to vent. The dancers traditionally talk during the teaching and don't listen, so they traditionally mess up because they didn't hear how the dance is done, and I just want to shake them! And yet, they still say they enjoyed it at the end. How and why is a mystery to me!

End rant.

I made it to the weekend without getting sick, and even now I'm still not sick. Amazing.

The Germ Cloud of Doom

2010-12-31T09:27:00.000-08:00

Mom caught a cold. Andrew has a cold. Jen really has a cold. My constant prayer is that I would not get sick until after Sunday. I'm sure everyone feels this way at times, when family members are dropping like flies all around: There's no avoiding the family illness. It's just a matter of time until it catches you. But since we have events over the weekend, I'm trying to hold out until Monday.

One way to try not to get sick is to take medicine preventionally: to ward it off, to boost your immune system. But then, if you take too much medicine sometimes you can't tell if you're really getting sick or not. I took quite a bit of cayenne tincture last week. So then you get phantom sicknesses: am I really sick? Is my throat starting to get sore? And can't we all see that black cloud of germs floating overhead? The ratio of sick germs alone is enough to ensure you will get it.

In other news, I cut off eight inches of my hair. It's a New Year's tradition that Jen and I have been practicing for the past few years. It's a relief, really. I've had long hair all my life, and I enjoy having long hair- it's very feminine. But on the other hand, really long hair is a pain, especially in the dry winter season. And not to worry, it will grow back in six months. Jen cut her hair shoulder length and mine is a few inches longer. As good as it feels I don't think I could ever but my hair that short.

Holidays make me Lazy

2010-12-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

Holiday fever: when you want to sleep in until the shockingly late hour of 9am and eat nothing but sweets for every meal; when you don't feel like doing anything but be a couch potato and read novels.

I didn't actually spend my Christmas doing that, because we had events on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and Sunday too, to I really spent my time making dozens of cookies and lots of soup and gathering all the mish-mosh of STUFF we just have to take everywhere we go. We went caroling twice, and that was fun, though embarrassing(we're novices at singing in parts). I played my year's allotment of board games out of kindness to my hosts, now NO MORE! I can't handle any more. We had so many cookies and sweet gifts around I feel like I've been living in candyland. I feel fat, too.

It was nice spending time with Church family. For most of our lives Christmas has been us alone at home, which is ok, but when you have the opportunity to be snowed in together every week for the rest of the winter somehow it's just not as much fun. This weekend we have round two: New Year's celebrations all weekend long. I am strongly against sleep deprivation for the purpose of seeing the clock in a certain position, so hopefully we will not collectively be required to do that.

Thankful for:
Only one inch of snow and no more so far!
Church family, even if they make you play board games.
No tragedies(except a cold going around that I haven't gotten yet).

Merry Christmas!

Dwelling on the past:

2010-11-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

I will now post about Thanksgiving 2010.

I have very little to say about our actual Thanksgiving day, because it was kind of boring. I guess we are a boring family. We had no family about to come over and no family to invite us over(it's a theme with us: our blood relatives avoid us) and all our church family had already been invited over to various houses. Hopefully Christmas will be more buoyant.

So, now for that seasonal question everyone else has already answered with exclamation marks at the end of every sentence: What are you thankful for?

Two physical differences stand out in a brief look back at the past year:

Much more traveling than usual, both together as a family and for me alone.
The entire family being so very sick over the summer

Traveling, though eventually exhausting, is always a great learning experience. This year I traveled to Texas, Georgia, Arkansas, Illinois, South Dakota, and Ft. Robinson, NE. I began re-enacting the 1820's at Ft. Atkinson. I attended a dance workshop in Iowa and campaigned in Omaha. I'm not sure I can summarize the widely varied benefits of these trips, so I'll just say they were good for me. I'm grateful that now I can travel more(funds permitting) as the boys grow older and I have fewer of the babysitting responsibilities that used to tie me down.

Being (so terribly, horribly, awfully)sick wasn't in itself perhaps a good thing, but it was providential. Our church family was a huge blessing to us while we were ill and I know we are so grateful for our Church now in ways we weren't before. Joining the church five(or six?) years ago was a huge adjustment; having Dad quit his job at the University this spring and work for the Church was too. And we were blind, totally blind, to the changes it would bring. I think we are all feeling much more accepted and a real part of the church now, and are really enjoying it. And being sick was part of that. So bring it on.

And notice, I didn't use a single exclamation mark.

!

Education through Frugality

2010-11-30T09:47:00.000-08:00

When we were little, every free concert, every free event, we attended if we could in an effort to gain "culture." We heard the Air Force Band from Offutt; we saw the Christmas Carol, we heard every traveling gospel band and local choir possible. We take other people's junk and use it anyway, because it's free. We take leftovers, hand-me-downs, and coupons. Sometimes I truly appreciate what comes our way, but other times it drives me nuts to have so much "junk."

Last week our neighbor offered us a (dead)deer. We've never butchered a deer before; I think we've ever only done chickens. But Mom, in the spirit of education and frugality, accepted. Because of course, we have a book in our library that tells you how to cut up dead deer! What could be easier? And then we had no choice, because it was hanging up on our garage and we couldn't park there until it was gone.

It took Mom and Caleb ten days to carve up the four quarters. I've decided that if anyone ever offers me a deer, I will gratefully take it to the butcher.

New and Improved

2010-11-16T09:25:00.000-08:00

The finished and nearly re-arranged living room. Notice we moved the clock(a long-lived wedding present) to a different wall- I garuntee you that for the next month we'll all be looking at the wrong wall to check the time.

The boys insisted we place the furniture differently from it's former position. Why, I don't know. I would think new paint and carpet would be change enough. Besides, the room itself is so small as to make rearranging extremely difficult and highly controversial.

This picture was not staged. Jen might be reading "Fearing God;" but then again, she might be reading a novel. Gasp!

So there it is, and so it will be for the next ten years(we decided it's better to redecorate every ten years, instead of every fifteen). The new curtains are still in the works, and some of the wall hangings aren't back up, but the important stuff is pretty much in place(namely, the TV and couches).

After 15 Years: Our Living Room Facelift

2010-11-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

When we moved in to our house seventeen years ago(conveniently marked by Caleb's birth, and thus remembered), the house was green: painted drab green outside with dark green trim, green wallpaper inside, avocado green carpet, painted green rooms, and a green kitchen with rust-colored metal cabinets.Think massive eyesore. Thankfully, only one green room remains today and we don't often go in there.

Living Room, 1990's version:

Is it unsafe to post pictures on one's living room online?

Notice the new-two-years-ago leather couches: we're moving up in the world!

So anyway, when we moved in Dad painted the green-and-gold three times wallpapered living room off-white, and thus it stayed for at least fifteen years, growing more and more off-white through the years. I think I can safely take credit for being the one to say, we should paint the living room again. Really, it needed it. So I forced/helped pick a color(paint is on sale, Dad, we should buy it now) and set a date(Dad, I really want it done by Thanksgiving, can't you take one day off work?) and lo and behold it happened last weekend:

We carried the furniture to the dining room, taped, and poor Dad moaned over the sagging wallpaper and cracks. I like perfection, yes, but perfection can't happen to our living room in one and a half days, so stripping the wallpaper was not an option. Then Mom suggested new carpet: 20% off at Menards! So we did that too. I didn't get to pick it.

The floor wasn't as bad as I expected, though it wasn't finished in the center.

Not since we moved in has this room been so empty. Notice the new (clean!)wall color.

Next post: the end result.

Evolution of the TROUSERS

2010-11-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

This has been my first year doing historical reenacting of any kind, and I dragged my brothers with me. Now, after five months and at the end of the season, Caleb finally has basic garments: Shirt, waistcoat, and trousers. And he'll probably never do reenacting again. Sigh. Maybe Andrew will grow a foot really fast and fit them properly for next year at the Fort.

Here's the back panel.

Here's the front. Obviously these pants are constructed very differently from modern pants, with different seam lines and and drop-front(called a small-fall, in this case) fastened with buttons.

This is an inside view of the front panel. The facings for the fall-front came out a bit too short.

Here's the end result- isn't he good looking? This was the first pair of pants I've ever made. Notice the .50 inaccurate buttons.

Master and Commander: Love the uniforms

2010-10-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

Love the hat. Love the Coat. Love the stock. Love the cravat. I have no doubt Capt. Aubrey's buttons cost at least $2 apiece.

Again, look at the buttons. Count the buttons. Understand why I'm unwilling to pay $2 each. I'd rather make them myself; or how about this: have the boys kill a deer, or any animal really, and make them out of bone! That would be historically correct, right?

You too can Sew 1820's Trousers!

2010-10-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Or as the pattern calls them, "trowsers." My latest historical sewing adventure- the goal is to get them done after the Election but before Nov. 6th. None of the pants(trowsers) availible for loan at the Fort are anywhere near the boys's size. Caleb said the first time he got dressed up, he had to take his belt and loop it through the front flap on the pants to keep them up. So I figure they could really use thier own pants.

However, I vehemently refused to pay $20+ for a period-correct pattern. In my mind, pants are a very basic item of clothing and even as an middling seamstress you should not have to pay such an outrageous price for a basic pattern. But I couldn't find any online tutorials or guidlines for sewing these pants- it was driving me nuts. In the end, one of the commanding officers(a captain? who can say. I think his rank changes according to occasion) very kindly loaned me two never-before-used patterns.

Another delimma- in the case of this never-before-used pattern which doesn't belong to me, is it acceptable to cut out the size desired? What is proper pattern ettiquiette? It annoys me a bit when pattern companies make patterns in sizes 28 to 40, or whatever. If you want a size 28, buy it. If you want a size 40, buy it. But it's hardly possible to not cut out one or the other and easily interchange them. In the end, I went the selfish and easy way of cutting out the 28, which is just Caleb's size. Oh, the ease! Oh, the simplicity! No alterations needed. When I get these done, Caleb will have all his most basic garments: Shirt, Waistcoat, and Trowsers.

La-Z-girl

2010-10-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

I've not had any pressing deadlines or engagements lately; even my sewing projects are less important at present. Of course, I still have to do school with Jeremy; I still cook dinner and pick up the house and do laundry, but October has been nothing like September as far as busyness. So I've been reading a lot, and it makes me feel lazy and guilty. Now, if I had been reading "Eschatology of Victory" for two hours every day, I wouldn't count that as leisure. But I haven't been reading "Eschatology of Victory." Far from it: I've been reading through Patrick O'Brian's series of historical novels. Some years ago after the film "Master and Commander"(2003) was released I tried reading O'Brian's novel of the same name. I didn't like it at all: O'Brian's works are extremely accurate picture of the British Navy at the turn of the 18th century, a very hard way of life. I've found them to be crude and shocking at times; it's mature reading for sure. On the other hand, so few authors have the desire for historical accuracy as O'Brian shows, and I so appreciate accuracy. Even more so now that I've begun re-enacting that era. I'm about halfway through the series of twenty books. It's put me in a very Naval mind(Imagine that, in a Nebraskan).

I was never one to root for the Navy. I've always been for the Marines while Jen defends the Navy, and who cares about the Army; but when it comes to historical uniforms(the measuring stick of endorsability and adoration), I do prefer blue over red, and the British Navy wore blue. Thankfully, where we reenact the American Army wears blue, and don't my brothers look handsome in it! I won't comment on the other gentlemen.

I actually spent ~~much~~ part of this morning reading a biography of Charles Dickens. He seems to have been a impressionable, sensitive, and emotional man(If that's what makes a good writer, I'm in trouble). I think I first picked up a Dickens around the age of twelve, and much the same as with "Master and Commander" I didn't like it; I didn't even finish it. It was too wordy for me at the time. But when I tried again a few years ago, I found I enjoyed his novels extremely. Haven't I matured wonderfully?

And all the while I sit reading there's a nagging thought in the back of my head, I ought to be studying, sewing, cleaning, or flogging somebody into obedience(I'm thinking Navy, remember?)! I toyed with the idea of starting a project, but with the political season nearly upon us I figure it's not worth it. So I'll just try to enjoy my present state of laziness, though it does present a problem when Dad comes home and asks, so what did you do today?

Keep up your end of the Conversation, can't you!

2010-10-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

An old friend and fellow high school graduate of mine got married last Sunday. Two of her bridesmaids also graduated with us in our class of five. Out of us five girls, two are married, one engaged, and I have no idea about the other one. I never did fit in. Considering standards of dress and religion alone, I was the odd one out, but when you throw in personality, even in my silliest moments I was probably the most serious one there. So here we all were, four years after graduation, more different than ever. I avoided speaking to them out of fear for an awkward moment and a why bother? attitude.

I'm not what you would typically call an extrovert. As much as I want to meet new people and make new friends, starting and maintaining a conversation with people outside my circle of friends takes effort and can be exhausting. Sometimes I just get to tired to do even that. One good thing about being an introvert is that people don't notice you much. You can get by with a lot and not be noticed. One bad thing about being an introvert is that people don't notice you much. If people don't notice you, why would they want to talk to you?

I'm very grateful for my church family and the relationships I have there. I'm excited for the changes continually taking place as we grow together in different areas, like the guys talking to girls issue. Being more comfortable talking to the guys provides much more opportunity for varied conversation. I'm not sorry I'm still the serious one out; really, serious people have more to talk about. It's just that most people don't care to hear it.

Last Weekend at the Fort

2010-10-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the last living history day for the season at Ft. Atkinson. It was a good ending to my first season. During the whole season I have made five men's shirts and one waistcoat suitable for reenacting. I intended to start on some trousers, but it hasn't happened yet. I am so grateful the Fort has uniforms available for loan during these weekends, because it takes time to create an entire period correct outfit!

At one point during the day I asked the sutler about the price of the period correct buttons sold at the Fort, since someone had told me they were fifty cents per button. I thought that was a high price, but there's a price for authenticity. But the sutler told me, no, the buttons are $2 or $3 a piece. I'm afraid I looked rather shocked. I think I'll just be that much more in-authentic and buy metal buttons at Hancock's. At least there they ARE fifty cents a piece.

Later on I met a man visiting the Fort who I had talked to about getting started in reenacting back in the spring. He does Lewis and Clark reenacting(over my dead body will I ever do that, and the same for the Civil War), and he told me about his most recent trip to Washington for an annual sacred Chinook ceremony. It involved a big Chinook salmon, and I can't recall all the details, but after the tribe's revered grandma kicked the fish dead, they cut it up and everyone received a cup of water and a cup of smoked salmon. My storyteller likened it to communion. I thought, hmm, a remnant of Christian tradition brought over from the continent? Interesting. Then it got a bit funny: The tribe took the fish skeleton out to sea in a highly authentic canoe and slipped the bones back into the water, sending the fish skeleton and presumably his spirit to tell his friends that it's okay to travel up the river now, because I already got eaten and the Indians will treat you well. It was a serious story as he was telling it, but I laughed about it later. Otherwise it was too depressing to think of pagan peoples and their ludicrous rites.

Torture

2010-09-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

Torture. I'm torturing myself.

My sister and I started an English Country Dance(ECD) group in Omaha last December, going from knowing no ECD to teaching it in two weeks. Then I kind of took it over, because I do that sometimes and Jen is busyer than I am, anyway. So every once in a while I get to studying dance music and easy dances we can add to our small collection. Today was such a day. Our next dance is in two weeks, and I'm planning on introducing a few new dances to our group.

As far as music goes, basically, if it's not on Amazon, I'm not buying it. When you get into such an obscure genre like dance music from the 18th century, there are some poor sound quality albums out there, and I want quality sound. And we need lively music, people! We're dancing, not trying to get to sleep. I want a cross between bluegrass music and Irish, with the refinement of colonial dance tunes. It drives me mad to spend hours looking and only find a handful of tunes that will work. Obviously we don't have a live band.

Then I get to finding new dance instructions to use at our next dance. It's not too hard to find actual dance instructions; but it really, really helps to see a youtube video of the dance before I go teach it to thirty people staring at me from the dance floor. So again, if I can't find it on youtube, sometimes I just have to ditch the dance because I can't understand it.

I really enjoy ECD, which is surprising considering my history with dancing: I have none. My sister danced from an early age. I never did a dance step until in high school our home school co-op gave a country line dance class, of which I took one session and was terrible at it. Then Wham, I discovered ECD and loved it.

So in the end, after spending hours and hours studying dances, gathering information, sampling and purchasing music, I have to wait for a once a month event at which I can't even dance all the dances because I'm one of the callers! And the guys wonder why I get upset when they don't ask me(or any other girl, for that matter) to dance! One word: Frustrating. Two more words, for the guys: Learn Chivalry.

Currently Reading

2010-09-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

Don't expect me to get through these books quickly though!