*happy sigh* It was so lovely to stay in such a beautiful house on such lovely grounds, and to wake up each morning to a magnificent view of the river out of any given window at the back of the house.
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| This is how I woke up. |
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Freeing the curls...
RSV photo |
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| And taming them |
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| I do so love rag curls! |
After another delicious breakfast (ham, eggs, fresh fruit, fresh bread), I resumed my sewing again.
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All I need is a sunny window!
RSV photo |
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My diligence attracted several cameras. :p
Photo by Bonnie Britz |
I had dressed for the day in my classic white
Apron-Front Gown, my first sheer dotted
chemisette, new shoe clips for my Pemberlies, and the same cameo brooch from Friday with a green brocade ribbon sash.
When I needed a break from constant sewing, I joined a group of ladies who were busily writing letters in the dining room. I had brought along my new writing desk and pen, so I took the opportunity to write a letter to my sister.
And then it was back to sewing. This dress was not going to sew itself!
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| My sewing kit - everyone loved my hedgehog pincushion! |
It was incredibly hot and humid on Saturday, so we spent the day largely indoors. We had wanted to have a picnic on the lovely grounds, but it would have been miserable. Somebody had the bright idea to have it anyway, just inside on the floor! So that's what we did. :)
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Jenny, Cathy, Stacy, Jillian, me, Kimberly, Rebecca, Denisa
Photo by Bonnie Britz |
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Kimberly, Denisa, Jillian, Heather, Rebecca, me, Cathy, Jenny, Stacy
Photo by Bonnie Britz |
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Yummy!
RSV Photo |
We ate delectable finger food - turkey & arugula sandwiches, ham & cheddar biscuits with Grey Poupon (fancy!), watermelon, mini fruit pies, and meringues. Rebecca even made the biscuits from scratch!
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| Photo by Bonnie Britz |
After our parlor picnic - guess what I did?
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| That's right - more sewing! :p |
When I finally got to a point where I could try it on, I had to change. I wanted my new dress to fit over my new bodiced petticoat, so I needed to put that on first. Unfortunately changing in and out of Regency clothing can be a bit of an ordeal. :p But I found someone to help me, and got the bodice fitted. Then I continued to sew for a while in my undergarments. I believe at this point I was adding the buttons.
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As you do.
Photo by Bonnie Britz |
After I tried it on again and got the hem pinned, I took another break from sewing and changed back into my white dress again for a quick archery lesson outside in the sweltering heat. Stacy was kind enough to teach me how to use her longbow, and to take these pictures for me:
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| Look, I hit the target! :D (Ignore the three other arrows sticking in the ground.) |
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| Jenny was totally my cheerleader and reticule-holder. :p |
I shot a total of eight arrows, one of which hit the target, two others hit the stump behind the target and bounced off, and the rest hit the grass and probably startled some poor worms. :p But it was much too hot to continue the exertion, so we retired again to the library and had another Horatio Hornblower viewing party! I continued sewing until it was time to dress for dinner.
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| I had the chair by the lamp, which I only vacated to take this picture. Then it was back to sewing. |
Are you sensing a theme to this post? :p
For dinner, I wore my
Green Sari Open Robe over the Apron-Front Gown. I left off the chemisette, and switched the shoe clips to my Chelsea green flats.
Probably my favorite part of my evening ensemble would have to be my new turban.
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| Do you love it? I know I do! |
I bought the turban - along with the fabrics for both my Yellow Sprigged Dress and my pink bedgown, my new shoe clips, and the cameo and rhinestone brooches I wore throughout the weekend - from
Julie Rockhold's recent sale. The turban was made by Julia Nelson, who I know nothing about. :p But isn't it lovely?
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Bonnie liked my turban a little bit. :p
RSV photo |
These are Bonnie's photos of my awesome turban:
And she was kind enough to take these for me on my camera:
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| I love how my hair looks, but I hate how the chemise is showing in the back. :( |
Dinner was - once again - delicious! We had beef prime rib, roasted potatoes, carrots cooked in the Dutch fashion (which according to Kimberly means "with lots of butter!"), stuffing balls, squash pudding, rolls, and lemon cream for dessert.
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| Did I mention we dined like kings? |
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| Jenny and me with our coordinating cameos - I got a lot of mileage out of that brooch! |
After dinner there were more games of Whist, but it was my turn to help with kitchen cleanup. Then several people changed into comfy clothes for more Hornblower, and in my case - you guessed it...
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| More sewing! I was hemming at this point, and *so* close to the finish line! |
When I finally finished my dress, it was nearly midnight. But since we were leaving in the morning, I had to seize one last opportunity to write a letter by candlelight to my darling husband who was missing me all weekend.
Then I dragged my weary (but happy) self off to bed. I never wanted this fantastic weekend to end!
