You'll never guess what I did this morning after I got up! Before I did any Feast prep (and there is still some to do), I ordered this year's advent calendar from Breyer!
They'd posted their holiday items on Wednesday and I had been hoping they'd have a new advent calendar rather than a repeat of a past year (which has happened before.) When I saw it was a new one, I didn't even hesitate - I popped that calendar into my cart and paid for it then and there.
I'm not a big collector of Mini Whinnies, but I really like opening a door every day through December 24 and setting up a little scene as the Christmas season progresses.
I wasn't as quick to order Hot Cocoa, the 2024 Christmas Pony. Mittens (2023) and Kohl (2022) were both vintage molds plus they came with blankets. (I have a small blanket collection thanks to Susan Bensema Young who got me started collecting them!)
I like Hot Cocoa, she has a blanket, and her mold is growing on me, but she's not a vintage mold. Since the other Christmas ponies are still available, I think I will wait until Hot Cocoa goes on sale and then make my decision.
Back to Feast prep...
Thursday I needed to be out at Fort Ouiatenon early. The woman who'd bought my panniers was the opera singer I'd mentioned a few days ago and she was performing several times that morning. (Thursday and Friday are School Days and teachers bring their classes out on field trips. There are demonstrations and performances just for the kids to teach them about Indiana's history.)
Audrey had just bought a sacque back gown and needed help getting dressed. (As she said to me as I pinned her into her stomacher, "I see now why women had someone to help them dress in the 18th century!" True words!)
Leslie had had a huge sale of clothing she's worn over nearly 50 years of reenacting, and the gown was from that sale. And, it turned out to be one that my mother had made.
I can tell my mom's handiwork almost every single time I see it, and as I pinned Audrey's gown onto her, I became more and more certain that I was working on something my mom had sewn. I asked Leslie later if the gown Audrey had bought was made by our mom and yes, it was.
It's always nice to have a connection to our mom, especially at Feast. She was a major part of it for decades (one of the founders) and it's nice to have something she did still present there.
Thursday was a bright sunny morning with and there was very little traffic so I decided to make a quick video of the grounds as I arrived.
I love Fort Ouiatenon. It is so pretty throughout the day regardless of the time of year. While the hustle and bustle of the Feast of the Hunters' Moon brings it back to its 18th century life, I think I like it best when no one else is there and it is quiet and so, so peaceful.
After I got Audrey dressed and she headed off to the stage, I got started on unpacking my tubs and hanging up the clothing.
Making order out of chaos!
Because I am going to have the walker with me and will need room in the tent to accommodate it, I did a tighter table configuration than I have in the past - no more walking behind the tables; they are butted up to the tent walls.
My dad is represented at the Feast, too. He made that blue tabletop clothing rack for us years ago.
He also made the dark brown one against the tent wall on the left.
The light colored one with the red cloak was a gift from a reenacting friend who also made (and gifted) the chairs that Lisa and I use.
I had several folks drop in to say hello as I unpacked and set up, so I did not finish as much as I'd hoped. But it's good to see friends and I had the time to chat, time that I won't have once Feast begins on Saturday.
Today is the second day of School Days and Lisa and her colleagues are bringing their students out. I won't be open for business - I'm not demonstrating anything, but I will chat with them and maybe even walk (um, ROLL) around the grounds for a bit with them.
I will also take the maple cakes out this morning. I have three boxes and they are heavy. I won't set them out for sale, but I don't want to haul those out to my tent tomorrow, either. Cars will not be allowed on the grounds then, and with their weight coupled with my walking issues, I need to drop them off today while I can still park by my tent.
I inventoried them yesterday and I have 225 maple cakes for the weekend. Next week, I am going to do the October Give Away, and the way to enter will be to guess if you think I sold all those maple cakes or if I had some left.
That's just a heads up - please don't start commenting yet. But be thinking about it!
Off to go out to Fort Ouiatenon and finish setting up! And pin Audrey into her gown again! And meet Leslie and Rick to borrow a small table! And...
