Feast Saturday: Short & Sweet

Ever heard the phrase, "bright eyed and bushy tailed" to describe someone who's just gotten up and is ready to start their day?

That would not be me this morning. I am worn out and really don't want to move. But, that's for good reasons. Yesterday was a very successful and extremely busy day.

My period clothing sold very well. And despite the unexpected heat (mid 80s!), I even sold a cloak! (The weather at an event can influence what sells, and so I did not think I'd sell any cloaks or toques. And I did not sell a single toque.)

My new tent configuration significantly cut down the walking I'd done in the past, and that was a real boon. While I did still need to help customers, I could sit far more than I usually do at events, and that was helpful.

With the heat, the busyness, and all, I only took a few photos. Frank and Lisa spent the day at the Fort, popping in and out to give me breaks or to sit down themselves. (Lisa's riding habit is wool and she was quite hot.)

I did get a photo with Audrey, the opera singer. I helped her with her clothes on Thursday and Friday's School Days, and in the process, we have become friends. (I did finally tell her that I, too, had sung opera. It was a nice connection.) 

Hot, tired, and happy and heading home.

I may be too tired to write tomorrow, so don't worry if you don't see a blog entry Monday morning. But I'll be back on Tuesday for sure.

Stay 'tooned!

Feast: Friday School Day

Yesterday was Feast School Day, and about 3,000 kids and their teachers were walking around the grounds attending demonstrations and learning about Indiana history.

I was there but not demonstrating anything; I was finishing setting up my wares.

Some of the blackened beeswax ornaments are out on display.

Men's shirts and fabric remnant bundles, ready to go.

Two jars for maple cakes, one on my little desk and the second by the feathers in the back, towels, toques, pin pillows, hussifs, and the cash box with my pewter mug peeking out. (I'll pour any cokes that I drink during Feast into my pewter mug and tuck the can out of sight - no one will know it's 21st century coke that I'm drinking!)

Chemises, aprons, bed gowns, short gowns, cloaks, bum rolls, panniers, and pockets. That tent wall will be opened up fully tomorrow so people can come and go more easily. 

Yesterday the 4th grade teachers from Lisa's school had their kids at the Fort for School Day. Brock, Nick, Brooke, Lisa, and Vinny.

Our dear living history friends (and fellow horse lovers), Carol and Frank Jarboe were still setting up Scoundrel's Alley but took time for a selfie.  Carol usually interprets Maggie, who is an indentured servant, to Frank's Parson John. But not tomorrow. He's playing The Ould Badger at Scoundrel's Alley. She will be Maggie, but not as an indentured servant and thus dressed more nicely than usual to reflect that.

John is an ordained minister in his 21st century life and he always leads the church services Sunday mornings at events.

A real plus of School Day was running into two very dear colleagues from Hershey, the school where I taught. They had brought their classes out and I was lucky enough to bump into them.

Jocelyn, me, and Sarah. Two of the best of the best when it comes to teaching.

Along with them was another fourth grade teacher from Hershey, but one I did not know.

Lisa sure did! It was her former student teacher who is now teaching with Jocelyn and Sarah! (Lisa says she is an outstanding teacher as well. Lucky Hershey!)

My new sign's up, and I'm ready to go. Time to go immerse myself into 18th century life. 

Family Connections at the Feast

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.

My dad never participated in the Feast, but he always supported his family in whatever they loved. Go here to read how he supported me in my life long love of horses. And that is only the beginning of the story of his support of my love for horses!

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... 

Stay 'tooned! 

Loopy Lynn & the Tent Raising

Wednesday's set-up did not go as planned. Not at all. 

But thanks to Craig, Curt, and Vanessa, plus some delivery work by Leslie and Rick, my tent is up.

It took a village, for sure!

And I am grateful for mine.

I did not help one bit; I just answered a few questions about placement and the rest of the time I sat on my walker and watched the tent rise. I had started a new prescription that morning, and boy howdy, it knocked me for a loop. That caution on the bottle "May cause drowsiness" wasn't kidding - I went home, laid down, and slept for three and a half hours!

I can even tell in these pictures that I am feeling the effects of the medication.

Because I was so out of it, Craig, Curt, and Vanessa also set up my two tables inside the tent and then put my tubs on them so they would be ready for me when the pill wore off. But after that surprise extended nap, I never made it back to the grounds. 

Instead, I loaded all the clothing I've made into my car (seven trips up and down the stairs, but I got it all in the car!) and will be heading out this morning to put things in order.

I did send a note to my doctor about the effect that that new prescription had on me. And this morning when I got up I only took a quarter of the pill instead of the whole thing. I don't have time right now to be so out of things like that.

Tents were mushrooming all over the grounds yesterday. Today even more will be going up, and Friday will be a madhouse as final set-up is done. 

The official Feast 2024 map. The red arrow points to my tent and the blue to Leslie's. 

And this the key to that map - it's so full of participants, it's almost unreadable, so here's a link to it online. Scroll past the map to see the key. (Which is so big, I couldn't get it all into a screen shot, either.) Take a look at all those different things that will be there - what a variety!

Despite yesterday's hiccup for my own set-up, I am in good shape this morning and should have everything set up in two hours, maybe three. And then, I will be heading into town.

My new sign is ready and I am going to pick it up. I can't wait!

Stay 'tooned!

 

Touring, Pleating, Singing, & Jingling

Want to get a scope of just how large the grounds of The Feast of the Hunters' Moon are and how big the event will be? Check out this video that was taken yesterday. And then imagine all that open space filled in with tents and tens of thousands of people. (Usually 40,000 to 60,000 over the two days of the event.)

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1707386966741109

Today is the first day that event participants can start setting up their tents and camps. I'm heading out mid morning with Mr. Friday Night Lights and Local Son Curt to put my tent up. Leslie and Rick will be setting theirs up as well.

Because I'm using a walker much of the time, I am going to unpack my tubs in stages with lots of breaks in between. (I have until the Feast begins Saturday morning.) Lisa has offered to come out after school and help, and I'm sure Leslie will drop by. 

Despite calling it done (and it was), I did just a little more work on the robe a l'Anglaise yesterday. I decided the pleats needed to be pressed again. 

It took me almost two hours, about 175 fabric clips, and four or five steam burns before I was finished, but they look much neater and flatter.

I've said it before but I will say it again - this is the most difficult thing I have ever sewn, and I've been sewing since I started making doll dresses when I was 8!

When I finished ironing those pleats and put the gown back on the dress form, the clips jingled like the jingle cones the Miami, Wea, and Potawatomi people at the Feast sometimes wear when they dance - made me smile.

You can't hear them jingle very much in this video because of the singing and drums, but trust me, it is a beautiful and happy sound. (Each of those dresses has 365 jingle cones hand stitched to them.)

Jingle cones on a pair of my trade silver earrings. (Rick made these.)

Although the Feast hasn't begun yet, I've already sold one bed gown and possibly a second. And, a woman contacted Leslie and asked if she knew anyone who sold panniers (pocket hoops.)

Leslie knew I'd made two sets and asked me to send her pictures to pass on to the woman. 

The woman, Audrey Johnson, is an opera singer from the East Coast who tells 18th century history in song and she will be performing at Feast this weekend. I got a chance to hear her perform last year and it was engaging for kids as well as adults. (And can she ever sing!!) I hope to sneak away from my tent this year and at least hear a song or two.

You can see the pocket opening - some female re-enactors stash Hershey Bars in their pocket hoops. Not naming any names, but all three of them are mentioned frequently here on the blog...

Panniers can take a lot of room in your closet - they have plastic or reed strips in them to give them their shape. (Originally it was whalebone.)

Luckily they "deflate" and collapse down into a fairly flat bundle

that can then be flipped one side onto the other and stored on a shelf, taking up much less space.

Time is getting away from me and I need to get some things loaded into the car, the dogs walked, and run to the grocery before I head out to Fort Ouiatenon.

I did get some horses in the mail yesterday - Horatio, Outlaw, and Felix all arrived! I'll share those tomorrow if I can.

Wish me luck today - the Feast becomes very real whenever I do set up, and I can't wait!

Stay 'tooned!

In Which I Become a Milliner (Sort Of)

Second Post of the Day

Well, that first post this morning sure got us off to a maudlin start to the day, didn't it?  It was completely unplanned - I was just quickly doing my monthly file swap before I got to writing and then I got to Abby's file and I lost it. I'm feeling better now.

What I really intended to share this morning was about hats, 18th century hats! There are two in my possession, the navy feathered hat that I wore to Leslie's wedding in the 1990s and the maroon feathered hat that actually belongs to Mountain Mama Jessica but she lets me borrow.

Those hats are 30+ years old and the age and wear on them is beginning to show. Since I am actually ready for the Feast, I had some time yesterday to sit down and see if I could do a little restoration work.

The grosgrain hatband was hanging free for about a quarter of the way around the inside, so I hand stitched that back in place.

The cockade is in excellent shape despite its age and was still firmly attached to the hat.

But the feathers were a problem. I'd bought some new feathers at Hobby Lobby to replace one that was broken, but I discovered that the quality of the new feathers could not match that of the originals. The originals are much longer, very curly, and far more substantial. The two different feathers looked like apples to oranges, or actually worse - carrots to coconuts, there was such a difference between them! 

I do not want to replace those original feathers because they are so beautiful, but I have no idea where to find any to use so I can fix the broken one. Leslie, ever a great living history resource, gave me the name of the woman she considered the best milliner in the living history community and I am going to contact her for some help. (Or maybe ask her to make me a new hat.) She will not be at Feast, but she will be at Kalamazoo in March.

Jessica's hat was in better shape than mine but its cockade needed to be repaired. The original "jewel" in its center had popped out and gotten lost at an event.

I went to JoAnn's and found several possible replacements in their jewelry making section, popped one in (it fit!), and then glued it down, letting the glue cure overnight.

I haven't checked it yet this morning, and I am not sure that the glue will hold, but if there is still a problem, I have other ideas as to how to fix it.

Both hats are wool and therefore need a go-over with a lint brush. That will really improve their appearance. 

There is one more hat and that is Lisa's. It was her grandmother's (my mom's) and she wears it to honor and feel close to her.

I haven't looked at it, but I'm going to text her and see if she wants me to check it and do any repairs if they are needed.

Finally, here's a fun video from last year taken a week before the Feast. Brooke Sauter, Leslie's replacement this year as the director of the Feast (she is also the leader of the Feast Sewing Circle) is interviewed and there are videos of the grounds as the prep is going on. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=soNeH1gVWoo

(Note: Star City News claims to be from here in Lafayette, but they actually broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia. No wonder the anchor mixes up the name from "Hunters' Moon" to "Harvest Moon." Sheesh!) 

Four more days!

Filing Abby Away

First Post of the Day

October is my favorite month of the year - I love Fall. It's coupled with the anticipation of cooler weather, pumpkin-everything, the coming holidays and family gatherings... What's not to like about changing from September into October?

Well, this year it's the unexpected grief that accompanied that rollover of months. Let me explain.

Organization is one of the keys of raising a big family; I learned that long ago as our family was growing. And so I developed a digital file system to help me do just that - I have a file for each one of our kids, the dogs, Jolis Chevaux and Horsiemama's Haversacks & Mercantile, and I have one for Abby.

These files sit on my desktop with another file next to them.

The file for the month of the year we are in. 

As photos are taken or received that month, I put them into that monthly file. And when the month is over, I slide the monthly file into the general one and set up a new file for the current month.

This morning I slid Pepper's 9/24 file into the Pepper file, and moved on to the next folder.

It was Abby's.

Just the sight of that folder, still on my desktop despite the fact that she's been gone three months, was enough to make the tears start. I grabbed some tissues and then sat there looking at her file and thinking.

Maybe it was time to slide the entire Abby file into the file where I keep "finished" files (our 45th wedding anniversary celebration, Christmases, etc.)

But I just couldn't do it. Sliding her file away like that REALLY was closure, and I discovered this morning that I am not ready yet to do that. Besides, I am still going out to see Sultanna, Hokey, and Easy. I want to be able to keep a record of their lives and our interactions out at the barn.

So, I created this file.

And I moved it next to the Abby file like past Abby monthly files were kept, ready to be filled with photos of my girl.

That way her presence is still there on my computer, and her file will continue to fill with horses who lived with her and were her friends.

That felt better; that felt right. 

No doubt the day will come when I am ready to slip Abby's folder into the "finished" file with others that are over and done. But I just can't right now.

I just can't.

Another (happier) post is in progress and will be posted in just a bit.

Stay 'tooned!