I intentionally made it a little "nicer" than my first one, in order for this one to be my "Sunday Dress".
My most recent sewing project was another 1860's day dress... I intentionally made it a little "nicer" than my first one, in order for this one to be my "Sunday Dress".
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Did you like that plethora of "P's"? I do try and aim to please... Anyhow--Hello there!!! I know it has been a while since I have posted anything at all on here, last December I believe it was! Well, life has been busy, whether I could tell you what all has happened in that time or not...One thing I can tell you, is that Savannah got married in April! Most of you probably know that, and were probably even there!! (Which by the way, it was so wonderful to see so many of you!) But, not to disappoint those to whom this fact was not familiar, I am not blogging about that big and beautiful event today...Though I hope to soon. Today I am posting a postscript to a previous person's post... Racheal and I spent this past weekend at a Civil War reenactment--which some of you know, and some of you don’t. However, since she always does such a good job of recounting things, rather than writing my own post in which I entirely repeat most of what she has said, I will encourage you to read her post first (if you haven’t already), and then to read my own added personal commentary below. What I have written springboards off of her account of things, so if you don’t read hers first, my post will not make complete sense.…Isn’t that lazy of me? :D Starting my commentary at the beginning: Yes, Michigan for the first time…It is always interesting to go to new places!! It was not too different from other places in the country, but did have its own uniqueness’s. I am so glad that we were able to pick up Miss K. and take her with us…The Navigator (me) only made one boo-boo when trying to find the road that she lives off of…but that wasn’t entirely my fault, as the internet search gave me a number instead of a name, and the road signage actually displays a name…it is annoying how roads have both so often! So anyway, we ended up going all the way through town, when it became evident that we had missed the road, so I called K. and she gave us the road name, and we were quickly able to retrace our steps and end up at her house! When it came to hauling out her things to the truck, I am afraid that Racheal and I were rather rude and carried most of it out ourselves, even though her brothers were prepared to do it…Oops. It was indeed a sad and disturbing discovery to find the majority of our tent poles virtually useless upon our arrival! I am glad that we had duct tape, and even more glad that we thought of using it!! :D I didn’t do too much to be helpful I guess…I did line up a couple of the poles ready for taping, and held a few ends while they were getting taped, AND I fed Racheal sweet potato chips as she worked…that counts for something!! :) Oh yes, and I took pictures, which I knew Racheal would be needing for her blog post... I also kept adjuring the sun, “Don’t sun on me!” as I had a painful sun-burn from the day before (it didn’t work though, so I just tried to keep my limbs in the shade!). Putting the final touches on Abigail’s dress Thursday night was rather a team effort, everybody did some part or other on getting the bows done; I ended up ironing Mrs. K.’s dress and Grace’s…Unfortunately, I do not remember much about Ethan’s speech either…and I didn’t get to hear it Friday. I did hear Grace and K.’s spiel, and Abigail’s and part of Andrew’s, but none of the rest of them, or any of the other presenter’s presentations. I was disappointed not to be able to visit the other presentations that took place, but I think it was the right thing for us to help out Mrs. Jackie…I was able to aid her with a few customers when she was busy dealing with others, though I was mostly just a watcher, making sure that no undisciplined hands slipped any little nick-knacks into their pockets… It was rather interesting to aid a stranger in such a personal way, a new experience, but not a bad one. I found Pastor Weaver’s lecture on Friday night very informative…though I would probably get more out of it if I heard it again…I was tired, but poor K., she was really tired--I offered her my shoulder or my lap to lay her head on, but she resolutely held out… I very much enjoyed the music that was played Friday night at the K.’ s house…As Racheal related, she joined in with the K.’s in eating their meal, but Miss K. and I not being hungry, just stayed in repose where we were at. Mrs. W., a friend of the K.’s was playing hymns on Luke’s accordion…I do not think I have ever heard an accordion in real life before—it is such a neat instrument…it looks like it would be fun to play, though challenging to learn! Anyhow, she probably played for at least 30 minutes, and I enjoyed it very much. As she was playing, one of her daughters was sitting in the chair behind her, and the little dear was so tired that she sat there dozing with her thumb in her mouth, and then she just plunked over, fast asleep! Saturday morning we went to the train station, ridding with Abigail and Grace. K. and I were left in charge of paying for our train tickets, while the other girls scurried around the corner to get set up and begin playing music as soon as possible. So between us, we forked out the $75 dollars, received our five tickets, and then went ‘round the corner to join our companions. Since we couldn’t join in on the music (no instruments), we took a seat on a nearby bench and listed, and watched the surrounding goings on… Now what I have failed to mention up to this point, is that during this entire event, I was (and as it so happens, I am continuing to be) plagued with the fairly severe allergies I tend to get every Spring. So, I would find myself at diverse times and sundry places sneezing in succession, upwards of six times per dose (rarely singularly), and then having to deal with the inevitable consequences, while quite often with my eyes watering so severely that I could not see! I took with me and used, every handkerchief I own! Well at least the practical ones…I have never quite understood how ladies are supposed to be able to get by with these pretty little dainty things that don’t suffice for anything but one ferocious exhale! What’s further, is that I cannot take drugstore allergy medication, as the time I took it, it gave me side effects of muscle weakness and an equilibrium problem (if I am recalling those specific side effects correctly, it has been a year ago….). So anyway, at the train station, I asked K., “Do I look too much like I have been crying?” (That is an embarrassing side of allergies, if you are in between sneezing sessions!) She said I didn’t look too bad, but basically said that even if I did, it was alright, it was just because my soldier boy was going away on the train, so I had a right to be crying! That made me laugh! :D The gentleman who had been standing by when we bought our tickets came around after a while, and returned our money, since the musicians were part of the entertainment of the event, and thus received their tickets free…I told him that K. and I were not assisting on that front, and if he should not like us to at least pay for our two tickets, but he did not want to take our money for even those…He jokingly said that we would just had to sing on the train instead…which we actually did end up doing!! :) The train ride itself was absolutely enjoyable…I have never been on a train before…I most enjoyed seeing from the windows the dark green of the foliage and the bright purple and white flowers that grew wild along the track, and the few glimpses of fields that were seen now and again, though most of the view was of town. There was one elderly couple sitting out on the front porch of their farm house who waved at the train at it's coming and going...that was a sweet sight...I didn't wave at all the people at the train crossings and along the roads who looked on and waved on our way out of town, but on our way back I smiled and waved out of the window with my handkerchief (which I was very careful not to drop!) I figured that I might as well be friendly! :) There was a skirmish, and the train stopped on the tracks…At some point I went to the open space "between cars" where one could lean out of the side of the train…Racheal was here, and Abigail snapped a few pictures. We were hanging out the “window” thoroughly enjoying ourselves, and when I looked back I saw that someone was holding a Bonnie Blue flag out of one of the windows from the car behind, and I said something along the lines of “Look, the Bonnie Blue!”, and we began to sing The Bonnie Blue Flag. As we did so General Lee and some of his men passed by, and commented upon it…Then there was the Confederate deserter, who was trying to pass for girl…and he did it terribly. I was able to inform the Captain and General Lee himself in which direction this fellow had gone. As Racheal related, they arrested one of the Yankee girls who was trying to help the man escape…The others who were helping the deserter were arrested and taken away by The Marshal once we arrived at the train station. Once we were unloaded from the train, and Abigail’s run-in with the Yankee’s was past, we (the K. girls and the three of our group) were all sitting on, or standing near, a piece of track equipment (or whatever it was, I observantly took time to notice what I was sitting down upon, as you can see...), waiting for something to happen, as we knew that it was scheduled to…However, the heads popping out of the bushes directly beside us were truly surprising! We unfortunately found ourselves behind the Yankee lines, and dropped to the ground as soon as the shooting started…As has been related, Andrew was killed right in front of us, and even before Racheal mentioned it, I knew that she was thinking of going for his revolver…I told Grace, who was directly beside me, to warn Racheal not to do so, as there were Yankee’s coming up on our right who would shoot her! However, the message did not get relayed, so I am therefore very glad that Racheal observed the blue coats for herself before taking what would have likely been a fatal charge! As more Yankee soldiers poured into the little space where we were huddled, one wearing a golden cross about his neck (whom I at first thought to be a priest) said in an pressing tone, “I can get you ladies to safety if you will follow me!”, thinking that the wisest course of action, we prepared to follow him, when he said, “Wait!” So as we still sat huddled, he peered over the bushes looking for an opportune lull, and when one came, he gave the cry of “Follow me! Run!” (as has been previously relayed), and we all took off after him and into the depot to which he led us and which was also doubling as a hospital. I found this happening enjoyable in a way, aside from its reflection of the severity of war…It was neat that we were able to, unwittingly as it started out, be part of the scenario for the benefit of the spectators… On the way back to camp from the train station we stopped for ice and water…I volunteered to hold both flats of water upon my lap…that was fine, except every time Abigail turned a corner, I became what we call in our house, a “slingy”…And I believe that I made some sort of comment regarding how I would hate to perpetually be of such spacious, uncontrollable size… After that we watched the battle…we found a fairly good spot for that, and though it was rather short, and as Racheal said, didn’t go as “scripted”, as far as a reenactment goes, I believe that it was a “good” battle. At one point, the Confederates where kneeling behind the fence, and were ordered to fall back…and I remember seeing Ethan (I believe it was), who appeared to be at that moment in the middle or reloading his revolver, and thus he had to gather up all the pieces and fall back in the process…that struck me as interesting as it seemed to show a candid moment of what it would have really been like for the soldiers of the day, which spectators might not necessarily consider…Those older revolvers do seem to be rather cumbersome to load, and to have to do so in the thick of battle... Racheal the "gun nut"…she calls herself that, so I am not being offensive here! :) It was nice of Luke to let her fire off his revolver afterwards. I like guns too, but I knew that she was having an absolute “blast” (you can be sure that this was probably one of the highlights for her!), so I didn’t mind that she didn’t share the privilege! :D The dance was generally enjoyable…the temperature had cooled down to a quite comfortable one, and there was a decent breeze as well. There was one fellow I didn’t like, but the others I danced with I did not mind. The caller was good I thought, and I found it rather interesting and almost amusing the way that he at times would sort of “sing” the dance steps to the tune of the music! I had never heard a caller do that before… Racheal was having fun ribbing K. about her “admirers”…She is a pretty lass, and I can’t blame folks for thinking so! But sometimes Racheal can be excessively amused…. :D On Sunday morning, as Racheal recounted, we drove into town for church…in our 1860’s regalia. I was extremely warm and extremely snufflely, but thankfully narrowly escaped punctuating the sermon with sneezing…One of the most terrible things about this allergy stuff, it that I cannot very well sing—and for someone who sings all the time, that is very hard! After the service and lunch, Racheal, K. and I returned to the park, just in time to catch the battle. But firstly, when we pulled in, we noticed smoke where it oughtn’t be, as did one of the spectators who happened to be walking by just then…Having turned the situation over to us, he continued on his way, but I am glad that he stopped and noticed it, as it helped direct our gaze in that direction as well… Racheal ran to tell Jackie, whose camp site it was near, and K. brought water from our campsite, and we wetted it, putting out the flame. The fire had “broken out” whether from a spectator’s discarded cigarette butt or from malicious deliberation, right between two trees in a space containing underbrush (which incidentally contained as I recall, current bushes among other foliage I recognized…) and the neighbor's stack of extra firewood. The wood was nearly all blackened…Racheal zipped off in the truck to go and get more water from the spigot at the other side of the park…as she sped away I queried after her why she was going so fast, as the fire was under control, though of course she couldn't hear me…but away she sped, and as I learned upon her return she had spilled my tea (and the plantain salve) in her haste! Not just tea, but Yerba tea, which had been helping me somewhat in subduing my allergies…but, I survived without it for the rest of the day…my secondary concern was that it was all over the seat, and I had a light colored skirt to ride home in! However, that problem was also overcome by the heat within the vehicle drying out the dampness, and by my sitting upon a dark colored petticoat for the rest of the day! :) I moved all the wood over into the circle of ash that had been the neighbor’s fire ring from the night before, just in case there were any coals in the wood yet, and then doused the area again and more thoroughly with the extra water Racheal had brought, to ensure that no more coals were left. When we were done I had charcoal on my hands, and I mentioned something to K. about really looking the part of someone living in camp! :) As Racheal cleaned up the tea mess as best she could, she sent K. and I on ahead, as we could hear the battle beginning--on our way we stopped and told Jackie that we had taken care of the fire, and there was nothing to worry about… It was interesting how they destroyed all of the Confederates with that one final volley…right after the announcer was talking about how whole towns would be wiped out during the war, when all the men would join up together, all be in the same unit, and all be killed in one battle…. After changing and breaking down our camp we returned to the gathering of folks we had left in the morning…we were a little late, but not extremely. During such presentations I earnestly try to respectfully keep my seat, but I had to temporarily remove myself in order to clear my sinuses and to wash my face, which did honestly help my condition immensely… Racheal had the jolliest time chasing about after Isaac later that afternoon, and I was able to catch him once myself…She is my sister, so if you are running from her, you had better watch out for me too! Anyway, though it would have been fun to stick around longer, I kept reminding Miss Rooster (which title it later occurred to me, is quite an oxymoron…) that we needed to get K. home…So eventually we pulled away after hearty goodbyes, ‘till next times, and waves, and were on our way South. Though Racheal did not really crash Monday, I did; but yesterday morning I helped Mom clean up the Grandparent’s apartment a little. I straightened up in the back a bit, and then vacuumed the whole floor. After lunch I managed to get a double row of green beans planted in the garden, as well as a few pepper plants, and a number of tomato plants. After playing with the kittens for a while, and slightly aiding in Racheal’s bee adventure, I went in, cleaned up, and took the rest of the afternoon easy. Today, I have not done much…I helped Racheal pick strawberries, and I need to go get busy cleaning some! Until next time, Katherine
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