Lovely Lottie gives gifts!

I spent some time with my costuming group this past weekend and Lottie, who had recently spent some time in Colonial Williamsburg, brought wonderful gifts!  Shirley and I both got some amazing smelling soaps (I can’t decide if I will use it or keep it in mint condition).  Then Lottie gave Shirley an antique monogramed hanky and I got a fabulous cabinet card.

Except for the big bow at the back of the neck, I like this outfit.  I think the floral bit is supposed to look like a full shirtwaist under a jacket but is probably a fake one.

It reminds me of an Edwardian dress I saw in a house museum this past weekend.  It had a similar effect.

Basically, the shoulder detail sewn on top of a fake shirtwaist.

The poor thing is in rough shape-especially the collar- and there are a few mistakes with how it is displayed (sitting in direct sunlight with a 1950’s hat on top). I couldn’t tell without pulling at it if the collar as displayed incorrectly (laying flat on the shoulder instead of wrapped around an imaginary neck) because of incorrect display or because it was in such sad shape.  It was light grey silk (Looks like a short man’s tie) and it had started to shatter.

I could see what it was supposed to look like and I think it was quite pretty in it’s day.  I like the shades of grey and the layered effect very much.

Button buys

It was a whirlwind weekend with lots of action that made it fly by.  On Saturday I had an orientation so that I can start volunteering officially at Dalnavert Museum later on in the month.  After that I went to a gathering for my nephews who have started a heavy metal band and were wanting to play in front of people.  Though it sounded like noise to me, I did appreciate the skill required and could see how people who like that crap music would like it.  Then there was supper at an out door café.  It was too hot for me (36 Celsius  98 Fahrenheit) and I couldn’t eat.  All I could do was pray it would be over soon.  Sunday was church, lunch at my sister-in-laws and then the kids and their significant others joined us for dinner and a games night.  Whew! busy!

It all started off on Friday night when my costuming buds and I met at the costume museum’s button sale.  As a volunteer, I was able to pre shop and I came home with quite the haul!  Shirley, Lottie and I went for coffee afterwards and ooo’d and awed over each others scores.  This is what I got…

Three large brass buttons

6 smaller matching buttons

8 metal buttons

1 Blurry close up.

16 matching metal buttons

Less blurry close up

A jar of bone buttons.

A tea cup full of buttons. In this case, I was more interested in the tea cup than the buttons.

Ooooo!

Meh.

For the find of the day….

A box of jet buttons.

Very few match.

But there is a few pairs.

And some are close enough that from far away, they’d be fine.

Some weren’t jet but I still liked them anyway!

Doors Open 2018: Ross House

Neither Lottie nor Shirley have seen Ross house and it had been some time since I had last seen it, so we decided to make that our second stop on our Doors Open outing. 

This little house was fairly grand in its day and was the first post office in the area.

There were a few people from a group that is interested in the early Selkirk Settlers.

Here are some of my favorite things in this little house.

There was a lovely lilac tree in bloom (my all time favorite flower) so I decided to take a picture of Lottie and Shirley and play with my photo app.

It’s like I am Van Gogh!

At this point we were hot and hungry.  Our big plans for a picnic on the grounds disintegrated in favor of eating in my air conditioned car!  This proved a good move as it gave us the strength in see one more venue.  7 Oaks House.

We have been to this house a few times. The little porch is nice.

If only I could draw…(wink wink…)

I liked the door bell.  You pull down on the lever…

…and the bell on the other side rings.

Just inside the door is this holder with this nice parasol/umbrella with the metallic handle.

I had been chatting with a friend on Facebook and we were talking about our favorite dish patterns. We both had to look up photos of each others favorite. When I walked into the room of the house, there was the pattern my friend had mentioned! I hope she gets to the house to see it for herself!

Next post will be about how I spent my Sunday for Doors Open.

Doors Open 2018: Kildonan Cemetery and Church

In the past few years, I have volunteered at the old jail for Doors Open.  This year I decided to change it up.

On the Saturday my costume group, Truly Victorian, went to 3 venues.  And on Sunday I volunteered at Dalnavert House museum.

The cemetery and church was the first stop.  Lottie and I went in 1840’s attire and Shirley was in later styles.   

Of course when one goes to an old cemetery, one wants to see old graves.

There are the sad ones of dead babies.

The ones that reveal family tragedies.

The above stone shares of one man’s losses. His 24 year old wife died Feb 21, 1890.  Six days later, their daughter died at only 45 days old.  4 years prior, they lost a 12 day old baby girl.

There are the stones that make you angry. Like this repaired one. There were several like this that possibly fell victim to vandals.

And there are the ones that are creative and beautiful.

The church, built in 1852, is under restoration at this time but we were allowed to go in and see it.

The balcony was off limits as it is no longer safe.  But the main floor, in spite of needing a little TLC is in good shape.

The stain glass, which was added in the 1920’s, was my favorite.

And of the 4 of them, this was my favorite both in terms of the picture itself and because I recognize the Henderson name as I lived a few blocks from a street named after that family.  And on Henderson, there is a church named after the pastor that originally founded this church, John Black.

When we were done looking at the interior of the church, we walked around the exterior to see the work that had been done.

On the right side of the photo you see the west side wall still covered in stucco. The left side of the photo shows the north wall with the stucco removed and the tyndall stone revealed.

For those of you who liked to be a bit grossed out, I have to show you what I saw next to the door on my way out of the church.

Dozens of Lady Bugs.

I used to like Lady Bugs but last year they introduced an Asian variety to our city in hopes of controlling aphids.  Those little devils bite.  I can’t tell if these are the Asian ones or the nice kind but even the nice kind are gross in huge bunches!

 

How did you celebrate the Queen’s birthday?

My group, Victorian at Heart, launched our costuming season this past Victoria Day.  We dolled ourselves up and headed out to Lower Fort Garry to tour and take photos.

Here is Shirley in her lovely plaid ensemble.  Love the jaunty hat!

Lottie is in a lovely golden print. She had fabulous curls under her hat!

These lovely ladies were not to proud to shake the hands of the day maids.

I wore my 1861 Señora dress.  I left off the jacket because it was just too hot.

I had fun with my phone afterwards, playing with filters and frames.

The highlight of the day was the dance in the men’s quarters.

And after a little of the Governor’s rum (aka iced tea) I took a twirl on the dance floor too. 

 

 

Goin’ out Edwardian style

I had my first event in Edwardian Fashions.  I finished the Trumpet Skirt I was working on and paired it with my shirtwaist made from a table cloth and wore it to the Urban Gallery display at the Museum of Man and Nature.  Lottie was also in Edwardian fashions and Shirley came in modern clothes and played “photographer”.  Here are some of the highlights…

You can almost see the authentic Edwardian belt buckle in this photo.  You can’t see the pin stripes in the skirt at all!

In a lot of my photos, my shirtwaist was riding up under my left arm and my hat had slipped WAAAAY back.  Sigh.  And I looked in the mirror before we started!

The dummy behind the counter had a similar shirtwaist on as the dummy in front of the counter!

Lookin’ for the laudanum and found the laxatives instead.

Lottie’s hat is the best! She took apart 3 hats to make this baby!

Time to play the harlot!

Then it was time to go home and play with the photographs.

Weekend joy

This past weekend is how I envision my dream life.  My retired life?  It was fun and productivity in things I enjoy doing.

I had visits with my two children…always a plus for me!

I had a costume event with Shirley.  We went to Dalnavert Museum where they hosted a Dracula theme exploration of the house.  I don’t have pictures because the house was darkened and photographs were not permitted (because it would ruin the experience of the others at the event) but I did get one of us at the coat check/bar.

Shirley went 1890’s which suits the house and I went 1880’s because the color suited the Dracula theme.

 

Sunday, I bought new fabric because the fabric I planned to use for my next project was insufficient.  Love excuses to amass more stuff for my hoard. And unusually, this time I am starting a new project because I finished one.  I have a corset cover now.  I had to adapt a pattern that I borrowed from Shirley as it simply would not contain the girls.

I am pleased with the result.  My mannequin, Trudy, is wearing a blood red corset and you can not see it.

I really needed the corset cover because of my Edwardian shirtwaist.  To much skin would show…even by modern standards!  And the cover does the trick.

All in all, a productive and fun weekend!

PS I did not kill my dog.  I was training my son on how to give her insulin and was so busy talking I could not remember actually measuring, checking and rechecking that I had the right amount in the needle.  Tense night as I worried that I had over dosed her!  Turns out I did fine.  I just didn’t remember doing it!

Out and about…at least my body was!

Victorian at Heart went to the old fort for our end of summer outing.

Shirley wore 1850’s, Lottie wore early 1860’s, I wore early 1870’s (which I ran around telling everyone was late 1860’s) but, look at  the expression on my face…. I was quite clearly strung out from the excessive heat.  I forgot the icepacks I usually wear under my hats to keep my brain functional.

In spite of the heat, it was a pleasant afternoon wandering around looking at things.  The big house, which is the highlight of the place, was shut down for renovations which was too bad. But the smaller houses were charming as were the workers.

Here are a few of the better shots.  Please excuse all the crazed, uptight expressions I am sporting.

Video montage…

Hope this works…. A game of Graces.

A game of hula-hoops

A game of button spinny thingy(?)

Picnic in the park

In spite of my procrastination on Saturday, I did manage to get my crap together and was prepared for my outing on Sunday. We went to Birds Hill Park for a photo shoot at the old Kudlowich Farmstead.

It was built in the 1930’s but has crumbled to the point of “looking the part” for our purposes.

I wore 1840’s, Shirley wore 1850’s and Lottie wore 1860’s.

A nosy neighbor shot…

Then we went to the barn.

The path between the barn and the house made for some nice shots.

After the photoshoot, when went to the picnic areas.

Shirley got her birthday gift.

And Lottie got her REALLY LATE Christmas gift!

Then we played games before heading home.