The Day of the Christmas Ball

.

Months of learning to sew finally culminated in an evening of color, light, music, movement, laughter, and beautiful memories.

I had some last minute scalloping of my skirt to do that day so, early in the morning, I propped it up, hoops and all, on some bar stools in the kitchen.





And took some strips of ribbon to pin loops up. I had hoped to fasten some decorative bits of somethings over the pins, but didn't get to it. The basic skirts are meant to be changeable. The masses of women during the civil war era did not have money to buy new gowns every time there was a ball. So they were very resourceful when it came to reinventing their gowns for every occasion.





Leah graciously came by here later in the morning to do our hair together. She said she knew how to make curls last by using a straightening iron, and boy, was she right! The hair project took a couple of hours, but we emerged with ringlets set in stone.

I did get a floor-length cape made for myself. A project which took 2 and a half days and of which I forgot to take pictures, I was so busy figuring it out. I also made a frock coat for Michael, which took 2 days. There should be a photo of those coming, later. It was to be cold and snowing as we were outside, so we really had to come up with something, or not participate in some of the activities.

We stopped to drop off cookies and cups at the gym, where many were working to decorate. Those who had completed their gowns, anyhow. However, I did see several sitting on benches doing last minute sewing.

This was all such a great adventure for all of us. The excitement of anticipation, the working together, the learning of new things and working right up to the last minute, all added up to great memories and fun.

Being a woman without a licensed escort, I have experienced all three less-than-perfect versions of getting to the ball in her own pumpkin. Arriving and getting dressed there - awkward. Driving with gown on - awkard and bulky. Driving with gown AND HOOPS on - super-in-the-way-you-will-never understand-unless-you-experience-it-awkward.

So I was greatly relieved to have been offered a licensed escort to drive my car with me and another belle in it, to the ball.

I was also concerned about poor Michael. You never know how deeply you can damage the psyche of a young boy by asking him to lace up yet another corset, so the plan was for a couple of us single ladies to meet the rest at their home for help in dressing, and for being escorted to town.

Dressing took a couple of hours, what with last minute alterations.









The guys waited til the last minute to dress, playing games in the back bedroom while we all took up the main areas of the house. Michael managed to be the very last to dress.









Here is a cape Leah made out of velvet. Beautiful!









So, each car being driven by a dapper gentleman, filled with hoops and frock coats, we caravanned into town to the beautiful old Inn for caroling.

It was a very large room, dimly lit with candles and high chandeliers, so getting good photos was very challenging. Most of the shots were either washed out with flash, missing the entire beauty of the scenes, or they were too dark and blurry. But I'll try to pick out some better ones.

Here is Michael in the frock coat I pulled together last minute. Notice he still has hair at this time. He was to lose it the next evening.





As we were joined by others from our society, we created quite a stir with our period attire. It was quite fun!





This was the same Inn at which we attended the wedding reception last month. Quite elegant.





Still not too filled up yet. By the time our caroling was over, the entire Inn was standing room only.





I had so much trouble with that bodice. All it wanted to do was ride up the whole night. I suppose that was better than coming down, but I was forever trying to pull it down. It was a little on the large side and didn't fit really well, but I thought I did pretty well for a first time sewer.





Waiting to begin caroling as the rest of our society gradually arrived.









Warming up the grand piano.





And then the caroling began and I was no longer taking photos. We probably had about 30 people all together and we had such a wonderful time. The ambiance was incredible and I think it was really appreciated by the townsfolk as they wandered in from the street festivities to enjoy hot cocoa and cider, warming themselves by the fireplace.

We did have an intermission of sorts during which we walked up a block to the county courthouse where the town Christmas tree was to be lit. We arrived, escorted by our gentlemen, and candles were being passed around. We declined them, as we are still in the practicing phase of learning to maneuver while wearing truck loads of clothing. The mayor said some very Christmassy things, which we could not hear. Then song sheets were joyfully passed about, indicating two carols we would all sing together while holding our candles as occassional snowflakes gently fell.

The man who led the singing was in full form. We all started off beautifully unified, and then we noticed he was getting louder and louder, as well as increasing the tempo with each measure. It took quite a bit of work to keep up with him! We really appreciated his earnestness concerning singing songs of joy about our Savior.

Then was the lighting of the tree. Poorly timed, though, I must say. We were still finishing up the last song when a carriage with a team of horses pulled up to the courthouse and a man with a lavelier mic on his fur-lined collar began shouting something that was barely intelligable.

However, he seemed to be in good spirits, and the woman who was with him, made us realize that this pair were the characters of Father and Mother Christmas! I have little knowledge of these two, so I had no idea what was coming as they made their way through the crowd to the dark fir tree that slumbered not 10 feet away from us.

We stood in wonder as he began shouting something at the tree. Then he began walking around it, yelling, and pounding his cane on the ground. It all seemed rather pagan to us as we giggled and stole glances at one another. One last "Boogy-Boo!" with his fists raised at it and the poor tree was frightened into submission. All it's lights came on and the crowd cheered.

Father Christmas began throwing peppermints into the crowd.
And that's when I was tackled from behind.



When you are at an event such as this, participating in lovely ceremonies and dressed in period gowns, being tackled is the furthest thing from your mind. However, it was not entirely her fault. She was actually cruelly tripped by the brick edging along the walkway that was directly behind my escort and I.

Down she went, right into my hair with her lit candle. Had I not had the strong arm of my escort to cling to, I'd have ended up on my face with my hoops on the vertical. Not pretty!

As she apologized profusely and I soothed her fears with comfort and smiling wishes of "Merry Christmas" she went on her way, relieved, I'm sure, to be at the other side of the crowd. Friends carefully examining my southerly regions as the wafting aroma of burning hair floated about us. I'm sure it must have been the fine stonework of Leah, my hairdresser, that protected my locks from being a burnt offering to the tree.

We debated attending the next activity of caroling as the townsfolk made their way caroling over several blocks to commit the same deed to the tree at the local City Hall, but decided we'd better go to finish our caroling at the Inn before the church choir arrived for their segment of singing.

By this time we could hardly get in the door, or even OUT of the door when we were through. It took us nearly a half hour to gather everyone down the street at the childhood home of a famous president. As our party got split in many directions on our way, I ended up making my way through the town on foot, unescorted. I think this turned out to be one of the nicer times of the evening.

It's fun to cause a stir in a positive way. And I was not the only one to be the pleased recipient of stares and compliments along the way. My favorites were from the little girls. "Are you a princess?" They would gasp. One little one said, "You are SO BEAUTIFUL!" and I stopped and leaned down and said, "YOU are as beautiful as a princess too, inside AND out!" I was so tickled to see her chin drop and stare as I walked away down the street wishing her "Merry Christmas!"

To a little girl, anyone in a ball gown is a princess, no matter what they look like. LOL It was such a treat to see them filled with wonder.

I was also pleased with the comments that several of us heard on the street. How they loved the period wear so much, they wanted to find out how to be involved. So maybe we'll have an even bigger event next Christmas.

We all met at the Presidential Home Museum and were given free tours. I was suprised to be reminded that the house was not designed for the giant hoop skirts that were actually a short-lived fad during the middle 1800s, so we had quite a time maneuvering around each other in the old home. The actors who played the parts were wonderful as they told us about the activities of the day.

















Then we were given free tours of the classic car museum.













Then it was off to the actual ball. We were not as excited about this particular one after our Spring ball had been held at the Country Club. We thought the gymnasium off the museum was a bit drab for what we had in mind. We'd been spoiled and we had not enough money for renting the Country Club. But we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it ended up being.

Here is the frock coat design that I really want to make for Michael. This was in the hallway of the museum that attaches to the gym.





People arriving. The dark wood floors were really beautiful.









































The dance program.









When it was all done at 9:30, we were not ready to go home. We could have danced all night. So instead we decided to go walk around WalMart in our costumes. The downtown streets were empty, so no more festivities were available. Can you tell we are from a small town?

When we arrived at WalMart, we were given permission to walk around the store caroling. It was late at night, and not a lot of shoppers were there, but many stockers were out, busily working. We had a perfect amount of couples, so we were able to stroll through, about 8 pairs of us in a line, singing as we slowly walked.

Once again we were surprised at the response. In some way, the Lord used it to minister to people, touching their hearts. One woman even began crying. A couple of scrooges, hearts hardened by life's blows, were visible but, by and large, the listeners were so thankful and happy to see us. We were glad to have done it spur of the moment. You just never know what good will come of being available.

OK, I've over indulged in photos. Thanks for hanging with me through all these months of sewing and dancing. We have one more dance this evening, a New Year's barn dance. Just a casual thing amongst friends that we decided to make a costume party just for fun.

Wish us well. It is to be about 25 degrees!

~Faith

.

On Apricots

.

Perusing the growing stack of gardening magazines on my desk, my eye was drawn to the Henry Field's (I know, I KNOW!) catalog which beckoned my imaginative taste buds with the words:

Sugar Pearls Apricot - the most heavenly tasting stone fruit you can eat!
Words don’t do justice to the rich, full-bodied, sweet, golden-honey flavor of Sugar Pearls. These amazing white-fleshed apricots are unlike any fruit we’ve ever tried before, and must be tasted to be believed! The good news is, Sugar Pearls blooms much later than all other apricot varieties—so even if you were too far North to grow apricots before—now’s your chance!
Plant two for increased yields.
Ripens late June to early July.
Zones 4-7.
ORDER EARLY—SOLD OUT QUICKLY LAST YEAR!"

A semi-dwarf is 36.00.
Ouch!

This is why I have yet to have any fruit trees, though in my mind I have planned and planted, over and over again, the most beautiful orchard you have ever seen. There is lush orchard grass growing beneath every fruit tree imaginable, and several of each variety, two of each of those, of course. It is fenced so I can let the cow or horse, or even the goat or sheep in occasionally, as the mowing needs to be done. There are children sitting, hidden and giggling in the branches of the mulberries and the cherries, there are bushels filled with apples and pears, bushels filled with peaches and nectarines, picnic tables here and there for picnicking with friends, tasting of the delectable.....

.... oops, sorry.

What I have is a little piece of property that is not the best for fruit trees, and a climate that likes to give surprise late hard frosts after balmy and warm spring days; a complete enemy arsenal of fungus, mildews, rots, cankers; a veritable smorgasbord of evil borers, tunnelers, girdlers, and chewers; the epic battle of our archl nemesis, the Japanese Beetles and his larger Kamikaze brother, the June Bug; and not a lot of money to buy trees or do battle to defend them.

Yet... there is that Sugar Pearl....

I did some research, thinking, "Maybe THIS is the ONE!" I found some interesting things.

One, that what I really want to grow is CandyCots, but they are so exclusive you can't buy them; plus, the buds would be killed off with our late frosts, like most all of the varieties tantalizingly waved in front of my eyes.

Two, that they are not an apricot. (Henry Fields, I know, I KNOW!) They are a nectarine.

Three, that they do actually seem to have a good reputation for handling late frosts.

Four, that they are still ridiculously expensive. Even with the 25 dollars off, to get two (always better, no matter what they say) would be 47 dollars plus tax, shipping, and handling. Gosh, that seems like a lot of money when my future here on my land is shaky at best.

If growing apricots interests you, here are a few articles I found.

This one is a good general overview of the cultivars, according to area of the countries. http://www.oakcreekorchard.com/id82.html

Here's the lucky guy with the ability to get in on the ground floor with CandyCots. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/dining/18apricot.html

If you want to see the H.F. ad or order yourself a Sugar Pearl, here ya' go. http://henryfields.com/product.asp?pn=71546&bhcd2=1262265685

The patent on the Sugar Pearl Apricto, which tells the the real story - it's a nectarine! http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/PP17442/description.html

Still waffling between the long a and the short a on these,

~Faith

.

I hope these guys are better than the Farmer's Almanac.

.

Last year, all the rain that destroyed my garden was not predicted AT ALL by the Farmer's Almanac. I really don't want to work that hard for a failed crop again.

http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/predictions/multi_season/13_seasonal_outlooks/color/p.gif

NOAA precipitation forecast for 2010

http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/predictions/multi_season/13_seasonal_outlooks/color/t.gif

NOAA temperature forecast for 2010

~Faith

.

Wow. I love Eliot Coleman even more!

.

Eliot Coleman has been my favorite gardening hero for decades. I know very little about him personally however.

Because of this, he has been a victim of a very common, and practically inescapable, human practice of generalizing and association. Yes, I'll say it.

Gardenal Profiling!

He's a casual, laid-back, gardener from the north-east, and I have made my assumptions about him...

"Hmmmmmmmm. Probably a hippy. Probably into hippy type things. Probably a yuppy, and into yuppy type thinking, as well."

I have received a very pleasant slap on the wrist for that presumptuous judgment.

Eliot Coleman - I apologize. You are up yet another step on my ladder of gardeners most admired, maybe even two or three steps.

Read this great letter he wrote to the editor of Grist magazine, debunking the 'eating meat causes global warming' myth.

GO ELIOT!!!!

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-08-07-debunking-meat-climate-change-myth/

I am dismayed that so many people have been so easily fooled on the meat eating and climate change issue following the UN report. The culprit is not meat eating but rather the excesses of corporate/industrial agriculture. The UN report shows either great ignorance or possibly the influence of the fossil fuel lobby with the intent of confusing the public. It is obviously to someone’s benefit to make meat eating and livestock raising an easily attacked straw man (with the enthusiastic help of vegetarian groups) in order to cover up the singular contribution of the only new sources of carbon—burning the stored carbon in fossil fuels and to a small extent making cement (both of which release carbon from long term storage)—as the reason for increased greenhouse gasses in the modern era. (Just for ridiculous comparison, human beings, each exhaling about 1kg of CO2 per day, are responsible for 33% more CO2 per year than fossil fuel transportation. Maybe we should get rid of us.)

If I butcher a steer for my food, and that steer has been raised on grass on my farm, I am not responsible for any increased CO2. The pasture-raised animal eating grass in my field is not producing CO2, merely recycling it (short term carbon cycle) as grazing animals (and human beings) have since they evolved. It is not meat eating that is responsible for increased greenhouse gasses; it is the corn/ soybean/ chemical fertilizer/ feedlot/ transportation system under which industrial animals are raised. When I think about the challenge of feeding northern New England, where I live, from our own resources, I cannot imagine being able to do that successfully without ruminant livestock able to convert the pasture grasses into food. It would not be either easy or wise to grow arable crops on the stony and/or hilly land that has served us for so long as productive pasture. By comparison with my grass fed steer, the soybeans cultivated for a vegetarian’s dinner, if done with motorized equipment, are responsible for increased CO2.

But, what about the methane in all that cattle flatulence? Excess flatulence is also a function of an unnatural diet. If cattle flatulence on a natural grazing diet were a problem, heat would have been trapped a 1000 years ago when, for example, there were 70 million buffalo in North America not to mention innumerable deer, antelope, moose, elk, caribou, and so on all eating vegetation and in turn being eaten by native Americans, wolves, mountain lions, etc. Did the methane from their digestion and the nitrous oxide from their manure cause temperatures to rise then? Or could there be other contributing factors today resulting from industrial agriculture, factors that change natural processes, which are not being taken into account? It has long been known that when grasslands are chemically fertilized their productivity is increased but their plant diversity is diminished. A recent study in the journal Rangelands (Vol. 31, #1, pp. 45 - 49) documents how that the diminished diversity from sowing only two or three grasses and legumes in modern pastures results in diminished availability of numerous secondary nutritional compounds, for example tannins from the minor pasture forbs, which are known to greatly reduce methane emissions. Could not the artificial fertilization of pastures greatly increase the NO2 from manure? Might not the increased phosphorus, nowhere near as abundant in natural systems, have modified digestibility? I am sure that future research will document other contributing factors of industrial agricultural practices on animal emissions. The fact is clear. It is not the livestock; it is the way they are raised. But what about clearing the Brazilian rain forest? Well, the bulk of that is for soybeans and if we stopped feeding grain to cattle much of the acreage presently growing grain in the Midwest could become pasture again and we wouldn’t need Brazilian land. (US livestock presently consume 5 times as much grain as the US population does directly.) And long term pasture, like the Great Plains once was, stores an enormous amount of carbon in the soil.

My interest in this subject comes not just because I am a farmer and a meat eater, but also because something seems not to make sense here as if the data from the research has failed to take some other human mediated influence into account. But even more significantly, if we humans were not burning fossil fuels and thus not releasing long-term carbon from storage and if we were not using some 90 megatons of nitrogen fertilizer per year, would we even be discussing this issue?

If those people concerned about rising levels of greenhouse gasses, instead of condemning meat eating, were condemning the enormous output of greenhouse gasses due to fossil fuel and fertilizer use by a greedy and biologically irresponsible agriculture, I would cheer that as a truthful statement even if they weren’t perceptive enough to continue on and mention that the only “new” carbon, the carbon that is responsible for rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere, is not biogenic from livestock but rather anthropogenic from our releasing the carbon in long term storage (coal, oil, natural gas.) Targeting livestock as a smoke screen in the climate change controversy is a very mistaken path to take since it results in hiding our inability to deal with the real causes. When people are fooled into ignorantly condemning the straw man of meat eating, who I suspect has been set up for them by the fossil fuel industry, I am appalled by how easily human beings allow themselves to be deluded by their corporate masters.

~~~Eliot Coleman~~

Here's the book I just ordered by him.



Steak lover, signing off,

~Faith

.

Manic Busy Season is over.....?

.
At least the one that is the holiday season, anyhow.

We've had snow a few times.





And strange visitors were coming in from the cold...





Someone has been giving a Clint Eastwood imitation with a blanket I made into a poncho for my dad...





Someone got his head shaved in the wee hours of the morning after a party...





With friends...





...who love posing with Pirouette cookies...





...In support of a friend who is undergoing chemo.





ooooooh.... shiny!





An annual Tacky Party.





An annual Gingerbread House Building Party. I'm not going to hide it. Ours had significant structural problems...





But so did others'...





We had our Christmas Ball. What fun! Caroling at the old Inn...





I better make that night a whole separate post. You've all trudged through my sewing for months, and you deserve better than a single photo of the evening!

So there are a few highlights.

We have been home for the majority of days the last week, and doing homey type things.

Well, sort of. We were gone for 10 hours today on a cleaning job, for which we are very grateful. Despite the season of ho-ho-ho, we still get people wanting money in the mail box-box-box.

We began the month with the mutual decision to not have any gifts this year at all. We were actually sort of looking forward to the novelty of it, and wondering what we were going to do - not doing gifts and not having much in the way of family activities. We were going to see about spending the Christmas holiday doing some sort of service work.

However, the generosity of people in our family and in our church made this Christmas a sudden surprise of shopping for gifts. I am always amazed at how kind and loving people are to us. We were given gift cards to spend on each other, people gave us cash gifts, and we got extra jobs as well - including the one today.

So it was a quiet Christmas, but not so different than we expected. We still wanted to do a day of service on Christmas eve, but it seemed that the wind -





removed a portion of our roof - didn't my dad do an incredible job of covering it for us?





and we spent Christmas Eve instead, waiting for the insurance man to show up, as well as working on the roof,





and Michael being blessed by a gift of a bass amp he'd been needing, including extra gear and a very nice bass as well.





I feel very spoiled, Michael does too. Now he not only has a practice bass that is very nice and can use anywhere, but he also has a very nice bass that will last him a lifetime and be good for even more situations he will come across.

I had to attend a contempt of court hearing against my dh. He was found guilty and ordered to pay support or go to jail, including back pay. He refused to answer questions on the stand three times, "On the grounds I might convict myself." He was also caught not being able to prove many things he said, and took them back when pressed. He submitted false evidence, then said it was a mistake. He at first denied unfaithfulness but, after questioning, admitted to it. The judge was not very sympathetic to him or his lawyer.

The Lord continues to watch over us and take care of us. We shall continue to wait on Him and see where it all goes.

We've been having a lot of adventures, but I needed a blogging break. However, I have noticed we are rapidly approaching the new year.

And you all know what that means! Planning for the coming year's projects! We've already begun making gardening plans.

Have you started already as well?

~Faith

.