A Place to Hang One's Hat

Empty..

Full!

I am a great lover of hats. I have always liked them, especially the twenties cloche style. They are a weakness of mine, I must confess, but for ages I had nowhere to properly store them. I had them packed away up in the office closet but up there they were often neglected as I'd dash out the front door without one perched on my head. That is now a thing of the past as the fella and I designed, and then he welded, a hat rack for me. With about twelve dollars worth of metal from the metal supermarket, my hat rack came to life. It is now happily hanging behind the front door displaying and keeping all my hats within easy reach.

Women's Work

Today I came straight home from work and changed into my pyjamas as I am catching the cold that is going around here. So instead of posting a picture of my regular clothes, I'll post a few pictures of what I wear daily at work as a heritage interpreter.

Tunic Time

It's day five of the Week in Feminine Dress and here is what I'm wearing today. After work, I changed into my long denim skirt and my flowy blue eyelet tunic. My head's a bit chopped because the camera was on timer as the fella is in Seattle today.

In Bad Taste

According to my 1890's Lady's Book of Manners;

" A worsted dress on a warm day or a white one on a cold day or a light thin one on a windy day are all in bad taste.

Very fine or very delicate dresses worn in the street, or very highly ornamented clothes worn to church, are in bad taste. Very long dresses worn in muddy or dusty weather, even if long dresses are the fashion, are still in bad taste.

Deep and bright-coloured gloves are always in bad taste; very few persons are careful enough in selecting gloves.

Light shoes and dark dresses, white stockings and dark dresses, dark stockings and light dresses, are all in bad taste."

Striped Skirt and Blue Wellies

Here I am on Day Four of the Week of Feminine Dress. The sun came out today briefly, but it was still chilly out in the back garden. I'm wearing my striped skirt, green checkered blouse, and mauve sweater overtop, along with my knee socks and my blue wellies that I got in Cornwall. Ignore the funny angle - I look kind of lumpy! Eep!

Polka Dots and Puffed Sleeves

Here I am on day three of the Week of Feminine Dress pouring a cup of tea. (Ignore the dirty tea towels, they are in the wash now!) I'm wearing my new spring green linen knee length skirt I got in England, with my new puffed cap sleeve polka dot blouse. Over top I've got my black cardigan again, and the always warm black knee socks.

Pink Jumper

Here's day two of my week in feminine dress. The digital camera still hadn't made it's way home so the picture is with the cellphone once again. I'm wearing my favourite hooded pink jumper with it's double row of buttons, a spring green long sleeve tee shirt underneath, a new black linen skirt with ribbon detail, and black knee socks.

Regency Dress

Here is a better picture of the dress I wore on Sunday. This was taken at Christmastime and the hem wasn't finished yet, though you can hardly notice. The dress buttons up the back with three red buttons.

A Week of Feminine Dress

Today starts off my Week in Feminine Dress (Spring). The idea began over at the Sensibility board where we all have obsessions (okay, maybe 'enthusiasm') for the beautiful dresses and skirts of the past. We all thought that if the women back then could do all manner of things in skirts and dresses why couldn't we? So for a week many of us decide to try wearing skirts or dresses while we go about our daily lives. And we post pictures to show what can be done! Past weeks we've seen ladies cooking, gardening, teaching, all manner of cleaning and much more that can be done in a skirt! Many women over on the board wear the feminine, modest clothing for religious reasons, but I just like the styles and how I feel when I'm 'dressed up'. It's the same feeling I get when I wear my good cloche hat, or my long edwardian walking coat. It just feels beautiful.

I'll post all my pictures here everyday so you can see what I'm up to! Here's today, though I had to snap it with my cell phone camera as the Fella is out today with our digital camera. I'm wearing a flannel petticoat, my blue plaid regency dress, and a fuzzy black cardigan.

A Glimpse of Spring

"It was a lover and his lass
with a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
That o'er green corn-field did pass,
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring."

How to Become a Perfect Lady

" A girl with neatly and properly dressed feet, with neat, well-fitting gloves, smoothly arranged hair, and a clean well-made dress, who walks well, and speaks well, and above all, acts politely and kindly, is a lady, and no wealth is required here."
- The Lady's Book of Manners. Kindly advice from the 1890s

Rainy Day Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well, it's a rainy Sunday today so it was a perfect afternoon to bake our favourite cookies. These chocolate chip cookies are wonderfully soft and chewy and if someone didn't sneak dough out of the bowl to nibble on, the recipe makes about three dozen cookies.

Rainy Day Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2- 1 cup chocolate chips - depending on your sweet tooth

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Cream butter with brown and white sugars then add eggs and vanilla. Stir well.
3. Combine dry ingredients then add to creamed mixture. Beat well together.
4. Add chocolate chips and stir.
5. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet or silpat covered sheet. Bake at 375F for 10 minutes or until set and lightly brown.
6. Enjoy! Great with a glass of milk or a cup of tea.

Tomato Pin Cushions

I have to share my heirloom tomato pincushions. The good ladies over at the Sensibility board posted up the link below and their pictures of their own lovely handmade cushions. They looked so sweet I just had to make one - or two! You'll find the instructions over at Martha Stewart . I made mine from some scraps of Souleiado fabric I picked up in France a few years ago, and some leftover green felt from Christmas projects. They went together very quickly, and within an hour or so I had both done.

Ancestors

Austen

Avebury

There and Back Again

Thursday evening I returned from one of my most grandest adventures to date - eighteen days wandering across England and exploring to my heart's content. It was amazing, brilliant, gorgeous, mystical, and in some respects, like coming home. I took loads of pictures and will post a few to tantalize and tempt. Over the next few weeks I'll post more about my adventures and answer intriguing, head-scratching questions like why my mum and I were searching for one of the Hidden Churches of Cornwall, why my first experience with BritishRail was quite shocking, and what in the world did I do when I spent all day in the V&A?

Though I loved every bit - well, perhaps not the part about losing my Mum in the massive Oxford Circus Top Shop- I'll list a few highlights.

Walking tour of Bath with the Mayor's Guide
Mad Max Tour to Lacock, Castle Combe, Avebury, and Stonehenge
York Minster (and tour with volunteer)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Chawton House
Tintagel
Betty's Tea Room, York
Trebah Garden, Cornwall

O! to be in England!

In a matter of hours I will be flying across this great big wild country of mine and heading across the pond to England for the very first time. Stops include Bath, London, York, and my ancestral home of Cornwall. Looking very forward to it! Check back in three weeks time for pictures, stories and a jolly good time.

Cheers!

Investing for those Not Ashamed of Economy

"They who never reserve a cent of their income, with which to meet any unforeseen calamity, 'pay too dear for the whistle,' whatever temporary benefits they derive from society. Self-denial, in proportion to the narrowness of your income, will eventually be the happiest and most respectable course for you and yours."
- The American Frugal Housewife, by Mrs. Child 1833

Today, having agreed with Mrs. Child most wholeheartedly, I have done something I encourage everyone to do, especially if you are young and starting out like I am. I have become ... an investor. I started an RRSP and am extremely cheery about it. Instead of working for my money, my money is now going to work for me! Over the next thirty or forty years it will grow and double and triple and do all sorts of wonderful things at very little inconvenience to myself. Imagine that. And the secret that will make me a millionaire - compound interest and putting a little aside every month. So simple isn't it? My favourite book that has taught me all I need to know about financial planning is by David Chilton called The Wealthy Barber. Easy to follow, clear, and sprinkled with cheesy Canadian humour (which I happen to like *grin*) it's a great primer, and makes the world of finances a lot less daunting.

Come on ladies (and gents), the sooner you start the better!

Homemaking Advice

My dear Mama gave me a wonderfully fun present for Christmas this year; a book called The American Frugal Housewife - For those who are Not Ashamed of Economy. First published in 1828, it is filled with good advice for 19th century homemakers, from recipes to shopping to budgeting.