Word for the Week = HOT

For the last week it has been swelteringly hot. Between 95 and 110 degrees. I love summer, but trying to get anything done in that kind of heat just makes people and animals wilt. I have to do things either early in the morning, or later in the evening. However, that doesn't always work, as the day it hit 110, at 7:00 at night it was still 95. Usually, this kind of heat wave in our area doesn't last long. Maybe two weeks, on average. However "They" say this year it could last, on and off, all summer. With this being the fourth year in a row of drought, our biggest fear is fire.

The heat also affects the plants in the gardens. The squash and pumpkin leaves collapse in self defense, the basil wilts, the flowers fade out, and leaves get crispy around the edges. The potted flowers on the deck must get watered every night, or within hours they are wilting. But, some plants, like the peppers and tomatoes, love the heat and thrive.

Last evening I picked our first tomato of the season. Kinda cute, doncha think?

Even though I really liked this photo, and thought is very zen-like, it didn't show how tiny the little guy was, so I stood a wine cork next to it to show scale, and took another photo.

The plant this little fella came from is loaded with fruit, so we will be eating lots of these. I plan to put them in a big bowl on the kitchen counter, and we'll grab them to snack on as we pass by. This one was very sweet, so we are looking forward to using these in salads as well.

Other than tending the gardens and yard, and trying to keep them all from withering in the heat, I have been working on the painting Gypsy 3 - Soul Mates. Here is a photo of it after I inked the drawing and then erased out the pencil. Currently the base coats of paint are on parts of it, but I don't have a photo of that yet. I want it a bit further along before I show it again.

The other thing I have been working on, besides riding my horse - which the other day was so miserably hot I felt like a fried piece of bacon - is a new costume project. Robert and I didn't compete in the Rogue Mounted Archers International competition this year. We sweltered as ground crew. Next year we want to ride (I did the previous year), and for that we need "warrior" costumes. The norm is for everyone to go black leather, corsets, medieval, or native (which could be from any country, as riders come from all over the world). I can't ride in a corset, I have NO desire to wear black leather when it's 90 degrees plus, and I wear medieval when I do SCA stuff, so wanted something different. Then we watched the new Mad Max film, and shazam! Road warrior! Robert and I have already trolled the Goodwill for bits and pieces of stuff, and got pretty lucky. The idea of ripping, shredding, and coffee dying all of this has me very excited. Also adding bits of flotsom, and metal hardware to the clothing, is going to be way fun. It's all so different than what I am used to working on, so that is the really exciting part for me. Here are the items, other than two belts, we picked up from the Goodwill, laid out on my work table. This is the "Before" shot. Every item is between 90 and 100% cotton, so even if it gets hot, it will breath. All of this has to be comfortable when riding a horse and shooting a bow, which influences the design. A fun challenge. So, let the ripping, shredding, and dying begin!

 I will post updated photos of these pieces as I go along.

So, that's what's happening in the heatwave of Southern Oregon. Well, at least at our place.

Finished Sewing Projects, A New Painting Started, and Garden Photos

This is pretty much a "catch up" post. So I'll dive right in.

First photos are of the finished riding jerkin that I made for my husband. This is for our medieval horse gaming events, but it is nice enough to wear to SCA non-horse events as well. He hadn't had a new costume in, oh, about 30+ years so I figured he was due.

The material was given to me by a friend, and is a deep maroon, heavy damask with a leaf design. I lined the piece with brown linen from my stash of fabrics. The trim looks kinda pinkish in the photos, but isn't. It does have a lot of gold metallic threads, however. The nice clasps are from JoAnn's Craft store. Oh, and the pattern was a modified Simplicity 4059. It turned out so nice, and was so easy to make, I plan on making him another one.

Apologies for the O-ring shadows. I had to hang this from my antique French iron plant holder, and didn't, I admit, realize they were in the photos until I uploaded them onto my computer. My bad. Also, once these costumes are done, I never iron them again. He wore this one last month, which is why it's a tad wrinkly.

The next one to be finished was one I started last winter, got partly done, set it aside, then pulled it out and wore it, which made me decide I really needed to finish it.

Lately I have become sorta obsessed with bohemian kimonos (I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to them), so when I found this light rayon blouse at the Goodwill, I fell in love with the pattern, the fact that it already had gold beads on it, and that it was all floaty and light (read that as baggy and floppy). I bought it for $3.99, even though it was an extra large. I just thought it would make a great shortish kimono/jacket. I cut it up the front, secured some of the beads that were coming off...they are still coming off and I try and catch them before I lose them...and wore it like that. But it needed something along the hemline. On Pinterest I saw examples of kimonos hemmed in fringe (my favorite), lace, beads, or left plain. I couldn't find any fringe, lace was WAY too expensive, so I opted for beads, since I already had ones that would work. The other day I sewed beads all along the hem. It worked out perfectly, and added just enough weight to the piece to make it hang nicely. And it adds that lovely clickity-click that beads make when they come in contact with, oh, chair backs, tables, etc. The only thing I haven't decided on is whether to shorten the sleeves. They hang below my wrists, which usually bugs the crap out of me, but as I was walking through the freezer section of the grocery store the other day, with this kimono over just a tank top, I was grateful to have those longer sleeves, otherwise I would have ended up with frostbite. So they may stay...for a while. After I make that decision, I will add beads to the hem of the sleeves. Also, it needs some kind of clasp for the top front. Not because I would ever wear it closed, but because it is so light and wonky, it falls of the hanger without being secured. Currently it is held in place with a clothespin. In the photos, I held it with a sewing pin, then took it out for the last shot, so you could see how it hangs, and how I wear it. It looked smashing with a black tank top and jeans.

Next in line is the preliminary drawing for another painting. This is number three in the Gypsy series, titled Soul Mates. Before I can ink this, and start the painting, I need to head to the art supply store and buy new ink pens and better brushes. Working on that first painting, with old supplies, some over 35 years old, was not fun.

Lastly are some misc. garden/deck photos I took about a week ago...before the temps hit 107, and a thunder storm came through and trashed a lot of the blooms. Look closely! Some of the blossoms have little guards posted!

This deck is where we spend a lot of time relaxing.

One last photo of the deck at dusk, fairy lights on, and Robert having his evening beer.

That's it, folks. Hope you are all enjoying your summer...or winter...depending on which side of the equator you're on.

Christmas

To say I was not in the Christmas spirit this year is a mild understatement. That probably had a lot to do with the fact that I had been cabin bound for over two weeks due to the glacier of ice on the dirt road leading out of our place. My husband took the only ride that would get off the property, so I was stuck. No outings, no shopping, nadda. When it came time to put up the decorations, I was bitching and whinging about how pointless it all was, and why was I even bothering. At one point I even ended up sitting on the couch in tears, with Robert giving me that, "Hmmm, must be a hormonal moment" look.

But I battled on, put up some decorations, and hoped that the ice would clear up in time for the champagne brunch planned for Christmas day. Last year it got postponed until New Years because we still had five inches of snow on the ground, and the small cars my family drives would not make it up and over the little hill to get to our driveway. I was afraid this year was going to end up being a repeat, this time due to ice. It also occurred to me that, since the weather in December is usually dicey, and our road even dicier, maybe it would be a better idea if we did Christmas in July instead. I could pull out the holiday dishes and we could serve BBQ chicken instead of baked ham.

Mother Nature decided to give us a break, the temps rose to a balmy 45 (I was tempted to break out my shorts!), and the ice finally melted. The brunch was still a "go." And it turned out to be a lovely family get-together. Everyone contributed to the meal, we drank mimosas, and after the food, we all sat in front of the television and watched Holiday Inn with Fred Astair and Bing Crosby. This was a real breakthrough, since my family tend to be hit-and-run eaters. Show up for dinner, eat, and bail out before even the sauce on the empty plates has congealed. For them to hang around for almost three hours talking, and then watching (and some sleeping through) a movie was a real feather in my holiday cap.

Here is a photo of the table, before everyone sat down to eat. It's a bit cramped, since my table was originally designed to seat only six. With a little scooching, I can sit eight, but there were nine of us, so I ended up sitting on the end, with a table leg between my knees. Now that the holiday feasting is over, my dining room will revert back to a sewing room.

In the back corner is Inara, wearing my Spanish surcoat, made 30+ years ago. I have pulled it out of retirement and am making an under-dress to wear with it. I used to wear a shirt and long skirt with it, but the shirt fell apart, and the skirt is too tight (and is black with miles of gathers, sewn with black thread, and the thought of ripping all that out and trying to resew it gave me a headache), so I am making a lovely, off-white linen under-dress, which is what the garment would originally have been worn with anyway. That whole project is for an SCA Hogmanay feast (traditional Scottish New Year celebration) coming up January 4th.

As for the coming new year, I suspect it will be pretty much a repeat of 2013 = riding and mounted archery, sewing, beading, drawing, jewelry making, and going to various SCA and horse events. Maybe adding in some experiments with new art techniques or supplies. I have more costumes ideas in the works as well (too much time spent on Pinterest looking at costume eye-candy is to blame), to replace or supplement the old costumes we are still wearing, some of them looking pretty shabby.

So Happy New Year to those who stop by, and wishing you all the best in the coming months. 

Persian Riding Coat Finished.....Maybe.

Okay, here are photos of the construction and end results of the Persian riding coat. It ended up looking pretty nice (I got many compliments), and was super comfortable to ride in, which was a real plus, as the temperatures at the SCA equestrian event I wore it to were close to 90 degrees all weekend. The fact that it was made of cotton, and had a loose fit, helped keep me cool...er, but it was still bloody hot, and both me and my horse sweated up a storm over the two days.

Here is the old viking coat muslin laid down over the new pattern sheeting. I used my tape measure, pinned in place, like a compass so that I could add the wider skirt width needed for the new coat.

Here is one side of the coat body cut out. There are no shoulder seams with this pattern. There is just a right and left side. I ended up trimming about two inches off the shoulder width where the sleeve attaches, as the original Viking coat was made for a guy, with broader shoulders than mine.

Here is the muslin mock up, minus one sleeve. I had to use two different pieces if yardage to get this, which is why one side is a slightly heavier weight of fabric than the other.  The hardest part of this fairly simple garment was figuring out the underarm gussets. I futzed and futzed with those, but finally got them to work correctly.

One half of the coat body cut out of the cotton twill fabric, and with the first of the decorative bands sewn on. The fabric I cut the bands from was a synthetic, but the design was just so perfect for the coat, I used it anyway. The real downside to it was the fact that it unraveled like crazy. I was constantly cutting away stray threads, and had to handle the stuff vary carefully.

A close up of the banding material. It was one of many pieces of yardage a friend sent me, and I still have quite a bit left over, both in strips I didn't use, and in a wider piece still intact.

The finished coat...maybe. I say maybe, because there is a part of me that wants to bead the trim bands —which would be totally crazy, but would look awesome. The pattern of the design just screams out for beads, but I'm not sure how practical they would be on something I will wear to ride my horse in. Also, I really want to add some narrow black trim to highlight the antique gold of the bands. My saddle is black, my boots are black, and the breast collar with tassel I made as part of this whole costume, is black. The original plan was to have black trim, but I just ran out of time to get that on before the event.

 The back. And I must add, apologies for the wrinkled condition of the coat. I pulled the coat from the back of the car (I still haven't unloaded everything from the weekend) and took these this morning, since I had no full length photos of the coat before the event. It kinda looks like it had a rough weekend, but you get the idea. Also, I had taken Inara out on the deck so the lighting would be better, and of course, it started to sprinkle, so I had to rush to get these. Then the batteries in my camera went dead. Grrr....

This photo shows the curve of the sleeve ends.

And this is how I wore it, with a beautiful sequined sash.

And this is how Delight and I looked, with me in my new Persian coat, riding in the Pageantry musical freestyle part of the event. My music was Marco Polo by Loreena McKennitt. In this photo I am signaling her to slow down (hence the tight rein) to prepare for our next move. She has a power walk, so needed reminding once and a while that this was not a race.

So, that's it. One Persian coat, and one happy rider. I liked it so much, I may make another one, in a lighter fabric (I had originally intended this to be made of linen, but the color I wanted was all gone, and what was left wouldn't have been right). In any case, I call this coat a success.

Equestrian Costume Project

My husband and I play within an organization called the SCA, which stands for Society for Creative Anachronism. It is a world-wide society, which holds events based on the medieval world between 600 AD and 1601AD. It also promotes research into all aspects of that time period, and members work to create a "persona" that might have lived in the time frame they choose...say 1400 Italian or 1500 Elizabethan. But it also includes Greek, Russian, Viking, Turkish, and even Japanese personas. It just depends on what you are interested in.

I joined the SCA back in the early 80s, played for ten years, then bailed out, moved to Oregon (I lived in Southern California), then rejoined about three years ago. Before I left California, I had done mostly the equestrian games, which attempt to recreate the tactics used to practice for war. I'm not going to go into detail about that, but it can include everything from whacking fake heads on poles (behead the enemy) to mounted archery, which is my favorite.

All the costumes my husband and I currently have are ones I made back in the 80s. They still fit, and still look nice, but....I'm tired of them. I want to make us both some new things, starting with equestrian garb. We do mounted archery outside the SCA, but sometimes those folks, depending on the event, also wear some kind of costume, usually of a Mongolian or Turkish origin since that is the birthplace of mounted archery. So, for about the last year I have been trolling the Internet, especially Pinterest, looking for a Turkish costume that would be rider-friendly. I ride an Arabian/saddlebred cross mare, so putting her, or me, in a heavy "warhorse" type costume wouldn't look right.

I figured I would be trolling along, looking at costumes, the right one would pop up, and I'd have a "That's it!" moment. I came close a few times, but when I saw this tunic, the "ding, ding, ding, That's it!" moment struck.

So, here it is, fresh off of Pinterest. I will make modifications to it, like change the color (green, black and gold), shorten it to mid-calf length, and split the back up to about my tail bone to make it more horse-friendly. And it won't be quite as ornate as this tunic, as it needs to be washable. I even have a pattern I made, again back in the 80s, for a very early period Viking coat (I made it for a male friend), which is surprisingly similar in shape and construction—it's not as pinched in at the waist and there are no sleeve gussets. But it won't take much to convert it to this tunic. Then I will make a matching saddle cloth and breast collar for my horse.

It's going to be weird getting back into SCA-type costuming, since the only costuming I have done in the last five years has been pirate garb for when we do pirate reenacting (yes, we do, and have a ton of fun doing it, with a great gang of friends).

So, let the hunt for fabric and trim begin!

Riding Costume...Shirt

This is the first piece of the riding costume to be almost complete. Only thing left to do is add elastic at the wrists. I tried very hard to use the design of the vintage linen tablecloth to the best advantage, and to waste as little of the cloth as possible. I think I did a pretty good job. I still have two center medallions, and two small scrolls, left to play with or to add to something else.

In the photos, the shirt has been ironed, so looks all nice a smooth. Once worn and washed, it will be wrinkled...and will stay that way, as I have no intention of ironing it every time I wash it. Besides, it's meant to look a bit "rough."

This old linen feels lovely against my skin, and hangs beautifully. When you pick the garment up, it feels a bit heavy, but once on, you don't notice it at all. I am really sold on this whole recycling of old linen, so will be looking for more at the Goodwill and antique/thrift stores. I need another big one to make the skirt for the costume, so the hunt is on!


Here is the front of the shirt. The sleeves are waiting for the elastic at the wrist. Also, I positioned the pattern pieces so that the hand-crocheted edging of the cloth got used on the hem and sleeve edges. What I didn't use, I have kept for use on other garments. It's just too precious to toss away.

Front close up.

Back view.

Detail of back. I especially like the way I got the scroll to fit on the collar piece.

This is a detail of the sleeve. In order to get the design to work best, I had to cut the sleeves in two separate pieces, rather than place the pattern on the fold. In doing so, I ended up with a seam down the top of each sleeve, but that doesn't really bother me, since the design was too nice to lose. You can just see the casing for the elastic on the left side of the sleeve. That will give me a wrist ruffle of about two inches.

Next in line after the shirt will probably be the jacket, or the waist chincher. I'm really having a lot of fun putting this costume together.

The Riding Costume Project

A week ago, while trolling Pinterest looking at costume sites (a very dangerous pastime for a costume junkie), I came across an outfit that literally knocked my socks off — or would have, if I had been wearing socks. The original designer, Brielle's Costumes,  called it a pirate costume, but my first inner vision was of a Highwayman shouting "Stand and deliver!" I got really fired up, and wanted that vision to be me, on my horse. So, my brain went into hyper-drive. I wanted to make that outfit, and adapt it to riding. Minor setback? I had no sewing machine. My 30 yr old White had finally died about six months ago. So, there I was, raring to go...and basically dead in the water.

Flash forward a week. I bought a sewing machnie ( I really needed one anyway, even if this costume hadn't turned up to excite me), dug through my stash of fabric and discovered I had a lot of what I needed already, then headed to the fabric store to buy what I didn't have. Luck was still with me, as the linen I liked was on sale (as had been the sewing machine). Another minor set back? My iron had been packed away in storage, and only Robert knew where the box was, buried in our storage unit. He is on the road, which means I won't get my iron until Saturday. However, in the meantime, I can cut out the shirt pattern, and work on altering the jacket pattern I have into the jacket design I need.

I have no desire to copy this outfit exactly, which would be cheating and an insult to the original designer. I will use it as inspiration, changing things, and adapting it for use in riding. The only thing I wish I could have changed was the color, as I really wanted to do it in dark green. However, the choices of green linen at JoAnn's Fabrics were all pretty icky, so I went with brown.

The jacket in the picture is made of leather. I can't do that, nor did I want to. If I was going to be wearing it around horses, and during the summer, I wanted something that would breath, and that could be washed. Linen is perfect. I also had some dark green linen left over from the pirate frock coat I made about 5 yrs ago. I will use that for contrasting collar and cuffs on the jacket. I already had the mid-weight muslin for the shirt, and the vintage lace. I wanted to add a bit of pattern to the outfit, so the cincher will be made out of one of the brocades shown. They are fabric sample squares, of which I have four big bins full, since where I used to work they would throw them away when the pattern was discontinued. I had six stores sending them to me, until they wised up and started selling them for $2 a piece. Now I think they sell for almost $5 each. Did I mention I have four big Rubbermaid tubs full of these things? Yes, I think I did. SCORE!

So, that's the plan. I absolutely love this costume, and with a few alterations I can make it rider-friendly and totally washable, except for the cincher, which will be lightly boned and couldn't be washed anyway. I will also make a pair of pants to go with this, or wear my black riding pants, since riding in a skirt is a pain in the butt, but I really like the look of the skirt, so will have to have both.

 After all, this outfit is just too damned cool to only wear while on a horse.

Still Playing After All These Years

My husband and I just got back from spending four days playing pirates at the HUGE Northern California Pirate Festival...or as us insiders know it, NorCal. Held every year over Father’s Day weekend in Vallejo, CA, it is an event we look forward to every year. We get to hang out with all our pirate buddies, dress up and act silly, listen to music, dance, eat good food, and best of all, be part of the crew of the schooner Aldebaran, and fire cannons! So, at an age when I’m expecting my first Social Security check, I am still playing—and loving every minute of it.

Playing—it’s not just for kids. Playing is good for you. Playing keeps you sane, gets you away from the doom and gloom of the news headlines, gets you away from your job worries, keeps you interested in things, keeps you from becoming the stogy old fart everyone avoids like the plague. I never want to get to a point in my life where I no longer want to throw on a costume and go play...at whatever.

Trying new things. I never want to get to a place in my life where I am afraid to try new things. As part of the crew of the Aldebaran we get to help sail her to the event site. When Captain Hayden, midway through the sail from Richmond to Vallejo, asked if anyone wanted to take the helm and see how it felt to steer a 72’ schooner, I jumped at the chance. For fifteen minutes I got the experience of a lifetime, feeling how truly alive a ship is, how to keep her pointed in the correct direction—nothing like driving a car—and getting just a hint of the thrill and also the responsibility of being at the helm of a ship. It was scary and exciting, and I loved it!

I’m lucky, in that at age 62, I am still physically fit, still active, and the only health issue I have to deal with is a mildly annoying hyoidal hernia—which I gave to myself by each winter lugging in heavy boxes of fire wood for the wood stove for twenty years. I still ride my horse, do barn chores, and work in a large garden all Spring through Fall. All that helps keep me moving and limber. For now, when I ask my body to do something, it pretty much answers, “Right.” I know my limits, and I tend to push them, but not to the point of stupidity. So far, that plan works for me.

So, pirate or Steam Punk, Medieval or barbarian, or just fooling around on Halloween, I’m there, still playing dress-up, still learning new things, and best of all, still playing. If I’m lucky, eventually I’ll drop dead in the middle of, “Oh wow, that was so much fun, I can’t wait to—”

How I Spend Some of My Weekends

Just a picture of me, in a costume again—big surprise, I know. This one taken at the Hocktide Emprise Equestrian Games on May 7-9. This is the only picture of me, other than another taken with my husband, since it's hard to take photos of yourself, especially when you're on a horse. I wrote a more detailed piece about this event in my other blog, Equine Madness (See link in sidebar).

My husband and I had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get back into the horse games again. The picture is of me in my 35 year old leather vest (it belonged to an old boyfriend)—the shirt, and boots are part of my pirate gear, but work well for this, and the pants are my black riding pants. I left the shirt un-tucked since it hid my butt. When I tried tucking it in, it looked like I had a wrinkled bubble butt—which I don't!

I was waiting to ground crew the Courser Challenge for the A list riders, who went first. Then they would ground crew for us B listers.

Playing Dress Up

I have spent a good part of my life dressed in a costume of one sort or another. Apparently I never outgrew that whole “Let’s play dress-up” thing.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. As a kid, I dressed as a beatnik, wearing my dad’s yellow V-necked sweater, his roadster hat, my own black tights, and lots of green eye shadow. For a party I went to in Junior High, I got bold, and went as Cleopatra...a white sheet wrapped around me, lots of fake gold jewelry, and more green eye shadow.

When my maternal grandmother came to baby-sit, she’d play the Nutcracker Suite on the stereo, and my sisters and I would put on all the frilly petticoats we owned and dance like ballerinas. She always clapped her hands and said we looked beautiful.

When I went to my first dance in Junior High, she helped me rig a rhinestone necklace in my hair so that it looked like a tiara. I thought I looked like a princess. However, the boys must have thought I looked like a dork, because I never got asked to dance.

During my high school years I dressed like a hippie. Or, at least as much as I could, since back then schools had dress codes. If your skirt was an inch too short, you got sent home. Since I was an art major, I hung with all the other outcasts, and we dressed as radical as we could get away with...lots of beads, painted clothing, and skintight jeans.

Already long in love with jewelry, I wanted my ears pierced in the worst way. Locked in a battle of wills with my dad, who thought girls with pierced ears were...well, not nice...I eventually wore him down about a week before my eighteenth birthday. When it took my other sisters less than no time to get him to cave, I was pretty miffed!

In the early 1980s I joined the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) a worldwide medieval reenactment group. The possibilities to play dress up were limitless. I dove into the whole costume thing with both feet. I sewed T-tunics, bodices, Elizabethan court dresses, Italian Renaissance dresses, head pieces, a Spanish Surcoat, you name it. Then I got my horse, and equestrian costumes entered the game. For about ten years, on any given weekend, I was dressed in a costume. It became so natural, that I didn’t even think of them as costumes any longer, but just another wardrobe selection from my closet.

In 1991, when my husband and I moved to Oregon, we dropped out of the SCA, too busy trying to resettle and get our life reorganized. And we were broke, so playing in any kind of venue was out of the question.

About five years ago we fell into a Golden Age of Piracy re-enactors group. Wow, no costume rules, no royalty, nothing but crazy fun people and lots of rum. A whole new way to play dress up. Out came the sewing machine, and I made new shirts, vests, pantaloons, and frock coats. I modified hats into tricorns, and we bought fairly inexpensive knee boots. Hell, we even bought real swords. Our pirate friends are some of the best people we know, and we still play at events like the Northern California Pirate festival, where we are members of Tales of the Seven Seas, and are also part of the crew of the schooner Aldebaran.

Then I discovered Steampunk. Now there is a grand way to play dress up, with even less rules than the pirates. We did Airship Pirates, went to a Bad Fairies Ball, and attended two Abney Park concerts dressed in our best Steampunk gear. It’s still one of my favorites —think Jules Verne meets Queen Victoria, and throw in a time machine.

But I still had all those great SCA costumes packed away, calling my name. A year ago we attended a local Renaissance/Fantasy/Pirate Faire — dressed as pirates— and hooked up with the leader of an equestrian group called Company of the Warhorse, who was also a knight in the SCA. Through him, we fell into the SCA again. At the time, we no longer had horses (long story—see Equine Madness and the Art of Staying Young). Didn’t matter. Within about four months, we had new horses, and a fun new group of people to play dress up with.

Reality check. Thirty year old costumes don’t always fit the way they did back then. Alas. To make matters worse, pirate costumes finished off my old sewing machine. Here we are doing the horse games again, and needing new clothes, saddle cloths, simple bardings, new hats...you get the idea. I see a new sewing machine in my future, and the renewed art of trolling the fabric stores looking for material that is “period correct.”

So, here I am, ready to receive my first Social Security check next month, and still playing dress up. Still wearing hats, lots of jewelry, crazy T-shirts, a frock coat I wear when it’s cold, and sometimes my pirate knee boots. At events, it’s anything goes — pirate, to Italian Renaissance, to mounted warrior. The only thing left out these days, is the green eye shadow.