London Mills 2012 - A Living History Experience

 I learned a lesson the hard way. We all did. A lesson about clothes. About having the proper clothes. Proper layers for different seasons. Specifically - winter...er...I mean fall that feels like winter.

 I'll start off by saying - holding true the recent trend we've been following. We have very few photos and most of them are of Michelle believe it or not. :p hehe What a turning of the tables. Also another quick note in case your wondering - we're all flaunting our "we're freezing and we know it" faces. Thus the quality of the photos may not be superb, but rest assured - we did, all survive.

 When we first got into town we parked and tried to take our merry time getting out of the car, but it wasn't long enough. Immediately as we stepped out of the car, the cold over took us - the wind ferociously swirling about us. We instantly began shivering violently - with our teeth chattering and all. It was quite interesting to say the least. I feel sorry for all the innocent passersby. We quickly donned our shawls and bonnets. Thankfully they helped block the horrid wind a bit.
 We swiftly made our way thru the streets and and lost no time finding the place, the kind policeman had directed us in (that's a whole 'nother story. lol). After quick hellos we headed to a nearby building to try to warm ourselves briefly. Where upon we attracted many looks - we concluded that the general population thought we were Amish. After awhile we made our way back to camp. Our host diligently tried to light a warm fire, but to little avail. In fact there wasn't one person that come up to us and didn't mention the sad success of the fire.

Quite a bit of time was spent dodging the smoke. It was actually pretty funny....seemed to follow us everywhere we went. :D lol We all huddled closely together on the blankets and ground cloths. We were in a low area, so gratefully there was very little wind and and the sun began coming out - we miraculously began warming up a tad.

Michelle looking quite happy, undeterred by the cold.

Even Megan looks like she's doing okay. lol

We passed the first few hours with lots of talking and laughing among ourselves. It was quite entertaining to say the least. We did fit time in for something other things tho. Like modeling...or wait I mean being nonsensical. Its pretty great tho and we wouldn't trade it for the world.

My charming sister, Michelle. Sporting a mechanics hat.
Isn't she too cute?!?!?

After we'd all woken up a bit more - some action began. Like firing the...

...little, mini cannon. Don't let the size deceive you, it still makes a pretty nice amount of noise. ;) Okay like it was super loud compared to what we we're expecting. They even shot a quarter out of it. :D

After 5 years of attending reenactments we finally got to try our hands at shooting one of the guns. Being a huge fan of firearms I was thrilled. :D
We only have a picture of Michelle doing it tho...bummer. :p Never the less it was kinda of cool experience..

Then we went for a 'nature walk'. That was really fun and there was alot of pretty scenery to see. London Mills seemed to be a quaint town.

Once we returned us girls did a bit of exploring ourselves...while the guys prepared for a skirmish.

Sarah and Megan (aka the girls without leather/wood soles) were brave and climb part of the way up a large tree the was arched over the walk way.

 

Me...
I've been debating whether or not to include this one. Me and the cold really don't mix. lol But for the sake of diversity...

 

Almost full length view of Michelle's wool. I was able to get the covered buttons done in time. We're both quite pleased with how they look...such a lovely dress over all. Looks very well put together IMHO.

Never the less we made it back in time to watch...

...Chris...

....and Josh, load their pistols. And of course be part of more interesting conversations. I'm telling ya, never a dull moment.

 

Chris had a violin with him...made my wish to own my own and be able to play well, come back alive...have to see what I can do about that I suppose.

Late afternoon, before the guys went of for the skirmish, Michelle began trying to get another fire going. With alittle bit of assistance this one actually took and got quite warm, but we left camp for awhile soon after and by the time we got back it had nearly gone out - never the less it was still warm around it so that was kinda awesome. Since it cooled back off quite a bit in the evening.

 

Anyhow after the little skirmish thing, we split into teams. Chris, Megan, and I against Josh, Sarah, and Michelle. We set out to do a scavenger hunt of sorts. We spent half an hour or so scouring the stores, people, garbage, and ground for the items. It led me to do somethings I never thought I would... ;p lol My team lost even tho we had the same stuff as the other. And I still think we were much more crafty about getting the things on our list. :D lol Any which way, it was SOOOO much fun and I'd do another one in a heart beat. :D

We all met back up and went back to the building we'd visited in the morning - to warm ourselves once more. Chris' lovely aunt, kindly gave us a delicious supper which was so wonderful. We once again returned to camp and spent awhile longer hanging out. Then the guys walked us to the car and we headed home around 6:00.

I must say I wasn't quite ready to put an end to our day. We all had sooo much fun!!!! 

 

  I often find that the smaller events we participate in, are more memorable and fun. Despite starting off a bit slow, perhaps - this one proved to be no different and definitely did not disappoint.



Oh and the the moral of this story is - WE ALL NEED OUTERWEAR bad. lol

Love,

Brooke