Galesburg Heritage days 2013

Over the weekend we were finally able to hit our 2nd event of the year! Our schedule has been so crazy we've been skipping out on a lot this year....and when your like me and live for the few days of the year you get to see your dearest friends....sadness overcomes me...Needless I was over joyed to finally be able to hit one!!!

The traditional - Galesburg Unmentionables shot. I'm thinking this one should go on the wall.. lol ;)

 

I don't think I've ever been to an event with more beautiful weather!!!! Moderate temperatures, a bit of breeze and NO rain. For this time of year that's unusual...normally the heat would be stifling. So wonderful and such a breath of fresh air from our last round of events.

Much time was spent in dream land...

Or just lounging around in general.... 

We got to see the fabulous Meister family. That's always a fun! I'm constantly in awe of the new wardrobes Ms. Sarah has created each time I see them!

Beautiful little Miss Anne.

Big sis' last hurrah as a single lady...its gunna be sad not having her around at events anymore...nostalgic much? (yess.. :( )  In other news I think my hats suits her very well, no?!?!

Yours truly... I brilliantly forgot sun screen and somehow we ended up with a slat bonnet missing every single slat...all that to say...I got a horrid sunburn. Hopefully I won't be making that mistake again anytime soon.

 

 Lil sis was, infact, there...just didn't make it into any pictures... o.O

 

Dat hat!!! This, people, is how its done!

Looks like a bit of skepticism going around..wonder what that could have been about. lol

I always have a favorite event picture...Without a doubt...its this one....

 

The day had its slow moments, but the highlight for me was getting to spend time with my bestfriend who I hadn't seen for almost a whole year. Thus I accomplished what I went for - so in the end its all a win!!

 

The rest of our pictures are here. 

 

And that's a wrap folks!

 

Love,

Brooke 

Endeavors in 1860's Letter writing.

 Over the summer Michelle was asked to write 1860's style letters for some soldiers. They were to be used as "props" per say, at an event, during mail call. It was a super fun project - we had alot of fun executing the task at hand. We'd love to have the opportunity to do it again, maybe without such a close deadline this time tho. ;)

 She might disagree, but from my observation thinking of a diverse, variety of proper things to write - was infact, the more difficult task at hand. For the actual content. She found several original letters online and also got some books from that library that had copies of originals as well. Those definitely helped with the level of creativity... :D Since then I've been saving any I find around for future reference. lol

 As usual several of fabulous, living historians jumped in and offered wonderful advice and resources in various forms.

Since we only had a couple days to put them together we weren't able to get our hands on any paper that was particularly special. We just had to use regular printer paper. She tried to make each one alittle bit different from the others as you can see...she even made a CDV for one. :p

Jasper supplied me with 'stamps', which we printed out and then Michelle cut around every little bump on the edge. :D Thank goodness for our little stork scissors. lol He also sent the template we used for the envelopes. (Yeah, I think he's the best too. :D lol)

Miss Stephanie has several fabulous posts on the subject Spencerian handwriting. (One of which the above diagram came from). Dip Pens and Period Inks. Spencerian Ladies' Mid 1800's Handwriting Part 1 and Part 2. The latter 2 were incredibly helpful!

I'm told ink can be obtained at Hobby Lobby, Micheals, or Dick Blick. Higgins Eternal Ink decanted into a period container works. Also that John Neal Bookseller offers the most accurate steel nibs available along with all the materials to learn proper Spencerian penmanship (its noted to use the straight shaft pen and not an oblique, but same directions).  

Onto paper. Paper does not have to be white...I was advised you could cut down sheets of yellow legal pads to about 5X6". I'm hazarding to guess college ruled would be the way to go as that's more the proportion I've seen in originals. Any cotton bond paper will work for the period which can be found at walmart. Also laid paper from Sullivan Press, but I hear they are not always easy to order from. And lastly one can cut Strathmore laid resume paper in ivory down to 8"x10"... folded this becomes 5"x8" booklet form that is most common for letters. Goldenrod resume paper for the envelopes, as that was more common than ivory. And that's the wrap...

 Sorry about the sad lack of posts lately. I'm currently trying to adjust to life. Having just graduated from high school and not having a job, etc. I'm attempting to find a healthy balance, but still be productive. Easier said then done - for me at least. I promise I am doing alittle sewing...Several of the things I've been working on are for The Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge I'm participating in. So I'll be posting things when I finish - them coinciding with the deadlines. I'm hoping it will help me get back in a grove...

 

Love,

Brooke

**Disclaimer** Not claiming to be a pro and I can't be held responsible for the accuracy of said information. This is merely me compiling information that I've found to be helpful.

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

Galesburg Heritage Days 2012

 On Sunday we went to one of our favorite events Galesburg Heritage Days. This was our 3rd year there! We hadn't been sure if we were going to be able to make it this year since we all had a wedding to attend that same weekend, but thankfully it worked out that we could go up on Sunday!!! Hurrah! Due to the busy-ness of the weekend...only 4 of us girls were able to attend, along with my parents and little brother.
 We got up at the crack of dawn and readied ourselves. We ended up arriving around 9:30.

We started the day off by giving the confederates forces some fabulous coffee cake Michelle had made for them. 

Here you see her serving it. And before y'all start speculating about her being among the guys without an escort...she had one. lol Plus me, Megan, and Sarah kept a close guard. ;)

We then watched them do a bunch of drilling and quickly exited the field when they fired an unexpected volley. I'm afraid it frightened poor, Sarah dear, quite alot... lol

Over looking his soldiers! 

(I really like how that picture turned out. :D)

Next we spent some time sewing and socializing with some of the folks. And I took some measurements on a client for a new project that I'm really excited about and can't wait to show you! ;)

Here I'm working on a pinafore that I started quite awhile back...okay like a LONG time ago. lol My goal: get it done this year. *blush*

Then it was time for a few photos...

Left to right:

Megan, me, Michelle, and Sarah. 

Megan got a new gown for the weekend. Its not finished yet, but once we get it done I'll be sure to share some pictures. :) It was our first time doing a silk 1860s dress so it was quite an experience. :) 

This has to be one of my favorite pictures from the entire day!  

The charming Sarah.

 Don't you just love her hair?!?! Her and Megan both got bobs this week...I was a bit concerned about pulling off period correct hairstyles, but they both did wonderful and looked *very* beautiful!

Me and my fabulous big sister!

We were trying to practice our pose for a future wet plate image. Still needs a bit of work, but we are getting there. ;) 

Yours truly.

I wore my hair up for the first time in like forever. I was quite pleased with how it held up. I wish I had a good picture of the back. It looked kinda cool if I may say so myself. ;p 

The 'twins' traditional photo.

Aren't they just the most gorgeous ladies ever?!

After that we visited with this lovely lady, Emily, whom we had meet last year at Minooka. It was such a wonderful surprise to see her there!

With her is her 15 month old son Liam. He was like the cutest little thing I'd ever seen!

Her husband was also portraying a confederate soldier that day. We really enjoyed talking with them and they are like the most darling little family of all times. Very sweet people and I hope we'll be able to spend more time with them this year. 

Michelle and Emily looking SUPER lady like.

While Megan, Sarah, and I were a bit more unruly and went off to watch the action..lol 

And now for a few shots of the battle...

I may be a bit biased, but I thought these gentlemen looked pretty great. :D 

A Federal artillery man. 

Megan did a GREAT job capturing this. Tho I have to admit I'm not really sure what's going on in this picture. I see Federals and Confederates in the same spot and the apparent canon fire coming from the federal side. lol Confusing, but none the less a pretty sweet picture. :) 

Michelle and Liam.

Can you tell she loves babies?!?! lol

It was a splendid day. One of the better times we've had... :) And nice way to put an end to our season for awhile. We probably won't be able to go to anymore reenactments till October. Which is really sad, but I'm hoping to revamp my wardrobe in the meantime... :) The rest of our pictures can be seen here.

In other news...Michelle and I started GED prep classes at a community college today. That's a new experience for us. So we could definitely use some good wishes for us in that venture. ;) Hoping to graduate later on this year!

More soon!

Love,

Brooke

First Annual Delavan Civil War Reenactment

This past Saturday 6 of us girls attended Delavan's first ever civil war reenactment. Delavan is only about half an hour from here and Michelle and I used to drive thru there everyday on the way to work in fact. :) Its a gorgeous town and has some of the most beautiful Victorian houses! I've always said if I was to live in a small town I'd choose that one. :) The week prior was filled with much excitement and preparation! Food to make, stays to finish, a cage to construct, etc. We had a lot of big plans and many things to look forward to during the day, so you can imagine our excitement as Saturday dawned... :) Sarah and Rachel met up with us here and we all road up together. That always makes things more fun. To keep up with tradition I did a bit of necessary sewing on the way. lol I always like to say its not an event if I'm not finishing something in the car on the way. :P
 The park at which it was held is very pretty. Made for some nice pictures I must say. :D

We started the day off by being in the parade. That was alot fun. :D

Photo Credit; Tom G. Davison 

Dave and Duke getting ready for the parade.

Where we hung out most the day....some of the guys kindly asked if we wanted to sit with them. Which we're very greatful for as it was like 100 degrees or higher and the shade really helped. Plus they were just super fun to be around. lol

We all sewed on our scrap quilt. We got quite a bit done with so many hands. :) We're doing pretty small blocks so we have to have over 1000 and we're hand sewing the entire thing. So we take all the help we can get on it. lol

Mean while the guys had lunch...I love this picture...I think its one of my favorites from the day.

Michelle showed Chris how to sew some of the blocks together.

Chris hard at work.

Michelle wants me to tag this one as "A rose among thorns." But I said I didn't want to make them sound like thorns or me like a rose. So she said to say "A thorn among roses". I didn't like that one either so we'll just leave it like this and let y'all think what you want. :P lol

Miss Samantha! It was so wonderful to meet her at last. I've read her blog for a couple years so it was quite delightful to put a face to the name... :)

2 beautiful girls! Emily sewing and I think Rachel's probably hiding a jar of pickles. lol

Lining up for the battle.

This is like seriously one of the only pictures of the battle we got. It started pouring rain as soon as it started and did throughout most of it. I have to say that it made it more realistic and unique. It got really still and all the smoke all stayed low, it was kinda of eery and made for come cool shots for the spectators I'm sure. I think the battle itself was good. Especially considering the number of reenactors. They did the battle of "Little Crane Creek." They even did a little hand to hand which is always really sweet.

We had the pleasure of seeing our friend Tom there. He's always soooooooo much fun and definitely did not disappoint this time. lol Seeing him was totally one of the best parts of the day. Needless to say we had a few different photoshoots. :)

All of us together. :) From left to right: Michelle, Rachel, Sarah, Emily, me, Samantha, and Megan

Miss Sarah poses by one of the wagons.

Megan looking quite happy indeed.

My beautiful big sister Michelle.

Mrs. Baker pleased us all by making an appearance as well. :)

Rachel looking completely adorable! Love that girl!

And yours truly looking not so great in a white dress. I definitely think that was one of the last times I'll wear that gown....

Having some fun after the spectators were gone. :D

Photo Credit: Tom G. Davison

Larry and Tom with us girls. :) These 2 gentlemen are always such a joy to see and help make the events be a ton of fun.

Photo credit; Tom G. Davison

Michelle tried to capture some of the artillery pieces.

The 33rd Illinois Infantry Band played for the dance. They do such a good job and we always love dance to a brass band. :)Band

Me & Aaron, Sarah & Chris, and  Michelle & Paul scheming our bumper car waltz. lol That's was so fun... :D And in case your wondering what it involves...we'd run into each other really hard and then say "sorry, we're new". lol It was great.... :

Nate and Megan sashay during a vigorous Virginia Reel.

Michelle and Sarah doing the Virginia Reel as well. We all danced even when they had breaks so thus the reason for so many Virgina reels. lol We mainly did that and the Nine Pin. :)

Nate & Megan do the Spanish waltz with Chris & Rachel.

Me and Bryce during some sort of odd carousel dance/waltz thing I'd never done it before and don't care to again it was very odd and not all that energetic. lol Never the less Bryce did a phenomenal job and we were very glad he came to the dance. :) 

 I love how me and Aaron are doing the exact same thing in this picture. lol

This is probably my favorite picture of all time! I think it turned out so great.

Left to right:

Tim, Rachel, Aaron, me, Chris, Sarah, Paul, Michelle, Dave, Megan and Nate.

Photo Credit: Tom G. Davison

Over all it was pretty much the best event I've ever been to. I've never had so much fun and the dance was phenomenal! Totally the best dance of all times. :D Thanks so much to everyone that made it such a wonderful day. :)

And in case you'd like to see more pictures...here's the rest of Michelle's and Tom's. And there's even a news clip about it with some familiar faces in it here.... :)

 I'd totally recommend anyone to attend this event and I'm already looking forward to next year. For more information visit the website here.

Hope you enjoyed the post and be sure to check back soon. :)

Love,
Brooke