Idle Hands and Audio Books

I'm sure you've all heard the saying,

Idle hands are the Devil's tools.

Well, it's true, and I don't ever like to have idle hands. I always like to be working, or reading, or cooking, or cleaning, or working on projects. In fact, I usually have several projects going at once, just so I can keep busy....so that I don't just sit around all day wasting time and doing stupid things.

That being the case, I just recently finished two projects. The first is a crocheted shawl for reenacting:

 And the second is a crocheted rag rug to use up all my fabric scraps:

And, I still have some extra scrap fabric that just didn't seem to fit on this rug, so I've begun another rug, a rectangle this time.

Well, not only are idle hands a problem, but so is an idle mind. While I'm working on projects, I can never just sit and work in silence. Sometimes I'll put on music, and sometimes I'll put on a movie. But more often than not, I'll listen to an audio book.

There is this awesome website I found called Librivox which has thousands of free audio books in mp3 and ogg files. Since the beginning of the year, all while working on projects, I have listened to:


Pride and Prejudice
Emma
Sense and Sensibility
Mansfield Park
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
Jane Eyre
The Pilgrim's Progress

If you like audio books, I would highly recommend checking out Librivox. If you've never listened to an audio book, I would still highly recommend checking it out. They're a great way to "read" and get your work done all at the same time.

So, all that to say, go find a useful and productive way to keep your hands busy today, and while you're at it, find something to do with your mind, too!

Mumford Civil War

Two weekends ago at Genesee Country museum it was 1812....this past weekend, we moved up into the 1860's. This past Friday-Sunday was the annual Mumford Civil War reenactment, and let me tell you, it was awesome! So, sit back and get ready, because this could be a large post!

I was able to camp out again this year, so I arrived Friday evening with all the other reenactors to get set up. I have never seen that museum crazier....there were cars and trailers EVERYWHERE. But, Stephen and I did manage to get to my campsite, and set my tent up.

After that, the rest of the evening was a bunch of random things. We went for a hike through the woods, and found a creek where I learned how to skip stones. We met up with a friend, and went out for dinner. We sat in the middle of the baseball field looking at all the beautiful stars. And then, I attempted to go to bed...........which was easier said than done. Reenactors are a noisy bunch, and I think I got all of about 3 1/2 hours of sleep Friday night.

But, still, Saturday morning Stephen and I got up at 5am to watch the sunrise. Now, I will be very honest here and sound like a city girl, but this was the first time I could remember that I had actually seen the sun itself rise. I've always seen the effects of it before, but this time I actually saw the bright shining ball itself rise over the distant hills. And it was beautiful!

And, there's Stephen. Yes, he is mine. The most handsome man in the entire world!

After that, we got some breakfast, and got ready for the day. By then, it was around 9am, and the village was bustling with reenactors. We went out to the village square where games were set up, and played a game of Graces, and I attemtped to walk on silts in a hoop skirt.......challenging, but possible! While we were there, the soldiers came back from drills on the Great Meadow.

It was at this point when finally realized that this was going to be a crazy weekend. It was only 10am, and I had already been up for 5 hours. It was still morning, but I felt like I had already lived a full day!

But, anways, we then did some shopping at the sutlers, and played a little piano in the Opera House. Then, it was time to watch the first battle.

After the battle, we went back to the Opera House for some more piano playing. Gosh, I love getting my own personal concerts!

This is my favorite song, The Entertainer's Rag, by Jay Roberts. Last year at the Mumford reenactment was the first time Stephen played the piano for me, and this was one of the songs he played. He described it as a "civil war between the hands", because at one point the right hand plays Dixie Land while the left hand plays Yankee Doodle. And ever since that first time, this has been my favorite; so enjoy!

After that, we got some lunch, and then finished our shopping. Then, we went out to a field and had some target practice with his guns. Next, it was time to get ready for the ball!

I didn't manage to get any pictures from the ball itself, but here are the people beginning to arrive.

It was late to bed again Saturday night, but I managed to get about 5 hours of sleep. I ended up waking up again in time to see the sunrise Sunday morning. Stephen was reenacting the battle on Sunday, so he had to meet his regiment early in the morning for roll call and drills. So, my morning was spent with a little more shopping, and following his regiment around watching drills and weapon inspection. Then we had a little time before the battle to relax and get his weapons ready. Then off he went to "fall in" for battle, and I found myself a good place to watch the battle.

 There's my soldier; the third my from the right, with the black pack on his back.

 And, here he has died; that blackish bundle lying on the ground next to the white pillar.

And, thank the Lord, here he is coming back to life after the battle ended.

After the first battle he stayed with his regiment to get ready for the second. I was utterly worn out, so I napped during the second battle. After the second battle, he had a little work to do, so I started packing up my things. Then we cleaned his guns, and then packed up all the tent, and all our belongs. Finally, we were finished around 8, so then, went to Famous Dave's for a ate dinner.

And a funny thing happened while we were there. We went in costume, so our waitress upon seeing us asked, "You two wouldn't happen to be reenactors at Mumford today, would you?" We were of course, and come to find out that she was a reenactor too, and that she had been at Mumford that afternoon as well! Dinner was delicous, a BBQ chicken, and french fries, and lots of BBQ sauce, and corn-on-the-cob, and corn muffins, and cinnamon-ammaretto apples, and for dessert, a HUGE brownie sundae.

Then we came home, and that was the end of our weekend. It was crazy, it was exhausting, it was epic, it was so much fun. And now getting back to normal life is rather odd.

War of 1812

I know that this is dreadfully overdue, but as they say,

Better late than never!

So, taking that to heart, I am finally posting about the War of 1812 weekend, a week and a half later!

Anyways, the War of 1812 weekend is a semi-large event at Genesee Country Museum full of soldiers and pretty dresses. My mom and I went to it for the first time two years ago with our English dance group, and it was one of the main things that started getting me into reenacting and Victorian dance. This is event is also especially dear to my heart, because it was at the 1812 ball two years ago that I first met my wonderful handsome man, Stephen. It's always fun to remeber that first night, the first time seeing each other, our first waltz. And it's really awesome to be able to look back and see what God has done since then! So, all that being said, 1812 is a good year for me!!

This year, my day started off with a delicious (and period-correct) lunch at Hosmer's Inn. Mutton stew, pickled eggs, salad, bread, fresh cheese, pickled beets (not my favorite), strawberries, 1-2-3-4 cake, gingerbread, and strawberry rhubarb pie, plus more that I was just too full to eat!!!

Then there was a local militia group recruiting, or attempting to recruit, soldiers.

They actually managed to get quite a few volunteers!

Then we watched a fashion show:

This was one of my favorite dresses:

Then there was a military tatics demonstration:

Next, my mom anbd I joined our English dance group to put on a dance demonstration. We even got a lot of people from the crowd to join in!

Then we had dinner, and after dinner, Stephen and I went to the lovely Livingston-Backus gardens to take pictures.

And last of all, the ball in the evening. It started out pretty small, but we managed to get a pretty good group of reenactors to join later on.The room was much prettier in the evening after the sun went down, and the room was lit by candles; but, it's rather difficult to take pictures in such low light!

 

And thus, yet another successful War of 1812 went down in history!