In Which I Catch Up (Part II)
Sunday the 23rd - We dragged ourselves out of bed, I got dressed in my 1812 stuff, and we headed up to Baltimore to the Wharf Rat Pub, where Day 3 of filming for a documentary on the War of 1812 in Maryland was being filmed. The day before Will had borrowed my uniform to go film the cannon firing/troops marching/skirmish scenes, and I'd gotten up early to help him dress since he'd never before worn 1812 clothes and didn't know how to tie his stock or queue his hair. He was wearing men's clothes but it was still kind of weird to see him standing there in clothes I knew were mine - though he did look very attractive, I must say. 1812 is a Good Look.
Anyway, so Will and I walked into that delightful Fells Point dive, the Wharf Rat, where the filming of various indoor scenes was taking place. We decided in the end that Will should head on down to NoVA to the organ concert at his parents' church, but I stayed and hung out for several hours waiting to be called, talking with the guys and eating lunch. It was a lot like being involved in theatre again, imagine that. I got make-up that made me look like I had a sunburn, and then they called everyone for the final scene. Stephen was playing his fiddle and everyone was laughing and drinking, young floozies chattering and a barmaid carrying glasses and men with glasses filled with wine talking and smoking. Then someone called "the new song!" and Myron (dressed as a sailor) passed out broadsheets ostensibly with the Star Spangled Banner lyrics on them, started singing, and we joined in for the chorus. A smoke machine filled the room with fug, the candles on the tables flickered, the cameras and boom mikes faded away, and it all felt remarkably like going back in time as we sung "O say does that star spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" over and over and over and over again as the camera panned over us.
After that we were done for the day and I got a ride with Mike Boworth to NoVA. He dropped me off at Will's parents' house where I met Will and DS, freshly back from the concert, and after taking DS to the metro we headed back to Will's parents' for dinner and visiting before heading home - a very fine evening indeed.
Tuesday, October 25th - I actually got to celebrate my birthday on the day of, with a small party at the house that evening. My mom and brother came down and brought me a balloon, friends came over, Will brought a cake and got me a beautiful black pearl and silver necklace. Best birthday I've had in a while.
Thursday, October 27th - I drove David to Riversdale Mansion for the opening of their Grand Salon. It was fun to be at Riversdale for a nice event and be a respectable looking lady instead of a nervous-looking young man. I met the president of the University of Maryland, got to chat with Ed Day, talked with some Riversdale trustees about how the living history community supports historic houses, and was asked by an older man with a thick Eastern European accent if I would come to his studio in New York and be sculpted by him, I kid you not. He said he was the master plaster-maker for the White House, among other contracts, and wanted to sculpt me because I had a beautiful face in the full bloom of life and wasn't wearing make-up, which set me apart from all the other women in the room. I felt flattered, and a little creeped out, and didn't take him up on his offer. David had a great time socializing and I fetched him drinks and drove him home (we listened to a Dorothy Parker short story on the drive home - what a dear man he is).
Friday, October 28th - Sunday October 30th - Shrinemont
We left Annapolis late Friday and headed over to Shrinemont in a rain that became a sleet as we left the main valley of the Shenandoah behind and wound our way up against the mountain. Everyone else was already in bed so we hustled our things inside (back in our old favorite cabin we've had for years) and went to bed. In the morning we awoke to find the grounds covered in snow and a light snow still falling! By the end of the day there was four inches of snow on the ground.
I didn't break with my tradition of sleeping through breakfast and we spent the early morning in our warm room reading, then put on our hiking boots and went outside for a walk in the softly-falling snow. It was falling thick and heavy and all the trees were bowed down and the cars dusted in white, a significant change from previous years of golden sunshine and warm afternoons. We took the road up through St George's and then started up the mountain to the fire tower in the unblemished snow. Trees were bowed heavily across the trail, still full of sap and leaves, and we often heard a crack as a tree fell over or a soft whump as a branch shed its load and straightened slowly up.
At the top of the ridge the snow was deep and we couldn't see the mountain behind us through the clouds. We walked out across the ridge through the thick, wet snow and then down the hill to join the warm, loud parishioners for lunch. After a group photo Will and I went on a long drive, going over into West Virginia through a white mountain pass and fields of snow. We took a walk up a pristine forest road onto a ridge at Lost River State Park in the sunshine, and then took 55 through Wardensville and up into the cloud that hovered over Great North Mountain. On top of the mountain we were in the snowstorm - no visibility and 8 inches of snow. We hiked out onto the ridgetop trail for a ways, marveling at the transformed trees, the overwhelming whiteness and cold, and the great silence of the place. Then it was down out of the cloud into the last afternoon sunshine glowing over the snug hollows of the Shenandoah, with white fields and farmhouses with plumes of woodsmoke coming from their chimneys.
We rejoined the rest of the Knights for dinner and then went up to the rec hall for the unpleasant experience of singing 70s and 80s Christian folk standards (the musicians were fine, unfortunately for them I associate "Lord I lift your name on high" with the living hell that was middle school), and eventually we slipped away with Tom and Amanda to our cabin to have a glass of wine and some snacks and relax. We wandered over to some other cabins to talk to older parishioners, and then went to bed.
Most of the snow melted in the rain overnight. Church was plain and pleasant, with a good dinner afterward: another happy year at Shrinemont. We meandered our way back to Annapolis and that evening I went to the Halloween Costume Ball with Danses Historiques; I wore my morning dress and had a lovely evening whirling ladies around the room. Tails are a wonderful thing.
On the 31st I went to work at the Archives and then for David, and after that I had a small Halloween hang-out for people. I dressed up like Sexy Abe Lincoln, Kristin dressed like Sexy Lord Nelson, Dan dressed like Indiana Jones, we had a few drinks, and gave candy to little kids. It was pretty great.
Tuesday, November 1 - I Sing at the Royal Mile - a decent evening. Even managed to sing once.
Saturday, November 5 - In the morning I worked for Frank doing tissue mends at his private studio north of Baltimore. I stopped by my parents' on the way home and cleaned out my closet a bunch, filling boxes to take to Goodwill, which felt wonderful. That evening was the joint birthday party for me and Eric, which went off really well, I think - about 25 people came and we stayed up quite late partying! It was like old times - the wine and conversation flowed freely, our new house was more than adequate for hosting that many people, and I really enjoyed myself.
Ben and Maxine stayed in the guest room, Eric's friend Hunter stayed in Alexandra's old room, and on Sunday morning we had a breakfast of pancakes and sausage for everyone in the dining room, which was good fun. After breakfast I got dressed in my Colonial rig and drove over to Londontown. It was a cool, clear day and once there I borrowed a boy's coat off the kid's rack. I met my daughter, which the house actors all hammed up mightily, and spent the rest of the day drilling with Hugh Pry and serving on the cannon. A lovely day.
Oh, as I was walking to my car that morning, compleat with tricorn hat, I came toward a woman holding the hands of two little girls, one on either side. One had apparently declared I was a pirate, and the other was saying I was George Washington. As I came up to them I raised my hat and said good morning. The one girl cried out "It's a girl!" and the other said, "See, I TOLD you it wasn't George Washington!"
Monday, November 7 - Katherine Hale arrived to spend the week with us, departing Thursday morning to spend the winter in rural New York.
Friday, November 11 - After work me, Will, Eric, and Kristin headed up to Baltimore to meet up with Jason Ritzke, get a beer at a bar, get kebabs for dinner, and walk over to the Metropolitan Lounge to once again hear Slim Cessna's Auto Club play! The opening band was Slim's son's band, and was pretty good, and then the concert itself was, once again, awesome! Great energy, great songs, and people writing around on the floor in religious ecstasy. We drove home all jazzed up and pleased with ourselves.
Saturday, November 12 - I went up to my parents to clean more and took a lot to Goodwill. At this point I only have a few dresses, six boxes of books, a few more boxes of miscellaneous crap, and some shoeboxes of old papers left. If I can winnow out the books a lot more and take the rest down to Annapolis I'll feel pretty accomplished.
The afternoon was spent cleaning and polishing for the Regency dinner the next day, and hanging out with our roommates in the dining room - a most cozy evening!
Sunday, November 13 - The was spent cooking, cleaning, and setting the table for the ultra-formal Regency dinner we'd be hosting that night. I put table-cloths over every modern thing in the living room and set candles and vases on the surfaces, crammed everything else into a corner and set the folding screen in front of it, moved the half-couch and round table out of the dining room into the living room, and moved the rickety corner table into the corner where the round table usually is. An extra leaf was put in the table, my grandmother's long white tablecloth was put on top, and then I set the table with our china and silver, matching wine and water glasses, crisply ironed white cloth napkins, silver candlesticks, and a silver vase filled with flowers. The corners were filled with china serving dishes a silver water pitcher, and a crockery pitcher filled with iced tea. The sideboard was adorned with more candlesticks, the silver tea set, china teacups and saucers, and the dessert plates and forks. The rickety table (transformed with a nice table cloth) held several tin lanterns and a space for John to put any trays down. We put candlesticks on top of the china cabinet too, and Lt Peterson later brought a candle chandelier that we hung from a hook in the ceiling, which gave the room a bright, even glow.
We bought a boned leg of lamb and I sewed it up with linen thread, and then we stuffed it with a mix of breadcrumbs, fresh rosemary and oregano, mushrooms, and veal - a recipe from Lobscouse and Spotted Dog. The lamb was rubbed with pepper and baked with parboiled herb potatoes. Our other guests contributed mightily, too - Steve and Kitty brought a spicy apple ginger soup that was delicious, Mea brought a decadent trifle, John brought a bread and cheese board, Maria brought wine and port (and shrub glasses!), and Mrs Peterson brought the lightest, most delicious candied nuts I've ever eaten.
Our guests arrived at the appointed hour in their finery, all was squared away, and John took up his butler duties: the evening began in the candle-lit parlour with a ruby punch in our silver punch bowl and John's bread and cheese board. Then we moved into the dining room for our courses - the indispensable John (Montrie for the night) again served us our soup (it was spicy in a way that crept up on you suddenly, like a mugger going after your taste buds), and then the main course. The lamb came off splendidly - I'd never had anything quite like it, and I was very pleased. The candles danced, the wine shone in the glasses, everyone looked magnificent in their clothes: Steve and Kitty came as two Venetians, Lt and Mrs Peterson naturally came as a naval couple, Ms Day came as a Naval widow looking for a new husband, Mr Knight was wearing modern white tie and was my cousin for the evening, a lawyer, Ms Clift was our mutual cousin, and I was a midshipman, of course.
Course followed course, plates were cleared away, and dessert came next. Then port, nuts, and cheese, and first John and then Mr and Mrs Peterson excused themselves. Before the good Montrie said goodnight I gave him the gift Will and I had got for him as a thank you for serving - two etched crystal Edwardian champagne flutes from West Annapolis Antiques. He seemed quite pleased [his wife later told me she loved the glasses and they toasted with them on New Years Eve]. Finally, as it was quite late, we bid our guests good night, and Mr Knight and I systematically cleaned everything up and went to bed with great satisfaction.
Monday and Tuesday, November 14-15 - I worked at the Folger rephotographing fine and historic bookbindings for my database, which was incredibly exciting: I was given a cart filled with exquisite 17th, 18th, and 19th century volumes, and then given the day to photograph them with a professional photo rig and edit them in Photoshop. The results are indistinguishable from the photo lab or my boss's work, which I think is the best compliment.
Saturday, November 19 - After dropping DS off Will and I rambled our way down to NoVA for lunch with Ben and Alex at Bilbo Baggins in Alexandria, which was quite tasty. We had a light dinner with Will's parents later that evening, and then went out to Dick's to buying hunting clothes with Will's dad - an early Christmas gift for us both! I got realtree pants, jacket, and gloves, and Will went with Mossy Oak. We got up to West Virginia quite late, but hunting was suddenly looking to be a lot more comfortable.
Sunday, November 20 - Sunday morning was the usual comfortable little church service, then there was Fellowship dinner that afternoon, and after eating our fill of turkey and stuffing Will and I went back to the farm in the fine afternoon sunshine and helped Rodney set up his tree stand. We walked all around the little ridge looking for bucksign and deer sign (plenty of it!) and then down the hill and up through the long pasture to Bill Knight's tree stand. Will decided he'd hunt there, and then we walked out along the twenty to Riddle, looking for deer sign and finding a place for me to hunt. After that we went back to the house, relaxed a little, and went to bed early, though it was hard for me to sleep -- tomorrow was the first day of deer rifle season!