Call It What You Want...

Is over once again.

Most of the stories will have to tell themselves at other times and in other places.

But imagine if you will those questionable characters you see above as some of your ancestors. And shudder just a little.

It was a glorious weekend; I lost track of all the wonderful conversations I had with guests. For the first time, I found myself more able to connect and engage adults than children. This was because we were a little lacking in "interactives" -- chores for the kids to do, appropriate period items for the kids to play with, etc. -- and because a lot of the talk about the Civil War was more theoretical. Aside from learning some very interesting information about a time period I don't know much about, I also gained some valuable successes in interpreting to adults, connecting with things they know already and then bringing in things they don't.

What about costumed third-person interpretation? Hmm. I like it on occasion for a special project -- I think it gives our guests an "inside peek", letting them feel "in on" what's going on behind the scenes. I think that if you did it all the time, it wouldn't be special. And there wouldn't be the other side, the really terrific first-person interactions, where guests feel like they "actually" met someone from history.

I haven't worked three days in a row since the preschool closed. And I certainly haven't worked three days in a row at the Prairie with more than 1000 guests in, well, 15 years. We had something like 1,400 school kids on Friday (plus other guests), and near 4,000 per day on Saturday and Sunday. The weather was perfect, there was a lot going on, and I think just about everyone had a good time.

See what a few days' perspective will do for a person?

Says Aili: "I shot me a Yankee!"
"I got one, too," replies Mel.

John wants us to know soldiering is serious business.

Kyle wants to know why spoon bonnets went out of style.

Why don't I like computers?

One reason would be because after Tim did a major backup of the OTHER computer that was going quite awry, sometime during the night, Windows did an update and restarted (without asking anyone for permission) and it couldn't restart and now it's dead, and, oh yeah, the major backup died too.

So.

Our pictures are backed up somewhere else. There was a major backup done some time ago. Current projects are excluded as the most recent backup is dead. And Tim has to spend the day (week? month?) rebuilding the bad computer.

But I made a bonnet from scratch for Civil War weekend -- my friend Linda will look great in it! See, these oldey-timey things don't go nuts on you. They might be hard, but when you put it down for the night, it just sits there.

The corset doesn't break itself.

The hoop doesn't shut down.

The dress doesn't tear itself.
Sigh.

Why, sewing, of course!

Civil War Weekend at "my" Prairie is just two weeks away!

I have made this. It looks rather like what you see. It was from a kit from Needle and Thread. For more information, go here.

These have arrived. They are from here.

Yesterday I put a lot of work into making a map of our backyard, putting permanent green marker the things that are destined (for whatever reason) to stay, like the fence, the house, the honkin' huge maple tree that pretty much takes over the south end of the yard (and thus, most of the sunshine)... Then I highlighted the things that I want to take out, and made a list of tasks needed to accomplish the closer-to-perfect backyard.

Last night, after hubby put kids to bed and I mowed the grass and took a shower, we sat down to look over that drawing, and the second one, that had the permanent items in it and space to draw in with pencil some of our ideas. I got a little bent out of shape when, instead of saying, "wow, honey, you did a nice job on this. I can see what you want to do and some great places to start," he asked what my priorities were. I had thought I had highlighted them, but apparently there were too many, and he wanted something a little more attainable.

"These are my priorities," I told him, gesturing to the highlighted page (back landscaping, timbered area behind the back porch, stump in the north end of the yard, maple tree in the center [not the huge one], lilac bush, mess in the corner by the kitchen window...okay, maybe that was a lot...).

What was it about pride in the fall? But it's spring!

This morning I was checking blogs after Mark had finished breakfast and he gleefully came in to show me that he'd "painted" his trash truck. That's weird, I thought. His markers are "color wonder," which means they only color on special paper. And it's yellow, but the marker on his hand is green, just like....

YIKES!

The papers were still on the living room floor. With the markers.

They are moved to the table for this photo. Note the coloring through the center holes on both pages. The one on the left got colored through to the clipboard. The other made the tiniest green smudge on the carpet by the couch, not discernable unless you're on your knees looking for it.

And the worst thing is, it's all my fault. In what world is it a good idea to leave your yard plans on the floor with a couple of markers????????

Proverbs 16:18 (New International Version)
18 Pride goes before destruction,
       a haughty spirit before a fall.

P.S. Mark did NOT get in trouble for this. Once again, whose fault is it???