Christmas Eve Fortune Telling

It was Christmas Eve, and, having made a pot of hot chocolate, Kelly sat with Julia and Nellie, reading their fortunes with playing cards.

“It’s called cartomancy,” explained Kelly, “And Christmas Eve is the perfect night to tell fortunes.  This particular spread tells your past, present, and future.  The top three cards, Julia, are your past.  First, we have the Nine of Clubs, this represents all your positive achievements.”

“I’ve certainly done a lot by helping to run this household.”

“Next, the Nine of Hearts.  This is about everything you having wished for coming to pass.”

“I’d say, at this point, all my wishes have come true; I can hardly think of anything else I’d like to have or need.”

“The last card in your past is the Four of Spades, this represents financial worries.”

“Well, those are all in the past, that’s for sure!”

“The second row is your present.  We have the Five of Clubs; that’s new friendships.”

“That would be you, Kelly!”

“See?  The cards never lie!  Next is the King of Diamonds, this is an influential man.”

“Could that be Uncle Gard?”

“Probably; what other influential men do you know?  Lastly, the Jack of Hearts, a good-natured young person.”

“Why, I’m surrounded in this house by good-natured young people.”

“The third row is your future.  The seven of Clubs stands for prosperity and success, which is always nice to see in one’s future.  But it can also mean you should be careful of trouble from a person of the opposite sex.”

“Trouble from a boy?  That goes without saying!”

“Next we have the Queen of Hearts.  That’s a flirtatious, fair-haired girl who likes to party.”

They looked over at Nellie.

“Not me,” said Nellie, “I’m not in your future, I’m right here and now!” 

“It may be someone Julia doesn’t know yet,” said Kelly, “Perhaps there will be yet another girl joining this household.  And the last card in your future is the King of Hearts.  That’s good advice from a fair-haired man.”

“That has got to be Admiral Bemis.  Maybe I’ll be asking him for advice about that troublesome boy!  Thank you so much, Kelly, I’ve got a very positive future ahead of me!”

“You’re welcome, Julia.  Merry Christmas!”

DUELING PILGRIM GIRLS

DUELING PILGRIM GIRLS

Mia Bella strode into the parlor, pleased as could be.  She had taken it upon herself to be this year’s Thanksgiving Pilgrim Girl, and was eager to surprise the girls at dinner.

Just then, Katherine Alyse came in, wearing a different costume.

“What’s this?” asked Mia Bella, “Why are you all got up like that?”

“I decided that I would be the Thanksgiving Pilgrim Girl this year, especially since it was my research that showed that real Pilgrim Girls would have dressed like this, rather than the way you are dressed.”

“But,” protested Mia Bella, “this costume is Traditional!  And if ever there was a holiday filled with traditional imagery, Thanksgiving is it!  This is as good a Pilgrim Puritan Girl costume as any!”

“I beg to differ, my dear,” replied Katherine Alyse, “Historical accuracy is very important when dealing with major events in American History.  Oh, and we should be having venison and oysters for Thanksgiving Dinner, instead of turkey and pumpkin pie.  Besides, as has been pointed out, the Pilgrims weren’t Puritans, they were Separatists.”

 “I don’t care!”  Mia Bella was getting perturbed.  “I went to a lot of trouble with this costume, and I think I look really cute in it!  I am going to be the Thanksgiving Pilgrim Girl at dinner this year!”

“No!  I am!”

“No!  I am!”

“No!  I am!”

Thankfully, at that moment, Julia came in.

“What’s all the fuss about, girls?”

They told her.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous!  There is plenty of room at the dinner table for two Pilgrim Girls, traditional and historically accurate.  Oh, and the Separatists were too Puritans, they just wanted to be separate from the Church of England, which they considered too corrupt for their ultra-Puritan sensibilities.”

“Well, if that’s the case,” said Mia Bella, “I’ll be happy to share today’s feast with Pilgrim Girl Katherine Alyse.  And I’m thankful that she does such good historical research.”

“And I’m thankful that Mia Bella is proud of our traditional heritage,” said Katherine Alyse, “and will eat my fill with her by my side.”

“I’m glad we got that worked out before we sat down,” said Julia, “Now just make sure Jane doesn’t see either of you; you know how she feels about Puritans.”

Too late!” cried Mia Bella, for there was Jane barging into the parlor.

“’Od’s my life!” exclaimed Jane, “As if one Puritan lass wasn’t enough!”

“I’m not a Puritan,” said Katherine Alyse, archly, “I’m a Separatist.”

“Puritans!  Separatists!  They were all a just bunch of mean-spirited religious fanatics!  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to prepare some venison and oysters for dinner.”

MAGIC AT PINEY POINT

MAGIC AT PINEY POINT

            It was August, and Bailey went up to Piney Point with Kelly Ann, her cousin and new best friend.  On a particularly fine day they packed a picnic lunch of bread and cheese and a bottle of Eltinge’s Finest Lemonade.  Then they set off through the woods, looking for a suitable spot to rest and eat.

            They followed a little-used trail that ran up a steep mountain slope. 

            “I’ve never been on this trail before,” said Bailey, “I didn’t even know there was a way up the mountain here.”

            “Then this will be not only a picnic,” responded Kelly, “but an adventure of exploration!”

            So up they went.

            After some time, and many twists and turns, the path opened up into a high meadow.  And there they saw before them a circle of standing stones, some almost as tall as they were!

            “What is this?” exclaimed Bailey.

            Kelly knew about such things. “Clearly it is a sacred stone circle, used for esoteric pagan ceremonies, and occult magical rituals.”

            “But who put it up?  The local Indians didn’t make places like this.”

            “Obviously,” explained Kelly, “it is convincing evidence that Eastern North America was visited and partly settled by ancient seafaring Celts.”

            “Obviously,” agreed Bailey.

            They counted eight stones aligned roughly on the cardinal points, and a single, taller monolith at the center, with a flat stone in front of it.

            “For sacred offerings,” declared Kelly, “or sacrifices!”

            “Could we have our picnic here,” wondered Bailey, “or would that be sacrilegious somehow?”

            “We should definitely see if we can work magic here!” Kelly was excited at the prospect.  “We can worry about lunch later.  Now let’s see, the first thing is to make sure no malevolent spirits recognize us while we’re working the magic.  Hmm, we don’t have any ceremonial robes with us.”  She thought a moment.  “I have it!  We’ll just take our clothes off and work the magic in our underthings!  No bad spirits will recognize us like that!”

            They had their sailor suits off in a jiffy, and began dancing around the circle, making up sacred chants and magic words as they saw fit.

            “Lalalalala!  Ha!  Hee!  Ho! Sis Boom Bah!”

            “Oonyellimon! Buburubu!  Gosh All Hemlock!  And out goes you!”

            The girls danced until they were dizzy.

            “Now,” said Kelly, “for the magic to work, we must make an offering.”  They dug into the picnic basket and poured a cup of lemonade, and cut slices of bread and cheese.  They stood by the central stone and Kelly spoke the words.

            “Blessed be, O Mother Demeter, who gives to us bread from the earth!  Blessed be, O Father Dionysus, who gives to us fruit from the tree! . . . Hmm, who is responsible for cheese?”

            “What about that Egyptian goddess, who has a cow’s head?”

            “Hathor?  Yes!  Blessed be, O Mother Hathor, who gives to us milk from thy sacred udder!”

            Then they both shouted, “Blessed be!”

            With the offering placed neatly on the flat stone, they sat down and had their own sacred meal.  They had to share a cup since the second one was holding the lemonade offering.

            And then, without even finishing their lunch, they both lay back and were asleep at once!

            It was more than an hour later that they both awoke, suddenly, at the same instant, and sat up.

            “Oh!” gasped Bailey, “We must have fallen asleep.”

            “Or been overcome by some kind of spell.”  Kelly liked that idea.

            “I had the most beautiful dream!” mused Bailey, “I was . . . It was . . . I can’t remember a thing, but it was so beautiful!  I feel wonderful!”

            “I must have had the same dream,” said Kelly, “since I have the same wonderful feeling!  This must be the magic we made!”

            “Look!” cried Bailey, pointing at the flat stone they had left the offering on.  It was bare, not a crumb was to be seen.  The cup that had held the lemonade was empty, and turned upside down!

            “Our offering was accepted!”  Kelly was delighted.  “We have worked more powerful magic than I thought!”

At Home

At Home with Jane, March, 1594

 

deLacey Hall.  The hearth in the Great Hall .

 

 The screens end of the Great Hall, with the Grand Gallery beyond.

 

 It's right this way.

The Grand Gallery.

 We have some nice furniture.

Poppets Revel Old Hall, the original manor house; too small for a great lord's household these days, and hopelessly old fashioned.

Which is why deLacey Hall was built.

Valentine's Day Surprise

Valentine's Day Surprise

On Valentine's Day morning, Liesel Elizabeth woke early, and got out of bed carefully, so as not to awaken her sweetheart, Savannah.

Then she tiptoed quietly out of the room.

Savannah had awakened, but lay still.  When Liesel Elizabeth was gone, she sat up and wondered what was going on.  Then she remembered what day it was.  Sitting still and listening quietly, she heard clinking and rattling downstairs in the kitchen and guessed what was happening.

When she heard Liesel Elizabeth returning, she hastily lay down again and pretended to be asleep.

"Wake up, Savannah" said Liesel Elizabeth, "Happy Valentine's Day!"
Savannah sat up slowly, yawned, rubbed her eyes, and then feigned surprise, "Breakfast in bed!  Oh, Liesel, what a wonderful surprise!"

"What a scrumptious way to start Valentine's Day," she continued, "and it's all the more delicious, dear, being shared with you!"

Bailey and Kelly go Sledding

 A sunny January day that was not bitterly cold, and Kelly and Bailey took their sleds into the park.

 Kelly had a new Flexible Flyer, and lying down on it, zoomed ahead of Bailey!

But after the exhilaration of hurtling downhill at break-neck speed, comes the plodding back uphill.