Hello!
Well, it seems quiet a few of us are posting a picture of ourselves reenacting, so I think I'll have a shot at that one. ;)
I did some historical reenacting and volunteering at a beautiful 37 building pioneer village museum by us. It's a beautiful place. Their buildings include a 19th century church, an old post office, old fashioned stocks for guests to take pics in, (I can't describe how funny it is to watch that.) A small outdoor restaurant, a gigantic display building, 4 machinery buildings, looms (I hear they take 24hrs to thread...), and so much more.
My favorite little spot there (ok, one of my favorite little spots there) was the house. 11 people (one family) lived in that little tiny space. :) Apparently there is a bit of an attic that housed some of the children through a door and up the stairs, but that's all been closed off for safety reasons. However, they do have some beautiful old furniture there to see, and (being a volunteer) I was allowed to touch things when I explained to guests. One of my friends took this picture of me pretending to work the spinning wheel. :)
(I fixed the low-res problem!!!)
Yup, I know I look sweaty and hot, but I am wearing all my period correct layers and it was almost 90 degrees that day. ;) I made the dress and haversack. The parasol I got for Christmas a few years ago, and it's from Vision Forum. If you look closely there's a white handkerchief tucked into my apron (which a friend made for me) and it's embroidered. That belonged to my grandma. :) The boots (even though you can't really see them here) are Lace Up Ropers, or Woman's Rodeo Boots. They have rubber soles (oh well...) but they're very comfortable and look super authentic. :)
See that white thing wrapped around my left hand? That's my string. :) All day I went around to all the young guests and showed them string games. The interactive ones were the most fun for them I think. I even met some girls who knew how to play Cat's cradle! Since they were the only guests I met who knew how I played it with some of my other friends who were reenacting and showed the guests. It was a big hit. There was one little boy in particular who loved the string games. (he was so cute!) I was sitting on the steps of the church giving a break to the person stationed there when he came up to me. I didn't see his parents near by, so I though decided to occupy him so he would stay in one place. (The church is big and can be seen from all of "main-street" and he was wearing red so I figured his parents would see us) I caught his attention by doing the "winking eye" at him. He giggled and came up to play with me. He looked about three. Eventually his dad and sister saw him and came a got him. Several times later during the day I saw him looking at me and sometimes he would follow me (with his dad and sister following him!!) And ask to play again. It was SO CUTE.
Psa 34:11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Never forget that History (as dry as those textbooks make it sometimes) is part of learning the fear of the Lord. Can you imagine what it would be like to leave your home like the pioneers did? Most of you have moved before, but you probably moved somewhere that had a bathroom and a stove or a microwave. None of that in pioneer times.
Here's a game for you! See those carders in the picture? (The rectangle things with handles on them?) Those were used to clean out any burs from the wool, and it helped to smooth it so it could be spun. Anyway, see the "table" it's sitting on? Can anyone guess what it is? If you look really close you can tell. :)
~Natalya
