Greetings! It has been so long since I posted that I thought it wouldn't hurt to drop a few lines. Tomorrow, I am walking in the Walk for Life which will benefit a local pro-life organization. I am in the choir at First Baptist, and they have sponsored me for $125. My total pledges amount to $250. The event will be a great way to get involved in the local pro-life effort. The route will only be two miles to ensure that more people can participate.The Annual Ponca City Herb Festival is also coming up soon. I am the Official Hostess of the festival, and my duties include announcing and introducing the guest speakers, greeting people, and dressing in historic costume. In past years at the festival, there had been other people who dressed up for fun, and I thought that I would like to do that, too. I had an 1860's dress from my War For Southern Independence reenacting days and wore that. Members of the Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme Garden Club thought it would be a good idea if I were to dress up every year, and so far I have dressed as a pioneer, a Jane Austen regency lady, and as a Titanic era Edwardian. A costume is in the works for a Gibson Girl ensemble in honor of Oklahoma's centennial celebration.
I will be starting a blouse using the Folkwear Gibson Girl Pattern. The illustration above is from the cover of the pattern. There is insertion lace and tucks, and I am making it of a very fine batiste which I ordered from The Martha Pullen Company online. She has written books on French Handsewing and specializes in heirloom sewing products.
The nine gored skirt is almost finished and is being made from a pattern by Sense and Sensibility Patterns. I decided to sew it with a lavendar, organic cotton made with natural dyes that I found at Hobby Lobby. I was thrilled to find it especially since this is one of the softest, prettiest fabrics I have obtained in a while. When I finally complete it, I will post the photos.
On a different note, one of my newest hobbies is studying the Irish language. Gaeilge (No, I'm not spelling that wrong!) is challenging but also very rewarding. So far I'm only able to piece together basic sentences. The most difficult rule to grasp is that the verb always comes first. I'm sure there are more difficult rules to come! Also, nothing is pronounced the way I think it should be in my Anglicized mind. Who could even guess that most of the time "D" is pronounced like our "J" or "G." For instance "Dia dhuit (hello)" is pronounced "Jee-ah Gwitch." The nicest element to learning Gaeilge is that, while it is more complex than Bearla (English), the grammar is much more consistent. This usually makes it more difficult for native speakers to learn Bearla as a second language. Hopefully, this doesn't prove true in reverse!
