I have a big list of looks I want to make for costuming, and with a general starting theme of the 1700’s and more specifically, the 1740’s and 1770’s, I wanted to make pieces that would work for both historical costuming, as well as cosplaying some of the characters from my favorite historical dramas, like Verity Rutter from Jamestown, Demelza from Poldark and Claire from Outlander (I’m not a superfan of the show. There is a lot of violence and over-the-top nudity. I am a fan of the costumes).
My first pick was an outfit Claire wears in Season One in several episodes, working in her healer’s dungeon at Castle Leoch, and when she is doing laundry and attending Jenny at the birth of her child at Broch Turoch. These three tasks spoke to me, and added a layer of appreciation for the costume.
As always happens at our house, after I successfully made Six his 1860’s jacket, his brother wanted one, too. And since Four had already been waiting for me to make him a bigger vest since the last one was a mite too short, I figured I’d make him a matching set.
I used to have a weighted blanket that I used to chill at the end of the day.
Except I wasn’t chilling, I was roasting a lot of nights. At some point, I realized I was experiencing peri-menopause, and it wasn’t the blanket that was causing the night sweats.
I spoke to my endocrinologist about it. He was the doctor I saw the most often, and he ordered unnecessary hormone tests that confirmed that I was not menopausal. Which wasn’t even my question. But, men. Alas, they are helpless in the face of a woman in distress and sometimes they do foolish things the woman must then pay for. In this case, literally $300.
Have you heard of Ida B. Wells? I hadn’t. I found Discovering History’s Heroes: Ida B. Wells, Fighter for Justice, by Diane Bailey, in the kids’ biography section of our library.
I’ve always enjoyed historical fiction, but I haven’t read much YA historical fiction. My YA reading tends towards fantasy and futuristic/dystopian literature.
Recently, my YA book club at the library had a planning session to lay out the next twelve month’s worth of reading. It was a super satisfying evening that resulted in a list of books we’d be reading for the coming year, but of course, we couldn’t read all of the books that were suggested as possibilities.
I took home one of the books that didn’t make the list, a historical fiction title, and I enjoyed it so much. So I found another YA historical fiction title and read that one, too. Well, I listened to it.
