A Most Beguiling Accomplishment

Putting it in writing to make sure it happens - next summer, I'm going to be hosting an 1830s picnic in central New York! Hyde Hall - this was in April when it was still very cold, so it will be more lush, I promise! Hyde Hall is a gorgeous mansion on Otsego Lake in Springfield Center. It was built between 1817 and 1834, which makes it a perfect place to have a pre-Victorian event. It also has a great big grassy lawn, and I've already mentioned this to the staff there and they think it would be pretty cool! Why am I posting about this so early? Well, mainly because I planned to do it this year and it never happened (though in fairness, I spent half of July out of town, so ... that made it hard to plan or prepare), and I want to make sure that I do pick a date and that it gets held. This is also not a period that most people sew for, so it might take us all some time to create our ensembles. With that in mind, I'm going to be writing a series of posts on 1830s dres...

On Saturday, I went to the Formally Invited tea at the Vanderpoel House in Kinderhook, put on by the Columbia County Historical Society and Clermont State Historic Site.  It was wonderful!  The whole first floor was cleared, with one room for the tea, punch, and food, one room for coats (and a full-length mirror, so you can make sure your outfit is all right), and the doors between the parlors opened to create one long space for dancing. The food was fantastic - butter cookies, seed cakes, a pound cake with currants, salmagundi, syllabub (first time I ever had syllabub), strawberry ices, and these little chicken tart things - and there was a whole selection of teas, including the custom Vanderpoel and Clermont blends, which were the two I tried. My favorite part of the afternoon, apart from getting to talk to so many other enthusiasts, was learning to dance.  Sadly, I can't remember the names of the two dances I learned, but I did learn two!  I could pro...