Tea with Mrs. Lincoln

My Dear Sister,

I am sorry this letter reaches you so late as I know you are eager to hear about my visit with Mrs. Lincoln and to inform you of the manners and behaviors of the troops that lay to the right and left of us in the open field. Mrs. Lincoln was finely dressed, even down to her fingertips which were gloved to protect her delicate skin from the sun, as that is the fashion of our time. 

She shared with us the health of her sons and her concerns about her dear husband's disposition to this "Dreadful War." Such is the humor of this Lady that she regaled us with such stories of her courtship by Mr. Lincoln and their courtship cake but for which she never did give us the recipe. I'm told the recipe is from France and the cake is made of almond flour. 

There were other Ladies of similar rank and position including, Miss. Nancy. She came down from Iowa and was so generous in her explanation of the buttons we use to adorn our dresses, waist-coats and the cost of items such as these, that I will be forever grateful for that learned Lady's discourse. Miss. Minor was in attendance as well and spoke at great length of the Woman Suffrage Association. Also, there was a woman at table with us who wore a marvelously wrought chatelaine around her ample waist.
The small wicker basket holds her thimble, the locket contains a lock of her husband's hair, a pair of scissors and a shell snuff box. Quite often she is overcome by the vapors and is in need of her snuff to revive her. The sound of the troops readying for battle had more than just a few of us reaching for our snuff boxes but it brought our minds back to our purpose - rolling bandages. I must admit I was not very good and required the assistance of none other than Mrs. Lincoln herself...

I will write again soon with details of the troops and their conditions.

Your loving Sister, Susan.

We've Moved to Missouri!

"I'll give you this to take with you:

Nothing remains as it was. 

If you know this, you can begin again, 

with pure joy in the uprooting."

Judith Minty, Letters To My Daughters

No "uprooting" is without planning, work, difficulty or packing. Since my last post, Rob and I, along with our two big, beautiful, boy cats, packed up, sold our home in Plantation Florida and moved to the university town of Kirksville, in rural northeast Missouri. The move was neither easy nor painless - I don't imagine moving ever is.

When we arrived at our new home, the temperature was in the teens and I had a roaring migraine. It took about six weeks to unpack all the boxes at which time winter had arrived in her gleaming cloak of sparkling white.

I love my new home. It sits on the edge of the woods. My backyard is filled with birds, deer, raccoons and squirrels. The nights are dark and the sky is ablaze with stars, shimmering like white diamonds on black velvet. It is also quiet. When the snow lays heavy on the ground, it is almost silent, except for the calling of the owls. This morning I thought I heard coyotes howling.

I think of Plantation but have no regrets about leaving. The studio is organized and slowly getting up to speed. The boys, a/k/a the cats, love to bask in the sunlight pouring into the studio from the southern and western facing windows, as you can see here.

I joined the local quilt guild...Hands of Friendship Quilt Guild - what a talented and welcoming group of ladies. During these long winter days, I spend my time reading, researching and designing in my warm, sunlit studio. 

I'm loving this slower, gentler pace of living and I promise to post more often as I travel this new path, in this new state, in this new town and in my new home. 

If you would like to leave a comment and I hope you do, please click on the post title, We've Moved to Missouri and the Comment dialogue box will open.  Thank you and Enjoy!