A Trip to the Silver City, Idaho Cemetery

Hello all and a good almost Wednesday morning to you!  Today's post is a little off the usual for this blog, but I wanted to share what Mom, Colton and I did today.  As some of you may know, my youngest son has a very incredible talent and eye for photography.  If you would like to check out his blog, you can see it here:  C Dub Photography.  He loves photographing the small things around buildings, structures and larger elements as well as the textures and angles that can be found on those buildings.  It is so fun to watch him as he attempts to capture what his eyes see.  We had planned back at the beginning of June to head to Silver City, (a two hour drive from our home) because I knew that any later in the summer it would be blazing hot.  Sure enough, it was 100 up there today and exceedingly dusty, hence the reason I decided to forgo any attempt at costuming while we were up there...that and I wanted this day to be just for him to shoot what he wished to shoot.

We were able to eat lunch in the Idaho Hotel dining room before they closed for the day at 2:00.  Walking across the floor of the hotel brings to mind what it would feel like being a drunk pirate on a ship in the middle of a maelstrom.  The hotel was built in 1863 so is quite old and she had quite a lovely personality. After our cheeseburgers, blackberry pie (which was most fabulous) and ice cream, we left the cool of the hotel to wander around the town.  All of the remaining houses and dwellings are privately owned so we made sure to stay off the lawns and for sure didn't peek in the windows (yes, there are some people who do that.  I think they think it is a living history museum or something which it is not...).  I found out that I was more out of shape than I realized as we walked around.  Silver City is build in a valley so the only level places to walk were in the hotel's dining room and as I said before, that was not at all level!

After Colton took all the pictures he cared to take in the town, we drove to the cemetery where he did as I bade and took some pictures of the grave stones and wrought iron fencing.

A couple of years ago, I purchased The Old Stone Rubbing Kit and never got around to using it.  Well, today that changed.  I carried my kit around with me and when I saw the grave stone below, I knew it would be my first ever grave stone rubbing!  It is gorgeous!  And hello!!!  It has an anchor on it.  My heart melted in my chest as I imagined this husband mourning the loss of his wife...I was delighted to see that no vandals had broken it or caused it any harm and it was still looking lovely after 103 years in the harsh Idaho elements.

The paper is a very interesting mix of paper and fabric, so didn't tear (like at all...I needed to tear it to fit around the stone and thankfully Colton had his knife on him so we could cut the paper) so it made for a nice medium for the wax disk to mark.

 I was shocked at how sharp the wording and, well, just everything was!

This is me impersonating a vampire.  I try to avoid a lot of sun exposure because I instantly burn and looking at a picture of the sun makes freckles pop out like, well, freckles on a red head.

I can't wait to find another beautiful grave stone to make a wax rubbing of.  I had Colton film me making the rubbing so you could see how simple and easy it was to do, just in case one of you is like me and loves cemeteries and grave stones!!

Well, I think I should go to bed as it is now Wednesday morning!!

Be Blessed!

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All Hallows' Eve in 1863 Mourning

Last Friday, our costuming group was supposed to attend Frightened Felons, which was of course my "excuse" for making my 1863 mourning ensemble.  Well, life and sickness decided that perhaps that evening would not be a good idea to attend an event that a dress was planned around.  So I was not able to attend and therefore not able to wear my new 1863 mourning dress with all my fun goodies...that was made to attend Frightened Felons!  Our group has decided that after one of our members gets her dress complete, we will try again for an occasion to wear our Victorian mourning.  

However, the trees here in the valley are so beautiful right now and I knew they would be a fantastic background palette for the mourning colors, that I really wanted to have a photo shoot at one of the local cemeteries...Dry Creek Cemetery.  It is quite a large cemetery and was started in 1865, two years after Idaho became a territory.  There is a "pioneer" section in the 130 acres that is now the current cemetery and that is where I wanted my pictures to be taken (no chances of houses or cars making their way into my photographs...).  Of course we are just going to make believe that the dates on the tombstones are much, much older that they really are... (ie, not from the 1920s or the 1890s...You get the picture...)

I wanted to make a cemetery wreath like the ones I have seen in photographs from the Victorian Era, so I made one from silk flowers and a styrofoam wreath.  The flowers I chose were white roses (Innocence and purity), white freesias (Innocence) and white lilies (Purity).  I really like the contrast between the white flowers in the wreath and the black of my dress.

Another neat-o accessory/antique I have in my collection is an 1850 German prayer book.  At the last minute, I thought it would be a nice addition to my mourning ensemble.

I wasn't sure if I would use the veil as I didn't want the gathering on my bonnet to be hidden, but after putting it on, I noticed that it was sheer enough to let the gathers be seen.  Yeah!!!  

Reading a mourning letter.  This one is from Sherwood, England of all places and dates from the 1890s.  Still a very neat piece of mourning history.

Yes, I am very much aware that this is a little corny, but I was trying to use all the items I chose to accessorize my outfit with...too bad I didn't have any Visine to fake my tears...

I am so happy that we were able to squeeze this little shoot in between freezing applesauce and picking my oldest son up from school!  Thank you God for holding the rain for us while I hurridly posed and Mom hurridly took my pictures!  And thank you for giving me a Mom that understands me and is willing to partake in my silliness!  I am blessed!!

Be blessed my friends!!

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