After the strip poker game when everyone was stark naked, Rhett suggested they try out his new sauna that had recently been built in the backyard....
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Back at the Foxes', dinner was just about ready, so it was time to set the table. Rhett and Kitty were quite well-to-do, and had a huge formal dining room....  Maisie and Melody were busy setting the table...    While Muffy and Ginger laid out some of the desserts on one of the sideboards...  "Everything looks so yummy!"   Kitty and Missy were filling the second sideboard with even more desserts...   While Tiana and Jo filled the bread baskets....    Soon everything was laid out....   "I think we are done...."   "Well, everyone has worked really hard, and everything looks delicious..."   "It's time for me to go call in the menfolk..."  So Miss Kitty went to the living room to get the men....  ...but there was no one there.......just a big pile of clothes....  "Oh Rhett! What did you guys do?!?"  Ringo had been waiting patiently to give his gift....  "I made you something too..."  "...and I made it all by myself.....with no help from anyone..."  'Well, let's have a look then...."  Lawrence unwrapped Ringo's gift...  ..and smiled at his son...."This is awesome....Thank you!"  "Do you really like it?"  "Yes I do..."  "You are becoming quite the little artist.......our family has never looked so good..."  "I love it!"  "Tomorrow I'm going to hang it in my office..."  "For now I'll just put it right here..."   Paige leaned over and whispered to Nami....  "Do we really look like that??"  Monica came over...."That's such a cute picture. He even drew you waving that little wooden sword you made for him last year..."  "It's priceless! I'm going to hang it in my office, and whenever I'm having a bad day, all I'll need to do is look at it to remind me what's most important to me. "  "That's a wonderful idea. But right now we should get dressed and go down for breakfast. It's going to be a very busy day."  Paige presented her gift next, and like Nami, she had also made a card....  Lawrence opened the box, and inside was a scarf...  "I didn't know that you could knit...."  "Well, I didn't...but then Naomi showed me how...."  'You did a great job....and it fits perfectly!"  "I love it. Thank you!"  Then it was David's turn. "Happy birthday Dad!"  "I made you something too...."  It was a bird house...."  "This is really nice. You did a great job...."  "Uncle Baron did help me a little...but I put it all together...."  "I thought you could hang it in the garden outside your office window...."  "It will be interesting to see who moves in...."  Lawrence sat down to open the children's gifts. Nami gave hers first.....  "Thank you sweetheart...."  "I love your card..."  Inside the box were some heart-shaped cookies....  "My favourite cookies! Did you make them?"  "Yes, I did....but Lady Naomi did help me a little...."  "I'm definitely going to enjoy these. Thank you!"  It was times like this that Monica was even more proud of her children....  February 13th was Lawrence's birthday. It was a national holiday, and the whole kingdom was celebrating, with all manner of festivities planned. All the pomp and ceremony was well and good, but what was most important to him was the quiet, intimate time with his family first thing that morning.... "Happy Birthday, my love..."  "I hope you have a wonderful day!"  But their quiet moment together was short lived....  The children were all excited, and had gotten up early....  "Happy Birthday Dad!!"  They all rushed up to hug him...  They all loved him dearly....  "I'm such a lucky father..."  "Here, open my gift first!!"  While Baron was away, Naomi started work on her wedding gown....  It was something to do to help while away the days....  She missed him terribly....  Miho would often come and keep her company.  "This is coming along beautifully."  "Thank you. I really want to do justice to this gorgeous fabric you gave me. It's so beautiful."  "I really appreciate how kind and welcoming you have been to me."  "Of course. We are family now. And I can only imagine how hard this new life is for you...."  "Especially with Baron's absence when he has to go on one of these extended patrols...."  "I really miss him so very much...."  "...and I'm very thankful for your company."  After Miho left, Naomi would go back to her sewing....  But she'd often stop to look out the window...  ...hoping to see that Baron had returned home to her.....  Meanwhile with all their drinking, the guy's poker game took a different turn.....  ...and their clothes started to come off....      ...until they were all stark naked....  It had been a very busy afternoon, and everyone was busy with the final touches. The new ladies proved quite adept at baking and decorating. Jo was busy finishing the cheesecakes....  ...while Maisie was busy screating her cream puff tower....   Tiana decided she couldn't wait to try Maisie's cream puffs...  ...but was caught red-handed...  Feeling rather embarrassed, she went and hid in the recipe book....  "Well, these are done."  "I'm finished too..."  "This tart looks amazing!"   Muffy was decorating some cakes with the chocolate mice she'd made....   "Well, it looks like we are just about done..."  "...so it's time to set the table..."  While I've been photographing my Forest Dweller Holiday Get-together, I've also started work on Naomi's wedding gown. Even though the wedding is still a long way off, there's lots to make beforehand, and I figured I'd start with the wedding gown, since it's the most important. I had originally thought something in light blue or pale green, in an Italian Renaissance style like Lucretia wore in 'the Borgias' series a few years back. But when I went through my fabrics, there wasn't anything useful in those colours. But a pale yellow sari jumped out at me....  Okay, so it was decided...the wedding gown was going to be 'gold'. I went through my stash looking for other fabrics to support the colour choice, and laid them out....  Now, saris may be gorgeous on the right side, but are a mess of threads on the wrong side, so to hide that I'd need to line the semi-sheer sari with some very light cream cotton. It's been a bit of a challenge, since both fabrics are very fine, and very slippery, and every seam needed to be hand-basted first before any machine stitching. Thankfully my sewing machine didn't mind stitching through sequins, but it draws the line at going anywhere near any beading, so those areas had to be done by hand. It's taken me a week to prepare an underskirt and overskirt...  I finally finished an under-bodice this morning. It has a picot beaded neckline of tiny cream pearls, and hand-sewn lace 'ruffles'. I basted on the underskirt, and am ready to machine stitch it....but I was too excited and had to take some photos. I'm currently using Yvette as my model, since she doesn't have any body blushing, so won't suffer any accidental damage.
The overskirt was cut considerably longer so there would be a train in the back. I pinned it into place, and slipped on the basic gold over-bodice.  Right now the main bodice is still very plain. I can't do any embellishment on it until I sew the sleeves into the armholes, and I haven't even started to figure those out yet....  I'm actually making two identical gowns (the second one is already spoken for) and I need to finish the second set of skirts and under bodice before I proceed any further with the first gown.
And I need to process the photos for the next instalment of the Forest Dweller Holiday Get-together. I finished photographing the final scene of the story this morning, and the entire set has already been taken down. So the dining room table is empty, and ready to set up for the next photos.... ....never a dull moment! |
AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
February 2026
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