Tiger Lily's Threads

This year's Colonial Market Fair was pretty fun! Albeit it was pretty rainy during the majority of the weekend, but that didn't stop most patrons from coming out in droves.  Stephanie, her family, and I were at Ft. Fred mainly on Thursday to do our shopping. While there were many familiar sutlers that we'd shop annually with, compared to last years trek I noticed that there seemed to be more vendors this year followed by a lot more merchandise that was put in the forefront....I'm just glad that I did not break my budget (bringing only cash and leaving the credit card at home, was a smart idea after all-cause once the cash is down to $10, you have to stop shopping.)  My haul from today's shopping: mirror, wooden collapsible bench (gift), shortbread (gift), gold military trim, buttons, stamp watch fob. I got to see a lot of good friends, many of whom live in Virginia, and right here in Maryland. For a short time Stephanie and I met up with our Roya

 Hey everybody! It's spring break and you know what that means. . . road trip!    To celebrate the peak of spring, Stephanie and I took a well awaited trip down to Colonial Williamsburg. When we arrived, we were met with what can only be described as a wall of pollen...I kid you not! Pollen was everywhere you looked. But that didn't stop us. Nope! We checked into our hotel, got dressed in our 18th century gowns, and went into the historic area to meet up with my friends Kelly and Emily for a picnic on the Palace Green. Afterwards, we took a walk around Duke of Gloucester Street and visited the new and improved shops (Tarpley's and Greenhow), as well as check out the exhibits and programs. One Exhibit in particular was called "Revealing the Priceless: 40 years of African American Interpretation".  Inside the Raleigh Tavern, the whole back room is displayed in a way that I'd highly recommend that you'd go see it for yourself to get the ful

For the past couple of weeks I have been preparing a new historical character for an upcoming event with Historic Annapolis in preparation for Maryland Day Weekend. This past Sunday I portrayed Catherine Futier, a local laundress in Annapolis during the 1760's.  Of what information I could acquire, Catherine Futier was a free black woman and the only person in the black community documented to have a trade. While many trades peoples would advertise their services in the paper to gain new and occuring customers, Catherine chose not to advertise her services in the Maryland Gazette. Instead she got around by way of word of mouth - this not only benefited her by saving money (because printing would have been expensive during the time of the Stamp Act) but this was a good way of building a rapport with her customers. As a result, she did very well for herself and was able to rent a room and workspace at the Hogshead. Catherine also was also more than likely literate, as she