Yule Event

Gardner's company had it's annual Yule event this past weekend. This year we had a murder mystery theme, and we've discovered that having a theme, along with a sort of script helps people to carry on period conversations. We have something to talk about. We all have personas that have us knowing each other, even living close to one another. In that idealized setting we would have gossip and daily life activities to discuss. In reality, most of us live at least an hour away, some even more, and we don't discuss daily life amongst ourselves. To help achieve a more period level of conversation, Carla and Diane created a murder mystery, carrying on the torch started by Vic and Laura last year. We also had a new site which was just wonderful.

We started the day around 11:00 am, with areas for folks to work on projects and allow us to catch up with each other.


Laura (Isobel) is in the foreground and working on an embroidered bodice. It's amazing the amount of work she has invested in the project and it is just stunning.

Greg (Nathaniel) is sitting in the background doing some leather work. Obviously, we haven't started on anything in a period setting, yet.

The site had a working fireplace that we were allowed to use. A few props made for a beautiful display. You just have to overlook the glass doors and chain curtain over the fireplace.

Late in the afternoon, folks got dressed and the mundanities cleared away. A period dinner was put out on a buffet table. In period, dinner would have been served; however, we simply aren't a large enough group to have folks playing servants as well as have an evening.

The evening pictures are taken without a flash in order to be less intrusive. However, in just candle light, the shutter speed is so long that any movement is registered as a blur. So, some parts of the evening pictures are a bit blurry.

James and Christopher (far side of table) and Robert are playing a card game called Put. Of course, its a betting game. The second picture is the same, just from a different angle.

The event went very well, and I believe everyone had fun. Now it's time to recuperate.