Tag: Picnics

Picnic at the Lyman Estate

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On the subject of summer picnics… We recently took advantage of a sunny Sunday afternoon to view two of the historic houses in nearby Waltham, Massachusetts: Stonehurst (completed in 1886) and  the Lyman Estate (built in 1793). We ended the afternoon with a relaxing picnic on the lawn of the Lyman Estate. Pictures often say more than words, so without further delay… pictures!

On the walk up the drive to Stonehurst, I passed this street sign, which was just begging to be photographed!
The main stair in the front hall of Stonehurst.
Also in the front hall. Stonehurst has all these cute little nooks and benches. This one was my favorite!
Then on to the Lyman Estate, which has a very different feel. Light, airy, and Grecian… perfect for Regency!
The ballroom of the Lyman Estate house.
A fireplace at the opposite end of the house. Those tiles are really neat.
One of the bedrooms upstairs. This house is often used for weddings, so I think this is often the bride’s dressing room.
A painting of the USS Constitution! Fitting, considering our summer adventures relating to the Constitution. 1805.
Lovely flowers outside the front door.
The greenhouses at the estate are open to the public year round. This was where I visited last year for the Regency Holiday Tea.
Finding an appropriate picnic spot.
Taking a turn about the garden. Isn’t this a super cute picture???

Summer Picnic In The Boston Public Garden

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Summer is mostly over, here (although we did just have a nice, warm, sunny day that felt like summer…), but I haven’t finished sharing about summer picnics! To bring a little summer to you, here are a few pictures from a Regency picnic in the Boston Public Garden in August. The Boston Public Garden was established in 1837, so we were a little early, in our Regency dresses.

Laying out the simple fare on our wide expanse of blankets.
Taking a walk around the garden, you run into all sorts of fun picture taking opportunities.
I don’t think I’ve ever been to the garden in August. I have usually been there in May, when all of the flower beds are bursting with tulips. I didn’t realize they change the flower beds to tropical things! I was super surprised!
I think that is George Washington.
Not the usual Boston flora.
Look at the size of those leaves!
And hibiscus!
I feel so tall sometimes…
Squirrel? He was busy scrambling to get food for the winter.
Watching the swan boats pedal by.
It wouldn’t be Boston without the ducks and geese…

Fun in the Sun Part II (Regency Picnic 2012)

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As you might recall from my last post, I have more Regency picnic game pictures to share with you! I’m excited! I hope you are as well… We left off with the four of us playing “Graces” and coming up with innovative methods of playing to keep us amused and challenged… let’s just see where that led us! I had a hard time condensing the photos… I hope you’re not overwhelmed!

Lost my bonnet, but I caught a hoop on each arm! Success!
Yes! Bonnet still on head and two hoops! Wow!
Double hoop-age and a silly looking action shot! What could be better?
Reach! Somehow, I think this is much more graceful looking than the last photo…

Okay… now we get silly!

Wand attack pose. Not very Regency-like, but amusing, nonetheless!
Strike a pose! Conduct an orchestra! ???

Attempts at being graceful and Regency-like…

Very graceful hoop catching.
Waiting to catch the hoops.
Gracefully catching the flung hoop.
Another graceful pose. Okay, okay, so I wore my sunglasses for much of the picnic. Shhh!

Bloopers?

Graceful, certainly, but I don’t think I caught the hoops that time…
This certainly looks like one time when the hoops are going to hit the ground…
(More sunglasses… didn’t they have those?)I think I’m confused about why the second hoop is on the ground by my right foot…

Fun in the Sun Part I (Regency Picnic 2012)

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Vacationing is lovely while it lasts, but it does seem to make real life a bit overwhelming. I’ve been slow on the posting lately because of my vacationing. And, to be honest, life + vacationing is most likely going to be slowing me down some more over the next month or so. Some of my vacations will generate some really great pictures, though, so stay tuned for those in August!

It’s been roasting-ly hot here in Massachusetts for the last few weeks, but the heat didn’t stop the Massachusetts Costumers from enjoying the annual Regency Picnic. It was toasty, but we tried to spend lots of time in the shade. And despite the heat, we had a marvelous time! Join me in recalling the fun through viewing (just a few of the 300 or so) pictures we snapped that day.

Our idyllic setting at a lovely park in Bridgewater, MA.
Okay, so our food and table setting was not historically accurate. But the colors were so nice and summer-y! (And the pink lemonade was quite refreshing.)
After eating, we strolled through the park and took pictures (and coerced random passers-by to take photos of us…). Lovely group of ladies, don’t you think?
Then we played a Regency game called… “Graces?” (Ack! I can’t remember the name… Jenni, help me!)
Basically, each person has two long sticks which they use to fling the be-ribboned hoops at the other player. The second person catches the hoops on their own sticks before flinging them back again.
I’ve included pictures where you can see the hoops in midair. Despite the fact that we often seem to be catching the hoops, I also have many pictures where we, um, didn’t catch the hoops…
Eventually, we got the hang of it and decided to make it more challenging. In this instance we had two hoops going at once, one flung by each player!
It took a little time to get used to the coordination of flinging and catching in quick succession.
But we got the hang of it and then we started flinging two hoops at the same time in one direction! That meant the person catching had to catch two at once! Eep!

After that challenge we thought we were finished with the game… but then one of us (I can’t remember who…) had the brilliant idea to attempt to make graceul, Regency-like poses, while playing the game. That kept us going for awhile longer, with some amusing photos and lots of laughs, but you’ll have to wait till my next post for those photos (I don’t want to overload you with too many fun in the sun Regency picnic photos at once, you know!). In the end, the heat wasn’t so bad!