I'm Back!

Yes, I'm still here! I haven't been able to post for a while due to being away over the holidays-- and having much fun, I can assure you! What I've been doing lately:

~ Spending Easter weekend with my grandparents. It was so much fun. We did some sightseeing, took long walks, watched movies(that is, Les Miserables the movie version 1998, which I will review at some point) and ate way too much icecream.

I also learnt several things, namely: there is nothing like a good banana split. Yum. I learnt that I dislike large crowds. I also learnt that Les Mis 1998 cannot compare in the least to my dearly beloved Les Mis 2012.

Spending the day with my BFF. Giggling, singing, playing word games, eating cake, and more giggling. 

~  Celebrating Easter. My Saviour is risen!

Hope you all enjoyed your holidays!!!

More posts are coming soon!

I Can't Believe I Forgot This!

So, I was reading over my old posts and I came to the last part of my Les Mis review, and I realized that I'd done something unthinkable.

I forgot to post about Javert's Suicide. Oops! I will now attempt to rectify the situation.

I don't recollect when exactly this part happens in the movie, but I do remember bracing myself for it.

Here is where we get to see Javert's internal struggle between his sense of the law and his sense of what he owes to Jean Valjean, who let him go free. He's been following Valjean for years, intending to get him back in prison where he belongs. Then Valjean has the chance to get rid of him once and for all and be free of his relentless pursuit. If Jean had killed Javert, he could have lived on in freedom without having to worry about prison. But he didn't do that. Why didn't he do that?

Because Jean Valjean had experienced God's forgiveness himself. He was willing to return to a life in the galleys if he had to. To kill Javert would be unthinkable. He forgave him and let him go free. So then Javert kind of had a problem. He couldn't very well imprison a man who had spared him his life; yet Valjean was a convict who had broken parole. This is where the tables turn. Javert would rather die than "live in the debt of a thief." So, singing as he walks along the edge of the bridge above the Seine, he decides to kill himself. Bad choice.

I winced. A lot. That must have really, really hurt.

Javert did his best to do what was right in the eyes of the law, but in the end he was the loser.

I think Russell Crowe's portrayal of Javert was much more sympathetic than in the book. In the book he is much more savage; tigerlike, even, and a relentless hunter. He doesn't believe in God and is for justice above mercy. However, in the musical, Javert seems as though he is trying to do God's will. I'm going to see the older movie version of Les Mis sometime so it will be interesting to compare it with this one. What are your thoughts on Javert?

The Costumes of Cranford~ Lizzy and Helen Hutton

So now we're up to pretty much the only kids in Cranford. Lizzy and Helen are the rector's daughters, Sophy's younger sisters, and wear the young girls' styles. 

They dress similarly, mainly white and neutral colours, with lace and different bonnets. Lizzy's is gathered and has a large brim while Helen's is smaller and doesn't shade her face.

They wear long day dresses with patterned pinafores over them. I love Lizzy's curly hair.

There is a deplorable lack of pictures of them! Sorry for such a short post.

I need post ideas!

English Country Dance!!

So, I'm finally posting about the Country Dance I went to with my family in February. Hmm, that was a while ago! It was so much fun to dress up and dance with friends and, of course, partake of some incomparable refreshments. I sewed my own dress. It was inspired by Molly Gibson's white embroidered ball gown from Wives and Daughters.(I love that movie!)

This is her dress, which I tried to copy.

I made it out of white material with a thin white stripe. You can't really see it in this picture. It has short puffed sleeves with embroidered frills and an embroidered band around the neck. I used gold embroidery thread instead of coloured.

So here I am, wearing it! I tied a white satin sash around my waist and borrowed some gloves. I'm with two of my friends and my little sister. My aunty happened to be staying with us and she curled our hair.

My other sister Emily! I did her hair.

My other sister Ainsley. I did her hair too. 

My hair is actually a longish bob cut, so it was hard to curl it all and pin it all up. My aunty did a good job! I have a string of faux pearls wound around my head.

A close up of the braid in Emily's hair. It came out while she was dancing, and she kept coming over to me, "Beth, can you put this back up?"  Silly thing.

The first dance! It was really fun.

The Duke of Kent's waltz. I love this one! 

Me and my beautiful sister and friend! We had a ball! No pun intended.

Hope you enjoyed!