Spring OVPR

Winter is Over and its time to RENDEZVOUS!  Mind you, I’m not quite sure where the winter went, it seems like only yesterday it was fall rendezvous time.  But spring has sprung, the grass has riz, I wonder war da Vous iz?.  End of March = OVPR Rendezvous!

My Lodge at the OVPR.  The 9x9 tent opens at both ends, so ya don’t roast when it gets hot.  And it hit 80 at the Vous.  Well at least it didn’t rain hardly any.  It doesn’t show, but the snaps on the door sod cloth to hold it up when the door is used worked just fine.  So I don’t trip over my door anymore.

These fine Ladies started hosting a formal tea several vous back – a most excellent idea.  Observe the richly laden table . . .

Among other things, the tea is a good excuse to put on your finest duds (or not as you prefer) & converse with you friends & make new ones.

Of course, the tea isn’t the only time we socialize – these ladies are discussing a repair problem.

The Ladies also get together to work on crafts & help each other out on technique.  The Madam Du’Farge Society at work.

Of course socializing isn’t restricted to the ladies – the gents do just as much tale tellin’ too.

Everywhere around camp folks is having chats – friends are the best fun & most of us don’t get enough friend time in our lives.

Of course, a Vous isn’t a Vous without some shooting time too.  These aren’t for sale, it’s the gun stand for the lodge.  From the top; blunderbuss, Brown Bess carbine, double barrel shotgun, left hand rifle.  They’re all flintlocks.

Music time at yer lodge is a given too.

Most the crafts for sale in camp are hobby related, but this fellow had artwork for sale.

Of course primitive camping takes primitive skills.  Here’s the Preacher splittin’ logs into cook fire size.

And Stacy using said wood to cook.  Yes, smoke gets in your eyes.  No matter where you sit, it gets in your eyes.

There was also a Women’s Wine Tasting (complete with sparkling cider & juice for the non-alcohol drinkers) and a Tea Tasting Party as well as the traditional Ladies Social at the Spider Inn on Saturday.  We Ladies Know How to Party!  In fact, there’s a Ladies only Vous scheduled for this September.  I don’t have that weekend off but sure plan to try for it.

The only downside to this Vous was the ticks – its March and they shouldn’t be in evidence, but the mild winter & a warm March sure got them up & about!  I had over a dozen latch on the 1st day alone!  I even had raked the leave cover off my camp spot, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference, although I did get bite while asleep only on my 1st night there.  Everyone at camp had the same problem, so it wasn’t just the spot I was in.  Ah well, its all part of outdoor living.

Tina Visits

Tina, my Urchin’s Totally Awesome Roomie from college, came to visit Da Urchin for a week.  I was working for most of the time Tina was there but was off for a day the Urchin was not, so I got to spend a day & a half with Tina.  So I drove down to Clifton after work one morning, slept a couple of hours & then Tina & I wandered around Historic Clifton checking out the cool houses.  The weather was awesome, warm & sunny.

This is one of the smaller family homes in town.

This one is average for the village.

Almost all the homes are tin roofed & were enlarged early in their history.  They also frequently have more than 1 “front” door.  The homes were commonly also business establishments, so there’s a business entrance & a private entrance.  There’s also usually both a kitchen door & a tradesman/servant entrance. 

Porches are also the norm.  So is a checkered history.  Several homes were illegal ordinaries during prohibition.

This is my personal favorite.  Its one of 2 stone houses in town.  (My friends Carly & Dean live in the other.)  The stone was locally quarried.

This Baptist church was built in 1910 to replace a smaller one.  Its one of several in the village in active use. 

This Primitive Baptist Church was built in 1871 on land donated by a Freedman.  The village was founded by freedmen & a few buildings from that era still stand.  This church is still used on a monthly basis.

Of course no village is complete without its Cat supervising the great & small, making sure they do their jobs.

Tina & I went to Old Town Manassas the next day.  We shopped at a fabric store (I found what I needed, she did not), did a McKay’s Used Bookstore run, had a great lunch at the Cajun restaurant and then visited  various art galleries & studios.  The day was ended with a grand meal with Carly, Dean, Urchin, Tina & I after an evening of playing with Urchin’s cats.