Young Ladies of Leisure

It's not very often we have a leisurely day around here.  But today Nellie and I spent a lovely morning in the parlor.  There was a breakfast buffet laid out on the sideboard, and new books in the window seat.  As is traditional for a proper breakfast, there was bread, pastries, fruit, sausages, bacon, and eggs.  None of that cold instant cereal.  We started breakfast off with a yogurt parfait, croissants, and cups of tea.

After breakfast, I worked on finishing some letters that I'd been putting off for too long.  Nellie, lucky duck, got to start reading novels.  (So Lord of the Rings didn't exist in 1906.  We took some liberties with time travel or whatnot.)

Card games are definitely ladylike.

And then we played Set.  If you've never played before, there's a deck of 81 cards.  Each card has four attributes: color, shape, shading, and number.  A 'set' is three cards where every attribute is the same or every attribute is different.  You deal out 12 cards, and cards get replaced as sets are found.  So in the first layout, the set (and I was the one called it) is '3 blank red diamonds, 3 shaded green squiggles, and 3 solid purple ovals'.  And you call a 'set' by yelling 'SET!' and grabbing for the cards as fast as you can before someone gets them.

Nellie: SET again!
Sam:  Scourge

Sam:  SET!
Nellie:  Scourge.

Sam:  Do you see a set?
Nellie:  No.  Do we need more cards?
Sam:  Wait, no.  SET!

Games get heated sometimes.  But we're technically young ladies, so we're civil.  Sort of.  It's way more fun when there's six or seven players.  It is also traditional to call the other players a scourge if they get any sets at all.

Interjection from Nellie:  'The human doesn't want to referee that...'

Sam:  OK, who won this time?
Nellie:  Scourge.

Nellie:  Yay!  I have more sets!
Sam:  Scourge.

If you want to play the game at home, here's the printables for a doll-sized SET deck of your very own.  It comes with box too so you don't have cards everywhere.  Just print it out double sided on cardstock.

SET deck

Our furry footman

And he didn't even knock anything over.

Meet Cauthrien Grace Trevelyan

Greetings.  I'm Cauthrien Grace Trevelyan, the newest member of this particular crew.  I'm named after a knight from Dragon Age Origins.  I've actually been here for almost a month, but this is the first time any of us have had time to set up something formal.  Usually Nora and I take over the reading room display, but this time we set up an open study.

...too many books

We do not have...

Since I'm supposed to a knight, I've been *ahem* asking the human politely but forcefully for a set of plate mail and a sword.  I think the crafting backlog will have cleared up by January such that I can have what I want before we all go off to the Marketplace at Birka.  I also enjoy chess, martial arts, and military history.  Eventually I will have a copy of Bellifortis and De Re Militaire and potentially a few swordfighting manuals.

Nora's in the corner right now with a plate of cookies and a stack of Nancy Drew books.  I already know she's going to borrow my books when they arrive.  Nora's like that, but she prefers politics and economics over military history.  I might try to get her a copy of 'The Prince' sometime.

A reading nook

Snacks and books

Next week we'll be starting our first ever papercraft-a-long, for anyone who wants a library like ours.  The craft-a-long will run for 10 weeks, from October 18th to December 20th, and will give you plenty of time to make books and toys for presents.  Lily starts it off with a set of fun wizarding goods, and then Nora and I will show off our books.

Please contact us at jinjia.mixed.goods AT gmail.com if you have any suggestions for future projects.  We have the first 5 weeks lined up, but are always willing to entertain new project ideas for the future.

The obligatory cat picture

A Valentine's Day Party

Kana here with a giant pile of Valentine's Day toys that the human bought.  The other girls are coming to play with them all.  (You can tell that the human is well over the age of the target audience.  Please stop now if you disapprove of cards or whiskey.)

Writing out invitations and lists

Samantha:  Not fair.  You're going to win because you went first.
Nellie:  That's because we're playing Tic Tac Toe.

Nellie:  Kirsten, do you want to play too? 

Kirsten:  No thanks.  I'm going to read more.

Samantha:  OK, how about Connect 4?
Nellie:  Still going to win.
Samantha: <Language unsuitable for young ladies>

Kana:  Sam, language please.

Samantha:  You can't possibly win at all the games...

Nellie:  Guess who has the double blank?
Samantha: ARGH.

Kana:  What about a game of cards?
Samantha:  What do you want to play? 

Kana:  Go Fish, Hearts, or Crazy Eights.
Nellie:  Boring.

Shepard:  How about Texas Hold'em?   What are we betting?
Human Interjection:  YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY STRIP POKER.
Shepard:  Fine, fine.
Everyone else:  *sigh*  You're no fun, human.

Shepard:  I'll deal.

Kana:  I think I'm going to fold.

Kirsten:  Me too. 

Shepard:  So it's down to Sam and Nellie.
Sam:  I'm so winning this time.
Nellie:  I'm so going to call your bluff.

Samantha:  Ha!  Two pairs to your nothing.
Nellie:  Next time, just you wait.

Kana:  Does anyone want to order food?
Shepard:  I know someplace that delivers.  

Samantha:  Sandwiches!
Nellie:  Sushi!

Kirsten:  Macarons!
Shepard:  I'll make the call.

R2:  Beep beep

R2:  Beep boop

R2:  Beep di doo deep
Shepard:  So the sushi's coming and dessert is running late and we get free drinks.
R2:  Beep boop

Nellie:  Awesome, they have onigiri.

Kirsten:  Macarons and cream puffs!

Shepard:  So, drink orders.

Samantha:  You get to pick.

Kana:  Shepard, no.  I don't care if that's your usual order at this place. 

Kana:  Green tea, milkshakes and soda.  Much better.

Kana:  That was fun.  So, who's hosting next time?

How about meeeeeow?