The Great Dickens Christmas Fair

I've been to the Dickens Fair in San Francisco a couple of times long ago, but this was the first time I'd really dressed up. I spent the week previous sewing like mad, and was making adjustments the day we drove down. I went with friends John & Pia and Mary & Doug. Maybe some day more of the Siren Crew will come along, but the Christmas season is so busy for most of them.


Here's the outerwear

There's a lot to see, and one day wasn't nearly enough. Just looking in the shops can take half a day. Our favorite shop was Dark Garden, which makes custom corsets. They have two windows with live models that changed every half hour or so. We think the model in the red corset must have had some ribs removed - real bodies just don't compress like that! You can't see it in a still shot, but she was struggling for every breath. John definitely appreciated her heaving bosom.



Early in the day, one could see Ebeneezer Scrooge foreclosing on shops everywhere, and Jacob Marley's ghost clattering down a street. Chimney sweeps wander about in sooty groups, looking for work or trouble. Most of them moved so quickly that I couldn't get any good photos.

Now that real absinthe is legal in the US, the Fair has the Bohemian bar. We tried a nice absinthe from St. George's distillery in Oregon. Of course, I was too much in the moment, and forgot to take some pictures.

We only caught a few shows, which is why two days at the Fair would be good. Fezziwig's Dance Hall is the place for dancing, of course. They vary performances with ballroom dancing for everyone. Mad Sal's is the place to see the Can-Can girls and other bawdy acts. We caught part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show at the Advenurers' Club. We also visited the steampunks at the Explorers' Club, where Jules Verne and H.G. Wells reign supreme. They had a Giant Squid Feeding and a slide lecture of their Journey to the Center of the Earth. We were also fortunate to have gotten into the Naughty French Postcards show, which is extremely popular.


An inventor at the Explorers' Club

After the Fair, we went to Gulliver's for dinner. I didn't think theme restaurants like this were still around, but it is. The decor is Colonial Era, and the walls are covered with many nice book illustrations and paintings illustrating Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. The era is a little early for our garb, but was close enough for dining in costume. It is Meat Heaven at Gulliver's; they specialize in prime rib. even with the "petite" order, I got enough red meat to last me a few days. The nice waitress obliges us by taking a group picture in front of Mr. Swift's portrait.



Now Pia and I need to come up with some less respectable garb for when John wishes to eschew his gentlemanly persona and go in sailor garb. Hopefully much bawdiness will ensue.

While looking for a few filler images of the Fair (sadly I didn't find what I wanted), I found a blog called The Grateful Hedonist that has a lot more "flavor" photos than we took.

December Bloom Day

Before last week's heavy frost, we had quite a few nice flowers continuing to bloom. Sadly, the princess flower and nasturtiums shrivel when they see a refrigerator. The pineapple sage and hydrangeas are also looking badly frost-burned, and the remaining lavenders decided to give it rest. Other plants still look fine, but their flowers suffered from the frost followed by a storm. The snapdragons (which have been blooming throughout the year) and most of the roses are in the crummy-looking flower category. Only one lone rosebud still looked nice; it probably missed the frost.


Others, like the primulas, are in their wintery element.


As I was wrapping up today's garden photo shoot, a Steller's jay flew into the rhododendron by the back door. I "chucked" to him, and he came up close. A handful of peanuts were his reward for being so bold.

I've completed a year of mostly close-up photos of my garden flowers. I'm a bit embarrassed that very few areas actually look "nice". I'm a hodge-podge gardener, and very rarely plan a space. Next year I'll take on these embarrassing whole-garden photos, and perhaps motivate myself to improve my garden for public consumption.