The Ridgewater Chronicles; a Romance, part 2

    I was led back down the hall by Abbey and steered up a set of stairs.

    "These are the ones that we use. As the help, we're supposed to keep as unseen as possible. You especially since you are Cook's help. Mr. Ridgewater is usually out most of the time. Mrs. Ridgewater is quite a nice lady. She has Cook make an extra dessert every Sunday just for us."

    "What are the children like?"

    "There's little Tommy, whose three, Jane, whose ten, and Isabelle, she's fourteen," Abbey grimaced.

    "What's wrong?"

    She sighed and whispered, "Well, Tommy and Jane are nice enough, but Isabelle... she's at that age." Abbey rolled her eyes. "Do you have any siblings?"

    I nodded. "I have a younger brother and three younger sisters," I said.

    "So you understand how the girls can be."

    I thought back to the number of days this past spring my sister, Katie, had come running back from the school house in tears. "Do the children go to school?"

    Abbey shook her head, "They have a governess coming from down South within the next few days. I wonder what she's like. I'm supposed to ready one of the rooms right down from here. This is our room." We had stopped in a short hall on the third floor of the house. Three doors lined each side of the hall. 

    I peered closely at the wall and touched it, "Wallpaper?"

    "Yes even for the servants! Mind you, our rooms are whitewashed, but back home, everything is white washed." She pointed to the door next to us, "That's for the new governess. The last one on this side is for Miss Lawson. She gets her own room, on account of how late Mrs. Ridgewater can stay up. Cook is across from her on the right. Then it's Mr. Brown, and George the stable hand.

    She opened our door and I stepped inside. The room was bare, but clean. Two small beds had been placed on either side of a large window. The walls were whitewashed, like Abbey had said. Her things sat on the left side of the room. I sat my bag down on a chair.

    "You probably should get changed into a work dress. I'm sure Cook will want you to get started soon. I'll be down the hall airing out the governess's room if you need anything. Once you're done dressing, come find me and I'll show you around the grounds," Abbey smiled and left the room, closing the door behind her. 

    I let out a deep sigh, glad for a moment alone. Quickly, I unbuttoned my Sunday dress and slipped on one of my three work dresses. The other two, I folded, along with my spare undergarments and winter petticoat, and placed them into an empty drawer of our shared dresser. When I finished, I walked down the all to find Abbey.

    She was in the governess's room, like she had said, but a young man was with her and I paused before entering. He was sitting on a wooden chair, identical to the one in our room. "Come on, Abbey! What's she like?"

    Abbey rolled her eyes and continued making the bed. "Quiet, George, she'll hear you."

    "But-."

    "Oh there you are, Mariam," Abbey looking up to see me standing in the doorway. "This little pest is George. He's the stable hand."

    George's ears went bright red with embarrassment. "Hello," he half heartedly waved a hand in my direction.

The Ridgewater Chronicles; a Romance, part 1

    I remember that first dreary autumn morning at the Ridgewater Mansion. My pa had told me once that it was the largest building from here to St. Paul. I had seen it before, but only ever from a distance and as I drew closer, I could feel myself begin to slow my pace. The Mansion loomed before me, as if it could sense my presence and did not like what it smelled. I froze, my breath catching in my throat. Fog clung to the grass like the whispers of ghosts. The Mansion's red bricks stood out against the haze. 

    Out of the corner of my eye I saw the flutter of a lace curtain being draw back. I looked up to see a girl, not much younger than myself, looking down at me. Her haughty face was icy pale, her expression as cold as the winter wind. Our eyes met and she smirked and quickly looked away.

    The family had only recently moved to our town in July and had already lost their cook's help. Mrs. Schmidt, our minister's wife, had told me they had moved here from New Orleans, Louisiana on account of Mr. Ridgewater running his logging business. Mrs. Schmidt also knew that Ma was in troubled states after Pa's death and said she would put in a good word for me with Mrs. Schmidt, even though they were Catholic.  

    I shifted my old carpet bag into my other hand, bowed my head, and stepped forward taking the side path to the back entrance as Mrs. Schmidt had instructed me. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. The door creaked open and a blonde woman appeared.  Her gaze rolled over me, stopping when she saw my old boots.

    "You must be the new girl," she raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

    "Yes, ma'am."

    She snorted and opened the door for me to pass, "Cook's in the kitchen; last door on the left."

        I nodded and slid past her. The hallway was sparse and narrow, but well kept. I gasped when I entered the kitchen. Dainty china was stacked along one shelf.

    A thin woman with graying curls stood before the stove. "Is that you, Abby? Where have...," she turned to see me, "Oh never mind! Thought you were our scullery maid." She wiped her hands on her apron and gestured for me to sit down at a long table. 

    "It's Mariam, right?"

    "Yes, ma'am."

    "I'm Mrs. Radcliffe, but everyone calls me Cook. We have Mr. Brown, the butler, Miss Lawson, the house maid or lady's maid depending on the day, George, our stable hand, and Abby, our scullery maid. What do you know about the family?"

    "They moved here from New Orleans because of Mr. Ridgewater's logging business."

    Cook nodded, "Good, I know you're not a gossip then."

    My eyes widened, "Oh no, ma'am. I'm not a gossip."

    "What do you know about food?"

    I gulped, "I've been cooking for my family since my pa died."

    "And your ma?" 

    "She's been... busy with her sewing. She's a seamstress."

    Cook game me a knowing smile, "I think you'll do just fine here. You'll get paid two dollars and fifty cents every Friday and have your evenings off on Tuesdays. How does that sound to you?"

    My jaw nearly dropped. I had never held more than a dollar in my life. It would be more than enough to support my family, "That sounds wonderful. Thank you!" 

    "Whose this?" a red headed young woman poked her head around the door frame.

    "Ah! Abby, come over here and meet our new cook's help."

    Abby bounded over, holding her hand out to me, "Oh nice to meet you! My name is Abby. I'm the scullery maid. My ma wanted me to be a cook's help, but Cook nearly fired me last time I burned the toast. Not to mention the time I forgot the pot on the stove and burned straight through it. Or when I broke that tea pot last week.

    "You broke that tea pot? I nearly had George's head on a spike for that." Cook managed to cut in.

    Abby's eyes widened, "Cook, I think I aught to show our new cook's help to our room. The two of us share after all. 

An Adventure in Achievements and Gratitude

It's pretty rare for me to brag. Usually, I enjoy holding my cards close to my chest, revealing only thoughts as opposed to my actions. However, I want to open myself up a little more to the world. My first step in doing this is to announce what actions I have been most proud of during this time of COVID. 

I started this blog and I've stuck with it. I didn't make as many posts as I would have liked to last month, but I'm refusing to be hard on myself about it. This is supposed to be fun, after all.

I've spent less money. Not no money... but less than I usually do and that's all that matters. Baby steps. I haven't bought yarn in months (with the exception for a gift for someone else and a skein I needed for a scarf I was finishing.) And for the most part, any new clothing I buy has been second hand! 

Over the past few months, I've been reading more! (This can be seen on my other blog, A Lady Reads). I tried to get an instagram for this blog, but that felt a little too much for right now. I'm not sure exactly how many books I have read, but I've been able to get through a lot this summer.

As posted previously, I have learned how to sew. Honestly, it's going much better than I expected. I can make skirts!! I'll never have to buy another skirt! (and I wear a lot of those!) 

I've learned how to minimize the objects in my life. It's made things so much less complicated. I had no idea how overwhelmed I was by the objects I owned, that is until I started getting rid of things. The things that I own now have the most meaning. Am I a radical minimalist? No and I'll probably never be. That's ok! I want to have somethings. However, I'm still going through my closet. Enough stuff is enough stuff!

This spring and summer I have been able to grow plants! I'm amazed at how much this has changed me. I feel so much more at peace in my living space. I've realized I really don't need much more of a space than what I have. (I would like to get one more plant! Some sort of tree plant for inside... so long as Lyrah doesn't eat it).

The purchase of my ukulele was probably one of the best decisions I've made in a while! I needed to bring music back into my life. I'm surprised at how many songs I've been able to learn in just a few short months.

I have made a friend! She is my new spirit sister; we both follow a similar Pagan Path. It's been great having someone that enjoys the same religious experiences that I take part in. She is someone I have been able to talk to about herbalism and magik, and I never realized how much I needed that.

Lately, I have been working towards setting more boundaries with people. Healthy boundaries. When someone says something that upsets me, I have started speaking up. I'm not going to tolerate being told what to do by others or be belittled anymore. It's exhausting, but so worth it. 

Finally, I've been taking care of my skin. I learned a few months ago that although my skin has been pretty clear of acne, it will age poorly due to dryness. I've noticed some improvement, which is good. My face feels a lot more smooth.