The twelve days of Christmas

Images of gifts in the song the Twelve Days of Christmas.

The Photo: The twelve days of Christmas song poster showing the twelve different gifts. From Wikipedia. The illustration is by Xavier Romero-Frias. The song, published in 1780, tells of a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas.

The twelve days of Christmas: To Help bond with the villagers in village that supplies most of the staff that works at Blackthorn Castle and a large part of the goods and services needed to keep the estate running smoothly especially during holiday celebrations I decided, with the help of my Chamberlain and his events coordinator, to have a performance of the presentation of the gifts given in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas over those the twelve days.

The staff and villagers have been working for months to get all the bits and pieces; personnel, birds, musical instruments, costumes etc. necessary to put together and rehearse a simplified presentation of gifts over the twelve days from Christmas to Twelfth Night. By simplified I mean that there will be only a single representation of each day’s gift, rather than duplication of the preceding days gifts for each succeeding day (as there is in the song) which even for me is quite enough! The eleven pipers and the twelve drummers have been the most difficult and time consuming with rented flutes, drums and uniforms and repeated practices to play a very simple tune on the flutes and rolls on the drums.

The gifts over the twelve days are:

Day 1 partridge in a pear tree (to be carried in a cage)

Day 2 turtle doves (to be carried in a cage)

Day 3 French hens (Image knitted into a warm woolen sweater)

Day 4 Calling Birds (Image knitted into a warm woolen sweater)

Day 5 Gold Rings (Image knitted into a warm woolen sweater)

Day 6 Geese a-Laying (Image knitted into a warm woolen sweater)

Day 7 Swans a-Swimming (Image knitted into a warm woolen sweater)

Day 8 Maids a-Milking (Image of milk pails knitted into 8 warm woolen sweaters)

Day 9 Ladies Dancing (9 teen girls from the local dance school - costumes from London)

Day 10 Lords a-Leaping (Young adult men in costumes from a London costume shop)

Day 11 Pipers Piping (Villagers in costumes from a London costume shop)

Day 12 Drummers Drumming (Villagers in costumes from a London costume shop)

        57 total villagers involved on the 12^th day.

The villagers have taken to “the Twelve Days project” as it’s become known with enthusiasm. It has already been a success in that more of the villagers are getting to know me from my being deeply involved with the project especial the dance students in the “nine ladies dancing” production in which they will be wearing tutus and pointes.  

Logistics for the Twelve Days performances: The performers are being picked up at 9:00 AM each day from the village. A large drawing room has been converted into dressing rooms for the performers and there are two male and two female dressers to help the performers with their costumes which are being stored at the castle. The partridge and turtle doves are being cared for here during the run of performances and the musical instruments are being stored at the castle as well to prevent a performer from forgetting his or her instrument. Up through day seven (7 Swans a swimming) a thirteen-passenger van can handle the performers and their equipment.  For days eight and nine (8 Maids a milking and 9 Ladies dancing) a bus will be used for the twenty-four performers and equipment. For days ten, eleven and twelve a second bus is added. Fortunately, the weather is forecast to just be rainy with the temperatures in the high 40s and mid-50s. With the castle access road improvements made last year the busses haven’t and shouldn’t have any trouble and as a precaution the road will be sanded as well. There was a great deal of interest by the villagers in being in the performances, especially by those who had never been to the castle before which is about a third of them and the performers enjoyed tours of the castle. Even so, to deepen the commitment of the performers a noon meal and a modest daily stipend is being provided.

The dance floor: In the great hall, where the Twelve Days performances will be held a sprung Marley floor has been laid over the stone floor so the “9 Ladies Dancing” in pointe-shoes, Gaynor Mindens with sueded tips, are much less likely to have a fall or injury.

The Christmas trees decorated: The red cedar trees were put up and decorated several days ago, and presents for my guests have been placed around the main tree, the one in the library. The staff have their own Christmas tree below stairs. I love the scent of cedar and they look gorgeous!   

The castle’s Yule log lit: My predecessors at Blackthorn Castle, traditionally had the castle Yule log lit on Christmas eve. So, yesterday, Friday the 23rd I opened the doors to the great hall and the massive Yule log was hauled in by a team of horses. One end was inserted into the huge fireplace with the remaining eighty percent jutting out into the great hall where as it burns it will be winched slowly forward across the hearth and into the fireplace. It should burn for the twelve days of Christmas the last being Thursday January 5^th. The end of last Christmas’ log was chopped up and placed under it as kindling and I lit it in a brief ceremony this morning. There is a twenty-four-hour fire watch posted in the great hall as long as the Yule Log is burning. 

Weather for Christmas: The weather service is calling for light rain for most of the day on the 25^th with mid-day temperature in the low 50s (F) so at least there will be no snow.  All my guests have arrived and our celebrations will be inside. So, it will just be the Twelve Days performers who will make the one hour trip up from the village in chartered four-wheel drive vehicles each day with the last performance by the entire cast on January 5^th.

Wishing all my friends (you know who you are) and readers a very merry Christmas, a happy New Year and the blessings of this holiday season.

Channeling Giulietta

The Venetian courtesan Giulietta aboard her Gondola

The Photo: The 24-year-old Parisian ballerina Ludmilla Tchérina costumed as the Venetian courtesan Giulietta, who stole Hoffmann’s soul in the 1951 film The Tales of Hoffmann.  

Channeling Giulietta: Returning readers will recall that in my post of September 29 entitled “Clinching the sale” over dinner Ron and I had discovered we were both Moira Shearer fans and talked about the films she was in. In addition to The Red Shoes we both loved the 1951 film The Tales of Hoffman in which she performed two roles; 1) as Stella a ballerina who (costumed as a praying mantis kills her partner) and; 2) Olympia (a doll that comes to life). We also agreed that another favorite - and to me a very empowering - character in the Hoffmann film was the role Ludmilla Tchérina performed as the Venetian courtesan Giulietta, who stole Hoffmann’s soul.  

So I was astounded when Ron gave me the most amazing compliment as he walked me to the car that would take me back to Blackthorn House. He called me Giulietta! I was very pleased and tried not to blush while thinking he was a lot more perceptive than I first thought! He continued to hold my hand after he helped me into the car and before releasing me he put my hand to his lips and kissed it! I gave him one of my most provocative smiles as he closed the door. I was delighted as I thought of the twenty-four hours we spent together, the intimacies we had shared and thought perhaps our encounter had put him in my thrall. But one can never be certain about these things so early in a relationship and with a man in such an exalted position one should proceed slowly if at all, certainly letting him make the first move if he is interested in a relationship. Sophie was still inside so didn’t see his kiss. I certainly don’t want to beguile him so thoroughly that I take him away from Sophie as he needs a young, lovely and accomplished partner who will give him children since the need to continue his line is a must.

Physically I’m not exactly like the Giulietta who stole Hoffman’s soul and turned it into an exquisite necklace. However, I do have a lovely figure with long shapely legs, high cheekbones and long hair. My hair is red not dark and I don’t often dress all in black as Giulietta does, but it suits her as black is suggestive of the black arts at which she is adept. As much as I admired Moira Shearer and Cyd Charisse for the most part I see them as “good girls.” However, when I go clubbing with girlfriends looking for an encounter I think of myself as channeling Giulietta (she of the feminine art of seduction and a distant relative of my Goddess Aphrodite) since she was a powerful enchantress who could steal a man’s soul by just looking at him. So when I’m dressing for a night of clubbing I insert one of my flat spring latex diaphragms with DiveGel+ (a lube, biocide and spermicide) in the dome to ensure I’ll be ready should an opportunity for an encounter with an ardent and marvelously hunky man appear.

Over the years as I became proficient and confident with my pelvic skills I developed the ability to quickly enthrall a man if I develop a physical interest in him as I can cloud a man’s mind if we lock gazes however briefly. I’m told my look suggests exquisite sexual pleasure in the male mind and I find considerable pleasure and power in clouding men’s minds that way. When I was younger I occasionally (unintentionally) put one of the less interesting men in my thrall enrapturing him with a psychological penis leash. Since I gained full control of my powers that hasn’t happened in a long time.    

Sophie and her slit-kit: As agreed, the next day Sophie came to Blackthorn House, my home on Eaton Square in Belgravia to discuss her training equipment. She is in a private car with smoked windows and comes through the Mews entrance into the rear court so she can’t be identified by people in Eaton Square since seeing her as a regular visitor could start rumors. I welcomed her to Blackthorn House and over tea I presented her with a slit kit that I give all my pelvic students and we went over the uses of the items. It contained:

• 2 flat spring latex diaphragms. One for use and one for backup.
• 1 22mm FemCap for flood insurance during shallow (less than 25 feet) dives.
• 5 10ml prefilled vaginal applicators of silicone based DiveGel+ to be used as a vaginal lube for ballet and dive-sex.
• 4 each of 4 sizes of ultra-sheer latex condoms if her partner askes to use one.
• 6 tampons in her size (Playtex Sport regular) in applicators used to absorb residual discharge after Kegeling coitial discharge if her costume is too revealing to wear a pad.
• 2 packets of hygienic hand wipes for menstrual and coitial discharge.
• 3 pairs of Nitrile exam gloves in case a man who has been eating hot wings with his fingers wants to give a pelvic exam w/o washing his hands.
• 20 25mg sildenafil citrate (Viagra the “Pfizer riser”) tablets. 50mg is the normal dose one hour before sex in case her partner(s) need a performance enhancer.
• 2 1.0-inch diameter sets of Ben Wa balls. One a solid borosilicate glass set weighs a total of 1.3 oz. while the second a solid surgical stainless steel set weighs a total of 4.3 oz. Both are used for vaginal muscle training.
• A place for her Sports Plug for which she had been fitted when she got her diaphragms at my Gyn clinic. The Sports Plug is used primarily to prevent vaginal penetration when being groped, while out with rich men. Like Donald Trump was talking about on the video recently introduced into the U.S. presidential race.

Latex catsuits: Sophie asked me about wearing latex other than her diaphragm, specifically latex catsuits as Ron had mentioned that he thought she would look stunning in one. She saw my latex closet when I was showing her around Blackthorn House and admired my collection. I certainly agree as she has a wonderfully toned athletic figure, a bit curvier than a Balanchine ballerina body, but she has kept in excellent shape by all the ballet training she takes. So we agreed that I would take her to my fave custom latex shop to be fitted for several catsuits if she meets the training schedule we agreed upon to prepare her for Pompoir.

At first I thought I had made a mistake in showing her some of my latex collection. However, rethinking the situation I’m glad she saw it as getting fitted for a latex catsuit is just the thing to increase her incentive – though I don’t think she needed it - to meet or better the schedule we set. When she is properly fitted for a latex catsuit I’ll have her take pointe class with me while we are wearing full latex. That is a huge stamina builder if you begin slowly and stay well hydrated with sports drinks that replace electrolytes as the sweat pours out of the wrist and ankle openings and soaks the pointes so that’s another reason to wear Gaynor pointes as they retain their shape and support when wet and sueded tips minimize the likelihood of slipping on sweat dampened Marley floors.

To be continued…   

Hurricane Matthew: For returning readers who recall that I have a winter get-away in the BVIs – unused in the past year because of the Zika virus - I’ll just mention that as of Monday October 11^th Virgin Gorda where I have a villa on Lost Cove was fortunate to have had Matthew pass to the south and west a few days ago so we avoided major damage from a very large storm. I feel so sorry for the people in Haiti and in the U.S. living on the southern east coast who got battered quite hard.