Monday 13 July 2009
I have not been on much lately as I have been busy with this and that. Jessy and I have been working pretty regularly at the breakfast & dessert place, in costume of course! Our shifts are pretty much the same, usually Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and then one or both of the days on the weekend. Most often it's been Sunday. This weekend Jessy and I arranged to be off and drove home Friday night, to hang out with the girls at home (meaning Terncote). On Saturday five of them came over and we had a sort of meeting of the girls' club. That evening I had dinner with Stephen and his family whilst Jessy went over to Josie's. Jessy and I went to church on Sunday and had brunch with Rita and Josie after lunch Becky joined us at home. We just hung round the pool and so on. On Sunday evening Josie stayed over as Jessy's guest. As I write this they are both out back, still, even though it's past 7.00 pm.
Josie is the one who has embraced the freedom of being naked round the house as much as Jessy and I have. She even does it at home. Her mother is single and not dating and her younger sister is only about 9 and thinks it's silly, so at least till her mother gets home she will be naked in the house (Jessy and I have been there; we know it's true). The two of them are cute-- I served tea this afternoon and they both sat at the outside table with their ankles crossed and napkins in their laps and used all the most perfect table manners. I understand why Mother does not want us undressed at the dinner table but for me it is no bother especially when we are being proper in every other respect. I promised them some frozen pizza later wen we decide to watch something down in the TV room.
This weekend Daddy and Mother and our little ones are at the house in Lewes-- they sailed down at the end of last week and now the boat rides her mooring off the beach on the Bay (you can see it from the Ferry). Little J.J. always hates the lifejacket and I heard he had to receive some stern words from Daddy about it-- the rule is he is either down below (and that means NOT on the ladder!) or wearing the lifejacket on deck. He has grown grudgingly used to it and plays at typing knots, doing puzzles and 'making wine' (playing in a bucket of seawater in the cockpit). Meanwhile Lisa in her own lifejacket scampers all over the deck and is nearly impossible to restrain. I think being on only 34 feet of boat bores her and makes her feel confined. Mother did say on the phone that she allowed Lisa to take off her swimsuit-- provided she got enough sunblock all over, you know-- and then teased Jessy and me, saying that it reminded her of us and that Lisa's tendency is our fault. I laughed at that. But like Josie she just enjoys the freedom, and it's only harmless.
Tomorrow Jessy and I, with Josie and Becky, drive back up to NJ. We will stop at the house in Lewes for lunch and take a late-afternoon ferry to Cape May. Then of course we will have to work Wednesday, usually our one guaranteed off day, whilst Becky and Rita either sleep in or bask on the beach. There is one good thing about our schedule though and that is that the place is only open 7-11 am and 7-11 pm, which leaves the entire middle of the day open for fun in the sun. Of course it's a public beach and there's no chance for sunning all bare as we do here at Terncote. --though I am sure that after this weekend none of us desperately need more of that (especially in some places!).
I shall make every effort to keep up with my blog a little more frequently than I have been doing over the last month; but honestly it's been very busy this end!
...
Showing posts with label sailing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sailing. Show all posts
13 July 2009
19 October 2008
Stuff I did on Saturday
Saturday evening 18 October 2008
Well, I ended up having a pleasant evening after all. Daddy and I left for the boat at like 9.00 which was an hour after we'd hoped. We pulled on the winter cover, which is large but easy to handle since it just goes over the main boom and zippers down in front of the mainmast and aft of the mizzen mast, so you can stand up in the cockpit and work underneath it. We loaded all the sails and cushions into the big van, cleared out the galley lockers, and emptied the freshwater tanks to run through a little (nontoxic) antifreeze. We also straightened up all the lines, lowered the anchor and chain to the ground (to air) and checked that the cradle blocking will survive the cold winter that's promised (or threatened). It was a lot of work but we were steadily busy. Though we were dirty we did stop at IHOP in New Castle for supper, as we so often do on our way home from New Jersey. When we got home I went right in for a savoury warm shower and then napped till about 8.30, then went online till Jessy got home.
Jessy and her friends went to a teens' dance at the firehouse in Accomac, something that gets held every once in a while by the church to which one of her friends belongs. It did not go late and by 9.30 she had rung to ask Mother if she and Josie and Anna could come back here for snacks, for an hour or so before they all went home. So they all arrived at like 10.00 in their pretty dance dresses and makeup and shoes. Jessy suggested we play Apples To Apples, which my ex-boyfriend Henry had given us in England. It's the British version but it's not much different than the American one which I have played also. I had a nice little fire going by then and suggested that we all sit at my little round table to play.
Before we got started I left them in my room and went down stairs to collect a tray with cans of Dr Pepper and cookies, which I did not send up in the dumbwaiter but carried through to the side stairs myself. So I appeared in my nice floppy grey sweatshirt and navy-blue panties and socks, what I put on after my shower. I don't think Josie or Anna actually cared. They know me and I'm comfortable, you know. Now that may seem a little risky as this is my first full day, but I have never had any problems like that. I'm just glad I'm this close to being predictable.
With my doors closed we were able to keep quiet and keep warm and keep from waking little Lisa. It did mean I wouldn't be able to hear her if she called to me, so once I got up and looked in on her from the gallery. She remained fast asleep-- the sweet sleep of a good little girl. I returned with a smile that they all saw. 'How is she?' Jessy wondered.
'She's fine,' I said softly, and sat again.
The others looked at me. Finally Josie said, 'I think it's sweet that you look out for her.'
'Well why shouldn't I?' I said. 'She is my sister.'
They all smiled at me again. 'Janine's like her other mother,' Jessy said, and drew a card to start the next round. 'We had our nanny and Lisa has Janine.'
'Yes,' I said, looking at her. We have discussed this together before but never with anyone else. 'Well-- she has both of us.'
Jessy smiled at me, then turned over the car on the table: 'Extraordinary'. I wanted to put down 'Jessy'.
...
Well, I ended up having a pleasant evening after all. Daddy and I left for the boat at like 9.00 which was an hour after we'd hoped. We pulled on the winter cover, which is large but easy to handle since it just goes over the main boom and zippers down in front of the mainmast and aft of the mizzen mast, so you can stand up in the cockpit and work underneath it. We loaded all the sails and cushions into the big van, cleared out the galley lockers, and emptied the freshwater tanks to run through a little (nontoxic) antifreeze. We also straightened up all the lines, lowered the anchor and chain to the ground (to air) and checked that the cradle blocking will survive the cold winter that's promised (or threatened). It was a lot of work but we were steadily busy. Though we were dirty we did stop at IHOP in New Castle for supper, as we so often do on our way home from New Jersey. When we got home I went right in for a savoury warm shower and then napped till about 8.30, then went online till Jessy got home.
Jessy and her friends went to a teens' dance at the firehouse in Accomac, something that gets held every once in a while by the church to which one of her friends belongs. It did not go late and by 9.30 she had rung to ask Mother if she and Josie and Anna could come back here for snacks, for an hour or so before they all went home. So they all arrived at like 10.00 in their pretty dance dresses and makeup and shoes. Jessy suggested we play Apples To Apples, which my ex-boyfriend Henry had given us in England. It's the British version but it's not much different than the American one which I have played also. I had a nice little fire going by then and suggested that we all sit at my little round table to play.
Before we got started I left them in my room and went down stairs to collect a tray with cans of Dr Pepper and cookies, which I did not send up in the dumbwaiter but carried through to the side stairs myself. So I appeared in my nice floppy grey sweatshirt and navy-blue panties and socks, what I put on after my shower. I don't think Josie or Anna actually cared. They know me and I'm comfortable, you know. Now that may seem a little risky as this is my first full day, but I have never had any problems like that. I'm just glad I'm this close to being predictable.
With my doors closed we were able to keep quiet and keep warm and keep from waking little Lisa. It did mean I wouldn't be able to hear her if she called to me, so once I got up and looked in on her from the gallery. She remained fast asleep-- the sweet sleep of a good little girl. I returned with a smile that they all saw. 'How is she?' Jessy wondered.
'She's fine,' I said softly, and sat again.
The others looked at me. Finally Josie said, 'I think it's sweet that you look out for her.'
'Well why shouldn't I?' I said. 'She is my sister.'
They all smiled at me again. 'Janine's like her other mother,' Jessy said, and drew a card to start the next round. 'We had our nanny and Lisa has Janine.'
'Yes,' I said, looking at her. We have discussed this together before but never with anyone else. 'Well-- she has both of us.'
Jessy smiled at me, then turned over the car on the table: 'Extraordinary'. I wanted to put down 'Jessy'.
...
22 August 2008
Musings under sail
Friday, 22 August 2008
Today Jessy and I went out on the boat with Daddy, just the three of us, while Mother took Lisa and J.J. to investigate a dance school for Lisa and to go shopping. We were not out long, but we got some decent sailing done. At first we just sailed straight out about five miles, then we tacked back towards Parramore before turning north again downwind.
We got to talk about things, especially school. Daddy assured us that we would have a ride to school each day instead of taking the bus-- we are not even signed up for it and so not allowed to ride it. He also reminded us to stay a good influence for people, as we always have been, and especially in this rural American area. Coming from a very nice girls' school in England we know this will be a big change for us. Jessy and I have not been to a public American school since that fateful November in 2002 when I got in trouble over the Jesus paper. My stepmother-- not even 21 years old then and barely five months our legal parent-- marched down to the principal and argued for a nice little girl's right to claim Jesus Christ as her role model. How dare a 5th-grade teacher say someone can't say that. The Board finally allowed the paper, but my teacher managed to smirk something like, 'Don't expect any more exceptions', and when Mother heard that she was ready to thrash her. Her response was to withdraw us from school and to teach us at home. And we had a great time doing that, wearing our old-fashioned Colonial gowns, opening our lessons with Bible readings and prayer, breaking for tea at 11 and having lunch with a pot of soup warmed over an actual fire. We read a lot, wrote a lot, talked a lot, and went on cultural trips to historic sites and hiked the beach park for our nature/science lessons. And Jessy and I were both able to transfer to HOH and stay even a little ahead of those standards. This is from having a precocious academic-genius stepmother for a teacher :)
Daddy is an extremely honest and trustworthy person who tends to trust everyone else implicitly. He truly loves all people. Being a performer was probably the best job he could have had. Before Mommy died she tended to keep him grounded and sensible, doing the chequebook, all the charity projects, and even a lot of the recording-studio work. But our stepmother, while she is a very good partner for him in so many ways, especially with caring for us four, is only as trusting and honest as Daddy is. I mean-- we have an accountant now :)
On the way back he had Jessy and I pull up the big jib and the boat slowly wandered back toward the Inlet. We were going to lie down on the foredeck but didn't want to leave Daddy all alone back there. Still we had been sitting up on the cabintop sightseeing and hadn't looked back for a few minutes when he leaned over and said, 'What are you guys doing up here?'
We both gave a jump and then whirled round to see no one at the wheel. 'What are YOU doing up here?' I teased.
He shrugged and stood with his hands in his pockets, as easy as a seasoned sea captain on the side deck with the boat minding its own course. You have to remember that when Daddy calls us 'guys' it means we are totally sexless to him, that he thinks of us only as personalities and intellects and not as two cute chicks in bikinis (and sometimes less!). And then there are the times when he is very particular about our femininity, always knocking on doors, allowing us to sit first at the table, opening the car door, and so on, setting the example of what a gentleman should be like towards us as we became ladies. Mommy was always a good role model for little girls; our stepmother was the one we, at least I, turned to at those awkward years; and all through it Daddy has been a perfect gentleman. We know what he means when he cautions us about remaining a good influence and keeping ourselves unstained from the world. Jessy and I have both agreed we are going to wear skirts to school on the first day, and skirts or dresses as much as we can after that. Why not? --we wore skirts at HOH. And it makes us look and feel ladylike. A lady's best defence is her femininity-- look and act like a lady, and people will treat you like one. And going into a whole new school and cultural experience, we can at least be true to what we know, and how we have been raised-- and what our daddy expects of us.
...
Today Jessy and I went out on the boat with Daddy, just the three of us, while Mother took Lisa and J.J. to investigate a dance school for Lisa and to go shopping. We were not out long, but we got some decent sailing done. At first we just sailed straight out about five miles, then we tacked back towards Parramore before turning north again downwind.
We got to talk about things, especially school. Daddy assured us that we would have a ride to school each day instead of taking the bus-- we are not even signed up for it and so not allowed to ride it. He also reminded us to stay a good influence for people, as we always have been, and especially in this rural American area. Coming from a very nice girls' school in England we know this will be a big change for us. Jessy and I have not been to a public American school since that fateful November in 2002 when I got in trouble over the Jesus paper. My stepmother-- not even 21 years old then and barely five months our legal parent-- marched down to the principal and argued for a nice little girl's right to claim Jesus Christ as her role model. How dare a 5th-grade teacher say someone can't say that. The Board finally allowed the paper, but my teacher managed to smirk something like, 'Don't expect any more exceptions', and when Mother heard that she was ready to thrash her. Her response was to withdraw us from school and to teach us at home. And we had a great time doing that, wearing our old-fashioned Colonial gowns, opening our lessons with Bible readings and prayer, breaking for tea at 11 and having lunch with a pot of soup warmed over an actual fire. We read a lot, wrote a lot, talked a lot, and went on cultural trips to historic sites and hiked the beach park for our nature/science lessons. And Jessy and I were both able to transfer to HOH and stay even a little ahead of those standards. This is from having a precocious academic-genius stepmother for a teacher :)
Daddy is an extremely honest and trustworthy person who tends to trust everyone else implicitly. He truly loves all people. Being a performer was probably the best job he could have had. Before Mommy died she tended to keep him grounded and sensible, doing the chequebook, all the charity projects, and even a lot of the recording-studio work. But our stepmother, while she is a very good partner for him in so many ways, especially with caring for us four, is only as trusting and honest as Daddy is. I mean-- we have an accountant now :)
On the way back he had Jessy and I pull up the big jib and the boat slowly wandered back toward the Inlet. We were going to lie down on the foredeck but didn't want to leave Daddy all alone back there. Still we had been sitting up on the cabintop sightseeing and hadn't looked back for a few minutes when he leaned over and said, 'What are you guys doing up here?'
We both gave a jump and then whirled round to see no one at the wheel. 'What are YOU doing up here?' I teased.
He shrugged and stood with his hands in his pockets, as easy as a seasoned sea captain on the side deck with the boat minding its own course. You have to remember that when Daddy calls us 'guys' it means we are totally sexless to him, that he thinks of us only as personalities and intellects and not as two cute chicks in bikinis (and sometimes less!). And then there are the times when he is very particular about our femininity, always knocking on doors, allowing us to sit first at the table, opening the car door, and so on, setting the example of what a gentleman should be like towards us as we became ladies. Mommy was always a good role model for little girls; our stepmother was the one we, at least I, turned to at those awkward years; and all through it Daddy has been a perfect gentleman. We know what he means when he cautions us about remaining a good influence and keeping ourselves unstained from the world. Jessy and I have both agreed we are going to wear skirts to school on the first day, and skirts or dresses as much as we can after that. Why not? --we wore skirts at HOH. And it makes us look and feel ladylike. A lady's best defence is her femininity-- look and act like a lady, and people will treat you like one. And going into a whole new school and cultural experience, we can at least be true to what we know, and how we have been raised-- and what our daddy expects of us.
...
A secret adventure
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Today we got up pretty early to go sailing. Little J.J. feel asleep almost as soon as he got on board, all bundled up in his lifejacket in the forward berth. The rest of us sat up on deck as we went out through Burtons Bay and through the inlet to the ocean. This is the way usually taken by the fishermen and we waved to them all. There were four of us in swimsuits-- me, Jessy, Lisa, and Mother (our stepmother). Sometimes Mother looks as young as we are!
Since the weather is usually from the south at this time of year, we headed down the coast, outside Parramore and Hog. Just before noon we anchored in the shallows behind Cobb, as we have done before, and had a swim. Daddy waded round with little J.J. on his shoulders and then put him and Lisa into the dinghy and rowed them round the boat while Mother, Jessy and I swam and basked. We returned to the boat to have sandwiches and then Jessy and I put on swim slippers and waded in to the island. It is very empty and open, just dunes and grass and swamps down along the water. We saw crabs and turtles and plenty of fish, and we were able to see where the gulls had their nests.
This would be a very nice place for sunning but it is still public property and Virginia law prohibits all nudity on public land. Nevertheless Jessy took off her top for a while, and then so did I. We tromped down over the dunes to the ocean side and suddenly got the idea to dare ourselves. There was no one around and our parents would not see us breaking the law. So we shimmied out of our bottoms too and splashed out into the surf.
Neither of us has ever gone into the ocean naked. It was a lovely feeling, or should I say an exciting one. Both of us were sprinkled with goosepimples. 'Oh! I wish I had a camera!' Jessy said.
I laughed at that. 'I would NOT let you post them on FaceBook,' I said.
'Rats.'
We both laughed.
Of course we still had on our swim slippers because the bottom here is always questionable. We were not in the water long and then we collected our sandy swimsuit pieces and tromped back over the dune. From up on the crest we could see the boat, flying the family flag, with two adult figures and two smaller ones sitting in the cockpit. The sun had gone overhead and we wondered if they could make us out. Actually I think they were not looking.
We took turns sitting on a piece of wood and wet our swimsuit bottoms before pulling them on. Standing up in the water we retied each other's top. 'I would love to come here alone,' Jessy said quietly, almost in a whisper. 'Just the two of us... so we could do this all day.'
I sighed. 'Me too,' I said.
She turned around and looked right at me then. 'Do you remember that time I was in the pool, and I got you to do this?'
I nodded. It was the first time I'd been swimming naked since I was about six.
'It felt like that this time, too.'
I felt a really strong shiver go through me then. I knew what she meant. 'Me too,' I said.
She giggled a little and then turned to wade back across the bay.
We didn't tell anyone about our little adventure. This is the first I have mentioned it.
We sailed back up the coast, mostly downwind, with the big blue-and-white genoa and matching mizzen staysail up. Daddy really likes to set sail and get the boat moving. For a while I lay down on the foredeck with my chin on the rail, staring down at the froth of water. I did think of untying my top; but what would be the point? I'm tan enough, and it'd only be awkward getting myself back together when I had to; and besides, my upper body was mostly in shade from the sail. Jessy came forward and sat down on the other side of me. 'Wee should have our own boat,' she said. 'We could go down there all the time, by ourselves, and just... relax.'
I turned my head and looked up at her. 'Are you going to be all right, there?'
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, filling her chest. Then she sighed, almost sadly. 'Eventually....'
I giggled. 'I know what you'll be doing, when we get back home.'
She sighed again. 'I know. And why not? I'd have been doing it already, if....'
I nodded. 'I know.... If....'
She smiled. 'You want it too.'
'Sometimes I do.'
'No, I mean that place. You want that place too.'
That is how she said it, like that place could be taken, captured, owned, held. But I knew what she meant. She wants the experience of being naked there, wandering around amidst the rushes and dunes with no other human being nearby. And I admit I want it too. Maybe someday we'll get to have that place again, to ourselves, and for more than one not-so-buggy afternoon with our parents waiting.
...
Today we got up pretty early to go sailing. Little J.J. feel asleep almost as soon as he got on board, all bundled up in his lifejacket in the forward berth. The rest of us sat up on deck as we went out through Burtons Bay and through the inlet to the ocean. This is the way usually taken by the fishermen and we waved to them all. There were four of us in swimsuits-- me, Jessy, Lisa, and Mother (our stepmother). Sometimes Mother looks as young as we are!
Since the weather is usually from the south at this time of year, we headed down the coast, outside Parramore and Hog. Just before noon we anchored in the shallows behind Cobb, as we have done before, and had a swim. Daddy waded round with little J.J. on his shoulders and then put him and Lisa into the dinghy and rowed them round the boat while Mother, Jessy and I swam and basked. We returned to the boat to have sandwiches and then Jessy and I put on swim slippers and waded in to the island. It is very empty and open, just dunes and grass and swamps down along the water. We saw crabs and turtles and plenty of fish, and we were able to see where the gulls had their nests.
This would be a very nice place for sunning but it is still public property and Virginia law prohibits all nudity on public land. Nevertheless Jessy took off her top for a while, and then so did I. We tromped down over the dunes to the ocean side and suddenly got the idea to dare ourselves. There was no one around and our parents would not see us breaking the law. So we shimmied out of our bottoms too and splashed out into the surf.
Neither of us has ever gone into the ocean naked. It was a lovely feeling, or should I say an exciting one. Both of us were sprinkled with goosepimples. 'Oh! I wish I had a camera!' Jessy said.
I laughed at that. 'I would NOT let you post them on FaceBook,' I said.
'Rats.'
We both laughed.
Of course we still had on our swim slippers because the bottom here is always questionable. We were not in the water long and then we collected our sandy swimsuit pieces and tromped back over the dune. From up on the crest we could see the boat, flying the family flag, with two adult figures and two smaller ones sitting in the cockpit. The sun had gone overhead and we wondered if they could make us out. Actually I think they were not looking.
We took turns sitting on a piece of wood and wet our swimsuit bottoms before pulling them on. Standing up in the water we retied each other's top. 'I would love to come here alone,' Jessy said quietly, almost in a whisper. 'Just the two of us... so we could do this all day.'
I sighed. 'Me too,' I said.
She turned around and looked right at me then. 'Do you remember that time I was in the pool, and I got you to do this?'
I nodded. It was the first time I'd been swimming naked since I was about six.
'It felt like that this time, too.'
I felt a really strong shiver go through me then. I knew what she meant. 'Me too,' I said.
She giggled a little and then turned to wade back across the bay.
We didn't tell anyone about our little adventure. This is the first I have mentioned it.
We sailed back up the coast, mostly downwind, with the big blue-and-white genoa and matching mizzen staysail up. Daddy really likes to set sail and get the boat moving. For a while I lay down on the foredeck with my chin on the rail, staring down at the froth of water. I did think of untying my top; but what would be the point? I'm tan enough, and it'd only be awkward getting myself back together when I had to; and besides, my upper body was mostly in shade from the sail. Jessy came forward and sat down on the other side of me. 'Wee should have our own boat,' she said. 'We could go down there all the time, by ourselves, and just... relax.'
I turned my head and looked up at her. 'Are you going to be all right, there?'
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, filling her chest. Then she sighed, almost sadly. 'Eventually....'
I giggled. 'I know what you'll be doing, when we get back home.'
She sighed again. 'I know. And why not? I'd have been doing it already, if....'
I nodded. 'I know.... If....'
She smiled. 'You want it too.'
'Sometimes I do.'
'No, I mean that place. You want that place too.'
That is how she said it, like that place could be taken, captured, owned, held. But I knew what she meant. She wants the experience of being naked there, wandering around amidst the rushes and dunes with no other human being nearby. And I admit I want it too. Maybe someday we'll get to have that place again, to ourselves, and for more than one not-so-buggy afternoon with our parents waiting.
...
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