.the princess portal.

I am aquiring a certain fondness for Blue lately. While Pink still retains its central place in my wardrobe I am adding little dashes of powder blue here and there, its so serene and soft and pink and blue look perfectly cute together! Miss Charlotte is also toying with new colours and I changed her in to her pretty mohair wig today, its so soft and brings out the fairness of her complexion. I love the backdrop here as it reminds me of the Marie Antoinette movie, with her day bed all upholstered in blue. Speaking of day beds, I have chosen a pretty little white framed one and my canopy is finally being re-sent (in the right colour this time) I can’t wait until it arrives!

Tonight I am attempting to cook roast vegetables with herbs and honey lamb steak. Cooking is not something I am gifted at, so I really hope it comes out well. Even if I fail I have belgian chocolate mousse for dessert to make up for it! Please wish me luck!

The weather has kept me inside all day today. Though there was a patch of sunshine in the morning the rest of the day it has stormed and howled and thrown torrents of rain at my window It is warm inside my palace though and as I sit and sip my cinnamon tea I feel sorry for anyone who must venture outside on such a day.

To keep myself busy I have been writing letters and emails, repairing some damaged items and sewing myself a new pair of wrist cuffs. When Mirai and I were cleaning out the sewing room recently I found this gorgeous cotton lace and with a little elastic and ribbon transformed it in to some cuffs. The ribbon is interchangeable here I have the pink velvet threaded through but later I changed them both to white satin and I will probably keep them that way for a while.

I feel the inclination to do more crafts lately. I think I might make some more jewelry and possibly start on some lolita nail tips. I have to be careful to save my pin money though as we have a BABY the stars shine bright group order coming up and I really want a couple of items to complete a hime-lolita coordinate of mine.

Happy Birthday Amy! Today I went to a tea party in celebration of Amy’s birthday. The Prince and I went together and gave Skwerlie a lift. Amy is housesitting for her grandmother so we got to have tea in her lovely house with its high ceilings and beautiful furniture and decorations. It was a delicious tea too! With a grand selection of savouries and sweets my favourite was the little angel cakes which I believe were baked by Laura? Parfait had more than her share of cookies and cakes too!

It was fun to catch up with all the girls again, and meet a few new faces. I should liked to have had more time to talk to people individually, but this is often the case at tea parties. I took a lot of photos! It was hard to resist in such a beautiful setting. I like this one because we are all wearing Pink and Blue, a colour scheme I am very fond of at the moment. I wore my new Sleeping Beauty skirt with a pink cutsew. I didn’t have any blue headdresses so Mirai tied a blue and white polka dot ribbon in my hair and I really like the effect. Amy’s new dress was amazing! It was made by the seamstresses at Miwitch and was so detailed and pretty! I hope she likes the pearl jewelry I made her as a little gift. There are more photos in the gallery, but I have yet to finish uploading them. I had a lot of fun today

I am reading the most brilliant book. It is called Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund. I have read a lot of novels and biographies about Marie Antoinetter and the ladies of the french court, but this is the first one I have read about her that really felt right to me, in that it captures her spirit in all its sweet romanticism and innocent ideals and really lets you see her life through her own eyes. It is sympathetic to her character, but shows her as one who really meant well but was so disconnected with the reality (indeed sheltered from it) that she never had a chance to understand.

I think Sophia Copola may have read this book too, or perhaps they both just drew a lot of inspiration from Antonia Fraser’s biography because there are some scenes in her that match the movie almost to the line. I feel it portrays both the conflict with Du Barry and her relationship with Axel Von Fersen in far greater depth and without the stereotypes and assumptions. Today I also discovered this! It is the japanese collector’s edition dvd and it comes in the most beautiful box and with the special gifts of a round blue jewelry box, a hand mirror, a slipper shaped brooch and a pink lace hankerchief! As well as a little 20 page booklet. It still has the english version, and although its region 2 I can always play it on my computer, and the Prince has a region-free dvd player. I wonder if it will be released like this in a full english edition, otherwise I might just have to buy this version and somehow navigate through the japanese menus!

The weather today is typical of a perth winter, sunny and fine and only a little bit cold. I went for a lovely mid-morning walk and picked some wildflowers, these are called Geraldton wax, and they’re native to this area. They also come in a pink variety, which grows abundantly at my parent’s castle, but here we have the white. Their petals are as their namesake, very waxy, they quite feel as though they are made out of candle wax! They’re not as showy as the Chrysanthemums but still bring a little freshness to my bedside.

I recieved my new bed canopy yesterday, but they sent me the wrong colour and I shall have to send it back for exchange. I think I shall rotate the furniture in my chambers before I set it up. I want to create a little niche for my daybed, somewhere to relax and hide away from the world. I am still trying to choose between a wood or enamel coated metal bedframe though.

I will post more later! Its time for lunch

I finally had a day off today, and it was a beautiful day at that! In the morning I had hot porridge for breakfast, and then spent the day writing letters and working on some community things with Abbie. I even had time to tidy my chambers a bit.

This afternoon Éclair and I were treated to a lovely tea by my friend Clara. She had just purchased a set of dishes with a gorgeous lacework design and took the opportunity to make a little tea for us. There were finger sandwiches, home baked cookies and muffins and cute little fruit tarts. Everything was delicious and so nicely presented with a scattering of pink carnations and a pretty candle goblet. Clara was kind enough to give me some left over sweets to take to work tomorrow and I’m looking forward to having them with my morning tea!

I also got to meet Clara’s adorable bunny Charlie (who is a real bunny, Clara’s white bunny pochette is named “Anastasia” and is Éclair’s twin) Charlie is white with black ears and paws and nose and big pink eyes! She has such a sweet temperament and soft fur. I miss having a rabbit, so it was really nice to be able to stroke and hold Charlie for a bit, she was a rescued bunny so she is very lucky to have a good home with Clara and her partner! Thank you to Clara for a lovely evening.

This morning I woke and it was such a beautiful day! The first thought I had was “today I am going to recieve a nice surprise!” I had to work, but it was quiet and I spent a lot of time wondering what my nice surprise would be. I was a little dissapointed when it was time to go hope and nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Then when I checked the mail on the way to my door I found this delightful letter from my friend Imuin!

It smells like flowers and the stationary is so cute and handmade! I especially like the lace on the envelope. I so love recieving letters, these days communication is so fast and digital, I really miss the charm and intimacy of the handwritten letter. Perhaps I shall get a post office box so I can write more letters, I would love to hear from some of the readers of the Princess Portal!

My Crysanthemums still look beautiful and fresh! I’m amazed at how well they are lasting.

I spent a good part of today cleaning. My chambers had become quite untidy and the kitchen and bathroom were in need of some TLC so I did my best to make them beautiful again I can’t say cleaning is one of my favourite activities, but I put on some lovely baroque music and daydream while I work. I try and take a page from Cinderella’s book - even Princesses have to work hard sometimes, but that doesn’t change who they are inside, and who says you can’t have fun while you’re doing it?

The Prince is coming over for tea tonight, so I am going to make yummy roast vegetables. Winter meals are so hearty and delicious, I only wish we had a fireplace here.

When I was little we used to toast apples over the fire and eat them steaming hot! There is something very romantic about fireplaces, gas heaters don’t quite have the same glow.

It was a blustery day today. I rugged up nice and warm for my morning walk but the wind was still quite chilly and they skies dark grey. I recieved my Gothic & Lolita photobook in the mail from Erin, thank you! I was a bit surprised by the content. There’s not very much lolita in it, but mostly Cyber and Goth styles. I did enjoy the few bedroom pictures though, and the last picture is my favourite! It has Parfait’s sister in a really cute lolita room!

I also bought this beautiful bunch of fresh flowers. I’m not sure what they’re called but they look like frothy white lace and feel like dry silk and smell like spring rain. They really freshen up my bedside and it makes me smile just to look at them, I should buy flowers more often, but it makes me sad to watch them wilt.

The Prince and I spent the afternoon together, we looked for an organizer for him and saw some cute border collie puppies! I also had time to pick up some groceries and decided to treat myself as I’m feeling a little better now, so I bought fresh Croissants and apricot preserve. There is no better breakfast in my mind than toasted crossiants with jam and a bowl of hot chocolate!

My apologies for not writing in some time. I have been struck down by a nasty Flu and am still recovering. I have rarely left my bed in the past few days, though I have been reading a lot and watching a few films while I sip my chamomile and honey tea Miss Charlotte says she is not feeling at all well either, and has thus been keeping me company.

The book I’m reading at present is “Rose Daughter” by Robin McKinley, a master of the Fairy Tale genre. It is a lovely retelling of Beauty and the Beast, which holds true to the original in many ways but also has its own little themes and currents that make it an entirely new story Its comforting reading, it lets me escape from the sickbed to Beast’s magical palace, and makes me wish for nothing more than a vase of roses by my bedside!

Fevers and coughs are not pleasant things, however one writes about them, but I am feeling a little better today, and hopefully a little more so tomorrow.