*****Now that Boudicca was back in Rhydin, and settled in once more, she pretty much has kept to herself. However, being alone in this massive Mansion, didn't do a thing for making her feel at "home". She had workmen come in and redo each room. She had gone to town on quite a few occasions to find painters, carpenters and weavers. Boudicca had to wade through hundreds of swatches to choose the "right" color paint and same thing for the fabrics, but she did and the place looked warm and comfortable. Not cold and unwelcoming like before.
While she worked on the remodel, she helped the workmen with everything. It took up her time and kept her very busy, and drop dead tired at night. Once in awhile when she made a trip into towne, she would drop by the Red Dragon Inn. Boudicca had always enjoyed the company of others. However, there was such a negative overtone in the Inn, and people were so cold...she DID try numerous times to make some friends, just never seemed to work out for her. So she spent less and less time there, unlike before when she was always there with Jonathon.
Now that the weather had changed, she even had some work done to the grounds. She had more flowering, climbing plants planted. She added a gazebo. She had a large area where she had Cook plant a vegetable garden, even. She had terraces of rose bushes, and spaced here and there, areas where wild flower beds grew. She added a few wooden benches...a few arched covered ones, incase she wanted to sit outside and smell the rain as it fell. She had this huge ancient oak tree that she planned the entire garden areas around. And she had statues imported from Italy. Of course she had a copy of the masterpiece "David", as well as Diana a goddess, Venus a goddess...as well as a few male gods, just to balance things out.
It took a great deal of time and effort to see the projects completed exactly how she had envisioned them. But it never took away the feeling of loneliness. She wasn't like most of the women she saw in the Inn. Flirtacious....aggressively seeking men out. Or even as desperate as those poor souls who are so void inside, that they would wear the collar of a "Master". All her life she fought for freedom. Aye, she wore the golden collar of a Queen...never a slave.
She also went into town to have some new garments made for her. She couldn't very well run about in animal skins like she did at home. Actually, she met a man in the Inn who obviously came from the Nexus portal...and he wore nothing but a loin cloth of sorts. She offered him a safe place to stay...and as they left the Inn ....he vanished. People here were just so....odd.
So...sitting in the parlor on the main floor, she had her man servant put up an embroidery frame and hoop. She had drawn out a design, and sat embroidering, before the western window. She had plenty of light, and it kept her hands busy. She remembered her mother telling her a very long time ago, that a woman need to stay busy...that "idle hands were the workings of the Devil." Also, looking from that window was a gorgeous view. Sometimes Boudicca would stop her needle, just to look up...and she found herself, having sat there gazing for hours.
Boudicca didn't do "alone" very well. She was used to her Clan. Her own family, and the dozens of families that all lived within their village. Someone was always seeking her out for one reason or another. She shocked the servants when she told them that they were to eat their dinner with her in the main dining room. Cook protested the loudest. "It JUST isn't done, M'Lady." Boudicca gave her the "look" and assured her that it would be done. Period.
Such was life for the retired Queen of Caledonia. Mayhaps there was an organization or club or something she could join. Even a quilting bee would be better, listening to women gossip and tell outlandish stories, than sitting alone in her home day in and day out. Next trip into to towne, she would make inquries.*************
While she worked on the remodel, she helped the workmen with everything. It took up her time and kept her very busy, and drop dead tired at night. Once in awhile when she made a trip into towne, she would drop by the Red Dragon Inn. Boudicca had always enjoyed the company of others. However, there was such a negative overtone in the Inn, and people were so cold...she DID try numerous times to make some friends, just never seemed to work out for her. So she spent less and less time there, unlike before when she was always there with Jonathon.
Now that the weather had changed, she even had some work done to the grounds. She had more flowering, climbing plants planted. She added a gazebo. She had a large area where she had Cook plant a vegetable garden, even. She had terraces of rose bushes, and spaced here and there, areas where wild flower beds grew. She added a few wooden benches...a few arched covered ones, incase she wanted to sit outside and smell the rain as it fell. She had this huge ancient oak tree that she planned the entire garden areas around. And she had statues imported from Italy. Of course she had a copy of the masterpiece "David", as well as Diana a goddess, Venus a goddess...as well as a few male gods, just to balance things out.
It took a great deal of time and effort to see the projects completed exactly how she had envisioned them. But it never took away the feeling of loneliness. She wasn't like most of the women she saw in the Inn. Flirtacious....aggressively seeking men out. Or even as desperate as those poor souls who are so void inside, that they would wear the collar of a "Master". All her life she fought for freedom. Aye, she wore the golden collar of a Queen...never a slave.
She also went into town to have some new garments made for her. She couldn't very well run about in animal skins like she did at home. Actually, she met a man in the Inn who obviously came from the Nexus portal...and he wore nothing but a loin cloth of sorts. She offered him a safe place to stay...and as they left the Inn ....he vanished. People here were just so....odd.
So...sitting in the parlor on the main floor, she had her man servant put up an embroidery frame and hoop. She had drawn out a design, and sat embroidering, before the western window. She had plenty of light, and it kept her hands busy. She remembered her mother telling her a very long time ago, that a woman need to stay busy...that "idle hands were the workings of the Devil." Also, looking from that window was a gorgeous view. Sometimes Boudicca would stop her needle, just to look up...and she found herself, having sat there gazing for hours.
Boudicca didn't do "alone" very well. She was used to her Clan. Her own family, and the dozens of families that all lived within their village. Someone was always seeking her out for one reason or another. She shocked the servants when she told them that they were to eat their dinner with her in the main dining room. Cook protested the loudest. "It JUST isn't done, M'Lady." Boudicca gave her the "look" and assured her that it would be done. Period.
Such was life for the retired Queen of Caledonia. Mayhaps there was an organization or club or something she could join. Even a quilting bee would be better, listening to women gossip and tell outlandish stories, than sitting alone in her home day in and day out. Next trip into to towne, she would make inquries.*************