Now, on to trivia: Queen Victoria created a fashion trend after the death of her beloved Alfred. What was this fashion, and more precisely, what was it fashioned out of? And I do mean precisely. I'll be back later to see if you need clues - I am going back to bed to nurse my head cold, which seems to have come back.

Nancy.

A new kitten-how fun. Lily will be getting tit for tat, huh, now that she isn't the newbie.

I have a guess on this. When we cleaned out my parents' home, we found a box with what I am sure was widow's wear or mourning wear for one of the girls from the late nineteenth century. One piece of the ensemble in particular was missing.

Feel better, Nancy. Naps can work wonders.

Cynthia

Nancy, get lots of rest those darn head colds can make one feel pretty peely wally, hope you feel better soon luv.

Annette

In the meantime, I am planning my Halloween decorating. Found orange and black streamers and super cool silvery ghost fabric. Guess I'll have to find me a black kitten to call Spooky to make my decor complete! LOL. I'm sure the dogs would just love that!

Enjoy your new baby Nancy! They are so much fun as kittens! :)

Ginny

Am I close Nancy? If I am, there is a clue in my first answer, too.

Cynthia

Kitten, whose name is Pia for pain-in the-ass, is a feisty one! She and a sib were found when they were only a couple of days old, abandoned on the farm where one of the young ladies at work lives. The mother probably didn't survive their birth. Anyway, they were both nursed, only the one survived. The young lady's mother opines that Pia has probably used up a few of her lives already. I am little worried, cause when I woke up first this am, she had climbed back into my bed, and was sleeping in my right armpit....

Nancy.

AWWWW! PIA ia such a cute name. Apparently the same way friends got Lucy for their cat....Lucifer! :)

Ginny

I was thinking of a black cap with a crepe veil worn to help keep one's tears and emotions hidden rather than jewerly, so needed those clues.

Annette

This gives me a good idea for a Halloween costume.

Ginny

Cynthia

Annette

Nancy do you just want the hard facts or more?

Cynthia

Nancy.

Sorry. Nancy.

Carry on.

TM

Annette

Jeepers, Honalee, neck thing? What neck thing? I am beginning to think I know nothing at all! Too funny.

Almost time for "Prohibition" which I think everyone should watch with a glass full of something or other.

I should have taken the route TM did and kept quiet.

Cheers all,
Cynthia

Ok My answer to the question is that Q Vicky was an absolute fanatic about jewelery but couldn't wear color while she was in morning. So, she had her smiths make her jewelery out of Jet which was found in abundance along the shores of England. And so forth and so on....... She never did move beyond black for the rest of her life,apparently.

Cyn ~ I think the hair thing was not so much part of the queens thing with Albert.?? I did find out that she was really into the Jet cameo of Albert that she wore around her neck....:)

That's my answer and I'm stickin to it!

Ginny

Annette

You all seem to have gotten it: Jet Jewerly! All this history and cultural heritage is condensed and confined to just seven and a half miles of North Yorkshire coastline! In the light of this it is surprising to find that there has been and still is much conflicting and erroneous information concerning Whitby Jet. It has been called the 'Black amber of the North' a possible allusion to some of the properties that both these fossils share. Even its organic roots have been denied when it was suggested that Jet had nothing to do with wood (Tate and Blake 1876). It has been likened to a mineral deposit similar to turquoise and the most consistent misrepresentation is that it is a by-product of coal formation. The web site author has even been asked if his Whitby Jet jewellery came in any other colours! Well, sort of...it does comes a bit brown sometimes, due to the iron pyrite content of some jet.

During the mid Jurassic period some 150-180 million years ago what was to be the British Isles was located further south in the area of Northern Spain and Portugal. It was thus much nearer the equator and had a climate to match. The dominant species of tree was the Araucaria very similar to the Araucaria araucana we see today. Its common name is the Monkey-puzzle tree or Chilean pine. Long story short, it fell into the ocean, alluvian silt settled, et voila, 182 million years or so later we have this interesting mineraliod, aka a minor gemstone. There are two forms: hard jet, formed under pressure with salt water, and soft jet, formed under pressure with fresh water. Hard jet is just that, and can be quite brittle; soft jet is easily carvable, so the two can be incorporated into the same piece of jewelery.

It is apparently incorrect to assume that jet is related to coal, though it does have a petroleum oil content, and smell when heated. Oh yes, and there is some jet in Spain, which has an aluminum content, as opposed to the iron pyrite.

So, for Ginny, Cyn, Annette, Lorna, mnwsgal:
, although, Cynthia, maybe I should deduct a star for the hair reference?? Ewww, I always found that to be a creepy trend, to be honest!!

Thanks for playing, that was fun, and it helped me get through my cold-marred day. I leave you with a poem, and a link to the Whitby Jet Cnetre - just remember if you shop One pound sterling = US$1.54 and CA$1.61 - hey, that Canadian conversion it pretty good!! lol, somebody hide my credit card.

Ah! Black as jet, but long ago
In dignity and lace,
The ladies wore around their necks
A flash of ebon grace.
But oh! To-day Great Broughton mourns
Still waves the merry corn,
The beer flows at Jet Miners' Inn,
But jet's no longer worn.
Still, fashions change, mayhap some day
Again the craft will thrive,
And Yorkshire jet will ring the earth,
Black, flashing and alive.

I feel the same way about the hair thing....ewww....Looking forward to next weekends mystery!

Ginny

Thanks for the trivia, Nancy and Cynthia.

Your welcome TM - it is sort of fun!!

Nancy.

This was lots of fun. Everyone had such terrific clues. That is the only way I got it. See you Saturday morning.

Cynthia

Just kidding about the 'last call' thing. No booze in this house. I have always been sober and my DH has been sober for 17 years on Oct 9 of this year!!! Yay for him!

Rainy and cool here this week. No fall clean up yet. Looking forward to Saturday's trivia and creating ghouls for Halloween!

Ginny

Nancy.