I got Master R’s newsletter recently and it had some bad news and some worse news. Slave It (as in “It don’t get no better”) has passed away of cancer after a brutally long battle. I remember her and her charming Master Gary quite fondly… they were both truly lovely people and were definitely a mainstay of my time at La Domaine. I had a couple of memorable encounters with Slave It aka Domina V and I know she will be missed by many people. I pray that she rests in peace and that those who loved her dearly are comforted by many fond memories.

The other news is that Master R plans to retire! He’s planning to give it two more years and retire as he turns 75. This year he says marks the 30th year for La Domaine and although it sounds as if things are going great there, a body can only do so much and Master R is getting a little tired. In his own words:

“IS THE END OF LA DOMAINE ESEMAR IN SIGHT???
With very mixed emotions, I have to say yes. November marks our thirtieth year. I have had the most rewarding experiences a person could possibly have in those three decades.

The world’s most interesting guests have come through our doors. My work here has been as fulfilling as it has been exhausting. I have had the privilege of working with over seven hundred couples! According to our computer program, I have interviewed, as of 8/6/22, seven thousand, three hundred and fifty-seven people, (and we did not even install that program for the first six years of our existence.) Visitors have come from China, Venezuela, Samoa, England, Germany, France, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Poland, Ukraine, Mexico, New Zealand, Belgium, Japan and of course from throughout the US. 

Yet all good things must…etcetera. My intent is to close La Domaine around the time of my 75^th Birthday. That will be in September of 2024. If you have been saying you want to visit La Domaine sometime, your window of opportunity will soon be closed. (Our renown Mistress and Master in Training program is already closed to new applicants.)

Hopefully, we will be able to do one last full year of Couples Parties, Dinners In The Dungeon, Champagne tastings, and Chocolate Workshops, as well as workshops with the world’s great educators, followed as always by Party Time. Carpe Noctem Dear One.”

He also asked for folks to recount some of their favorite memories of their experiences at LD and I have many. I spent a couple of years off and on affiliated and playing at La Domaine back in my Poughkeepsie days. Master R invited me to come tour the facility which I thought needed a bit of a woman’s touch. Lol I also recall that he thought I had a “yuppie” dungeon. I don’t think he meant it as a total compliment but I decided to take it as one none the less.

Moving on … one of my most vivid memories of LD was the time I took my slave richie there with me. Now richie had been coming to me at least once a month, every month for nearly 7 years and in all the time I had become fond of telling him that he shouldn’t worry about me going too far over the limit because I had no yard in Poughkeepsie and thus, there was no where to hide or bury the body. As we drove up into the serious middle of nowhere woods where La Domaine is located – I suggested that he look around him, noting that there was miles and miles of woods! In other words – loads of places to hide the body.

Ok it is probably time to mention that my dear richie absolutely adored psychological mind fucks and I LOVED to trip his switches. So once we had greeted Master R and toured the inside of his great play space, I took richie out back and handed him a shovel. I walked him over to a spot just off the beaten path, deep enough in the woods that it was not very visible from the house or the yard and I told him to start digging. He looked at me rather incredulously and I said “Well, I am not planning to kill you however, I like to hedge my bets and I thought it would be really wise to have a nice hole to drag you into – just in case!” He stood there speechless for a minute or two longer and I said “Come on now – DIG! You certainly would expect me to do it would you?” I made him dig a decent size hole and there was something delightfully perverse about having someone “dig their own grave – just in case”.

Another less delightful but poignant anecdote – there was a time when I was in service to Master R for a bit and of course me being me thought I knew better than him how things should be – and I took it upon myself to clean, reorganize, and basically move stuff that didn’t exactly belong to me and was astounded that it wasn’t met with the overwhelming gratitude that I thought my efforts deserved. And so under protest I put everything back the way the man that actually lived there liked ir – sheesh right? He had made a remark about how irksome it could be when slaves took it upon themselves to do things with out permission and I just thought I was showing gooo=d initiative. A few months later, I went to LD with my slave Monique and I had planned to do a really lovely bit of rope bondage on her at one of R’s parties so I spent quite a bit of time learning and tying a really cool Celtic knot that would serve as a center piece to the chest tie I had planned. When it was time for us to play I asked Moanie to lay out the ropes while readied other things and a few minutes later when I went to start the scene I was searching for the piece I spent over an hour tying a special knot in – and discovered that – it was gone! Monique had seen that that rope had something different in it but because I had not told her specifically my plans – she untied it for me so it was as pristine and ready as the rest of my rope. Suddenly I understood in a way that I never would have before and I distinctly remember calling out to Master R “It truly sucks sometimes when slaves show initiative!” Some lessens are always learned the hard way. 🙂

As far as other experiences from La Domaine – I have a fairly graphic memoir from my very early days under Master R’s training that you could read here: My Slave Training Experience at La Domaine

So umm yes, I had many good times at La Domaine and I hope to enjoy several more in the next 2 years. I shall keep you posted dear reader. 😉