Travelling Time and Space

Yesterday the girls and I went wood shopping at one of the large home improvement stores and due to several customer service blunders we spent way more time there than we'd intended to. Armed with plenty of wood for a variety of medieval furniture projects we finally managed to flee the store and get home with barely enough time to fix dinner. We were starving!

Dinner was delightful with grilled pork chops, stuffed baked mushrooms, three different salads from leafy goodness to German potato salad comfort, roasted garlic, delicious bread and tsasiki (sourcream with garlic and minced cucumber) for dipping. We ate until we're bursting at the seams:o)

Of course we still have our projects to do which we were hoping to use at Sunday's Bragging Rights Tournament in the Park. Since hubby knows that my favorite thing to do is spending quality time with him and Finndragon we first picked up his motorcycle, then headed for a picnic in the park flying kites to return home for some project time. While hubby was playing with his bike I happily futzed around with jigsaw and drill and now all wood is cut up into the various base pieces for benches and tables and our brandnew sunshade. That way we save time when getting together to do the fine tuning later this week and actually have a chance at finishing at least some of our to-do-list.

I'm just taking a break from sewing the canvas for the sunshade and I can't wait to see when it's done! $40 in material and so far 1h spent - a simple quick project whch is going to have a major impact on the look of our Squirrel encampment. Ever since we were awarded the Crown's Acclaim for Heraldic Display we have felt like we have to improve our kit by leaps and bounds to be worthy of this honor. And one of the first things that have to go is our modern (albeit covered up) sunshade. It's probably going to have one last appearance on Sunday to provide shade for visitors but then it's going to retire for good :o)It's a nice versatile design which will even allow us to add modules to expand! I promise to show off pictures next week.

Tomorrow I'm off to the dentist *grimace* Wish me luck! 

If you're happy and a Laurel clap your hands
if you're happy and a Laurel clap your hands
if you're happy and a Laurel and you really want to show it
if you're happy and a Laurel clap your hands!

If you're happy and a Pelican, volunteer
if you're happy and a Pelican, volunteer
if you're happy and a Laurel and you really want to show it
if you're happy and a Pelican, volunteer

If you're happy and a Knight, then swing a stick
if you're happy and a Knight, then swing a stick
if you're happy and a Knight and you really want to show it
if you're happy and a Knight, then swing a stick

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on." William Shakespeare

Once or twice a week I sit down to browse a collection of blogs and online journals to see what other members in the SCA are up to, here and abroad, costumers, calligraphers, woodworkers, researchers and philosophers.  Every other time somebody will contemplate an issue, a problem, an experience made at an SCA function that gives insight into inter-Kingdom anthropologies and cultural differences of this game we play. Sometimes these issues sound ridiculously strange, sometimes they hit very very close to home. And while it is generally comforting that there are some aspects that happen everywhere giving our worldwide hobby a constant, a common base line, it is very disturbing when a complaint reveals itself as a society-wide occurrence.

"Is the interest in the SCA waning?" is the latest poll I stumbled upon and the answers are alarmingly homogeneous, from East to West  and in between.  The weak economy coupled with rising gas prices is given as one of the main reasons for this trend but I found the collection of "Other" influences much more interesting and thought-provoking

- politics
- burn out
- clique-ish behavior
- old boys club 

and so on, and so on. And you know what? I'm not buying it. Now before you start ranting at me for that keep in mind these are -my- musings, and none other but -mine-. I'm not saying I'm right (although I think I am *G*) and I'm not going to hit you if you don't believe me. Continue to read at your own free will and speed. Take it or leave it, use it as food for your own thoughts or simply shrug it off for all I care, but I felt I had to try and write down my thoughts on the matter.

"Politics". The establishing of a social pecking order, the favoring of those that make us look good or help us stay in favor, the moves and decisions you make to remain with the in-crowd, to simply belong, vying for the attention of the cool people - they happen whenever a group of people get together, whether it's a weight support group, a rabbit breeder association, a gardening club, the SCA. Sometimes these social shenanigans can get out of hand, sometimes you find yourself in the midst of it and sometimes they do leave a bad taste in your mouth. Can politics lead to burn out? To a waning in interest in the SCA (or any other club)?

They sure can and certainly do BUT only when there is nothing to fall back on.

If there is nothing than an air mattress smelling of obnoxious plastic waiting for you in a stifling hot tent or a moldy cabin, nothing waiting for you but a creaking squad chair and conversations about rising gas prices, the last car repair, the laundry at home when you flee from yet another uninspiring meeting that leaves you grumbling over yet more rules to follow and another form to fill out, then yes, politics will make you leave.

It's not the politics and squabbling between members that are the cause. It's the lack of anything but that that makes leaving, and not staying, an easy option.

In the past I've had rough stretches of time in the SCA. I've had my fair share of unpleasant moments and experiences and I've been teetering on the edge of leaving for good. No matter how disenchanted I was at any of those times, however, I always had my magic moments as I call them to fall back on, to remind me of the wonders of the SCA. I know there is that beautiful dream alive out there filled with banners fluttering lightly in the first breeze of the morning. I have seen the mist rising over medieval tents sparkling with morning dew. I've gone into the forest to collect firewood when all was still silent only to tease the sleepy heads from their comfortable cots with the first smell of pancakes and (not so medieval) coffee prepared over the camp fire. Goosebumps ran down my arms listening to tales of battles and chivalrous deeds and my memory is still ringing with the laughter over racy filk and sweet tunes sang to the crackling of a glorious fire.

I don't like that "The dream" talk, but I do encourage everyone to dream. No, not the dream that makes you obediently attend meetings and file your report. That is not the dream part of our game, that's just the organizational effort necessary so we have room to dream. Sadly, this part is taking over our game, bit by bit, step by step, one uncovered cooler, plastic chair, mundane dress, paperplate at a time.

Celebrate the romance of the Middle Ages!
Create! Teach! Learn!
Sing and dance!

Return to the roots of the dream and dream once more of noble lords and ladies, of banners, pennons and gonfalons, of clashing swords, flashing blades and whirring arrows, of breaking lances and many colorful artisans, of the glory of your kingdom and the grace of your King and Queen.

Make more than just an attempt. Give it your all and everything to give this dream substance and sustenance.

How, you may ask?
Do not allow our modern lives to creep into our medieval dream world. Within your means support the dream, from your wardrobe to your composure, from the cover over your cooler to the hat on your head. Each little step toward the magic realm of the dream counts.  The fewer modern things are around to distract us from where we want to be, the more you are contributing to the dream and the more you are helping weave the magic that makes the SCA this great hobby.

"I don't have the money/knowledge/time/skil ls/etc !"
Nothing happens over night. Take your time and progress in small steps. Nobody expects you to appear with a fully accurate encampment, wardrobe and other accoutrements within a week. That is the beauty of the SCA. Start simple and improve your kit over time, one babystep after babystep. The more you learn, the more you can contribute. Even "peri-oid" is better than modern!

Everybody loves to quote how the SCA started as a medieval party that hasn't ended yet but frankly, I believe we have forgotten how to celebrate the Middle Ages.

It's about time we remember.

My eyelets are starting to look like eyelets :o)

My latest garb creation is slowly nearing the finishing stage. All that is left to do is finger-knit and add aiglets to the cord for the front lacing and hemming the skirt.  Except for baglining all pieces, the dress is hand-sewn which is becoming more and more common with every dress I make. I'm having an especially good time figuring out nice laces for my sleeves, complete with aiglets for the tips for easier lacing. I discovered some tiny piping at the hardware store and after cutting it to half inch pieces and threading it onto my laces I can crimp it into place and have nifty easy-to-lace ties:o) Next on the production line are a new headwrap made from soft white linen along with a wimpel band for that very spiffy 15th century draping effect. And of course additions to hubby's and Finndragon's wardrobe. Especially Finndragon's is woefully out of date again *sigh* The munchkin is growing like a weed and definitely needs something new for events. I have some of that nice teal-blue linen left because I skimped a bit on the skirt volume so I might make him something to match Mami :o)

By now I should have enough outer dress layers for Pennsic. Now it's on to the underwear and little accessories and except for a small shelf which I'd like to whip up for our encampment I'm pretty much set. Still doesn't feel real - Squeee! I'll be going to Pennsic this year -  but I'm glad that the sewing muse bit me early. I dislike last-minute sewing projects just before an event.

Then again, I -should- be painting scrolls... oy :o) 

I wrote my last entry three weeks ago - how did that happen ?! Sheesh ... so here it is, the long overdue update on my adventures

St George Faire
My favorite event came and went ... this year unfortunately without me. Finndragon caught a vicious stomach virus the Friday of the event and I ended up spending the next 12 hours cleaning up after my poor munchkin who kept throwing up even when there wasn't anything left to throw up.
We barely escaped the ER and IV when by 8pm the first liquid stayed and did not come back out. You need to know that Finndragon has spit up exactly three times in his entire life. He has a stomach of iron and handles anything like Vegas: what goes in, stays in. The only times he's ever thrown up, something was seriously wrong.
When he finally stopped he went into fever mode which hubby and I watched and managed all through the night and into the early morning. It finally broke at 4am at which point hubby and I collapsed into bed. We slept and napped through most of Saturday and by Sunday Finndragon was - aside from a spell of utter exhaustion - back to his old self.

Order of the Nut and Squirrel
While I couldn't be there (and test our new encampment equipment and be there for Bres's belting and feast...bah!) the other squirrels were and had a lot of fun. Darlene looked great in her new dress that we whipped up 2 days before the event and we were honored with the Crown's Acclaim for Heraldic Display! Now we feel that we need to improve our kit to be worthy of this honor and are happily plotting new stuff :o) Innis fought great , and the girls picked me a beautiful necklace from the prize table made by Baroness Teamhair!

Bento
Twice a week Carrie and I create bento boxes for eachother for lunch. It's a lot of fun and we both enjoy surprising the other with our latest creation. Staying home for St George was sweetened by being there to personally accept my latest Bento supplies shipment: new cute Onigiri Bento boxes, more rice molds, new bags and other little things which will soon be assisting with the creation of more cutesie lunches :o) Finn got a bear bento box and is delighted to have his own lunch box now!

School
Finn's time at the preschool is nearing its end and so is my time as German teacher for the same. he will graduate from preschool in only two more weeks and then go to a different, less cost-prohibitive one for the summer. In August then he will start his Kindergarten year (OMIGOD?! Another "how did that happen so fast" aspect of my life) at the coolest Montessori school ever. Heck, I'd love to enroll myself there! Everybody told us it were nigh impossible for Finn to get a spot there (we don't live anywhere near the area this school serves and they have a ridiculously small number of free spots to begin with) and we're incredibly lucky and bouncy about Finn being registered there :o) Wheeeee ! Finndragon is all excited about the prospect of a new school and will tell you all about it if you ask him. He is also tickled pink about being able to read words and small sentences - and he's only 4! I'm always baffled when he is doing things that at home kids learn in first grade ...

SCA
I'm plodding along working on streamlining the hospitaller and demo coordinator office to make it easy on the eyes and time-efficient. My first report is due this week and I'll get to list quite a number of things accomplished in the short time since I've taken up the office. I'd have never thought that there would be that many demo requests. One I'm really looking forward to is a tiny in-persona demo for just 5 students. It'll be a lot of fun :o) I just need to swing by at Joanns to pick up some wool roving (which I should have done today, really, but oh this old brain is sometimes a bit flaky).

I still have plenty of projects lined up to keep me busy. I really can't remember the last time I was bored, really. Today I went over to Joanns - something I haven't done in probably a year - and stumbled over their 50% Linen Sale, Yay baby! I came home with 5 yards of delicious dark teal linen and a few yards of white and I've already cut the bodice and lining to a new 15th century kirtle ... *dances* The red linen Nuremberg dress is almost done - it needs proper hemming and lacing holes for the  sleeves. Then I have to take care of the length of slate wool-silk blend and be done with my Pennsic garb projects. That is once I finish my 4 shifts :o)

Speaking of finish, I need to finish here to fix dinner for my men and myself. We're having a Japanese night tonight with Sushi, Dim Sum, Shrimp and Sausage Octopi for Finndragon. Yum! 

40 more minutes until BSG season 4

*twitch*

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee e :o) 

Over the past year, year and a half I've grown more and more disenchanted by the state of the camping affairs around me. Not enough that cellphones appear to be everywhere (I'm highly 'allergic' to them in mundane life, to begin with) but paperplates, uncovered cooler and other modern conveniences are creeping more and more into the game we're playing.

Or at least this is how it appears to -me-. Keep that in mind, please, when you are reading this :o) This blog and all topics discussed here are highly subjective and only represent -my- very own point of view.

I realize not everybody plays my version of the game and while I wish we all could find some common ground, say on Known World handbook level, I respect that you play your version of the game and I, I play mine. Part of mine includes a certain level of historical accuracy or at least the attempt at a historical look. While in the past drinks went from their original container into mugs and pitchers, a lot of people don't seem to bother anymore. Modern trashcans are abound in plain sight so are uncovered coolers, modern camping tables, and the list goes on. I love modern conveniences, I understand why you don't buy a medieval tent but I don't get why you aren't even making an attempt at playing medieval anymore.

*scratches head*

Now, I know I can't make anybody do anything they don't want to. All I can do is carve out a happy niche for myself (and others who feel like I do).  For myself I want a nice medieval encampment with all the bells and whistles, my own little patch of Enchanted Ground ,and in a sudden fit of boundless energy I went ahead and made furniture this week :o)

During the past three afternoons I designed, sawed, sanded and painted a table and a bench that fold down flat and fit into the trunk of our Dodge Neon, our smallest car, for easy transportation. Finndragon lent a hand and had a blast eating his breakfast at the "Knight's Table" this morning. The bench needs another coat of paint but then I'll probably even have pictures to show. I'm not much of a woodworker but I can handle a jigsaw just fine and that was the biggest tool I used on those two items. The scrapwood came for free from a neighbour, a little weathered and stained which is why it needed painting rather than just staining, but now it looks scrumptious and I can't wait to set it up with our tent.

Finndragon declared we need another bench for the other side of the table and I think he is right. It'll have to wait a bit though because I can hardly lift my right arm and my hand is a bit tender ... heh.  I do have another sheet of plywood for experiments and encouraged by the success of my first furniture making endeavor I'm ready to tackle more projects.

All my nifty little projects are going to have their first outing at St George's Fair and I'm excited about the prospect of camping! It feels great :o)

After the unfortunate demise of King Thorstenn (that jousting accident must have been really painful judging from the bit of the lance sticking out of our beloved king's chest ...oy) and Queen Zephyrine (It happened so fast ... and no witnesses either!) our kingdom is finally safe again in the hands of King Mittion IV and our most gracious Queen Rosalinda.

Coronation was ... busy. Beautiful moments and sights intermingled with running from meeting to meeting leaving little to no time to catch up with friends. Kingdom events are unfortunately my least favorite kind of event to attend - too much crammed into too little time - but my "Trostpflaster" was seeing people dear to my heart for a quick chat, watching friends and good acquaintances honored with outstanding awards during court from Court Baronies to Aoas, swearing fealty to our new Crown in court (a first time for me), a laugh here and a hug there while running all over site like a maniac on crack. Ouff! I was thoroughly exhausted by the time the sun sank over the horizon and I fled court to make it home before midnight and before falling asleep at the steering wheel.

Mistress Mairi Ceilidh and Master Rurik were both elevated to the Order of the Pelican and their faces were priceless *G* I didn't see too much of Killian when he heard the invitation to join the Order of the Chivalry but I enjoyed every minute of the well thought up schtick between our Queen and our King about how he was 'lacking' and how the Queen's champion couldn't be anything but perfect. Lacking were indeed spurs and belt and chain and we all get to look forward to seeing this happening at TMT. (Just in case you're wondering but I know Killian from the scroll linedrawings he's created for the COS over the past years and him dropping by at St George's last year)

Sunday I spent in a daze hardly awake enough to keep up with Finn, and now the weekly routine has us back. Hubbybear caught a cold and he's been sharing generously so I sound a little funny. This, however, did not stop me from making  a cute little trestle table today. Heh :o) Pictures will follow later; first I need a shower :o) 

Done, done, done !

Tomorrow is Coronation (well, the events starts today but I'll only be daytripping tomorrow) and all scrolls are accounted for. Yay scribes! I even have a few nice AoAs extra, just in case, thanks to Iain. Now all that is left to do is take care of the Laurel food (baby laurels get to feed the others at their first official meeting) and get everything I need to bring into the car.

My biggest worry were the county scrolls for the outgoing crown. Mistress Hyrrokin had painted the illumination on two sheets of her awesome handmade paper and I was a tad ...apprehensive about putting pen to paper. What if I messed up ? That wouldn't be funny at all ... worse even, the little bits of paper for me to play with she'd sent along did nothing to put my mind at ease. The ink spiered some, not much but just enough to make the letters look blurry and messy ... ugh. God (and Finneadan for the hint) be thanked, some fixative took care of that issue. It's not looking too shabby, even if gothic quadrata is not my 'thang' - I tend toward secretary hands and have been playing too much with the predecessor of the German Fraktura lately ... oy :o)

Next question is what to wear ? Temperatures are expected to be in the low 80s during the day so I'm thinking probably the new blue and green linen German Renaissance dress I made. Simple and cute with the slashed design in the applique guards on the skirt but light and comfy. I'll be doing much running around between all my meetings so this sounds about as practical as it gets.

Sunday I'll have to put finishing touches on the scribal display I created for the demos since Cara will be picking it up on Monday for the UNF Worldfest later next week. Sheesh, and here I was hoping for some quiet time ...

No rest for the wicked. 

Next Friday, 4th of April, you know, I will not be available to anybody in the evening :o)

That night is devoted to the Return of Battlestar Galactica and nothing short of death can stop me !

Jus' thought I'd mention that :o) 

Today, Finndragon came home from school with a ducky basket filled with colorful candy-filled Easter eggs and can't wait until Sunday for more of the nifty treats. It's true - Spring and Easter Holidays are only a few more days away and again I'm stunned how time manages to pass by so quickly. What happened to all those weeks between now and Christmas, eh ? 's very very strange indeed ...

Speaking of Easter, I got my own little Easter treat and just a moment ago I received confirmation that it had been shipped (Phew!). Since our last trip to New York and its phenomenal bookstore "The Strand" the facsimile of the Book of Hours of Stephan Lochner has been on my mind. Truth be told, I wanted it so bad I could taste it :o) Monday I decided that it would make the perfect kind of Easter egg for my basket and placed my order. Now, the Strand is a used bookstore and if you've ever been to Chamblin's here in Jax you can somewhat relate to the order of such an astonishing wonderful heavenly place as a gigantic used bookstore. It also usually means that their inventory might not be 100% German standard uptodate. I was a little nervous that they would not be able to confirm my order but yay, the Easter Bunny appears to have been rooting for me :o) I can't wait to get it in the mail !

Back to the Scriptorium - I've got a few scrolls to take care of:o) 

This past weekend we went on a family trip :o)

After a nifty and very tasty Japanese-Korean-Chinese dinner with friends on Friday we headed south for Plant City to visit Dinosaur World and to spend the rest of the weekend with Finn's Uncle No 1. We all had a blast :o) Dinosaur World is the Valhalla of Preschoolers : picnic amidst dinosaur dioramas, fossil digging with friends and a boneyard with a life-sized Stegosaurus skeleton to dug out from underneath the sand with little shovels and brushes. What more could you possibly ask for ?  

Finndragon was utterly mesmerized by the boneyard and we spend most of our time at the park there watching him unearth bones and spine plates. It was quite stunning to see him so focussed and serious at work, carefully brushing and chipping and digging until he found yet another piece. We got him a dinosaur play set (yes, another one) and a dig-it dinosaur had plaster cast which he has been working on for the past two days. After making a nice plaster dust mess he finally dug out all pieces to the skull and we glued them together so he can now proudly display his own T-Rex skull :o) Funny that he is more interested in the dirty work of a paleontologist than the muscles and the roar of a dinosaur...

Saturday evening and most of Sunday was spent at BIL's place with more Chinese food, lots of talking and catching up and playing with Finn before we tackled the drive home again. Now it's back to the Scriptorium for me and I'm eagerly awaiting instructions for Royal Court at Coronation next week.

PS: For those who;re curious, my Belbello Angel got a perfect score 25/25pts at Gulf Wars :o) So did Bres' illumination - way to go ! 

Today started with the discovery of a life opossum marching through our backyard, obviously happily oblivious (or trying very hard to ignore our existence) of our happy and excited squeals from the upstairs window. Finndragon thought it was the coolest and I had to agree since we don't get to see an Opossum everyday (add to my excitement the fact that I grew up in a country where Opossums just didn't walk through your backyard unless they'd escaped from a nearby zoo; Florida wildlife in our yard amazes me every time. Mention the magic word "racoon' to me some day :o)].

At first sight Opossums look like an incredibly mangy ugly cat. Then your brain realizes that there's something else really weird about that 'cat' and that's when you notice the oddly elongated pink snout and the cable-like tail. It's fat and rat-like, but not quite. Odd creature, I tell you. It vanished under the house in the 1800 sqft crawlspace and is surly driving our downstairs neighbour insane by now making funny noises. Heh :o)

After work and school Finndragon and I headed out to find a birthday present for a friend and ended the day with our weekly trip to the library to stock up on good-night story books for Finndragon and some medieval music for me. It'll keep me entertained during the painting sessions this week :o) Last night I finished special scroll assignment no 1. Now it's on to special assignment no 2 and once I'm done with that both outgoing and incoming Crown should be back in the kingdom to ask about scroll requests for Coronation at the end of this month. No rest for the wicked, baby :o)

Got the business cards for my hospitaller duties in the mail today and they are nice! Found a deputy in my email inbox which is even nicer and tomorrow is the first of many new members meetings followed by our regular Shire meeting and I'm having way too much fun with that :o) Even the whole demo coordinator schtick isn't all that bad although I still wish for somebody to step up and be deputy for this responsibility. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Maybe that'll help.   

To all those traveling to Gulf Wars Godspeed !

May you all have the greatest time and return to home and loved
ones safe and sound and with plenty of heroic tales to brighten the
bardic circles at Coronation ! 

The scrolls for Gulf Wars are all ready and packed to go waiting for me to deliver them to the Jinxes wh have graciously offered to take them along for the ride so I don't have to worry about the postal system :o)

Coronation is next !

Last night I managed to finish the linedrawing and inking for one of the special pieces for Coronation and I can feel the paint spirit stirring. Yay :o)

Tonight is Shire business meeting; who'd have thought I'd have to attend those business meetings regularly again so quickly ? I do have nifty new member packages though, business cards are in the making and I'm having too much fun with this. God help me ! 

So the plague is going strong in the Gibbons household holding Finndragon and me firmly in its clutches. As long as I'm keeping myself busy, however, I don't have time to wallow in the feeling of clogged sinusses alternating, resulting headaches and a loss of taste made all the more fun with the occasional coughing fit and after delivering a few items for Gulf Wars to the wonderful household of the Jinxes who had graciously offered to take the delivery with them I joined Milica for a girl-trip to Chamblin's Bookmine.

Now if you ever get to Jacksonville, FL, love books and have some spare time on your hands you've got to swing by at Chamblin's. It's the Mekka of booklovers. The place is huge and just when you think you must have reached the last shelf in the last row another aisle of bookshelves reaching to the ceiling opens up in front of you. I'm pretty sure they have long passed the 1 Million books in store mark, and they are in the process of opening a downtown store as well, a mere 5 blocks from my home. Eeep ! *L*

Milica and I traded in a few books for store credit and then dove into the history section first and branching out from there. After finding a book about the New York Times for hubby and a book on dinosaurs for Finndragon I scored a family book on boardgames with game pieces for the three of us (and anybody else who wants to play) and two more books for myself :

Venus and Mars: The World of the Medieval Housebook

and the very entertaining

"Medieval Home Companion: Housekeeping in the 14th century"

 I'm thinking about writing up a book review for either for our local newsletter. Once I'm done with the second part of the A&S competition explained series, that is :o) Today we'll be going over to Fighter Practice to say hello. Hubby is thinking about getting back into Heavy Combat and me as the new Hospitaller promising to be there at least once a month is a good enough motivation for him to tackle it now. I have brandnew flyers to give out if needed, a few current newsletters and a possible deputy to talk to while Finndragon will get to run around and blow off some of that amazing preschooler energy on the adjacent playground :o)

It's a good weekend, plague or not :o) 

And that is to be said about more things than just this blog which has fallen into a sad state of neglect. Really. Has it been two almost two weeks since I last updated it ? What's up with time ?

Now, life has changed in many respects since the beginning of the year. Working outside our home has changed our daily pace somewhat - not too much - and definitely increased my level of energy and efficiency. I'm loving it and I'm learning things I never thought I'd ever learn. How cool is that ?

Finndragon is going to school with as much enthusiasm as before and we've found a pretty neat place for him for the summer. Last week we dropped off his Kindergarten application and now it's on to waiting until we will hear back from the school office. I'm hoping-praying-begging-br ibing the Gods he'll make it to our No 1 choice while trying not to get my hopes up too high. Chances he will end up going to this school are fairly slim, we were told, but that'll not keep us from keeping our fingers crossed. Finndragon has grown so much and is a happy loving and determined little boy.

We had a wonderful time taking him to the Battle of Olustee only a few weekends ago, complete with beautiful weather, a great encampment and skirmishes, a picnic in the woods and some fun shopping. If it weren't for the hoop skirts I'd be seriously tempted to play some Civil War Reenactment. Their love for detail and their striving for accuracy has me green with envy and coming back, I was brimming with inspiration.

Shopping, I was told, is great at Olustee and I can only agree. Even though my time period and theirs are a few hundred years apart there were a couple of things I'd have loved to take home. As it was our loot consisted of a clay pipe for hubby, a deluxe wooden sword for Finn, purple and white striped stockings and 3 yards of scrumptious fulled light madder-red wool for me :o)  This will at one point become a very pretty Schaube for my German wardrobe (and if the weather continues to keep up with the sudden brisk cold spells, maybe sooner than later).

SCA-wise I think I'm finally getting past the first month shock after the elevation. I feel like I'm slowly able to move again, as if I was shock-frozen. Now I'm almost back in full swing and that just in time for Gulf Wars and Coronation. I also managed to pick up another office. I'm now the hospitaller aka the welcome wagon for my local group and have had three new contacts and a demo request already in the past week. I have a feeling that this will keep me pleasantly busy ... :o) Now I only need to get rid of these stupid sniffles I picked up yesterday.

February
several scrolls for Kingdom use, both Calligraphy & Illumination
1 painted Nine Man Morris Game board with game pieces
cast several dozen bees as personal token in pewter
1 16th century German Renaissance T-front dress, Landsknecht-style with hand-sewn reverse applique trim in navy and green linen
3 linen pillows with handmade tassels, based on late 15th/early 16th century German illuminations and paintings
1 painted Fox & Geese game board with game pieces
1 red linen Nuremberg/Housebook-style dress
1 handwoven red wool "Gefrens" as part of Nuremberg-style headwear (simple woven headband with integrated fringe)

See the above excerpt of my quarterly A&S report to see what has been keeping me busy aside from a new job :o) My new life is more fast-paced and requires a bit more advance planning and it's so much fun ! I'm enjoying every minute of it :o)

Today is Monday and so it's household battle day. Tasks to be tackled are laundry and general overhaul of the dwellings to tidy up after a weekend that was a load of fun despite hubby's extra work on Sunday. More on that later ! 

How did you find out about the SCA?

At one point I was heavily involved in an Elfquest Fan Art group and online RPG. One of my favorite co-players excused himself for 2 weeks with the excuse of going to 'Pennsic'. I asked 'Pennsic what ?' and it all went downhill from there :o) He showed me to the SCA home page, then a couple of photo pages and I was hooked. A few clicks later I had an email address for the Seneschal of the local group in my hometown. The rest is history ...  

What made you decide to try it out?

It's a dress-up pretend game with experimental archeology ! All the good things rolled into one big hobby and they didn't suggest I start out in the kitchen doing dishes like some other LARP and Reenactment groups I tried getting in touch with :o) How could I not try it ? 

What was your first activity? Meeting? Event?

My first activity was one of the biweekly a Shire meetings where I successfully fought off the office of herald and was mesmerized by the planning and plotting of all kinds of get-togethers and craft nights. This was followed by fabric shopping sprees, trips to local fleamarkets for gear and history lessons on Sundays.

What at your first activity was the most likely thing to have kept you away from the second, though you ended up coming back anyway?

That would have been my first event (the Shire meetings were held at a local pub and just too much fun). It was muddy and cold and never in my life did I freeze so badly.On top of that I was exposed to bad coffee and the worst lentil soup ever. I did, however, have too much fun to not come back :o)

When I started, I filled out a card with my name, number, and potential interests. What would you have put on that card for potential interests, when you attended your first activity?

I only had a very vague idea of all he things you can do in the SCA when I started so I happily joined in everything we managed to organize in our Shire, and while I have discovered a few main interests in the past couple of years I still make a point of giving new things a shot or two.

What made you come to your second activity? Why have you stayed as long as you’ve stayed?

All those interesting people to geek out with, a never-ending outlet for my creativity and a constant encouragement to learn and to teach - what more could you possibly ask for ? And for an immigrant like myself there is the added advantage of having a more or less  build in social network :o)

"If I could ask God one thing, it would be to stop the moon. Stop the moon and make this night and your beauty last forever."

A Knight's Tale

It's kind of hard to believe he is gone forever leaving behind his family, his child and a legacy of movies - a treasure trove of his immense talent. I wish we could have seen him grow, could have shared more tears and laughs and shocked gasps with him as he played his way from story to story but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Accident? Suicide? Fate? - Whatever the reason, may you rest in peace...

I'll go and watch "A Knight's Tale" now. 

I hate this Monday.

Except for a decent load of decluttering and a hearty stew nothing I could have done without this Monday.

I'll now return to my scheduled banging my head against the wall.

Tada ! 

1. What is your SCA Name?
Maeva Eiriksdottir 

2. What time and where do you portray?
While I started out doing Norse it has been mostly Early German Renaissance for the past 3 years

3. In plain English describe your device.
Purple with a white top with ermine spots and three silver bees arranged two and one on the purple 

4. How long have you been in the SCA?
Since February 2002 ... a meager 6 years

5. Do you have any special titles you have earned?
Yes

6. What kingdom and local group do you belong to?
Kingdom of Trimaris, Shire of Castlemere

7. Do you have preferred colors for your SCA Persona?
I love blues

8. What is your war that you look forward to going to every year?
I'm looking forward to going to Pennsic this year but I don't go to Wars regularly

9. Do you hold any offices?
Yes, I'm the current Chart Herald for Trimaris and just finished a term as local MoAS

10. Favorite memory from an event?
Nibelungen War, trudging into the woods to gather firewood for the camp fire to get the water for tea going, with the early morning mist rising and the banners fluttering in a gentle breeze
Robert of Canterbury reciting the story of Albion during Court at Drachenwald's 10th Anniversary 

11. Are you a fighter? What kind?
A wanna-be fighter, at least when it comes to fencing

12. Are you crafty (making things)?
Yes

13. Do you teach classes at events?
Yes, fewer than I'd love to though

14. Do you play instruments at events?
No

15. Do you dance at events?
If I can feel my feet and don't have to watch the Finndragon, yes !

16. Do you feel that there is enough flirting and chivalrous behavior in the SCA ?
Too much flirting and not enough chivalrous behaviour.

17. Are you a "Black Hat" or a "White Hat"?.
Pardon me ?

18. What is one of the reasons you've remained in the SCA?
People and the amazing possibilities

19. What peerage(s) do you aspire to?
I aspire to the qualities inherent in all the peerages, never the peerage itself

20. Who was Crown when you joined the SCA?
Gerhard and Aurelia, Kingdom of Drachenwald

21. If you are a Peer, who was the Crown that elevated you?
Thorstenn and Zephyrine, Kingdom of Trimaris

22. Have you lived in more than 1 kingdom and which ones?
Drachenwald and now Trimaris

23. Have you helped found a group?
Yes ! Shire of Aventiure :o)

24. Have you had any house affiliations?
Yes

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000 KG8E52/loltheist-20

Very very ... strange :o) 

Where to start, where to start ?

So much has happened in the past 4 weeks since my last update that I have a hard time sorting all my thoughts and deciding on where to begin. My still fuzzy brain and only slowly fading exhaustion from this past weekend isn't really helping in the process :o)

Christmas

Our trip to PA for the Christmas Holidays was uneventful - hallelujah ! No spending hour upon hour stuck at the airport, no road and traffic issues - it was heaven. Heaven continued with family fun, presents, baking cookies and cakes and desserts and long late nights with boardgames. Finn was a darling all around and wrapped everybody around his fingers. He's getting better at it everyday, our little charmer.

Back home we entered the final stage of the preparations for the event as well as my elevation. It still feels odd to type this. Funny, eh ? While I started out with 2 months preparations time most of the actual work for the elevation was done in the week before the event. Thankfully other than finalizing the schedule and printing the event booklets nothing had to be done for the event itself or else I'd have gone utterly nuts. Even for somebody like me, autocratting and an elevation make for such a workload that I got close to my personal limit.

Hubby left for sunny Arizona on Sunday, a day which Finn and I spent on the beach relaxing before the last stretch of madness. It was beautiful, sunny albeit a bit nippy  on the windswept beach and we spent our time out there digging in the sand and building castles. At home my sewing machine was screaming at me for attention which I had a hard time scraping together. Every other project sounded more fun than sewing my dress ... ugh. I did manage to get it to the wearable stage by Thursday though - now it's back on the dress dummy for some more tweaking before its next showing at the Game demo next week :o)

Anyhow, Thursday we drove out to the camp to get settled in for a quick and early start the next morning. Set up Friday went like a breeze thanks to the many helping hands we had. My vigil site, the wooden pavilion in the farthest corner of the camp, came last and thanks to all the banners I'd painted the past couple of weeks, the scribal desk and the trestle table Paul and Tamara had brought it looked really nice. Terafan brought his pavilion as my vigil tent and people went all ooh and aaah over it. It looked so lovely. The Squirrels went all out and set up an amazing buffet with most delicious fingerfoods. I wish I could have grazed more but I was somewhat preoccupied :o) They seriously rock !

Their Royal Highnesses Mittion and Rose sent me off to vigil and we processed through the woods to the vigil tent. In the dark it was even prettier and as far as I can tell people had a great time waiting for their turn. At least that's what it sounded like. I had plenty of wonderful visitors and so the vigil ended a good 1.5h after the originally planned time and it was good. I wouldn't have missed any of those who came for anything. Many also left comments, wishes and advice in my vigil book which I keep reading whenever I find a quiet moment. 

My napkin tokens, beautifully made by Mistress Gianetta and made possible by HL Cara, are absolutely lovely. I'm really really glad I have some left and can't wait to add them to my feastgear basket :o)

By around 2am I finally weaseled off into bed and was out in seconds. The night was awfully short :o/ and Saturday had me running all over site. The day was lovely, with overcast skies which kept me safe from possible migraines. People had a lot of fun, everybody was busy doing fun things and we had no catastrophe or crisis all day. Afternoon came much too fast and getting dressed for court happened in a flurry. For a while I got to distract myself from the growing nervousness by playing "circlet fairy" sneaking up behind recipients with circlets provided so very generously by Hrothgar and plopping them down on their heads when the award was announced :o) That was a lot of fun and good for a chuckle or two.

My turn came much too fast and fortunately I recognized the introduction to the ceremony right away, in time to grab husband and Finndragon to get in line for the procession in. Finndragon and Katiebug looked so cute in their bee-tabbards ! Hubbybear escorted me up to the thrones and then there was no stopping it. Only biting my tongue kept me from bursting into tears which is why on so many pictures I'm making such a funky face. Mistress Ysabela, Duchess Islay, Duke Martin, Mistress Melessee, Master Octavio spoke for me during the ceremony and their words still have me in wonder - Is that person they are talking about really me ? I'm not sure about that but I know I'll never forget. These people mean a lot to me; they are wonderful in so many ways and each one of them is an inspiration and an example to live up to.

Finneadan created the most beautiful scroll and I can't wait to see it properly framed. She is so incredibly talented and beautiful in and out and her agreeing to do this meant the world to me.

There was so much going on it's difficult to describe everything. Having pictures helps a lot but my brain is still fuzzy and a lot of things are still a blur. I was invested with medallion given to me by Terafan who in turn had received it from his Laurel who'd made it himself and a laurel wreath for my head and after swearing fealty I was excused from the royal presence to meet my Peers. That's when I finally lost it :o) There were many many teary-eyed hugs.

Feast followed and it was wonderful. TRH Mittion and Rose invited us to sit with Them and we enjoyed it immensely. Miniature trebuchets on every table gave the usually polite food fights a rather rambunctious quality :o) The food was very very good and by the end we were stuffed. I passed on the dancing since my feet hurt mightily and after a quick stop at the Bardic Circle Mistress Melessee and I, escorted by Master Thomas, ambled back to our cabin for a last chat  with the other scribes and then I was really really ready for bed.

Sunday was wet. Moving the date did not save us from the traditional C&C rain *sigh* and so breakdown was a rather soggy affair. I missed saying good-bye to a lot of people because I was everywhere but where they were  :o/ We came home and crashed taking a nap until dinner time only to crawl back into bed right afterward. 

I found some quiet time on Monday to read through my vigil book, to look at my medallion and my new belt and only then the realization that I was no longer Terafan's apprentice hit me like a sledge hammer. Bawling like an abandoned puppy I held on to the bottle opener Terafan had removed from my apprentice belt to attach to my new Laurel belt he'd made. I know I'm not alone, I know I can always turn to him and I know it's not an end but rather a new beginning but just like a friend of mine holding the pieces of her indenture not too long ago I found myself crying over the last reminder of the first part of our shared path.

I'm so glad I'm taking it with me on the next journey ...