Travelling Time and Space

So yesterday, after a sudden garb sewing marathon starting friday afternoon and ending in one linen leine for Tim, a little linen tunic for Finn and a new linen red aprondress with saffron gores for lil' me on saturday morning - we daytripped to Trimaris' Coronation.

And for the first time I went to an event that held no fascination for me at all. Not even Court.

It was odd. Maybe it was the dusty bright heat although the closeness to a big lake, lots of trees and some airconditioned buildings for Finn and us to cool down in made it bearable. Maybe it was the astounding lack of period camps to create atmosphere. Maybe it was this Xena-chick dressed in an amazon-bikini made of black and red and white fur and leather with chainmail-accessories and kneehigh hooker-boots. Maybe it was some people's choice of garnment *scratches head*

You know, I never considered myself an authenticity nut and the one or two comments by some Trimarian about the lack of the "a" word in Drachenwald's citizens and their stuff made me believe that maybe here they are "better off" but frankly - no. I like authenticity or at least the slightest attempt at it. I don't like nylon squad-chairs. I don't like plastic chairs at all. I don't like nylon dometents bordering to the listfield. I don't like garish neoncolors on polycotton pseudo-garb .

I'm a friggin' snob ! And why is that ? It's because I got spoiled in Drachenwald with its ever growing numbers of pretty pavilions and homemade furniture and linen and wool garb.

The problem is that the modern stuff is so cheap and so easy to acquire [2 squadchairs for 10$, dometent that sleeps 6 for 80$, big plastic cooler boxes for 12$, and so on, and so on] that nobody seems to bother making stuff. Or covering it up properly. I try hard not to look at all the flip-flops people are wearing ...

I met a good handful of nice and interesting people though :) saw some amazing artisans namely an armoury and a jewelrer [if that's a word] with finely crafted and etched helmets and beautifully carved drinking horns. Stopped by for a quick look at the forge and the people gathered for a class on forging. Ran into almost 2 dozen scribes as insane as I am.

It wasn't all bad. It was just that it was less than I had expected.

So it wasn't too big of a loss that we couldn't stay over night, even considering that was pretty much the last camping event before summer. The next months are going to be too hot for outdoor events and all that's announced are one-day A&S academies.

That will give me plenty of time to get nifty stuff done :D I'll make them cry *nods gravely* :wink:

*G* It's thursday, basically the last day of my Coronation deadline and I 'should' be sewing like crazy. Instead I'm happily punching the keyboard adding yet another entry into this blog. :D

Why ? You might ask.

The answer is : It's just too hot to do anything but sit quietly with some iced tea and either read or type.

A very early summer has hit the north of Florida and temperatures have been eager to rise past the 90's, settling on a cozy 95. The mornings are already warm enough to jump into the pool right after breakfast at around 8am - heh :D

Being the little lizard that I am I like it a lot though and I'm not complaining at all. It's just that our babydragon is a little more sensitive to the heat and so we are not going to inflict a whole weekend of unrelenting heat on him and simply settled for daytripping to Coronation to schmuse with people and just get an idea of what an event is like over here :wink:

That leaves me with plenty of time to finish the tent and enjoy my iced tea and the satisfaction of some more senseless writing on the 'net *giggle*

Have a good one !

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The tent is still not done because I only get to sew at night when the babydragon is safely tucked into bed. Fabric, lots of fabric seem to fascinate him and he's drawn to it like the moth to the flame.

He flings himself as eagerly into it.

Don't believe it ? I'll upload proof tomorrow - promised !

Anyhow, the tent needs lots of finishing touches, I haven't even dared think about making new garb for Coronation and I have two scrolls I can't turn in with the others and that's somehow bugging me so much that I'm considering whipping up two on a last-minute- scroll-marathon ...

Baaaaaahhhh ! *L*

Oh well, I'm off to bed - no need to go insane over stuff like that :wink:

"T" like Tabbard

Husband bounced around happily discovering the tabbard and the banner I made for him loving the idea of finally displaying his own device instead of wearing a generic green and yellow tabbard to cover up all the non-period parts of his armor. His face was awesome and enough "payment" for my work :D

"T: like Scribal Tea

Today was my monthly scribal tea - the meeting of people interested in scribal arts to get together to chat and learn and work. Katherine and I finally got our often delayed and many times rescheduled calligraphy class done and Paul, Tamara and Darlene were interested and willing students and happily put up with our teaching. It was lots of fun and it convinced me to do more teaching because I like to spread the scribal disease ... uh, err, I mean I like to show people how much fun the scribal arts are and share what little I know :wink:

Upon leaving - after feasting on spaghetti and icecream - they all promised to keep on practicing and since they all got to practice on their own choice of calligraphic hand instead of forcing them to learn gothic textura quadrata I'm quite optimistic they'' keep their word.

The next scribal tea is scheduled for june, 12 and I now need to update my knowledge on the Books of Hours because I'll be teaching an introduction with reference to our longtime project of calligraphying and illuminating a book of hours to give to the Crown.

Wheeeee - fun !

"T" as in TTFN !

Puh, finally done - today I finished part one of my secret mission to outfit the heavy fighter that is my husband *g*

Without telling him I made a tabbard with his device for him and a small flag to display at the listfield :D More nifty stuff is to come but these are the bare necessities of life so to speak and since sunday is the "Bragging Rights Tournament" of our Shire I thought it would be cool for him to have by then. I'm soooo curious about his face when he comes home in a few and stumbles across the two things - hehehe !

It's just fun making stuff for him. He's so not your typical fashion victim - actually, he doesn't quite care that muc about all the nifty things a decent encampment can't be without or let alone a nicely done outfit. However, once somebody - in this case little norse I - comes along and presents for example a quietly sewn "Ionar" [irish jacket - pictures to follow] he turns into a strutting and parading peacock with the hugest, most delighted grin on his face, all bright-eyeed and bushy-tailed and only too eager to go and rummage through my box with trim ! Some men *G*

For his choosen device though he needs to be shot *sighs gravely* Three raised gauntlets in chief *sigh* it so sucks to paint them *grimaces*

Anyhow, Fergus just pulled up onto the parkinglot [Fergus is our car] - update on facial expression follows :wink:

Until tomorrow ! Be good :D

Coronation is coming up in two weeks and the roof of the friggin' tent isn't sewn yet - Gah ! *L* Other than that it's coming along nicely, kind of.

And did I mention there's my scribal tea this saturday for which I have to read through my files agan to memorize them properly so I can teach ? And the Bragging Rights Tournament on sunday for which I still have to finish up some last "heraldic display" items *cough-cough* And we're in dire need for garb for Coronation too. And I have scrolls sitting here I plan on delivering to Coronation. And ...

AHHHHHHHH ! Nothing like a tight deadline to keep you on your toes.

If it weren't for Finn always trying to help - entangled in yarnspools, fingers very close to the needle of the sewing machine, curled up in the canvas, tying knots into trim - it wouldn't be much of a deadline - every SCAdian has done last minute projects in the night before the event. Finn's "help" makes time a little more precious and less readilly available than pre-Finn-times.

Oh boy, I'm doomed and won't have anything to wear !

Drat, weekends zap by just way too fast !

This last weekend we spent some time at the regional Fighter's Practice at Suwanee River State Park about halfway between Castlemere and Oldenfeld. It had fighting for the stickjocks and a Panhandle Skirmishes staff meeting, so both Tim and I got a special treat :wink:

I'm amazed about what I've gotten myself into : a 1000+ people event. Heck, Drachenwald's 10 year anniversary with coronation event had only a mere 600 and that I considered big *L* Oy !
Anyhow, planning and plotting with a dozen very insane and very fun people with very vivid imagination and suckers for medieval romance [thank "Manesse" and "King Arthur"] is so much fun I wouldn't want it any other way. It's just great not to be the only "insane" person with weird ideas :wink:

For Panhandle I'm the Mistress of scrolls meaning I'm in charge of providing all the scrolls necessary for the tournaments and games as well as "welcome" letters to the crowned heads of the participating and visiting kingdoms, and since we're planning on a period event [or rather, as close to period as possible including food, etc.] I find myself researching 11th century writs and charters and am considering carving a seal for Panhandle to use on the writs for that very cool -period- look.

And here are some links for your perusal - enjoy !

http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/word/anglochart.htm" title="http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/word/anglochart.htm" target="_blank"http://medievalwriting.50megs...
[wonderful page with LOTS of explanations !]

http://www.vatican.va/library_archives/vat_s ecret_archives/collection s/index_it.htm" title="http://www.vatican.va/library_archives/vat_s ecret_archives/collection s/index_it.htm" target="_blank"http://www.vatican.va/library...
[The Vatican library and its precious treasures - blows your mind away !]

Oh, and in case you're still looking at the Vatican page : there's a link to the "Diploma di Frederico I" and that seal does not only look like gold, it -is- gold. How awesome is that, eh ?

Until tomorrow !

It's amazing what's sometimes being discussed on various SCA-mailinglist. At the moment it seems to be the ever-burning question on those poor apprentices's minds "When will I become a peer ??"

Problem is - others decide when you're ready to become one : first you have to pop up on the Laurel-radar [becoming an apprentice usually helps with that, doing good work and being active is another way to earn brownie points] and when they meet to discuss various Laurel-concerns they might even discuss you -and- one fine day suggest your elevation to Their Royal Majesties.

And that's the next point you can't really influence : the pointy hats at the end of the foodchain mka King and Queen as they get to vote on your elevation so it's either thumbs-up from them or thumbs-down.

So in case you were thinking that becoming a Laurel was all about being an apprentice and doing art - hmm, that's not even half of the whole deal. It's not like taking college classes and after 3 years and having earned enough degress you'll graduate. Becoming a Laurel might take as many as a dozen years or as few as three and for some it never happens.

So why am I an apprentice ? Do I want to be a Laurel ?

Kind of. It's not the medallion I want even though it's cool, or the title that goes with it, even thogh that's nice too and I'm the last to avoid recognition and praise because a pat on the back is always appreciated.

It's a bit more than that or rather a bit different than that. Most peers {Laurels, Pelicans and Knights too] I have met so far were outstanding personalities : bright, smart, giving, generous - short and sweet people I can respect even without looking at their art. Then you look at their art and your knees go all wobbly [literally, in my Master's respect *G* His chocolate mead is awesome ....] and you respect them even more. And once they take the time to sit with you and share their knowledge teaching you the intricacies of their work, they have sucked you right in.

I would like to be like that and by trying to learn from my Master, listening to his advice [oh, and of course other Peers's advice and teachings too] I might one day maybe hopefully acquire some of that radiance.

Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck on my journey :wink: where ever it may take me !

Seeing you tomorrow ! Until then, be good !

That seems to be my current motto for this blog *scratches head* at least this month. I've been pretty good at sitting down in the evenings to write a few lines the first months, but in may I just don't seem to find the time.

Heh, big surprise with Finn fearing nothing as much as being "left behind and abandoned" in his crib in his own room. Man, I'd have given eveything for my own room, but -I- had to share it with my younger sister. Heh !

Anyhow, it's a bright and sunny morning, Finn is tearing apart the newspaper and Tim is still asnooze so I finally get around to writing a few lines here :D

That is before we have to get ready to go to the Nothern Regional Fighter's Practice today that has a Panhandle Skirmishes Staff meeting as well *G* I'm going to get a full dose of SCA talk today - wheeee ! *L* and sunday is our regular Shire fighter's practice.

On saturday next week we are tackling the Calligraphy 101 class and so far 3 have signed up for that. I'm sure it's going to be fun, just as much as the last scribal teas. Next month I'm going to teach a little class on Book of Hours - those little gorgeous prayer books of the late middleages and renaissance.
Aaaand on sunday of the very same weekend is the Bragging Rights Tournament of our Shire, complete with Lyst, favors and gallery for the ladies *G* Awesome - I'm so looking forward to that !

And at the very end of the month Coronation calls - and the workload I have to finish up until then is just incredble. So enough for now and back to work :wink:

Be good and have fun !

So, last night's entry got eaten by the Titivilluses of internet technology and that sucks. Big time 'cause I was giving a little update on what I've been doing during the past week and why I haven't been updating :?

Anyhow, I'm not retyping the whole story but Finn has finally hit the "separation anxiety" stage and while he still tolerates strangers he goes insane when he's supposed to go to bed at night : all by himself in his crib.

It's just how it is and all we can do is hope it'll pass soon.

The side effect of that though is that my already little sparetime gets cut down even more so since it takes me a little more than an hour to talk Finn into sleeping at least some of the night in his own bed and when he wakes at 10pm nothing short of popping him into the familybed with the whole family present ill get him back to sleep.

At least that gets me to bed early *G*

BUT I've been doing stuff ! And I'm still working on the tent :D

No kidding, it is !

Where I come from the first of may is a holiday - one of the kind where you actually get off work for a day unless the first of may is on a weekend. Then you're screwed.

So, to all germans out there, whereever you are :


Schoenen ersten Mai !

I shouldn't use the microwave.

I love to cook. Like, using a stove, no matter whether it's gas or electric. Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies that's not really a hobby but part of my daily life. Sounds odd, huh ? Okay, here comes the ecxplanation : I love to cook, I love to feed friends and family, I love to surprise my husband with a nice dinner and once in a while I like to try a new recipe or go for a different taste. Good ol' homecooking just rocks, y'know ? Once in a while a frozen pizzo does appeal to me as does fastfood and once every week we eat take-out food [that's when hubby comes home late after work] but nothing beats freshly cooked food with fresh ingredients and the only canned stuff that goes into it are the spices.

Anyhow, I'm not very fond of the microwave, even though I have lately used it to ....hmmm, microwave rice for example. It -is- fast, I give it that, but somehow that machine is the devil's.

Today I learned that the hard or rather, the sticky way :

I occasionally run into the odd problem of not 'really' reading the package and ending up with slightly odd or altered foods, in this case a "cook and serve" instead of a "stirr in cold milk and serve" kind of creampudding.

I bet my face was kind of funny when I discovered the pudding was still in its liqid form after sitting in the fridge for an hour. Heh, but look ! I learn from my mistakes ! I turned to the microwave reading the microwave-instructions on the package and nuked the pudding.

All over the inside of the microwave.

I don't know what happened but the pudding exploded in its bowl and met me eagerly at the microwave-door when that devil's machine signaled it was done nuking the contents with a mellow ping.

luckily, there's enough pudding left in the bowl to make two small portions for the two of us. The microwave got the rest - that greedy bastard !

At least, now it's clean and I bet it's just waiting to catch me off-guard again.