Travelling Time and Space

For a new nest, to be correct. It's not like we're living on the streets at the moment ;) The apartment we are renting is a nice, bright and quite roomy 2 bedroom/1 bathroom apartment with a little, very sunny porch. The only problems are the elephants living upstairs and the non-existant privacy and with all our stuff slowly accumulating storage is going to become an issue at some point as well.

And then there are those sweet grandparents, parents, parents-in-law living in a decent distance and it would be awesome if we could help with their visits by being able to provide a guestroom to help cut down on the costs for a trip to see the grandson.

All of this got us into search-mode for a 3 bedroom/1 or more bathroom home and today we actually drove around looking at a few addresses we found in the newspaper.

Lots of crap out there. And a few nice gems. There is one little house I'm slowly losing my heart to : yellow with white trim, historical lines, two screened in porches and a nice sized yard to the front and the back, spacious looking, nice clean and quiet neighbourhood and - tada ! - a fireplace. Unfortunately, it's just a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom house and we'd thought about getting something bigger if we are to pay the same rent :/ Bugger !

Tomorrow we'll tackle part 2 of our quest. We have a few more addresses to look at and on monday we're going to call Realtors to see if they have some more listings that might fit our bill :)

Wish us luck !

Despite nursing a stupid cold I finally used my gift certificate for the Sublime Day Spa Tim gave me on our wedding anniversary : half a day of pampering and massage and fragrant oils and steambaths and more massage and some more lotions and oils and moisturizers and other girlish stuff [Toner, Darling, you have to use toner ...].

Anyhow, it was fun even though at times I felt tempted to just burst into wild laughter at the girlishness of some. I'm just too much of a tomboy kind of girl to bother much with 'facials' and other cosmetic procedures. Heck, I hardly ever wear makeup and I do my own eyebrows :)

It was a much needed and much more appreciated time-out, a nice quite break in an asian-styled Spa with quiet meditative music, dimmed lights and fluffy towels and soft blankets, and some of it was even good for my cold, and I can only recommend it, especially if you are a full-time Mom.

Finn had a blast staying at home with Daddy. They have their own little games they play together and judging from the look of the apartment they did a lot of them, all over the place *L* My men :) I love them to death.

There is nothing as heartwarming as coming home to them, seeing tender loving smiles growing on their faces and both of them rushing over for a cuddle, a hug and a kiss.

I'm such a lucky bug :) cold and all.

Aaaand finally my own webpage is back online - sort of :) Still needs a lot of work and a lot more files need to be uploaded but the bare bones are there

http://www.greydragon.org/" title="http://www.greydragon.org/" target="_blank"http://www.greydragon.org/~maeva

Ta-da !

The Castlemere Scribes are now online !

Today I uploaded the first few pages of our little scribal guild's webpresence. You can find them here

http://www.timgibbons.net/scribes" title="http://www.timgibbons.net/scribes" target="_blank"http://www.timgibbons.net/scr...


More to come so stay tuned !

Tomorrow is the FCCJ Demo where we pay for our meeting room with our presence. So right now I'm packing the stuff I'm bringing for the demo :

- scribal desk
- ink horn
- real quill
- real parchment
- real pigments
- gum arabic, liquid and nuggets
- a basket full of feastgear with wooden bowls and mugs and tablecloth
- small table
- stool
- banner
- bannerstand
- other scribal stuff and books and copies of 'old' scrolls
- paternoster with little wooden jewelry box
- paternoster explanation-display

And then there is the mundane stuff I have to bring or else we'll be miserable

- Finn's dragonkeep ie the playpen
- blanket
- Finntoys
- ice-chest with food and drinks

I think it's going to be a lot of fun despite having to be there by 8am. Doesn't sound too bad ? Well, usually Finn sleeps until 7:30-7:45am. If we want to be on site by 8am we have to be up by 7am and trust me, when you are a mother or father you crave every minute of sleep you can get *L* Finn is so going to fall asleep tomorrow afternoon but that's okay. I just got an email from the library telling me that 6 books I requested are ready for pick-up *GRINS* Yay :)

One strand, glass- and metalbeads



Two strands, glass- and metalbeads as well as a pewter Thor's hammer, a metal trinket and beads on a wireloop and a Drachenwald Regnum coin on another wireloop given to me by TRM Alienor and Matthew for my services as scribe :) I got paid ! In real silver !

Well, some of them at least. I usually have a few more on the backburner ;)

It's week 1 after Panhandle and we are working on our last reports to help
THL Thorunn with her final report to the kingdom while already brainstorming
for the PS 2005 as we want to bid on it again *L*
I'm taking a teeny weeny little break from scribing (aside from finishing up
a few blanks for Finneadan, our gracious Signet) because I do not want to risk
burn out. I did 41 scrolls for Panhandle, thank-you scrolls for staff, competi-
tion scrolls and welcome scrolls for the Royals attending Panhandle, but luckily
had some help painting them or else it would have become an ordeal *L* My little
all-period-materials piece is still on the backburner, materials are here
and just waiting for me to find time to finish my documentation and get
started.

Right now I'm focussing on jewelrymaking. I have done casting in the past
but now I'm trying my hands at wire-knitting. I've strung paternoster as
well since I have tons of beads and was thinking about what to do with them.
I've picked up lampworking again and am messing around with my torch and glass
to make replicas of viking beads.
I have restrung my necklaces for my norse outfit and finally found a good
source for carnelian beads to create a replica of a viking necklace I
absolutely fell in love with that will combine casting, lampworking and
wire-working :o) Wheeee !

I'm preparing my next Castlemere Scribal Tea class on "Diaperwork" in
november and started outlaying the next one on "Painting Miniatures" as
well. My class on "Norse Fashion" is almost done and I only need to sew the
display costumes for the plushrabbit and the plushbear ;o) I promised
teaching an after-meeting class sometime soon which will probably be on the
making of buttons or something illumination-related.

*L* Haven't got enough yet ? Well, I have a couple of garb projects on my
mind being the seamstress for myself, my husband and our son, getting
together with Lord Iain for some woodworking adventures and general
corrupting people to do and make stuff.

Oh, I just send out an invitation to the first general A&S Night over at our
place every 1st and 3rd a month so people can get together and work on their
projects instead of hiding at home all alone. I'm hoping that will cause
much merrymaking and tricks-trading as well as helping new members to meet
more people and learn more about what you can do in the SCA.

And yes, I'm somewhat insane ;o)~

Cute, isn't it ? I love the little smug dragon hiding in the foliage in the margins best.




My favorite illumination style, this time as a simple version with just a few flowers. Some people refer to it as the "Squashed bug" style since you'll find all kinds of moths, butterflies and other winged insects strewn between the flowers. This one comes without bugs - must be a Florida-wish ;)

More to come ...

Last night, after an for us abruptly ending Shire Meeting since Finn was tired and threatened to become a major disturbance during the meeting and driving Finn home to tuck him into bed before it turned really bad, I sat down watching "Pretear" and "Vandread" on Animechannel with Tim and strung yet another set of paternoster.

Paternoster turned out to be a perfect addition to my list of projects. I came across them when researching medieval jewelry to make use of my evergrowing beadcollection and they are just perfect. The Paternoster is the predecessor of the rosary and was worn more or less like a dress accessory displaying its wearers devotion and faithful mindset. Unfortunately, there are few surviving paternoster from before the 16th century and most of those are either in fragments or have been restrung at one point so it is near impossible to say how they were strung originally. Fingerloopbraided cord, lucet cord, tubular tabletweaving or simple waxed linnenthread are some of the possible stringing techniques.

The most common form of paternoster that you see in paintings, on tomb
brasses and on statues seems to be either (1) a closed loop of fifty
more-or-less equal beads with a tassel at the bottom, or (2) a linear
string of ten (occasionally twelve) beads, sometimes with a larger
bead at the top or bottom, often with a tassel at the bottom, often
with a ring or thumb-loop at the top. #1 is pictured with both sexes,
though more commonly women, and #2 seems to be exclusively masculine

I made one of each and they both look pretty cool :)



Jewelry making is slowly becoming a second focus for me, next to calligraphy and illumination, and you know what ? It's fun ! Tonight I'll give viking chainknitting a first try :)

Tim and I decided to turn the scribal worknights on wednesdays into general A&S worknights and the response to our invitation has been pretty impressive so far.

Starting November we would like to invite you over to our place for
A&S worknights every 1st and 3rd wednesday of the month : bring your
unfinished scroll, your garb-in-progress, your jewelry projects, your unlearned
lyrics, your growing chainmail, your unravelling knitting and tangled
embroidery, etc, etc, etc or browse our library and curl up on the floor, snuggle
into the couch or grab a chair at one of the tables and continue to work on
your current project while happily chatting, trading advice and tales and
much merrymaking with your fellow Shiremembers old and new alike.

We will provide drinks and snacks :)

I'm sure it's going to be fun because the people showing up for this are into crafts and socializing and those should go well together. It will be nice to have a place and time to get together and simply do something and chat. It's so much more fun than sitting at home all by yourself, plus there's the chance of sharing knowledge and experience and your trade as well.

Heh, once we move into a house we can start calling it "The House of A&S" *L* and add even more features like fighting in the yard and armouring in the garage perhaps. I've been hosting the Scribal Tea at my place since february now and it's been a great success, now we're adding another social gathering and I hope it'll be a success as well in helping people socialize and learn and teach. Afterall, that's what I think the SCA is about :)

Stay tuned for more !

Since 7am this morning we have kittens ! Three beautiful, adorably cute kittens with blck fur and little white marks on either/or/and paws, nose, chest and belly.

Boots, our stray-turned-couchpotatoe , woke me at about 1am this morning with a rather odd yowl. She was restless, pcing back and forth between the cozy corner I'd prepared for her in a corner of our closet [the only Finn-safe spot] and my side of the bed, finally settling for a while curled against my body on a spare blanket. I was kind of afraid she'd decide to have her kittens on our bed, but in the end I was tired enough and fell asleep. Boots was purring like a little sewing machine and that added to it, I think.

At 7am the first meepy mewl of the newborn kittens woke me. It's so amazing ! They are a mere handful, blind still nd simply seeking for warmth and milk. Boots didn't mind me helping her rub the kittens clean and dry nor did she complin when I picked them up to change the blanket for a cleaner and warmer one. She must have decided that She-who-feeds is trustworthy, I guess :) and you know what ? I feel honored.

Pictures will follow sometime soon; I thought the first day might be needed for some rest and quiet and peace so everybody can get used to eachother and the world. A flashlight going off can only disturb that :)

Tata !

Here's a quick look at what I and my wonderful helping hands Tamara, Martine, Iain and Darlene did for Panhandle ... unfortunately I didn't have time to get the royal or competition scrolls scanned :( Bugger !

Anyhow, we did 34 of these



" Hear ye the many laughs of the happy, see ye the many smiles of the contended, honor ye the many brave warriors and know that with the efforts and skills and time so generously given by our happy memories were borne at Panhandle Skirmishes 2004. Without you, there would not hve been such an excellent spectacle as Black and Blue 2004.
With gratitude and appreciation
The hand I used is called "Insular Minuscule" and was in use from the 6th century until today as it is still in use for the irish gaelic language.

The creature framing the Panhandle Badge was taken and modified from the Ricemarch Psalter.

Finn had all weekend to get into trouble with sand and rocks and sticks and armour-pieces and all kinds of not so toddler friendly stuff all over the place but did he get in trouble ?

Nope, didn't. Not at all.

First day we're back home, back on schedule with meal- and naptimes, first day back in his familiar environment, first day with all his toys and what happens ?

Just before getting him ready for bed while goofing around with him he makes this wild dash towards me trying to chase and/or catch me and all of the sudden gravity strikes with full force and he runs headfirst into the bookshelf. Well, that has happened before. What usually follows is a not-too serious wail, a snort and then he's back on his feet and all that will remind you of that accident is a little blueish bruise ... not this time. This time our babydragon had a HUGE egg growing out of his forehead sporting some split skin across the center which fortunately wasn't bleeding. And he was wailing seriously. Needless to say I was scared, and it did look nasty.

Our pediatrician sent us to the ER where we waited a solid 4 1/5 hours before it was our turn only to be told that he didn't need stitches and that it wasn't really serious despite its nasty looks. We were sent home with a pat on the back and the advice to check on Finn every 6 hours to see if he was still acting normal.

Well, guess Finn wanted some blue bruises just like Daddy who brought some home from last weekend's event ;)

- the first night was horrible, Finn slept but 5 hours at the very most and we were all very groggy come morning
- cooking at camp doesn't work as well when you have to babysit
- a playpen [or in Finn's case a dragonkeep] is good for your sanity
- middle eastern drumming is very entertaining in Finn's mind
- bring the sling next time or learn to live with longer arms
- Panhandle Scribl Tea was a great idea and lots of fun
- finish all scrolls before going to the event
- pack less
- pack more
- pack different
- don't cabin, tent
- consider sandwiches, fruits and other munchies proper food at events from now on
- do not plan on cooking real meals [nobody else does, anyhow]
- cover sand in dragonkeep with tarp or else Finn will fill up on it
- bring more Finn-clothes

But aside from that things went surprisingly well. All we have to do is work out the kinks and find a better way to share babysitting-duty especially if I really take up Combat Archery in the near future.
Finn slept like a rock the second night [piece of cake as sleep deprived and pumped up on fresh air as he was *L*] and on the way home [he woke when we left the highway in Jax].

In total, not too bad an experience despite some pretty stressfull times. They were most of the time my fault since I have this wild idea of 'proper' camping in my mind and hve to let go of some of that because right now it's just not manageable without putting yourself under a truckload of stress, unnecessary stress.

Hoping to have pictures soon,

Tada !

*scratches head* It's official - I'm insane !

Yes ! I did it ! After unfortuntely discovering that the sunshade-frame is incapable of handling the canvas cover I made for it I rushed to the store today to buy light and simple musslin in natural and red and I'm almost done whipping out or rather, sewing up a lightweight musslin cover for the sunshade : natural top and a simple red valance, no fancy dagging because there is no friggin' time ! *L* I'm almost done :) I rock ! Gawd, I'm so insane - to start all those projects a single week before the event. However, to my defense we didn't really get to doing anything during the quiet summermonths because of all those stupid hurricanes. They took up most of our sparetime with emergency preparations instead of SCA sewing orgies. Bah !

Tomorrow I'm going to have my scribal gals over for some more scroll-painting and on thursday I have to get packed and then it's event-time ! I'm so looking forward to it, it's really silly, but it's been 5 months since the last event and 16 months since the last event where we stayed overnight. Mindblowing, eh ? If Finn takes well to staying overnight at events we're going to test camping out in a tent next and then we might be able to go to a full event every two or three months. Wheeee ! I'm sure he'll enjoy it even if he's caged in a playpen for some of the time ;)

More tomorrow, it's back to work for us slaves !

Day 1 of the Panhandle week and I'm doing grrrrrrreat !

Over the past weekend I managed to get the calligraphy on the 5 welcome scrolls for the visiting Majesties and Royal and Stellar Highnesses done and they are starting to look really nice. I started working on the A&S competition scroll too and after laying down the goldleaf yesterday I painted in most of the illumination this morning. Calligraphy is going to follow as soon as I'm done making up the text *G* Probably sometime later tonight, since my fingers are already inky.

However, some personal little event-projects got taken cre of as well. We have now napkins and a tablecloth and the first cover for one of our two icechests, wheee ! I think I'll personalize the napkins with little painted devices - heh - that is if I can find the time. There's so much more to do still and the deadline is getting tighter and tighter ! :)

I'm lovin' it ;)

Okay then, bring it on ! Talk to you tomorrow ! Tata :)

Okay, so now we're entering the final week. Next week around this time we'll have set up camp at Panhandle :)

And I haven't done anything today *sheepish grin* I haven't touched a single scroll nor taken care of the last touches on the sunshade. Not to mention all the other little projects that need to be done beforehand. Ooooops :)

After a nice dinner [homemade french onion soup, mmmmmmm !] we're now watching the Anime Channel - well, I think I could cut out fabric for Finn's tunics while watching the show. So off we go !

Tata !

Next week, next week, next week .... Ahhhhhhh, next week this time I'll have to have everything done and packed because friday morning we'll be leaving for Panhandle Skirmishes !
It's unbelievable how excited I am already - must be the long time without any ;) nyhow, still lots of work left to do although we got a good deal of painting done last night. Tamara, Paul, Cheryl and Darlene stopped by to help me with the welcome-scrolls and as always our little worknights are a lot of fun. Lots of chatting, lots of ideas, lots of gossip. I'm really looking forward to spending some time with them at the next event and sometime soon doing some camping together.

We are going to get together for a workweekend after the rather event-loaded october to make chairs and/or benches and tables perhaps or breakdown-chests and other cool stuff, possibly even tents. Maybe I can talk my Master into coming over for a tentmaking weekend ? *G* That'd be too cool for words but I guess I'll have to be patient until Pennsic next year before we get to see eachother again :/ The joys of a long-distance apprenticeship, heh. That reminds me I should show him some of my latest efforts. Afterall, that's one of the reasons I got the scanner for.

Anyhow, back to work ! There's lots to do ;)

No worries, I haven't bought any more Britney Spear's CDs since the first two *L* The Dark Ages of my youth, kind ;)

The babydragon napped long enough for me to ink 5 scrolls that go as a welcome to 5 different pairs of royals attending Panhandle Skirmishes next weekend. Tonight we re going to paint them and I hope we'll be able to finish them too. If not, well, there's yet another, final wednesday before the event. Gotta love deadlines ;)

Three have little miniatures based on a manuscript that has "4 provinces paying tribute to Emperor XY" [I'll have to go find the book to know the right name, Finn toddled off with it earlier], the other two have a lion holding a protective paw over the Panhandle logo. Calligraphy will follow soon. Heh, now that's the easy part after so much practice.

Now all I have to do - before my fellow scribes show up - is clean up the worst chaos Finnleft behind and start fixing some kind of dinner. Whenever we met we kind of have a potluck as well : everybody brings some munchies or fruits or other foodstuff and it's always a very nice gathering [even if I still have to get used to not being one of the two scribes in one area *L*].

Gotta run ! Tata !

Here we go again :)

Today was - as usual - filled with housekeeping tasks and the fun of entertaining and spending time with Finn. He is such an imp and a goof to die for ! And I doubt there is anything as contagious as his heartfelt giggle along with his crunched up button-nose, the wild grin and those brightly sparkling eyes. Oh, by the by, they are now a nice rich hazel with hints of Tim's grey and my chocolate-brown *S* I'm very much in love with my little boy :)

Finn is now in bed and after talking himself and the plushdog to sleep happily asnooze. Sewing that friggin' geteld during our pregnancy payed off : I can sew now without him waking up ;)

The top of the sunshade is almost done : 3 more seams and the scallops and - voila ! - insta-sunshade ! *G* After that I'll only need some lightweight walls and it's done. For now we'll be cabin-ing instead of camping; Finn is just too little and too precious to dare get wet in one of those typical Florida afternoon thunderstorms. For Pennsic next year, well, we'll have to see. If all fails I guess we can always rent a tent :) Or maybe my wonderful and resourceful Master has an idea. I think I'll make Tim cut the scallops for the sunshade so he can feel involved ;) He just isn't into all the fibre arts and dreads sewing machines.

The next thing on my list is inking the illumination on the royal welcome scrolls for Panhandle. If the sunshade keeps me too busy tonight I can still do that tomorrow morning during Finn's before-noon-nap and tomorrow night my scribal gang is going to show up to help me paint. Isn't that awesome ?

Alrighty, hubby is home, it's dinner time !

Be good :)

Well, actually it's the monday evening SCA to-do-list to be correct. Afterall, I doubt anybody is really interested in my housekeeping strategy. Right ? Right.

So after cleaning kitchen and bathroom, doing 2 loads of laundry before - fortunately - running out off detergent and vacuuming the whole place since it had rained Corn Flakes earlier I'm now ready and set to start fixing dinner which will be self-cooking more or less so I can begin working on my last-minute event-preparations. Tonight I'll finish up the sunshade roof : 12 stright seams shouldn't take too long even if they are long seams :)

Tomorrow I need to ink the 6 scrolls for Panhandle so we can paint them on wednesday night, and I want to get lightweight fabric, maybe a sturdier muslin, for walls for the sunshade. And I need a ply-yard for Finn or else all I'll be doing at the event is chasing down Finn who's trying to discover what's "over -there-" *L*

Then there is garb to sew. Finn has only two tunics and the way he ...uhm, eats food is devastating for tunics. So he needs a few more to be presentable throughout the weekend. Tim hasn't mentioned any wishes for garb so far so I might get away with not doing much for his wardrobe this time. I will make him a linnen coif though so he doesn't broil his brains when the sun is shining ;)

Not to mention a banner or two and slipcover for the icechest with foodstuff. Boy I wish we had some place for woodworking and a few more tools. Then we could actually make wooden chests and chairs and stuff. Well, we'll have to wait until we know about Tim's job offer and if and where we get to move. Then we'll be trying to rent a house instead of an apartment - wheeee !

Enough for now, more tomorrow !

Tada :)

Amazing how time flashes by when you're having fun and lots to do ! I can't believe it's been almost a whole week since I posted last and yet it's what the calendar is pointing out to me : you have neglected me for half a dozen days !

Now I'm making up for that. Frankly, I don't know why I always have the impression of never having enough time. I mean out of 24 hours of a day I get maybe 7 of sleep so that should leave me with plenty of activity-time to get things accomplished, and I do. Get things accomplished. Really ! My household is running pretty smoothly, there's homecooked food on the table everyday except for wednesdays when we do our ritual carry-out day [and fridays are soup-days], Finn's entertained and tken care of with lots of trips to the beach, the pool or the playground and I even get SCA projects done for example 34 thank-you scrolls, 6 welcome scrolls which only need painting now. Not bad for a full-time Mommy and wife :)

Panhandle, my first event since may [Gah ! I feel like a drug addict - gimme me fix !!], is only two more weeks down the road. Wheeee ! I so can't wait. I get to wear garb again, to cook over an open fire and listen to the bards and minstrels at night. There'll be bold and bright pageantry, lords and ladies, dukes and earls, masters and mistresses, Princes and Princesses and kings and queens, all in their finest so we can all dream :)

Until that weekend though I'll be swamping myself with last minute-projects *GRINS* Last minute sewing projects, mostly, to fix the sunshade, to have enough garb for the buglet, my husband and myself and probably some more heraldic display items : bigger banners, maybe a prettier tabbard for my dear lord husband so he can shine and stnd out on the listfield.

Fun ! :)