Travelling Time and Space

I vivdly remember getting ready for my first event, more or less not knowing what exactly to expect. I've listened to the ramblings and waxings of other local SCA members but still, you've got to have been to an event to understand what an event is. So I packed my stuff and began my own aventiure into the world of SCA event wonders.

I brought one duffle bag worth of stuff.

That was 4 years ago.

I'm just about done packing my stuff for Art-Sci intot he van so I can leave right away tonight when hubby comes home from work and I'm soaked in sweat because it's a wee bit warm and a tad humid today :o)  I'm about to hop under the shower but before that I had to bring this simple musing to virtual paper.

I have a box full of banners, table cloths, poles, hand outs, class materials, a good sized feastbasket that holds my feastgear as well as a small bag with detergent, sponge and dish towel, I'm bringing another box with my art-sci entry display stuff namely a desk, dishes with pigments, glass flasks with ink and all kinds of other stuff. Then there is the rubbermaid tub with my garb, accessories and mundane toiletries, towels and a change of mundane clothes. Next goes the sleeping bag, a pillow, the sunshade and its cover and, of course, a cooler with drinks and munchies since we've booked feast for the whole weekend. A straw hat. A small basket 'purse'.

-That- would never fit into a duffle bag anymore And for the love of God I can't figure out where the "more" comes from because I did have two changes of garb back then so it cannot be that. Or the sleeping bag and pillow [actually I used to bring more than 1 sleeping bag with me because I freeze so easilly and Drachenwald's weather is a -lot- cooler than here in trimaris].

And mind you, this is only me travelling to the event. Hubby and Finndragon are staying home because Art-Sci is my girl's weekend out event. My vacation, so to speak.

So much stuff.

Oh, and I'm bringing a kiddie splash pool to hide under our table in the sunshade so we can chill our feet while watching the tournament. Heh :o)~ 

The weekend and with it Summer art Sci are almost there !

I'm slowly getting packed sorting through all the things I need to bring for the flurry of activities on saturday :

- my art-sci entry

- art-sci entry paperwork and display stuff

- my class hand-outs and materials 

[I'm teaching two classes : a digest version of my "Witch's Kitchen" and a how-to on letters of recommendation]

- all the heraldic accoutrements and objects for our listfield pavilion set-up like sunshade, sunshade cover, small banners, big banner, banner rods, small table cloth, big table cloth, chair and chair cover

- Crest Squirrel 

- tokens

- something for the prize table

- garb

- feastgear

- camera 

I even managed to get my "heraldic" dress done and whipped up a quick last-minute chemise that has a nicer neckline and won't kill me by causing a heatstroke. as for court garb I'm hitting a 'girl' snag : I don't know what else to wear ! Ack !

Guess I better figure that one out soon, eh ? 

I'm really looking forward to Art-Sci. Last year's summer art-sci was my first art-sci event ever [I kid you not *g*] and I enjoyed myself terribly including the little excitement about entering the competition and receiving feedback on entry [Tassilo's 15th century german writ court barony, remember ?].

This year is going to be mucho fun again, of that I'm sure. Not only are all of us girls going to be there but we also got us a champion to fight for us in the crested helmet tournament and so we created some really nice and fun heraldic accoutrements for the show *G* Banners and tabbards, oh my :o) I'll be bringing the sunshade and we'll be setting up in style, our little spot at the listfield bedecked in our colors. And wait 'till you get to see the crest *G* It's absolutely hysterical :o)

My illumination entry is coming along nicely. The top panel is all done and only the silverleaf in that area needs some patching up [*sigh] and I've just started adding finishing touches to the center panel. Tomorrow I'll have to take a break because I'll be helping with a demo in Green Cove Springs. I'm all packed for the occasion and only have to dress up myself and Finn and drive over there tomorrow. Maybe I can paint a bit more on it tomorrow evening after Finndragon went to bed. There is still the unresolved issue about a blue and yellow dress for art-sci but I do have a blue one and if time gets too tight I might just wear that and whip up a quick blue and yellow bonnet of some sort to go with it :o)

Yesterday's scribal tea went well and we had a lot of fun painting and feasting from the bar-b-q afterwards.  

That's more or less how I've always liked  my deadlines which explains why now, a week before art-sci, I'm -really- working on my art-sci entry.

While I'm still not ueber-happy with my gold- and silverleaf job [God bless Trimarian humidity *grrrr*] all the base colors are finally laid down and it's all coming together rather nicely. Finishing touches and the step by step write up for the documentation is all that's left to do so I should have plenty of time to finish it up :o) or not, you never know.

Looking back at the same time last year I realize that I haven't posted much or rather anything about my illumination entry this year. I guess I'll have to make up for that at one point although I -did- post some stuff on my glass bead making experiment that might end up at Art-Sci. I still have to make up my mind over that one.

Anyhow, the illumination entry is a miniature inspired by a  12th century spanish Beatus manuscript. It's very different from what I usually paint because it's romanesque instead of my beloved flemish and so it wasn't just an effort in period materials [down to home-ground lapis and even the scary lead white] but also in style and execution. I've been taking pictures along the way, of course, and I might be able to post them tonight after this month's Scribal Tea. I'm teaching a class on Romanesque and ottonian book illumination and the Caroligian script as part of the "pens and brushes" class series. We'll see how that's going to work :o)

Until later :o) 

... until my birthday and I so want one of those :

It's a "Caja China", basically a wooden box lined with sheet metal and it works like a breeze roasting whole pigs and I so want one *G*

Check out their webpage at http://www.lacajachina.com&nb...; and try not to drool on your keyboard. 

While I haven been writing and editing class hand-outs into articles for our local newsletter this is the first time some of my stuff has been published elsewhere and it is somewhat exciting *G*

My article/class "A witch's kitchen - an introduction to medieval materials for scribes"  is part of the proceedings of the 2006 Known World Heraldic and Scribal Symposium which is a treat for me not being able to attend.

Also, there's another cool article on Court Heraldry written by my favorite Court Herald Master Octavio de Flores in the proceedings as well :o)

The first pictures of the first batch of glass veil pins :o)

The tall ones were made from pieces of wire cut to a length of 2 inches [5cm] and the small ones are regular sewing pins which to my surprise survived the whole procedure very well .

And here're the small ones :

I wish you could see the sparkle of the ones made from colored clear glass. They are -very- pretty :o)

The second batch of pins are already cooling in their vermiculite blanket and after a quick shower it's back to the Scriptorium for me again. There's an A&S entry waiting to be finished :o/ 

... for some torch time !

Today I finally got around to firing up the torch again and experiment with the idea of pretty veil pins for tokens, favors, royal gift baskets and all kinds of other opportunities to give little pretty home made presents.

What can I say, I had a blast ! It's fast and simple and very pretty and the most difficult thing is getting the glass to stick to the small wire pins. Funny how that works, hm ? Most of the time you are concerned about the glass -sticking- to the mandrel and now, when it's actually supposed to stick, it's giving you a hard time. Murphy's law - figures :o) Now, less, than an hour later I have 13 pairs of veil pins peacefully and slowly cooling down in their little vermiculite blanket. Pictures will follow later when they are ready to be taken out of their warm nest :o)

On a totally different note, my Master hasn't fallen off the face of the earth just yet *G* I received a package today with the very cool leather bottle we made [well, actually -he-h made it, I kept compancy *g* my leather working abilities are limited to beding awls and breaking needles] now sealed with Brewer's pitch and some homework.

Yep, right. Homework :o) He sent me goose and swan feathers to cut quills and write him a sentence in each hand I know. Now, as to what sentence to write he didn't give any specifics soooo .... *rubs hands gleefully, giggle* 

Maybe I can adopt him when Uncle Sam finally sends him to the big sandbox at the end of summer ... ? 

Since we don't have family living in Florida with us and no regular babysitter on hand those times where Tim and I can sneak off to do things together without having to organize Finndragon along the way are far and few in between and rather precious. Imagine our excitement when Finndragon's grandparents stated that they want to spend a whole day with their grandson all by themselves !

Knowing that Finndragon is quite a handful of a ham we did a half-day testrun first before daring to leave for a whole day [we went to NY that day which was awesome but more on that later]. PA always reminds me of home and since hubby grew up there we decided to cruise the area, visit the house of his youth, etc.

One of the really cool things we did that day was drive out to Centralia, a near ghost town due to a coal mine fire burning underneath it. Sometime in 1962 a coal vein near a trash burning pit caught on fire and nhone of the many measures tried succeeded in putting it out again. 44 years later the mine is still burning. Centralia was abandoned when sink holes and toxic gases rising became too dangerous and a part of the highway was sealed off and a detour created when huge cracks appeared in the pavement.

 That is the barricade that keeps people from following the old highway route and instead sends you on to the detour. It is so easy to miss the signs of the underground mine fire that you could easilly just drive through the remainders of Centralia and be none the wiser. Since we hadn't spend much time browsing webpages on the topic we drove through what used to be Centralia 3 or 4 times before deciding to "take at least a picture of the warning sign". That was when we met a few kids on their dirt bikes and they told us about the crack in the highway and off we went to take a closer look. Yep, despite warning sign. Bad bug, baaad bug ! [We did- use a lot of care though whenever there was smoke present. Some of the hardcore Centralia fans walk right through it and some complain about sore throats, itchy eyes for hours after that. We steered clear of it whenever our noses caught the whiff of brimstone, sulfur and other unidentifiable stuff].

 That's a picture of the main crack in what used to be a part of the highway. The inside is hot to the touch and you can feel a moist heat rising from it. Occasionally you see smoke wafting up from it but it's really difficult to take a picture of that :o)

Here's a close-up and the white-ish quality comes from the smoke. We ran into some Centralia geeks on our way back to the car [two guys loaded with nice camera equipment who go there regularly because it is very interesting and very fascinating] who told us that right now the "area wasn't performing" ie not doing much that was visible on the surface. They said it was way more spectacular in winter when the place is huffing and puffing with clouds of steam and smoke everywhere. 

We enjoyed this apocalyptic adventure very much. It was a bright and beautiful day and the area was absolutely gorgeous :o)

We grabbed a light lunch in Pottsville, swung by at the Yuengling Brewery [but didn't take the tour] relishing the sweet smells of malt and yeast and other good things that go into the making of beer. Hubby has been busy brewing more mead and beer at home so of course he has a big new interest in all things brewing and brewery :o) He even posed in front of the very pretty building for me.

See ? Pretty !

Our next and last stop was "olde Good Things" in Scranton which is THE place to go if you are in need of an antique architectural item such as stained glass windows and/or doors, clawfotted bath tubs, tower finials, wrought iron gates, and, and, and. It's an amazing place to search for the one perfect replacement when restoring an old house [not renovating because they are selling the real thing salvaged and saved from old buildings that are being torn down]. They have everything from knobs to faucets to tiles to 5ft tall stained glass windows, columns and every other imaginable thing and possibly the nicest staff on top of that. We were allowed to browse the tightly stacked and stuffed aisles until after store hours :o)

Here's a picture of their stained glass aisles, just to give you an idea of the feel of the place :

And here's the link to their webpage http://www.oldegoodthings.com...;

More later :o) 

The past week went by in a flurry of activities and excitement.

The first half of our vacation was taken up by travelling to PA and getting ready for my sister-in-law's wedding complete with rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, staying at a hotel for two nights and of course the wedding and reception afterwards. Finndragon and hubby were part of the bridal party as grooms man and ringbearer and I was designated toddler wrangler during rehearsal and of course the wedding. Finndragon wowed everybody with his good looks during rehearsal [grey slacks, a blue shirt and a tie] and the wedding [black suit, white shirt and a pink bow-tie] and stole hearts evereywhere he went. He was very well behaved and dealt really well with all the travelling, the many people and the weird break from his usual daily routine. I'm proud of my little munchkin :o)

Now I'm just waiting for official pictures because I didn't get around to taking any during the wedding and at the reception. 

We're finally back from our trip to PA and as soon as the travelling chaos is taken care of and I'm done uploading pictures I'll post a bit about our adventures.

Promised *G* 

Mistress Melessee sacrificed some of her precious spare time to create a webpage for the Trimaris College of Scribes which looks really spiffy, has lots of nifty pictures and can be found here

Link

And if you read my little artist bios you'll also notice another case of helium hand on my part. I'm the brand spanking new deputy to the Chart Signet Trimaris who will be training me until the end of the year to become the next Chart Signet [or to give me enough time to come to my senses and bail out, as she claims] :o)

The creation of the Trimaris College of Scribes webpage caused me to sit down and put together a list of the classes I have taught and am willing to teach at events and other scribal workshops and I'm actually somewhat surprised how many I've created over the past 2.5 years. Who'd have thought I'd end up teaching this much on a fairly regular basis this early into my SCA time ? Heh :o) I do enjoy it though and while scribal arts are my main focus I've also got a few non-scribal classes that I have taught with much success and lots of fun at Shire meetings and events :o) I guess I just got hooked up with the right kind of people right from the start because I believe that sharing one's knowledge and encouraging others do to the same is one of the most important and most wonderful aspects of the SCA.

Anyhow, here's the list, just in case you're looking for a  little something scribal for your next  event class schedule :o)

Illumination 101: The Basics
-Instructor: Lady Maeva Eiriksdottir
-Class Length: 1 hour
-Class Max: 15
-Supplies Needed: papers, rulers, pencils
-Supplies Provided By: Instructor or use your own, handout included
-Description: This is an introduction to the modern materials and tools of illumination in the SCA

Illumination 102: You can draw too !
-Instructor: Lady Maeva Eiriksdottir
-Class Length: 1 hour
-Class Max: 15
-Supplies Needed: papers, pencils
-Supplies Provided By: Instructor or use your own, handout included
-Description: This is class will introduce you to two basic styles of border decoration and teach you step by step how to draw them. No experience necessary

Illumination 103: Bigger, Brighter, Bolder !
-Instructor: Lady Maeva Eiriksdottir
-Class Length: 1 hour [with an optional 1h for hands-on]
-Class Max: 10
-Supplies Needed: paper, pencils, brushes, paints
-Supplies Provided By: Instructor or use your own, handout included
-Description: This is class will introduce you to the basics of miniature painting including composition and simple shading techniques

Calligraphy 101: The Basics
-Instructor: Lady Maeva Eiriksdottir
-Class Length: 1 hour
-Class Max: 15
-Supplies Needed: papers, rulers, pencils
-Supplies Provided By: Instructor or use your own, handout included
-Description: This is an introduction to the modern materials and tools of calligraphy in the SCA

Book of Hours – Worship in Style
-Instructor: Lady Maeva Eiriksdottir
-Class Length: 1 hour
-Class Max: 15
-Supplies Needed: none
-Supplies Provided By: hand-out included
-Description: Learn more about the private prayer books that capture us with their timeless beauty hundreds of years after their creation.

A witch's kitchen – period materials for the adventurous scribe
-Instructor: Lady Maeva Eiriksdottir
-Class Length: 1.5 – 2.5 hours
-Class Max: 6
-Supplies Needed: pigments, quills, etc.
-Supplies Provided By: Instructor or use your own, handout included
-Description: Did you ever want to try to cut a quill ? Grind pigments and make your own ink ? This is class is designed to introduce the interested scribe to period materials and encourage further study of the 'old ways'

Pens & Brushes I - “Celtic Art”
-Instructor: Lady Maeva Eiriksdottir
-Class Length: 1 hour
-Class Max: 15
-Supplies Needed: none
-Supplies Provided By: Instructor or use your own, handout included
-Description: Learn about the typical elements of both calligraphy and illumination pertaining to the insular style [celtic knotwork, composition, symbols, colors, uncial and insular hands, etc.]

Pens & Brushes II - “The Age of Charlemagne”
-Instructor: Lady Maeva Eiriksdottir
-Class Length: 1 hour
-Class Max: 15
-Supplies Needed: none
-Supplies Provided By: Instructor or use your own, handout included
-Description: Learn about the typical elements of both calligraphy and illumination pertaining to european book art of the 10^th-12^th century [composition, symbols, colors, Carolingian Minuscel, etc.]

Layout and Composition or “ How to fit pretty pictures and text onto the same page”
-Instructor: Lady Maeva Eiriksdottir
-Class Length: 1 hour [[with an optional 1h for hands-on]
-Class Max: 10
-Supplies Needed: rulers, pencils, paper
-Supplies Provided By: Instructor or use your own, handout included
-Description: Learn about layout and composition of SCA award scrolls especially in regards to separate teams of calligraphers and illuminators

Mistakes are period but here's how to deal with them
-Instructor: Lady Maeva Eiriksdottir
-Class Length: 1.5 hour [
-Class Max: 10
-Supplies Needed: messed up scrolls, paints, brushes, x-acto knife or similar sharp blade
-Supplies Provided By: Instructor or use your own, handout included
-Description: Mistakes happen - Ink blotches, a mispelled word - but oftentimes your hard work can be saved with a few simple techniques. This class will show an array of medieval examples of mistake 'corrections' and teach how to save your piece of art from the horrible fate of ending in the trash bin.

Hope everything went better than well during the surgery and that you are now on your way to recovery *S*

Get spoiled and lots of rest !

-Maeva 

Finndragon has tons of books, not counting ours that he claims as his on occasion loading dozens into his little red and yellow plastic car and driving them from the library to his room were he hoards them in disorderly stacks like a hoard befitting a proper dragon. Sometimes it's the covers that have him all enthralled :o)

In his own room Finndragon has two white three-tier bookshelves that are pretty much filled half with books and half with other toys. For the longest time we were only allowed to flip through the books with him. Any notion of reading a book -to- him was countered with a dark scowl and a very determined "Stop it!". That changed with the arrival of the new big boy bed. Yep, that's right. The Finndragon moved from his crib to an actual twin size bed. It's a captain-style bed with a row of three drawers in the base and a bookshelf headboard and Finndragon is all over it. Every guest is being dragged off to his room and expected to oohhh and ahhh over the bed he will point out with a chubby sticky finger and an excited "Look ... isse nice bed ... grooosses Bett" which is his jumbled two language version of "Look, it's a nice be... a big bed". Only then is the guest, our guest, released into our care. Finndragon will do the same to us on random occasions throughoutt he day.

He clearly likes the fact that now the bed is big enough for Mommy or Daddy to snuggle into it with him and that's where all of the sudden the books came in. Now we're up to two small books a night and he absolutely enjoys it. And so do we :o) 

So tired ...

... so sniffly and throat-achy ...

...oy ...

*THUD* 

Heh :o)

So Innis agreed to be our Champion and to fight for us at the crested helmet tournament at Art-Sci this year and all of us Squirrels are tickled pink and abosulutely thrilled. This also means we need to dress him up and get all the nifty heraldic shebang together in less than 4 weeks *GRINS* We're talking banner(s), helm crest, manteling, tabbard and some other nifty little stuff to dress up properly for this occasion.

And I still have to finish up my documentation ... :o/ At least I don't have to worry about the classes I offered to teach. Both are all set and ready to be packed so that's out of the way. I might forego a new wardrobe in favor of mending some 'old' stuff from last year where I think the fit needs to improved and with the help of my faithful duct tape dummy that's now less of a problem. 

Finndragon is finally transitioning from his crib to a real twin sized bed. Well, at least that's the plan but after much fighting yesterday's nap and last night's sleep both ended in his crib where - contained behind safe bars - he couldn't come waltzing out of his room every 2 minutes until midnight. He's tired and we're all struggling with the beginnings of a cold hubby brought home from work two days ago but still no desire to sleep in his much ohhhh-ed and ahhh-ed over big bed. I guess I'll block his room door tonight so he -has- to stay put in his room at least. Maybe at one point he'll just collapse ?

I wonder how long it takes until kids change from the omigodimmissingstuff! attitude to the sloth-like favor of sleep ?

Hopefully soon ...