Travelling Time and Space

Thanks to a great donation from my partner in crime Martine I'm all set for Cutlasses & Corsairs. I kid you not - 15 scrolls plus a couple of blanks are nicely tucked into an envelope and sealed so nobody can sneak a peek before the event :o)

Next things in line are finishing up two more scrolls for Art-Sci [all penciled in and calligraphy complete they are only awaiting the actual painting] and of course, clothes. Maybe I can get my yellow dress finished in time for Art-Sci ? Even hubby and Finndragon are coming and I haven't had a new dress in a year.

First things first, though. Finndragon is in dire need of warm garb and after 'fixing' two of his tunics with a long-sleeved undertunic and another one with long sleeves I'm going to whip up a lined wool outfit for him. I wonder if I can pull off something German Renaissance for him ? We'll see. I can always sew another tunic for him in no time but it'd be nice if he had something spiffy to match my garb :o) Yes, you can dress up your boy children. Actually Finndragon loves to dress up. Right now his favorite piece of clothing is a new tabbard [usually worn with the yellow rubber boots I got him for our daily trip to the muddy puddle]. I think hubby is all set clothes-wise, but I'll ask anyhow, just to be safe. Not knowing the Trimarian climate I presented him two woolen cotte when we started dating and neither of them has been worn ...err, much and they are like new *grins*

So here I'm again, a week later, a couple of projects started and finished, and I'm trying to find the time to sit down and to sum them up. It's not easy, what with two munchkins terrorizing the cats these days, but every once in a while Finndragon busies himself with his tools long enough while the other munchkin is in for a nap and I get to sit down and play :o) [while the laundry is in the works, of course, and lunch]

- sketched out 6 more blanks

- continued working on the scrolls for C&C 2007 

- sent off about 30 scrolls to Chart Signet to make her happy

- adding hooks and eyes to the yellow wool dress

- planning new outfits for Finndragon who only seems to have tunics with sleeves that are an inch or two too short these days

- participated with calligraphy & illumination table at the Mandarin Library demo

- missed the Bragging Rights Tournament and Northern Regional Fighter Practice because of Demo

- toyed with a couple of ideas for MoAS office

- did a bit of research on 14th century Italian fashion for the New Member Challenge

- still working on Laurel and Foster-Laurel Christmas present *shame*

- made a pattern for the slipcover for the loveseat in the den

and hmm, I think that's it ... I think. I'm scatterbrained these days and currently even need the alarm clock to get up in the morning. One ring, mind you, but still I haven't returned to my normal habit of waking up a few minutes before the alarm goes off. Guess that's just that seasonal desire to hibernate that I just can't seem to shake off. Some more sleep and going to bed earlier than 11pm would help too, I guess. 

On a related note, I'm playing with black paper now and the first results look mighty pretty ! Love it ! More on that later :o)

First AR, now LKH !

What is it with those authors who cannot accept that some of their readers might not enjoy the direction they are taking their books and - in the sentimental throes of the Good Old Times - decide to voice their concern ?
What is it that makes those authors get their panties into bunches and write the most condescending rants to and about their readers ?

Is it really that difficult to understand that some readers mourn the change in the books ? That they obviously feel strongly about the story and the characters or else they wouldn't care ?

What happened to the good old "I'm sorry you don't like my books but you don't have to read them. I appreciate your critic." and the notion of graciously accepting that there are people that do not like your books ?
This is the second author writing up a condescending litany  to their stupid readers who don't have brains, vision, understanding of the world of metaphysics enough to truly appreciate the work of art they wrote.

And while the turn the books have taken is, in my mind, bad enough, the outrageous behavior of those two authors just tops it off. What a turn-off.

Not too shabby, eh ? 

Sometime at the beginning of last week I stumbled across a cooking blog with a recent entry about "Bento". My first reaction was "Bento what ?" having never heard of it before and not even remembering it from all the Anime we'd watched until then.

Turns out Bento or Obento are Japanese lunch boxes and while a lunch box full of Japanese foods sounds tempting enough the real kick is the decorative aspect. It's amazing what some people do and how much effort goes into those great looking dishes. There are even molds for hardboiled eggs to turn them into the cutes bunny or cat shapes not to mention people who use all kinds of different vegetables and nori to create the faces of Anime characters in their lunch boxes. and then there are the Bento boxes themselves. Very very pretty, from contemporary simplicity to Manga-ese cuteness to classic Asian style. I'm currently torn between a pale green "Totora" box and a red box decorated with a spray of cherry blossoms :o)

Yes, I'm hooked. I'm already waiting for my library books to show up [I put a hold on a couple of books last week]. In fact, I'm hoked so much hubby and I made a bento dinner last night, just to give the cooking part a shot. I'd bought sushi rice, Wasabi, rice vinegar, a couple of soy sauces and Nori sheets along with the regular groceries and last night we made our very first Onigiri and California rolls.

While preparing all ingredients and the workspace I cooked the rice. That was in fact the one thing that took the longest. I made a sorta Chinese Mayonnaise using Kraft "Mayonnesa"&nbs p; [it's the spanish style one which has way more flavor than the regular Mayonnaise], minced garlic, a dash of rice vinegar and a dash of soy sauce. I cut up the crab meat and the avocado and drained the tuna fish.

After the rice was cooked and had cooled down so you could touch it we first made our California rolls spreading the rice over the nori sheet, painting a strip of mayonnaise in the center and then arranging the filling of crab meat and avocado on this mayonnaise strip. After that we rolled'em up and voila - instant California roll. They went into the fridge for a moment for the rice to solidify a bit more and were so much easier to cut into even slices. We made two rolls so each of us could give it a try.

 The rest of the rice was turned into Onigiri - Japanese riceballs - that we filled with tuna flakes [from the can, nothing exotic] and a dollop of mayonnaise. It was a lot of fun shaping those balls into triangles and we did really well, considering it was our first attempt :o)

Last but not least I grabbed some carrots and carved them into a flower shape before cutting it into slices, some onion and some sugar snap peas, marinated them in a bit of rice vinegar with garlic and soysauce and then stir-fried those really quick. They got a final dusting with some ground ginger and were arranged neatly on the plate along with the Onigiri and the California roll.

And you know what ? It looked freaking awesome ! I took pictures which I'll upload later but both hubby and I were tickled pink with the fruits of our fun labor. It even tasted good. Of course, I overestimated how much we'd need to make so there're 3 Onigiris left and probably about 6 or 7 pieces of the California roll so I have enough leftovers to send hubby to work with a really cool lunch box and keep a piece of two for myself for a cool lunch later today *G* 

Fun !

Anyways, if you need to be corrupted too check out these links here

www.cookingcute.com
blogs.yahoo.co.jp/kasumin_yorosiku/GALLE RY/gallery.html?fid=&m=&p=11
www.geocities.com/ai_no_hyde/FB_special .html

After valiantly battling an unfair war against cancer for a long time, last night Baroness Duva finally surrendered.

While I have never met her in person I began conversing with her in emails just weeks before Panhandle Skirmishes 2005.I was responsible for the Silent Auction to raise funds for Katrina victims and she offered her skills and talent as a jeweler and donated sets of beautiful jewelry she'd made. Highly-prized and much sought after those sets raised a good chunk of the tremendous result of the auction. Her Excellency was tickled pink and genuinely flattered when I told her of the success of her jewelry afterwards.

Every once in a while I'd drop her a little note saying "hi" and we exchanged emails for a bit before life got busy again but we never had a chance to meet face to face. I'd have loved to meet the gentle purple Baroness and not only because we share the love for the same color. Alas, not in this life. May she rest in peace.

I'm curious : among all those possible search words that lead to my blog and that are listed in my statistics I've lately noticed that 'miolfhiodha' is used more often. Now, why would anybody google that ?

For those who don't know it 'miolfhiodha' is not a made-up word. In fact it's two gaelic words combined : 'miol' meaning 'little' and 'fhiodha' translating to 'bug'. Miolfhiodha = little bug - a nickname I picked up several years ago.

Anyways, I'm still curious who's googling my nickname and for what purpose... 

There are things that are too good to be true and unfortunately some are as fickle and insubstantial as precious Lady Luck.
In more or less two weeks our now Seneshall will be leaving us for Texas. Sometime at the end of our first conversation ever I jokingly remarked that he was 'too good to be true' and today I'm finding myself wondering if I'd just then jinxed us. Anyways, he's leaving, too soon - too early, and I wonder what the future will hold for our little Shire. I sincerely wish we'd had more time with him and his wife but that wasn't meant to be. Meh :o/ Well, what's left to say is that it was fun while it lasted and that it's been my pleasure. I'm wishing him and his wife the best of everything for their new home and workplace and our Shire a good new Seneshall.

Done :

layout and inking of 7 Cutlasses & Corsairs 2007 competition scrolls
calligraphy on 3 Cutlasses & Corsairs 2007 scrolls
10 Kingdom Award scrolls linedrawings
research illuminated charters for Trimaris Costuming Guild Charter
altered green velvet Cranach dress
beaded russian Kokoshnik
several medieval recipes [roasted chicken with mead, roasted pork with saffron]
and quite mundane, 2 pairs of pj pants :o)

To-do :

Get all of the above illuminated [or pawned off to somebody who will illuminate them *g*]
finish butter yellow wool dress ie attach bodice to skirt, stitch lining into place, hem skirt and add hook-eye to front
create Costuming Guild Charter
get new members garbed and geared up

Now, the last point of my to-do list really gets me all excited. It's a challenge that came across one of my mailinglists and is basically the task of outfitting a new member with garb and feastgear for a day-event on the very limited budget of $35. So here I am, rubbing my hands gleefully and wanting to get started right away but first the two new members that the girls and I 'adopted' have to more or less decide what style of garb they'd love to try.

More later :o) I promise ! 

Christmas is now officially over [and I already stated the ultimatum to our Christmas tree who I think believes he can get away with looking absolutely right and cute in the corner in the livingroom and thus evade the tragic faith of all Christmas trees].

After a wonderful squirrel 12th Night on Saturday we celebrated also a very very nice 13th Night with the Shire last night at St Luke. I'd brought 50 token never expecting to need them all let alone give them all away. Imagine my face when we ran out of token because so many people showed up !

We had two large tables groaning under an impressive array of mostly medieval dishes that looked great and tasted even better. We paraded with the boar's head [who almost skipped off the plate when I wasn't watching carefully but spent the rest of the evening attentively guarding the buffet and oogling the desserts that we'd arranged on a separate table]. People took seconds and thirds and there were still leftovers to take home. The tables were nicely decorated and thanks to Master Iefan and his A-Team of new members we managed to set-up and decorate the hall very nicely. Nick played a fabulous Father Christmas handing out a truck load of presents, wearing his 'costume' with much manly grace.

I can't wait to see all the pictures people took :) All in all it was a great evening in good company and we even managed to break even on the site rental with a good down payment on next year's 12th Night ! W00T !

1. What is your SCA name? (You don't have to write the full name, just your first name if you want.)
Maeva Eiriksdottir [although I'm contemplating a name change better suitable for my latest and rather continued interest]

2. What is your home kingdom?
Kingdom of Trimaris

3. Have you ever lived in another kingdom? If so, where?
I'm Drachenwald-Frankmark born and bred. 3 years ago I moved to Trimaris. 

4. Do you remember your first SCA event? When/what was it?
My first SCA event was "Feast of Fools" hosted by the Barony of Knight's Crossing in Drachenwald, March 2002. It was freezing cold and the rain turned the camping area into a big puddle of sticky cold mud, most of which I dragged with me as it soaked into the train of my first ever dress. I even had to drink coffee to keep warm. Despite all of that I returned genuinely excited and wanting more *G*

5. Do you have any awards? (You don't have to list them if you don't want)
Yes, a few.

6. Do you list them after your name in communications like e-mail?
No. I don't do alphabet soup unless specifically requested to do so. 

7. Do you have a device?
Kind of since it's stuck in transition, err, registration and waiting for a re-draw. The blazon is purpure, three bees aregnt two and one and a chief urdy ermine.

8. Do you use it? On what? Yes, I do. I have personal banners, a small chest with my coat of arms and a game board painted on it and I'm working on a comforter with an applique of it too.

9. Are you on all the kingdom/society lists available to you, or do you avoid them?
I belong to the main mailinglist and a few interest goups, both for my Kingdom and my local group. I try not to sign up to too many groups.

10. Do you keep your Pennsic/Estrella/Gulf Wars/etc. site tokens?
Occasionally I will keep a site token. I do keep all token I receive at Art-Sci Faires though.

11. Do you keep the favours you've been given by royalty/friends/SOs, etc.? Do You wear them all?
I do. I keep them in my "I love me" chest rather than wear them but a few made it into jewelry [a silver coin given by HRM Matthew during his reign in Drachenwald for my service as Kingdom scribe is attached to my viking 'bling', for example].

12. Do you call your friends by their SCA names even when you're not at an event?
It depends on the friend/acquaintance in question. For some the SCA name seems to be a better fit, for some you can't get past their mundane name. Often I'll ask which one they prefer to go by.

13. Do you go out to dinner in garb after an event?
No.

14. Do you have all kinds of garb, or do you generally stick to one period?
I like somewhat of a focus so my wardrobe consists of 9th century Norse and late 15th/early 16th century German. Everything else was passed on.

15. How many interests do you have within the SCA? What's your favourite?
There are many things in the SCA that pique my interest. I do love calligraphy and illumination with bookbinding on the side. I do a little bit of lampwork and costuming and will try everything usually once.

16. Do you have an SCA-oriented web site (to show off projects, keep dress diaries, etc.)?
I do although it's in dire need of an update www.greydragon.org/~maeva

17. Do you maintain a hairstyle that is more period style than modern? How about any other part of your appearance?
I've always worn my hair long and while I've tried different hairstyles before that's usually the style I return to. At events I try to wear my hair in a historically appropriate fashion and what's not to like about braids like spaniard ears [German : Affenschaukeln] peeking out from underneath a white kerchief ?

18. Do you tell "No $###, there I was" stories? (Admit it.)
I prefer to listen to them :o)

19. Authenticity is Fun. Yes or no? Why?
YES ! I prefer to call it "historical accuracy". I love seeing people look like they just stepped out of a painting and I enjoy trying my best to achieve the same look for myself. Learning how things were done hundreds of years ago and giving "experimental practical archeology" a hand myself is what attracted me to the SCA in the first place.

20. Is there one modern thing at events that really bugs you?
One ? *sigh* I think what bugs me the most is the seemingly ever increasing lack of effort : less covering up mundane items, less attention to SCA etiquette as in escorting ladies, etc., more people wearing half-garb not only during set-up and break-down but during the whole event, and so on and so forth.

Bonus Question! 21. Everyone has a shameful garb/accessory mistake hidden somewhere in their past. What's yours? (We're all friends here, we promise not to laugh. Much.)
*grins* Amusing rather than shameful. I still have my very first attempts at illumination and calligraphy and I'm not ashamed to show them. My first viking apron dress was 'creative' too with little resemblance to a more proper apron dress. Again, nothing I'm ashamed of since I believe I have progressed and improved since then. I'd only be ashamed if I didn't do better than that now.