Travelling Time and Space

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 Especially Finndragon's is woefully out of date again *sigh* The munchkin is growing like a weed and definitely needs something new for events.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)