Okay, so I've really been trying to think of something to post, but University has been taking up my brainspace.

Oh look, a topic.

The next session of University of Atlantia is this weekend down near Greenville, NC. You can pre-reg online through Thursday, and then on-site starting at 9am. I just hope that my one nightmare of showing up to University without the box of stuff doesn't come true. I mean, shouting "Ding a ling!" isn't as effective as ringing the bell. I've also already had two instructors cancel on me due to health reasons, but I hope that's all. (Update: Argh, a 3rd instructor had to bail. *pout*)

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I also had to work on Saturday at the Undergraduate Fall Faculty Meeting. We were intending to have a booth where faculty could play with some of the new conferencing features and then register for the training session. No one wanted to play, but we did get quite a few registered for training. The training is required for all faculty who want to teach online or hybrid classes in the Spring. Sensing a target of opportunity, I picked up a stack of our half-flyers, with the URL to sign up for training on it, and went to talk to the folks waiting in the buffet line for lunch. Then I went to the tables in the ballroom to get a few more. Yet more proselytizing, just about a different cause than Plimoth, or Jamestown, or Komen for the Cure, or etc.

Then I spent the rest of the weekend kinda sloth like. I Costco'd, napped, walked the dog, and ordered a pizza for the rest of Saturday. Then on Sunday I slept in, made brunch, read a bunch of Sunshine, even read some Sunshine while basking in the sunshine on the patio (note: I'm a slow reader), napped, walked the dog what I thought was 3 miles but ended up being 2.8, fetched carry-out for dinner, and then made some blueberry muffins. Alas, no cleaning, embroidery, sewing, or even running errands so I can have a working serger foot pedal. Ah well.

More as a reminder to myself:

Powell's Books Newsletter contained a write-up and link to Animals Make us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals by Temple Grandin, which seems really interesting. It is a follow-up to her 2005 book Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. Both sound really fascinating in understanding animals in general, but obviously I'm specifically motivated at the moment for Lady. Timely indeed Powell's. Thank you.
Any other recommendations?

( more dog-mom babble )

Posted to the Sprang list, parts one and two of a Dutch(?) book on Egyptian Sprang.

Egyptisch Vlechtwerk: Handleiding voor het Aanleeren Techniek met vele Verklarende Platen en Afbeeldingen van Voltooide Werkstukken
Door (by) E. Siewertsz Van Reesema
Voorwoord van Elis M. Rogge
Bibliotheek "De Vrouw en Haar Huis" V
Vol Hardt En Waeckt
Amsterdam- Van Holkema & Warendorf
Part One and Part Two

I just saw on the Plimoth Embroider's Story blog that Plimoth Plantation will be selling Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 4. As with all purchases from the retail department of Plimoth, those profits will go towards Plimoth's programs, like the jacket project. So while this is not a fundraiser specifically for the jacket project, the jacket display will benefit from sales.

I plan to place my order soon!

PS: added bonus, the funds will still go to a good cause if you give your friends/parents/significant other this link for a gift for the holidays, assuming you are patient.

Tonight I need to knuckle down and seriously make my Halloween costume for Friday. I'm also trying to decide if I should temporarily dye my hair darker for the occasion or not. Tuesday night might require a visit to JoAnn's for some small accessories before practice to complete the ensemble. I'm so excited but need to get it done. I meant to play in the sewing room on my costume yesterday after I got home, but instead I succumbed to a nap and the embroidery. My fingertips were a little numb when I went to bed from playing with the embroidery, but they have thankfully recovered.

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I had a blast at St. Luke's Artisan Fair on Saturday, even if I was extremely late in arriving. I was a couple of hours late in getting up and leaving the house, and then I got stuck in some traffic on 95 just before the 295 exit around Richmond, locking me in. The plus side of traffic is that I was able to drive with my knees and braid my hair during the creeping up to the accident site. I had also forgot to pack an Acorn, but luckily I remembered looking at the map on Friday night, so I got there just fine. As soon as I checked in and was getting dressed I wished I had brought Roman. It was really freaking warm in the hall, despite being the end of October. But I got dressed, found many wonderful friends, partook of the day-board, since I was starving, and sat to chat.

I've uploaded the pictures I took, though I did not manage to photograph everything, and have to declare my favorite to be Team Cheese.
 Vitha put together a very compelling display, and it was darn tasty too. The depth and breadth shown was very impressive.  I even took the plunge and tried the liquid whey and the buttermilk, in addition to all of the cheeses offered. She had 5 cheeses available, some pressed whey, fresh butter, and whey bread. It was awesome. The cheese press made by Marcellus and Arghylle was frosting on the cupcake, and really made it a wonderful comprehensive display. 

I also really liked Sophia's food display, and declare the spinach tarts my favorites, but the sauce for the pork was also full of nom. I grabbed one of the booklets of recipes to flip through and then I will likely give it to theodorad  and try to encourage her to try some of them for a tasting panel to include myself. :) I also seized upon the opportunity to flip through her pre-view copy of Patterns of Fashion 4 at the end of the day (THANK YOU mmcnealy !) and was surprisingly able to keep all salivation in my mouth and off the book. *drool* I wanted before, and now I seriously WANT!

Other favorites included tattycat 's chocolate display of great intensity, as well as other only in Spain topics. Yum, um wow, need more of that whipped cream from the day-board and more water. Truly wonderful and she demonstrated great knowledge of the subject. I loved Mariana's casting display to include samples of cast tokens, buttons, etc. as well as the carved moulds on display. That was amazing. I am also a fan of baronessadriana 's stitching samples from the Herjolfsnes finds, Kaleeb's natural dyed wool samples, and an embroidered purse using the dyed wools, as well as orlacarey 's dolls.  Then I had fun visiting the various embroidery samplers on display with belfebe  and being amazed at the quality, variety and research presented. Janina's was lovely and impressively meticulous.

I also had a grand time showing off my pin cushion to anyone interested (and likely some not) as well as the pretty GST threads and my current project of a panel for my MIL (the center pink is almost complete now). I also was finally able to wear my hand-sewn shift with my petticoat bodies, which made me pleased, if a bit warm. Of course I've now got plans swimming in my head of an embroidered shift like the one in the V&A with the pink creatures all over it... the problem with successful artisan fairs is the bevy of inspiration afterward with only the same amount of time on hand.

Since Gracie was a little done, and the Moore's were my hosts for the evening, we boogied out a little early and headed to the Lone Star for dinner. The food was tasty, Gracie was charming and the company was fabulous. And then we were joined by John, Deedee and Amanda which only improved the evening, not to mention a peacock and peahen sighting. About an hour and a half later the kids were done and we punched out in a hurry counting ourselves lucky and extremely well fed. Then I had bdeb 's entertaining company on the ride back to their place, and we stayed up chatting and enjoying each others company until after midnight when it was crashy time. Morning came and there was more playing with Gracie and drinking the wonderful Diet Coke of great happiness, and hanging out some more before I got on the road home and left the hospitable Moore's to the rest of their day.

Fun fun weekend!

Book Meme
* Grab the nearest book.
* Open the book to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

"Apparently alarmed at the deadly efficiency of Saviolo's method, Silver astutely complained, "These Italian fencers teach us offence not defense" (Castle 130)."

No books near my comfy chair, just string projects, so the closest book is the top of Alan's pile on Elizabethan Swordplay.

I read in my email this morning that Peter Collingwood shuffled off his mortal coil yesterday.

Non fiber folks probably won't care, and I certainly never had the honor of meeting the man, but wow has his research and teaching made a huge difference. He's the author of the Techniques of Tablet Weaving, the most comprehensive resource on the subject. He's also the author of the Techniques of Sprang, one of the only books out there specifically for this subject. He's written other books on Ply-Split Braiding and Rug Weaving that I don't own. I'd heard that if you ordered a book directly from him he'd automatically autograph it for you. He's contributed so much to our understanding of these techniques, and I am saddened at his loss.

I am at least content to know that he was 86, and that his passing was peaceful and in his workshop.
Wouldn't we all love for our last minutes to be spent surrounded by our passions?

Well, I finished up the laundry last night from the exciting week and weekend. I also finished re-reading Beauty and started on re-reading Rose Daughter. I ashamedly ate a whole bag of yummy Trader Joe's Plantain Chips. And I've had a fun chat with the parents about our sailing plans for this weekend. Looks like the plan is to sail out after noon on Saturday, anchor out overnight, and sail back in on Sunday. This is dependent on dry weather since someone will have to sleep above deck under the canopy.

Friday night, after battling traffic to get home, Alan was disinclined to want to leave the house. So I picked up dinner from Harry's, and we snuggled in at home and went to bed a little early.

Saturday, I slept in late, Alan made brunch, and then we went out to the Men's Wearhouse to look into replacing some of his dress shirts and his charcoal gray suit. Sadly, there was badness at work, and he took a few calls at the store, and then we headed home so he could head into work. So poor Alan was at work from around 3 until 10ish. I thought about going out for some shopping errands on my own, but decided to conserve gas and money and stay home to read, watch tv and nap. Belatedly I headed over to Roland and Theo's for an indescribable evening of muppetry and alcohol. I confess I liked the Mhanamana alcoholic purple kool-aid, but eventually deferred to my signature Janice, a Mike's Hard Lemonade. Peep art was created (I claim the Marie Antoin-peep before and after, Buffy the Vampeep slayer, and Zompeeps), sugary snacks were imbibed, as well as savory tasty nibbles, Muppets were watched, music was sung along to, Hobbes the Fuzzy Loofa was played with while Ninja-Kitty hid, inner Muppets were more or less assigned, and a good time was had by all. Alan confessed his father's affinity for the Muppets, which helped explain Alan's otherwise inexplicable advanced Muppet knowledge. You learn something new everyday. It was a great evening spent with friends.

Sunday was more sleeping in, relaxing, watching DIY tv, reading and in general spending time snuggled deep in my comfy chair. I finally finished reading Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley, which was great once I got beyond the first 50 pages. In general I think she does better with young female voices, but she made it work for a teenage male voice this time. Quite an enjoyable read in my opinion.

Oh, and not surprisingly my inner muppet is Janice...

As mentioned in my previous entry, I uploaded pictures this weekend, but am finally getting around to linking to them. Because I am just that lazy/busy/tired...

So, this weekend was a good time. We had a lovely lazy evening on Friday, watching a movie, eating pizza, and then Alan watched much of the Red Sox game, while I indulged in some What Not to Wear. Saturday was Dave and Kymber's wedding. Running on typical Thies-time, we strolled in right after the procession, but I think we managed to quietly slip in the back of the bride's side. She was naturally beautiful, he was wonderfully dashing, the ceremony was elegant, and the reception was full of friends, food and a little bit of booze. And, wow, was the cake tasty. What a great time, and it was nice to see folks in their fancy clothes. I even got a little DangerBaby time, which is always nice.

After the wedding, we invited some folks over to our place for more hanging out time. It started out low-key, but we sent Alan and Kirsten over to Wendy's place to steal some snacks and booze, and bring it back to our place for the gathering crowd. Eventually Val and Wendy brought over Iron Chef like dinner, made from the stock in Wendy's kitchen. Dinner was great, there was extra leftover wedding cake that made it into Wendy's truck, and then there was a present for Val. I couldn't resist the new ducal coronet I bought for Val. Sometimes you're never quite sure how a gift will be received, but he was so jazzed he wore it out the door at the end of the night. It was nice to have more relaxed hangout time with friends

Sunday, Mike and Kirsten got on the road after breakfast of french toast and turkey bacon. Alan did some massive pruning of our overgrown azaleas, the blue spruce, and the holly, and discussed what to do with the boxwoods encroaching on the path to the backyard. Then we went furniture shopping for a new bedroom set. I had done lots of online looking and hadn't found the right style that seemed us and useful without being too dark or too over the top. After shopping at Columbia Oak and Indoor Furniture, we finally found a set that sung to us, though we never would have predicted it, at Top Drawer. I get to pick it up in the big truck tomorrow/today after work. I've also been brainstorming and searching on ideas for upgrading the non-furniture accents of the room (waste basket, shoe storage, lighting, bedding, curtains, etc.) but need to have the furniture installed before moving forward with those. I have a great idea for a quilt, but know that I might not finish it for years (given my current project pace) so we'll see if current bedding will work or if there is something on sale that I like.

Next we need to find some antique pieces (chest of drawers and a nightstand) to go with the antique rope style bed frame in the Blue/Guest room, and then we'll need to seriously look into upgrading the bathrooms and patio. The joys of homeownership.

and now I'm sick, but I went to my Dr. this morning, so I hope to be feeling better soon. I think I've been fighting a low grade something for a few weeks now, and I'm done fighting it on my own. yay, drugs. 

 What a wonderful weekend!

Friday night we welcomed the lovely company of Thjora, Corby, Philip and his daughter Samatha for the weekend.

Saturday was Lochmere Baronial Birthday and the Masters of Defense tournament. Kit and I arrived on site with the tents and stuff since I promised to be early for set-up, and I encouraged the boys to take their time in following. I was asked to fill in as the MOL again this year, and I had the excellent company of Adriana from Dun Carraig as an MOL-IT. She was amazing and will be a great addition to the small army of Atlantian MOLs. She must have memorized the handbook, as she was spot on and we got immediately to signing folks in and handling the paperwork for the authorization and transfer. First on deck was Brian's Free Scholar prize and some socializing. But, I'm not sure that my cheer was appreciated. ;) Then 18 fighters braved the heat to fight in the tourney, 4 heavy, 11 rapier, and 3 crossovers. Corby, Theron and Griffin went to the finals, which we did round robin style, where Corby was determined the overall Master of Defense for the 3rd year in a row. Philip was the winner of the heavy list, and Alan was the winner of the rapier list. 

After court, we took orders for Outback, called in the Takeaway order, and Alan and I picked it up on our way home. There was a great impromptu feast and party back at our place with the additional company of the Mellins and Morgensterns. Isobel sold some more of her beautiful jewelry. Philip, unsettled with the terrible caulking job in our guest bathroom, tore out the old stuff and re-caulked it in the right color and technique, with my blessing and thanks. He's just like my Dad, can't rest easily if something needs fixing, and I'm okay with that. Everyone was dog tired from the heat and activity of the day, so we weren't a wild party bunch, but we managed to have a good time just the same.

This morning, I was able to sleep late, and then we had a brunch of turkey bacon, asiago cheesy eggs and toast before folks got on the road for home. Alan went to work on the pond, deconstructing the bog filter garden and fixing the leak that has been plaguing us off and on since Pennsic. I did some cleaning up, dusting in the den, and hung up some of the eradicated iris leaves and sweet flag in the garage to hopefully basket weave with later. All I've read on the subject says to dry materials in the circle, but these leaves are too firm at the base to coil, so they are currently hanging straight upside down and I hope they will still be workable. perhaps I'll test to see if they can coil after drying out a bit but not all the way. We shall see. (BTW, anyone with experience in drying your own basket-weaving materials, I'd love to hear from you.) 

Then, whilst Alan continued to slave away in the heat on the pond, I decided to tackle the bookshelves in the living room. We ran out of space and the display shelves for the pottery and glassware were a bit crowded, so we got a new bookshelf with lighting and doors from IKEA and, after some shifting, had extra space. I was tired of shoving new books just where they fit, so I took almost all of the books off the shelves, re-grouped them by categories that apparently only I understand, and then put them back on so that we could more easily access those we like to access more often, and show off those we want to display, as well as tuck away those we like but don't use much. Clare, Ealdthryth and Nia would likely still be appalled by the organization system, but I'm much more comfortable with it. And now we have room to grow in several areas. I also discovered duplicates of some books. So the first person to contact me (either not requiring shipping or willing to pay for it) who wants a copy of The Book of Margery Kemp ISBN 0-14-043251-5, New Worlds, Lost Worlds by Susan Brigden ISBN 0-713-99067-8, or Invisible Power: The Elizabethan Secret Services 1570-1603 by Alan Haynes ISBN 0-7509-0676-6 will get a free copy. :) The entire re-shelving and organization took 3.5 hours, but I think it was time well spent. Maybe I'll post pictures later.

And now I'm sleepy. The things I didn't get to today was doing the re-caulking in our bathroom (inspired by Philip's work in the guest bath) or shoe shopping with Theo, but perhaps some of that can be remedied tomorrow after work.