Home
pinkleader
21 April 2008 @ 05:21 pm
Tournament of Chivalry and the List Table  
Brain fart. It is 5:20, and I am obviously not making my 5pm acupuncture appointment. DOH! I hate it when I flake out. But I called and apologized and rescheduled for Thursday. I'm sure there is a fee for forgetting an appointment and I wouldn't blame them. sigh.
~~~~~~~~~~

Remember this: "Oh, and yes, I do look over the sign-in sheets and will call out anyone I see who I noticed did not sign in." from Thursday's post?
Yeah, had to do that a couple of times. It is probably true that not all MOLs will continuously scan the field all day to check and see if they spot someone who didn't sign in, but I do. Heraldry works. Frankly it is not our jobs, but one I can't help but do. Oh, and the proper response to being called out from not signing in the weekend before is "Yes, I know, I'm sorry. I will do my best to not let it happen again."  Your answer should not be "yeah, I was running late, and besides, its only fencing..."  Really wrong answer buddy and you do not make friends with that sentiment.

Okay, it's not like it is difficult. You bloodly well will sign in at the list table when there is a tourney you want to get your name in. Why does that seem to be the only motivation? Are we not normally happy and smiley and glad to see you when you come to us at the tables? The rules haven't changed in years. If you want to fight at an official SCA event, you have to sign in at the list tables. You don't even have to be a member anymore. All you need is a fighter card and the ability to sign a waiver. How easy do we have to make it? (No, I will not roam around the list field going from shade to shade offering to sign you in.) End of story.

Yes, color me a bit frustrated at having to hunt down and report fighters for not signing in.

Again, I say Thank You to the 95% of fighters who are patient, kind and just who do sign-in every time. You stand as a good example to others, and have my gratitude.
~~~~~~~~~~

Tournament of Chivalry boasted 84 fighters upon the field, 20 of whom were knights. 3 members of the Order of Chivalry took the black and gold staff to marshal all day instead of fight, with several other volunteers, so that those 84 could fight in safety. I think this must have been the first Tournament of Chivalry to have enough marshals, as Alan signed in to marshal if needed, but relaxed in shade instead. Folks did seem to have a fun time both on and off the field. I just made it over to our dayshade to witness Sir Corby taking Girard as a squire of his household, and welcome him to the fold. I was blessed with excellent company at the list table as Gabrell helped me sign in fighters, and random other entertaining folks brought food and stopped by for a visit.

We departed the site fairly early to retire back to our house for cleaning up, starting the grill and eating some of the metric ton of food I made available. I forgot the chips though. We had a lovely full house of friends and "family" and much chatting took place throughout the evening. Eventually, all the tired folks crawled up to bed, I gave Gabrell a ride back home, and read a bit before hitting the sack myself. Sunday dawned nice and rainy, and everyone beat me out of bed to wakefulness but Corby. We made a breakfast of left over sausages and burger meat, scrambled eggs, and waffles. Mmm... waffles. Alan then napped on the couch as I checked email, and as soon as I turned off all the lights and TV, and went to nap on the living-room couch, he awoke, so I got to snuggle into a pre-warmed couch for my nap.  We watched some of John Adams, did the dishes and clean up, started the laundry,  and did more clean-up for the rest of the evening. I then read a bit, but my brain decided at midnight that the kitchen floors must be cleaned, so I swept and swept, and spot cleaned a few places before finally crashing in bed and calling it a weekend.
~~~~~~~~~~

Since we've decided we're not going to Crown, I contacted Ingvild and offered to come up and help out at the MD Sheep and Wool Festival in the Medieval and Renaissance Textiles Showcase tent. I've been assigned sprang to demo, which should be a ton of fun, and has me inspired to pull out the loom again and play with it some more so I'll have more examples to display. I wonder if I could set-up the banner stand Alan made for whipcording at the Children's Fete last year for a really tall loom to work on a belt or sash or something? The mind reels. Is it safe to assume we are to be in garb for the demo? Who else can I look forward to seeing there?
 
 
Mood: blah
 
 
pinkleader
14 April 2008 @ 09:49 pm
NOTT and POTT(ery)  
Night on the Town was lots of fun.

However, our pottery shipment had arrived, from our expenditures at Glades Pottery the weekend before in Florida, while we were at the event, and I simply could not resist unpacking the treats. So Alan indulged me and we unpacked all the pretties and  sorted them into piles, and admired the wonderful colors, and then contentedly headed to bed. I really should try to take some pictures of Walter's work in the sunshine to really show off how lovely his stuff is.

Sunday I had planned to head back to site for clean-up, but accidentally slept in and we didn't leave for site until almost 10am. When I called Gabrell he said that they were almost done and we didn't need to come out if we didn't want to, so we delivered Matt and Susan's pottery to them, and left Lisette's for pick-up as well, and chatted with the Susan a bit, and then headed home to work on cleaning and putting away and other chores, such as a much needed nap.

I've still got a bit of a sore throat (but am on the antibiotics so no worries) and am working my way out of grump and funk to life again.
 
 
Mood: calm
 
 
pinkleader
11 February 2008 @ 11:15 pm
Ymir  
 Ymir was fun. I am sick again. I tried very hard not to be Plague Monkey X and keep my distance. I got to meet Molly the Papi-poo, who was too cute and I hope she finds a loving home. I didn't do any service, beyond sweeping out the cabin some and perhaps some consultation. In general I just visited with folks and had a nice, slightly drug enhanced, day.

I did take some pictures of Lisette's heavy rapier authorization, Theron's knighting, and our silly partying back at the cabin later. Enjoy!

*cough- hack* Time for bed.
 
 
Mood: sick
 
 
pinkleader
29 January 2008 @ 03:49 pm
My weekend, laying to rest the last of that great generation  
Well, we had one heck of a weekend. Many hours in the car, many family hugs, some family treasures unearthed...

 


Yesterday I was feeling a bit poorly, so I stayed home and ended up napping for 3+ hours. Apparently I needed it. It was nice and relaxing, but very scattered and disorganized in my brain. Took me forever to organize my thoughts for a handout to pass off to Branwen, who is presenting the Plimoth Project information that I originally signed up for.

Lots of pictures were taken and have been uploaded from this weekend. Most aren't of any interest, but if you are bored, you can see them starting here.
Farewell Grandma.

0107ncfarm 106
 
 
Mood: contemplative
 
 
pinkleader
18 January 2008 @ 11:54 am
More? You want some more?  
Yesterday I was Posty McPostalot and yet I neglected to issue online Happy Birthday salutations to the [info]blondemuseon her 34th. Luckily I had sent her flowers, so she called me to thank me, and tell me about the wonderful snow on her birthday and getting to play in the snow with the nieces, so I got to issue congrats over the phone.

Saturday is Yule with the Trayned Bandes up in Abingdon. Since I haven't made anything new to wear, I guess I'll have the old green kirtle with red wool petticoat and gray wool doublet on. I've also got to make a run to the grocery store to pick up goods to make a couple of cheese tarts and some split pea soup to take along as our contributions. It will be fun to see folks, and I might take my laptop with pictures on it from our MFA visit to share with folks before the period evening kicks in.

It is also supposed to snow again tomorrow. And while I love the snow, I'm tired of it coming on the weekends. I mean it is supposed to snow during the week so we get snow days off of work. That's one of the great perks of working for a Uni, snow days. Yeah, the 1.5 hours off early yesterday does not count in my book. I want snow on a Thursday night with enough to cancel work the next day so I can sleep late and stay snuggled in bed.

Okay, whining off and stats on, thus proving I'm my own biggest fan...

Who comments the most on this journal? )
 
 
Mood: tired
 
 
pinkleader
05 December 2007 @ 11:10 pm
random *snif* update  

 Been back, and been sick. I blame the 11 hours on a plane or something. stupid sinuses. I think they are punishing me for ever leaving Hawaii. I certainly can't blame them.

I foolishly went to Unevent this weekend with

[info]theblueleader, which was actually not so bad. The best part naturally is getting to hang out with friends, but I did miss my Alan who stayed home to work on projects. Curia was quick and painless, the MOL meetings were actually pretty good at giving me a better idea of Youth Combat procedures, and dinner was entertaining. On the way back, Kirsten and I stopped at the Covesville Store to look at antiques quickly which was fabulous. It netted in me taking home two perfect end tables to complete the blue guest room, and some yummy fresh canned goods. It was really fun to look around and come out with perfect solutions in under an hour. This also meant that I got to surprise Alan with new furniture upon my return, and I got a little puppy time when I picked up and then dropped off Kirsten from our road trip.

 

The rest of this week has been spent catching up at work and trying to sleep off this sickness. Lots of sleep. And yet not enough. And we got our first snow of the season today. I think we have about 3-4 inches on the ground here. It is very pretty, but instantly lowers drivers' IQ by 20 points, which gets a bit frustrating. 

Hawaii was a blast. I totally want to go back. I still have snorkeling, and hiking, and more stuff to do, including more relaxing and chilling on a beach or something.

 
 
Mood: sick
 
 
pinkleader
18 November 2007 @ 06:48 pm
Holiday Faire  
In ~ 36 hours I'll be on a plane bound for a week in Hawaii. w00t!

Holiday Faire has come and gone and finally I can talk about what has taken up my time and brain space lately. Miguel's cloak is done. Hooray. It was a fun project, I wish I had had time to do more decoration to the cloak, but I am glad it came out well and complete. I tried to use as many of Miguel's wonderful fiber tools to work on the cloak as possible. The blue wool from B Black & Sons arrived on Monday, so I tried to work on the decorations first. I made a ~40" silk lucet cord from some 2/30 gemstone silver silk from Halcyon to use for the laurel wreath. The wreath was couched down in place with some of the same silk using one of Miguel's fine bone needles. I also used some Splendor silks laying around in white and blue to make the edge trim out of whipcording. Otherwise it was a simple half circle cloak, inspiration taken from the mantle of Roger II of Sicily, to show the world that 

[info]spanishpeacock  is a Laurel and to show him he's adored and appreciated.
1107holidayfaire 010

The day also hosted the fine Free Scholar Prize of Master Kit ([info]theblueleader). The set-up was lovely, the candidate was dashing, and the fights entertaining. Even the pups were all decked out for the day in their blue barding. It was fun to watch with many friends to greet, and some new folks to meet.
1107holidayfaire 018

Otherwise I spent the rest of the day chatting with friends around the event, showing off the cool stuff from the Plimoth Plantation embroidery project (like the cool gilt sylke twist threads), checking on  [info]dona_violante  and shopping a bit, geeking with  [info]cathgrace about the stuff to see at the MFA in Boston during our January trip, buying neat ribbon and tape from  [info]kass_rants , talking to [info]stringmonkey  about the knitting project for socks and gloves for Plimoth, hanging out with fun folks like  [info]duchessmel  and  [info]chargirlgenius  at the vigil and noshing on vigil food, etc. I'm sorry I missed Ragnar Ribcracker's Golden Dolphin, and  [info]gianetta's well deserved Coral Branch, but we did stay for the laureling ceremony, and then cleaned up the vigil tent quickly and got on our way toward food.

After the event, we went to  [info]kyneburh's for steaks, chicken enchiladas, and fine company. Dubis stalked me, and we had several one-sided conversations about how he's cute but touching him would make me sneeze, so he pretty much kept his distance, which was appreciated. Then we eventually made our way home when all the boys started falling asleep in their seats. It was great fun, but last night I slept for 11 hours, and I am so glad.

Lastly, I finished the backstitch sampler needlebook which was a gift from Wendy and Tricia for participating in the embroidery sessions. It was pretty fun, and their token cards were kinda cool to stitch on.
1007plimoth-needlebook 

 

 
 
Mood: accomplished
 
 
pinkleader
15 November 2007 @ 02:37 pm
another gripey update  

First of all...
If it is gray and raining and dark and you have to use your windshield wipers, for the love of all that is holy, turn on your gorram headlights! This goes doubly so if your car is the color of the pavement! I am sick and tired of folks not turning on their headlights in the rain. Like driving in the DC area isn't challenging enough with the other knuckleheads on the road.

sigh.

So, to avoid it being a whole week between postings, I should update. My neck and back are still tentative. I've been to the chiropractor on Friday and again yesterday morning. I had acupuncture on Monday evening. I've had a massage on Saturday and a different style massage yesterday. I know, I need to let my nervous system settle down. I promised Wendy OTMH that I'd avoid any more bodywork until Monday, but I swear, all I wanna do is curl up in bed, dose myself with magic drugs and sleep the week away. I'm tired of having a sore neck and spasms in my back, especially since I don't remember doing anything special bad to it. Time to stretch.

This weekend is Holiday Faire. I'll be there. Got a laundry list of things to do/people to see/ things to buy. Now if I can just survive until then without either landing myself in jail from the road rage, or landing myself in the hospital, I'll be doing all right. ;)

Next Tuesday I depart for Hawaii. I can't wait. I've got sunrise on the crater on Maui scheduled, scuba for Friday, and I plan on doing a ton of relaxing. I've already got a request for chocolate covered macadamia nuts for the office to bring back. But I still need to pack, and figure out what to wear. At least the weather should be nice and warm, but I do need to pack layers for the flights and hiking at the higher elevations. It will be the first Thanksgiving I've spent away from Alan in many years. But, it's Hawaii, so I'll bring a picture. :)

And yes, I realized I've complained about my back and talked about non-back friendly activities all in the space of 5 minutes. That's how I roll.

 
 
Mood: grumpy
 
 
pinkleader
05 November 2007 @ 04:10 pm
The joys of judging A&S (j/k)  
I'll have to bore folks with tales of the weekend later. We went to Richmond. We saw the Nia, Little Grace and friends. We conquered the cakes. yum.

But first, thanks to Corby's pictures, a visual insight into the mind of an A&S judge at each fresh (and not so fresh) competition.
(at least for me most of the times)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Man, I really hate judging. What are the categories this time?


Is this thing covered in cat hair? These entries should come with a warning!


You can't be serious? This documentation might as well be written in Aramaic...


Even Alan and Roland look apprehensive and uneasy...


I. Refuse. To. Look. At. Another. Pyansky! EGG!


Oh dear god, what fresh horror awaits us over here...


Is it unlabeled alcohol?
Meat pasties that have sat out in the sun all day?
A crochet cotehardie?
Not another patchwork Elizabethan court gown...



Interesting. Truly. Where do they come up with these things?
Some labeled alcohol would make this process much more smooth.


Did somebody say blue martini?


The world looks better already...


Hooray! We love happy Laurels!
 
 
 
Mood: amused
 
 
pinkleader
16 October 2007 @ 10:00 am
WOWII and AVFD  
Went to War of the Wings II this weekend with road partner Roland. I had a truly fabulous time, hanging out with a nice variety of folks, eating way too many of Oddny's addictive cookies, taking pictures of the A&S area, and seeing friends. I'll have to go into details later, or not, but I'm just too tired right now to do so.

Bests were seeing friends, seeing friends' babies (DangerBaby, Mason, Ellie), seeing the cool things on display, seeing the period chickens in the A&S area, chatting with Asim, chatting with others in the weavers meeting, hanging out with Oddny, Anneke, and company, being gifted with the coolest pink strand of viking beaded necklaces for my brooches, chatting with Seonaid and embarrassing Kaylun/Gabriel, and doing dinner with fun friends. I didn't get to see any of the fighting, but oh well.

Here are the pictures of the A&S area that I got:
 1007wow 024

Sunday Roland and I had breakfast at a Denny's (mmm... cherry danish french toast...), got on the road and stopped at Kymber and Dave's Arcola Volunteer Fire Department Open House, in theory to see Casper used as a fire training tool. Sadly, they didn't get around to burning Casper, so we decided to go for senseless destruction with a ten pound sledge before heading out to dinner. It was a good time, if we did get home far later than initially planned.

Here are pictures of an extraction demonstration and then our senseless destruction: 1007wow 061

Time for a nap.
 
 
pinkleader
09 October 2007 @ 03:12 pm
Bodies  
 So, I forgot to mention another best from Crusades. Seeing how well [info]gabrell   is doing on his recovery. When I said that I helped set up our tent a bit, I really meant just a bit. I saw Gabrell and Thjora doing most of the work with Alan on the tent set-up front. I just helped hang the wall for the changing area. I admit I was a little concerned when I saw him not using his cane at all, but eventually I just told him that I'm tossing it in the modern area if he needs it. He helped out being the time keeper for the various scenarios, a director for the populace bear pit tourney, and no doubt a bunch of other stuff. He even came up the hill to visit with me at the heavy list table and was moving around just fine on his own. Progress must seem painfully slow on the day to day front, but it is absolutely amazing from the outside looking in. 

So after the Crusades hoopla, I slept in until 8am on Sunday and [info]halowenslutand I debated on going to see the Bodies Exhibition down in Rosslyn. We had hoped for big plans and a fun group, but it ended up being just her and I on a last minute whim. So we were out the door by 10am, and in the exhibit by 11am. It was really awesome. Now this isn't the exact same exhibit as she previously saw, nor the one in the newest James Bond movie, but was fairly interesting just the same. Most of the bodies used were obviously male, and they were also obviously Asian as well. But it was very educational, extremely fascinating, only slightly gross, and just wow. A little bit into the exhibit I remembered that I had forgot to call the [info]attack_laurel   to have her join us. Damn, I feel guilty, but we did kinda make a last minute decision of when and if to go. So naturally I had to get her a little gift from the shop. It wraps up this weekend, closing for good at midnight after October 14th. It was great to see the various systems isolated and yet still in some kind of context. Like you never think of how many blood vessels are in your nose until you see them isolated out, or how few are on your head. It is one thing to talk about the replaced disk my mom has in her neck and a whole other thing to see the disks separated from the spine. The knees were cool to see too. Hell, it was all awesome, just not for the squeamish. Definitely not for [info]theblueleader . But I got the catalog and it is pretty groovy to flip through as well.

After the exhibit Cosette and I enjoyed big giggles in the ladies room of error headlines. Stiff opposition to casketless funerals was too funny. As was Regan, Ford, Neck in the race. Hee hee hee. Then we headed over to Georgetown to join Aedan for a relaxing and tasty lunch at a random restaurant on M Street, and then shakes or ice cream over at the Ben and Jerry's before we got on our separate ways home. Excellent morning and afternoon.

When I got home, I called the Morgensterns to see if they wanted to do dinner out to celebrate Crusades being over. While we pondered the options, I took a nap, and then we headed to downtown Silver Spring for dinner at Ceviche. Alan hadn't been there before, and we all tried something new. Of course everything was so yummy, wonderful flavors, nice mix of textures. Wen got what I ordered last time and I had to finish it up for her since it was so good. It would be kinda funny if I hit upon a favorite with my first stab at the menu. It was a great dinner, wonderful company, excellent atmosphere, and only a little (read a lot) of Crusades bitching. 

I told Corby I'd be done complaining about MOLing at Crusades by Thursday, so I've still got a few more days to harp on privately about the stupid shit I've seen. sheesh.
Tags: ,
 
 
Mood: cheerful
 
 
pinkleader
08 October 2007 @ 04:07 pm
Crus8s  

So, I wonder, is it fair to do a Crusades best and worst? Let's give it a shot and see what happens.

    Best:

  • Taking Barre's detour to site to completely avoid Apple Festival madness.
  • No line for me at Troll.
  • Petting the Eadric pottery, especially the really cool shallow fleur de lys bowl.
  • Chatting with friends and acquaintances: the Queen was so thrilled to have the new crown back for her to wear, seeing Richard ffaukes, Branwen Madyn Wallis and their no-longer-small daughter Marrisa again after several years, Michael elloquently gave Bess and I a greater understanding of the mess of bodies and weapons we see on the field, Gabrell came by to entertain me a bit, as did Kynny, Cunning and others, Ceridwen North and I were able to track down an MOL mystery, Gustav let me rant Crusades style where I ended the chat with "Don't even ask me to be the MOL-IC next year", and I got a short bit of Arielle time.
  • It wasn't wet nor raining (my response to all who complained of the heat)
  • The waterbearers had plenty of stock
  • Gwen cookies are truly addictive
  • The East MOLs shared their lunch with me
  • I got a little bit of embroidery done at the Troll booth.
  • Getting a shower when I got home.


    Worst:

  • It was awfully hot for October.
  • We got there later than I had planned.
  • I helped set-up our tent a bit, then helped Freddy and Alyce set up theirs, then got dressed and did hair, then parked the truck, petted the pottery and went to work at the heavy MOL table for the rest of the day.
  • Not making it back to purchase said lovely shallow fleur de lys bowl.
  • Spending five hours or more at the MOL table as the only Atlantian MOL on the heavy side and not enjoying my own shade and furniture down the hill.
  • The interesting differences between Atlantian and Eastern MOLs approach to paperwork, sign in, discretion, etc.
  • Chatting with the EKMOL about what could have been done differently to ensure more help from Atlantia in the future.
  • Fighters who request MOL help after the fighting and only come around to the table WELL after the fighting. Seriously, I was so done and ready to pack up and wondering where these monkeys who needed help were, when they arrived.
  • Having a clip board with paperwork in front of it marks you as a responsible target for the most insane questions/comments.
  • My ankle was a bit sore, so I was glad I had put on the ankle brace in the morning.
  • Outback forgot to include my side salad.


After the event we gave our Outback Takeaway order to Thjora for her to call in and her and Alan to collect on the way home from site. The steaks were very tasty, Cosette's contribution to dessert was certainly memorable (Mochi anyone?) and then we hung out in the basement looking at Corby's few pictures, watching as one by one the recliners claimed sleep victims.

 

 
 
pinkleader
19 September 2007 @ 11:19 pm
pictures, gatherings, and furniture acquisition  

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. 
 
 
pinkleader
09 September 2007 @ 09:58 pm
MOD and LIB  
 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.
Tags: , ,
 
 
Mood: sleepy
 
 
pinkleader
04 September 2007 @ 09:05 pm
Demo-nation or Coro-lition weekend...  

On my door at work I printed out and posted this picture from Theo. The caption I gave it is "What did YOU do this weekend?" Heh heh heh.

Alan I started off our weekend with a trip to Coronation for a transfer of royal stuff as well as to witness Val and Arielle's last court and the Coronation of our new Crowns. It was a wonderful last court, and I admit that I was very touched at the gift of a Undine from Arielle's hand. I also got all teary at Gabrell's well deserved Queen's Order of Courtesy. I tried to get more pictures but each time I pulled out the camera, I had to set it down to go up in court, for Gruffy's Pearl, Alan and I's Undines, and then for Duchess Isabel's due Nonpareil. Valharic and Arielle's reign was wonderful, sincere and inspiring. I do not envy Logan and Rowan for following them. May Their reign be equally inspiring.

I was really not feeling well. I half thought of hitching a ride home with Kynny or Lisette, but Alan and I headed down to Troy for the demo party. Despite getting a nap in the truck, I was a bit grumpy, so I got a Happy Meal and a nice long nap once we got there, and Alan set to work busting stuff up. When I woke up I was feeling much better, and helped with the making of the cooler full of mojitos, and had a lovely night hanging out with bad women and the rest of our destructive friends. demo-nation 049

We had a lot of fun at Corby and Thjora's tearing stuff up. Sunday I got in on the action, first helping to remove the nails from the breezeway roof joists, and then helping Corby, Bonnie, and Philip install the new clear corrugated plastic roof, to let in more light.  Then Theo gave me a nice lesson on how to operate the the front-end loader, and with some tips from Robear, I excavated ten loads of dirt and added to Fort Red Clay in back and the front fill area. Insert Tim Allen big machine grunt noises here. It was lots of fun, perhaps too so. Afterward, we had another relaxing evening of great company and tasty food. 


demo-nation 057Monday was too busy for any in progress pictures, but I did try to take some of the end result. Since Corby was on the backhoe, I cleaned up breakfast dishes, and then went to help Thjora and Bonnie take the insulation out from the dining room's former fireplace box.  Then BonBon and I got to work on tearing out the dividing wall in the laundry room to make it nice and bigger. That was when I discovered how much the crowbar was my friend. Love the crowbar. Then Robear, Bonnie and I started to take down the non-structural header between the foyer and living room. A job that Alan helped us finish up while Robear gave Thjora a primer on operating the front-end loader and backhoe, TLB. demo-nation 061 

Happily I got another go on the big moving equipment and created another big pile of dirt excavated from the former carport area. All in all a good day's work. Actually a good weekend worth of work on behalf of many hands. Folks and pups were dog tired by the end, and well deserved of rest.
 demo-nation 068

Finally Alan and I departed for home, got McD's on the road for dinner and made it home around 8. I had just enough time to head out to IKEA to get the parts for a new cabinet for our dining room, thus ending the weekend of massive destruction with a bit of creation. We still need to install the hardware on the doors and drawers, but it is already being useful. Now I just gotta figure out what to do with my mom's old busted buffet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, and the latest little meme:

NerdTests.com says I'm an Uber Cool Light-Weight Nerd.  What are you?  Click here! 
 
 
Mood: amused
 
 
pinkleader
21 August 2007 @ 04:50 pm
Pennsic pictures  
I finally got around to uploading the few paltry pictures I took at Pennsic.
The War Week pictures in the Pennsic 36 set pick up here:
pennsic07 003

Some highlights are:
The Medusa in the Gypsy camp that I had to get a picture of for Val
pennsic07 012
The elevation ceremony of Baron Angus of Black Diamond to the Order of the Pelican
pennsic07 026
And, Barbie Queens chatting after closing court.
pennsic07 035 

Despite the fact that I carried my camera for a good portion of the war, I rarely stopped to actually use it. And of course I didn't carry it to Atlantian Court, so I got no photos from that. sigh.

And for a meme:
You Were a Swan

You are a spiritual soul who sees into the future.
You are also good at interpreting dreams - those of yourself and others.
What Animal Were You In a Past Life?

I swear, sometimes I do feel like Cassandra from Ancient Greece.
Dunno about that dream interpretation though.
 
 
Mood: amused
 
 
pinkleader
13 August 2007 @ 11:45 pm
Pennsic 36 nutshell  
Home.
Got home around 9pm on Saturday.
Trucks and trailer are unpacked and the trailer is repacked for heading back to Maxie and Markie's backyard for storage.
Laundry is finally done, if not put away, and taking up the entirety of the brown couch.
Trucks are still muddy.

And I'm sick. Don't ask for details, I think Roland has/had the same thing. Think Henry V's troops prior to Agincort. Went to doctor this morning and got antibiotics. Have napped much of non-clean-up time, except for watching the 300 with Roland and Theo in the comfy basement.

Pennsic was wet, and hot, I either worked or lounged. My shopping days were mostly rained out. I bought no fabric, buttons, trim, jewelry (aside from my Friday end of shift impulse buy) and only a few books and bits of glassware.  

And yet oddly, it was still fun. Val and Arielle's fabulous company. Court mojitos. Kyneburh's Pelican surprise. The herb garden. Fun camp mates. Fruity punch during Angus's Pelican vigil. Theo's speech about the Silver Chalice during Angus's vigil walk giving me goose bumps. The 5-Man Melee Tourney being completed in record time, with fabulous help. The $325 raised for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Free Scholar Charity Tournament. 

yawn.

more later.
Tags:
 
 
Mood: sick
 
 
pinkleader
01 August 2007 @ 11:02 pm
Pennsic prep, or the lack there of...  
I am bad. 
I've done no sewing for Pennsic. Nothing new for me or Alan at all, despite my change in size. Eh, the big stuff still fits, just big. And I am going for less time than last year, so I'm sure it'll be fine. But I had hoped to make an outfit appropriate for helping out at the Crusader/Saracen battle. Of course, now the schedule is such that I'll be lucky if I can even see any of it. And still, it is always nice to have new stuff. Ah well. 

This week I've also been a total slug. I've fed the fish. I've watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the basement. I've re-read the last chapters of Book 7, again. I had a lovely dinner last night with folks and then went shoe shopping. I had two coupons for DSW, one that expires during war week, so I used them. Hooray for the sale section! I got three great new pairs of shoes all for under $60. A pair of black patent low wedges, some gold tinted fabric flats, and the best pink metallic flats from Kenneth Cole all came home with me. Tonight has been laundry and tv. Not even the hand sewing in front of the tv I had hoped to do.  sigh.

I guess I could start packing the rest of my clothes. Most of our stuff and a box of my garb is already at the war. Maybe, depsite all those who are desperate and unable to attend, I'm having a hard time mustering the enthusiasm for Pennsic. Even my retail therapy, despite the enjoyable experience, didn't make me jazzed for war. Perhaps it's because Pennsic is no good place to wear the new pink flats. I'm sure it'll be great once I get there. 

At least I hit my weight loss goal before land grab and seem to holding steady so far. :)
 
 
Mood: apathetic
 
 
pinkleader
17 July 2007 @ 04:32 pm
weekend wrap-up  
wakka wakka, wakka wakka

Had a lovely weekend. Started off with Friday night dinner with Corby and Thjora of delivered sushi, and much fun, if very laid back chatting. Christian came to visit and didn't actually get to our place until just before 1am. He followed the GPS, which took him through downtown DC, which means I had to grab a map and talk him in to our place the easiest way I could think of. Was quite funny. But since he didn't get in until 1am, that meant we were up chatty chatting until 3am, when I declared a cease to the conversation and bedtime for this bonzo. 

Saturday morning I slept in longer than I had intended and unfortunately took my sweet time getting ready. But after a bagel and some cold caffeine, we eventually made it onto site by 11:20am. I beat my time of after noon from last year, so figured I was doing fairly well. :) Got to visit with many friends, congratulate the newly-wed Wests each in person, geek with friends about a variety of topics, and in general hang out and have a grand time. The Pink Apprentice and I made finger puppets from the fingers she cut off the Baron of Dun Carraig's fighting glove, which was a hoot, as well as eventually making it down to visit the A&S area. Alina's weaving blew many of us completely away, and the display and documentation put up by Issac and Emma were extremely entertaining reads. After a little bit of good Queen time, and a wonderful court, we departed for home and a plan of Outback Takeaway. 

Evja and Theo, who missed the event, showed up at our place and we had yummy steaky food with friends and much hanging out and chatting with friends. Corby kindly brought his Wii to visit and we hooked it up to our projector in the basement. I did bowling and boxing with Evja, kicked her tail in boxing, and we all had enjoyed riotous laughter when Roland and Bob boxed and bowled. Evja and Christian were well matched in boxing, and pretty much tied. Isobel was a natural at bowling, but alas couldn't box with her hurt paws. As folks slowly dropped out and meandered home, Chris and I stayed up until 2am playing a game of golf, which was hideous, but at least we tied at 43 over par. 

Again, I slept in late, but we all made it to the Birthday Brunch on time at the Ram's Head Tavern in Savage to celebrate the Green and Blue leaders' birthdays! Food and company again were yummy and a ton of fun respectively. We even did a bit of wandering around in one of the antique malls afterward, I just had to check out the green fleur de lys transom window we glimpsed on the way in, but alas it was out of my budget and an odd size to find a place for. After attempting to walk off some of our meal, we headed home, called the Theo over and played more Wii. More bowling, some boxing, and Corby and Theo make a great tennis team. I think I have reclaimed my title as the Queen of Wii Bowling (on Corby's machine) with a high score of 187. Yesterday I felt every single lunge. We had a wonderful visit from Vlad, Callisa and Arielle, and then another later visit from Val, Arielle and Gracie. It was fabulous weekend full of amazing people, who we eventually kicked out to crash overnight with Roland, Theo and the kitties around 11pm. 

Yesterday after work, Alan and I enjoyed the quiet, and I finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I kinda wish I hadn't gone through it so fast, as now I have 5 days to wait for the new book. I guess I could go re-read the last 5 chapters again or so. Or maybe actually clean and tidy the house some. What a thought. 

The one disappointment was our freaking lotus. It takes a week and a half for the bud to go from just out of the water to fully developed and blooming. At the last minute, our bud got a bend in the stem so when it bloomed on Sunday, it was all saggy and not quite the spectacle it is supposed to be. The insects didn't seem to mind, but I was a bit put out. Pink and pretty and saggy. Alan tried to stake the stalk to a tall pole, but it only seemed to help in that the bud didn't completely bend over and touch the ground/pond. sigh.
Tags: , ,
 
 
Mood: annoyed
 
 
pinkleader
12 July 2007 @ 03:35 pm
HP and Assessment  
Went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night with the Morgensterns. We got to the theater in time to get seats close to where I like them. It was so awesome. They had to condense a lot to squeeze 800+ pages into 2.5 hours, but on the whole I felt they did a great job. I loved Luna. I totally want a pet Thestral. And now I really really can't wait until the release of Book 7. But at least I have the second half of Book 6 to occupy myself with. If you are at all inclined to see the new HP movie, GO! Heck, I took Alan who hasn't read any of the books and he seemed to enjoy it. I might talk more and mention some spoilers later, but I'll put them behind a cut if I do.  We should be taking Thjora to see it this weekend sometime.

So, now I have to face the appalling nature of my house. Alan and I have been sick this week. We've not visited with Mikey in order to keep our bugs to ourselves. We still haven't completely picked up from the pre-Assessment garb closet explosion, that necessitated a Container Store run on the way home on Sunday. The garb closet, when inspected last week for packing, had collapsed and needed surgery. So Sunday, Alan and I deconstructed, spackled, painted, and installed the new ELFA closet system for the garb. I have much more confidence in the current structure, and it's so pretty. But we decided we should keep our wool in a cedar chest, and we haven't gotten around to stowing the non-hanging wool items yet. sigh. But the new closet is nice to gaze at. 

Assessment was fun. I taught my Retainer 101 class to a small but air-conditioned room, and otherwise spent most of my time around the [info]isenglass  vigil and ceremony. She was certainly the sparkling jewel of the day. It was glorious and well deserved. Certainly one of the most creative vigil sites I've seen in a while. It was lovely to mostly spend the day chatting with friends and enjoying others company, even if I did get laughed at for my numb foot after using it for an anchor point for fingerloop braiding. Oh and we had the fabulous company of Robert and Isobel in the hotel, which always makes for fun meals and an entertaining time.

This weekend is the Storvik event. Everyone remember to wish [info]theblueleader  a Happy Birthday on Saturday at the event!
Tags: ,
 
 
Mood: bouncy