Jeanmaire's Journal

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:26:30 GMT

Finally got around to posting a bunch of pictures from Sacred Stone's Baronial Birthday. They're in my gallery under - what else? - Sacred Stone Baronial Birthday. Or try linking to them here:
http://pics.livejournal.com/elfsea_escapee/gallery/0002fdqt?page=1
Enjoy!!!

Pennsic Pics

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:41:33 GMT

Just to let everyone know: although I haven't been at all active on Live Journal in quite a while, I have posted my Pennsic 2009 pictures to my ScrapBook gallery. Or, if you want to share the URL with a friend, it's: http://pics.livejournal.com/elfsea_escapee/gallery/0002de6w

SAAD Court

Sun, 17 May 2009 04:12:21 GMT

It has been a time for firsts. Today was my first time attending SAAD (Southern Atlantia Archery Day), my first time shooting in an archery tournament, and the first time that Axel & I have held court since becoming Baron & Baroness. So I am stiff, bruised, & bit up, but thoroughly satisfied. I should be exhausted, but somehow I'm not. I'm sure I'm going to fall asleep tomorrow in the Baronial Business Meeting, but right now, I'm only the tiniest bit sleepy.

My story starts long ago and far away. In upstate NY, to be specific, where, while attending high school, I participated for a short time in the sport of archery. I was never any good at it, but then I never had anyone teach me anything about it, either. So I didn't do it very much. Or for very long. Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago. Well, I'd been casting about for something I could do that would get me more active, and lots of my friends are archers, so it seemed like a natural way to go. I just happened to mention that I was interested, and before you could say Jack Robinson, there I was in my own back yard with a bow and arrows in my hands. I got to practice 4 times - yes, folks, that's right - 4 times before doing the shoot at SAAD today. I was fortunate enough to shoot with my cheif attendant, Ommari, the Captain of our Archery Guard, Lord Guntram, and Lady Gertrude. There were 24 stations, and it took us pretty much all of the time between 10am and 4pm to shoot them. But it was a complete and utter BLAST! I saved the sheep from the rampaging viking. I saved a damsel in distress from a Viking. I hit the "whack-a-mole" target when no one else in my party did. Then, of course, we got to the clout shoot. I hit the first dragon on the first arrow, then spent the next 5 trying to unsuccessfully hit the second dragon. I never did get to shoot at the longship. (Maybe next time.) Then, of course, there was the woods shoot. That was kind of cool, but I really stunk at it. I did just one cool thing, which was when I bounced an arrow off the forest floor into the target. What fun! Last, we did the thrown weapons range. I've never thrown an axe before, so I'm rather pleased that I got two out of three of those things to stick in the target. I have to mention that we were joined on the woods walk by Lord Faeolin (that's probably spelled wrong) and another gentleman from Nottinghill Coil whose name I cannot recall. (Frankly, I am scrambling to remember the names of everyone from Sacred Stone. Anyone from out of Barony can pretty much hang up any chance of my remembering their name, at least for a while.) Anyway, I want to mention that Lord Faeolin, who is into making his own arrows, gifted me with a dozen of his finest. I was totally thrilled. Most people loose arrows on these shoots. I didn't loose a one of the dozen that I bought yesterday, and now I have another dozen to play with. Life is good!

Court was fairly successful. Axel totally caught me off guard with a big smooch just before we sat on the Baronial thrones, right in front of the whole populace. They loved it. We had, if I remember correctly, 15 awards to do. Four people weren't there, which we kind of expected, but then there were the children's toy chest to do and the call for newcomers (none at all) and the autocrat's report on who had won which prizes. Axel actually came in first in the atlatl category, which was nice. So court was short and sweet. We definitely caught a few people off guard, which is always touching. Makai was there with a packet of tissues for those teary eyed individuals. I thought Axel did quite well, although I was more out of practice. I have some ideas for how to make it go easier for next time, though. Of course, we will probably just get really good at this in two years when we step down. But that's speculation for another time.

Another Day, Another "A"

Mon, 11 May 2009 16:37:58 GMT

One thing I totally forgot to blog about yesterday was how well I've done in my Web Tools course. (We studied Expression Web and Dreamweaver.) There were two tests in the course, and I got perfect scores on both of them! Well, my grade came through today. It was not just a solid "A", but out of a possible 1,000 points for this class, I got 1,018. (Extra Credit) So I am truly, and thoroughly, pleased.

Wonderful Weekend & Other Excellent News

Mon, 11 May 2009 09:04:58 GMT

What a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend it's been! It all started Friday evening, with an actual, honest to goodness, date with my husband. We did a movie matinee & then went out to dinner. Well, we went to see the new Star Trek movie, and it was everything that was promised and then some. I can remember totally falling in love with the original Star Trek series when I was in sixth grade. (Yes, that was when it was originally aired. I was 11. You do the math.) I've been a Trekker ever since, and I found this movie to be not only entertaining, but very, very satisfying.

Then, on Saturday, Mistress Azza and her husband, Lord Alain, came over and together the four of us hosted another "Make Your Own Sushi" party. The idea is that we provided the rice, seaweed, and fixings, and everyone who came brought things to stuff sushi with. It was a fantastic party, with a large variety of Sushi, ranging from fresh tuna to smoked salmon to cucumbers and kiwi. Bassi & Svanna even showed up and Bassi said it was the first time he'd had sushi that he liked. My apprentice, Mari, made tempura with the most giant shrimp I have ever seen. We had set up our pavilion in the back yard after bringing it home wet from Crown Tourney, and instead of taking it down, we just left it up & used it for the party. So, despite the full house, we had plenty of room and 3 or 4 different conversation areas, which allowed the free flow of people, ideas, and pure fun.

Azza & Alain stayed over Sat. night, so I got up early on Sunday and cooked bacon for breakfast. Yes, even on Mother's Day. I do like my bacon, and I wasn't going to trust it to the tender mercies of MY family's cooking! But that was the last bit of "work" I did all day. I got the big loom half warped with the next project. I had fettucini alfredo for dinner. (Yum!) Oh, and I indulged in my favorite new sport.

Yes, that's right folks. I have now taken up archery! And I have the bruises to prove it. I DO bruise amazingly easily, and this is in an especially sensative area. But I finally made the bruise page on our household website. Anyway, Ommari and Guntram came over with Grimr after fighter practice and we shot for quite a while. I'm so pleased because, although it was only my second time shooting, I made my first official bull's eye!In fact, if you look closely, I actually have three arrows in the bull's eye from that particular flight. Everything just suddenly clicked for me on that one round. So on the next round, of course, I decided to back up another 5 yards. After all, if archery is anything like weight lifting, just when you're getting good at it is when you have to challenge yourself to do more. What's most important, though, is that I'm getting out and being active. The whole point of this is for me to get some exercise, and to do it in a fun way. And that's precicely what's happening, so hopefully I will be able to enjoy this sport for a number of years to come & it'll help tone my arms and get me outdoors a couple of times a week. A very good thing all around.

Thu, 07 May 2009 18:43:04 GMT

OK, so I'm not doing so well with the posting every week deal. However, it's only been about 3 weeks this time, instead of a month. But not much has been happening.

I went north to the Performer's Revel, which was a blast. I sat and worked on my weaving while listening to the music and stories, and Igor's food was, as always, scrumptous. Axel did his nearly pornographic poetic tribute to me, and I replied with two poems about cupid - one by Shakespeare and one by Ben Johnson. I had more, but nobody made me get up and do them, so I didn't. However, towards the end of the day, I asked the lady who had brought her (totally out of period, and modern) flute if I could use it, since I am a player. Unfortunately, although I play rather well, I'm not much of a memorizer. So I started playing "doh - a - deer", which is a natural progression & therefore easy to remember. Well, Cambion being Cambion, they started singing "Have a beer. Another beer..." I was laughing so hard I couldn't finish the song! Truly a lovely time.

The following Sunday I taught a class on tablet weaving. To one student. It was OK, though, because it allowed me to do a very informal presentation. But it was more than one-on-one because I'd written up an outline & did it in a structured way. So, despite only one student, it was still good practice for when I do the class at Pennsic.

Then I started doing homework. I did three - count them - three - weeks worth of homework in the two weeks that I was up there. I also had a blast having lunch or dinner with my sister and various friends. Oh, and I aced all the homework assignments, so that was good.

It all ended with going to Crown Tourney with my apprentice, Lady Griele. I was so pleased that Vlad and Kalisa won. This kingdom needs a northern Crown rather badly, and they're such a handsome couple. Vlad showed his sense of humor, too, when I spoke with them on Sunday. He said that he'd have a splatter shield prepared for when Axel swore his oath of fealty. I missed a trick, because I should have told him to have his earplugs ready, too.

I've been back since Sunday, and have now finished up ALL of the work on my course, so I am off for the summer. I took the last test yesterday, and I guess it was a good thing that I couldn't concentrate on studying. I kept having to start the study guide over again, which meant that I was going over the same questions several times. Anyway, by the time I took the test yesterday evening, I was more than prepared. I whipped out the one hour test in less than 15 minutes, and got a perfect score, besides! Yeah, me! So I have totally aced this course, and am now in the process of trying to get caught up on sewing before being contacted by the people I'm doing my summer internship for. In fact, I'm a little worried about the internship, but if it falls through, I'm sure I can come up with something to do for the summer - like sewing, or re-vamping our household web site. Actually, I am hoping to do the latter, regardless of the internship. Axel put up the household site a number of years ago, and I would like to make it look more professional.

Back Again (Hopefully)

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:43:18 GMT

I know that I haven't been posting much since Axel got his Pelican last fall. Quite truthfully, I was afraid to post while waiting for Axel's Pelican, because he reads this Journal, and I was fearful that I would let something slip, and then he wouldn't be surprised. Afterwards, I had kind of gotten out of the habit, and then in January I went back to college. I'm only taking one course, but it's an accelerated course, so it's more like taking two casses. Because it's an internet course, I can still visit my friends in Storvik and points north. But because it's an internet course, it's much more homework intensive, so my spare time is extremely limited these days. Not to mention that I'm a landed Baroness now, so my spare time is really REALLY limited.

In any event, I've decided that I would like to get back to blogging, so I'm going to attempt to put a post up every week, and this is the one for Coronation weekend.

OK, that was partly false advertising. There are no pictures of Coronation back here, only pictures of the Bockston Cote that I've been making for Mistress Aneira.  That's been an interesting project all by itself.

The fabric for the project was originally a light blue, kind of like a baby blue. So I decided to dye it a deeper, more authentic blue. I used an iDye packet, and it came out this gorgeous blue - except for one thing. And let this be a warning to you. When you go to dye a length of fabric, you need to wet down the fabric first, before putting it in the dyebath. If you don't the color will be splotchy.

So I had to take the splotchy color out, which is pretty easily done with color remover. But it came out this lovely shade of seafoam green. I was half tempted to leave it that way, it was so pretty. But it was too pale a color to be appropriate for the Dark Ages, so I went ahead & re-dyed it an indigo blue. Here are a couple of pics from the cut and construction.     The trim was inkle woven by Lady Belle, a young lady here in Sacred Stone who's been weaving some very, very nice inkles for a couple of years now. In fact, I can remember her as a somewhat shy adolescent at Pennsic who was so excited about weaving that she was giving inkles to all the members of the encampment. She is now branching into tablet weaving, and we expect great things of her.

In any event, and by the skin of my teeth, I managed to get the hood completely together, and the cote all together except for the trim (and the hems). I tried it on Aneira at Coronation, and was very, VERY pleased with how well it fit. The sleeves were perfect, and I'll have to take about 3" off the hem, which is pretty much ideal. I don't need to get it finished until Sapphire, so that'll be plenty of time to do the hand sewing, which is all that's left.

Coronation, itself, was absolutely marvelous. Well, except for all the rain on Friday. But I slept through most of that, then woke up at 2am, spent a fun hour or two in the kitchen working on the trim on Aneira's cote and listening to Gracie and her friend (Fennig?) sing. They were marvelous. Val and Tirzah were there for a while, too. It was actually a lot of fun. I saw Val at the party on Saturday night, too. He got ALL worked up over the miniature Alaskan knife the Drew had. It was about as big as she is, and he just couldn't get over it. But, honestly the best thing he did was the new Atlantian eye protector. It was the cage from a champagne bottle, worn like a monocle.

My apprentice, Lady Griele, ran Tempore Atlantia on Saturday, and did a smashing job. I would have preferred to have spent more time there, perhaps sewing on Aneira's cote, but in my position as Baroness I felt compelled to spend a certain amount of time on the field. So I dutifully trudged up and down the hill five times yesterday, so that I could divide my time somewhat evenly. (I really have to exerecise more. I could tell a distinct difference in how well I could climb stairs today.) I'm a little stiff, but it was worth it, and I'm in somewhat better shape, too.

Spent some time hanging with my friend Maeve yesterday.  She's a lot of fun and we're going to try to get together some time to do weaving some time soon. Seems she won an inkle loom, and would like to know how to use it.  I also spent some time with Llyr, Grendel, and Bors, who were great fun, as always.

The feast was AMAZING, and hardly any food at all went back to the kitchen. The creme brulee was to die for!! Val and Gracie together are just an amazing combination. I had a bit of fun at dinner when, to everyone's amazement, including my own, I "frizbeed" a pece of flatbread down the length of TWO tables, straight to the guy at the end, who was Calidore. It was a perfect throw and Calidore nearly caught it, but it shattered on impact. Half the hall applauded me!! It was a complete hoot, and considering my track record with frizbees, quite nearly a miracle.   Then the Queen came over and blamed the whole thing on Axel! It couldn't have been more perfect.

That's all for now. But, like I said, I'm going to try to post about once a week. See you soon!!

Ymir & Investiture

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:40:45 GMT

Ymir was quite wonderful, and there is much to tell. It was also Axel's & my Investiture as Baron & Baroness of Sacred Stone. I just have to say that, if Saturday was any indication, this is going to be a really fun job. I'm already plotting with Baroness Martelle, so watch out Atlantia, here we come!

We got onsite around 9:30, which was in plenty of time, since Windmaster's Last Court didn't come off until about 10:30. (It was scheduled for 10 am.) We had already put our garb on in the truly abysmal hotel room we had on Friday night. But I refuse to chat about that, and will simply chalk it up to Friday the 13th. The following night they gave us a different room, and all was well, so it's all over with.

Anyway, we Trolled in during a rain storm, noticing the amazing amount of polar fleece present . Yes, it's cheaper than wool, and very warm, and some of it is better than others, but WE CAN TELL. At least, I can. So, because I was in linen and NOT wool, and because the one mistake we make was to NOT bring MY cloak, I froze at troll. Fortunately (or unfortunately), a few members of our party were only able to come out for the actual Investiture, and they were considerate enough to leave their cloaks behind when they left. So those of us left behind were plenty warm. Except that we had to wear the cloaks even in the hall because they kept propping the doors open.

But the good news is that court was held in the hall, and not down near the lake, as had at first been planned. I DID end up down by the lake later, but it was while exploring in the woods. (More on this later.) So apart from being a bit chilly (or worse) in the morning, the rest of the day was truly glorious. It could've been another 5 degrees warmer for me, but altogether very pleasant.

So Rosalind & Gaston finish their court, there's a short intermission before Royal Court, and the first order of business was the stepping down of the Windmaster's Baronage, and the Investiture of their new Baron and Baroness. It was very correct and formal, and quite beautiful. In fact, it reminded me of a wedding ceremony.  So, while the Windmaster's Investiture is going on, I turn to Axel, and say, "are you going to swear fealty for the both of us, in Finnish, or do I get a part in this, too?" Well, just then Girard and Guenièvre started giving their oath of fealty. It was so beautiful. They had written it out ahead of time and read it in unison.  Again, like a wedding.  For us, well, not so much.

So Girard and Guenièvre finish and sit down on the Windmaster's Thrones. And then Marc and Alienor step down and are made Barons of the Court. (I may rant about court Barons at some point, but that's a different story.) Then Axel & I are called up. This was amusing all by itself, as the Herald got my name wrong. He called me Jean Marie. About half the hall muttered under their breaths "that's Jeanmaire!" I was so touched. I have so many good friends, and they're such wonderful people.

I just want to say, also, that I am so grateful to all our household and to everyone who wasn't household, but who was there to help and be part of our Investiture. Everyone went to a lot of trouble to look good - and it worked!!  As soon as I can track down all the pictures, I'll post some.

Oooohhh, look! Here's one!

Anyway, we walk up, do our usual little bow, and we kneel. Now, despite the fact that kneeling stools are available in front of the King and Queen, Axel kneels down on the concrete floor. He explained to me later that he was trying to get me to switch sides, so that he would be in front of the King, and I would be in front of the Queen, but at the time, all I thought was "Fuck this shit, I ain't kneeling on no concrete floor!" (He was worried about which Monarch had which Baronial Coronet.) So throughout the ceremony, and despite the fact that Axel sort of "scooted" up to the kneeling bench, he was behind and below me.

We go through the ceremony, they put the Coronets on our heads (and Jason DID have mine, and Gertie Axel's) and Jason whips out his sword and it's time for us to swear fealty. So, I just want to put out a request - did anyone video or audio tape our Investiture?  Because I would really like to know exactly what it was we said. I was so hyped on adrenaline (being the adrenaline junkie that I am) that I only seem to remember us stumbling a little bit, and people giggling a bit, but Axel seems to think that he really flubbed it. And I can't truthfully refute him, because I don't honestly remember!! So if any of you have video (or just a good memory) please get in touch.

That's pretty much it. Axel handed out some gifts. The Stanback powders went over really well, especially with Her Highness. And we are now the Baron & Baroness of Sacred Stone. Complete with retinue and portfolio. Wow!

Axel, of course, immediately went off to run Youth Combat. (What else?) And I was free to do as I pleased, because, you know what? Windmaster's Hill isn't my barony!! So I didn't have to run anything or put out any fires, or hold a Baroness' tea, or ANYTHING. So I did my usual. I went the round of the merchants, checked out the fighting briefly, did some judging for A&S, and just generally had a good time. There were so many wonderful people there, that I can't begin to mention them all, and everyone was congratulating me and giving me gifts. It was actually, in a lot of ways, better than my birthday.  There was even cheesecake!!  In the middle of the afternoon, I ditched my attendant and went for a walk in the woods with my friend Lady Maeve. (Sorry, Maeve, I know that I'm spelling your name wrong!) We ended up down by the lake for a bit, which was sort of a hoot, because it was a boy scout camp and there were little "virtue" signs on the path to the amphitheatre, which is by the lake. The signs read things like "thrifty" and "honest" and "forthright" and "brave". They were really a little silly, and when we reached the end, the last one was "reverent." Maeve thought it should say "irreverent" so that you get time off for good behavior, as it were. I completely agreed with her.
We then ran into Molly with her little girl, Kaleigh, and Grimr (Mari's brother, not the new knight). Kaleigh and Molly had been at the Baroness' Tea earlier in the afternoon, and Kaleigh was trying to drag Molly for a walk in the woods then, so the strong-minded child had finally gotten her way and Mommy was taking her for a walk. We walked back with them a ways, and when we got back to the field, Kaleigh wanted to go back in, but Molly & Grimr didn't. Then Molly got Kaleigh to flutter her eyelashed at Grimr. He just melted. It was so cute. So I went back to being Baroness, and Kaleigh went back into the forest, her two minders in tow.

You know, I have to say, and I do not mean this in any derrogatory manner, but it is totally fun to have minions. I mean, I am not into having people prostate themselves in front of me during dinner (thank you Mistress Alesia) but it was great to have someone else to carry my bag and get me water when I was tired, and just generally be around as a companion.

One of the only problems with Ymir was that I tired out too quickly. By the time the fourth remove of the feast was coming out, I was ready for bed. But when you're sitting at High Table, well, it's kinda rude to leave early.

Altogether a very delightful and memorable day. Certainly one I shall never forget.

Not Going to University

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:24:25 GMT

Well, I've officially decided. Getting the garb done for Investiture takes precedence over University. Fortunately, it was fairly easy to cancel my plans. Yes, Thjora, I went onto the University site & withdrew from my classes. Sorry Beatrix, but I'll get to see you in two weeks anyway. And thanks to all my friends who posted such good advice. I love University, but, like you all said, you don't get Invested every day.

Hugs to all! Squeeeeee!!

(And now back to my regularly scheduled homework.)

Baronial Investiture

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:09:43 GMT

First off, I'd like to thank all of you for the warm wishes you've sent my way over the last 24 hours. You guys rock!!!

In case anyone doesn't know, the Investiture will take place at Ymir. Yes, I know, the Sacred Stone Baronial Investiture is taking place at a Windmaster's Hill event. But Jason & Gerhild won't be at any Sacred Stone events between now & the coronation of Their successors, and it's not as if other Baronial Investitures haven't taken place in neighboring Baronies.

I am trying to get to University this weekend, but don't know if I have the time. My Web Design class has a TON of homework, and I'm trying to sew for Investiture too. Well, mostly, I'm trying to get some weaving done for it. I'm not sure whether to give up University or the hand woven trim. And I know that I don't have time for both. Any advice out there? I'm really conflicted.

I Know What I'm Going To Be Doing!!

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:26:41 GMT

Yes, folks, I'm going to be sewing frantically. On Investiture Garb. Because it's true! It's happened! Axel and I are going to be the next Baron & Baroness of Sacred Stone. You heard it here first!

Weekend

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:11:12 GMT

I feel a tad guilty for not getting this posted sooner, but here is the picture of Mistress Francesca's new silk banner, which she & I & Makai made on Saturday. You can see how long it is - she had to stand on the fireplace to hold it up all the way!

We were all quite thrilled at the way it came out. Now, I must remember to order more silk so that I can do a banner for myself! I do have one - but it's only a mere 6 feet, and about 15 inches at the hoist, so it's a little bitty thing compared to the ones we've been making on the 8 foot frames. There was only one glitch with Francesca's banner - it's only 72" long instead of the 90", because I had only purchased 2 yards of silk because I bought it before we made the 8 foot frames. And it was long enough ago that I'd forgotten that there wasn't quite enough! She was extremely gracious about it, though, and was genuinely thrilled with the final product. She was also quite gracious, although obviously terrified, when her dog Emerson figured out the doggie door while we were all at dinner. On the one hand, he'd been there all day without figuring out how it worked, but on the other hand, it would have been the work of about 10 seconds for me to have closed it before we went to dinner, and our dogs are used to being shut in every so often - they wouldn't have minded. Fortunately, Emerson just couldn't stay away from the beagles that live next door, so it took all of 30 seconds to track him down & bring him back. So no real harm was done, except to poor Francesca's adrenal system.

On another note, most of you know by now that Axel & I have thrown our hats in the ring and are in the running to become the next Baron & Baroness of Sacred Stone. Many people have asked me lately if we know about it yet. So, just to (hopefully) allay the suspense, please know that as soon as I hear from Their Majesties (through the Sacred Stone Seneschal), I will post here what the results are, OK? So as soon as I know, all of you will know.

Tragedy & Comedy

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:08:45 GMT

I just re-read my last post, and so much has happened since then it's hard to comprehend it all.

First, Axel & I did attend 12th Night, and we both spoke and read letters for Lady Aneira when she was elevated to the Laurel. All the peerage ceremonies were lovely, and my only regret is that I didn't get to visit Fiona on vigil. The All Peers meeting was a necessary pain, but it's done with. I see they're having another one at Ymir, but having attended the first one, I'm not required to go. (Small blessings.) Martel, it turns out, had made a Byzantine trimmed with the scraps I had given her from MY Byzantine. So we looked like sisters. What fun!

Sadly, after we arrived at the hotel on Friday night, we got a phone call from home. It turned out that Axel's squire, Lady Kellia, had a brain aneurysm on Thursday. They operated on her that Friday, and she seemed to be doing quite well for a few days, although they kept her in ICU. Good thing, because she started to deteriorate & they operated again the following Friday (a week ago now). They did 6 angioplasties. The prognosis is still good, as far as we know. Axel has been visiting her a lot. I came down with a nasty cold the day of12th Night. (Hope I didn't pass it on to anyone.) So I didn't think it prudent to be in the ICU coughing into her face. She seems to have suffered a stroke, also, prior to last Friday's surgery, which has affected the left side of her body.

Axel & I spent yesterday at Chansons de Sacred Stone. It was a very nice, mostly local, event. It was Marc and Alianor's last event as Baron & Baroness. It's so sad to see them go. They've done such a great job. They gave Kellia a Heart of the Phoenix in absentia. Since this was their last court, they gave a lot of awards in absentia. Considering the number of awards they had to do, court was over before anyone realized it. We all appreciated that. Also, there was a special toast raised to Kellia during the feast. It was very nice. I led dancing during the afternoon, and we had two separate ladies who came up to me with shocked expressions saying that their lords had NEVER been known to dance before. So I got to corrupt the masses. What fun!

I started my Web design course last week. In fact, what I'm doing right now is procrastinating about doing my homework. I got as far in the book as the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and just couldn't do any more. Of course, if I could get more than 3 hours of sleep a night, it might help my concentration. The nice thing about this course is that it's over the internet, so I can travel around and log in from anywhere & not miss any course work. But it IS an accelerated course, so it seems like we're going at a pretty fast pace. There's a ton of homework, so I'd better get to it.

New Year's and the Aftermath

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:45:43 GMT

The New Year's Eve Party was, as usual, a riotous success. We only had one person worship the porcelain goddess this year, and there were no wild orgies, so all together it was rather tame as our parties go. I indulged in several games of Scrabble that lasted all night, and then went out to the kitchen and cooked bacon. (Bacon is LOVE!) Oh, and I won the Scrabble game. Well, one of them anyway. By a landslide. It was a blast.

So it took me three days to recuperate from the all night stint, and I'm still not completely over it. I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night, and here I am up again. Plus it's Yearly Physical time again. Which means that I had blood taken this morning (rather a lot of it, too). I have a mammogram tomorrow, and it's back to the Doctor's again on Thursday. This stuff gets really tiresome really fast. But my feet are swollen up like balloons with little toes stuck onto them, and I need to go back & show them to her. I hope I don't end up having to do another glucose tolerance test, because the last time was such a pain, but que sera sera, as the song goes.

I registered for my web design class today. It was fairly easy, but waiting in line was a hassle. I promise never to let things go until General Registration again. It's so much easier if you do it early and on-line. The problem being that I would've had to pay my tuition a month earlier if I'd done that, and it just wasn't in the budget for December. January is a little easier.

This will be my first venture back to college since I graduated in, well, let's just leave the year lost in the mists of time, OK? Just wish me luck. Hopefully I will not need it, as I always found learning to be fun and easy in the past. And it's just the local Community College. (My alma mater is considered to be one notch more difficult than William & Mary.) But on the other hand it's been a long time. So I'm nervous, and determined to do well, although I'll probably be OK. I fear that my only problem may be some overconfidence. And the fact that it may eat up more of my time than I'm expecting it to. Have to just wait and see.

On another front Axel & I are expecting to attend Kingdom 12th Night this weekend. I was hesitating over what to wear, but I spoke with Martelle this afternoon, and she convinced me to wear my Byzantine, which I have to admit is a happy choice. If I get lucky I might find the chance to re-make the belt, but other than that it doesn't need any work, it's very, very comfortable, and it's rather snazzy, what with the silk brocade that I ordered from Russia, no less. I might sew a few more pearls on the superhumeral, but I'm more or less content with it. So I may have to wear my bedroom slippers, but I will be there.

Hopefully, I will see many of you there.

It's Over

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 07:30:50 GMT

Thanks to Galeran for the rude snowman Userpic. It was too good not to steal, and seems entirely appropriate for how I feel about Christmas just now. While I DID get some wonderful gifts, to include the latest Janet Arnold "Patterns of Fashion" book, and a fabulous loom from the Spanish Peacock, on the other hand the dog ate my Christmas stocking this morning, and my own daughter didn't even get me a gift. Plus, I had my yearly physical on Tuesday, and I'm heavier than I've ever been in my life. Terribly depressing.

On the positive side, I am still loving my new computer. There's a glitch in the music playback, but I believe it's a software problem and it doesn't affect my burning discs or transferring music onto my mp3 player. So I'll just have to find a patch, or work around it somehow. But so far that's the only problem I've found, and it's been getting stress tested pretty seriously. Oh, and I got a yellow mouse in my Christmas stocking to match my yellow computer. I'm so coordinated!!

Also, my flute recital at Axel's church on Christmas Eve went over quite successfully. I played Telemann's sonata in F major, and then a trio of Christmas carols. But not having played publicly in, oh, 35 years or so, I was understandably nervous, and had a serious adrenaline attack part way through the carols. It wasn't bad enough to affect my playing, but it was serious enough to keep me up till 4 in the morning on Christmas Eve. Those of you who know me well will be unsurprised to find that I did not stay for the service, but I had OKed that with the Pastor before accepting the gig. (Being a non-believer, I felt it would have been hypocritical of me to stay.)

Well, I need to get to bed. All the pieces to my new furniture showed up on Christmas Eve, and tomorrow is the first chance we've had to put it together & start using it. Something fun to look forward to.

Philippe's Party and General Stuff

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:19:39 GMT

For those of you following the attack of the inanimate objects that I suffered a few weeks ago, the mattress for the new futon sofa showed up today. (Hurrah!) It looks like the mattress for the loveseat showed up too, but as far as I knew that one hadn't shipped out yet?!? And I can't check on it unless I drag the old Toshiba back out again, because I left the tracking number on the other computer. Which I, of course, put away just this morning. (Dumb, dumb, dumb!) On the other hand, it was a big hit on my desk space to have two computers on it at the same time. And I don't have a lot of desk space to begin with. The plan is to add another shelf to the area where the monitor used to be so that I can hide the wires under it & put stuff on top of it. That'll help a lot. For now, though, I just couldn't deal with two laptops. Guess I'll have to set up the other one in the dining room or on the ironing board or something. Le sigh! However, the new couches won't be set up anyway until the mattress covers show up & they're not due here until Friday. But with a little luck we'll have them in time for Christmas.

BTW, I am totally loving my new Dell Inspiron 1525. I had spent $50 on a port hub, which I hooked up with the Toshiba. So when I went to set up the Dell, all I did was plug in the power, plug in the USB cable from the port hub, and plug in the audio cables, and everything was up and running in under 10 minutes. Cordless keyboard & mouse, printer, stereo connections, headphones, it was all there. Oh, and I have a built in webcam. Which so far has only proven how truly nasty my visage must look from the viewpoint of a computer. Oh, well, I've always enjoyed being on the other end of the camera the best.

I am looking forward to: getting my hair done tomorrow (always a treat), making Christmas cookies with my mother & my daughter on Thursday, and attending my friend Monsieur Philippe's Winter Solstice Party on Saturday. The party will be like a Victorian dinner party. There's a "pre-party party" for everyone to get dressed in the afternoon. It's going to be quite the affair, and I'll be wearing my best dress. For any of you that don't know, that's the green velvet Elizabethan that was made to set off the Wyvern underskirt. I wore it to 12th Night last year, and it's the one in my standard icon. I don't get to wear it very often, so this will be fun. Axel will be skipping the dressing party, and will probably not stay for too long after the dinner, either. Philippe is REALLY gay. And Axel is so very, very straight.

Hope all your Holiday are cheery and bright!

New Computer Madness

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:40:11 GMT

For those of us with over 40 eyes, here's a font you don't have to squint at.

I always go back through my last post or two to see when I last wrote, and what about, and once again I find that I haven't posted in about three weeks. Well, this time I have an excuse. I've been suffering the attack of the inanimate objects. For about a week after Thanksgiving, it seems that everything that could fail or go wrong in some way, well, fell off the edge of a cliff.

It all started when my desktop computer, faithful companion of nearly four years, rudely turned itself off, and then wouldn't start up again. I didn't even get the blue screen of death. It wouldn't get that far! I'd push the power button & it wouldn't get through the full boot up before going dead again. Well, the good news was that the hard drive is still in good condition & all 22 gig of informations could be pulled off of it. (The bad news is that I don't have it yet.) So, seeing as how it was Cyber Monday & all the computers all over the web were on sale, I just jumped on Axel's computer & picked out a new one. It was really that simple. (More on the new computer later.) So I was without a computer for a day until Axel remembered that we own an old laptop, and that it still had some life in it. Not a lot of life, mind you, but some. This poor little Toshiba became "the little computer who could" around my house. It has a 30 Gbyte hard drive, 27 of which were chock full of games that mostly didn't work on it, because it only has 256 Mbytes of RAM! After taking those off I found a whole 7 G of free space, most of which was horribly fragmented. Ommari convinced me to run a defrag on the poor little hard drive, and it took an hour and a half!

Anyway, after the computer, the phone in the kitchen died, but it's an extra one, so no one paid that any particular notice. Then the phone in my office died. OK, well, the battery was old, so that's no big surprise. Then I sat down on our old, kinda beat up sectional sofa, grabbed the handle to the cord that extends the foot rest, and the handle came off in my hands. Then my well used and much loved cordless headphones died, and I was reduced to using earbuds with the poor little computer that could.

When I told Axel that the phone had died he laughed at me. For a long time.

After re-creating my calendar on the old Toshiba, I kept printing it out for fear that THAT computer was going to crash on me, too. Which it did not.

Anyway, after about a week things stopped disintegrating on me. Of course, by then, I was almost afraid to leave the house. But things did stop breaking after a while, and no one was hurt or injured, or worse. (For which I am thankful.) My new Dell was supposed to ship out on the 10th of December originally, but then Axel & I got an e-mail saying that it was delayed in process and wouldn't ship until the 16th. But it actually shipped on the 12th, and I got it at noon today! Yipee! Not only is it a really spiffy laptop, with about double the speed and storage of my old desktop, but it is also Sunshine Yellow! So it practically matches the walls in the Girlie Cave. Spectacular! I now have 3 G of RAM, a 250 G hard drive, and a DVD burner. Built in webcam. This little beauty is so much fun, and when I travel it can go with me.

As to the other difficulties, I mail ordered three new phone batteries, for about $25 total, and that took care of that problem. The headphones were replaced, but off of Amazon, and for a not very expensive pair. The recliner was the last straw with that particular sectional sofa. It's 10 years old and pretty beat up from Diane's childhood. (OK, and the New Year's Eve parties haven't done it any good, either.) The sleeper part was originally quite comfortable, but has not been for a few years now. So after consultation with Axel, we ordered a matching couch and loveseat. And they are both futon sofas! The loveseat has an "extention" or "lounger" that basically makes it into a two seater chaise lounge in your living room. Unfortunately, so far the frames have gotten here, but the couch mattress is still in transit, and the loveseat mattress is expected to ship on the 16th. That's today. Plus I ordered green mattress covers for them, and the covers aren't expected to arrive until Friday. So there's a bare possibility that we'll have them for Christmas, but I KNOW we'll have them in time for the New Year's Party! Now where did I put that can of Scotchguard??? At least I'm doing my part to stimulate the American economy.

Thankfulness

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 02:09:32 GMT

On this day of great Thanks Giving, I just wanted to say that I'm thankful for each and every one of my friends, but especially for all of you who read these words. Have a Happy Day. Enjoy overeating. And Thank You, just for being You.

Hugs to All

Haloween - Bah, Humbug

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:44:32 GMT

I did it. I managed to avoid Haloween almost entirely. My small part was to stay in the Girlie Cave with the dogs so that they didn't terrorize the trick-or-treaters.

Seriously, I don't hate Haloween, or anything. I'm just not a kiddie sort of person. I love to dress up in costume - but I get enough of that from the SCA, and in a far more satisfying way. I'm not into being scared, scaring other people, weird makeup, fake blood or, worse yet, the real thing. I abstain from Haloween, that's all. I'm a Haloween atheist. I just don't believe in the Great Pumpkin.

So let's talk about something really important - politics. People on the right seem concerned that Obama has a radical liberal agenda. Well, frankly, that's what I'm hoping for. I'm just very liberal in my views, and if the country went a little to the left, after all the right leaning radicals that we've had for the last 8 years, I think it would help to balance things out. I just hope that they don't lean so far to the left that it causes a back-lash. But government a bit left of center would be good for a change. And they sure can't spend more money than Bush/Cheney have. Seems like good old Republican fiscal conservatism is dead, so maybe we can invent liberal fiscal policies that include radical ideas like - oh - balancing the budget? Why do I doubt that I'm going to see a balanced budget in my lifetime?

In any event, if you read nothing else in this blog, read this: Go Vote! The time has come, so just get out there and do it. I went and voted early, at the library, last Friday. It doesn't matter if you're liberal or conservative, black or white, thick or thin, male or female. Just do it.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog. Have a nice day, everyone!

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:56:17 GMT

Copy this sentence into your LiveJournal if you're in a heterosexual marriage, and you don't want it "protected" by the bigots who think that gay marriage hurts it somehow.

I have lots of gay friends. What really "sets my hair on fire" is people who say what they dislike about gay people is "the lifestyle", but then are against allowing them to live decent conservative lives by denying them the right to marry. WTF??

Axel Gets His

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:49:40 GMT

Can't believe it's been so long since I posted. But then, ever since I discovered that Axel was getting his Pelican, I was determined not to post until after it was a fait acompli. It was hard enough keeping it from him in person. Somehow the will to try to do "fake" posts, where I bemoaned my lack of energy after Pennsic, was just more than I could inflict on my friends. While I was pretending to Axel that I was in a slump, the reality is that I was working every minute I reasonably could to get everything ready for his elevation.

I made him a new shirt for his vigil, a new Bocksten Cote, with hand woven trim, and a capuchon hood to match. I also made new cushion covers for two of our three Italian chairs, which were used for his vigil. My apprentice, Mari, embroidered the Pelican emblem onto a piece of matching fabric, which I appliqued to the front of the hood. Here he is in all his new finery, holding the scroll that Aneira did for him.

Of course, it took a lot more work than just what I could put into this to carry it off. I've already mentioned Mari & Aneira. My apprentice Griele painted him a new silk banner. Right under his nose. Kisaiya acted as my liason to the Pelicans, besides working with her sister Fiona to put on a truly worthy spread in the Hospitality tent. Mistress Kiri contributed her lucious savory toasted cheese to the sideboard, besides speaking for him, with her husband Philip, as the Pelican representative. The Canton of Nimenefeld came up with some wonderful canvas to function as the Hospitality and Vigil tents for us, and set them up in a beautiful location, right next to the lake and by a flag pole for his banner! Master Lothair made & sent his medallion. I know I'm forgetting people. Makai took charge of the Vigil list for me, and her husband Sanooke helped guard. Oh, Ommari and Guntrum were in on it from the very beginning, and were of immense help. They snuck the Italian chairs out of the house, and did much of the set-up for the vigil. My apologies to anyone I may have forgotten.

Master Donal performed the handwashing ceremony. Axel then dried his hands on the linen towel that was specially prepared for him by Mistress Martelle. The four worthies were: Knight - Sir Marc d'Aubigny, Rose - Countess Bera Thorbjarnardóttir, Laurel - myself, Pelican - Kiri & Philip. The medallion was presented by Kisaiya, and the hood by Mistress Tannis.

The only real problem with his whole elevation is that it was originally supposed to happen at Coronation. And then this hurricane came along, and..... well, then I had to start planning all over again. So he got it last weekend at Midnight at the Oasis. Anyone who would like to see pictures can go to: http://www.housetaivassalama.com/pelican.html

Too Cool Not to Post

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:58:32 GMT

I wasn't planning on posting the results of this meme, but it was just too cool not to.

Your result for The Harry Potter Husband Test...

Mrs. Bill Weasley

You like guys who are cool. And not cool in that fake, dicky way, but actually cool. He's so cool that they couldn't find any actor to adequately portray him, so they decided to just leave him out of the movies rather than risk not doing justice to his coolness. He's like the Chuck Norris of Harry Potter: plain freaking awesome. When Voldemort says "You-Know-Who", he's talking about Bill Weasley.

(Fanarty by The Starhorse http://the-starhorse.deviantart.com/ Used with permission.)

Take The Harry Potter Husband Test at HelloQuizzy

In other news, I got a new cordless keyboard and mouse for my computer. No more trying to use a "wandering" mouse. You can even read all the letters on the new keyboard. What a simple pleasure. Life is good again.

Germane to the Conversation

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:31:11 GMT

Yes, it's another meme, but this time it's relevant. You see, my birthday is on Thursday...

Go over to Wikipedia and enter your birth date (month/day) and then pick 3 events, 2 births and 1 holiday that occurred on the day of your birthday.

Events: It's a good thing these didn't have to all be in period, because there's a dirth of Events happening on my birthday prior to the 17th Century.

1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the de facto ruler of Japan. (Traditional Japanese date: July 12, 1192)

1689 - The Battle of Dunkeld in Scotland.

1770 - James Cook formally claims eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.

Births:

1165 - King Philip II of France (d. 1223)

1535 - Shimazu Yoshihiro, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1619)

Holiday
The Consuales Ludi or Consualia is a festival which honors Consus, the god of counsel. It was a Roman Holiday.

OK, so it's been a while for the meme's

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:07:24 GMT

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

HBPS - The Optimist

Humanity, Background, Big Picture, and Shape

You perceive the world with particular attention to humanity. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the shapes around you. Because of the value you place on humanity, you tend to seek out other people and get energized by being around others. You like to ponder ideas and imagine the many possibilities of your life without worrying about the details or specifics. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You prefer a structured environment within which to live and you like things to be predictable.

The Perception Personality Types:

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

Pennsic Interlude

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:21:10 GMT

What amazes me when I re-read my last post is not how long it is, but how much got left out.

An entire trip to the bog with Amos & Ysabella, where I basically ditched the party we were supposed to be going to in favor of hanging out in Anglesey with Bors. Too much fun.

Shopping with Griffin for a mirror box.

Grendel adjusting Ysabella's back.

Diane telling me the day before we left that she didn't have any SCA shoes, and then going barefoot until the merchants opened on Tuesday.

Spending time at Sacred Stone's encampment with Baron Wulfstan and Gracie and Eyeolf and the whole crowd.

Lothair feeding me home made bourbon. (Wheee!)

Getting to know Baron Jorgen from Ponte Alto.

I really consider War Week to have started on that Friday when everyone came back to camp. Iohanna was already there, having arrived on Thursday of Peace Week and planning on staying until Tuesday of War Week. But, except for Axel, pretty much everyone showed up on Friday. Axel, of course, didn't come in until Sunday evening, late enough to have missed dinner.

On Saturday I stayed pretty close to camp. I really screwed myself this year with my feet. You see, I have plantar fasciitis, better known as heel spurs. In it's advanced stage one actually gets bone spurs, but it starts out as pain in the heel of the foot, usually most severe after sleeping or resting the feet in some way. Well, to control this, I do a simple heel stretch 3x a day. But when I'm on vacation, I don't stretch. And I was up in DC for two weeks early in July. Not stretching. And then I went to Pennsic for a week. And walked everywhere. And didn't stretch. By the end of Peace week my right heel was killing me all the time, and it was my own damned fault. I started stretching on Badouin's steps as often as I could wedge myself into my sneakers (which I need to wear when I stretch) but by then my muscles/tendons were all out of whack and it gave me only limited relief. So on Saturday, all I did was to go to Martelle's, right down the street, for a yummy dinner of venison kabobs. Except then I had to go over to Lochac for the apprenticing - protege-ing of my good friend, Makai. It was marvelous, and the walk was relatively pain free. That didn't stop me from snagging a ride home when I got the chance, though.

Sunday I pulled my shift on kitchen duty. Iohanna and I cleaned the kitchen after breakfast. Being the organized and intelligent woman she is, she had thought to bring rubber gloves. And as they come in two packs, she had brought a pair for me. (Wonderful person!) I actually took them off on purpose for the last part of the dishes, to give my fingernails a chance to soak clean in the sudsy water. But it saved a lot of wear and tear, and I will do this for myself next year.

{How cool is that!?! I just started my Pennsic Packing List for 2009!)

Once again, on Sunday, I stayed close to camp. Mostly, I wanted to audit a class that my apprentice, Lady Griele, was teaching on silk painting. She took up this art not a month ago, and has been producing some amazing work. In fact, I am embarassed to admit that I do not have any pictures to put up. (Molly, can you help me with this??) Anyway, I decided in the end that butting out would be the best thing that I could do for Griele. She was doing such a good job, and was so obviously enthusiastic about her subject, that I was afraid of getting too involved and taking over. I think I did the right thing, because she did a fabulous job.

Monday I worked another shift at A&S Point - my third and last one. It was great fun. I knew the ropes by then, and jumped right in. I was really touched when Rosamund gave me one of the few STAFF t-shirts that she had - to go to people who had helped the most. And imagine my delight when I found out that the "Philip" who was to replace me as shift leader was, in fact, a dear old friend from Ansteorra. The one hour overlap gave us time to get caught up, before I was due to meet Axel for some Power Shopping.

And boy, did we shop till we dropped. I finally got proper fibulae at the Crafty Celt for my Roman. Books, Books! I got the complete History of Western Textiles and another great book on Anglo-Saxon textiles and clothing. I bought tapestries at the Pillaged Village. And a bangle bracelet for my Indian garb. Pewter goods at Billy & Charlie's, mostly buttons. And more that I can't recall.

Tuesday through Friday seems like a swirl of activity now, There was more shopping: naughty bits from Willy & Charlie's, a two piece chair and folding table from the Basket Man, cards for tablet weaving from Miguel's (finally!), and reed for boning, more hooks and shelf straps from Panther. etc. etc. I went out to see the Champion's Battle. Magdelene de Hazebrook was elevated to the Laurel. Catherine Grace was elevated to the Laurel. Beautiful pennants flew over Vair and Ermine. There was a wonderful formal dinner put on by Rosalind at Windmaster's Hill. I inhaled lots of campfire smoke, particles of which are still coming up out of my lungs. I spent several delightful hours with Countess Elspeth, also known as the Hobbit, who was tenacious enough to come find me in camp, and who is one of my oldest and dearest friends. I was fought for in the Pas of the Golden Bee by Mistress Lyanna, a woman of high ideals. My search for a favor to give Lyanna led me to Duquesa Isabella, who embroidered a golden fleur-de-lys on a linen handkerchief - a perfect favor - and who invited me to Ladies Night. Well, I took Martelle to Ladies Night as the last party at Pennsic, and it was probably my favorite memory from this year. The guests were all women over 21, and the servers were all guys - with no shirts on. It was enough eye candy to make one's eyeballs bulge. Not to mention that the food was amazing, there was a huge open bar, and two gigantic wine bars. Martelle just stood in one place and kept turning around and around. She was especially taken by the light up baronial coronet that kept changing colors. So I went over and spoke to the gentleman. (Didn't hurt that he was tall and good looking, too.) Turns out that the coronet was designed and built by the same guy who helped invent the iPod. He works for Apple. And it was completely a one-off. So there's no chance that I can get something like this for her for 12th Night, but the guy did get me a very nice marguirita.

And a good time was had by all.

After two weeks of SCA bliss, it was delightful to stay overnight in a motel, get a decent shower, and sleep inside a real building. But, alas, it's over until next year, when - hopefully - I shall return to Cooper's Lake encumbered with yet more in a never ending series of t-tunics. Until then, stay well, my friends.