norsegirl

Still haven't washed those pants. Starting to feel a bit like an oversized 5-year-old "you can wash them when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers and I'm not taking them off until they're stiff". I really should get to washing them on my day off tomorrow. On the bright side, a cool skirt arrived, so I've been rotating between the kick-ass pants and the skirt. And of course I was at an SCA event on the weekend so it's not like I wore real clothes Saturday. Sunday was PJ day as usual.

SCA event was pretty pleasant. I had to waste a lot of time doing crappy exchequer stuff, for which I still haven't quite completed the report. I forgot everyone's names of course. I had to get up at 4am and my brain was all kinds of not there. Feel like such a moron when I do that.

On the bright side, got to see and enjoy Wernar's very entertaining stepping down (he diced his crown away to his heir). Got to give the largesse I made to Gemma. Got to have a little visit with all my lovely LJ friends (Mona, Manyra (whose name was one of the many I embarassingly forgot that day), Pandorasbox (whose SCA name I have forgotten now of course. Starts with a Y I think)) and other non-lj-enabled buddies like Tammy (old friend of Fenrick's, many funny tales)and Kalira. Also got to spend a lot of time in the car with Fenrick, which was fabulous as usual. I really like road trips with Fenrick.

Anyway, have to run and do some crappy training here at work - sigh.

I've got space for one more icon... what shall it be? I'm thinking now that I have the shiney new helm, that a fighting pic would be nice. So I made up a couple of icons using my pics from this weekend...



So which one do you like? A, B or neither, try again? And yes, that is an ugly circa 1960s gymnasium in the background. I'll take a new pic when summer comes and I can take it outside, but that's gonna be a while.

( More fighting images behind the cut for those who are interested )

I brought my lampworking stuff on the road. I first pulled it out under a picnic shelter at Avacal Inlands war to finish my thralldom graduation present. In the end I had 50 beads to give to Wernar. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of them. I'm hoping maybe I'll have a chance to take a shot later since it turned out to be a pretty good set.

The surprise at this site was that even on relatively still days there is still enough of a breeze to move the flame and redirect the heat. This made working very difficult, but I managed it.

Then it was back to Ontario where I set up in my parents' garage. I then learned that the ambient temperature can have a HUGE affect on the work. The glass heated a lot faster, the glass was molten for longer and the beads took a long time to cool.

I finally arrived at Pennsic and first I set the stuff up so I could try to teach my apprentice sister. That's when I realized that the sunlight was so bright that I couldn't see the flame. Which isn't a problem for me since I know where I'm supposed to be working and all that, but makes it hard to teach. Odette got to try it again early evening, but then the ambient light is really too little to see anything but the flame. Finding a compromise was tough.

The course was in a tent, so the lighting wasn't much of a problem there, and the walls sucessfully cut the breeze, though the heat (being over 90 degrees) did make working at all on anything really hard. The class itself was rather unsuccessful as it was in land grab week and wasn't advertised in the site book as I got it in too late. I only got one walk-in and my apprentice sister. However, it was nice that Odette got some quality time on the torch and I hope she enjoyed it. Unfortunately I left my brand new safety glasses at the bead night, or dropped them out of my belt on the way there or back.

I did a few more nights of work, but with the combination of too much ambient heat (burnt a LOT of beads) and the breezes, I wasn't pleased with most of my results. However, I was particularly pleased with this bead that I made for Heather:

First attempt at heaps of stacked dots:



Unfortunately, it was lost at some point in the week. I don't know if Heather had it or if I did, I have no idea if it's in my stuff or lost somewhere in the grass at Pennsic. Fortunately I got a pic of it the night before it was lost.

I also finished the beads for the fighting laurels' prize tourney but didn't remember to take a picture of them. Not a big deal as I wasn't terribly impressed with them in the end. The set started so well, but got totally derailed by working at Pennsic.

On the bright side, I did attend an advanced bead-making class, at which I learned some new techniques that I can't wait to try. I'd be in my room working on it now but my husband is out so I have to watch the hounds. Maybe when he gets home...

Quick little Pennsic highlight reel, I'll go into more detail later.

Spent most of my time sitting in camp melting. Also spent some time melting on runestone hill. All in all, most of the time spent melting. Did not make it down the hill at all during the day. Spent one short evening at Alyce's place. Circled the lake once at 2 or 3 am and found no one at home (or everyone asleep) as even the bar at Vlad's had closed when I got there. Thus, missed out on seeing Arnora and meeting her fiancee - bummer, maybe next year. Medb, I looked for you and saw you once in the middle of teaching a class (I chose not to interrupt). Sorry I didn't at least get to say "hi". I think I managed to at least say a quick hello to everyone else I had hoped to spend time with.

Quite enjoyed camp farthingale. Food plan was great. Company was fine. Location location location baby! Wasn't even too angry at myself when I got to the battle field without ID, no biggie at all to return to camp to fetch it. Fought in one tourney and one battle, which was quite enough considering all the other things I had to do and my complete lack of skill doesn't make fighting too much fun anyway. Maybe next year I won't suck as much and it will be more fun.

Did a few classes. Far fewer than in previous war. See above note about melting. Living up North means that instead of being acclimatized to the heat and doing quite alright in it, I spend all my time melting. Not that I minded the heat really, it was nice to actually have a summer. But it made me tired and lazy. Oh so very lazy.

But not too lazy to shop! Of course not! Bought so much stuff that I couldn't declare it all at the border. "Those books, oh, no, I brought those with me to teach classes with, yeah, that's where they came from. And I brought all that jewelery from home too" Not that they checked anyway, they never do. Coming back into Canada I think we had a total of 5 questions. Jason and I just look really trustworthy I guess. Little do they know I smuggled WAY too many purchases back, and I (accidentally) brought Canadian beef across the border. It came home with me and never left the car anyway, but it still crossed American soil.

Have come to the conclusion that I packed too much and that some things were probably a real waste of space. Thus, the important list of things not to bring to next Pennsic:
Lawn games (bocce and croquet) seemed like a good idea to play period games on Runestone hill, but no one ever had time to play them with me, or it was too hot for anyone to want to play
My archery equipment Jason will walk up the hill to shoot, I will not. There are too many other things to keep me busy. Two years I've brought it with me, total arrows shot at Pennsic: 0
The Tudor gown Kinda fun, but in the heat I can only wear it in the evening. Also gets really filthy and will require lots of time-consuming cleaning. And requires an entire Tupperware to get it there. All in all, not worth hauling it around and the space would be better used for other things
Lampworking stuff Sure, lampworking is one of my favourite stress-releases, but it is probably best saved for doing at home. Working outdoors with the breezes and poor lighting (either too much or too little) was difficult and the ambient heat meant I burnt some of my colours. There are lots of other people willing to teach it, so I won't try that again. And any time I spend playing with glass, which I can do at home, just takes away from time I could spend with friends, whom I can't see all year.

If I remove the above-mentioned items and the mundane camping equipment, I can probably easily accommodate the period pavilion I've got my eyes set on. Now, to see what my bank account looks like before I make a decision on that...

Now, to see about actually getting some work in today.

I am sooooo entering this! Now what can I bring as a prize? Oh, I know, beads! 'Cause I so need another excuse to make more beads eh? How many beads do you think would be a fair prize? Bidgie, you gonna join me?

******************************************************

This is the official announcement of the Fourth Annual
(Fighting) Laurels' Prize Tourney at Pennsic, this year
held under the gracious sponsorship of Her Majesty Denise
of Atlantia. While there is in our Society an event that
has been called a "Laurels' Prize Tourney" but which is
basically an "Artisans' Display" -- Laurels may not enter;
there are no prizes (other than word-fame); there is no
fighting or other competition, this is not it!. The new
and improved Laurels' Prize Tourney features actual
Laurels, real prizes, and lots of fighting...

The event is open to any member of the Order of the Laurel
authorized in heavy weapons combat. Each Laurel will
provide a prize of their own making. Apprentices of
Laurels are also allowed to enter. The apprentice must
provide a prize of their own making. New this year,
persons who are not formally apprenticed to a Laurel will
be allowed to
enter if they are sponsored by a Laurel; these persons must
provide a prize of their own making and must have a letter
of sponsorship if the Laurel is not present. (Laurels
whose apprentices are entering the tourney or who are
sponsoring entrants are expected to provide an additional
prize if they are not entering the tourney themselves.)

A tourney will be fought (format to be determined depending
on the number of entrants). The prizes provided by the
participants in the fighting will be arrayed on tables, and
the participants each have an opportunity to select a prize
from those provided by the other fighters, based on their
rank in the tournament (with the winner selecting first and
so on...).

The prizes provided by the Laurels who are sponsoring
apprentices or other entrants are given for reasons of the
Laurel's choice -- best death, cutest armour, best fight
with an axe, etc.

Combatants, if you would like to add to the pomp and
ceremony of the list by bringing your own Herald and/or
Banner Bearer please do so. We also invite any and all
other Brother and Sister Laurels that don't fight to
attend. If you wish to bring a prize of your own making to
present to the Combatant of your choice for whatever
reason, please do so. Whether it is for a chivalrous act on
the field a spectacular death or anything else that pleases
you. It can be presented at the end of the fight that did
so impress you.

This tournament will take place on Sunday, 14 August on the
Battlefield -- check the Pennsic Book for more exact
information on place and time or contact me in the Lochac
Royal Encampment.

The friends have spoken and I am no longer homeless. I still don't know which offer we'll accept (I do need to at least talk to Jason before I make a decision) but at least there are options that DON'T involve the two people who drive me nuts. They mean well, they really do, they just don't think like the rest of us and I don't think they realize what they say all the time (chronic foot-in-mouth disease). I know some people in my circle of friends have occasionally told them when they've crossed the line, but they don't seem to "get it" in the sense of being able to apply that information in the future. In one ear and out the other. I just can't see myself having a happy vacation if I set myself up for this kind of conflict all week.

( Eve thinking outloud behind the cut )

War was great. The vikings just slaughtered the opponents, both as a barony against all outsiders and as a household against all outsiders. I lived through a couple of battles, got a kill in one battle, and got many compliments from the spears I was protecting that I provided good distraction and they were able to get quite a few kills.

My veteran told me that as a daughter, I would be required to fight every other battle. If I had been a son he would have expected me to fight every battle he did. Being the good thrall I aspire to be, I did indeed fight every battle he fought, and even stayed armoured for pick-ups after. I was one of the last ones off the field.

I am now suffering for my stubbornness and my desire not to give in to my failing muscles. They have well and truly failed me now. Even typing hurts.

The feast was okay. Mostly fairly modern foods, and nothing spectacular.

The good news of the weekend, is that the beagles seem to be getting along. The bad news of the weekend, is how we found out this fact. While we were at the feast, Anna figured out how to escape from her half of the kitchen. Rather than destroying alone, and mocking the still-trapped beagle, she decided to free Lizzy and double the fun of destruction. The house was AWFUL when we got home. But after a lot of cleaning, we all went to bed, both beagles in a single cage, and everyone slept quite peacefully through the night.

Speaking of sleep. My tired muscles could use a little more of that...

Went to a FABULOUS event over the weekend and had a great time.

Beautiful day, shot a nice round of archery (with a better than my average but still pretty crap score), and enjoyed a MARVELOUS feast. They did it buffet-style and still had enough to feed about 20 people on the table when everyone was stuffed to the gills. I felt kinda nauseous from eating so much meat and had to start handing it off to the dog. A perfectly cooked roast beef, pork, veggies, salads, fruit and like 6 different desserts. Yum, yum, yum. Apparently they are known for the quality of their feasts and some people who couldn't make it during the day still showed up in the evening for the feast 'cause it's just that good.

Anyway, the evening was where it really got interesting...

I entered their bardic competition. Mostly because I'd been watching (and feeling bad about) a bunch of poorly attended competitions earlier in the day (the A&S and Fencing champions both won because they were the only comers) and felt there is more honour in the winner being able to defeat a larger group. I never thought I'd win or even be in serious contention, I mean, I'm a singer, not a bard. Yeah, I have a great set of pipes and I'm not scared to admit that, but I can't write worth sh!t, and back home, that makes you a second-class bard. Yeah, you can sing, if none of the real bards show up ;)

There were two entrants with original pieces (one written on a napkin during feast no less), myself and two others singing stuff written by others, and a final entrant (a professional) doing opera (which was WAY cool by the way). Of the original writers, only one could carry a tune, but back home, as writing is more valuable than vocal ability, I figured he'd still come in ahead of me. The one that could carry a tune was okay vocally, but his song was FABULOUS, very rousing and I loved it! I figured he was the hands-down, opened a can of whup-ass champion. Anyway, after a long conferral during which we kept the circle going, the judges came back and asked for one more piece from the finalists, me and the in-tune original composition guy. Me? Me?!?!?! Hold the phone, you think *I* am a serious bard?!?!?! And, um, I've already done the only three pieces I know by heart! And of course no one has an Ealdormerean songbook, like, duh. So I did a chorus (I know choruses, I know ALL KINDS of choruses because as a singer, I am always part of that great "Ealdormerean choir" so all I have to know is choruses, I don't know no stinkin' verses!) though I at least picked a long chorus :) Or it might have been one verse and a chorus, I don't know. Em, want to send me the Little People words so I can see what exactly I was singing?

Anyway, the other guy won (phew, cause I would have felt REALLY bad winning when in my eyes he whipped me) and the judge came up to me after and said "it was CLOSE, we decided if you knew one more song, you would have won". To which I responded, "yeah, and there's the fact that he wrote his piece" and the judge answered "that doesn't matter". !?!?!?!?! Since when does that not matter????? I am sooo glad I didn't sing "My cup fell in the ice chest", as though I have that one memorized, I judged it not to be a competition piece. But isn't that the strangest thing?!?! Back home I would never have thought to enter in anything but a performance contest as back home, I'm not considered a "real" bard. But out here, they don't judge the same way and there seems to be classes in performance ability rather than writing ability - weirding me out still.

Anyway, the other weirdness I ran into around this fire was someone explaining why they hold and enter bardic challenges, because they hope to one day be on the same respect level as the fighters - wow, back home that's already the case, and I don't remember it being through competition. In fact I've only ever seen two competitions; the Leith competition between three story-tellers (Japanese, Norse and the third was German, French, I forget) as to who could tell the best story in their native style, and it had to include beets (that was SUCH a kick-ass competition) and the Baronial Bardic competition between Ivhon and Naga for Baronial Bard of Ramshaven (where it was decided they should share the title). We didn't compete, we just ALL sung together (like the whole damn kingdom) and if there was a bardic fire, everyone showed up, and there were never silences, at all, it was hard to jump in even. There were silent spots in this fire where people actively were asking who would go next and where people were racking their brains for repertiore! So exciting to be here at the inception (or reviving - I don't know which) of a bardic tradition!

I could get respected as a serious bard here!!!! The thought alone is blowing my mind...

Anyway, in honour of this kewlness, I am going to try a little something new. Instead of staying up all night sewing so I can have a new piece of garb for every event, I'm going to re-direct my energies into memorizing a new song for every event. So, where to start...

And why isn't "inspired" or "anticipatory" moods on this stupid thing? I keep having to settle for "close enough", and that is vexing me. Like do we really need the 10 different ways they've put "angry" in there?

And another thing, the spellchecker is hella-annoying when you write about SCA things or use Canadian spelling. >grrrr