Moving day

This will be the last post that I make on From Lijsbet's Desk. I am upgrading to the new-and-improved Blogger and managing two blogs on this one user profile seems like it will become cumbersome. I'm migrating over to my nearly inactive Live Journal account, which includes the chore of re-posting all Lijsbet's Desk's content into another format. I have to say that I find Blogger much friendlier to the frequent-picture-poster user. We'll see.

The saga continues, but not here. Check out http://msts-eirene.livejournal.com/ for the ongoing epic.

Saffron

Since they were half-price, I indulged in an indulgence in which I've been hoping to indulge for awhile; I bought two-dozen saffron crocus bulbs.

Now, saffron crocus are fall-blooming, and I guess these guys had made their best "go" at it. A couple of the corms had actually put out blossoms inside the paper bags, and so we got a sneak-taste of the flavor. Understanding that the blossoms had not the benefit of soil or sunshine, the stigmas were a bit subtle in intensity, but the distinctive flavor came through nonetheless.

I'm planning on locating them in the period herb garden. The beautiful days this week might make it easy to get them in the ground before Thanksgiving.

Heraldry

I've been doing heraldry for some time, mostly heraldic display. While I was Kingdom Scribe, Timothy who was then White Stag, made me a pursuivant. I've done a lot of banner work, but other than that, I haven't really done much with it. I feel the need to do more; it'd sure be nice to be a Herald one day!

This didn't just happen - I've been somewhat chargrined by the service that I've had in recent submissions. In short, the Companie badge was originally changed without my authorization and subsequently lost. Consequently I have to re-submit my re-submission, a process complicated by missing old forms, and the requirement for new forms. In the middle of filling out the new form, i got to thinking. "Gee, I could learn commenting. I've always wanted to learn. And I can do it from anywhere."

I have been thinking about ways that I can continue to serve the Society with my work being as it is. And this seems a likely candidate. So I spoke to Conrad last night, and he's on-board with it. This seems like a cool thing!

Laurel's list

My maredudd@caerthe.org account hasn't been the easiest thing to get to for about a year, since the hosting changed. I've pretty much ignored it, and haven't given out the address to anyone for some time.

However, I recently had to retrieve a password from maredudd@caerthe.org, and this meant that I not only had to get to it, but I had to figure out an easy way to access it.

I have to admit that there were over 7,000 e-mails in it. Yes, that's a seven and three zeroes. Of those, about 5,000 were from the Laurel's list. That's five thousand posts from the Known World's laurels in about a year. Of course, my first inclination is just to delete them all, but I didn't. I'm reading them all.

Well, not the "Happy New Year" posts, or the off topic posts, but I am reading about "bog coats" and "R&D" and using safer materials in A&S projects than lead or hemlock. It's tedious, it's a challenge, but it's important to me.

In the past two-plus years, there simply hasn't been enough time for work, for my family, for housekeeping, for holidays, for the garden, and for the SCA. I feel disconnected. I feel like I can't advise the Crown on who needs awards; I feel like I can't promote the things that I find meaningful inthe SCA; I feel like I can't contribute to the growth of my apprentice and proto-apprentice; I feel like I can't contribute like a Laurel should contribute. I can't get new clothing made, although it's been cut out for months. I can't even keep up on this SCA blog! In some ways, it seems like reading all those old posts is allowing me to be just a tiny bit more in the swing of things.

Now, if I could just motivate for a vigil tonight and a baronial A&S tomorrow, while the house needs picking up before Mile High Maids gets here, Halloween costumes need to be done, I need some sleep, Evan needs time for homework, and so on.

At least with the e-mail lists, I can fit reading in between crises at work. It feels good. And now I have to go prepare for the maid service......

Three Stags - Monday

Monday. Warm, sunny and busy.

I arose at 7:00; the sunshine in the tent was too bright, and with the help of Benedryl, I'd finally got a good night's sleep. I did however have the beginnings of what is so far a day-and-a-half migraine. I dressed quietly, leaving Evan asleep in bed, and started to heat water for dishes. I was unable to beat Sancha to the dishes, and she picked up their dirties before I had a chance to do the right thing with them.

After Evan and Savina arose, we made breakfast, me with a mug of tea, Savina with her coffee, and Evan with his hot chocolate. At least each was in a period container. We began the organizing and packing. It was pretty leisurely until we noticed that Aegis was flat. Fearing that they'd be away before we could be ready to drop the tents, we rushed to empty them and summoned help from our friends. I was amazed at the kindness with which they agreed to help; I really must cook for them again.

With the heavy labor done, and Aegis thanked, we again returned to the rather leisurely organization of camp accoutrement. The task was made somewhat more difficult for me by my period shoes. The soles have very little traction; I was sliding everywhere. It was almost like walking in sand. I considered changing into civvies, but I would have been more uncomfortable in black jeans at 6000 feet than my wool kirtle, and so I persisted. Between the headache and the shoes, I wasn't moving very fast.

We had the pleasant diversion of Sancha and Domingo a couple times during the day; their visits gave us the excuse to sit and rest a bit. Evan of course played with Tristan for most of the morning, and so was out of the way. After Savina brought up her minivan, he pretty much sat inside, playing the LMax. Happy as a clam, Savina said.

We left the kitchen fly for the last, since it was our most reliable and complete shade. My goal was to get everything into our minivan other than Evan. On the ride down, we'd shoved blankets and sleeping bags into Savina's van, in addition to Evan. The bed had ridden in a canvas bag atop the minivan. This time I got everything inside the minivan, other than the tent poles. Of course, one chest, a duffel and a bag of laundry came home with Robert the night before, and so perhaps it wasn't the victory I counted it to be. But it felt good at the time.

We managed to get out of Elizabeth at about 2:10 on Monday. It was a good event.

Three Stags - Sunday

An early Sunday trip to the garderrobe predicted that the day would dawn clear and bright. The weather did not fail to disappoint. Since Savina and I had intended to attend Jentien's hosen class at 10:00, it was deemed a good day to patronize the breakfast offered by the event. I have to say that Mistress Kate's waffles were excellent, and although it wasn't exactly period food we ate indoors at a plastic table sitting on plastic chairs. It was not a medieval moment.

Jentien's class was top-notch as usual. Not being particularly adept at hand-sewing, it took me longer than Savina and Sancha to stitch together a stocking. I did take measurements of Robert and Evan for future use, though. After class we all returned to camp. After doing the dishes, I again went to the market. We'd invited Jentien, Arwen and Guillaume, and Domingo and Sancha to supper, and although Domingo and Sancha, and Jentien contributed to the meal, I of course worry that there won't be enough food. I picked up two more loaves of bread and some olives at the market, as well as some hot chocolate for Evan's breakfast and another two gallons of water. I also picked up another box of Kleenex, as the box we'd brought was quickly running low.

After lunching with Jentien, we went back to the building for the turnshoe class. By this point, all of us were becoming impatient with the apparent allergic response we were having to the environment. Savina passed out the antihistamine, which proved to be a mistake. I was fuzzy all during Jentien's class, and had to keep running to the bathroom for something with which to wipe my nose. Once at a stopping place, I excused myself to return to camp to get ready for supper. I had pre-cooked a mince of meat from Le Menagier, according to Anne Marie d'Allieurs' version, although I used beef chuck roast rather than lamb. I happen to like this stew-like dish very much. It of course had to be heated up.

Heating food is a bit of a trick when you're running a period camp and can't have a fire. We had compromised by installing our propane stove inside the Northstar. It was nice to have hot water for tea, coffee, and cocoa, and for dish washing. I have thought a bit about creating a separate tent, situated in the rear of the camp and unobtrusive, to contain such necessary appliances when the site prohibits other means of creating hot comestibles. It was convenient in the Northstar, but somewhat inconsistent with the otherwise period interior. Oh, well, I suppose the stuffed blue bunny, the puffin, and the small turquoise hippo probably did their part as well.

Sir Domingo and his Lady wife Sancha contributed an excellent lemon-flavored chicken dish to our simple fare, as well as delectable almond tarts. Lady Jentien brought cheeses and pears, Arwen and Guillaume contributed several tasty tidbits. There were olives and dried fruits, and hippocras as well.

We lingered long into the evening talking and enjoying the candlelight and company. It was perhaps one of my most memorable medieval moments, made magical by the delectable
period food, the fine company, and the setting. Topics of discussion included continuations of several conversations of the day, notably one we'd had with Matilda about communicating the joy in what we were doing. It's an elusive thing, how to show people that authenticity is fun. As a group, we're still mulling that one over.

Evan had asked to go to bed at about 8:30. I tucked him and a little later organized Robert to drive him the 45 minutes home. Although he had to work yesterday, it was OK - we like the overtime pay. Leaving a sleeping Evan in Savina's care, we headed home.

I was eager to get a shower, and pretty much made a beeline for our bathroom upon arriving home. I also took Savina's suggestion and donned a pair of sweatpants for sleeping. I had been coldish the night before with Robert in the bed, and this night was to be just me - that is until Evan would crawl in with me. After a fill-up at the Conoco, I headed south.

This time, I took Mapquest's directions, and used I-25 and E-470 for the first legs south and west. I found it shaved about 10 minutes off the drive time. I arrived back at camp shortly after 11:00 and found Evan in pretty much the position in which I'd left him. I took some Benedryl for the allergies and crashed. Predictably, Evan joined me some time in the middle of the night, and I noticed for the first time that he was suffering from allergies, too. I think I blew his nose all night so he could breathe.

Three Stags - Saturday

Alas, not as early a start as could be hoped for on Saturday. Nonetheless we were on-site by 10:00. We arrived to a cold, drizzly, but nicely wooded site. A check of the map showed us that we were to be sited next to the battlefield. Robert and Savina walked over while I checked us in; by the time I got there he had found Johanus and with his help we decided on the tent locations.

It was a primo spot. Many people remarked on the location - what they didn't know was that we had asked for a place to site the period encampment. This was where Mirianna put us. We were as amazed as anyone, and gratified, too. The highly visible location made it convenient for folks to stop by and chat about the setup.

It took us until mid-afternoon to complete the setup, about five or six hours. Northstar II performed well, although several modifications will need to be made before it is used again. The valance will need to be removed and replaced - the hoop pushes it out too much. The hoop casing suffered the strain of mating the PVC sections, and should be resewn with sturdier thread, and with wider breaks between sections to allow for finding joints easier.

Although I had intended to attend Jentien's turnshoe class, I was just too tired to make hands and brain work that hard. After a late lunch, I took off for the market to get supper instead.

The Safeway is the only supermarket in Elizabeth. However it is thoroughly modern, and provided an excellent selection of "feast from the supermarket" foods. I picked up a roasted chicken and Pugilise bread, which we all found to be surprisingly good. I also got some olives off the olive bar. Combined with the ample supply of cheese and spiced wine that we'd brought, it made a great supper.

But I'm skipping ahead.

Supper was rather late on Saturday night, because we'd had a couple stop by that we pretty much instantly bonded with. Sir Domingo and Lady Sancha had admired the camp, and this struck up a weekend-long philosophical discussion. We spent some time talking in the Companie camp, and then we Savina and I migrate over to their camp, where we engaged in discussions about furniture, Pas, and the role of the peers in the Society. Robert, Evan and Jentien eventually came to fetch us, although we sat and talked for some time still.

The day had of course been cold, and by the time we headed "home" for supper, it was chilling further. I was so happy to have brought my green wool gown; it was perfect for keeping warm. We had invited Jentien to dine with us - she's a Companion after all - and we sat down in the dark to supper.

Robert, trying to shake his grumpy reputation, got a little silly and tried to stir up trouble with a camp across the field. You'll have to read his blog for the details. Evan, who had played hard all day, fell asleep in my lap. We left the dished for daylight and gratefully crept into the warmth of the bed.

Event, but no

I guess we didn't get up early enough.

Friday is a day off for me, and Robert took the day off as well. Which was good, because we had planned to get to the site at noon today. Of course, that was before we remembered that we were parents of a school-aged child, and we adjusted for a after-school departure.

We figured we'd be packing all morning, but as it turned out, we pretty much finished up projects all morning. Robert sawed off another 2" of the king pole, he painted table legs, he secured the dowels inside the PVC pipe. Three times. He finished Evan's bed, and screwed together the last panel of the kitchen table. I stitched the bag for the bed, a "door" to fill in the gap in the walls we discovered upon test-hanging the walls last night, I made pins to fit Evan's new little bed, and drilled two more closet poles to hold up the kitchen fly. We cut down plywood to a more managable 6' lenghth for the dining table. We staged tables and beds on the driveway, and packed clothing and bedding. All the while I was trying to finish a side project that I'd promised to get done by the event.

By the time Savina showed up at about 4:30, we were mostly packed, but we were so tired as to be in a fit state to be subject to a suggestion that we might want to wait until morning to show up on site. Besides, it had turned cold and misty, and no one was eager to erect large canvas tents in the wet. Really, we'd probably not be there if it was dry and sunny, but it seemed sufficient cause at the time.

Packing for Three Stags confirmed a nagging suspicion - we must have a trailer. The plywood bed platform is really too long to safely (or comfortably) carry inside the minivan. And we left two chests of dishes and the open-fire cooking gear at home. Still the car was overloaded. Evan had to ride with Savina for us to get it all in. This is not likely to work for events where we want to take the whole kit. The goal is a used trailer by Estrella. Either that, or we're paying a chunk of the cost for the Baronial truck.

After supper out (and wine!) we finished up a few items before bed. Robert went out to pick up breakfast things. We plan to rise at 6:00 in the morning to get a early start. He says there's 20 minutes of packing to do. We'll feel better in the morning, I'm sure.

Northstar II

At 6:37 this evening, I stitched the final seam on Northstar II. We then proceeded to test-erect it in the back yard. Everything went well, with one minor hitch; the walls are too short for the king pole. Robert will be sawing off 9" in the morning.

We left the tent up over night.

Links to pictures are at http://goldenlyon.org/northstar.html

Lots of labor, but no cigar

It's sort of like having a baby - you know the steps, you know the mechanics, but really, it'll be done in its own sweet time. No, we haven't been able to test-erect this tent yet, and yes we're now four days behind schedule, but there is significant progress. I think the next time I decide I want to make a large tent, I'll schedule four weekends rather than two.

There were accomplishments yesterday; I got the valance and hoop casing stitched to the tent top, and made a section of the Dutch lacing to fill in the gap. Not without trouble, though. I broke so many needles that I can't count them all. The machine just does not want to go through the ropes. Robert and I even brought up the 1928 Singer treadle machine (easier to bring the machine to the tent, than the tent to the machine) and had the exact same problem. I hand-cranked through the last 7 feet or so of the valance/hoop casing stitching.

What I did not do - and I won't until after Three Stags - is to finish the raw edges of the hoop casing and the valance. I'm going to invest in a machine tune-up before I do that.

While Robert was waiting on the sewing to be completed, he finished the kingpole. It now has a wooden top, nicely rounded for the chains to perch atop, and a long pin to accommodate finial and pennon. The top is a wooden closet pole, epoxied into the steel pipe. He rasped the top of the closet pole into a round shape. I don't know if I can get a pennon done for it, but we'll see. I may sleep very little tonight.

Last night saw us pulling the ropes through the flat-felled seams and out the grommets at the bottom. We used a coat hanger as a needle, and most of the time had to pull the rope out the grommet with a pair of pliers, since the doubled-over rope was too thick to go through. After the ropes were pulled, we had to engineer the support for the fabric tent top.

The ropes serve one major function, and one minor one. Primarily, they hold the king pole upright. Yes, the ropes run through the fabric of the tent roof, and they do support the cone shape of the roof, but they don't actually hold up the roof. The roof must be secured to the steel ring or it will slip down the ropes. Not very far, but far enough to be untenable.

Northstar I had been stitched to the ring by means of a collar which enclosed ring, ropes, and the top edge of each of the panels. It was secure, but hardly elegant. I wanted to improve on the design. I decided that leather patches, 3" x 5" could be doubled over between the ropes and stitched to the fabric. The patches each have holes pre-drilled in them for ease of stitching. The stitching goes through the back of the patch, through the edge of the flat-felled seam on the right, through the front of the patch and then back through the next set of holes. Both sides of the patch run through the flat-felled seam on either side, while the bottom of the patch only goes through the single layer of canvas.

I got four of the patches installed before bed became the only option.

Robert also dug the Northstar I walls out of the garage. We were disappointed to find them in fair condition. They're dirty, and also have become subject to the mildew beast. Some parts seem fine; others are a mess. We'll see what happens when we put the whole thing up tonight.