Four days and counting

Not much stitching going on here. The end of the semester takes all my time and energy, especially in a year where there's both new construction underway on campus and more in the planning stages, as well as the prep work for a major capital campaign. I start each day with a new pile of paperwork and it feels like my name should be Sisyphus, because no matter how much I push it, it doesn't go away. Ah, well.

The only forward motion outside of work has been toward my persona development for A&S 50. I've learned to love our ILL librarian, who seems determined to find anything and everything I ask for, asap. She's also become interested in the SCA, which is a real plus! She wants to help start a group here, which probably gives me enough victims - ah, I mean enthusiasts -
for the core group!

My most recent ILL scores have been books on Bulgarian names, clothing and history. I think I have all the references I'll need to back up my name - fingers crossed. I want to submit everything just after the first of the year for my name and device, so the fact that I'm off to the US in a few days is also good. The heralds I've been hashing things out with say Crayola markers are the best for color, so I'll get some in South Carolina.

I'll be in London on Saturday for a few hours between flights and hope to get to see my daughter and SIL. Fingers crossed on that too.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

I'm sitting here embroidering (well, I was until I started typing) a Santa Claus counted thread piece. I'd say that's appropriate for the day, wouldn't you? It's on a medium blue linen and I can only stand it for a little while at a time, then my eyes start to cross. I've tried all the tricks for dark fabric - putting a white pillowcase in your lap, strong light, etc. but it still makes me crazy. I figure one more Christmas after this one should see it finished....

A good evening

The best evening is one spent sewing, but a close second is hearing an author you enjoy speak. Elizabeth Kostova, author of "The Historian", was at our University tonight as this month's guest speaker in the Distinguished Authors lecture series. She talked about the process of writing, which was interesting in and of itself, but the best was yet to come. We were treated to the first chapters of her next novel, due out in fall 2009.

She's a fine reader, so it was quite enjoyable. The students asked sensible questions and her answers were thoughtful and concise. Good stuff! She also told us the title of the new novel, but I don't think I'll pass it along, just to keep some suspense going.

I'm thankful!

Right now, despite all the problems in the world, I'm feeling very much in the spirit of the season. On this day after Thanksgiving, it's gotten very cold and I'm thankful my daughter knits for me. I'm wearing a hat and mitts that were knitted with love and it keeps me warm inside and out.

I'm thankful that my city still has the werewithal to put up holiday decorations - and used some this year that, while very colorful, don't have a lot of lights and use less energy.

I'm really uplifted by student activism on campus. There are highly effective campaigns this year for recycling and AIDS day. It it good to realize that our students are not just thinking of themselves, but are concerned about the world around them. I doubted that for a few years, frankly, but am glad to be reassured.

I'm thankful that construction has finally begun on our newest residence hall and that our students can look forward to living in less crowded conditions in the forseeable future. Space is something to treasure.

And I'm thankful that tomorrow, friends and colleagues will be coming to my home to enjoy a belated Thanksgiving feast. I'll be baking and cooking up a storm tonight and I can hardly wait to get started!

Snow update

Well, I was right - the snow's here! And it's not even noon yet.





Please note all the nice green leaves on the roses and chrysanthemums....

A good day to stay home and sew!

We're getting our first real winter storm, even as I write. There have been heavy winds for the last several hours, and they're getting stronger. One poor neighbor has lost virtually all of his newly shingled roof. There are just bare rafters now. Unsurprisingly, the surrounding homes with traditional tile roofs are just fine. I have a cracked window in my sewing room from a branch that came down from a neighbor's tree. The cats are fascinated by the blowing leaves outside that window - it looks a LOT like the view from Dorothy's window as she swirled in the tornado to Oz! It has been pelting down rain and the temperature has just dropped enough for it to be a mix of snow and rain. By this afternoon it should be all snow and I hope the wind will subside.

I'm staying in with a pot of tea and a lap full of holiday embroidery. Twenty-nine days from today I'll be back in the States for the holidays and I need to get things finished today and tomorrow and in the mail Monday.

Jingle bells.....

One of the nice things about living in Bulgaria over the last decade or so has been the lack of commercialism at the holidays and the fact that no one started decorating, advertising Christmas specials, or celebrating until about a week before the holiday. Heck, the first year I lived here you couldn't buy a Christmas tree until December 24! Well, we're in the EU now and it all seems to have started down the slippery slope of Christmas starting earlier each year. It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I just heard the holiday kick-off choir concert at the University. Walking home I saw at least a dozen stores with Christmas displays. Okay, that's not too bad, I guess. But I also saw three apartments with blazing Christmas lights! Come on folks - it's November! Slow down a little, please!

Time for a review

I've been looking at my A&S 50 persona challenge list today (It was posted back in mid July) and it still looks do-able, if formidable, in the challenge time frame. I've finished working on my name and arms and am going to be mailing the application materials and fees out this week. Hopefully the research I've put in won't be in vain and it'll go through in the next 9-10 months. Thumbs tucked! That'll be a significant chunk out of the list right there.

I need to get up to the National Library in Sofia to do some more costume research and that will be waiting till after the first of the year. It's just too busy at work to take the time off. It seems to take longer to get to downtown Sofia each time I drive up, even though the roads have been re-done.

On a positive note, I've found some good open source maps to use as a basis for period-style copies. I'm planning to make frameable maps of the Balkans in the 1100's and 1200's on parchment. I need to get paints and brushes over the Christmas break, so I can get started! It will be a nice change from sewing and it's also a skill set I haven't used in decades. I hope all those art classes will come back to me.....

Well, I paid for the time away!

I have been absolutely swamped since I got back from England and haven't had a minute to sew or embroider. Add to the work overload a nasty sinus infection and you get someone who's really down and out, craft-wise. I got a little Christmas sewing in today, because it's the first time in two weeks that I was both free from work and well enough to enjoy crafting.

I was inspired by a conversation with Constanza today to purchase some patterns for German landsknecht clothing (Mom - when you read this, they're coming to your address!). You have to love the hat! Our royal heirs are planning a landsknecht reign, so this gives us a little time to prepare - especially to get some serious feathers!

Happy Halloween

Even after all these years, it still feels a little strange to live somewhere that doesn't really have Halloween. The neighbors have grown accustomed to my Jack o'Lantern every October and you can now get orange pumpkins here, so that's good. (Used to be you got ones that were pale green outside and orange inside.) I don't miss the tricks the teenagers played back in the US, but I liked seeing the little kids dress up.

I've got the "Goblins and Ghosties" bellpull up, as well as the decorations I posted earlier.






My garden is looking very end-of-season, but I have loads of chrysanthemums. They grow very tall here, no matter how much you pinch them back, but they get great blooms.

Back from London and it was great!

The trip was wonderful and oh-so-very fabric enhanced. One of the earliest bits included a walking trip with the folks from Thamesreach through the Walthamstow market, where I added several yards of a dark green linen blend to the stash. We then progressed to the Handweaver's Guild, where I found the Collingwood book on tabletweaving for less than a small fortune, a nice little booklet of Coptic Weaving, a small lucet, and three reels of awesome pale green embroidery silk so I can put Linden leaves on the neck of the green wool dress. Yahoo!

Other parts of the vacation included its real purpose - attending my son's University graduation ceremony in the company of my mother and daughter. This was the BEST day of all. Everyone had a grand time, the ceremony was moving, and the company was excellent - a real celebration! Here's the new graduate in formal and informal poses.











Later in the week, we also played serious tourist and went up the London Eye (twice for me!), to Westminster Abbey,




Parliament and Big Ben, the British Museum, and Chinatown. We had a daytrip to Reading to see my son's new place of residence and employment and another to Cambridge, where we had a lovely pub lunch, visited Jesus College, King's College Chapel, etc. with one of my son's friends and had tea and cakes at the end of the day!






I also attended the Thamesreach St. Crispin's Day Revel, where much fun was had. During the pre-revel heraldry workshop, I sewed as I listened and got all the buttons on the hood! Here's a picture:






After the feast, we took turns reading parts of Henry V aloud and it was a rousing success, particularly Lord Robert's reading of the St. Crispin's Day speech and Lynette and Constanza reading the comic French dialogue between Alice the maid and the Princess Katharine.

More progress

It's time to plan for the winter holidays (I know, it's not even Halloween yet. Didn't I just start decorating?), so I hemmed up a Christmas table cloth for the daughter this morning. It should look pretty on her table and it also used up some of the eternal fabric stock.

Speaking of fabric, I also cut out and sewed the green wool gown. No photos yet, because I still need to hem it. It also screams for trim at the neckline, but I'm not sure if I want embroidery or tablet weaving. Decisions, decisions! I must still be shrinking, because it took far less fabric than expected. Someone want a green hood???

Done, done, done and going to the framer!

After many fits and starts, I am VERY pleased that my daughter's and son-in-law's wedding sampler is finally finished and ready to frame. They may even get it before their third anniversary, barring any unforseen problems. I must have frogged this one a dozen times, but I do like the way it turned out. I wonder why I had more trouble with this one piece than all the other stuff I've done, combined?!

Halloween's a coming!

Just wanted to add a few shots of the house as I get ready for Halloween, which is my favorite holiday in oh,so many ways!

I changed my wish...

to let it be two weeks from now! I just realized that in two short weeks I'll be on vacation and in London! Woot!!

I wish it were Monday!

Early September was very productive, both creatively and at work. Unfortunately almost all my recent time has been taken up by my mundane job, with very little left over for the "fun stuff". But by Monday, the big push at work should be over and I'll have my evenings back to sew again. I have made some small steps forward on the wedding sampler and the plan is to have it ready for the framer by the 16th of October (Just two weeks! Yipes!). The Surprise is also coming along, because it lives in my briefcase and I take it everywhere. A few stitches here and there can add up, I hope! More posts to come, after the 6th!

A hoodie!

Well, It's been a productive week. With perfect timing, the hood, with the exception of buttons, is completely finished. Today is the autumn equinox and it makes sense to have something new and warm ready today.






My bust of Hygeia is helping with a modelling photo, because I can't snap myself wearing it....my arms just aren't long enough. All the seams are flat felled, except the neckline, which I blanket-stitched to the inside of the hood. (No raw fabric edges anywhere, in fact.) I like how it turned out and I think it will be both comfortable and warm, which is all that's necessary. I'm in contact with a Scadian from Insula Draconis and will be getting some nice pewter buttons to finish it off. On to the next project!


* Working note: Grey wool and DMC black flower thread for hand stitching. DMC 701,721, 726,817, 3760 for chainstitch.)

Linen online

I was just minding my own business, when I came upon my third reference to an online store specializing in linen for re-enactors. I decided it meant something - like I should buy some! It's ordered and I'll let you know what I think after I get it. Twenty yards of bleached 100% linen (59" wide)for $99? Sounds like a deal to me! Hmm... chemises, napkins, all sorts of things come to mind.

Hoodlums

Over the weekend I gave in to impulse and started a hood based in part on the pattern in the Medieval Tailor's Assistant. I've been wanting one for a while and I had a chunk of leftover charcoal grey wool (from a cape I made for a family member) that was just the right size. I also wanted something to work on while ruminating over how best to make up my new green wool!

I made the actual hood part following the directions in MTA, but made the cowl part in two half circles, rather than a bunch of gores. I think it will lay better that way. It's completely hand-sewn so far and I plan to stick to that. Grey wool wasn't exactly the flashiest thing I could use, so I decided to embellish with a Bulgarian pattern of embroidery. I'm using a piece of a chemise sleeve pattern from Bulgarian National Embroidery: Western Regions. The original was silk on linen in long-armed cross stitch. I'm using cotton on wool for wearability and chainstitch for coverage instead. Here are some pictures of the work in progress.







As you can see, the embroidery is finished on one side of the hood and I've just begun the mirror image. I just noticed you can also still see the chalk marks. Oops!

I have to attach the cowl after the embroidery is finished and I've sewn down the facing. After that, I need to decide what to use to edge finish the cowl. I think I will probably blanket stitch it in black wool so it doesn't take away from all the bright embroidery. (Or overwhelm!) Then there are several buttons and buttonholes and it'll be ready to wear!

A good day in the market

Our local fabric sellers have been closing out their lightweight summer stuff for the last month or so and stock has been very limited. I've been anxiously waiting for the woolens to become available, because I'd really like a dress in something other than linen or cotton for the winter. I was hoping for a nice dark green that would contrast nicely with either my pink or yellow undergowns and today I struck paydirt! My favorite seller was getting out her wool fabrics and she had a really nice loden green dressweight. It's 60" wide and I got enough for a nice dress. Good thing next weekend is a three-day holiday for Bulgarian Independence Day! If I can get the pattern drafted this weekend, I should be able to finish it next weekend. Yay!

More signs of autumn

The storks are beginning to migrate south and this will probably be the last time I see one until next summer. They are so ungainly when they fly and so graceful when walking. Hopefully this year's pair will return to Skaptopara next year.

Autumn is here!

The students are back, the place is buzzing, and there's the smell of roasting peppers and ripening grapes all over town. These are in my garden.





Truly autumn in Eastern Europe. Many houses are bedecked with strings of drying red peppers and bunches of herbs, especially tchubritsa. It's rather festive and it makes you aware that winter is just around the corner, even though the days can still be scorchingly hot.

Last day in Greece

It's been crazy since my trip, because we started new student orientation as soon as we got back to Blagoevgrad. At last, I have time to post my remaining pictures!

On Sunday morning, we headed to the hills of the city to see the Byzantine walls before heading to Vergina. We visited this church on the way, where they were setting up for a wedding.















We stopped at a small monastery, which was built into a section of the city walls. Initally, we thought we'd found a zoo, because there were a load of peacocks on the grounds!















Then it was off to Vergina, where were toured the royal tombs museum. It was very cool, since the museum is actually built inside the tumulus. It's rather like entering a cave and finding a golden hoard!

After viewing the royal tomb, we went to a current dig, where we saw the entrance to a tomb that was not so elaborate, but that you could examine more closely. We also saw a theatre that was being excavated. My friend and I were dressed for scrambling up the hills in slacks and sneakers, but we kept running into female Greek tourists wearing high heels and miniskirts, looking a lot like someone from the chalga channel back home. We couldn't figure out the logic to that style of clothing for outdoor adventure!









After that, it was back in the car and up the Struma valley, homeward bound.

The Museum of Byzantine Culture

After leaving the archaeological Museum, we moved on to the
Museum of Byzantine Culture. And once again, due to the Feast of the Assumption, we were alone in the place. We spent several hours in the permanent collection and I was making my friend a bit crazy by poring over the clothing and making color sketches. This came to an end when I was approached by a docent who said "why don't you just take pictures?". This was so unexpected I though I misheard and asked the curator who had just come in the room if that was really okay. (Usually you get chased out for even having a camera!)She said "just no flash.", so out came the camera. There's a good overall photo of an seventh century tunic here and I also have close-ups!









I confess to having been a bit excited by the opportunity and the photo of the rondel shows how my hands were shaking. At that point my friend said "she's very interested in history" and the docent thought that was very unusal, but good. We finished viewing the permanent collection and went on to the temporary exhibit entitled "Places and Manners of Worship," which was also very interesting. I didn't take many more photos, because I purchased a copy of the exhibit catalog Byzantine Hours: Works and Days in Byzantium, which is fifteen pounds and 600 pages of photos and text. It is a wonderful resource!

Next it was on to the Church of Ag. Georgios or the Rotunda of St. George. It was built in the reign of Galerius Caesar, and was originally either a temple to Zeus or a mausoleum for Galerius. It later became a Christian basilica, then a mosque (and the minaret is still standing), then later returned to use as a Christian church. Like the Ag. Sofiya, it has amazing chandeliers. Here they are formed of dragons, as opposed to the griffons seen at St. Sofiya.












Near the Rotunda was the Agora. While it's not as impressive as the one in Rome, It still is worth a second look. It seems the authorities are trying to reconstruct a portion of it and there are several columns in place.










It was back to the hotel for showers and a bit of rest at this point. It had been well over 102 F in the afternoon and we needed a break before dinner - not to mention that Greeks don't really start evening meals until at least 8:00 and that's early!

Salonika

Waking up to the sound of sea birds and the breeze off the Thermaic Gulf was most pleasant. Because it was a holiday weekend, the city was very quiet. After breakfast, we headed out to walk through the Jewish Quarter and to the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki. The museum was closed, but the architecture in the quarter was well worth the walk. Next was the Aghia Sofiya, the largest Byzantine church in Greece. I find it unusual to be encouraged to take photos in a church, but that is what happened here.














From there it was up the waterfront to the White Tower.



A former prison, once known as "the Bloody Tower" during Ottoman rule, it is now a museum. It is undergoing restoration and its collections are elsewhere. Luckily for me, the ones I was interested in were at the Archaeological Museum or the Museum of Byzantine Culture.

At the Archaeological Museum we were treated to a wonderful display of exhibits, beginning with "Life in Prehistoric Macedonia" , then "Toward the Birth of Cities", and “Thessaloniki, The Metropolis of Macedonia”.



The musuem is newly renovated, well laid out, and extremely interesting. Amazingly, they permitted non-flash photos!


A gold Myrtle wreath.


Loom Weights.








I want to play this game!



More about the Museum of Byzantine Culture later!