One of the finest sounds, ever!

Doors slamming, luggage wheels squeaking, voices shouting "goodbye" in dozens of languages. Must be spring break!! Woo hoo! Students heading out for 10 days sounds very good to me!

Home from Coronet

It was a lovely event. Whoever ordered up the weather did a great job, because it rained the day before and the day after but the weekend was clear and sunny! Sir Willian MacBrennan won the tourney for his lady wife Mistress Æringunnr Yrsudóttir.






Vivat to the Prince and Princess of Insulae Draconis!






I'm quite pleased with the kit I made for Logan Ragnarsson. He and his sister look pretty good, don't you think? I made her outfit as well.














Court was most amazing. Master Robert of Canterbury was herald for Their Majesties, whilst Lord Asbiorn heralded for Their Highnesses. After the investiture ceremony, Principality champions were selected and then presentations were made.

TRM Hirsch and Magdalena of Calontir presented a carved regalia chest and a most excellently tooled herald's folder to the new Prince and Princess.

Lady Katherine Kerr and Lord Bartholomew brought greetings and gifts from Lochac, including a special progress calendar for the Prince and Princess and a seamless pouch....

Lord Matthew Baker brought greetings from former kingdom folk who now sojourn abroad and representatives from the Far Isles brought greetings from their queen.

Finally, Lady Ysabella-Maria Vasquez de Granada also cast a horoscope for Insulae Draconis that foretold a most glorious future for the new Principality. This seemed most pleasing to Their Highnesses!

At the behest of Sir Vitus Polonius, the ladies of Thamesreach made a new protector's cloak for Insulae Draconis. Lady Catherine Weaver of Wye tablet-wove sun borders, Lady Genevieve la flechiere made up the cloak, and a number of ladies sewed on trim and hemmed the cloak and lining. All those who assisted were called up in court when the cloak was presented.












The feast was a real production. Due to the large number of attendees, it was split into the King's Hall and the Queen's Hall and served simultaneously. It was quite tasty and wholly period. The menu included:

Course ye Premier: Pyes

Sunset broth and gylt bread
Humble pye
Beans pye
Fowles pye
Spynoches y-fried
Waffers
Fruits conserve
Bastard cream

Course ye Second: Roast

Roast ducks
Rosewater sauce
Sprouts
Shrympes in vynegar
Mawmenee
Chyches y-roasted
Jusshell enforced
Forced doucettes

Course ye Third: Soteltie

So, Phil saw it on the 2nd...

and we've had snow and cold weather ever since. Darn groundhog! Not a surprise, really. It is winter! Hope this means the Olympics will have good snow cover in Vancouver later this month. I love watching bobsled, luge and skeleton.

Who knew?

You can watch Punxsutawney Phil make his prediction live via a satellite feed! It's still dark there, so they are playing music and having silly contests with the crowd. What a hoot!

Happy Groundhog Day!

If you were born and raised in western Pennsylvania, today will always be Groundhog Day, even if some folks do celebrate it as Imbolc or Candlemas. I'm waiting for Punxsutawney Phil to leave his burrow and predict the weather for the next six weeks. Hopefully it will be overcast so he doesn't see his shadow and go back underground to sleep off another six weeks of winter! I'd love to be home this evening to watch Bill Murray in Groundhog Day in honor of Phil, but I've got to go to an official reception tonight instead. Fingers crossed for grey skies in Pennsylvania today!

Dusk is pretty tonight

I started to write "twilight", but that's forever linked to sparkly vampires now, so "dusk" it is. I was extremely pleased to realize that walking home at 6:15 was no longer a trial under weak streetlights across the uneven sidewalks. I could actually see that lovely blue-grey sky and a hint of snow! I love it when the days become noticeably longer. Spring is on its way.

Progress

I leave for the Insulae Draconis Coronet Tourney in sixteen days. Between now and the seventeenth, I have to finish one tunic (which is already cut out and the neck embroidery is finished), whip up a Viking hat, and sew up a rectangular wool cloak. That's not too bad, actually! And none of it is for me! I've got wool trousers, hose, and an undertunic finished already, so I'm feeling on top of things.

I do want to do a small revamp on the sleeves for my Cranach gown , so I can wear it for court, but that's a two-evening job. I just need to take out the slashed elbow sections and replace them with eyelets and lacing. I did not like how they turned out at all, even though I liked the dress itself very much. I may also sew on a bit more black velvet ribbon, but that's about it.

I'm really looking forward to Coronet, because it's a once in a lifetime event!