Home again, home again!

     Well, I was not wrong! It was bloody cold this weekend at Bolton! You could see your breath inside the great hall, where we had court and feast (and slept on the floor by the fire). BUT - it was one of the best events I have been to in many ways. It was a great bunch of SCAdians, good fighting, good food, at a REAL castle, and we had the whole place to ourselves. In fact, the owners said to the event steward  "Here's the key. Just leave it over there when you leave." So the steward spent the weekend with the keys to the castle on his belt. Awesome! And they were very pleased with just how clean we left the place! There was an interesting aside to the event. On Friday night, an unknown man in mundane clothing came into the hall. It turned out he was a casting agent, looking for extras for the next Horrible Histories movie. A number of the folk of the Dragon Isles had photos taken and got information on the casting days. Who knows - we may see our friends in the movies!

     Alas, Viscount Finnian and Lady Constanza were not victorious. Viscount Finnian lost to Sir Nasr in the final bout, but it was well fought.

     On the bright side, Constanza was entered into the Order of the Panache during court.  Here's a description of the order: "The Panache is awarded to those who have distinguished themselves by long and consistent excellence in the Arts (and Sciences) and who have also constantly made their expertise available to the various members of the Kingdom."  She was recognized for her work in wool and spinning and the fact that if you sit still near here for a few minutes, you WILL have a spindle in your hand and you WILL learn to spin!

     The real surprise for me was being entered into the Orden des Lindquistringes just after Constanza was called up for the Panache. It is a real honor and I hope I can live up to it. Here's its description: This award was established to honor a former member of the Principality/Protectorate, Fahrquar Finley Fahrquarson (John Lindquist). It is now presented to those people who have distinguished themselves by long and extraordinary service to the Kingdom. The badge of the Order is (Fieldless) a ring formed of a wingless dragon in annulo widdershins Or, maintaining in chief with all four legs and mouth a gem gules.

 

 

 

The best announcement of the evening was that Baroness Margaret de Mey was called for vigil to the Order of the Pelican at Spring Crown Tourney in April. Vivat to Baroness Margaret!

     The next event I get to will be Midsummer Coronation, also to be held at Bolton Castle. I hope it will be warmer and dryer, because I would really like a good look at the gardens.

Travel plans

I'm off this weekend to Bolton Castle. I'm so grateful to be in Drachenwald, where events are held in real castles, but this weekend may make me think better of it. We'll be sleeping in the castle itself, which is heated only by wood fires. And all the cooking for the weekend will be in the castle kitchens, again over wood fires. And it is going to be cold. And wet. After all, it is February in England. Oh my!

Groundhog Day!

Feels like I've lived through this day before.  :)  It's the mad rush to finish clothes and accessories before an SCA event. Today I made a banner for my daughter's consort and started a four panel wool hat for her. It will have a rabbit fur band, so between the wool and the fur, it should keep her warm during the Tourney. Oddly, not a single thing I'm working on or have already made is for me.

Smokkr picture

 So, here's the front of the finished project. I'm pretty happy with the embroidered seams, which are documentable in period. It certainly adds something to an otherwise plain blue wool dress. Hope Constanza likes it! It will get a band of tablet weaving around the top, but that's not my job, fortunately. Catherine Weaver is providing the band and all I'll have to do is sew it on the day before Coronet. (Which of course maintains the tradition of sewing madly up to the minute of the event!)

musings

So, I spent the weekend doing laundry and sewing. Somehow, the two just seem to go together, both in my mind and in reality. The pauses to change wash loads around  come just as I need a break from my sewing and doing wash makes me feel like I'm using my time legitimately, not just sewing for fun. What both do is leave time to think. I noticed today that it's only 126 days until graduation. The semester hasn't even started, but I'm looking to the end. Not because it's a bad year, just one in transition. The president of the university (my direct supervisor) is retiring and the process to choose his successor should end just about the end of the semester. Hence, my musing on how many days are left. I've worked well with the current president and I hope to do the same with whomever the Board selects to replace him. Time will tell.

I did finish Constanza's blue apron dress today. I even did all the embroidery on the hem. When I finish my other secret embroidery project, I plan to come back to her dress and embroider over all the seams. I'm using a lovely gold merino wool from the Handweaver's Studio for the embroidery and it sews like a dream.

Epiphany doings

     Here in Bulgaria, Epiphany is celebrated as Yordanovden, or St. Jordan's Day. It's a time when, following a church service,  the priest throws a cross into the local river to bless the waters. The young unmarried men of the parish dive in to retrieve it. It looks like this after they've found the cross. If you look closely, you will even see bagpipers and drummers!

 

The young man who succeeds in retrieving the cross will be especially blessed in the upcoming year.

 

After they all finally get out of the river (remember, it is January!), he is expected to parade the cross from house to house in the village, along with the other young men. They sing traditional songs, allow the householder to kiss the cross, and they sprinkle the doorstep with river water. The householder is expected to provide a small gift of money. Sounds like something from the Middle Ages, right? Well, not here. The young men visited our house today and sang, danced, and sprinkled the yard with holy water. My mother was enchanted and was delighted to provide them with some money for their troubles. We should have a blessed year in 2014 and our garden should do particularly well!

January 1

Made some progress today on finishing seams on Constanza's slate blue wool apron dress. That makes me happy, even though it was small progress - because it is progress!!  Maybe there's hope for the upcoming year! This is a useful site for anyone working on Norse/Viking apron dresses. This is also a useful site.