I figure a wrap up of things would be good. Lets see what I can remember.

Knitting/ Crochet:
I finished 14 projects mostly Chickens but I started the year on a Dead Fish Hat for my nephew Viktor. I did one pair of socks for Mel, 3 pumpkin pillows including the giant one for Mel, 3 large emotional support chickens and 5 mini chickens for other folks. The last project I just found while looking at my camera roll and I made a cowl/shawl thingy in June with handspun form Shanda and I just found the pattern which is Agnes which is nice and I need to upload finished photos of it. Oops.

Scrolls:
I finished 4 full scrolls and 3 painted scrolls: Laurel scroll for Magdalen, a Court Baronetcy with a fun Theme and 2 Guardians of Atenveldt. I have 3 more Guardians to put the text on that I painted/inked.

Spinning: plied a bunch in SD and spun some more. I have documented it on IG, need to do better to add to my rav stash or put here. I also spun on my purple at multiple SCA events (drop spinning). I also taught spinning to a few folks at the A&S Collegium and one of my students then won the quarterly Arts of her barony with the article she made from the handspun.

Travel: January was to SC/NC for my SIL/BIL investiture, February was War of the Phoenix, then in March we did Disney for Benton's Birthday, Then in May I went to NOLA for Linnet's 21st, July was SD, October Trip to Prescott for Arts Collegium, November was Washington State for Thanksgiving, December we stayed home thank goodness.

Clothing/Sewing:
Ran a clothing weekend for the ladies of the house to get Fiona clothes which was successful.
I finished mom's quilt project which is documented here. I finished a pair of fighting pants for Ivan which I need to upload a photo of and I made my clothes for my elevation. I also made a pair of pants for myself in SD for SCA which I didn't photograph except one picture of the 1951 singer and the fabric. I also made two new under dresses and a hangerrock for Jan/Feb and Made Benton a coat.

Books:
I read 31 books which isn't too bad. I had hoped to get to 50 but got depressed in Sept/October and my reading shoved off.


So I guess I was productive and busy though I felt work ate my brain but for an average person this would be amazing productivity?

Gym time was not consistent and I'm trying to get myself back to that starting next week. This week is for rest and figuring things out.

This week has just been dumb in so many ways and I keep forgetting things, or misreading things or dunno just dumb.

Case in point misread some emails to comical results. Luckily no public embarrassment just my dumb.

I lost my airpods overnight and did the "find my devices" and they were at work. Got to work and they were nestled in the curve of my headset on my desk.

We had a major finding for our proposal so now I have to rewrite a bunch of things and its making my brain hurt considering it took 4 people like an hour to figure out the new period of performance for all of the phases. This is making me unmotivated and that is not good so I'm forcing the writing and the math and that just feels gross in my head.

Very very glad this is Friday.


Erika's dad is out of ICU and heading to a rehab hospital. Dom had his redo knee surgery. Bob had his knee replacement Tuesday and I have a cute picture of his snuggling his chicken I made him and fast asleep. I'm hoping that is the last of hospitals for friends...I'm kinda done with that TBH.

On the book Front I started #28 Pine Cove #1....its dated but fun thus far and not at all serious. Just what I need.


This weekend is chicken making, SCA events, and taking Bob's daughter to the airport.

I had finished book #25 for the year Dreadful Company and then downloaded #26 Back Lash by Devon Monk. Yes I keep pushing things from my physical TBR pile down but it was late and I wanted more ebook for my mind. Meh, I will deal.

Last week was hell for work, very stressful. My back was not happy with it and just so much going on. I worked a lot of hours to make up for the trip the week before and I'm waiting for people to get things done cause I found a large error in an assumption we had and now there is work that has to get redone and its a whole new group of people than the last time we did this exercise. Its frustrating. And without their inputs, that then cascade into a system, that then go into my slide deck I can't move forward. Its a lot of work and I have to wait for other people which is never my fave.

So by the time I finished on Friday it it was 104F with 52 % humidity and the cooler was doing poorly due to that so my office was 83. I was hot and tired and my back hurt and I was just frustrated. So I finished and sat and did some spinning to chill before my massage and then dinner with the BFF.

My massage was heaven and felt so good, got some stretches to help my back and I've been trying to take breaks, keep moving and do lots of stretching. My wFH chair is causing a lot of issues I think. But also, stress. Sighs.

So Friday night Ari and I had a much needed dinner out. I had not seen her since we got back. We had a lovely dinner at Sushi 10 and drinks. So much to catch up on and her new house. So excited for her and the help we can give her and the plans she has. Got home and hung out and got the second half of the black chickentail done. I went to bed and crashed.

Saturday Mel was up to head to kung fu and I lazed about before getting up for coffee and knitting. I then got my ritual shower before heading out on errands to drop things off for Ari and picking up the scrip for Benton. I then spent the rest of the evening working on the chicken for bob and working a granny square for one of the little crochet ones for Poe. Had a very nice Saturday night though we had to get up early on Sunday to do a final porch cleanup at Wanders. We got all of the fancy storage equipment moved, a large pile of trash ready for the dump on Friday and got everything that needed to be in non-rain storage moved and then some including rearranging the shop shed. It looks amazing. and clean and tidy and has hardly anything in that porch section now.

Got home, got showers, mel made waffles and then I started crafting some more on the big chicken. When Benton finished his room we headed out to go antiquing which was good cause I needed to walk and keep the legs moving for my back to ease. We then got dinner at El Sur which was lovely. Nothing fancy there but good mexican food and I had the mole which was so lovely and homey and tasty. Got home and worked some more on the chicken. Watching movies until Disney+ decided it didn't want to work. Mel was spinning and I finished up the body of the black chicken just before bedtime. It needs the beak and the comb and the underbody to go.

This morning my back is stiff and Benton was crabby but we got things going. I'm awaiting that data still and am kinda going nuts with wanting it so I can do things. Ugh and not feel rushed and more stressed.

In other grumpy Erika's dad Yoda had a heart attack over the weekend and is in Cruses and they can't do open heart cause he's super bad but are doing stints. She had to drive out there cause her mom can not adult at all. I feel bad for Erika, her parents made their own mess and keep asking her to pick up the slack. Ugh. Why are our parents not able to adult? like seriously. Ugh. He came out of surgery but it was bad and things are touch and go right now. Ugh.


This sucks. And I just don't wanna today.

Monday and Tuesday work was a lot of work and I'm realizing my deputy is just not great at anything. We meet, he gets actions and then doesn't do anything with it. He had a peer review for a major piece of paperwork and he didn't write down the actions. (head desk) He is not a good technical writer and its showing, he's not groking the hardware even though he's been in bed with it for months. I've had multiple people tell me issues and its not just me.

I have tons of stuff due and the motivation is low. I don't know if I'm not sleeping well or what but I wake up super tired. Today was with a headache.

Tuesday night we headed to see my Aunt in Rock Valley, IA. They had a huge flash flood at the end of June. She was okay and had an apartment on the opposite side. We had a nice meal of spaghetti, salad, garlic bread and strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was nice to catch up with her and hear about my cousins and their kids. We talked crafts and Benton talked about archery. We showed off some of the projects we have done or are working on, talked about the SCA. I still have no idea what happened between my aunts and my Aunt Judy but its still bad blood. She didn't even want to talk about Judy and Gene. So weird. But it was a good time. We left at 1030pm and almost hit two deer coming out of town. Luckily I know how to drive in deer country but they are still dumb as a box of rocks where cars are concerned. We basically got home and went to bed.

In reading news I had finished #24 the Last Graduate and while I really want to start the next one I figure a good break would be good. I am now reading the second book in the Greta Helsing Series called Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw as #25 for the year.

We have Shanday lady doing a stop over this weekend and have Ali and Aaron and Ceran coming for a visit. So we have a bit of clean up to do before guests arrive. I did finish the mohair spinning and am now plying the silk/wool blend with the merino/sparkle. Its turning fun barber pole.

And in other weird news, we just figured out Benton and I are the same height. He's 13.

My emotional support chicken is at the neck decreases, the mohair is a bit over half spun, I've cut out new rus pants and sewn part of it. The issue I keep running into is my old Singer 99 keeps breaking the thread here and there and I think I need to change out needles maybe? This machine was originally hand cranked and was converted to a motor from sears kenmore. Its a beast even though it doesn't have a reverse. But it does let you spin it backwards a bit to do a few stitches but meh. But I will work on those pants this weekend before we head to fighter practice out here on Sunday. The local group is super happy to have us visiting.

The Hucks go home tomorrow and that will be sad for us and Benton. We've decided next year we will come out earlier and They will come out for 2 weeks. Our college friends from Omaha didn't make it up for the 4th due to them moving and things with the Uhaul and the weather going sideways. We will see them later this month hopefully.

The cats are having fun and Mel and Rob have done some maintenance: new kitchen faucet, new screens on patio doors that are cat proof, new wiring on an antique lamp, fixed the garbage disposal. So yay. We have a few other things to do and that is about it.

I finished #23 and am now reading #24 which is Naomi Novick's second book in the Scholomance series The Last Graduate. Delightfully picked up right after the last book and oh boy the WTFness is in full force.

Managed to get some of my to do list one. It was over ambitious as usual but I wasn't sure how long things with the quilt were going to take, what my motivation was going to be but I wrote things down and if I get time this week to check more things off that list than fine.

Friday I worked, took a lyft to pick up the car from the shop, and then enjoyed a beer while spinning and hanging out with Benton. He had had a fun water day at Camp. Mel had gone to see wander and get lumber for the ramp he and Jeff will be building. It was hot though and both Benton and I just didn't want to go anywhere or have the soup mel made...it was too hot. So I made us grilled cheese. (Mine was dairy free). It was comforting and tasty. Saturday we had workmen arrive at 6am (it was going to 108) and they continued to work on the trenching in the front yard and getting rebar ready. Mel had left at 8am to the event up in Thatcher for the Incipient Shire of Vallis Aeris's first event. I got working in the studio about 11am. Benton was going to a sleep over so I dropped him off about 1pm and then headed to the quilt shop (Quilter's Market) since it was just on the way home. I needed new small snip scissors since my gingher snips are too bulky to snip quilt seams. I found a cute pair of ghost scissors and a couple of patterns and a ruler I just had to have.

I got home, finished up putting a thick edge on the quilt block and then spaced out the memoriam calligraphy. I then got out my embroidery kit and was super surprised to find my embroidery scissors which I didn't remember owning in the kit...so I didn't need new scissors after all and the universe was being funny. The embroidery took forever cause I did about half and hated it cuase I used two strands and it was fuzzy. So I cut that off and then did it with 1 strand and it came out nicely...not perfect but nicely. Mel got home while I was embroidering and watching TV. He was hot and tired and hungry so I got us an order from Graze which included a dairy free vanilla shake for me! OMG!! Woot!


I then got the quilt block placed on the back of the quilt while Mel and I watched a movie. I've been on an archeology/adventure kick for things since I watched all of the Indiana Jones movies (except the new one), National Treasure 1 and 2. We finished up with Jungle Cruise which Mel had not seen yet and he loved the fun romp it is. Poor Willow was very confused at why Benton was not home and in his room in his bed. I let her in his room to sulk.

Sunday I woke up later than I planned but got going and dressed in my greek mumu for virtual classes for the Atlantian University. I'm 3 classes from getting my Bachelor's degree there which is kind of cool. that means I've taken 26 classes over the last few years. I'm hoping to teach this fall at the virtual one. Me and the SIL had a side discussion on one of the classes and I had more questions about that class than answers so I think I will teach the portion of it I do know (Northern European Beads). Becca encouraged me to teach it. danabren may know the lady that did a large overview on beads but didn't have it very organized. Though I did get pointed to a resource I hadn't seen which is Medieval Beads which is quite fun. Things to peruse there.

Once I was done with classes I changed into modern clothes and was supposed to take Benton shopping for shorts and he didn't want to go anywhere. So I decided I would hit Hellmart without him. I detest Hellmart but he's growing and I needed basic shorts that he will trash this summer and then we will need new for school again. I also got some other necessities and managed to find dinner (beer brats) cause it was damn hot and I haven't used my grill in a while. It was tasty with a spinach salad and some potato salad I wasn't too allergic to (mustard seed). Then I spent the evening watching TV with Mel and spinning. I'm about 1 ounce away from finishing my silk merino I started December. Its laceweight so its taking me sometime but I got into the rhythm. Hoping to finish that this week so I can get to not so thin things. I have plenty of stash to spin thru.

On the book front I'm almost done with Sir Patrick and will be finishing that tonight before I sit down to put text on my last scroll commission I had still open. I have scroll assignments for some back logs but this was a commission that has been too long over due. It will get delivered at Fabric War and I need to find the signatures I need for it as well. But that is easy. I can make it happen tonight.

Pick of the block in situ and not: block and on quilt


Also, thanks to blossom we have the best photo of Ivan ever...there was a mobile home fire just outside the park wall and it had ammo exploding too...good times.
Ivan Spinning while the World Burns

Last week was kinda of weird. It was only a 3 day work week but it was the longest 3 days ever. It was supposed to be slow...and it wasn't. so much emergency stuff happening and people with their heads cut off and my muse was screaming at me that I should not be a slug...but it was hard. My brain was just toast but I had plans. Plus we had an invasion of the peccary variety. I family of javelinas had decided our backyard. They can be aggressive especially if there are babies so when they got into the birdseed at midnight. So we yelled at them and they ignored us. By morning they had seemed to move on but the actually had moved to teh side yard and then cause 2 sets of work men to not come in the yard. One was the gas company for the blue staking and the second was our landscaping crew. Our wall guy came that night and we got them to move along and shooed them out of the yard. Mel and I and Benton all did that with and without the hose and they have seemed to finally gotten the hint the yard is not theirs.
Javelinas


Pics from last weekends sewing fest are Sewing for Fiona

Thursday Willa came over to help me troubleshoot the Flair58. I need to really do a good preheat and I need to use dryer (non-oily) beans as well as a very fine grind. So I pulled a lot of shots which will become afternoon iced items or espresso martinis. But I pulled 3 good shots and that was nice. Got a lot of good advice on it and chatting with Willa was nice too.

Friday we all slept in since it was no school, no work...but I still did some work and then I got my studio set up for working on quilting. I ended up paying for the pattern and that was good though it was more a guideline and that was also okay. For my first quilt piece should I have done something without half and quarter squares? Yes, probably. The first book on beginner quilting I picked up had no half square anything. So yeah. The album I'm shoving things into is:
Gibson Quilt I will hopefully get the side binding on it Tuesday and then plan out my embroidery patch.

But Friday I only got the squares cut out and then had a massage while Benton played games and Mel was off teaching.

Saturday my plan was to get meds for Wander and pick up things to keep her occupied. That kind of worked. I hit the wrong pharmacy of the same name and then I spent a quick trip with Wander before getting the download to Megan and playing with Tilly. It was good to catch up and then I hit up Maguires to talk with a jeweler to talk about my mom's diamonds. On my next off friday I will go in and get things designed I hope. Then I hit up Sprouts for dinner fixings before heading home. I'm now learning the way of the land on the West side. I made home made hummus in the blender...which isn't as easy as food processor but it was tasty. I cooked up gyro meat and then got out stuff for sides like dolmas for a greek style dinner. Tasty.

Then Mel and I sat on the couch and I spun more on the silk/wool project and he worked on some plying while we watched updates from Time Team on YT. They have a new Sutton Hoo specials and its neat. I hit bed and my book #19 for the year and then read #20 the next day which was Poppy Done to Death and now I'm in #21 All the Little Liars. So I'm going to finish the Aurora Teagarden series before finishing up the memoir from Sir Patrick. Its just been so easy to hit "next book" in my kindle app. Its okay.

Sunday Megan and I ran errands and visited Wander. I helpe Megan get her big loom into the house so she could work in the AC. I got home and cooled off (yay tucson is over 100 now...bleah) and then got the squares sewed and recut and pieced together though I was frustrated with our internet repeater pod kept overheating and quitting which meant my tv kept stopping. Ugh. I know first world problems but it was annoying. And I was tired and hangry and then when I went to make dinner I couldnt' find anything I needed and Benton was being obtuse and ugh. My brain imploded....but I made pesto and we had a nice dinner. After dinner I got back to trimming squares and finally got the block fully assembled. It was still a bit wonky but way better than before. I squared it up just before I ended for the evening and reset my studio for a work day. Having sewing things out and teh cats is a recipe for disaster. I've left the ironing board up though since I still need it and I need to rearrange things that I shuffled looking for something to be able to put it back and I found a cute little pattern I had bought a decade ago to make sewing caddy and I think I will do that for when i'm sitting on the couch. Or for presents. We shall see how industrious i can be. I do plan on taking the 1951 machine to the norther house so 1) get back some space in my home studio and 2) having a machine up there is a good plan.

So yeah that has been the weekend and the reading and the crafting. Maybe next week I will have mojo to workout...cause my back is telling me all about things.

Crown March 2nd
When last I wrote I was heading to crown with the family. Mel was sickish and I got us there on time and with the gear which was a pop up, a table and our chairs and water. It wasn't pretty but it was the only thing that would have fit since the area around the list field was tiny. The site was dusty AF and the owner (a former crown and yeah...lets leave it at that) wants to use it for WotP. Yeah no. The current site is lovely since it drains...this site is just a dust bowl which has been closed for wet conditions before. So no thank you. Anyhoo, I sat and knit and watched the fighting with Ari and Willa. Mel didn't stay put like he should have but we all managed to enjoy the day. Benton was filthy from playing with the other kids and running around like good kids. He kept them inline and not underfoot. Though seriously folks....sunscreen your kids and check in on them from time to time? Yes it takes a village but you still have to effing parent.

The day ended with Baldrich winning for Hürrem (aka Jules who I've know for 20+ years). We had a lovely Roses circle for the Shield of Chivalry. I made sure that Sir Helga was there too since she was visiting. I think she was flattered that we included her since 1) she's out of kingdom and 2) I don't think the Westie Roses treat her well. We are all inclusive in Atenveldt. Then came the traditional Knight's Circle, which after I asked on the KW Discord I see that its weird and cruel....as I've always known. Basically, that circle goes until they are done leaving the non-combatants to tear down and wait for closing court. It was well over 90 mins. I got everything but our chairs loaded in the truck. And we waited and waited. Ugh. I was livid. Elzbieta was also livid and she had gone to stare at the circle to hopefully get them to move things along. So I will be sending a new letter to the crown about that...cause they can do it another time or keep it to 30 mins. Cause hostage dinner theater is not what I want when I'm tired (got up at 530am and drove 3 hours, spent all day in the sun and now want to go home or at least get dinner and drive home. Ugh.

So we sat and waited and finally had closing court. We got packed up and had a plan for dinner (Cracker Barrel) and after changing clothes and washing off all of the dirt/dust it was nice to have a tasty dinner. Yes its a chain but its consistent and good. Plus their gift shop had things like a Griffin stuffie Ari had to buy. Got home just before 10pm. Ugh. We were not going back Sunday and it was a rest day for everyone. I did errands and did yoga.

Pictures from Crown click the pic for the album:


Work Week March 4-8th
The work week was okay. I finished #10 Nettle and Bone and I started #11 The Twisted Ones also by T. Kingfisher. This one is a creepy story and I wasn't sure how I was going to do but honestly, it was okay. I think this was the most self-insert story from Ursula cause man it felt like I was reading her twitter feed at some points. But I'm ahead of myself. We had trailer unpack on Saturday the 9th and I was worried it was just going to be me and Mel and Dominique but we had a good crew show up. We brought more home than we took but that was repairs and stuff that will not be going back on the trailer. Dominque and all of us were ruthless on the purging of things and that was okay. We got home and it was a struggle to get Benton to pack. He did not take his meds and didn't come with us to the trailer thing and yeah but we all got packed up and ready for the early am.

Disneyland March 10-14th
We got on the road on time and did make really good time getting into LA. We took the southern route where you drive west to almost San Diego and then up the coast. I really like it and its less crazy traffic and directions. We did manage to not get into too much bumper to bumper and got to La Brea by 3pm. I was having breathing issues outside when I could smell the asphalt + LA and yeah I had to hit the inhaler a few times. But the museum was well done though not a lot on display compared to what I thought we would see. It is an active dig site though and you can tour the pit they are currently digging so that was cool. I also had not heard that they were reclassifying the Dire Wolf from Canis dirus to Aenocyon dirus So that was cool to find out. We had fun and then it was an hour drive back south to get to the hotel and when you have a full concierge hotel..use the damn bellhops Melvin. Sighs. He didn't want to and then waited in teh lobby with our stuff for me to get back from self parking which was an adventure and I had to park in the new pixar hotel's parking garage. Sighs. I had told him to get us checked in and he did not. Sighs. So I had to wait in a long line that formed while I was doing things. Le sigh. But it was okay. The hotel room was nice, not as big as the one I had at Disneyland Hotel but we had a balcony with a partial view of California Adventure which was super nice. We could watch the light shows and see the park and get fresh air. The beds were so comfy omg.

So we got unloaded and then headed to Downtown Disney...which was thwarted by Mel having his pocket knife even though I said we were heading through security. But we got moving and went to Ballast Point for dinner. Sat on the patio and had good noms and good beer. Then we did a bit of looking at Downtown Disney before retiring to our rooms. We started the day early and then realized we couldn't get early entry into Disneyland on a Monday. sighs. But we got in at rope drop and headed to Space Mountain. We had a to wait a bit and it was fun. Benton's second rollercoaster ever and he liked it after he had minute to settle. We then did Star Tours which was lots of fun except the part where we were on Hoth and fell down over a cliff. Oof. I then made the boys go on Its a Small world, Benton's Comment was "that was creepy and I hated it" We hit Autotopia which was fun and got Benton his own driver's license. We also did the sub ride for Finding Nemo which was cute, then we did the tea cups and had churros. We then climbed up in to the new Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and stood in a line for Pirates which the boys loved. Then it was on to Indiana Jones, Thunder Canyon Railway, and a ride on the Mark Twain and then on the monorail before dinner at the Storyteller's Buffet. We then headed back into the park for Star Wars time with Smuggler's Run and Rise of the Resistance before we all were tired and headed back to the hotel for drinks and watching the light show from the balcony. The boys drifted off well and I was up reading before sleeping the sleep of the dead.

Woke up on Tuesday and we couldn't enter California Adventure early since it was a Disneyland day. UGH. The boys were not happy with me but luckily I knew where to get coffee when we could enter. We did the Zephyr, Goofy's Flying school which is crazy fun, we did the big swings. The Bourdin tour was fun and smelled so good and then the boys were toast and headed back to the room for a rest. I got a boozy drink and early lunch (curry in a bread bowl yum). After a break the boys decided they were done with California Adventure and wanted to go back to "star wars land" and Benton wanted to build a droid. I scheduled that while I enjoyed the quite of the park and my meal. I met them back at Galaxy's Edge just in time for the droid build. Mel headed off to take the Tour of the Grand Californian (which I had signed him up for) while Benton and I tooled around, got Dole Whip and I tooks him onto Tom Sawyers Pirate Island to run around like crazy. Then Benton really wanted to go to to the pool and I said sure. We met Mel in the lobby with his tour guide and then Benton got changed and Mel and I got shaded patio loungers and a waiter and drinks while Benton had a ball playing in the pool and waterslide. It was nice. We then got cleaned up and headed to our dinner reservation at Belle Palace which was tasty. The ducks were zooming between tables looking for snacks. The food was excellent and I had a wonderful Blackberry Mule. We rode pirates again I think and then made sure to head over to California Adventure for the fountain show which was amazing. We'd watched it from the balcony but on the waterfront it was the music timed correctly and so pretty. We trooped back and hit the gift shop. Benton picked out the hotel ears which have acorns and wood rings and are lounge fly Can you belive it?! and it was an early bedtime for us after showers etc.


Wednesday we were a bit more leisurely and the boys wanted back in California Adventure so we changed our ticket plans and headed in for more of Goofy's ride, the Inside Out ride, Soarin' California and then the raft ride. We all got soaked and then headed back to the hotel room to get changed into dry clothes. We then did Webslingers, Mater's Jamboyree and got stuff at teh animators studio before heading back into the Disneyland to ride teh Matterhorn before our lunch reservation at Blue Bayou..the restaurant inside pirates of the Caribbean. Good drinks and food and OMG the vegan creme brulee! The vegan desserts are on point at the resturants let me tell you. We then did fun things like the sword and the stone, the carousel and Mr Toad's Wild Ride. We also toured Sleeping Beauty's Castle before we headed onto Pirate island and the canoe rides. We then headed back to Galaxy's Edge where Mel found an awesome hat. We had a bit of a meltdown from Benton...honestly, I'm surprised it took that long but he wanted to buy something to just have something and that wasn't cool. We all had a nice long talk about that. As a family we went back to Star Tours after mood bettering Mickey Pretzels. The boys road it twice in a row since the line was super short. I dinked around the gift shop during the second trip since I was not up for that any longer. We got a porg stuffy for Benton and a Disneyland Hoodie...they have all of the big hoodies this year unlike last year where I found the one I bought. We had dinner at Ballast Point again before getting sidewalk seats for the light show which was projected on the castle. OMG was that cool and the music was awesome. We then got Benton back to the hotel and tucked in while Mel and I walked over to Trader Sam's and got walk in service. Woot. Two very strong Tiki Drinks later it made for a very nice ending to a nice trip. We walked back to our hotel the back way and home to showers and getting ready for the drive the next day.

We slept in a bit and packed up and were on the road by a bit after 9am. Traffic was pretty smooth, we got gas and food in Mission Viejo and then stopped in Yuma for a pit stop before stopping off then at Loves on just after getting on the I10. We were home a bit later and were happy to see our new tent had arrived from Panther (sniff sniff). The cats were very happy we were home and we all collapsed into our comfy places. I did not stay up very late at all. Mel had gone to kung fu and I got Canes for dinner.

Pictures of Disney, click the picture for the album.


Friday and the weekend
Friday I had to work, mel slept way in and then did laundry and packed for his trip for the Wushu Nationals. Paul picked him up about 1230. I got through until about 2pm of work and then called it I was tired and I took a large nap. Benton was engrossed in his lego build and I got us Panda Express and I enjoyed rum and limeade. Nom.

Saturday I tried to sleep in but didn't ugh. I was not good Saturday. I dunno...brain had weasels...over sugared, bad food? I dunno. Brain wasn't happy and I napped most of the afternoon. Felt better and made dinner and Benton and I watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Then I finished Moon Knight...omg. So good. And then I slept in better Sunday. I had a plan and relaxed with my boozy coffee and my book (#11 Twisted ones) and finished that up. Benton and I cleaned up the house and put things away and I got dinner in before his friend arrived for a play date. And that was good. Mel got home about 8pm and we chatted for a few hours before we needed to go to bed. I had started book 12 which is Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire. OMG that is so hard to put down.

Well, I made it to the gym yesterday and I think I did okay. what was not okay was that work kept me an hour late but I wasn't trying to catch a class so that was okay. I used the machines versus the free weights since I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. I have to pull out my books and write up my routines since I don't have one handed to me when I walk in the door. That is okay. I have the knowledge and plans. I have a new notebook to write these up in and its all good. I can do it.

Tonight I will make it to the yoga class which I'm looking forward to...its been more than a month since I did yoga. I will see if I like the instructor but honestly it will just be good to move and then I will hit knitting. I have to say my brain was super happy with me last night and I managed to get my laundry put away, my gym bag packed and into bed on time. I also made good choices for dinner, got Benton to help with it and had a nice evening. Spicy was all about me getting snuggled and took a bath on me and then managed to do so many biscuits. It was nice.

Not sure if I I've mentioned it here or not but we've had javelina in the yard a few times now and that has been funny to watch on the cameras.

The house is still a mess from war and I need to take dry cleaning in and put things away but I did wash everything that needed washing except blankets. That is a Sunday project or Friday.

So I got a good chunk into #9 Stone Cold by Devon Monk....omg...wow. This is going places I did no expect. So good. Glad I picked it as my next wead.

The end of the week before the war was busy with work and projects and things. Mel was teaching locally and in Phoenix for some kung fu stuff. We started in on project with the trailer on Saturday morning and it was clear we were in over our heads. We had to take everything out of the trailer that was bolted in cause the wiring ran behind things. I called in Work Bob and that was perfect. I'm glad I had bought the extra long cable (29 feet) and the solder splices etc. It was a good plan. It still got some weirness on the wheel hubs so we may have to rewire those but honestly, we know how to get to it and its take one small panel off. We with Bob's help we got that and the water proofing done (flex seal is gold...seriously awesome). I got the dress done and spent Sunday afternoon with errands and knitting on Justin's mitts. I got them done minus the weaving in ends by bedtime. that was 6 inches of knitting and a thumb. So all good. Monday was everything took too long but I managed everything else. We were done and loaded and packed by 9pm. Everything minus toiletries. That is really good.

Got up at 6am, got boy up, got the van hooked up to the trailer and we left at 715am. Got to site just a bit after 930. I took a prescription ibuprofen and got the map rejiggered around the water path in camp. Mel got there and we started getting our plan of attack while other folks showed. We had a very small crew of Me, Mel, Benton, Ari, Dominique, her hubby Steven. We were later joined by Monique, Tym and Poe. The ground there is hard AF. I luckily can switch hit on pounding hammers and I'm glad I bought a new 3lb long handled sledge but we had to pull out the 6lb sledge to help some things. Luckily we all talk, we've set this up before...things were a bit jumbled in the trailer which helped us not at all but we got it going. We were so tired when we completed and when folks just crashed after 830pm. Wednesday we got the flair up and and other things and then Ari and tooled around merchants and in general we all relaxed. I really don't remember what else we did but we got the camp settled, hung out with folks chatted with more folks, had mead, drank beer (homebrew) and in general relaxed with folks. This was the first war we really let Benton "off leash" to do his own thing. He helped at water bearing and at youth corner and with merchants etc. He made boffers and sold some and just had a good time. He did not hit the archery range cause it was windy and cold. I don't blame him. Everyone kept telling Mel and I how awesome he was and how helpful he was with waterbearing and youth corner so yanno...we have a good kiddo.

I did some shopping getting some roman style jewelry from Mistress Fiona. I got a new hood from Mistress Amy Marie and a new laurel medallion from Duke Arthur. Bought benton a few things like a new mug and a fox tail. I also got a new bowl from Cactus Fire pottery.

They had a demo area setup in the town square adn I had no idea that was happening (grumble grumble social media only on FB grumble grumble) but I did talk with Baron Diego doing blacksmithing, with Lord Zagan for brewers, and the Outlands folks with their own period bead furnace. I made a bead. It got stuck and split but I will glue it back together. The glass is what I need to buy...its different COE/Melt temp than our modern glass (duh) and yeah I so want to make a portable one now again. Hopefully sometime this fall. But it was a good time all around. I did a bit of knitting. I marshalled, Mel took jackie as a Squire (I still need to loade that to YT)

My ankle was not happy with all of the setup and teardown and walking and standing. Nope.

Grand Court was fun and pretty. We had to wait for almost the closing of court for the surprise offer for Magdalen for laurel. They just posted to YT the whole of court so hopefully it made it in since the light was low. To say she was gobsmacked is an under statement. She was heralding the court and her hubby (part of teh Whiskey Bards) came running in as they were closing down court to bring up a need....it was perfect. We got back to camp prepared to get itno food prep to find that Lady Fiona had done all of it. We were amazed. (court was at 6pm our dinner time so yeah). We are all now going to get her a patterned up for clothes to teach her to sew and make her clothes and trim as a thank you. We need to schedule our sewing nights.

So after dinner I was handling mead and the fire cause the Duke was doing dishes. TRM arrive and we call everyone to the fire. Well, HRM bestowed upon me her Queen's Grace. I was gobsmacked. I'm graceful by title only...I'm clutzy, I'm brash, I speak my mind and not always with sweetness and light. But I've inspired HRM Aesa and is the oldest Kingdom Award. We filled lots of mugs that night and had a nice time by the fire. Sunday was going to be early and tear down day for us.

Tear down went pretty smoothly but boy was I so tired by the time we finished. The house hold stuff went well and we are a good team to walk through and do things. Benton and I got home before Mel since he dropped the trailer off at Ed's. Luckily Chris was home for me to get my house keys since he watched the cats. I managed to get the van unloaded mostly before Mel got home. Benton was....off...realized later he had not taken his meds and was coming down from sugar (we may have ate a bag of TJ's scandanavian sour swimmers on the way home). But we got it unloaded, coolers emptied and the things out of our trailer we needed and our trailer put away by 430 or so? I made the decision to get burgers from Graze and that was perfect. Benton got a shower and a bath and was in bed early. I was enjoying kitten time though she's more small cat now. All good she's almost 10 months and is filling out her face since her spay.

So that was war...this week has been hella long with work adn I didn't really take Monday off. We haven't finished putting war away yet but hope to get it done tonight and tomorrow.

I did one thing that is making me happy which is I joined the work gym on Thursday. I'm going to try to be at work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday so I can weight train on Tue/Thursday myself and then take the 5pm yoga class on Wednesday and still hit knit night. Its ambitious but I used to be able to do this. Its gonna be hard on Benton a bit cuase I will need to drop him off early to get to work early to let myself start at 730 or earlier. But he used to do that too. It gives me Monday's and Fridays free and lets me also hit yoga over a weekend class (like I plan to do this weekend).
I will also get pictures up too. I forgot to do that. But we survived.

Books I finished #7 Moon Spinners and now am about 40% through #8 Real Murders by Charlaine Harris. This is the first book in the Aurora Teagarden novels which I've watched all of the Hallmark Mystery Movies so I'm familiar with all of the characters. What I did not expect was the overly whiney woe is me I'm single from Aurora but I'm getting over it. All good....its schlocky and fun.