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.

Well yesterday I got up and got my boobsmashed for the year and then kept up the momentum on things. I think my brain and body like that I was up earlier and had transition time from sleep to being awake and moving to taking kiddo to school etc. I had energy which was nice.

So I worked and even though I was tired it was accomplished tired not exhausted tired. I went to the gym (woot) and did a hard workout. So many reps...when most of it was 3x20 for lots of things..yikes so many reps.

I got home, ate dinner, loafed on the couch and since everyone was making new clothes for the weekend I went through my closet to pull things. I need to tweak the one peplos dress I have but I may save that for Sunday. I have a nice light linen long sleeve dress that will be fine with my rus apron so I look more laurely than shlubby. I really need to make new clothes...but I need to get that scroll done but I have a plan for a new dress or two for the Arts Champion.

I then made a long art related phone call while I folded and put away the laundry hydra from Sunday. Who is this person who is not living our of a clean laundry basket? This was a good balm on my art brain and it was a reminder I'm fucking behind but we can catch up.

I was sore from the work out so even though my brain was buzzing it was the good buzz not the anxiety buzz so I slept okay.

Got up this morning and was up and drinking coffee before anything else and that has helped. Got plans, got a to do list and things will be okay.

Mom's birthday is today and Amazon delivered her present (a cat squishmallow) and I will be picking up 2 dozen donuts for her and we have an appt today. So not a big celebration but a nice thing. Its probably her last birthday but I need to not think about that.

Also, the moon pic I mentioned yesterday:

Last week I was super asthma-y and stuffed up. A bit of research shows that lots of things I'm very allergic to starts to sprout/bloom and they usually make me miserable and I get a sinus infection in late January/February almost every year. So, I rested, upped my meds, made sure to take my controller med and started recovering by late Friday. I did take off part of Thursday to sleep and I think that helped but I couldn't be sussed to do anything but read and watch TV. That is okay. Honestly, so I rested and then on Saturday got a really really good shower and attended the Atenveldt 50 Year event. I took a class hosted by a gal in the Outlands on Beads from Ribe which was lots of fun. She had a nice camera on her torch so we could see her building things in real time. Then I hung out in the Kitchen with Domingo for a bit just chatting before taking a class on the way fighting started in Atenveldt by Arthur of Lockehaven and he had 8mm video to show of things from 1970 and lots of fun pictures. It was really neat to hear him and other speak on things at the beginning. Then it was a panel on the founding of the kingdom and stories from all of the old guard. It was neat. There was also a memorial presentation for all of those who we lost. Then I went back and hung out in the Kitchen some more. The whole time I was cutting out fabric for my overdress and sewing on my featherweight so I got a bunch done. I had also been day drinking pretty hard so when it came time to cut silk and work on the neckline I just stopped. There was a short howdy from the crown and then there was a virtual feast. I did not stay for that since I hadn't seen mel or Benton most of the day so I changed out of my tunic and put on a tank top and had a nice dinner and a few more drinks. I worked on my naalbinding on the hat.

Sunday I woke up and was not hung over which was surprising. I read and then got going on my personal laundry and the dress. I logged onto a zoom for Art Show and Tell with the Kingdom MOAS and that was nice to chat and keep motivated while folks showed stuff off. I used my phone to text the arts chat and my SIL for advice on things and that was also good. I got the neckline set and pinned to relax into shape on my dress form and will hand sew the edges of it on tonight and then get the rest of the dress together to see how this pattern fit. I've put the middle eastern extra gores in the upper back to help with my hulk shoulders and I think its going to fit quite nice. I will probably finish the sleeves first before its all sews together but again this is going really well.

I then spent more time on my hat and got it to the 'no more increasing' part of the process. Which is good. So progress all around. I did not get the christmas stuff down. But honestly I don't care. We will get it down today at least in the house. Benton has the day off for MLK day and he can help.

It was nice to wake up today and not feel off. I actually have energy and feel normal and motivated. I don't think I've felt this way in a really long time. I would like this to maintain. I've missed this energy.

Well, when last I posted we were getting ready for the xmas holiday. It has since passed and we are looking right at the start of the new year. Seriously, how does almost 2 weeks pass so quickly? The holiday was quiet and relaxing. We had no melt downs from little boys, everyone was happy with gifts, we ate really well and had time with family and friends.

It was a Skylander's Xmas with the whole family getting some for various versions of the game. I also got given Disney Infinity which has all of the Disney and Marvel characters you can think of....so much fun but hard to play when you are tired. The world building is intense. We figured out quickly that Minecraft makes me sea sick and I won't be playing an of that probably. Which is sad, I was actually looking forward to that. We had public_shaylan with us for a few days and it was so nice.

Over the last two weeks I've also went to the Tucson drawing studio with elinor_dear and bewilde for Live Model drawing on Sunday mornings. I was very, very nervous for the first session, it was really the first time I've ever drawing anything that was real and not just a copy from a book or the internet. It was intimidating and 3 hours is a long time to be drawing but it has been good. They start out with 5 5 minute poses of the model, a 15 min pose, a 30 min pose followed by 45 minute pose and then a pose with what ever time is left. There are breaks between the longer poses for us and the model to stretch relax etc.

There was marked improvement from last week to this week. It really helped that we got there early and were able to get a much better angle so we were in, as Bridget calls it, "Foreshortening Hell."

( cut for NSFW )

The model we had this last time was wonderful and so striking in features. During the 45 min pose I couldn't get her head right (pin heads suck) and just moved to another sheet to do a study of her face. Her features were so striking its like she walked out of a stone carving from the Aztecs.

In other new things I've done. I published my first fan fiction. Its in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and yeah, I'm pretty proud of it. I've got a few more in the works including one that hit me today that I'll see if I can get out there.

A Proper Drink It was not possible without much love and editing by ickaimp and lferion.

So Sunday was nice and then I just got cold...could not get warm and well I was sick with sinus uck. Today I'm tired and ran some errands but still tired. Not quite fit for human interactions but on the mend I think. I don't think my eating habits are helping and just need to stop the crap and eat good stuff and drink my effing tea and water like a good girl.

2015 will hopefully bring lots of good changes to me. My goal is to make myself better and treat myself better. I've been letting work decide on that too much and well, I need to do things for myself.

Well, I have to say I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to this weeked but considering how I was feeling I don't feel too bad about it. So on friday I started getting really stuffed up in the head. My ears were full and my head ached and I was tired. I came home after a huge brain drain day and took a nap. Mel was awesome and let me sleep and picked up the Benton later than normal so I could rest. I ended up taking some sudafed but man I didn't feel too much better. I prepared for us to go to Sierra Vista in the morning but we had a plan if I wasn't up to it. Mel was awesome to make me grilled cheese to go with the tomato soup that I wanted.

Little boy decided that 615 was when he wanted to get up which was fine. I got moving and made coffee and breakfast after I fed him. I was feeling okay after I ate and I proceeded to get things going for the morning. Mel was awesome and drove to Sierra Vista. We had Mariyah with us and we had a good trip down. Got to site and got things settled and Ben was really awesome all day. I was tired though and I took it easy and made sure to drink plenty of water and keep the boy happy. Aunt Pat was great and watched him while I taught documentation. The classes got a bit rescheduled due to the rain but it worked out. I was very tired by the time it was time to leave. I drove us out of site and then managed to miss a sign and get a speeding ticket on post. I think I might defend my case on it since both mel and I didn't see the 35mph sign, only the 45mph sign. Its not the most expensive ticked I've gotten but it still was annoying. Unfortunately, since they were right behind us american_knight and duchess_asa got one too. That was the most eventful part of the trip. We got home, changed clothes, I fed the boy and then Mariyah and us went to Sweet Tomatoes. I was in the mood for comfort food and salad and soup hit that spot.

Got home, fed the boy again and I went to bed after a shower. I was feeling very stuff and my ears ached. I had really bad issues coming down from Sierra Vista (in elevation) and I blew my noised when we got home from dinner and I had to do the checks to see if I blew my eardrum. Ouch. All was okay but I was so icky. Mel had set his bedside light on and I went to bed to awake at midnight and realized mel hadn't come to bed. Which was odd. He had had a really good day fighting and was a bit keyed up when we got home from dinner. Well, he had stayed keyed up and had sat watching naalbinding videos. Silly boy. I am glad he had a good day and he came to bed when he realized what time it was. We went to bed and I fell asleep very fast him not so much. Oh, well. At 4am the boy made his monitor beep but it didn't set the alarm off. I got up to hit the bathroom and then realized that I needed to pump. I hadn't before bed and that was a mistake. I was back to sleep by 430 but when the boy woke up at 6am I was toast. Mel was awesome and brought him and the boppy to me and I slept/dozed while he ate. I had hoped he'd fall asleep with us in bed but he just wiggled happily while we dozed. Mel got up about 730 and took the boy with him and I slept until 930. It was nice.

I got up and felt my sinuses draining which was good and I felt better. I had breakfast after feeding the boy and then worked on getting the house picked up I think....I think I pulled fabric for my new dress and at 1pm Tym arrived to work on Rus pants. Throughout the afternoon he worked on pants with me supervising and I worked on understanding, making a pattern and then cutting out a new hangerrock based upon Nille Glaesel's Book. It is an amazing book and I finally figured out her patterning and cut one out. Dude, such efficient use of fabric! I hope to have it completed by crown on Saturday but I'll have to push through to do it. It won't have all of the fancy stuff on it but it should be nice. If that one works/wears well I'll do more from that pattern and get my clothing back up to snuff. I've needed new stuff for a while and I've been balking on it.

Benton had been a grumpy pants most of the day. I think he's starting teething cause he was warm but not really running a fever and he was chewing on everything he could get his hands on. Or he could be coming down with my cold. Dunno. He was cranky last night and was fussing on and off throughout the night. We put him down with out jammies and that was probably a mistake. I got up at 3am to cover him back up and give him his binky. He was right to sleep with his afghan but this morning he was still a bit cranky but that could have just been that he wanted to still be asleep. When he got to day care he was all smiles again but not as bouncy as normal. We shall see how this progresses. He's the right age to start with teeth or with a cold or both. Ah the joys of parenthood.

Pardoner's Tale, Lines 135-160

Prdnr's Tl Lns 135-60

1nce upn a tme, 'n Flndrz
thr wuz a man
a yng prsn tht prcticd flly
bcme n'ged w/tvrnz, gmblng, & whorehousez
lystning 2 hrpz, lutz, & gtrz
thy dncd & plyd w.dice 24/7
thy als. Eat, hwevr drnk 2 much
thy do bd thngs
whn thy r n the mndset of dng bd
hz vwz & cmmitmnts wre obvi.
hwevr when he wld swr it hrt r earz
he wuz kllng us by dng ths
evry1 els jst rofl'd
& l8r on cntn'd 2 wtch grlz dnc
thy wre prtty & sm.
at the prty thr wuz a frt sllr sngr w/hrpz
prostiez. & cak vndrz
thy all wrkd w/the dev.
the fyr wuz lit
& ppl wre eating
OMG! Hw is ths hppning?!
Ppl r dng crzy sht b/c ther drunk
Thr is a man lying by his dghtrs bt he iz soooo drnk that he dozn't kno it's thm!

So, for those that can't draw...there is a fun heraldic stuff for you to trace your designs.

First, is Heraldic Clip Art. The site is a bit lacking in the easy to use part but if you have high speed you can get to things quickly.

Second, is an SCA things from the Pennsic Heralds to allow quick drawing of arms for submissions.
Pennsic Traceable Art Project which is very, very well done. Its still missing some charges but its a great place to go. I use it alot...even if its just for reference for what to draw or to make stencils.

So, if you're interested...they are taking articles!!!!!!
From the Editor of the Known World Handbook!!!!!
************************************************************************
For decades the Known
World Handbook (KWH) has been a must-have resource for any newcomer
to the SCA. The last update to this quintessential publication
occurred over 14 years ago. Over the next year or so, the SCA will be
revamping this critical handbook from the ground up. The goal is to
release a new KWH for sale through the SCA's online Stock Clerk by
the first quarter of 2010.

We are looking for
anything and everything a newcomer to the SCA could be interested in.
If you have an idea for an article, send it on in. There is no limit
to new and fresh ideas. For a list of sample topics visit www.sca.org/kwh .

Try to keep the
articles between 800 and 3000 words, and please submit them via Word
files or in the body copy of an email to kwh@sca.org. Authors of existing articles
in the KWH are invited to refresh, renew, and update their prior KWH
articles. If you send in any article, artwork or photograph, please
fill out the KWH release form available at: www.sca.org/docs/pdf/kwhrelease.pdf .

Wes Hanna (Baron Kainin)
KWH Editor in Chief
& Deputy to the President, SCA, Inc.
kwh@sca.org

Well, I spent the entirety of friday working on the riding coat. OMG...did that take forever and it didn't help that I had to take one entire section of trim off and redo since I made the seam too large and had to rework it do to lining/outershell issues. Lesson learned again: the lining needs to be cut 1-2 inches longer that the outer. I finished up with the final trim attachment just at 8pm and then put buttons on during the game and passed it over to get loops
to ari and we finished it up somewhere around 10pm.

For credit:
Ari cut out the coat and lining.
I serged all of the pieces and finished up the lining sewing.
I attached all of the blue trim and embroidered all of the crosses.
Ari made the wolves and attached them.

So for all of the glory, here it is:
( Ed's Coat Picts )

So that is done. This weekend I have to cut out and finish mel's vigil tunic and pants and finish richard's coat plus work on barional stuff and get laundry done. Yay! Well, time to get dressed and head to the gem show.