All Over the Place, Literally

It’s only the beginning of July, but I can honestly say that it’s been a crazy busy summer. In June alone we attended two events (and one at the very end of May), camped twice, and I personally spent a great deal of time working on various projects. Not to mention a lot of dealings with my Celt’s mother’s kidney transplant (which sadly didn’t happen in the end), and family visiting.

This weekend I plan to get beneath the mounds of debris in my living room so I can begin sewing garb for my Celt’s trip to Pensic War. For some reason, unlike a lot of folks, I just can’t work in a messy place. And when you have a tiny one bedroom, you really need to keep on top of all that stuff.

Though it was incredibly hot and muggy the first day, and we only stayed one night, I think the Celtlings enjoyed going to Border Skirmish in the Kingdom of Northshield. Their garb turned out ok, despite my inexperience behind a sewing machine, and they had fun running around taking photos of the battles. My Celt thinks the youngest two might be too young to be entertained at a weekend-long event, but I’m looking at this as a learning experience. Now we know that we have to bring more things for them to do, just in case the children’s activities fall through. The best time to be had, however, was at the beach on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan. I think we went down to the beach at least four times, despite the icy chill of the water.

Asa and the Celtlings: (clockwise from lower left) Anna, Maggie, Me, Ian

The following weekend, we trekked down to the Barony of Carriag Ban within our own kingdom to attend Ragnarok Rampage, without the Celtlings. It seemed that fate was against us, what with all the storms we had to face, and several of the people who were supposed to be doing things at the event missing out because of storm-related mishaps.

At one point, my Celt and I were standing inside our flimsy nylon tent, holding up tent poles so the wind and rain didn’t blow us over. At the last minute they had to find a new list master (and the one who stepped in did a good job, if I do say so), so the boys didn’t even get to start fighting until midday, when the sun was hot and the breeze was slight.

Because we’re attempting to experience the whole SCA this time around, our entire encampment (a total of eight folks!) went to court and feast that night. I’ve been to SCA feasts before and to be perfectly honest, while the food-snob in me is usually thoroughly impressed by the offerings, the meat-and-potatoes side of me is usually left wanting. This feast, however, did not disappoint. Using the theme of Beowulf vs. Grendel, we were served several courses (beginning with a joke course of bologna sandwiches and chips). The biggest hit of the night was Grendel’s blood and ribs, a serving of pork ribs swimming in a beet soup. It was absolutely delicious and our serving bowl didn’t leave the table with a drop of food left in it. I also enjoyed the cottage loaf, and “Grendel’s Eyes,” a mixture of cream and cottage cheese with green olives.

Cottage loaf with honey butter, vegetables, and "Grendel's Eyes"

While we did end up driving home early the next morning (around 1:30 a.m., which I do not recommend), and I got sunburn so bad that it took me days to recover, I can honestly look back on the weekend with fondness. Not only did I get to know a few of my Shire members better, I met a couple of new folks. I also decided that I was very tired of being a lump at events, and that I was finally going to sum up my courage and try fencing. I told my good friend Lord Sebastian, who kindly offered to bring loaner gear to practice for me to try, to give me a few months to get my body back in some kind of shape, and then I’d gladly don some gear and try it out. I’m nervous-excited to do it, but I really do think I’d have a blast. My Celt was super-supportive of this idea, which I have to admit is a giant relief. If he had teased me, I don’t think I would have the guts to do it. He even said he’d take pictures of me fencing at events when I got to that level.

Earlier this year, I became the editor-in-chief (chronicler) of our Shire’s newsletter. Wednesday, I finished fifth issue, and I’m mentioning this because I did everything inside of this issue myself. Normally, I receive submissions, and just lay it all out together, make it look nice and all. But it took the opportunity this time to do some research and write an article about the Vikings. The library was a great source, but unfortunately all it really did was find even more books I’d like to own. Like I need to spend more money on books. Regardless, I’m really proud of this issue, and I am going to try to write a few more articles from these books before I return them.

As for the rest of my projects, they’re coming along smoothly. The blanket I’m making for myself has four different colors on it already, and the granny squares I’m working on for my god-daughter, Lybbe, are still piling up. I have a few more projects in line to work on: an amigurumi Spartan for my Celt, an amigurumi ninja for my god-son, Izack, several stuffed toys, a pair of fingerless mitts for myself, a German Chocolate cake for my BFF’s birthday, and a rattle and blanket for the soon-to-be newest member of my Celt’s family, a baby cousin. I’m even getting it in my head to hand-make all my Christmas presents this year, and I know I purchased a few cross-stitch kits with that in mind. Seems like I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I’m having a blast doing it.

The blanket for me, made with Naturally Caron's Country yarn

And that’s all that counts!