From "medieval crack" to Pennsic prep...

So far I've been having a rather quiet SCA year in 2018. Not completely dead -- I have NOT quit the SCA. No way am I doing that! But I've had to watch my pennies, and I've had unavoidable time conflicts with some events. I've been to only three events so far since New Year's Day, and one was technically a baronial activity, not an official event.

On the first Saturday of March I attended Atlantia's Kingdom Arts & Sciences Festival in the Barony of Stierbach. It's an annual event, but I haven't attended it annually. Last year it was in South Carolina, which is an awfully long drive from Maryland, so I went to my church's annual women's retreat instead (sadly, they're usually on the same Saturday). In 2016, I had a head cold and just stayed home.

"Medieval crack" is how one Facebook user described the inspiration she got from seeing all the displays and competitions. I totally agree! I went from table to table and gaped at all the wonderful things that I never knew existed or could be made. I took quite a few pictures; unfortunately, I still haven't sorted them out yet. (I know, I know ... I keep taking photos and dumping them into the cloud and then never getting around to organizing them....)

One Saturday in April I went to Storvik's Performers' Revel at the home of Master Igor and Mistress Fevronia, two longtime stalwarts of the Barony. It made for a long day, because in the morning and early afternoon I went up to Baltimore to attend the "Windmills" dance festival at the Lithuanian Hall. As it turned out, one of my Lochmere friends dances in a Scandinavian folk-dance group, so it was great to see her there and share some of my non-SCA interests with her.

Then I had yet another time conflict in June. (Seeing a theme here?) On the same day that Storvik held its annual Novice Tourney -- a single-day event without camping due to site limitations -- I was invited to a "celebration of life" for a college classmate who had passed away in February. What to do? Once again, I split my day: in the morning I went to Novice, then left mid-afternoon, changed my muddied clothes at home, and then went downtown to attend the memorial gathering at an art gallery. It rained a bit toward the end of the second event -- we had a very wet June around these parts -- and as I walked back to the Metro station, I saw traces of a rainbow in the sky. My classmate was smiling down on us....

Even though I'm a little light on my event schedule, I'm still keeping busy with other SCA-related activities. I have been making a few medallion cords for the Kingdom and finally learning how to knit with multiple colors of yarn. I'm dancing in the dance group, and I try to attend baronial meetings when I can. One highlight of the year so far was an SCA group outing to see the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of the classic Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot. The theater not only gave us a group discount, but also a free drink coupon if we attended in garb. After the show, a couple of the actors invited us on stage for group photos. They were as happy to meet us as we were to meet them!

(Incidentally, there was someone else in the audience who would have been interesting to meet ... her initials are R.B.G.)

I should probably also mention that this spring I did a fair amount of reorganizing of my craft and sewing supplies, as well as my books on SCA topics, so that it should be easier to get off my duff and accomplish some creativity. (I am a naturally disorganized person, so a friend helped me with this.)

Now I'm getting ready to go to Pennsic again. Starting in 2004, I've attended every Pennsic War with the exceptions of 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016. (I *registered* for Pennsic XL in 2011, I loaded up the car ... and that car's transmission was croaking before I got out of Maryland.) This year I'm keeping things simple -- going for War Week, editing the stuff I'm bringing so that I don't end up with a tub full of unworn garb. I've already done a fair amount of packing and staging my belongings in a spot in the spare room. (This is NOT the kind of packing one can do in an hour, or even an evening.)

I'm trying to finish a linen dress and turban before I leave, and I also have some work-for-pay that has nothing to do with the SCA. I'll try to write about the dress in a future entry.

Since my car is in the shop for a thermostat replacement, wish me luck in my travels -- I'm going to need it.