Category: Events

A place to talk about people I’ve met and places I’ve gone

Clothing and Equipment, Events3 Comments

Wool tent debut success! Held up against thunderstorm front, and much admired.

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It worked!  A cold front came through and blew down 2 tents in the night, and three more needed serious emergency help, but this geteld weathered like a champ.  It got restaked in the morning, and there was a bit of water intrusion, but all the bedding and stuff stayed dry, and I slept, so I count it as a SUCCESS. Lots of people admired it, including mundane visitors to the fort.  The fabric is very pettable. More pics below, with my comments on some further fine tuning. Here's the pile of my stuff: Clothes chest by Gregg, table from … Continue reading Wool tent debut success! Held up against thunderstorm front, and much admired.

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Stirring the pot at Panhandle Skirmishes

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(Chivalry in Pursuit of Leftovers – we're putting away the chili, and this was the most efficient way, not just the most photogenic.  :D) Had a great day at Panhandle Skirmishes yesterday despite the plunge into cold weather – now I understand why Oldenfeld is called the Land of Big Fun!  I did taste Ceddie’s pepper vodka…WOW.  I’m glad I didn’t meet that unawares! I got to hang out more with various people that I’ve always liked, but hadn’t yet gotten concentrated time with.  This was really good.  I got also to help – Athelina needed a chili stirrer/server for the … Continue reading Stirring the pot at Panhandle Skirmishes

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Choosing Christmas repetoire of early music

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Yup, it's time to think about Christmas…because if one wants to be ready to perform Christmas stuff in December, one has to start practicing way before Halloween. At least it isn't ballet – Nutcracker auditions are in July/August. Oldenfeld Ensemble had the first of a couple of organizational meetings last night, to choose which pieces to work up for the season.  There's a Google doc online with EIGHTY-SEVEN choices.  About half are in English, which is a lot more than usual for this group – most of the stuff we've done this summer has been in Spanish, with a bit … Continue reading Choosing Christmas repetoire of early music

Events1 Comment

A boring journal post for those who don’t fight…

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(this is mostly for me, but because I got so much out of other people making their self-improvement journals public, I am sharing.) Stayed in armor same amount of time (about 1130-2ish).  Fought four intervals, which were all longer. (See, stamina increasing.  Fantastic.  Must keep running, and watching nutrition.)  Lost track of number of bouts (will stop counting hereafter).   Nine fighters, including Ceddie and Genevieve.  I really enjoyed Genevieve's comments, and watching her shapes, because she is not much smaller than I am.  Changing my focus to fight someone my size is Very Different. Notes: Movement – Stuttering.  Expect … Continue reading A boring journal post for those who don’t fight…

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Run + Pell workout

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Now that summer is over, temps are low enough for me to handle outdoor workouts. I'm disgusted with how low my stamina is in armor, and this is colluding with an underlying "you really ought to be taking better care of your heart and lungs" worry.  I've figured out what my workouts should be for vanity's sake – I mix P90X with yoga, and am not terribly consistent with either one – but that is not cutting it for the performance I would like to bring to the sparring field. So today I ran about 3K, on a road that … Continue reading Run + Pell workout

Events4 Comments

First bruise

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Oh boy, lots to catch up on from this week. I went to my first fighter practice as a fighter yesterday, at Oldenfeld.  Nice turnout for a newbie, about six fighters – I did three intervals, which is back up to what I'd done at Daggers that flattened me so badly, and I had my armor on from about 11-2.  In Florida, late September, in the shade, about 80% humidity, high 80's temp.  Not bad. I got this lovely thing, on sword side not-quite-hip.  It's tender, but not awful.  Not sure why there's a stripe through it.  I knew I'd … Continue reading First bruise

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Oldenfeld Demo at FSU

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(Mom and I in respective early period wear – I've got on new amber/jet/silver necklace, new Kentish brooches from Raymond's Quiet Press, and my new standard brooch-closed tunic that I finished for Pennsic.  A full-length pic will be in the Current Garb Photo Album soon, and I'll discuss the gown more later.) The demo yesterday went really well, I thought.  It was funny to see Oldenfeldians in garb, since I see them so much outside of events.  (Entirely my own fault, since their events always seem to be scheduled opposite Meridian events that I am going to.  That's happening AGAIN for … Continue reading Oldenfeld Demo at FSU

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Wadmal class, Pennsic 2009

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This will be an incomplete post, as I arrived on site too late for the first installment of Thora Sharptooth's class, but as the cloth in progress was very similar to the construction of my string skirt, I feel I can muddle through that on my own.  Thora's page on the warp-weighted loom; if you're interested in Viking stuff at all, look at her filing cabinet. Wadmal is apparently 2/2 twill from Iceland.  It's woven on a warp-weighted loom.  We all got to do a bit of the process. When I got there, the loom (and Thora) looked like this: … Continue reading Wadmal class, Pennsic 2009

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More pictures from Pennsic

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Here's some topics of pictures from Pennsic: Early Russian Costuming (in sidebar).  These are images from the class taught at Pennsic.  In discussion with Maudey, we were complaining about the lack of original artifacts shown typically in these classes (we're such snobs) and I have since seen a whole bunch of wonderful stuff, including from Kiev, in a museum catalog about the Vikings.  So that's where to look. Tentmaking.  Again, images from a class.  I'll be blogging detailed notes about this class, since I have fabric for a tent of my own, and will be working on that soon. Wadmal … Continue reading More pictures from Pennsic

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Back from Pennsic-land.

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(Greet and Julia in Kass McGann's shop – Reconstructing History) I had a wonderful time – I met wonderful people, learned things on purpose and not, tried things, and generally got more perspective.  Some of the things I learned: I can stop feeling nervous about my kit – I'm starting to feel more secure in my presentation.  Need a proper chair for evening hangouts, and a tent.  I want fancy boxes (27" wide at base) and some other camp niceties, but bins hidden from view will do for now.  I brought three times as many clothes as I used, but I managed … Continue reading Back from Pennsic-land.