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Last Five Entries
Veteran's Day and an Etiquette Question
2003-08-16 - 9:16 a.m.
Sickly weeds or Roses??
So... I'm home and I managed to get to sleep without the roar of semis in the not-so-distant distance. The animals are more than happy to see us. I've missed them SOOOO much. I wish there was a boarding kennel at Pennsic, soI could see them more often.
Pennsic itself wasn't bad, and I can say without too much prodding that I actually had fun... yep... me.. I had fun (please don't faint).. While everyone else was complaining about the rain at the beginning of the week, I was enjoying it... See rain brings cooler temperatures which is something I need! We got there on Friday and for the next few days it rained in the evening, after the days events were done...but then the rain stopped, and the sun came out with a vengeance. It was HOT.... hot hot hot.... I, of course, ended up spending some time (only a few hours on Monday) in Chirurgeons Point (no, not with heat issues, but with a Migraine, my first in about three years, go figure).
I took two A&S classes this year. One was in supported handspinning. That one was mainly because we didn't want to go back to camp after our first class was over (you'll read about it later, if you keep going). The other was a two hour a day class from Monday through Friday. My friend Sarna talked me into taking the Aethelmarc Beginner Scribal Track.
The first day of the Scribal track class was okay, it was bout layout and well, that can be pretty boring....The second day, I wasn't so impressed... see.. I suck (and I do mean SUCK) at drawing... but day three... ahh... it got better.. painting! Then day four was diapering. Thursday night found the two of us in the common area of our camp painting by propane light (we had homework!). That was a LOT of fun. Day five was calligraphy. The hand they introduced was a very straight hand ("picket fence" was the description the instructor used)... I found out that I have more of a want for a curved hand than a board-straight hand. What started out as a "I don't really like the illumination part, I'd rather calligraph", turned into the exact opposite. Now.. I've only done one scroll, and that wasn't really complete and it certainly wasn't to perfection....but I really think that it would be something I'd enjoy and I think I'd like to go further with it and maybe create some scrolls for the barony... maybe I should talk to the Baron about it and see what he thinks....The nice thing about the scribal track was we got almost all of our supplies throughout the class. The only things I need to continue my work is an Ames Lettering Guide (those things are just plain SLICK) and some paper. The class cost $30, but it included supplies and the biggest selection of handouts I've ever received for one class. Next year is the Intermediate Scribal Track, and I've got my sights set on that one :)... maybe I can learn shading... when we go to fighter practice, maybe I can talk scribalstuff with Alishondra or AoD at events :)
Of course, we did some shopping. I bought some period painting pigments, some gum arabic powder and a muller (now, I need to figure out how to mix them... our instructor told us, but there HAS to be more to it than that... I also spent $2 and bought an old Pennsic Medallion that was never claimed from lost and found (proceeds went to the Chirurgeonate). It was the Pennsic 25 medallion... the sundial. I was told that the directions for its use was printed in the book for that year... would anyone happen to have a copy of that one they could loan me (or at least just send me a copy of the instructions).... for some reason, that one medallion has always fascinated me. Now i have one of my own. I bought a few other things, like a silk/nylon umbrella to keep the sun at bay, another linen veil, and a few other small things that are really of no consequence.
We also used both cameras and got some good pictures of Pennsic before we left. I've got pictures of Gorm participating in Whose Line Doth it Be. It was a hoot and Gorm's funny when he's got good material (like many of you needed to be told that one!)
After court, we got to spend some time with Auric and Alex... and I got to see the engagement ring! It's beautiful but I don't think it beamed as much as the two of them did. I wish them both lots of happiness and many many years of love and laughter!
It appears that our little group has many plans for the upcoming Pas event... but some decisions have to be made before I can get started on MY projects.
Those were all of the good points.... now to the bad ones.
We had lots of drama in our camp this year, more than I really like and I won't go into it all here, it's really not worth it. What I'll talk about here, is only one small slice of the issue. The person in charge of our camp this year decided that we were there to serve the camp, not the other way around. We're all service oriented people, so many of us weren't around when she thought we should have been...so things got ugly. There were 18 people in our camp, and according to this person, none of us
"appreciated" her efforts. No matter what we did, we did it wrong, not on her time frame, or we just weren't doing it fast enough. By Tuesday morning (I think it was Tuesday), we had all had our fill and decided it was our vacation and we could all deal with a bit of disorganized (like no one thought the world would end if the cutting boards were on the second shelf and not on the third shelf type of disorganization... not full blown disgustingness)... and well... she took exception to that. She had a wide variety of other things going on that I can't elaborate on here, and those things made her decide to go home, so she did.. of course in the leaving, those problems were suddenly our fault, too.
To make a long story very short... once she left, the stress-o-meter went down to zero and everyone started pitching in and things got done. We were a happy lot and we all started to have a bit of fun to our war. Those last few days made all the difference.
This person that I'm talking about is the significant other of the head of our household. On the drive back, Gorm and I had a very long, very detailed conversation about our place in that household these days. We've decided that while we dearly love the head of the household, we can no longer humor her significant other and that the household isn't really what we're about. Factor in that we love and have a certain amount of loyalty our Kingdom (we wouldn't be officers if we didn't), and to hear one of them badmouth our Kingdom and the people in it, well, that's just not something either of us is willing to deal with.
Add to that, that neither of us feel supported in what we want to do. Our household is a SERVICE household, but we both want to do more than service. Gorm had fun fighting, and I am encouraging him to do more... I am interested in the arts and sciences to the point that I will be an apprentice someday...Both of those (especially the fighting) is not exactly looked upon with favor, more of a "let's humor him" sort of thing.
We both realized what we've missed. The opportunity to sit around the fire at night with friends and shoot the you know what.... to listen to our friends tell the NSTIW stories, to hear about the days events, not sit in camp by ourselves tending to the fire that someone else started and left.
To put it in blunt terms, we've decided to leave our household of about two years. What it was and what it is now are two different things. I like the people, but the focus has shifted from "service" to the pleasing of one person, and it's NOT ME.
My soon to be Laurel told me a while back that she wouldn't ask me to leave my household to become her apprentice, and I appreciate that...but this isn't where I need to be anymore. I have a desire to be with people that I can support and who can support me in my efforts. People who understand when I say I can't do something. People who don't wave off my efforts at trying my hand at something new. People who understand that my husband is important to me and he needs my support and understanding, even though his is "only a fighter".
My A&S "stuff" is important to me. More so than I thought it would be... and it really frosts my cookies when it gets waved off like you're humoring a small child who brought you a sickly weed in a grubby little fist. See, I think THOSE flowers are better than ROSES. Right now, I've got sickly weeds, but someday I will have ROSES.
If all of this means that we won't be part of any household, then that's fine.. we'll wait and go it on our own again and spend some time with friends and etc., at events. That's the fun part...
So.... while i haven't talked to the head of household yet, I am no longer declaring myself as part of a household anymore... Gorm, can do as he wishes..but I believe his opinion of the situation matches mine.
It's a bit sad in some respects.... but it's another of those new beginnings. Their path isn't our path anymore. I hope we cross again, and we can remain friends.
I am Rhiannon of Berra, wife to Gorm, Weaver, (newly trained in the scribal arts and supported handspinning), a chirurgeon, an exchequer, a drop dead seneschal, and I think a reasonably good friend. I think that's enough... don't you?
On a completely different note.... I came home and this morning went to diaryland and found out about Solo... I'm sorry... he was a good dog, a great friend and he will be missed.
News Flash! Congrats to LADY Elizabeth Conney (otherwise known as Sarna)... according to a member of my soon to be ex-household, she got an award in Aethelmarc court at Pennsic (even though she wasn't there to accept it herself. She is now a member of the Order of the Sycamore.... their first Arts and Sciences Order (it comes with an AoA so I'm told)..... All I can say is YEAY! I only wish we'd known so we could have been there ourselves rather than to have someone accept it for her (I hate that part).... grrrrr... anyways...
Please don't forget to answer my survey... it's research for a small business idea... all comments appreciated, no reasonable offer refused!!! It won't take five minutes, I PROMISE!
