Oh, bummer!

We were all set to go, ready to pack the car and everything.  And then the rain started.

It’s not that we weren’t expecting it but we were hoping it would hold off a while yet.  We had a two hour drive ahead of us to a farmer’s field for our first and very rustic (read - no access to water, no shelter and no idea of what to expect) SCA camping event.

Hubby tries to call the number listed on the website to see what the weather was like at our destination.  He got no answer.  The rain kept coming but we were determined and started packing the car.

That’s when the thunder clapped and we looked at each other and sighed.  He tried calling the number again and still no answer.  We stood in the garage, camping gear all around us, truck opened already half full and debated.

In the end, logic won out and we knew that despite how badly we wanted to attend, we knew the realities of setting up a tent on wet ground in the middle of a downpour.  Everything would get wet and no matter how nice the rest of the weekend turned out to be (which of course it did, the rain predicted for yesterday and today never came) it would still not be worth the misery of the first night.

Not sure when our next opportunity will arise but I’m hoping it’s soon and that the weather is more co-operative.

One of the local villages held their first annual Medieval Festival today. As part of mine and Daughter’s introduction (Hubby’s reintroduction) into the SCA, we volunteered to help out for the day.

Manning the “Hat Table” we encouraged people to try on a variety of medieval headwear including two different styles of helmets. What great fun! The kids were the most keen to try things on and needed the least amount of coaxing.

One little girl tried on ALL the hats, some more than once. We had a group of teens all try on hats and we took their picture for them. My favourite was an elderly woman who I convinced to try on a veiled headroll and the smile that lit up her face when she looked in the mirror totally made my day.

I met so many people today that my head is swimming trying to remember which name(s) go with which face. I might say that it was overwhelming if not for the fact that I felt like I fit right in. It was interesting, engrossing and totally drew me in.

I can’t believe it’s taken 10 years for me to finally do this.

Garb can be cheap.  Especially if you’re willing to do some bargain hunting and a little bit of sewing.

The undershirt is a 3/4 length chemise that I made from fabric that cost me $5.00

The overdress I made from a sheet that I got at a secondhand store for $2.75 (I only used half of it.)

The belt is from same second hand store that I got for $1.30

All told, this outfit cost me $7.22 in cash and about an hour of my time.

Compare that to what’s available for purchase on-line and that really is next to nothing.

Nothing says summer, at least in Eastern Ontario, like a new tent.

Nifty eh? Just think, only four months ago, there stood an igloo.

This year, keeping in line with our new downsizing mindset, we’re finally going to go to our first SCA camping event.

I’m so excited.  Sleeping in a tent, wearing garb I made myself, eating food cooked over an open fire AND the chance to make new friends.

For me, life doesn’t get much better than that.

Warning: Not so much medieval in content as in preparation in that I kind of just threw it together and then put it over heat. Also, this is NOT a vegetarian recipe per se, though it could easily be if you substituted the gravy for a vegetarian sauce.

What do you do with leftover gravy and vegetables when you have no meat?

You make this awesome casserole:

(I tried to get a pic of it before the horde got to it, but what can you do?)

Bottom layer:

I fried some mushrooms, green pepper, carrots, celery and green onion in

2 tblsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tblsp of worchestershire sauce
1 tblsp of soya sauce
2 tsps of garlic powder

Adding salt and pepper to taste (after the veggies were softened)

Then I poured half of my leftover beef gravy (about 2/3 cup) over the veggies and stirred to coat them liberally.

The next layer I added a stuffing mix (yes, from a box…I did say this recipe wasn’t medieval in content) combined with about a 1/4 cup of grated parmesean cheese.

Next I put steamed broccoli and cauliflower mixed with grated romano and parmesean cheese and then poured the remaining gravy on top.

Then I threw it in a 300 degree oven for twenty minutes.

Who says you can’t get your kids to eat their veggies?

Season 2 of the “The Tudors” starts next Sunday.

Unfortunately, I don’t get ShowTime and will either have to watch them on-line or wait for the CBC to pick up (and edit…boo) the episodes.

But for now I can watch the first episode on-line!  Yay!

Added a link to Hubby’s SCA site to the Blogroll.

He’s all keen to get back into the SCA. He’s trying to get me to go to a meeting with him. He assures me that with my seamstress skills and already made costumes, I’d be a big hit.

I told him I’d rather he went back first and made sure it was something he really wanted to do before we jumped in with both feet.

As it is, I’m still trying to muster up the motivation to get back to making costumes and organizing myself for setting up at the flea market.

Still, slowly but surely things are moving away from winter and toward Spring and we are turning our attention back to more medieval things.

It’s been exactly a week since I started on my sewing “binge” and the final tally is in.

1 - Overdress

2 - Finished Hem on Cape
3 - Pink Gown for Emma

(Ha, got her smiling this time.)

4- Sideless Surcote (that I totally messed up during the sewing process and still can’t figure out what I did wrong)
5 - Lavender Gown for Emma’s friend 1

(Doesn’t she look so regal?)

6 - Green Gown for Emma’s friend 2

(Pixie in the forest or what?)

7 - Started a Sideless Surcote for Hubby (thank Heaven they’re easier than the ones for women)

With an average of one project a day, the prospects for building up a decent inventory by Spring look promising. I decided to invest $20 in a membership at my local fabric store and will likely make my money back on that in just a few weeks.

Though this is all very exciting for me, it wasn’t until Hubby pointed out to me yesterday, “You know you’ve been wandering about humming and singing for the last three days” that I realized it was actually starting to show.

Despite my ten years making costumes, unless I was making something for someone else or had a deadline (like an up-coming party), I took it one costume at a time and never felt any urge to “binge” sew.

That is until this week.

In the last five days, I’ve made a costume, finished off a long neglected piece, sewn some curtains, made another costume for my daughter and am currently working on a new project.  (I’m out of the cotton muslin I need for the lining of my first sideless surcote…talk about a bummer because Hubby has the car today…otherwise I’d be at the fabric store instead of writing this.)

I’m actually rooting around for fabric and unfinished projects to satisfy my overwhelming urge to turn all my textiles into wearable garb.  Not that I have any place to actually “wear” this stuff…but that’s beside the point, I’m having fun.

What I’m really hoping, aside from expanding my fabulous medieval wardrobe, is that I’ll build up enough of a momentum to get some items ready for when I want to start the on-line store.

Not that I’m counting on a dozen orders the first day, but being able to advertise “in-stock” items just sounds so professional, doesn’t it?

Stashed away in a closet I found some fabric…that’s like Jack Sparrow “findin’ a bit o’ rum”…woohoo! (oh wait…that’s Homer)

In any case, it was a good amount - 3m intact - more than enough to make a full dress and it’s a really pretty dark pink to boot. While I was uttering aloud my dilemma of not knowing exactly what to do with it, I heard an excited voice from the peanut gallery…”You could make “me” a medieval dress.”

“You want a medieval gown?”

“Sure.”

I was stunned. Up to now, her interest in my costuming has been minimal (I’ve been at it for 5/6th of her life). In all that time, I’ve been lucky to get more than a passing glance and an “Oh yeah, that’s nice” upon modeling one my new creations.

So, no…I was not expecting her to want a dress. But I was more than happy to make her one.

Though she was less than thrilled that I wanted to take her
picture when she tried it on.   So I opted not to photograph
the pout.

She’s already talking about wearing if for Hallowe’en.
It’s going to be a loooooooong 9 months.