It's here!

My rosebush came today, yea! Right now, it's in the bottom part of an old violet part, soaking in lukewarm water. Tomorrow, I'll actually put it in the ground. The thorns on that sucker are wicked. It drew blood before I'd even taken it out of the box.

I'm making lamb shanks braised in Guinness. So far, looks good. I didn't quite get the nice browned bits on the pan, from browning the lamb. I think I had the burner set too high. The loose flour burned a little, and the smoke detector started beeping before the meat really got good color on it. It still tastes pretty good, though. I figure after it's been simmering for over an hour, the braising liquid's probably safe to taste, even if the meat's not quite tender yet. Sometime, I want to do lamb shanks braised in I.P.A.

Today is Children's Day in Mexico. One of my students is originally from Mexico. Actually, I think she was born in the U.S., but her family is from Mexico, and they still have really close ties. Her mom came to the school at recess and told the kids about El Dia de los Ninos, and she brought some little treats for them. The tradition is for the adults to just do some nice fun things for the kids. It usually includes presents, although they may just be little things, like cool pencils. I have to say, I think that should go along with Mother's Day and Father's Day. Not everyone will be a mother or a father, but everyone was, at one point, a kid. Especially today, when the media, among other things, make kids grow up faster than they used to, it would be nice to have a day to celebrate being a kid. I think we should organize a school-wide celebration next year. It's multicultural, could be educational, if the kids research the traditions that go along with that festival in Mexico, and it would be a lot of fun. Crazy, hectic, maddening fun, but fun. The other primary teacher's response? "I think we do too many festivals." Pbbbbbt!

I have little green things coming up in the bed I planted seeds in. Yea! I think I might actually have one or two sweet peas coming up. I don't know why I'm so hot on growing the things, I've never actually seen one growing, that I know of. I just like the pictures, and they're supposed to smell good. My rose was shipped on Monday, so it should be here soon. That's going in the middle of the round bed. Unfortunately, I think one of the strawberry plants died, or will soon. Most of the leaves are brown and shriveled. The stems look okay, though. These are the ones that I didn't plant, because the bed wasn't ready. With all the rain we've had, the peat pots buried in mulch may have waterlogged them.

I really need to take some pictures to put up. I haven't actually taken any pictures of the house at all since we moved in.

The newspaper in the big bed seems to have broken down fairly well. I'm going to try a similar trick with the rest of the bed, but I think I'm actually going to turn the grass first, then bury it under newspaper and mulch, and see if it works better. I really need to start my cucumber and melon seeds. It might actually be a bit late, I'm not sure. In fact, I should go do that.....

Beltaine

Beltaine was an okay event. Some great things happened, like the two elevations, that I was really glad to be there for. I enjoyed getting to hang out with people I don't see as often as I'd like (missed one or two, unfortunately, due to time). The whole thing was...... not ruined, but stained by Friday night. The trip itself was pretty bad, because we got stuck in a traffic jam caused by a wreck on the I-30 bridge, and it took an hour to get from the house to Prothro Junction, a trip that normally takes about half that time. Then, when we got there, I realized that I had packed my toiletries, including my prescription meds, but I hadn't put that bag in the suitcase. So, we went all the way home, got the bag, stopped for gas and a quick bite at McDonald's, and headed out again. It was about 8:30 by this time. We arrived on site around 11:00, exhausted and (in my case) desperately in need of a beer (which I didn't have, damn dry site!). It was rather off-putting that we were the last of a group of about 3 couples to troll in. Neale was in line first, but the other couple were friends of a certain Laurel/Pelican, and apparently standing off to one side chatting with her was as good as standing in line....second in line, in fact. But, things got better after that.....until it was time for bed.

We didn't know anyone in our cabin. There was an older lady, who was quiet, and I didn't see much of. There was a younger guy, we'll call him J., and a bunch of people's stuff. The lady came in and quietly went to bed. I tried to go to bed around 1 am. J. and several female friends came to bed sometime around 1:30 or 2. I understand that people must make noise in getting ready for bed. It's inevitable, when looking for a toothbrush, etc., that things will be dropped, people must say things, and as long as the people are making an effort to be quiet, I'm cool with that. These rude, inconsiderate people did no such thing. They were extremely loud, obviously didn't care that there were several people trying to sleep, knew that they were keeping me awake, and continued. They switched bunks, and re-arranged their stuff. They giggled, and chatted at a volume that would be more appropriate for a crowded bar than a room in which at least 3 people were trying to sleep. Then, the lights went out. It was still like 12-year-olds at summer camp. Eventually, I had to go to the bathroom. One of the chicks said "we keep waking you up, don't we?" and I said "Yeah, you do," and walked out. That pretty much ended the giggling.

I still had a hard time sleeping, because the mattress in the bunk was about as cushy as my kitchen countertop, and there was no room for the air mattress we'd brought. I don't know for sure how much sleep I actually got, but I would estimate I fell asleep between 3 and 4 am, and was up at around 8. That put a serious damper on the event, because I just wasn't rested. I have never been so grateful for Panther cabin.

Feast.......to be fair, we left after the second remove, because we had decided to retreat to Neale's parents' place, for better climate control, and a MUCH more comfortable bed, and we wanted to get there before it got too late. The food tasted good. There was a caramelized onion and cheese gallette that I thought was way too sweet, but I know that's just my personal taste. My big issue was the length of time between removes. It was not well timed at all. To quote Gordon Ramsey, there was a "two-week holiday between courses." I don't know the exact time, but long enough that people were getting restless. When the second course came out, the food was cold. We debated staying longer, but it was already close to 9 by this point, so we slipped out.

One other issue. Bread. If you are going to serve bread at feast, particularly one with royals, make the damn bread. I know it's time-consuming, but the Italian bread from the grocery store just doesn't cut it. If you can't bake, buy artisan bread, or simple baguettes and re-heat them to crisp the crust. It takes minutes. Hire someone to bake for you. Bribe someone with alcohol. Hell, use the brilliant trick that I know was used at a Midsummer Night's Dream a few years back. The feastocrat started weeks in advance, making batches of bread in her machine. She stopped it right before it was ready to bake, and froze the dough. Once she got to site, she thawed the bread dough, shaped it, and baked it. Done. But please, no generic Italian bread. There are few things more disappointing than anticipating freshly baked bread that never materializes.

I have SCA ADD

We went to Beltaine this weekend. I'll probably post more later about the event. There is much to critique. But for now, I'd prefer to dwell on the highlight of the event. A very lovely lady was elevated to the Order of the Pelican, and I can't think of anyone who deserves it more. I can, however, think of one or two who are equally deserving, but that's another issue. This lady is probably the most gracious person I've ever met, and I'm very glad that her hard work and chivalry have been recognized. One peer in particular, a local and not-so-local legend, said some amazingly complimentary things. I don't remember the exact quote, but something to the effect of "I've been a peer since 1977, and I've never met anyone who deserved peerage more." The ceremony was lovely, although they omitted the part where a member of the populace speaks on behalf of the person, which I think sucks, big time. I think a lot of the high and mighty forget that they are there BECAUSE of the populace. Without the peons who actually do the work, there are no events at which one can dress up and play king. One might think the "royals" might be a little more appreciative of the populace, since they don't actually HAVE things like armies, or the power to imprison or execute people to fall back on to enforce their status. I don't think that the populace would have been left out if the elevation had occurred under the original monarchs, but then it would have happened at Gulf Wars, and we wouldn't have been able to be there. But, I digress.



I started thinking about wardrobe. Because, in keeping with this gentle's general grace and loveliness, the gown she wore for the elevation was GORGEOUS. It was a 16th-century French gown that looked like it could have been in a Holbein portrait. She had the Spanish farthingale, French hood, and I didn't see the undergown, but I've been told that the undergown could have been worn all on its own, and been suitably impressive. This got me to thinking, if I were to be elevated, what would I wear? This led to yet more evidence that yes, I have SCA ADD. There are so many cultures and time periods that I find interesting, I just have a hard time settling on one. Eventually, I'll probably end up with, like four personas. I love my name, Medb, which is early period Irish. Go figure, I go for the queen from the Tain who told her husband where he could stick this idea that her queenship and fortune were entirely dependent on his sufferance. I've kind of settled on early 14th century, cause I like the clothes. Early cotes are comfortable, and flattering.



Irish is great, but for one thing, it's really hard to research, unless you go for the expensive archaeological reports, which I don't. Plus, an Irish bellydancer (in period), well, kind of offends people's feng shui. So, at the very least, must have Middle Eastern garb for that. I like Turkish or Persian, personally. It's really comfortable, although the layers get a little warm in summer. I'm sorry, saris are the only way to go in summer, especially if you can go without a petticoat.


Then there's Italian. Late 15th/early 16th century Italian are my favorite Impressive dresses, particularly the Florentine style with the tabard-like overgown. Italian is good, because it's lighter than the English and French styles usually are, but it's suitably impressive. It's also pretty simple and modest, as Renaissance fashions go. Florentine gowns were usually solid colors, with a contrasting band, sometimes two, around the neckline. Of course, if you go earlier to get the tabard, there were more patterned fabrics.


So, I think for the court when I'd be called to vigil, I'd probably go with a cote. For the vigil, I'd want a Turkish haremlik. Lots of carpets, and cushions, and probably some kind of divan-like thing made of, like, boxes, so people wouldn't have to sit on the ground. Of course, I'd need the garb to go with it. For the ceremony itself, definitely Florentine. I'd go with the pearl-studded net caul to hold my hair, embroidered chemise, tied-on sleeves, the whole nine yards......and hope I could talk the royals into doing the elevation at Diamond Wars, or Winter Wonders.

They really are real plants!

My seedlings that have been, until recently, two little leaves on spindly stalks sticking out of clots of peat actually look like plants now! The basil and parsley are still kind of sad looking. The thyme, well, thyme isn't all that impressive anyway, is it? Foliage-wise, I mean. The tomatoes and marigolds, on the other hand, are now beginning to actually look like something. I also have a whole lot of the little two-leaved sprout things coming up from the wildflower seeds. I still have doubts about the sweet peas, but if they don't come up this year, I'll order some seeds to sow in the fall for next year.

I have an over-dramatic plant. Apparently, the herbs I've been buying at Whole Foods invited the drama-llama to my house. I thought I'd killed the spearmint today. It was all droopy, and some of the leaves were shriveled. I put it in the sink, and soaked it thoroughly about three times over an hour or two, and now it's fine. There are a few leaves near the bottom that still look a little wilted, but the rest of the plant looks almost robust. It has a nice sunny window, a few friends to hang out with until I get everything ready outside, but it has to throw a fit over water. It's life is pain.

today sucked.

Well, I didn't get a whole lot of my stuff done this weekend. I'd had hopes for today, but no. I need to work on garb for next weekend. I've had a plum-colored Turkish coat that I've been working on for months, and haven't quite finished. At this point, it needs a hem, and about half the buttons are sewn on and have buttonholes. I'd also like to make a matching band to hold my veil on, but with the science fair this week, we'll have to see how that goes. I wish I had enough properly-fitting Turkish garb to be consistent all weekend, but my other coats are kind of baggy, and it's too late to make a whole new one.

Where today went......our vacuum died in mid-suck last Wednesday. so we went to buy a vacuum. We checked consumer reports, and we were going to get a $170 dollar Hoover bagless that was pretty well rated, and save up for the $550 Dyson Animal later, when we're feeling less afraid to spend money. We went to Target, Home Depot, and Best Buy, and could not find the vacuum we had picked out. Best Buy had the original yellow Dyson for $350, as opposed to $400 everyplace else, so we bought it. By that point, I was fed up with going all over town, and had come to the realization that spending $700 dollars over, say, 5 years on vacuum cleaners made less sense than spending $350 now, and getting a vacuum with a 5 year warranty. I was amazed at the stuff that came out of the carpet. It was impressive. I've only done the den and kitchen so far, but the canister was half full, and these are carpets that have been vacuumed regularly, and the kitchen was steam-cleaned not long ago. Neale said the den "smells cleaner." It should, it just lost enough dirt to easily fill a 2-cup measuring cup.

Tomorrow is the science fair at school, so it will consist of 1) crazy day at work, getting things ready, 2) mad dash home at 3 to get cleaned up, get something to eat, and leave again by 5, 3) some time when the toddler parents are probably going to be coming to my room before my parents come, because their time slot is 5 to 6. The primary parents are supposed to come from 6 to 7, and elementary from 7 to 8. Considering that I will have been at school since 7:30, I'm leaving as soon as I can. 4) Come home, hopefully watch Heroes, and go to bed.

I'm going to try to take my half day on Tuesday. Some Top Chef alumni (no idea who) are supposed to be at the River Market from 10 am to 5 pm, doing cooking demos with ingredients from the market. This actually makes me glad I'm opening this week.

The best of Falstaff's planners

I just ordered my first rose. It's a David Austin English rose. It's called Falstaff. The flowers look huge, deep crimson and supposedly very fragrant. I picked it because I liked the name, and I half-remembered a verse from a Dar Williams song that mentioned Falstaff. I looked up the lyrics to the song, and yeah, I made a good choice.

"And I hope some day
That the best of Falstaff's planners
Give me seven half-built manors
Where half dreams may dream without end."

The kind of mom/godmother/aunt I want to be

I heard on NPR this afternoon that the lady who started Banned Book Week passed away at age 69. She was a crusader for free speech, and a major figure in the library profession. I feel bad that I can't remember her name. Her first name was Judy, I remember that much. Anyway, a friend spoke to Michelle Norris about her. Michelle asked where her passion for intellectual freedom came from, and the friend told a story that Judy told as part of a speech.

When she was 12 or 13, she was in bed at night, reading a sex ed book under the covers with a flashlight. Her mother came in the room, pulled back the covers, saw what she was reading, and said "for God's sake, turn the light on! You'll ruin your eyes!"

I would hope that if (more likely when), I find myself in a similar situation, that I would be that cool. I do tend to avoid a lot of subjects in school, but it's mostly because I don't want the kids to go home and repeat something that offends their parents. There's a video of animated Maurice Sendak stories that we're not supposed to watch (or watch all of), because there's an animated, naked boy in "In the Night Kitchen." I think it's ridiculous, personally. What's wrong with a little animated nudity? There is absolutely nothing sexual about it, the kid just happens to be naked. Honestly, I don't think the children even notice. Even if they did, so what? He's naked, big deal. I do plan to obtain a copy of this on dvd at some point, if for no other reason than Carole King made songs out of "Alligators All Around," "Pierre," and, my favorite, "Chicken Soup With Rice."

I finally tracked down my Persian and Turkish design books. There are more boxes of my books in the dining room than I thought.

This afternoon, I was going to mulch the flower bed, but ended up taking a nap on the couch instead. Oh, well, maybe tomorrow.

I can't wait to get a cushy chair for the sunroom. I need to get out my sewing machine and start working on the Turkish coat I've been working on since......Crown List in November? ShadowCon? I don't remember. It needs a few more buttons and button holes and a hem. I'd like to get it finished by Beltaine. I think I'm being good by not trying to have a whole new coat made out of some of the new material I got from Gulf Wars. The theme is one of the Crusades, so I figure I can wear my cotehardie during the day and my Turkish coat at night (or vice versa), and play both sides. I'll probably also take a sari, in case it's hot and/or I don't want to wear either of the other options.

I'm torn. We'd talked about splurging just a little with some of the income tax money. I knew what I was going to get, a wool shawl from Gujarat, with little hand embroidered peacocks. Then I looked at some of the cotton saris. I'm not spending over $50, and I'm only getting one, but now......I don't know. On the one hand, I have about 5 saris......but these are so pretty. I have one shawl, but it's silk, and the wool one would be for when I need a shawl, but don't want to wear the silk one. I'm going to decide by tomorrow. That's the goal, at least.

The house is finally starting to come together. The den, sunroom, kitchen, and bedroom are pretty much in order. The living room has fewer boxes. Unfortunately, a lot of them have shifted to the back bedroom, but at least there's some progress. With the way weekends are shaping up, June is looking like the likely time to do the wallpaper removal and painting. The kitchen wallpaper is actually starting to grow on me. A little. Seriously, I may leave it until we're ready to do the whole kitchen.

Neale's parents came this weekend, and Saturday we worked in the yard, and Sunday it poured, so we did some things in the house. Saturday, we pruned the hell out of the camellia and the azalea that had grown into it on the side of the house. The poor camellia looks like a stick, and the bees that had been buzzing around the flowers seemed confused, but next year it will be better, and hopefully, when it blooms, it won't look as though the whole thing is going to fall over. We cleared one of the beds in back, the round one I'm going to use for flowers, and worked on the big bed, which is going to be mainly vegetables and herbs. My mother-in-law suggested laying down layers of newspaper and covering it with mulch, the idea being that within a few weeks, the grass will be dead, the newspaper will be mostly broken down, and I can just punch holes in the whole thing to stick plants in. We got a third of it done, and ran out of supplies. Sunday, they brought us more mulch, I just need to get newspaper.

I'm a little worried about my seedlings. They're three weeks old now, and they're still just spindly little things with two leaves. I moved them to a sunnier place, and I hope that will do it.

I've been wanting to do some embroidery. I had an idea for a project for my European garb. I didn't think I'd like veiling, but I actually do. What I don't like is the European barbette and filet. The chin strap bothers me, and it's hard to pin another strip. I want to make a cheater filet. I'm thinking a strip of buckram with a bit of elastic in the back, so it will have some give. Cover it with muslin or white linen, and then I can pin my veil to it, or even wear it on top, like I usually do with my Turkish garb. I'm thinking of starting on an embroidered one. I also have fabric to make into garb for the fall. I saw "How to Make an American Quilt" last night, and that made me want to start on a quilt......... See, it never ends.

Ok, I'm back

We're finally in the house. I'm now posting from the Acid-trip room. I call it that because the wallpaper moves. It's a pattern of little yellow rosebuds on three walls, and the coordinating stripe on the fourth wall. I swear, the wallpaper moves. It's made people dizzy. We were hoping (okay, I was hoping) to have the wallpaper down and the house painted before we moved in, but that didn't happen. The current plan is to rent a wallpaper steamer some weekend after we've recovered a bit, steam as much wallpaper as possible off the walls, and then bribe people with beer and pizza to come paint the next weekend. Right now, though, I can deal with the wallpaper. This feels like home. I still hate the carpet in the kitchen, though.

My in-laws are coming next weekend (unless plans have changed), so I will have the expertise of my mother-in-law, the garden guru. (Yea!) I know the beds need clearing, but I'm almost afraid to pull anything, because I don't really know what it is. There's something that looks like a weed, but I'm not sure. So far, I've planted a pot of sweet peas by the back fence, and loosened the soil and planted wildflower seeds in the bare patch where a bench used to be. The seeds I've started seem to be doing pretty well, except the meadowsweet. I've got two Cherokee Purple tomatoes, three Brandywine tomatoes, five marigolds, four basils, four thymes, and two parsleys. I've got cucumbers and watermelon to plant when it warms up a bit, and I'm probably going to plant the beans leftover from the science experiment I'm doing with my class.

I'd really like to finally enter an A&S competition soon. I'd thought I could do something with the meadowsweet, since I know it was an herb that was used in period, but that's looking doubtful. Those were the only seeds that didn't sprout in the tray, and I put the last of them in a pot outside. We'll see if they come up. I don't know what I want to do, but I want to do something. I've been thinking about doing some embroidery, maybe. I just want to enter something in competition, just to get my feet wet. I've thought of all the peerages, a laurel is the one I'd most likely go for. I'm not ready, or sure I'll ever be ready, to seriously go for it now, but I think I'm ready to go dabbling in that world, to see if it's something I might want later.