QRC was a great event.  I really liked all the pageantry and such that went on.  I'm not a big fan of the single elimination format.  At the very least it would have been nice to at least get 3 passes instead of just one.  It was still a nice tourney with excellent fighting.

I was fighting very well.  My toughest fight was definitely Clewin in the second round.  Yes, we fought each other in a tournament again. 
I missed a parry in my quarter final round and lost.  Because I had been fighting so well and I really should have won that fight, I was rather annoyed with myself after that.  Especially because I had good tourney mind going and was still buzzing from that.  On the plus side, I did win the first grand melee.  After that the Boggers decided they could team up like Clewin and I had and beat up on everyone in the next melees.

The afternoon bearpit tourney was nice.  I got to fight a lot of different people I don't fight all too often.  I ended up a close third, though nowhere near Illadore's first place score.

One of the bonuses of being a champion is getting to stand in court and see the faces of those who are recognized by the crown.  It was especially worth it to have one of the best seats in the house when Emily received her White Scarf. Congrats!

Karl had a good time.  He didn't nap enough, but he got to hang out and flirt with lots of girls and watch all sorts of things.  I didn't spend as much time with him as I would have liked, but the day went so fast that it was suddenly time for court.  Then after that we packed up and it was going on his bedtime.

As a side note, I really need to get a newer rapier icon using one of the recent pictures of myself fighting.

We had a very good time at Harvest Raid.

We drove up Friday night and spent the night in the Vanagon.  Once we got the covers sorted out it was nice and warm inside.  The Vanagon proved to be very handy on the way home as well.  We stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food for dinner.  Karl was asleep so I took him in my arms into the store.  He didn't wake up and we went out to the car to eat, so it would be darker and quieter for him.  So we turned on the light in the back, pulled out the table and had dinner in the car.

The rapier turnout was lighter than usual this year, but that wasn't surprising considering how busy the calendar is this fall.  It was a nice round robin tournament.  Afterwards, I fought some good pickups, especially the bearpit with lots of two handed swords. 

The rain held off until we were done fighting, so that was nice.  It was quite windy, but we lined Karl's crib with sheepskins and he was happy and warm in there.  He slept for the tournament and woke up at the way end, so that was good timing.

I was going to stand in court until Clewin's guard shift, but he missed the procession to court.  So he wasn't there for me to hand off Karl.  I ended up processing into court and then walking back out.  I did make use of the fireplace room to nurse Karl, which was very relaxing.

Well, we're back from Pennsic.  It was okay this year.  It was definitely my least favorite Pennsic so far, but it had some good times as well.  But overall I had more moments where I wondered if we should have gone or if we'll go next year.

The first week was fairly nice.  Yes, it rained (a lot), but we missed the worst of it by going home for a day and a half.  We mostly hung out in camp and made a few trips to the merchants.  Joining common areas with Gold Scorpion was the best thing about camp as it gave us friends to talk with when we were in camp.
Saturday through Monday were pretty lousy. 
Tuesday I fought in two tourneys.  The first was dead slow and gave me 4 fights in 2 hours.  The second was much better (Master Liam put together an excellent pool to fight in) and I had a great deal of fun fighting in it.  Hurrying back down to the barn was tiring, but we made it in time for Donnan's elevation.
Wednesday I fought in the Atlantian 5 man melee tourney.  I definitely enjoyed it this year, as we had a good team and for the most part there were no issues on the field.
Thursday I fought in the woods.  Well, I didn't do a whole lot of fighting unless our position was just about to be overrun.  Of all the times I died, most involved me facing 5+ people.  But I had a very good time helping with the command and getting people where we needed them.
Friday I got some shopping done, but other than that the day was a mess culminating in trying to pack up starting at 6, but not getting the Vanagon out of the parking lot until almost dark.  So by the time we had packed the cars, taken a break to chat with Alonzio (about the most I saw of him this war), it was 12:30.  I should not have driven home so late.  I had to take a break halfway home, and then luckily got to follow Clewin home the rest of the way.

We took our young son on pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Swithin this weekend.  We all had a good time, but were very tired by the time we returned home.

The good bits:
Taking the Vanagon on our first camping trip.  It was comfy, we didn't have to get up really early, and the canopy on the side was great when it rained.
I finally get to follow through on my threat to sew white tippets on Clewin's garb.
Seeing friends.
Getting to fence.
Feast!  That was one of the best feasts I've been to.  We ate with the comedic duo of Bastiano and Alric and had a great time.
Gabby was wonderful enough to hold Karl so I could fight more. Thanks again. :)

The not so good bits:
It was humid and I'm terribly out of shape, so I got tired fencing way too fast.
Packing up took too long and we got home way too late.

Our cats were very interested in the relic that Karl brought home and tried to steal it.

Today Karl went to his first SCA event.  He had a good time sleeping in Clewin's arms and then in mine.

I got to go fence while he was sleeping, which was great.  We did melee games which were fun, but involved a lot of running.  I've not run that much in quite a while.  So I stepped out to help marshal for a while.

Then i held Karl while Clewin fought rattan.

All in all, a good day, but also tiring.

War Practice was good.  We went up Friday afternoon and hung out with friends before going to the barn for fencing.  I helped Corwin MOL the first tourney before we headed home for the night.

On Saturday we were back on site at 9.  I only saw part of the finals of the Queen's Rapier Tournament since I went to the Fleur meeting.  After that I mostly just hung out with friends, watched the melees, and eventually went to court.  So I didn't do a whole lot, but I got to see a lot of friends which was nice.

Oh, and I got to watch reactions on people's faces when I told them my due date.

(I meant to post this earlier, but how did it get to be Thursday already? )

They made me a Fleur.  I'll probably have more to say on that when it sinks in, in a few months time.

The scroll is in German, which was doubly awesome because I could understand Brandubh when he read it.

We drove down Friday morning since I took the day off.  I pretty much took up more than the space I saved by not brinign armour and weapons with all the pillows and blankets I needed.  Friday consisted of walking around, socializing, and watching fighting.  It was very hot.

On Saturday I mostly helped marshal on the rapier field, though I had to take a break after lunch to sit down for a while. It didn't feel nearly as hot as Friday.  I'm not sure if this was because I had acclimated a little on Friday, because I was wearing wool instead of silk, or because there was a bit more breeze.  I also got to watch some of the rattan bridge battles.  Overall not getting to fight wasn't too bad, because I watched the command and strategy of the melees.

After fighting I went to court to see Alex become a citizen, and then hung out with friends.  Getting to hang out with friends is one of the best things about Blackstone.  I stayed up way too late, but did manage to sleep in Sunday.

We've not made any commitments as to the next event we'll be at since it depends on the stomachbug, though there are several possiblities. 

Well, I managed it to 8 months pregnant and still fighting.

That's as far as I'm going to get because Clewin is now too uncomfortable fighting me.  Which I am a little grumpy about because I still want to fight, but I also am  more or less okay with because my movement is really being affected at this point.  And chasing him around the field means I end up out of breath.  And he shouldn't fight me if he is uncomfortable, even if I don't feel the same way.

I've warned him that when I am back on the field I will be busy beating him up to get back up to speed.

I've also figured out that going to events when I can't fight or can't fight much is rather annoying when there is fighting going on. 

As the others in my party have mentioned, I went to Ice Dragon with Clewin, Alex, and Liam.  We spent Friday and Saturday nights in a hotel near Buffalo, which was a good idea.  It resulted in enough sleep to keep me happy and functioning.  The fact that the weather was mostly good also helped the drive.

I judged the Pent this year.  I ended up busy enough this year that I didn't really have anything to enter (and didn't want to rush around to prepare stuff).  I also wanted to experience the Pent from the judge's side of things.  It was interesting.  And maddening at times.  I judged two categories, which was 10 entries.  Good thing I didn't have as many as Alex or I wouldn't have finished.  As it was the combination of poor documentation and a desire to go fight made that take long enough.  It took me about two and a half hours.

After that I went over to the rapier lists.  It was tough passing up fights with a number of the people present (there was a very good turn out and a large number of Scarves), but some individuals made it clear they weren't comfortable with me fighting anyone but Clewin.  This si definitely the drawback to being pregnant, since I feel just fine and want to fight.  I ended up fighting two sets with Clewin, first longsword amd then rapier and dagger.  I've been fighting mostly longsword lately, and that went well.  I obviously have not fought so much dagger since it tooka  bit for my parries to work right since I clearly got sloppy.  But then I tightened up my parries and it went better.  We were both fairly tired as well.

Other than that I got to hang out with friends (a number of which made sure I ate enough) which was nice.  The new site was nice in that everything was closer together.  Of course, the weather was nice and so the under one roof thing wasn't as necessary.  The restroom was quite a hike from the A&S corner, though.  Also, the areas were divided by sheetwalls which I thought was counterproductive in getting the various activities to mix.  They don't stop noise, so I saw no point in screening off the fighters from the tables people were hanging out at.

I made a new dress for the event, which i got complements on.  It's green and influenced by Burgundian styles (actually being a German dress).  The color and my belly made several people compare it to the Arnolfini Marriage painted by Jan van Eyck.  Dorinda was kind enough to take photos of Clewin and myself.  I'll post one soon.  He looked good in the new Waffenrock he remade from his Wams and Pluderhosen.

So, all in all, I had a good time.  It was more relaxing than I expected (even with being on my feet on concrete floor most of the day), and I came Sunday without being exhausted. 

We had a big (24 person) fencing practice at the castle on Sunday.  The Bog had let us know they were planning on visiting and that spurred friends from Kings Crossing and Ballachlagen to come as well.

We had 6 bearpits going at once at one point.  Suffice to say I was able to fight a lot.  The bearpit helped in giving me time to take a break while in line.  I stopped fighting before I became too exhausted or my pelvic muscles became too sore. 

I fought sword and dagger and two-handed sword.  Sword and dagger isn't bad, but I am not closing as much as usual, so my shots end up short a lot.  Two-handed worked much better and is a great deal of fun.  I may need to try the longer sword with the dagger for now.

Being pregnant has been a great help with my fighting.  I've had to adjust my tempo and pace to accomodate getting out of breath.  I've adjusted my fighting style with my changing center of balance.  I've had to adjust to not being quite a willing to close with some opponents.  So my fighting style has changed, but mostly I've just added more options to my toolbox.

I'm not sure how much longer my gambeson will fit. I will need to move the buttons soon.

Although driving up to Heronter and back with Clewin having 3 hours of sleep and my exhausted self was not a grand idea, we had a very good time at the event.

Of course, when we got there and I saw the signs for A&S, I realized I had completely forgotten my entry at home.  Oops.

There wasn't a very big field for Queen's Rapier Champion (only 15), and the first round was single pass round robin.  That meant the tourney didn't take very long.  There were two pools, and by chance most of the better fighters ended up in one pool.  That was also the pool where I have regularly fought 5 of the 7 people in it.  The other list I was familiar with only one. 

I fought very well, but lost the tie-breaker to Emily and thus did not advance to the second round (4 fighters advanced).  Clewin, having beat me in round robin advanced and went on to beat Jacob to win the tourney.  (Ha ha, now you get to stand in court!)

I got winded quickly so I ended up not doing very many pick-ups.  Then we hung out with friends until it was time for court.

Dorinda suggested Friendly's in Jamestown for dinner.  It was a very good choice.  The service was good, the food came out very quickly, and the food was delicious.  Probably the best chain restaurant meal I have had in a while.

As usual, I've been scouting around for Pennsic photos of myself (especially since I failed to get Clewin to take any of me this year).

And, as usual, there's a number of photos of Clewin fighting in the polearm tourney. Apparently people have time to take photos on Saturday, and the big tourney is the polearm tourney.

Usually, I find a few photos of myself walking across the field or gathering arrows. This year I've found a few photos of myself in the rapier field battle. I wanted pictures of my new fighting gambeson. So far, no luck. I made it for my conbat archery rig, but wore it for most of rapier fighting at Pennsic this year (no need to go to camp and change).

There are a couple shots of me before the rapier woods battle taken by Darter. Again, I am wearing the gambeson (I couldn't find my doublet because I forgot I was using it as a pillow). Unfortunately, they are head shots.

Which also brings me to the biggest disappointment with Darter's photos. Both his wood battle and BMDL court photos are in black and white. Now, I think Darter is an amazing photographer, and I like some b/w photography. I just don't like b/w photography of SCA events. I want color! I want to be able to pick out red and gold from between the masses (or trees). More than anything else in photos, being b/w totally ruins the mood for me. Not to mention that Clewin's Landesknecht outfit just looks weird in b/w to me.

So, in summary, I am still looking for photos of myself at Pennsic.

I suppose I could just break down and get photos of my kit at practice, but that's not really the same thing.

EDIT: I found some photos!

I had a very good Pennsic.
Highlights:
- I made it to three rapier tourneys this year! I did fairly well in them. I was pleased given that I held my own in every fight (and got some compliments). Also two were afternoon tournies where I had spent the rest of the day on the rattan field.
- Rattan battles. I fought in all war points I could except the field battles. I especially enjoyed the town battle and the woods. In the town I kept time and helped out the command structure while being a combat archer. In the woods there was no CA so I just supported the command structure through timekeeping, communications, and organizing/directing units coming from ress.
- The Housebook class I taught had at least 40 people there. I've never taught a class that large, and was surprised at the turnout. I also got positive feedback from a number of people.
- Clewin bought me a two-handed sword for my birthday! And Alex gave me a spindle, yarn and hat. :)
- We actual had a fight in the rapier woods this year. I also commanded the Queen's Guard and had a good time with that.
- Fighting La Rochelle (rapier castle battle). While defending the castle I DFB'ed a small unit who was attacking my side in a turret and then killing 3 of them before they killed me in the turret. Then while attacking I got to kill the guy with the crazily big two-handed sword when he asked for single combat.
- Seeing lots of friends, even if I didn't get to hang out with them as much as I had hoped. Also, having people recognize me from on the field and stop me to talk.


Not quite so good:
- I had to reschedule my printmaking class resulting in almost no students (on the plus side I was the first alternate on the Rapier Champs team which is why I had to reschedule).
- Everyone was so busy in camp that I didn't real get much time to hang out with friends. I hung out less with Alonzio than I do in an average week.
- We didn't have a functional shower in camp. We showered a few times at a friend's camp (thanks Aodhan!).
- Not taking enough photos. The camera was put in Liam's wagon so I didn't have it when I wanted it, and as a result I only got photos during the field battles. Which means we still don't have a household photo nor was I able to get photos on myself in armor.
- Not being at Pennsic for two weeks made it feel a lot more hectic without the calm of the first week.
- It was over too soon. I always have a tough time dealing with mundania the week after.

I drove up with a friend to AEcademy.  It was at the far other end of the Kingdom, which is about a 7 hour drive.  We drove about halfway on Friday night and the rest Saturday morning.

I had a very good time.  I was able to take two classes I was interested in.  One of which was a calligraphy class on 12th century capitals.  I thoroughly enjoyed playing with a quill in the class. 

After that I taught two classes, printmaking and Housebook dress.  I had a good turnout in each class, and the students seemed very interested.  They asked lots of questions, too.  I think both went well.  I need to fix my handouts before Pennsic, but I do not need too many other adjustments.

I got to talk with friends, including at dinner and Saturday night. 

I didn't get home until 4 today, though.  I need to get some fencing in this week.  I am getting that antsy feeling since I have not fought in two weeks.

I won the 7 Pearls Tourney ( 2-1-1 against Thescorre, 2-1-1 against the Bog, 3-1 against Rhydderich Hael, 3-1 against Delftwood, 3-1 against Blackstone, 2-0 tie-breaker). 

It is amazing what a few days of intensive practice can do.  After getting a week and a half notice that the 7 Pearls Tourney (Baronial Rapier Champs from the Kingdom's 7 Baronies) was moved to War Practice, I got in three practices.  Thanks to Alonzio, Clewin, Corwin, and Charles for helping me out.  In the practices I fought almost non-stop and was getting a lot of feedback about what I needed to fix and whether I was fixing it.  I picked up more things in those three nights than I had in the last 6 months of regular practice.

I also went into the tourney rather annoyed.  The tourney was moved last minute because 3 champions had a conflict with the original date.  With the change, 4 champions were unable to attend.  So only 3 champions and 3 replacement were in the tourney.  However, that annoyance, along with some other fixes to my mental game, served me quite well.

I was amped up when I got up and even the cold and rain didn't bother me.  I didn't really come down from the adrenaline high until the afternoon when I realized I was tired.  Also, I had one stupid loss and I didn't let that get to me and beat that opponent in all the remaining forms.  I am very thankful for getting the chance to fight in the tourney.  I was able to pull things together and play my game in the listfield.  I also was able to up my fight by having this tourney as an incentive and goal. 

Also many thanks to Willem for being the best herald on the field. 

The rest of War Practice was cold and very rainy, especially since I didn't have my coat.  The warm shower upon getting home was wonderful.

Considering I only had a little over a week's notice that the 7 Pearls Rapier Tourney (Baronial Champs tourney) would be held this coming weekend at War Practice, I was counting on practice today to give me a lot of fighting with different weapons forms and different fighters.  So naturally, after a beautiful sunny Saturday, Sunday brought downpours and lightning.

Practice was cancelled, so I made plans to go fight with Clewin and Alonzio.  The worst of the weather was actually during packing the car and going to pick up Alonzio.  We had downpour, lightning, and a little hail.  After that the rain became a drizzle and then stopped.  That didn't matter so much since we practiced under a park pavilion.

I got a lot of fighting in, and got some useful pointers as to what I was doing wrong.  Naturally, it would have been nice to get that feedback a while back, but today I was able to absorb it decently just through the sheer number of fights I had.  Usually I work on a technique, but since I don't get a lot of fighting in at an average local practice, it takes weeks before it enters my muscle memory.  Today was much better.

The one thing I didn't get was a variety of people to fight, although at one point Clewin tried to fight a more common style of buckler, which just confused me.  I'd expect him to do what he usually does, he was trying very hard not to do what he usually does, and as a result we were both a little confused.  I'll get some more people to fight on Tuesday, so that should help.

Overall it was a very productive afternoon.  I am 'accomplished tired', that feeling you get when you are tired from doing something rewarding.

I had a very good time this weekend.  I made it down just as it got dark on Friday night.  I got a chance to go to the commander's meeting, which I always enjoy.  Then I hung out with friends before getting too tired to stay up.

Saturday I slept in until 8 and finished buttons on my new gambeson.  The new gambeson is really nice, but I made the slight miscalculation in being Queen's Guard.  The tabard for the guard I was given completely covered the gambeson (minus the arms).  So I ended up not wearing to fight since the combo of the two was pretty warm.  I made some armor fixes before the battles, but now I know what else needs to be changed for the next event. 

I had a very good time on the rattan field.  I wish I could have fought some rapier melees, too, but they were at the same time.  I still don't like field battles.  But I do like bridge battles.  I hadn't actually fought in any before.  I think the Queen's Guard will come together as a unit pretty well.  I ended up not fighting in capture the flag.  I figured I had gotten a lot of fighting in already, and decided to let the fighters have a break from archers and went to get ready for court.   There was more hanging out in the evening, until the point where I couldn't sit down without passing out, and then I was starting to pass out on my feet and went to bed.

And now I am reminded how close Pennsic is, and I need to get started on my project list.

Yesterday I went up to the Stormsport event with friends.  I am glad COrwin drove (thank you!) because the weather wasn't pleasant.

We got to the event in plenty of time before things started (except Curia, so I didn't make it to this one either).  I did some woodblock carving before morning court.  Then after court, we started the rapier bearpit tourney which ran for over 2 hours before people took a break and we lost the list to the rataan fighters.  I had a good time fighting, though we had to shuffle the line a few times.  I fought Clewin every round for the first 4 or 5 rounds until we mixed up the line.  The list was small, so I ended up not using the two-handed sword, but fought sword and rapier and sword and buckler.  My buckler work was pretty sloppy, I kept fouling my own blade with it.  Left-handed was decidedly bad, so I need to practice that.

After I took a break from the fighting, I went over to Alric's vigil, only to find there was an incredibly long line to see him.  I ate some of the food (which was, of course, excellent) and chatted with people while I waited.  Eventually I did get to talk to him shortly before court.  Court was good, and not overly long even with two peerages.  Rurik running out of the room chased by Alric was a great ending for the main business of court. 

I also won the King's Choice award for my print at the A&S competition.  Although there were only 6 entries, they were all of great quality. 

Since I didn't get around to talking about White Hart:
I had a great time at White Hart.  Much better than last year where I spent most of the day cold, and the good news occured at an event I wasn't at.  I enjoyed the fencing tourney greatly, even if the fact that I got to fight Clewin in the finals is discounted.  I teashed him that I get to fight in the tourney next year, while he has to run it.  I also got to spend time with people in the household, and with Alex.  She had a cozy seat near the fire where I hung out after the fighting. 
I also was one of the winners of the A&S competition, and got some very nice complements on my print.

Clewin and I had a good time on Sunday at 12th Night.  I had a chance to hang out and chat with a variety of people.  The gift exchange was a lot of fun, and as an added bonus I ended up with the box of chocolate truffles.  Mmmmm.

On Saturday I sewed most of the dress I had been meaning to make for over a year.  This is the first dress I've specifically made for a 12th Night.  Since it it made of synthetic velvet and has multiple layers in the bodice, it's not going to be a summer dress.  The dress and goller were nice and warm for winter, though, but not overly warm.  The next dress of this style will have fanicer trim and sleeves.  This was a good test of the pattern and I like how it turned out.  The hat still looks a little silly, though.  I think it needs big white feathers.

Clewin needs a fancier tunic/cotehardie/doublet to wear to events such as this.  Although he hung out mostly in the kitchen, he had a good time, too.

       

I've made it to several archery practices recently.  It's been nice to have time and go shoot, since I really enjoy it.  Since Clewin drives me to practice, I need to get him to agree to show up early for archery.  This is often a problem, so I haven't made it nearly as much as I would like.  With practice at the castle, he can at least sit in a nice warm spot and read until the fighters get started.

When I first got my Mongol bow I had a hard time adjusting to aiming it compared to a modern recurve.  Since taking a break, it seems much easier.  Even with my difficulties shooting it accurately, I have always prefered it over a modern recurve for the smoothness of the shot. 

In any case, I shot the winter challenge before Christmas and scored 48.  For my first time shooting in over 6 months, that wasn't horrid.  On Sunday I shot it again and scored a 90.  My first end had 3 bull's eyes, so I know I can increase that score.

On the other hand, lately I have not been as excited about rapier practice.  I think this a combination of enjoying archery, working on technique (it's always more fun to go out and just fight instead of working on specific techniques which I am weak in), and who I have had a chance to fight recently.