Thursday, June 30, 2005
Almost sorted
Twenty four hours to go and I'm nearly ready.
I've finished the banner and I'm reasonably pleased with it, although the large blue areas are still a bit splotchy in places. I now just have to fray-stop the edges and it'll be ready to go into the post tomorrow.
Everything else is pretty much in place. I've lugged the six boxes of stuff up to the bedroom, thus leaving downstairs rather tidier than it was. It's not going to be tidy until Mum gets back, but at least it's her stuff that's lying around, not mine. It's very difficult to tidy up here nowadays, as I've no idea where stuff is being put now.
I've also hired a car for tomorrow's journey to Stanstead. I was, I admit, a little surprised to discover that the one-way fee effectively doubles the price of the hire. Still, it's worth it for convenience and getting to see Kayte before I go into exile again. Particularly as I have a couple of things for her. It was really weird driving out of the airport, as they've given me a Kia Cerano with power steering. Oh boy... the leap from driving the Land Rover with it's large wheel and shoulder-aching effort and this thing! I admit that I did wobble a bit coming out onto the main road but I was fine once I got under way. I was positively beaming by the time it came to the final three turns - a u-turn, followed about 20m later by a sharp left then an immediate sharp right. It took no effort at all!
As I'm mentioning the airport (that's Speke Airport, none of this stupid 'John Lennon Airport' business, thank you), allow me to plug Speke Hall while I'm at it. If you're ever flying into Liverpool and hiring a car, you might consider a short detour (of about 50m) from the road up to the A561 to visit Speke Hall. It's one of the country's premier examples of a half-timbered Elizabethan mansion house, complete with priest's hole (the Norris family were Catholic) and ghost stories. It was oringinally started in the thirteenth century and lived in until the beginning of the twentieth century and has a huge Victorian kitchen that any feast-cook would probably love. The fact that there's space to roast your own boar in the main fireplace, and that all of the equipment needed so to do is still in place, is a big factor. The great hall (with minstrels gallery) would make a superb feasing venue. The gardens are worth a look too.
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I've finished the banner and I'm reasonably pleased with it, although the large blue areas are still a bit splotchy in places. I now just have to fray-stop the edges and it'll be ready to go into the post tomorrow.
Everything else is pretty much in place. I've lugged the six boxes of stuff up to the bedroom, thus leaving downstairs rather tidier than it was. It's not going to be tidy until Mum gets back, but at least it's her stuff that's lying around, not mine. It's very difficult to tidy up here nowadays, as I've no idea where stuff is being put now.
I've also hired a car for tomorrow's journey to Stanstead. I was, I admit, a little surprised to discover that the one-way fee effectively doubles the price of the hire. Still, it's worth it for convenience and getting to see Kayte before I go into exile again. Particularly as I have a couple of things for her. It was really weird driving out of the airport, as they've given me a Kia Cerano with power steering. Oh boy... the leap from driving the Land Rover with it's large wheel and shoulder-aching effort and this thing! I admit that I did wobble a bit coming out onto the main road but I was fine once I got under way. I was positively beaming by the time it came to the final three turns - a u-turn, followed about 20m later by a sharp left then an immediate sharp right. It took no effort at all!
As I'm mentioning the airport (that's Speke Airport, none of this stupid 'John Lennon Airport' business, thank you), allow me to plug Speke Hall while I'm at it. If you're ever flying into Liverpool and hiring a car, you might consider a short detour (of about 50m) from the road up to the A561 to visit Speke Hall. It's one of the country's premier examples of a half-timbered Elizabethan mansion house, complete with priest's hole (the Norris family were Catholic) and ghost stories. It was oringinally started in the thirteenth century and lived in until the beginning of the twentieth century and has a huge Victorian kitchen that any feast-cook would probably love. The fact that there's space to roast your own boar in the main fireplace, and that all of the equipment needed so to do is still in place, is a big factor. The great hall (with minstrels gallery) would make a superb feasing venue. The gardens are worth a look too.
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Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Preparing to return
I'm now into the preparing to return to Iceland stage.
I've finished the design in the fly of the banner and I've done the outlines for the rest of it. All I have to do now is to do all of the blue areas tomorrow. It's a slightly paler blue than the one I did for Coronation, but it's closer to the one on the original banner. And thinking of banners, I never did take photos of wither the DoA or the Antelope ones before handing them over. Or the Brighthelm fleet one for that matter. I really must get into the habit of photographng them.
I also caused a certain amount of confusion, astonishment and finally amusement at the local golf shop today. Tired of having Stanstead luggage handlers doing all sorts of harm to my fencing kit I bought myself a hard shelled golf bag case to replace my red fabric bag. When I explained what I didn't need it for golf clubs the two chaps in the shop were confused. When I explained what I did need it for they went from confusion to astonishment, then finally settled on amusement on the grounds that they'd never had anyone want one for that before. It's a tight squeeze to fit my stuff in even so, as the Del Tin blades only fit diagonally. Still, it means that I have space for rapiers, mask and gorget plus dress, chemise, pants, boots and even cloak and buckler. Best of all - it has wheels! Hurrah!
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I've finished the design in the fly of the banner and I've done the outlines for the rest of it. All I have to do now is to do all of the blue areas tomorrow. It's a slightly paler blue than the one I did for Coronation, but it's closer to the one on the original banner. And thinking of banners, I never did take photos of wither the DoA or the Antelope ones before handing them over. Or the Brighthelm fleet one for that matter. I really must get into the habit of photographng them.
I also caused a certain amount of confusion, astonishment and finally amusement at the local golf shop today. Tired of having Stanstead luggage handlers doing all sorts of harm to my fencing kit I bought myself a hard shelled golf bag case to replace my red fabric bag. When I explained what I didn't need it for golf clubs the two chaps in the shop were confused. When I explained what I did need it for they went from confusion to astonishment, then finally settled on amusement on the grounds that they'd never had anyone want one for that before. It's a tight squeeze to fit my stuff in even so, as the Del Tin blades only fit diagonally. Still, it means that I have space for rapiers, mask and gorget plus dress, chemise, pants, boots and even cloak and buckler. Best of all - it has wheels! Hurrah!
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Tuesday, June 28, 2005
First Aid Course - Day II
I am now officially a qualified first aider again for the next three years.
Yesterday we did the basic recovery position / rescue breathing / CPR stuff, with a bit of discussion on the normal heart attack / angina / asthma / diabetes stuff. Today it was time to get the bandages out. :)
It's really quite interesting looking at the different styles of instructors I've had over the years. All have a range of horror stories and amusing anecdotes, but their techniques differ a bit. Peter, the current one, tends very much towards the forget style, just keep the casualty alive approach. None of this carefully folding triangular bandages into half-widths or quarter-widths. None of this tucking away and pinning ends. Elevation slings work just as well with a knot in the corner before you put it on rather than farting about twisting and tucking and pinning the corner once it's in place. Apart from anything else it means that you're going to jiggle the casualty's arm less if it's already knotted.
Given that the other folk on the course were already first aiders as well we ended up talking about various incidents over lunch today. My favourite was a tale from a guy who took part in one of the big training exercises centred on his workplace. They'd got all of the casualties and bodies out and placed the bodies over to one side. One girl decided that she wasn't dead, so she got up, had hysterics and ran back towards the 'burning' building. "Stop her!" someone cried - so he did... and was later told Don't rugby-tackle the casualties. I must remember that one.
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Yesterday we did the basic recovery position / rescue breathing / CPR stuff, with a bit of discussion on the normal heart attack / angina / asthma / diabetes stuff. Today it was time to get the bandages out. :)
It's really quite interesting looking at the different styles of instructors I've had over the years. All have a range of horror stories and amusing anecdotes, but their techniques differ a bit. Peter, the current one, tends very much towards the forget style, just keep the casualty alive approach. None of this carefully folding triangular bandages into half-widths or quarter-widths. None of this tucking away and pinning ends. Elevation slings work just as well with a knot in the corner before you put it on rather than farting about twisting and tucking and pinning the corner once it's in place. Apart from anything else it means that you're going to jiggle the casualty's arm less if it's already knotted.
Given that the other folk on the course were already first aiders as well we ended up talking about various incidents over lunch today. My favourite was a tale from a guy who took part in one of the big training exercises centred on his workplace. They'd got all of the casualties and bodies out and placed the bodies over to one side. One girl decided that she wasn't dead, so she got up, had hysterics and ran back towards the 'burning' building. "Stop her!" someone cried - so he did... and was later told Don't rugby-tackle the casualties. I must remember that one.
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Monday, June 27, 2005
First Aid Course - Day I
Out at eight in the Land Rover this morning in search of the St. John Ambulance HQ.
As iceland doesn't seem to do Health & Safety At Work stuff, and even if it did there's no way I could do the course in Icelandic, I'm doing my recertification over here. I might be able to reclaim the cost from the department (given that we're effectively running a British department not an Icelandic one) but I'm not holding my breath on that.
The two day recertification course is much more intensive than the original certification course. The idea is that we're already qualified first aiders so all we need is to be brought up to speed on any changes in procedure over the last three years and to make sure that we can still do rescue breathing and CPR.
It's interesting that I've been doing these courses long enough now that I'm beginning to see things that have been removed or updated now being reintroduced. It's a good group and an excellent tutor, sufficiently so that I felt comfortable to ask some questions with specific SCA application - most notably the use of a full gorget as a neck brace. :)
It turns out that one of the other students is an epeeist, so we ended up having a discussion at lunch about the fact that with wireless systems there's no reason why olympic fencing could now abandon the strip and fence in the round. I'd never thought of it before, but it's true. He agreed that our style sounds much more fun.
At the end of the day I went back to Aberkan to get some more silk and silk paints to do the Brighthelm war banner. I also picked up a book on Temari (Japanese embroidered balls) so I can now remove it from my Amazon wish list.
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As iceland doesn't seem to do Health & Safety At Work stuff, and even if it did there's no way I could do the course in Icelandic, I'm doing my recertification over here. I might be able to reclaim the cost from the department (given that we're effectively running a British department not an Icelandic one) but I'm not holding my breath on that.
The two day recertification course is much more intensive than the original certification course. The idea is that we're already qualified first aiders so all we need is to be brought up to speed on any changes in procedure over the last three years and to make sure that we can still do rescue breathing and CPR.
It's interesting that I've been doing these courses long enough now that I'm beginning to see things that have been removed or updated now being reintroduced. It's a good group and an excellent tutor, sufficiently so that I felt comfortable to ask some questions with specific SCA application - most notably the use of a full gorget as a neck brace. :)
It turns out that one of the other students is an epeeist, so we ended up having a discussion at lunch about the fact that with wireless systems there's no reason why olympic fencing could now abandon the strip and fence in the round. I'd never thought of it before, but it's true. He agreed that our style sounds much more fun.
At the end of the day I went back to Aberkan to get some more silk and silk paints to do the Brighthelm war banner. I also picked up a book on Temari (Japanese embroidered balls) so I can now remove it from my Amazon wish list.
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Sunday, June 26, 2005
Some serious slobbing
Mum went off to Portsmouth for the International Festival of the Sea at about ten this morning.
And I was snoozing again by ten-thirty. :) Mainly, I admit, because we'd been up before seven in order to get Mum packed and ready before Pam from the museum arrived to drive down with her.
And I've spent the rest of the day in much the same vein, splitting my time between snoozing, watching documentaries and reading. It's been wonderful, as if I'm actually on holiday at last. I'm making the most of it before another early start tomorrow to attend my first aid recertification course.
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And I was snoozing again by ten-thirty. :) Mainly, I admit, because we'd been up before seven in order to get Mum packed and ready before Pam from the museum arrived to drive down with her.
And I've spent the rest of the day in much the same vein, splitting my time between snoozing, watching documentaries and reading. It's been wonderful, as if I'm actually on holiday at last. I'm making the most of it before another early start tomorrow to attend my first aid recertification course.
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Saturday, June 25, 2005
Sorting boxes
Today was the day I sorted out the stuff I brought down from Aberdeen.
It started off in ten large boxes, but I've managed to condense it down to five by dint of rationalisation and giving stuff to Mum. :) Evil, I know, but it works. I still have an overstuffed box of fabric (which I may split into two boxes and add the blue brocade I bought this time) and two boxes of craft stuff, but a lot of the bits of polycotton are going to Mum's patchwork group. I had no idea that I'd acquired so much assorted polycotton! I suspect I might have had ideas about making more banners but didn't get round to them.
I also managed to get rid of several other remnants from garb-making as they were just the right size for Mum to use making skirts. There was, I admit, a certain brutality on my part about getting rid of thing, but that's probably a good idea. I'm not sure whether it was determination or desperation though.
Now all I have to do is move the wardrobe and put the stackable boxes in the gap between it an the wall. That will get them out of the way while leaving them accessible and, hopefully, not promting too much of a fuss from Dad.
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It started off in ten large boxes, but I've managed to condense it down to five by dint of rationalisation and giving stuff to Mum. :) Evil, I know, but it works. I still have an overstuffed box of fabric (which I may split into two boxes and add the blue brocade I bought this time) and two boxes of craft stuff, but a lot of the bits of polycotton are going to Mum's patchwork group. I had no idea that I'd acquired so much assorted polycotton! I suspect I might have had ideas about making more banners but didn't get round to them.
I also managed to get rid of several other remnants from garb-making as they were just the right size for Mum to use making skirts. There was, I admit, a certain brutality on my part about getting rid of thing, but that's probably a good idea. I'm not sure whether it was determination or desperation though.
Now all I have to do is move the wardrobe and put the stackable boxes in the gap between it an the wall. That will get them out of the way while leaving them accessible and, hopefully, not promting too much of a fuss from Dad.
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Friday, June 24, 2005
Oh for a lie-in!
I could have done with another couple of hours sleep this morning.
This morning was embroidery morning though, so it was another early start. I am so looking forwards to Sunday, when I can have a really relaxed day and snooze if I want to. :) As I didn't want to carry a large embroidery over from Iceland I started a small one that Mum had lying about here. It's always useful to have a few embroidery kits lying about for emergencies, I feel. :)
This afternoon we had a bit of a shopping spree, taking back the incredible collapsing campbed and then visits to several other establishments on the retail park. of course, the most interesting in Ottakers the bookshop, particularly as it has a Starbucks in the mezzanine. Starbucks' coffee may taste burnt but their frappuchinos are still rather good.
With Dad away we had a fairly relaxed evening in front of UKHistory and I finished Belgarath the Sorcerer at last. I know it's been out for a long time, I just haven't got round to it until now. I finished it, put it down and picked up Polgara the Sorceress to work my way through that one too.
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This morning was embroidery morning though, so it was another early start. I am so looking forwards to Sunday, when I can have a really relaxed day and snooze if I want to. :) As I didn't want to carry a large embroidery over from Iceland I started a small one that Mum had lying about here. It's always useful to have a few embroidery kits lying about for emergencies, I feel. :)
This afternoon we had a bit of a shopping spree, taking back the incredible collapsing campbed and then visits to several other establishments on the retail park. of course, the most interesting in Ottakers the bookshop, particularly as it has a Starbucks in the mezzanine. Starbucks' coffee may taste burnt but their frappuchinos are still rather good.
With Dad away we had a fairly relaxed evening in front of UKHistory and I finished Belgarath the Sorcerer at last. I know it's been out for a long time, I just haven't got round to it until now. I finished it, put it down and picked up Polgara the Sorceress to work my way through that one too.
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Thursday, June 23, 2005
The long slog
Ow! Ow! Shoulders hurt!
That's what you get for a fourteen-hour journey from thirty miles north of Aberdeen down to Liverpool.
It started a little chaotically, with the fuel gauge playing up to the extent that while I thought I'd have plenty of fuel to get to the garage ten miles away, in fact I only made it about a quarter of a mile before it ran out of fuel. That was when I discovered that the jerry cans were rather less full than I'd been led to believe they were. About as less full as you can get.
So I phoned Alli on the mobile and she came to take the jerry can to the nearest garage (closer than the one ten miles away) and returned with several gallons of diesel. Unfortunately Baby requires unleaded... We eventually got me to a garage though thanks to Alli's jerry can and I got on the way about an hour later than planned.
This meant that I was passing through Dundee just about lunchtime, which gave me the opportunity to catch up with Andrew, Gavin and Paddy for a bar lunch. Great to see you, guys!
After that it was just the long slog down the A702, the M74, the M6 and the M62 back to Liverpool. My shoulders are on fire and I'm absolutely shattered. And I have to get up early for the embroidery class tomorrow. No rest for the wicked.
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That's what you get for a fourteen-hour journey from thirty miles north of Aberdeen down to Liverpool.
It started a little chaotically, with the fuel gauge playing up to the extent that while I thought I'd have plenty of fuel to get to the garage ten miles away, in fact I only made it about a quarter of a mile before it ran out of fuel. That was when I discovered that the jerry cans were rather less full than I'd been led to believe they were. About as less full as you can get.
So I phoned Alli on the mobile and she came to take the jerry can to the nearest garage (closer than the one ten miles away) and returned with several gallons of diesel. Unfortunately Baby requires unleaded... We eventually got me to a garage though thanks to Alli's jerry can and I got on the way about an hour later than planned.
This meant that I was passing through Dundee just about lunchtime, which gave me the opportunity to catch up with Andrew, Gavin and Paddy for a bar lunch. Great to see you, guys!
After that it was just the long slog down the A702, the M74, the M6 and the M62 back to Liverpool. My shoulders are on fire and I'm absolutely shattered. And I have to get up early for the embroidery class tomorrow. No rest for the wicked.
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Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Batman Begins
I liked it. It wasn't quite Year One but it was certainly influenced by it.
It was quite clear that it was a thriller, not an effects movie, which was good. Christian Bale can play Bats again. :) He moves well and has the contrast between Bats and Bruce just right. It wasn't difficult to spot the bits that were filmed in Iceland.
I'd still like to see someone make The Dark Knight Returns. Preferably with Clint Eastwood as Bats.
I got up to Alli's in time for a barbecue with her, Roger and his two kids. It was good. Afterwards Alli and I curled up with a bottle of cava and had a good natter about SCA and re-enactment stuff. She and Roger have also got involved with Regia Anglicorum and do viking re-enactment which sounds like great fun.
Now for the hope of a good night's sleep before tomorrow's odyssey.
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It was quite clear that it was a thriller, not an effects movie, which was good. Christian Bale can play Bats again. :) He moves well and has the contrast between Bats and Bruce just right. It wasn't difficult to spot the bits that were filmed in Iceland.
I'd still like to see someone make The Dark Knight Returns. Preferably with Clint Eastwood as Bats.
I got up to Alli's in time for a barbecue with her, Roger and his two kids. It was good. Afterwards Alli and I curled up with a bottle of cava and had a good natter about SCA and re-enactment stuff. She and Roger have also got involved with Regia Anglicorum and do viking re-enactment which sounds like great fun.
Now for the hope of a good night's sleep before tomorrow's odyssey.
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Tuesday, June 21, 2005
First stop - St. Andrews
The first step of the Box-Collecting Excursion had me arrive in St. Andrews to stay at Chez Harris this evening.
No matter what else I did, I was determined to see the Harrises while I was in the UK, and I spent a wonderful evening sitting and nattering with all five of them. Bob's latest young adult book - Leonardo and the Death machine - has just come out and I'm really looking forward to reading it. His YA novels are brilliant, and if you haven't read his Young Heroes series about Jason, Hippolyta and co then I can thoroughly recommend it.
I've also received a beautiful gift. Before Grandma Di died she told Debbie that she wanted me to have a braided silver bracelet she'd made. It is gorgeous and very viking.
Tomorrow's drive shouldn't take more than three hours, so I'll have more nattering time in the morning. Although there is some talk of going to see Batman Begins in Dundee at lunchtime. That would be good.
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No matter what else I did, I was determined to see the Harrises while I was in the UK, and I spent a wonderful evening sitting and nattering with all five of them. Bob's latest young adult book - Leonardo and the Death machine - has just come out and I'm really looking forward to reading it. His YA novels are brilliant, and if you haven't read his Young Heroes series about Jason, Hippolyta and co then I can thoroughly recommend it.
I've also received a beautiful gift. Before Grandma Di died she told Debbie that she wanted me to have a braided silver bracelet she'd made. It is gorgeous and very viking.
Tomorrow's drive shouldn't take more than three hours, so I'll have more nattering time in the morning. Although there is some talk of going to see Batman Begins in Dundee at lunchtime. That would be good.
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Monday, June 20, 2005
Not travelling to Aberdeen
Today I was supposed to be driving up to Aberdeen, but after yesterday's drive I was a bit worried about driving that far while still recovering from sunstroke.
Instead I've arranged to go up as far as St. Andrews tomorrow, then on to Aberdeen on Wednesday and back down to Liverpool on Thursday. This meant that I could relax and recover today. After the Aberdeen trip I'm not planning any more long distance driving; it's just too exhausting in the land rover, so I won't be going to War of the Roses next weekend.
Mum's stayed up here today too, so we went down into Carnforth to pay a visit to the embroidery shop at the station. In fact it has now moved, so we stopped for a scone at the station tea rooms (immortalised in the film Brief Encounter) instead. As we left the station I noticed a suspiciously-named shop - Stitch & Frame - which turned out to be the same business in a different location. Hurrah! I came out with a book on blackwork and two rather nice blackwork (in gold and purple) fleur-de-lys kits by X-Calibre. I'm such a sucker for blackwork...
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Instead I've arranged to go up as far as St. Andrews tomorrow, then on to Aberdeen on Wednesday and back down to Liverpool on Thursday. This meant that I could relax and recover today. After the Aberdeen trip I'm not planning any more long distance driving; it's just too exhausting in the land rover, so I won't be going to War of the Roses next weekend.
Mum's stayed up here today too, so we went down into Carnforth to pay a visit to the embroidery shop at the station. In fact it has now moved, so we stopped for a scone at the station tea rooms (immortalised in the film Brief Encounter) instead. As we left the station I noticed a suspiciously-named shop - Stitch & Frame - which turned out to be the same business in a different location. Hurrah! I came out with a book on blackwork and two rather nice blackwork (in gold and purple) fleur-de-lys kits by X-Calibre. I'm such a sucker for blackwork...
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Sunday, June 19, 2005
Coronation musings
Big question - is it really worth trying to get to Coronations and Crown Tourneys?
I'm beginning to think that it isn't. Yesterday I got about eight minutes of fencing, if you assume each combat took two minutes (which is being generous in terms of length). The rest of the time was taken up with:
Curia (which I avoided by going shopping as I hate political meetings)
Court
A coronation
More court
Even more court in the middle of the feast.
Most of the court and coronation stuff was in the middle of the village green with shade for the royals and other Important Personages but nothing for the rest of us, something that almost certainly contributed to the sunstroke thing.
Travelling a thousand miles by air and another couple of hundred in a thirty-year-old land rover for eight minutes of swordplay does seem a bit bloody stupid to me. Admittedly, I did get to sit in on a very interesting class on tablet weaving while the heavy combat was going on, but overall it was a waste of time and money apart from getting to see people again.
It didn't help that I was asleep by 22:00 thanks to the sunstroke problem, so I didn't even get to socialise with the rest of the gang. I think that in future I'll skip these big Kingdom events and stick to the events which focus on the things I enjoy - fencing and arts&sciences stuff. This morning was much better though, although it was too hot (and most people had insufficient time) to get back into armour to fence we did have a lot of technical discussion on Destreza, with me giving the Destreza 101 class on the ornamental stonework circle outside the hall,
Driving back was no fun either. I was still feeling sufficiently hot and unhappy that I had to stop after an hour of driving. Then again after another hour of driving, at which point the land rover overheated as well. I didn't stop after another hour once I'd got it started again - just in case - and discovered just how waterproof it isn't while driving through a wonderful thunderstorm as I crossed the Thelwall Viaduct.
The storm led to localised flooding even in Carnforth, where the drains gave up and there were several very large puddles. I was good and remembered that I should drive through deep puddles. Then I remembered that I was in a land rover, a vehicle designed to go through rivers, so I accelerated into the puddle and was rewarded with a huge bow wave that crashed over the roof. Woo-hoo!
It got the engine wet enough to give up half way up the hill, but restarted in a couple of minutes and, all in all, the big splash was worth it.
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I'm beginning to think that it isn't. Yesterday I got about eight minutes of fencing, if you assume each combat took two minutes (which is being generous in terms of length). The rest of the time was taken up with:
Curia (which I avoided by going shopping as I hate political meetings)
Court
A coronation
More court
Even more court in the middle of the feast.
Most of the court and coronation stuff was in the middle of the village green with shade for the royals and other Important Personages but nothing for the rest of us, something that almost certainly contributed to the sunstroke thing.
Travelling a thousand miles by air and another couple of hundred in a thirty-year-old land rover for eight minutes of swordplay does seem a bit bloody stupid to me. Admittedly, I did get to sit in on a very interesting class on tablet weaving while the heavy combat was going on, but overall it was a waste of time and money apart from getting to see people again.
It didn't help that I was asleep by 22:00 thanks to the sunstroke problem, so I didn't even get to socialise with the rest of the gang. I think that in future I'll skip these big Kingdom events and stick to the events which focus on the things I enjoy - fencing and arts&sciences stuff. This morning was much better though, although it was too hot (and most people had insufficient time) to get back into armour to fence we did have a lot of technical discussion on Destreza, with me giving the Destreza 101 class on the ornamental stonework circle outside the hall,
Driving back was no fun either. I was still feeling sufficiently hot and unhappy that I had to stop after an hour of driving. Then again after another hour of driving, at which point the land rover overheated as well. I didn't stop after another hour once I'd got it started again - just in case - and discovered just how waterproof it isn't while driving through a wonderful thunderstorm as I crossed the Thelwall Viaduct.
The storm led to localised flooding even in Carnforth, where the drains gave up and there were several very large puddles. I was good and remembered that I should drive through deep puddles. Then I remembered that I was in a land rover, a vehicle designed to go through rivers, so I accelerated into the puddle and was rewarded with a huge bow wave that crashed over the roof. Woo-hoo!
It got the engine wet enough to give up half way up the hill, but restarted in a couple of minutes and, all in all, the big splash was worth it.
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Sunstroke - again
What is it with Coronations and sunstroke?
I've done two summer coronations and got sunstroke at both of them. It's not as if I didn't drink lots and try to stay in the shade, but I still ended up feverish and unhappy by the time we got to the feast. Plenty of factor 30 sunscreen hasn't stopped me getting sunburnt either.
So much for partying late into tomorrow morning then.
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I've done two summer coronations and got sunstroke at both of them. It's not as if I didn't drink lots and try to stay in the shade, but I still ended up feverish and unhappy by the time we got to the feast. Plenty of factor 30 sunscreen hasn't stopped me getting sunburnt either.
So much for partying late into tomorrow morning then.
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Friday, June 17, 2005
banner completed
I completed the silk-painted banner at about 15:00 today, then left for Shurdington about 19:00.
Once I'd got a frame sorted - the one Mum uses for beaded projects that can't be done on a roller-frame - and opted to paint the gutta on rather than applying it direct from the tube as directed in the instructions, it worked reasonably well. Large areas of solid colour are still a problem, and I may do the war banner by dyeing the main body of the banner and then adding silk-painted inserts for the details.
It was also a bit smaller than I would have liked, as I was limited by the size of the frame. I think I'll need to make a larger frame for the war banner. There wasn't time to fix the paint to make it waterproof but that's a simple enough process that can be done later.
It took about 4 hours to reach Shurdington, and after the drive in the land rover I'm a bit on the exhausted side. No late night parties for me tonight. I'll get a good night's sleep in preparation for tomorrow night instead.
Once I'd got a frame sorted - the one Mum uses for beaded projects that can't be done on a roller-frame - and opted to paint the gutta on rather than applying it direct from the tube as directed in the instructions, it worked reasonably well. Large areas of solid colour are still a problem, and I may do the war banner by dyeing the main body of the banner and then adding silk-painted inserts for the details.
It was also a bit smaller than I would have liked, as I was limited by the size of the frame. I think I'll need to make a larger frame for the war banner. There wasn't time to fix the paint to make it waterproof but that's a simple enough process that can be done later.
It took about 4 hours to reach Shurdington, and after the drive in the land rover I'm a bit on the exhausted side. No late night parties for me tonight. I'll get a good night's sleep in preparation for tomorrow night instead.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Grrr...
Second banner completed, third one... well, who knows?
With no time to lose today I got up early and went back to Aberkan to get the ribbon that they'd forgotten to put in the bag last week plus all the necessary stuff for silk painting. The city centre is currently in chaos as they resurface all the roads in time for the European City of Culture thing in 2008. The process is called 'the Big Dig', which to me is a Time Team Live event, although I'm sure that any archeology found in Liverpool city centre would be quickly hushed up.Between the roadworks and the shopping it was lunch time by the time I got back. Not a good start.
I managed to get the Antelope banner done this afternoon - thankfully it's not a very complex design so it only took about 4 hours instead of the usual 6 or so. Time to go shopping with Mum (I needed a camp bed and a sleeping bag for this weekend's events as my twenty-something year-old sleeping bag has finally given up the ghost. Since I bought it for my second Girl Guide camp it was probably time for a new one anyway. Then finally I started the silk painting.
And boy, am I annoyed. The gutta isn't behaving like the one I've used before and, well... I'm about to start the second attempt. Good thing I know where to get more silk for the banner I'll be painting next week. If I let the damned stuff dry overnight then hopefully I can get up early in the morning to paint it and it can then dry while I finish the silk purse I need to complete. I'm begining to wonder if I'm going to have time next week to make the gown I got the fabric for last week in hope of making something for this week. Oh well.
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With no time to lose today I got up early and went back to Aberkan to get the ribbon that they'd forgotten to put in the bag last week plus all the necessary stuff for silk painting. The city centre is currently in chaos as they resurface all the roads in time for the European City of Culture thing in 2008. The process is called 'the Big Dig', which to me is a Time Team Live event, although I'm sure that any archeology found in Liverpool city centre would be quickly hushed up.Between the roadworks and the shopping it was lunch time by the time I got back. Not a good start.
I managed to get the Antelope banner done this afternoon - thankfully it's not a very complex design so it only took about 4 hours instead of the usual 6 or so. Time to go shopping with Mum (I needed a camp bed and a sleeping bag for this weekend's events as my twenty-something year-old sleeping bag has finally given up the ghost. Since I bought it for my second Girl Guide camp it was probably time for a new one anyway. Then finally I started the silk painting.
And boy, am I annoyed. The gutta isn't behaving like the one I've used before and, well... I'm about to start the second attempt. Good thing I know where to get more silk for the banner I'll be painting next week. If I let the damned stuff dry overnight then hopefully I can get up early in the morning to paint it and it can then dry while I finish the silk purse I need to complete. I'm begining to wonder if I'm going to have time next week to make the gown I got the fabric for last week in hope of making something for this week. Oh well.
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Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Liverpool docks
Today I had an interesting trip around Liverpool docks.
Not the bits you see looking in from the road, but rather the bits you can only see by going through the police checkpoint onto port authority territory. The reason for this was that Dad had to be down at North Langdon dock to join the tug Brocklebank in time for the evening tide (about 19:00 here in Liverpool tonight). The tug is off down to the Festival of the Sea at Portsmouth as an official guest of the Admiralty. Normally she's just a guest of the organisers, but as the Brocklebank is now the accomplice-of-choice of the Royal Marines for their anti-piracy demonstration this time she got an invite from the Senior Service instead.
I've never been down to those sections of the docks before - of course I've done the ferry bits, both Irish and Isle of Man sections, but not the real working docks. Historically, Liverpool has been a city that is focussed on its docks, so there are a great number of docks along the riverfront. To get down to the Langdon docks you have to go into the port authority area, cross the dock railway (used a lot to shift coal and steel into bulk carriers bound for China) the cross one of the swing bridges across the canal into Langdon dock, before driving along the riverfront itself next to the sea wall until you get to the dock itself.
Langdon is the dock from which the Isle of Man ferry now sails, although you access the ferry from the inland side of the dock. The ferries have to pass through the canal to get out into the river, and we were delayed for 10 minutes by the sailing of the P&O ferry Norbay. I would have taken photos except that I'd taken the card out to print some photos and hadn't put it back in again. Grrr....
I would also have taken photos of the scrap metal yard close to the dock, whence much of the steel for China is shipped. There are several huge piles, each probably 20m high, of solid rectangular prisms that looked suspiciously like they were the remains of crushed cars. Quite, quite surreal.
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Not the bits you see looking in from the road, but rather the bits you can only see by going through the police checkpoint onto port authority territory. The reason for this was that Dad had to be down at North Langdon dock to join the tug Brocklebank in time for the evening tide (about 19:00 here in Liverpool tonight). The tug is off down to the Festival of the Sea at Portsmouth as an official guest of the Admiralty. Normally she's just a guest of the organisers, but as the Brocklebank is now the accomplice-of-choice of the Royal Marines for their anti-piracy demonstration this time she got an invite from the Senior Service instead.
I've never been down to those sections of the docks before - of course I've done the ferry bits, both Irish and Isle of Man sections, but not the real working docks. Historically, Liverpool has been a city that is focussed on its docks, so there are a great number of docks along the riverfront. To get down to the Langdon docks you have to go into the port authority area, cross the dock railway (used a lot to shift coal and steel into bulk carriers bound for China) the cross one of the swing bridges across the canal into Langdon dock, before driving along the riverfront itself next to the sea wall until you get to the dock itself.
Langdon is the dock from which the Isle of Man ferry now sails, although you access the ferry from the inland side of the dock. The ferries have to pass through the canal to get out into the river, and we were delayed for 10 minutes by the sailing of the P&O ferry Norbay. I would have taken photos except that I'd taken the card out to print some photos and hadn't put it back in again. Grrr....
I would also have taken photos of the scrap metal yard close to the dock, whence much of the steel for China is shipped. There are several huge piles, each probably 20m high, of solid rectangular prisms that looked suspiciously like they were the remains of crushed cars. Quite, quite surreal.
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Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Banners and bowls
Two accomplishments today - I finished a banner and I also finally tried playing bowls.
First thing I managed to get the dragon banner completed. It was just the basic construction stuff, so I got it done reasonably rapidly. Nevertheless, it's probably the most complex design I've done (including the original Brighthelm one). One down, two to go. There's no chance I'll get the new gown made in time for Coronation (maybe in time for War of the Roses) but I did get all of the machining done on a new chemise that I can wear with my Tudor kirtle instead. I need to get a bit more white polycotton before I can do the Antelope banner, so that's on the cards for Thursday morning, with the other Brighthelm one on Thursday afternoon.
This afternoon I had the opportunity to try my hand at bowls. My great-aunt is a crown green bowling fiend - at 93 she's retired from the local ladies team but regularly ends up stepping in to cover for someone and winning when she does. I've meant to go bowling with her for several years but haven't had the time.
Embarrassing though it is to admit it, I've been fascinated by crown green bowls for years. It's one of the few sports I can actually watch on television. The mechanics of propelling an asymmetrically-weighted non-spherical projectile along a non-smooth surface of overall positive curvature towards a small spherical target at a random (though constrained) distance are not trivial.
A basic understanding of mechanics does seem to help though, and I think that I could not only get to enjoy playing the game but also attain a reasonable standard. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be played in Iceland (as far as I know), so I'll just have to pick up the odd game on the few occasions when I'm at home. Although I do know where I can get myself a set of bowls, should I want them. There's this shop in Aberdeen that seems to specialise in bowls and rugby, of all things.
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First thing I managed to get the dragon banner completed. It was just the basic construction stuff, so I got it done reasonably rapidly. Nevertheless, it's probably the most complex design I've done (including the original Brighthelm one). One down, two to go. There's no chance I'll get the new gown made in time for Coronation (maybe in time for War of the Roses) but I did get all of the machining done on a new chemise that I can wear with my Tudor kirtle instead. I need to get a bit more white polycotton before I can do the Antelope banner, so that's on the cards for Thursday morning, with the other Brighthelm one on Thursday afternoon.
This afternoon I had the opportunity to try my hand at bowls. My great-aunt is a crown green bowling fiend - at 93 she's retired from the local ladies team but regularly ends up stepping in to cover for someone and winning when she does. I've meant to go bowling with her for several years but haven't had the time.
Embarrassing though it is to admit it, I've been fascinated by crown green bowls for years. It's one of the few sports I can actually watch on television. The mechanics of propelling an asymmetrically-weighted non-spherical projectile along a non-smooth surface of overall positive curvature towards a small spherical target at a random (though constrained) distance are not trivial.
A basic understanding of mechanics does seem to help though, and I think that I could not only get to enjoy playing the game but also attain a reasonable standard. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be played in Iceland (as far as I know), so I'll just have to pick up the odd game on the few occasions when I'm at home. Although I do know where I can get myself a set of bowls, should I want them. There's this shop in Aberdeen that seems to specialise in bowls and rugby, of all things.
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Monday, June 13, 2005
Banner making, stage 1
Among the many useful things we have at the caravan is a sewing machine.
This is really useful as it allows me to do dressmaking and so forth in those quiet hours when there's only me at the van. Oh yes... and it means that Mum can make curtains and the like up there as well.
In fact the machine at the van is the original machine that I bought when I first went up to St. Andrews so it's the one whose settings I know best. This makes it idea if I'm trying to do anything complicated. Now making a banner isn't normally complicated, but when you're trying to do the detailing on a dragon rampant then having a machine you know makes it just that little bit easier.
I got all of the detailing done and went in search of pins - I know there is a sewing box at the van but I've no idea where it is in the new van as everything has moved. No luck, but it was lunchtime by then so I had to pack up to head back to Liverpool anyway.
I decided to take the sewing machine with me just on the grounds of familiarity. After all, I can always take it back up on the way back from Coronation. This meant that I could spend this evening appliquéing the dragon onto the background. Now all I have to do is make up the banner tomorrow.
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This is really useful as it allows me to do dressmaking and so forth in those quiet hours when there's only me at the van. Oh yes... and it means that Mum can make curtains and the like up there as well.
In fact the machine at the van is the original machine that I bought when I first went up to St. Andrews so it's the one whose settings I know best. This makes it idea if I'm trying to do anything complicated. Now making a banner isn't normally complicated, but when you're trying to do the detailing on a dragon rampant then having a machine you know makes it just that little bit easier.
I got all of the detailing done and went in search of pins - I know there is a sewing box at the van but I've no idea where it is in the new van as everything has moved. No luck, but it was lunchtime by then so I had to pack up to head back to Liverpool anyway.
I decided to take the sewing machine with me just on the grounds of familiarity. After all, I can always take it back up on the way back from Coronation. This meant that I could spend this evening appliquéing the dragon onto the background. Now all I have to do is make up the banner tomorrow.
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Sunday, June 12, 2005
Another lazy Sunday
We had an unusually early start today - too many body clocks still working on work time.
It was still quite a laid back and relaxed day. We played some more games, including Igor, the game of mad scientists in which the person with the most maniacal laugh goes first. That game gets a definite double thumbs up. My Dwarfs Fly is also fun, but Igor is the better of the two.
Fred left at lunchtime, but Martin and Penny stayed until the early evening so we had a very laid-back time of it all. I look forward to doing it all again at the end of July.
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It was still quite a laid back and relaxed day. We played some more games, including Igor, the game of mad scientists in which the person with the most maniacal laugh goes first. That game gets a definite double thumbs up. My Dwarfs Fly is also fun, but Igor is the better of the two.
Fred left at lunchtime, but Martin and Penny stayed until the early evening so we had a very laid-back time of it all. I look forward to doing it all again at the end of July.
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Saturday, June 11, 2005
A bit of a bash
I am a happy bunny. I have a bash shell.
Many of you many not know what that is - let me enthuse a little. You see, Fred has successfully installed MacOS 10.3.9 on my iBook, which not only means that I can download far more useful widgets and other bits of software for my Mac but it also means that I now have a UNIX shell underneath the pretty desktop. Yes, I know that being delighted by this relegates me to the depths of geekdom, but I like having the fine control that UNIX allows.
Aside from this descent into geekdom, we're having a great weekend. I tested out the pull-out bed in the living room last night (given that Penny had driven quite a way I let her have the main bedroom to herself to make sure she got a good night's sleep). It's very comfy, although I'm fairly certain it's going to be a bit short for Fred. That's not too surprising though, as he is a bit on the tall side.
We spent much of the day playing an assortment of card games, but did take a break in the afternoon to go down into Carnforth shopping. I popped into Iretons the chandlers where I got myself a new basket for carrying my SCA stuff, together with an assortment of other useful bits and bobs. We then all met up in the bookshop.
Carnforth bookshop is a wonderful place. It has a normal bookshop downstairs and a large second-hand bookshop upstairs. Upstairs is therefore not only a wonderful, but also a dangerous place. I got off quite lightly this time, escaping with only an illustrated compilation volume of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, and English-Icelandic / Icelandic-English (as opposed to an Islensk-Ensk / Ensk-Islensk) dictionary and a pocket guide to the birds of Britain and Europe.
More good news - the Far Pavilions, the Indian restaurant at Bolton-le-Sands, has a new chef. We deduced this after the traditional takeaway tonight was greatly improved compared to its normal standard. It used to be OK but has now increased its standing to 'good'. If you're in the area I can recommend it.
Naturally everything stopped for Dr. Who. I don't know about anyone else, but I found the idea of Dr. Who doing Big Brother quite terrifying! It might have helped if I'd actually known who Trinny and Suzanne (or whoever they are) actually are, but the idea of 'popular culture' impinging upon real science fiction is just too horrifying to think about. :)
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Many of you many not know what that is - let me enthuse a little. You see, Fred has successfully installed MacOS 10.3.9 on my iBook, which not only means that I can download far more useful widgets and other bits of software for my Mac but it also means that I now have a UNIX shell underneath the pretty desktop. Yes, I know that being delighted by this relegates me to the depths of geekdom, but I like having the fine control that UNIX allows.
Aside from this descent into geekdom, we're having a great weekend. I tested out the pull-out bed in the living room last night (given that Penny had driven quite a way I let her have the main bedroom to herself to make sure she got a good night's sleep). It's very comfy, although I'm fairly certain it's going to be a bit short for Fred. That's not too surprising though, as he is a bit on the tall side.
We spent much of the day playing an assortment of card games, but did take a break in the afternoon to go down into Carnforth shopping. I popped into Iretons the chandlers where I got myself a new basket for carrying my SCA stuff, together with an assortment of other useful bits and bobs. We then all met up in the bookshop.
Carnforth bookshop is a wonderful place. It has a normal bookshop downstairs and a large second-hand bookshop upstairs. Upstairs is therefore not only a wonderful, but also a dangerous place. I got off quite lightly this time, escaping with only an illustrated compilation volume of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, and English-Icelandic / Icelandic-English (as opposed to an Islensk-Ensk / Ensk-Islensk) dictionary and a pocket guide to the birds of Britain and Europe.
More good news - the Far Pavilions, the Indian restaurant at Bolton-le-Sands, has a new chef. We deduced this after the traditional takeaway tonight was greatly improved compared to its normal standard. It used to be OK but has now increased its standing to 'good'. If you're in the area I can recommend it.
Naturally everything stopped for Dr. Who. I don't know about anyone else, but I found the idea of Dr. Who doing Big Brother quite terrifying! It might have helped if I'd actually known who Trinny and Suzanne (or whoever they are) actually are, but the idea of 'popular culture' impinging upon real science fiction is just too horrifying to think about. :)
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Friday, June 10, 2005
Caravan!
I was a little later arriving at the van than I had anticipated, only to find that Martin had already arrived.
It was my fault - I'd originally planned to come up yesterday but plans had changed and, as Martin normally doesn't arrive until much later in the evening I hadn't sent out an email detailing the change of plans. Well, that and the limited email access I've got in Liverpool. Martin, in turn, thought he'd pop over before he went bell-ringing in Kirkby Lonsdale and turned up early.
Penny also turned up earlier than expected, which gave us time to play the new card game Martin has developed. It's based on the US presidential election system - I won't go into details as he's considering trying to sell it - but suffice to say I was astonished at how if no one candidate has an absolute majority it goes to a simple majority of the states. I won, as it happened, with the 'dream ticket' of Arnold Schwarzenegger/Hilary Clinton. Yes, the mind boggles.
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It was my fault - I'd originally planned to come up yesterday but plans had changed and, as Martin normally doesn't arrive until much later in the evening I hadn't sent out an email detailing the change of plans. Well, that and the limited email access I've got in Liverpool. Martin, in turn, thought he'd pop over before he went bell-ringing in Kirkby Lonsdale and turned up early.
Penny also turned up earlier than expected, which gave us time to play the new card game Martin has developed. It's based on the US presidential election system - I won't go into details as he's considering trying to sell it - but suffice to say I was astonished at how if no one candidate has an absolute majority it goes to a simple majority of the states. I won, as it happened, with the 'dream ticket' of Arnold Schwarzenegger/Hilary Clinton. Yes, the mind boggles.
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Thursday, June 09, 2005
A little shopping
A shopping trip to Aberkan is always a wonderful and dangerous thing.
Worse than Aberkan, now, is the shop opposite that sells curtain fabrics - lots of heavy brocades - at £2.99 a metre. I wasn't planning to make a new gown for Coronation, but they had this beautiful reversible blue and gold brocade that'll make a great Elizabethan gown with a matching but reversed under-skirt. The chap was a bit surprised when I asked for 10m, but given the fabric and the price I couldn't resist.
The entire area around Aberkan is dangerous. There are actually four fabric shops on the street, and in one of the others I got a large spool of metal boning and enough blue and silver braid to properly trim my fencing ropa.
There's also a small cafe-cum-gallery that sells artwork, jewellery and other gifts. We stopped there and discovered that it does very good toasted sandwiches and waffles with maple syrup. I didn't realise it at the time but Mum bought me a beautiful silver pendant set with translucent purple stones that can only be described as art deco Egyptian meets Tudor opulence. I need to get a thong for it, as it's definitely the sort of thing that needs a thong not a chain.
As it turned out I didn't actually buy much in Aberkan, just the fabric for a couple of banners.
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Worse than Aberkan, now, is the shop opposite that sells curtain fabrics - lots of heavy brocades - at £2.99 a metre. I wasn't planning to make a new gown for Coronation, but they had this beautiful reversible blue and gold brocade that'll make a great Elizabethan gown with a matching but reversed under-skirt. The chap was a bit surprised when I asked for 10m, but given the fabric and the price I couldn't resist.
The entire area around Aberkan is dangerous. There are actually four fabric shops on the street, and in one of the others I got a large spool of metal boning and enough blue and silver braid to properly trim my fencing ropa.
There's also a small cafe-cum-gallery that sells artwork, jewellery and other gifts. We stopped there and discovered that it does very good toasted sandwiches and waffles with maple syrup. I didn't realise it at the time but Mum bought me a beautiful silver pendant set with translucent purple stones that can only be described as art deco Egyptian meets Tudor opulence. I need to get a thong for it, as it's definitely the sort of thing that needs a thong not a chain.
As it turned out I didn't actually buy much in Aberkan, just the fabric for a couple of banners.
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Wednesday, June 08, 2005
The garden roundabout
In the middle of the garden here at Aigburth Road Central we have a large circular flower bed known locally as 'the roundabout'.
It was christened 'the roundabout' by Chris next door, and is about two metres in diameter and has a small trickling fountain in the middle. At present it has the remains of several hundred tulips around the fountain (which is solar powered but currently empty). It's also a recent innovation, having been er... implanted... only last year after an invasion of magpies who tore up the lawn looking for particularly juicy grubs.
As most of you probably already know, I'm not the world's biggest fan of gardening - I feel that the ideal garden probably has lots of paving stones with a couple of movable trees in pots and absolutely no roses - so why the sudden interest in landscape design? Well, it's a bit big but its shape lends itself very nicely to doing fencing drills outside where there's sufficient space to wave a couple of rapiers about.
I've been playing about with the pair (or case, to give it the proper name) of rapiers Kayte bought me with her bingo winnings. It's very strange getting used to the feel of two full-length blades rather than the one and a dagger, but I think I'm getting used to it. I'm determined to try this at Coronation, particularly as I was a bit frustrated by the fact that after Warbands I had to do a massive cleaning of both rapiers even though I haven't even used the right-hander in combat yet.
Hopefully I'll manage a bit of practice outside every day. Any neighbours casting a casual glance over the fence are in for a bit of a surprise.
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It was christened 'the roundabout' by Chris next door, and is about two metres in diameter and has a small trickling fountain in the middle. At present it has the remains of several hundred tulips around the fountain (which is solar powered but currently empty). It's also a recent innovation, having been er... implanted... only last year after an invasion of magpies who tore up the lawn looking for particularly juicy grubs.
As most of you probably already know, I'm not the world's biggest fan of gardening - I feel that the ideal garden probably has lots of paving stones with a couple of movable trees in pots and absolutely no roses - so why the sudden interest in landscape design? Well, it's a bit big but its shape lends itself very nicely to doing fencing drills outside where there's sufficient space to wave a couple of rapiers about.
I've been playing about with the pair (or case, to give it the proper name) of rapiers Kayte bought me with her bingo winnings. It's very strange getting used to the feel of two full-length blades rather than the one and a dagger, but I think I'm getting used to it. I'm determined to try this at Coronation, particularly as I was a bit frustrated by the fact that after Warbands I had to do a massive cleaning of both rapiers even though I haven't even used the right-hander in combat yet.
Hopefully I'll manage a bit of practice outside every day. Any neighbours casting a casual glance over the fence are in for a bit of a surprise.
0 comments
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Getting back to normal
I'm back in Liverpool and life is getting back to normal. This means, of course, that I'm doing computer maintenance again.
I now have a long list of things to do in the coming weeks, including write an operating manual to deal with disaster recovery for the three PCs in the house, finish a goldwork purse, make a banner, make a chemise, get the laptop working with an external modem and mobile phone, and go to Aberdeen to collect some of my stuff from Alli. I have sacrificed the Spanish gown I was intending to make in time for Coronation in order to write the operating manual. *Sigh* With a bit of luck though I might be able to put sleeved onto my Tudor kirtle instead.
Other than that, I am enjoying real food again. Bacon butties... pork pies... real bread... sausages... And real television. News 24... documentaries... more news... more documentaries...
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I now have a long list of things to do in the coming weeks, including write an operating manual to deal with disaster recovery for the three PCs in the house, finish a goldwork purse, make a banner, make a chemise, get the laptop working with an external modem and mobile phone, and go to Aberdeen to collect some of my stuff from Alli. I have sacrificed the Spanish gown I was intending to make in time for Coronation in order to write the operating manual. *Sigh* With a bit of luck though I might be able to put sleeved onto my Tudor kirtle instead.
Other than that, I am enjoying real food again. Bacon butties... pork pies... real bread... sausages... And real television. News 24... documentaries... more news... more documentaries...
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Monday, June 06, 2005
By any other name
I've finally got to see the first of the new Dr. Who episodes at last. Hurrah! So what do I think?
Well... bad stuff first. I don't like the new arrangement of the theme music. I think it's insipid. I'm also not sure about the new design of the TARDIS control room.
That's about it for the bad stuff. :) I was very much reminded of the BBC version of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in both style and incidental music. But that's OK, I liked the Reeves and Mortimer Randall and Hopkirk. I must check to see if they have the same composer as some of the music is very, very similar.
I was pleased to note that Rose has a sensible-sized bum (as show when she gets out of bed) rather than being a stick-insect. Christopher Eccleston seems to make quite a likable Doctor, so I'm looking forward to further episodes. There are two more to go on the first DVD, and the second DVD is due on June 16th, which means that I should get to see over half of the series before I go back to Iceland. In future though, I'll set the video as Mum forgot...
I loved the conspiracy theorist! What an elegant way to explain to the new viewers what we old fans already know. I'd like to see him turn up again having somehow escaped the Autons. After all, we didn't see him die, did we?
One thing I am reserving judgement on is the new format. I'm a bit concerned that it may become a Babylon 5-style series rather than a proper Dr. Who serial.
As well as finally managing to see Dr Who I also got to do some shopping in Lancaster. Lancaster has a games/SF&F bookshop that is my major supplier of gaming stuff nowadays. I picked up version 3 of Fluxx (I've no idea what happened to my copy of version 1) plus My Dwarfs Can Fly and another card game, Igor, about mad scientists.
I also managed to get some scarlet silk - I was a bit disappointed by the stuff I bought in John Lewis as it looked much brighter in the shop that it did when I brought it home - some manuscript paper and a couple of fun new shirts while wandering around the shopping centre.
My other main purchase was a tin of gun oil for the care and grooming of my rapiers, which are suffering from the wet weather. I've spent an hour tonight working on them and they're still not completely rust-free. They're going to get a good brassoing tomorrow.I suspect that I'm going to add a small box to my fencing kit, containing teak oil, gun oil, cleaning cloths, wire wool, brasso and other stuff for dealing with the weather in future.
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Well... bad stuff first. I don't like the new arrangement of the theme music. I think it's insipid. I'm also not sure about the new design of the TARDIS control room.
That's about it for the bad stuff. :) I was very much reminded of the BBC version of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in both style and incidental music. But that's OK, I liked the Reeves and Mortimer Randall and Hopkirk. I must check to see if they have the same composer as some of the music is very, very similar.
I was pleased to note that Rose has a sensible-sized bum (as show when she gets out of bed) rather than being a stick-insect. Christopher Eccleston seems to make quite a likable Doctor, so I'm looking forward to further episodes. There are two more to go on the first DVD, and the second DVD is due on June 16th, which means that I should get to see over half of the series before I go back to Iceland. In future though, I'll set the video as Mum forgot...
I loved the conspiracy theorist! What an elegant way to explain to the new viewers what we old fans already know. I'd like to see him turn up again having somehow escaped the Autons. After all, we didn't see him die, did we?
One thing I am reserving judgement on is the new format. I'm a bit concerned that it may become a Babylon 5-style series rather than a proper Dr. Who serial.
As well as finally managing to see Dr Who I also got to do some shopping in Lancaster. Lancaster has a games/SF&F bookshop that is my major supplier of gaming stuff nowadays. I picked up version 3 of Fluxx (I've no idea what happened to my copy of version 1) plus My Dwarfs Can Fly and another card game, Igor, about mad scientists.
I also managed to get some scarlet silk - I was a bit disappointed by the stuff I bought in John Lewis as it looked much brighter in the shop that it did when I brought it home - some manuscript paper and a couple of fun new shirts while wandering around the shopping centre.
My other main purchase was a tin of gun oil for the care and grooming of my rapiers, which are suffering from the wet weather. I've spent an hour tonight working on them and they're still not completely rust-free. They're going to get a good brassoing tomorrow.I suspect that I'm going to add a small box to my fencing kit, containing teak oil, gun oil, cleaning cloths, wire wool, brasso and other stuff for dealing with the weather in future.
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Sunday, June 05, 2005
New caravan
It was dry this morning, but everything was so wet that folks were packing up early to leave and get home to dry off. So it was back into the landrover and down to the caravan in the Lake District.
We've just got a new caravan in the same place as the old one and this was the first chance I'd had to look at it. It's a bit bigger than the old one, particularly in the living room department, although the bedrooms may be a little smaller. It does have full central heating, double glazing and all that, and the sofa and chairs are more comfortable.
I can tell I've been in Scotland - I've been midged. All those bare bits of skin plus my ankles (though how, when I was wearing boots all day) have been well and truly munched. I itch like mad, although it's not as bad as the 200+ bites I got in Shetland waiting for the ferry to Iceland.
The journey down the country wasn't as bad as the journey up had been - I may be getting used to the physicality of driving the landrover and this, together with a journey that was only 6 hours and at a much more sensible time of day meant that I wasn't quite as shattered today as I was on Friday night. I even had enough energy to do a couple of hours of embroidery after dinner.
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We've just got a new caravan in the same place as the old one and this was the first chance I'd had to look at it. It's a bit bigger than the old one, particularly in the living room department, although the bedrooms may be a little smaller. It does have full central heating, double glazing and all that, and the sofa and chairs are more comfortable.
I can tell I've been in Scotland - I've been midged. All those bare bits of skin plus my ankles (though how, when I was wearing boots all day) have been well and truly munched. I itch like mad, although it's not as bad as the 200+ bites I got in Shetland waiting for the ferry to Iceland.
The journey down the country wasn't as bad as the journey up had been - I may be getting used to the physicality of driving the landrover and this, together with a journey that was only 6 hours and at a much more sensible time of day meant that I wasn't quite as shattered today as I was on Friday night. I even had enough energy to do a couple of hours of embroidery after dinner.
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Saturday, June 04, 2005
Rain stopped play
So much for a long day of fencing! The skies opened at about 13:00 and that was it for the afternoon.
At breakfast this morning I discovered that Acarin and Celeste - an An Tirean visitor - were also staying at the Glenesk, so we had a good chat over coffee before heading up to Edzell Castle. Acarin was fighting heavy today rather than fencing, and I must say that his new heavy armour is rather spiffy.
We fenced through the morning - all five of us - then broke for lunch. I'd just qualified as a marshal so I went off to the shop to get a celebratory round of ice-creams when the heavens opened. We made a rapid retreat to the pavillions and spent the next two hours sheltering from the the downpour. and I ended up playing tablero for points with pennies on a board drawn in ball-point pen on a piece of kitchen rool. As we played the rain eased... until we stopped, when it renewed its efforts, thus showing that play stopped rain. Eventually at about 15:00 play was abandoned and folks headed out to the feast hall for warmth.
The feast later that evening was a very enjoyable affair. It may only have been for 50 people, but that meant that there was room for servers to move freely and for folks to dance after dinner. On the food side, of particular note were the suckling pig and my personal favourite, the mackerel smearings. I found myself sitting at high table at Her Solar Luminosity the Vicereine's request, so we got the pig first - hurrah!
Afterwards and I sat and nattered until after 01:00. Hopefully the rain will clear overnight and we'll get some fencing done tomorrow.
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At breakfast this morning I discovered that Acarin and Celeste - an An Tirean visitor - were also staying at the Glenesk, so we had a good chat over coffee before heading up to Edzell Castle. Acarin was fighting heavy today rather than fencing, and I must say that his new heavy armour is rather spiffy.
We fenced through the morning - all five of us - then broke for lunch. I'd just qualified as a marshal so I went off to the shop to get a celebratory round of ice-creams when the heavens opened. We made a rapid retreat to the pavillions and spent the next two hours sheltering from the the downpour.
The feast later that evening was a very enjoyable affair. It may only have been for 50 people, but that meant that there was room for servers to move freely and for folks to dance after dinner. On the food side, of particular note were the suckling pig and my personal favourite, the mackerel smearings. I found myself sitting at high table at Her Solar Luminosity the Vicereine's request, so we got the pig first - hurrah!
Afterwards
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Friday, June 03, 2005
Zebedee on acid
The landrover has an elastic noodle for a speedometer needle, one that bounces about like Zebedee on acid.
i borrowed Dad's landrover to drive up to Warbands because hiring a car with my driving license lost by the DVLA would be a tricky business. The landrover is 30 years old and more used to pootling the three or four miles to and from the dock than pulling a 350 mile odyssey along the motorway up to Edzell.
One side-effect of the Zebedee Needle is that it's almost impossible to gauge your speed using the speedo . Instead you use the sound of the engine and the engine temperature gauge - if it's up in the red you're driving too fast. Fortunately it's practically impossible to speed in a Series III landrover. :)
In my little car the journey would normally take about 5 1/2 hours. In the landrover it took 8, which meant that I didn't get into the hotel - the Glenesk - until 1 a.m. and am absolutely shattered. Part of it is the long drive, part of it is that the landrover doesn't have power steering and has a large steering wheel so you're physically fighting the wheel all the way.
I'm off to have a shower to ease my knotted shoulders before bed. Breakfast is at 08:30 then it's up to the castle for day of fencing before the evening's feast.
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i borrowed Dad's landrover to drive up to Warbands because hiring a car with my driving license lost by the DVLA would be a tricky business. The landrover is 30 years old and more used to pootling the three or four miles to and from the dock than pulling a 350 mile odyssey along the motorway up to Edzell.
One side-effect of the Zebedee Needle is that it's almost impossible to gauge your speed using the speedo . Instead you use the sound of the engine and the engine temperature gauge - if it's up in the red you're driving too fast. Fortunately it's practically impossible to speed in a Series III landrover. :)
In my little car the journey would normally take about 5 1/2 hours. In the landrover it took 8, which meant that I didn't get into the hotel - the Glenesk - until 1 a.m. and am absolutely shattered. Part of it is the long drive, part of it is that the landrover doesn't have power steering and has a large steering wheel so you're physically fighting the wheel all the way.
I'm off to have a shower to ease my knotted shoulders before bed. Breakfast is at 08:30 then it's up to the castle for day of fencing before the evening's feast.
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Thursday, June 02, 2005
Not quite retail therapy
Mum and I made a long trip into the city center today, in search of king-sized sheets for the new bed in the caravan and red silk to finish Acarin's belt token.
We were successful on both accounts, as well as in the quest to get me a new copy of my birth certificate. The original got lost when I posted it to the DVLA to update my licence details when I moved out of Aberdeen. So did the licence, so I've got to get a new copy to send again in order to get a new licence that I can take back to Iceland to exchange for an Icelandic driving licence. Still, it was easy enough once I'd found the registry office and I now have both full and short versions on order so I can leave one here in the UK and take the other back to the frozen north with me.
The shopping trip was less exciting than it could have been, mainly due to the fact that I haven't been paid this month. I checked my account last night and discovered the lack of a paycheck, which left me feeling rather fraught. The financial powers now know this and I am hoping it'll be sorted soon. This sort of thing happens to me on a regular basis - everything is beginning to go quite well then life throws up in my lap. Thank goodness for credit cards!
Still, I have now completed Acarin's token in time not only for Warbands, but also to take it along to Mum's embroidery class tomorrow. I shall sit there and work on the other piece of Opus Anglicanum I've just started for someone else.
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We were successful on both accounts, as well as in the quest to get me a new copy of my birth certificate. The original got lost when I posted it to the DVLA to update my licence details when I moved out of Aberdeen. So did the licence, so I've got to get a new copy to send again in order to get a new licence that I can take back to Iceland to exchange for an Icelandic driving licence. Still, it was easy enough once I'd found the registry office and I now have both full and short versions on order so I can leave one here in the UK and take the other back to the frozen north with me.
The shopping trip was less exciting than it could have been, mainly due to the fact that I haven't been paid this month. I checked my account last night and discovered the lack of a paycheck, which left me feeling rather fraught. The financial powers now know this and I am hoping it'll be sorted soon. This sort of thing happens to me on a regular basis - everything is beginning to go quite well then life throws up in my lap. Thank goodness for credit cards!
Still, I have now completed Acarin's token in time not only for Warbands, but also to take it along to Mum's embroidery class tomorrow. I shall sit there and work on the other piece of Opus Anglicanum I've just started for someone else.
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Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Virgin owes me a Babel Fish
An early start today - I don't know what inspired me to get the early morning flight from Keflavík, but the 07:30 flight it was.
It turned out that the flight was half an hour late taking off, partly due to the length of time it took to clear everyone through check-in and partly due to a problem with the in-flight catering. I ended up rushing to the departure gate pausing only long enough to buy a couple of bottles of Brennivin, only to find that the flight was going to be delayed anyway. By this point, of course, I couldn't get back to the main duty-free shop to buy other stuff I'd planned to pick up on the way. Such is life.
The flight was as uneventful as usual, and although we were late leaving I still made it to Euston station in time for the train before the one onto which I was booked. I picked my tickets up at the Fast Ticket machine and it transferred me to the earlier train. Nifty that. I like the Fast Ticket system - I can book the tickets over the net and then collect them at the machine the same way you do with cinema tickets booked over the net.
The train was another Virgin Wobblino - which I like - and this time the in-journey comedy channel was playing Fit the First of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's a little disconcerting to actually sit and listen to it properly only to find that you can practically recite the whole thing with the cast.At the end of the broadcast, however, the announcer doing the link (to an episode of Goodness Gracious Me) clearly stated that Babel fish were available from the buffet car for non-native speakers of English. Well, OK, yes, I'm a native speaker but a Babel fish would be awfully useful in Iceland. Naturally when I went to get a bottle of water I asked for a Babel fish too. :)
Unfortunately the steward hadn't heard the link and had no idea what a Babel fish was. Nor was he a native English speaker, by his accent (Eastern European, I think). So I'm considering complaining to Virgin that they clearly don't carry enough stores of Babel fish on the West Coast Main Line.
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It turned out that the flight was half an hour late taking off, partly due to the length of time it took to clear everyone through check-in and partly due to a problem with the in-flight catering. I ended up rushing to the departure gate pausing only long enough to buy a couple of bottles of Brennivin, only to find that the flight was going to be delayed anyway. By this point, of course, I couldn't get back to the main duty-free shop to buy other stuff I'd planned to pick up on the way. Such is life.
The flight was as uneventful as usual, and although we were late leaving I still made it to Euston station in time for the train before the one onto which I was booked. I picked my tickets up at the Fast Ticket machine and it transferred me to the earlier train. Nifty that. I like the Fast Ticket system - I can book the tickets over the net and then collect them at the machine the same way you do with cinema tickets booked over the net.
The train was another Virgin Wobblino - which I like - and this time the in-journey comedy channel was playing Fit the First of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's a little disconcerting to actually sit and listen to it properly only to find that you can practically recite the whole thing with the cast.At the end of the broadcast, however, the announcer doing the link (to an episode of Goodness Gracious Me) clearly stated that Babel fish were available from the buffet car for non-native speakers of English. Well, OK, yes, I'm a native speaker but a Babel fish would be awfully useful in Iceland. Naturally when I went to get a bottle of water I asked for a Babel fish too. :)
Unfortunately the steward hadn't heard the link and had no idea what a Babel fish was. Nor was he a native English speaker, by his accent (Eastern European, I think). So I'm considering complaining to Virgin that they clearly don't carry enough stores of Babel fish on the West Coast Main Line.
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