Back to School!

I picked up the kids after a half-day of school yesterday and took them out to lunch.  They posed sweetly while I took a couple of pictures.  Cammie got a very funny man for her teacher this year.  Emma's favorite teacher last year married his brother...must be a great family!  Ben's 3rd grade teacher is the same one that Cammie had two years ago, and he decided already that he likes her.  Hopefully the feeling is mutual and that we are beginning the year off right.

Last weekend, to celebrate Labor Day, Cammie and I went medieval camping together again.  Kelly thought that he might have to work, Emma didn't want to go, and Ben has such complicated medical needs that taking him camping for a long weekend is almost unthinkable.  In a lucky twist of fate, Grandma Pauline called and asked if Ben wanted to come stay with her for a few days along with his cousin, Miss A.  It was quickly agreed that this would be a great idea, and I gave Cammie the option to come with me or stay with Grandma.  She quickly volunteered to come with me, just like when we went to July Coronation, this time camping near Avelyn & Michael and their kids, as well as another couple, Liz and David and their two little ones.  They had called ahead and made a land reservation.  Due to the small children in our group, we requested a quiet area to camp.  Really, we just wanted to be camped in a place NOT next to a loud, obnoxious, vulgar partying crew.  There are a couple of them...singing rude lyrics that young children will repeat in the daylight, usually at the most inconvenient times...like in church or school.

We arrived on site and found our land reservation was in section D, just past the equestrian fields, on the far side of camp.  Down the hill.  As far away from the center of town as you could possibly get.  Had we known that this was going to be such a hardship, I would have packed up all the gear they had already unstowed and driven up the hill and found an empty space.  Next time we'll have to remember to ask for a "quieter space within easy walking distance of the erics"...that is, the center of "town".  Avelyn's feet are in really rough shape, so climbing up and down that hill a few times a day nearly did her in.  My calf was cramping, and my feet were really sore...even now my right foot feels like I have a pinched nerve.  I might have to go see my foot doctor pretty soon.

We set up our small 12' diameter yurt...I realized that the pitch of the roof is too steep, so I need to adjust the tension cable to make it looser--longer.  I also need to make the roof cover a little bigger; the fabric should hang about 6" below the ropes around the edges.  Right now if the wind blows just right, it unhooks and gives passers-by a peek-a-boo of activities within.  The other changes I need to make is making a bigger smoke hole cover and a door.  I'm thinking about making a wood frame and stretching the canvas across it.  Maybe I can paint it in a traditional Mongolian or Turkish manner to look like a door.

I picked up some fuzzy, flat hangers at Target for hanging my costumes up in the yurt.  Not only does it have a bar across the bottom for hanging socks and towels, but the fuzziness grips the dresses so they don't slide off.  The great part of the lattice walls is an unlimited amount of hanging space inside.  Then I hung 12 yards of polar fleece around the inside to keep it a bit warmer.

I spent a bit of the weekend assisting with the Equestrian championship as grounds crew for competitors--keeping score of the events and resetting the equipment--talking with friends, and climbing up and down the hills.  I missed the Exchequer meeting that I should have attended, the Costumer's guild meeting I wanted to attend, and most of merchant's row.  Cammie spent a bunch of the weekend playing with the other kids and climbing up and down the hills to walk a merchant's dog.  She made a deal with this merchant that if she walked the dog three times a day, she would earn a hat from her booth...and this is what she received!  A real fox-fur trimmed hat in a Mongolian style.  She's so pleased with herself and the hat that she wore it on the first day of school!  I'm betting she's going to wear it most of the winter, too.

On Sunday, I went up to the top of the world to get my car to begin packing up, and took this series of photos of the campsites.  What you can't quite see is that at the far end of the field, there's a steep drop off that goes down to where we were camped.  The Olympic Mountains in the background were a lovely, romantic touch.  The first picture has almost no "mundane" objects, other than a few slightly modern-looking tents.

The center part of town where the armored combat tournament were held.  The final rounds were just about to start while I was up here.  I was disappointed to miss it, but very happy to hear the results were for four-time Prince Ulf and his wife, Caiomhe ("Kee-vah").  Ulf was known, for a while, as "Ulf Princess-maker"; each of his four reigns he elevated a different lady to Princess, the last of which was his wife.  When he reigned with Princess Bernadette, they decided to give me a rather amazing award--one I treasure above all others--the Red Flame of Tir Righ.  It reads, in part, that I was chosen because I "inspire and further the image of Medievalism within our Principality."  Bernadette announced to everyone in court that it was not only for dressing the part at all times, but for all that I do with the University of Ithra.  It's only given out twice a year, and I was the 4th one to ever get one, so it was quite an honor.  

The other end of the field...a few cars in this one as people were packing up, but still lots of medieval pavilions.  I got to see a few people I hadn't seen in years, including Patricia & Hagar who moved to Alaska about 10 years ago.  

I was sitting in the shade just before the tournament finals when I overheard some silliness behind me.  Duchess Dagmaer was interviewing some of the Who's Who of An Tir and asking some really interesting questions.  "If you had the choice, in the Middle Ages, would you rather contract syphilis or dysentery, and why?"  It was being video taped and will air at 12th Night in January...it'll be interesting to see what they do with this.  

We went to court and spent a long time listening to great speeches, watching people kneel before their Majesties and receive awards, listen to the stories of valiant acts and heroics, witnessed elevations of Knights and Laurels, and enjoyed sitting with my back to the sun.  In the meantime, I snuggled with young Mr. E who behaved himself very well for such a long time while his mom, Avelyn, took pictures (and for a little while, a nap!) and dad, Michael, stood behind the Royals as Herald.

At the end of Sunday, I decided that I couldn't possibly sleep in that painfully firm cot one more night, so I opted to pack up a few things and go spend the night at my in-laws' house where Kelly had taken the other two kids.  I could catch a shower and get a snuggle with my sweetie.  I called ahead to make sure they knew I was coming, but didn't get the entire camp packed up, so I knew I'd be back in the morning for breakfast and to pack up the rest of the gear.  Unfortunately, I got there at 10:30 and the whole family had already gone to bed.  I took a long, hot shower, washed the stink and most of the dirt off, got into clean jammies and slept really well.  I got up in the morning before everyone else and got ready to head back.  Ben crawled out of bed shortly after I did, so I gave him a snuggle, Kelly rolled over and said about five words, and Cammie climbed out of bed, put on her hat, and we headed out.  I didn't see anyone else in the house...sleepyheads.

We arrived back at the site to finish breaking down the yurt, pack up the car, have breakfast, and say our goodbyes.  I helped Avelyn & Michael pack down their yurt & kitchen, since we shared some of the space and they brought the majority of the kitchen materials, and Cammie entertained the kids a bit.  We drove home, waiting three ferries to get home, just as we did to get there.

Now we're back to the ol' grind and trying to figure out the best schedule for karate, school, doctors, and all the other stuff we need to do.  It's a juggling act just to get the basics done some days.  But I'm getting a little bit of knitting done while I wait.  This is yarn that Heide gave me when I was visiting her from a project that hopped over to the frog pond and I'm busy transforming it back into socks.  I love this self-patterning stuff.  The grey colors are actually quite a soothing, almost bluish, color.  

Grandma apparently took Ben to a garage sale where he found this book on a table and became enamored with its contents of our National monuments and parks.  The really amazingly funny thing is--we already have a copy of this book.  Kelly bought it when he was about Ben's age!  He pored over it and dreamed about going to all the great monuments of our nation.  Great minds think alike.  Looks like we might be making a few road trips in coming years.  Wish we had an RV or a trailer to take across country.  We'd just need a place to park it when we're not using it.