We went, we warred, we got sunburned and ate lots of cobbler and ice cream and drank more than our share of Raven (and came home with another bottle). I didn’t fence at all, but M did, and quite well (he took second in the EK Tourney and also fought in the field battle, woods battle, Battle of Tortuga… and maybe other stuff that I’ve forgotten). Five days really doesn’t feel like long enough to be at Pennsic, but it was what we could manage this year what with getting the kiddo to Camp Grammy and all.
I went to a couple of classes. Eleazar ha Levi’s class on Jewish women was interesting; I finally managed to get to Mistress Bricia’s opus anglicanum class and have determined that I have all the skills I need to do that style of embroidery (well, except DRAWING – I’ll have to co-opt an artist if I decide to do anything with people or animals in it); I just need to get up the courage to buy some gold thread and actually DO it. I also helped Hugh with one of the A&S 50 info meetings, which was fun. I missed Maestra Isabel’s class on handsewing techniques from extant 13th century garments because I was planning to go to the Friday afternoon session and then as I was getting ready to leave for the class M charged into camp and informed me that our friend Fergus was getting his White Scarf before the rapier woods battle (which was scheduled to start at the same time as Isabel’s class) and so I went off to the woods to see that instead, and it was brilliant. Catlin went, though, and brought me back examples of the seam techniques, and I will e-mail Isabel for handouts.
The A&S display was amazing, as always. I got a lot of good feedback on my display, which I ended up calling “Alianor’s 13th century Miscellanea”. I had out my brown linen hosen, the bits and pieces of the mauve gown, and two pieces of embroidery that are destined to be award medallions (one Keystone and one Millrind). The embroidery got the most attention, actually, which amuses me since that’s really just my busywork. But it’s kinda shiny and I feel like more people understand that I had a good conversation with Mistress Rhiannon and she convinced me that I should enter Ice Dragon this year – I MAY be able to put together a pent (thoughts on that in another post) but even if I don’t I’ll enter the new stuff I have (the mauve gown will be done by then, plus the embroidered medallions, the brown hosen…).
We saw lots of people, too many to name, which is the REAL reason for going to Pennsic. To see people and to get away from the real world for while – on Friday night the conversation over cobbler turned to the Presidential election and I realized that I hadn’t thought about world affairs for almost a whole week and that I’d been really really HAPPY in my ignorance.
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