Pikeman's Pleasure
Saturday, June 7 was Pikeman's. We didn’t find crash space - partly because we couldn’t find a babysitter - so we ended up day tripping.
It was the smallest turnout that I've seen in a long time. We got in about noon and wondered if feast had sold out. We needn't have worried. I think there was the equivalent of one whole table that didn't sell. I would have said that Piers and I were 2 of only 3 attendees from Caldrithig, but apparently Isaac has left the canton. So, that would make us the only Caldrithig couple who attended. Moira, her boyfriend, and Edhan were also there and rounded out the Skrael attendance.
I accidentally forgot my penangular broaches at home. Fortunately, I had my Scottish broach and my Roman bunny with me, so I had to improve pinning my peplos dress with those. It was difficult as the pins could hold unequal amounts of fabric and my Pumpkin crying didn’t help. By the time we got dressed, IKAC had already started. We joined in at 30 yards. We both did poorly - not having shot since July and having no warm up. I was able to score 2 arrows at 30 and 1 at 40. I’m not sure if I’ve ever hit the target at 40 before. Normally, I am so far short of the target, so it was amusing that I was actually over-correcting and overshooting. The one thing, I was doing better was consistent form and always drawing to the same point. With practice, I could really improve.
We both had fun on the archery field and that’s what counts. Piers took part in the 30 shoot. The targets had only 3 circles (2, 5, and 8 points) and with 6 arrows, you had to make 30 points - no higher, no lower. They started at 15 and moved back 5 yards eliminating shooters. Piers ended up coming in second. I missed most of the novelty shoot as I didn’t think it was fair that Avalon had sat in her stroller through 2/3 of an IKAC and I wanted to take her out to run around. Unfortunately, she only wanted to run near thrown weapons, so I had to take her into the arena and let her run around there.
We were also a touch late for the event because we stopped by an archery store on the way in. WE were looking for blunt tips. They didn’t have any in stock, but we left our adress and phone number and they are supposed to do credit card order and mail them to us when they get more. I was looking at their borchures and they have better prices than Ottawa Archery did. It still isn’t fair that we don’t have an archery shop in Ottawa. Maybe Winchester would have what we want, but with gas being so ridiculously expensive, it’s cheaper to pay shipping from Peterborough than drive 2 hours on the off chance they might have it in stock.
We sat feast with Edhan, a woman from Toronto, and Isaac. Feast was good, but I’ve been to better. It wasn’t the fault of the cook (Anne Tinker), but my own pickiness. There are always one or two dishes that I won’t eat at every feast. Once in a while, it just happens that due to the menu selection there are 4 or 6 dishes that I won’t eat. This was one of those times. I didn’t touch the turnips (even if they were covered in cheese), mushrooms, compote of fruit, chick peas, and date cakes. The beef wasn’t my favourite either as it had egg in it and I’m not a huge egg fan. Fortunately, it kept falling out. I didn’t care for. Yet, even with skipping both desserts and passing up dishes, I still managed to over-eat to the point of feeling uncomfortable afterwards. The chicken was good. The roman ham was the best ham I’ve ever had, largely because it turned out to be pork. We ate a ton of meat because Edhan considers it a sin to send meat back to the kitchen - breads, vegetables and desserts, he’s fine with but he wanted everyone to eat up all of the meat. The unleavened bread was so good that I took the spare piece at our table home and my children fought over who got to eat it the next day. The fact that it turned out to be President's Choice Naan bread does not bother me with its inauthenticity; I’m thrilled - it means I can by it at the grocery store instead of having to make it myself. The salad dressing was the unexpected surprise. What can you say about a salad? It starts the meal and is good for you. This was one of the best salad dressings I’ve ever had and I had seconds of salad. That says oodles about Anne’s cooking.
Overall, it was a good day. The “best death” contest was slightly more interesting than I thought it was going to be. We had a death on the archery field, complete with people looting the body before it was completely cold. The prize for the best death went to Berus. The best death committee was comprised of 4 women, 3 of whom were young and pretty. They all rushed towards Berus and began to kiss him; Berus then drank poison rather than face Marian. It was reenacted for all at feast. Court was largely boring. There were lots of Septentrian baronial awards to people whom I did not know. Queen Rustique has started publicizing “this month 10 years ago”, so a long list of people whom I’ve never heard of getting Middle Kingdom awards I’ve never heard of was read into court. The only two awards of interest were Daffyd getting his Orion for period arrow and equipment making and Anne Tinker getting her Scarlet Banner. Since Anne was cooking, her award was presented at feast.
The other high point of the day was buying a $15 bracelt. There weren’t many merchants, but one was selling jewlery. Moira and I were both looking at the jewelry. It was Moira who first spied the bracelet; when she decided against it, I picked it up. It is a dull metal and not as flashy as some of the other pieces. But it was quirky and I could wear it in persona, to dance in, and mundanely. Now that is my idea of jewelry - when it can do triple duty.
It was the smallest turnout that I've seen in a long time. We got in about noon and wondered if feast had sold out. We needn't have worried. I think there was the equivalent of one whole table that didn't sell. I would have said that Piers and I were 2 of only 3 attendees from Caldrithig, but apparently Isaac has left the canton. So, that would make us the only Caldrithig couple who attended. Moira, her boyfriend, and Edhan were also there and rounded out the Skrael attendance.
I accidentally forgot my penangular broaches at home. Fortunately, I had my Scottish broach and my Roman bunny with me, so I had to improve pinning my peplos dress with those. It was difficult as the pins could hold unequal amounts of fabric and my Pumpkin crying didn’t help. By the time we got dressed, IKAC had already started. We joined in at 30 yards. We both did poorly - not having shot since July and having no warm up. I was able to score 2 arrows at 30 and 1 at 40. I’m not sure if I’ve ever hit the target at 40 before. Normally, I am so far short of the target, so it was amusing that I was actually over-correcting and overshooting. The one thing, I was doing better was consistent form and always drawing to the same point. With practice, I could really improve.
We both had fun on the archery field and that’s what counts. Piers took part in the 30 shoot. The targets had only 3 circles (2, 5, and 8 points) and with 6 arrows, you had to make 30 points - no higher, no lower. They started at 15 and moved back 5 yards eliminating shooters. Piers ended up coming in second. I missed most of the novelty shoot as I didn’t think it was fair that Avalon had sat in her stroller through 2/3 of an IKAC and I wanted to take her out to run around. Unfortunately, she only wanted to run near thrown weapons, so I had to take her into the arena and let her run around there.
We were also a touch late for the event because we stopped by an archery store on the way in. WE were looking for blunt tips. They didn’t have any in stock, but we left our adress and phone number and they are supposed to do credit card order and mail them to us when they get more. I was looking at their borchures and they have better prices than Ottawa Archery did. It still isn’t fair that we don’t have an archery shop in Ottawa. Maybe Winchester would have what we want, but with gas being so ridiculously expensive, it’s cheaper to pay shipping from Peterborough than drive 2 hours on the off chance they might have it in stock.
We sat feast with Edhan, a woman from Toronto, and Isaac. Feast was good, but I’ve been to better. It wasn’t the fault of the cook (Anne Tinker), but my own pickiness. There are always one or two dishes that I won’t eat at every feast. Once in a while, it just happens that due to the menu selection there are 4 or 6 dishes that I won’t eat. This was one of those times. I didn’t touch the turnips (even if they were covered in cheese), mushrooms, compote of fruit, chick peas, and date cakes. The beef wasn’t my favourite either as it had egg in it and I’m not a huge egg fan. Fortunately, it kept falling out. I didn’t care for. Yet, even with skipping both desserts and passing up dishes, I still managed to over-eat to the point of feeling uncomfortable afterwards. The chicken was good. The roman ham was the best ham I’ve ever had, largely because it turned out to be pork. We ate a ton of meat because Edhan considers it a sin to send meat back to the kitchen - breads, vegetables and desserts, he’s fine with but he wanted everyone to eat up all of the meat. The unleavened bread was so good that I took the spare piece at our table home and my children fought over who got to eat it the next day. The fact that it turned out to be President's Choice Naan bread does not bother me with its inauthenticity; I’m thrilled - it means I can by it at the grocery store instead of having to make it myself. The salad dressing was the unexpected surprise. What can you say about a salad? It starts the meal and is good for you. This was one of the best salad dressings I’ve ever had and I had seconds of salad. That says oodles about Anne’s cooking.
Overall, it was a good day. The “best death” contest was slightly more interesting than I thought it was going to be. We had a death on the archery field, complete with people looting the body before it was completely cold. The prize for the best death went to Berus. The best death committee was comprised of 4 women, 3 of whom were young and pretty. They all rushed towards Berus and began to kiss him; Berus then drank poison rather than face Marian. It was reenacted for all at feast. Court was largely boring. There were lots of Septentrian baronial awards to people whom I did not know. Queen Rustique has started publicizing “this month 10 years ago”, so a long list of people whom I’ve never heard of getting Middle Kingdom awards I’ve never heard of was read into court. The only two awards of interest were Daffyd getting his Orion for period arrow and equipment making and Anne Tinker getting her Scarlet Banner. Since Anne was cooking, her award was presented at feast.
The other high point of the day was buying a $15 bracelt. There weren’t many merchants, but one was selling jewlery. Moira and I were both looking at the jewelry. It was Moira who first spied the bracelet; when she decided against it, I picked it up. It is a dull metal and not as flashy as some of the other pieces. But it was quirky and I could wear it in persona, to dance in, and mundanely. Now that is my idea of jewelry - when it can do triple duty.