Estrella War 26
Wow. The short version: Typically I come back from a long War tired, sore, bruised and thinking of nothing but a hot shower, hot meal cooked by someone else, clean bedding, and a house with heating. This year I came back tired, sore, bruised and totally reinvigorated about the hobby. I have a dozen little projects I want to work on over the year, mostly camp related. Here, check out some pics of the fun!
Given some of the people on my blogfeed, I thought about being all humble, but I really worked my ass off this War. I unexpectedly went on my vacation two days early and am glad I extended it two days late. I needed the extra time at both ends to do autocrat stuff. I made three trips up to site, two of which were purely to help with site.
My basic day, for a week and a half:
7:00ish Wake Up
7:30 Shower
8:00 Breakfast and Coffee
9:00 Show up at the battlefield
6:00 Leave the field
7:00 Dinner
11:00 Bed
Between setup, tournaments, melees, Court and several other things, I was too damned tired to do much partying. Mostly mellow hanging around the fire type stuff. By the end I was struggling to stay awake even for that. Still, I got to see lots of good friends and had fun, but didn't get nearly enough of any of it.
The new pavilion worked nicely, though I would probably prefer the slightly larger one. Fighting was the cleanest and friendliest I think I've ever seen. People still walked off with bruises, but smiling and laughing about it. Several friends also stepped to the fore and helped out immensely. Carys, Reynier and Craig Joyful were particularly awesome with camp and field setup. The week just flew by and I had a blast...
Things I'm thinking on to do/get before next War:
Center pole lantern hangers for the tent.
Redesign the bed to be just a little lower and pack flatter.
Redesign the headboard to be a little nicer.
4 more side poles for the tent.
20 more tent ropes so that I can properly cross-stake.
Wooden tent stakes?
Extending the finial point of the center pole to mount a banner.
Redesign the banner poles for the 4'x4' banners so they are taller and don't sag as much. (T-shape Standard mounting?)
Make more banners!
Clothes hanger rack for the tent.
Rapier hanger rack for the tent.
Side table (or large chests) for the tent.
A couple more pairs of warm pants.
Another jacket of spiffiness.
Redesign the codpiece on the red pants.
Fix the buttons on my fighting doublet.
Get a proper pin for my white scarf.
Cabinets/organizers for the kitchen tent.
Lighting for the kitchen tent.
Boots or new shoes.
Sturdier camp chairs and/or benches.
And that's just the list off the top of my head... I know there's a dozen other things too...
So I've still got a stack of thank you's, paperwork and other such to dig through. I'm several days out and still recovering and cleaning up the house too. But I wanted to say that it was a wonderful War. The new Household looked great and was really a lot of fun to camp with. I am pleased.
Given some of the people on my blogfeed, I thought about being all humble, but I really worked my ass off this War. I unexpectedly went on my vacation two days early and am glad I extended it two days late. I needed the extra time at both ends to do autocrat stuff. I made three trips up to site, two of which were purely to help with site.
My basic day, for a week and a half:
7:00ish Wake Up
7:30 Shower
8:00 Breakfast and Coffee
9:00 Show up at the battlefield
6:00 Leave the field
7:00 Dinner
11:00 Bed
Between setup, tournaments, melees, Court and several other things, I was too damned tired to do much partying. Mostly mellow hanging around the fire type stuff. By the end I was struggling to stay awake even for that. Still, I got to see lots of good friends and had fun, but didn't get nearly enough of any of it.
The new pavilion worked nicely, though I would probably prefer the slightly larger one. Fighting was the cleanest and friendliest I think I've ever seen. People still walked off with bruises, but smiling and laughing about it. Several friends also stepped to the fore and helped out immensely. Carys, Reynier and Craig Joyful were particularly awesome with camp and field setup. The week just flew by and I had a blast...
Things I'm thinking on to do/get before next War:
Center pole lantern hangers for the tent.
Redesign the bed to be just a little lower and pack flatter.
Redesign the headboard to be a little nicer.
4 more side poles for the tent.
20 more tent ropes so that I can properly cross-stake.
Wooden tent stakes?
Extending the finial point of the center pole to mount a banner.
Redesign the banner poles for the 4'x4' banners so they are taller and don't sag as much. (T-shape Standard mounting?)
Make more banners!
Clothes hanger rack for the tent.
Rapier hanger rack for the tent.
Side table (or large chests) for the tent.
A couple more pairs of warm pants.
Another jacket of spiffiness.
Redesign the codpiece on the red pants.
Fix the buttons on my fighting doublet.
Get a proper pin for my white scarf.
Cabinets/organizers for the kitchen tent.
Lighting for the kitchen tent.
Boots or new shoes.
Sturdier camp chairs and/or benches.
And that's just the list off the top of my head... I know there's a dozen other things too...
So I've still got a stack of thank you's, paperwork and other such to dig through. I'm several days out and still recovering and cleaning up the house too. But I wanted to say that it was a wonderful War. The new Household looked great and was really a lot of fun to camp with. I am pleased.