Höstdansen
This remains one of my favourite SCA events. Plenty of dancing, plenty of singing, and lots of good company.
We got a rather late start leaving home, for many reasons. My contribution to the delay was being low energy after having pushed so hard all week to get that grant proposal done enough to submit, with the result that I hadn't finished my own packing before lord_kjar got home from work. But since none of the rest of us were ready either, I wasn't worried about it.
We finally started driving at 21:00, and didn't arrive on site till after 01:00, by which time the upstairs crash room (for those who like to stay up late) was already full. There was still a bit of space in the quiet crash space room downstairs, but there were small children sleeping in there, so the autocrat suggested we just spread our bedding on the floor of the dance/feast room and move stuff in the morning.
Beds set up I went down to the dining room, where people were still singing, did my yoga, and then stayed up singing till 04:15. There is a couple in the shire of Uma who have been in the SCA for almost as long as I have, and spent many of their early years collecting SCA songs from news groups and bulletin boards. As a result we know a rather lot of old SCA filks in common. She even has "Seneschals are Blameless" (to the tune of Suicide is Painless/MASH theme song, written by students in the College of St. Katherine) memorized. It surprised us both that the other could sing it and knew all the words--neither of us had heard it in some 20 years.
Saturday morning I got up at 9:00, which gave me time for breakfast and tidying away our beds before first dance class (Playford) at 10:30, which, of course, I joined, never mind that I could just as easily have taught it, it is always fun to dance, and the beginners learn quicker when there are some experienced dancers in the group.
We danced till noon, then had lunch, after which I helped Eino into his (my) armour for the tournament. Then I went inside and listened to parts of the workshops in progress (illumination and a cord-making technique made by crocheting together two yarns, which I learned a year or two ago from a folk dancing friend to make a bottom edge for my folk dancing dress).
There was a tiny market board at the event. A few people selling things they had made. One lady had some lovely tablet woven bands, and I couldn't resist buying the red and white one. Perhaps it will look nice on the light weight blue twill I bought at Visby. Or on any number of other pretty fabrics in the stash.
Then I helped H. with the last bit of fitting for his pretty red silk bliaut in progress and started sewing down a ribbon to make lacing holes. Then it was time for the dance class I was teaching.
With the autocrat's permission I hadn't actually planned a set list of dances, but just played it by ear. For my class we had D. on his violin for music. This is the first time I have seen him in years, and it was so good to have him back (and delightful that his hair had grown back out in the meantime). We danced all the period dances he has memorized, and part way through the class lord_kjar came in with his Nyckelharpa. He knows a couple tunes that D. didn't, so he played them, and, of course, D. had learned them by the time he'd played through a few repeats.
After class H. and I tried sewing down all of the lacing loops for his bliuat before feast, but didn't manage it, but it is far enough along that he should have it done by Norrskensfest.
But both C. and I had our bliuats on. She has finally finished with the embroidery to remake my old blue one. I took off the red embroidered neck and sleeve embroidery long since to put it onto my new darker blue silk bliaut. Then I gave her the dress body, and she started embroidery in some green fabric to finish the dress again.
The feast was fun, with an obligatory mid meal break for dancing, with more live music from D. and lord_kjar, with C. joining them with finger cymbals when she wasn't dancing. One of the little girls joined us, and she had no problems doing even those dances we hadn't practiced during the day, she is so quick to catch on. I hope her parents keep bringing her to events.
During the second half of the feast the Norrskensbard, who was running the kitchen, finally got free long enough to come upstairs to be cheered for a job well done and perform a song for us. But, of course, many of us had been singing the locally popular songs off and on all meal.
After the feast the boys started playing Swedish folk music, after they had gone through their period repertoire, so H. and I did some Swedish folk dancing. So not period, but fun enough that I don't care.
Then people settled into quiet conversation for the evening. I got sleepy not to long after midnight, so I set my bed back up in the feast hall and went to sleep to the sound of violin and Nyckelharpa and laughter and happy voices, and slept happily till just after 05:00, when O., who was the last to go to bed for the night, crawled in to join me, and I woke up and we talked till almost 08:00 at which point I decided to get a short nap before breakfast, and then slept deeply till 10:00, and was surprised to discover there were people awake and talking not five meters from me and I hadn't noticed.
Luckily, breakfast was still happening, so I ate before packing up and saying goodbye to those that hadn't left yet. We managed to get off site just after noon, though I felt vaguely guilty for not helping with clean up. But most of us four were just talking to people after loading the car, so it was betting to take us away and quit distracting folk who have their own packing and/or cleaning to do.
That got us home around 16:00, and as soon as we had unloaded the car I made up a quick pot of soup with homemade noodles, canned tomato and lentils, frozen veg, and butter. It went well with the left over carrot bread we had brought home from the event. Then I ran O. home and finished putting stuff away.
While we had pretty much managed to get everything put away on time that we could have gone to folk dance at 18:30, we didn't really have energy left, so we three stayed home and cuddled on the couch for a bit before yoga.
I was in bed by 21:00, which meant that I had the energy to do my workout before work this morning and was still in the office before 07:30. I had comments from my colleague on that grant application, so I made the edits and uploaded the new version. Then I revised the CV of the researcher we want to hire with this grant to have the same layout and page numbering pattern as the rest of the application and wrote a draft of the "capicities of the institution" section, which was the last thing I was still missing. I uploaded the draft to the system before heading home for the day, but it will need revision tomorrow, as one of collegues had already replied with comments (funny how much faster turn around time is as the deadline draws near).
Now I am happily listening to five Nyckelharpas and a recorder practice Swedish folk music and alternating between typing this and mending my favourite undertunic (a lovely soft herringbone white linen), whose side gores are wider than I normally do and so the hem had sagged, so I have trimmed it straight again an am re-hemming.
Tomorrow is choir, and Wednesday lord_kjar's little brother will come up to show us how to use the tractor that we are buying from him (he bought himself a bigger, and doesn't need two). Their oldest brother dropped it off here for us this weekend while we were gone, since he had driven his large truck up from southern Sweden to bring up something else, and while it was here it was easy to also do the extra 45 minutes north with the tractor.
It is a cute little old fashioned tractor with no front end attachments, so the shovel is on the back end. I will try to learn to drive it, but am a little hesitant about having to backwards to do anything. But it will be handy to keep the driveway snow free this winter, so I should try to learn, and C. is looking forward to it. If any of us can use it then the plowing should always be done promptly.
We got a rather late start leaving home, for many reasons. My contribution to the delay was being low energy after having pushed so hard all week to get that grant proposal done enough to submit, with the result that I hadn't finished my own packing before lord_kjar got home from work. But since none of the rest of us were ready either, I wasn't worried about it.
We finally started driving at 21:00, and didn't arrive on site till after 01:00, by which time the upstairs crash room (for those who like to stay up late) was already full. There was still a bit of space in the quiet crash space room downstairs, but there were small children sleeping in there, so the autocrat suggested we just spread our bedding on the floor of the dance/feast room and move stuff in the morning.
Beds set up I went down to the dining room, where people were still singing, did my yoga, and then stayed up singing till 04:15. There is a couple in the shire of Uma who have been in the SCA for almost as long as I have, and spent many of their early years collecting SCA songs from news groups and bulletin boards. As a result we know a rather lot of old SCA filks in common. She even has "Seneschals are Blameless" (to the tune of Suicide is Painless/MASH theme song, written by students in the College of St. Katherine) memorized. It surprised us both that the other could sing it and knew all the words--neither of us had heard it in some 20 years.
Saturday morning I got up at 9:00, which gave me time for breakfast and tidying away our beds before first dance class (Playford) at 10:30, which, of course, I joined, never mind that I could just as easily have taught it, it is always fun to dance, and the beginners learn quicker when there are some experienced dancers in the group.
We danced till noon, then had lunch, after which I helped Eino into his (my) armour for the tournament. Then I went inside and listened to parts of the workshops in progress (illumination and a cord-making technique made by crocheting together two yarns, which I learned a year or two ago from a folk dancing friend to make a bottom edge for my folk dancing dress).
There was a tiny market board at the event. A few people selling things they had made. One lady had some lovely tablet woven bands, and I couldn't resist buying the red and white one. Perhaps it will look nice on the light weight blue twill I bought at Visby. Or on any number of other pretty fabrics in the stash.
Then I helped H. with the last bit of fitting for his pretty red silk bliaut in progress and started sewing down a ribbon to make lacing holes. Then it was time for the dance class I was teaching.
With the autocrat's permission I hadn't actually planned a set list of dances, but just played it by ear. For my class we had D. on his violin for music. This is the first time I have seen him in years, and it was so good to have him back (and delightful that his hair had grown back out in the meantime). We danced all the period dances he has memorized, and part way through the class lord_kjar came in with his Nyckelharpa. He knows a couple tunes that D. didn't, so he played them, and, of course, D. had learned them by the time he'd played through a few repeats.
After class H. and I tried sewing down all of the lacing loops for his bliuat before feast, but didn't manage it, but it is far enough along that he should have it done by Norrskensfest.
But both C. and I had our bliuats on. She has finally finished with the embroidery to remake my old blue one. I took off the red embroidered neck and sleeve embroidery long since to put it onto my new darker blue silk bliaut. Then I gave her the dress body, and she started embroidery in some green fabric to finish the dress again.
The feast was fun, with an obligatory mid meal break for dancing, with more live music from D. and lord_kjar, with C. joining them with finger cymbals when she wasn't dancing. One of the little girls joined us, and she had no problems doing even those dances we hadn't practiced during the day, she is so quick to catch on. I hope her parents keep bringing her to events.
During the second half of the feast the Norrskensbard, who was running the kitchen, finally got free long enough to come upstairs to be cheered for a job well done and perform a song for us. But, of course, many of us had been singing the locally popular songs off and on all meal.
After the feast the boys started playing Swedish folk music, after they had gone through their period repertoire, so H. and I did some Swedish folk dancing. So not period, but fun enough that I don't care.
Then people settled into quiet conversation for the evening. I got sleepy not to long after midnight, so I set my bed back up in the feast hall and went to sleep to the sound of violin and Nyckelharpa and laughter and happy voices, and slept happily till just after 05:00, when O., who was the last to go to bed for the night, crawled in to join me, and I woke up and we talked till almost 08:00 at which point I decided to get a short nap before breakfast, and then slept deeply till 10:00, and was surprised to discover there were people awake and talking not five meters from me and I hadn't noticed.
Luckily, breakfast was still happening, so I ate before packing up and saying goodbye to those that hadn't left yet. We managed to get off site just after noon, though I felt vaguely guilty for not helping with clean up. But most of us four were just talking to people after loading the car, so it was betting to take us away and quit distracting folk who have their own packing and/or cleaning to do.
That got us home around 16:00, and as soon as we had unloaded the car I made up a quick pot of soup with homemade noodles, canned tomato and lentils, frozen veg, and butter. It went well with the left over carrot bread we had brought home from the event. Then I ran O. home and finished putting stuff away.
While we had pretty much managed to get everything put away on time that we could have gone to folk dance at 18:30, we didn't really have energy left, so we three stayed home and cuddled on the couch for a bit before yoga.
I was in bed by 21:00, which meant that I had the energy to do my workout before work this morning and was still in the office before 07:30. I had comments from my colleague on that grant application, so I made the edits and uploaded the new version. Then I revised the CV of the researcher we want to hire with this grant to have the same layout and page numbering pattern as the rest of the application and wrote a draft of the "capicities of the institution" section, which was the last thing I was still missing. I uploaded the draft to the system before heading home for the day, but it will need revision tomorrow, as one of collegues had already replied with comments (funny how much faster turn around time is as the deadline draws near).
Now I am happily listening to five Nyckelharpas and a recorder practice Swedish folk music and alternating between typing this and mending my favourite undertunic (a lovely soft herringbone white linen), whose side gores are wider than I normally do and so the hem had sagged, so I have trimmed it straight again an am re-hemming.
Tomorrow is choir, and Wednesday lord_kjar's little brother will come up to show us how to use the tractor that we are buying from him (he bought himself a bigger, and doesn't need two). Their oldest brother dropped it off here for us this weekend while we were gone, since he had driven his large truck up from southern Sweden to bring up something else, and while it was here it was easy to also do the extra 45 minutes north with the tractor.
It is a cute little old fashioned tractor with no front end attachments, so the shovel is on the back end. I will try to learn to drive it, but am a little hesitant about having to backwards to do anything. But it will be handy to keep the driveway snow free this winter, so I should try to learn, and C. is looking forward to it. If any of us can use it then the plowing should always be done promptly.