Gulf Wars XIX: Friday & Saturday & Sunday
Friday was our last full day of Gulf Wars goodness. I felt a small twinge of sadness that the event was almost over, but I was also looking forward to sleeping warm, not wearing shoes in the shower, and snuggling mah kittehs. Hubbyfink and I did a little bit of tent clean-up so I could start packing a few things away and then he was gone for the rest of the day in classes. I eventually got dolled up in full-on Italian mode (because the temps finally hit the lower 70s and I could wear linen without shivering). My paycheck cleared in the wee hours of the morning so it was time to make my debit card squeak again.
First stop was Kass-n-Bob for the Safavid Persian Woman pattern. I'd studied both it and the Ottoman Turkish Woman pattern during my stay during Midnight Madness and I was torn about which one to get. (I think I may have to either order the Ottoman pattern or pick it up at Pennsic, just to be safe.) I wandered next door to the 96 District Mercer and completed my collection of their cotton damasks plus a goodly amount of the gold silk damask. Later that afternoon, I ran into baronessadriana and Ella shopping with Her Majesty. I joined their little entourage and carried some of Her Majesty's fabric as we shopped our way back to her encampment. Hubbyfink finally came home, but changed into warmer clothes to go back out to Merchants' Row. My feet were DONE so I declined joining him and instead continued packing down personal effects. He returned an hour or so later with wombatgirl and rhino_boy and their delicious boozy offerings. We four stayed up very late (for us) drinking and laughing and trying to stave off the evening chill.
Hubbyfink was up with the chickens on Saturday and picked up our new bed from Egill (we'd picked up the Glastonbury chair when we drove onto site Thursday evening). Our goal was to leave site by noon; we almost made it. Thank goodness we started packing at 9am! I am also thankful that we bought the soft-side roof container thingie. All the dirty clothes (sorted into bags of "white linens: wash hot and dry", "street clothes and other things that can wash cold and dry", and "wash cold and hang dry" [OMG, this made laundry after the event SO MUCH easier!]) went up on the roof and we managed to get all our new purchases into the van with a little bit of room to spare. Of course, I did leave behind the folding bookshelf which was falling apart and the feather beds which had stayed constantly damp for the trash gods. WG and RB pulled up just as were finishing up and we were able to leave the site together and head back up to Mom's. We did manage to lose them before even getting to Hattiesburg, though.
We got to Mom's an agonizing short six hours later and showered off the camping grime and whatnot and sat down to a humongous BBQ feast with all the fixings and both Banana Pudding (with 'Nilla Wafers) and Lemon Icebox Pie from the Germantown Commissary. NOM! zipmeister dropped by again to see all of us. We managed not to stay up until the wee hours, but only barely.
Mom and Pete fixed a delicious breakfast for us on Sunday. We left an hour later than planned, but it was worth it. Hubbyfink was actually more sad than me as we rolled out; he didn't get enough of a Suzanne-n-Pete fix, he said. Awww. We rolled into our home parking lot at 10pm.
So. Long story, short: Loved the vibe of Gulf Wars. I got lonesome because I didn't have my usual posse and, besides the ever-present cold, that was pretty much the only downside of the event. Hubbyfink had a blast and we both can't wait to go back. Honestly, if we weren't planning our Venice trip for next April or May, we'd go back to GW in 2011.
Oh, and honorable mentions: I got to meet Mistress Katrei of Calontir. She is a hoot and a half. She says "hi", tattycat. I also got to put name to loosecannon's face. We've seen each other for years at events and have been doing that I-know-you-but-I-don't-know-who-you-are thing for far too long. We finally said hi in Kass' shop during Midnight Madness and the word got even smaller. Hee!
First stop was Kass-n-Bob for the Safavid Persian Woman pattern. I'd studied both it and the Ottoman Turkish Woman pattern during my stay during Midnight Madness and I was torn about which one to get. (I think I may have to either order the Ottoman pattern or pick it up at Pennsic, just to be safe.) I wandered next door to the 96 District Mercer and completed my collection of their cotton damasks plus a goodly amount of the gold silk damask. Later that afternoon, I ran into baronessadriana and Ella shopping with Her Majesty. I joined their little entourage and carried some of Her Majesty's fabric as we shopped our way back to her encampment. Hubbyfink finally came home, but changed into warmer clothes to go back out to Merchants' Row. My feet were DONE so I declined joining him and instead continued packing down personal effects. He returned an hour or so later with wombatgirl and rhino_boy and their delicious boozy offerings. We four stayed up very late (for us) drinking and laughing and trying to stave off the evening chill.
Hubbyfink was up with the chickens on Saturday and picked up our new bed from Egill (we'd picked up the Glastonbury chair when we drove onto site Thursday evening). Our goal was to leave site by noon; we almost made it. Thank goodness we started packing at 9am! I am also thankful that we bought the soft-side roof container thingie. All the dirty clothes (sorted into bags of "white linens: wash hot and dry", "street clothes and other things that can wash cold and dry", and "wash cold and hang dry" [OMG, this made laundry after the event SO MUCH easier!]) went up on the roof and we managed to get all our new purchases into the van with a little bit of room to spare. Of course, I did leave behind the folding bookshelf which was falling apart and the feather beds which had stayed constantly damp for the trash gods. WG and RB pulled up just as were finishing up and we were able to leave the site together and head back up to Mom's. We did manage to lose them before even getting to Hattiesburg, though.
We got to Mom's an agonizing short six hours later and showered off the camping grime and whatnot and sat down to a humongous BBQ feast with all the fixings and both Banana Pudding (with 'Nilla Wafers) and Lemon Icebox Pie from the Germantown Commissary. NOM! zipmeister dropped by again to see all of us. We managed not to stay up until the wee hours, but only barely.
Mom and Pete fixed a delicious breakfast for us on Sunday. We left an hour later than planned, but it was worth it. Hubbyfink was actually more sad than me as we rolled out; he didn't get enough of a Suzanne-n-Pete fix, he said. Awww. We rolled into our home parking lot at 10pm.
So. Long story, short: Loved the vibe of Gulf Wars. I got lonesome because I didn't have my usual posse and, besides the ever-present cold, that was pretty much the only downside of the event. Hubbyfink had a blast and we both can't wait to go back. Honestly, if we weren't planning our Venice trip for next April or May, we'd go back to GW in 2011.
Oh, and honorable mentions: I got to meet Mistress Katrei of Calontir. She is a hoot and a half. She says "hi", tattycat. I also got to put name to loosecannon's face. We've seen each other for years at events and have been doing that I-know-you-but-I-don't-know-who-you-are thing for far too long. We finally said hi in Kass' shop during Midnight Madness and the word got even smaller. Hee!