Midsummer's report
Midsummer's was actually a much smaller event than I'd expected. Fun, but small. It was notable for a variety of reasons.
I was the 2nd person (other than event staff) to arrive on site. This meant I got my choice of campsites. The one I picked was delightfully located in a central area, under the shade of some pine trees. Almost immediately, I acquired neighbors I'd never met, but that was fine, as we helped one another set up camp. Fortuitously, there was just enough space on the other side that when Allie and Ketil arrived, there was space for them. (I hadn't realized they were coming, so it was an unexpected treat to get to camp with them.) We did discover later that being in a central area meant more noise and some distracting lights on buildings that didn't shut off at night, but having shade during the day was worth the trade-off, IMO.
I went shopping between the airport and the event site and got something that I've needed to add to my kit for years now--a screened-in shade pavilion. This turned out to be money EXTREMELY well spent--it was obscenely hot and humid on Saturday, and it started raining in the evening, to boot. There were also tons of very friendly mosquitoes. Having a haven was absolutely awesome. It was so icky out that I confess I spent most of the day just hanging out in there. Many people passed my way and came in for a visit--some visits were shorter and some longer, but all were very enjoyable. I got to do some 3/1 twill t/w teaching with my Stonemartian friend after all, which was wonderful since I really hadn't wanted to cancel out on her on Monday. I also got quality time with Allie & Ketil (of course), albreda and her family, Sir Stephen, Aidan of Coldwood and various others. Surprisingly, I saw no Carolingian folk at all other than Cristovau (who I saw in passing at the jousting demo with his kids), and I also only ran into Aine & Harold briefly at the very end of the event as I was packing up. I'm sure I just missed folks in transit, and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people did exactly what I did and found a place to park for the day since the weather really wasn't very conducive to wandering.
This is the first time I think I've ever set up my own little spot like this and have had people visit me. Usually I'm the social butterfly who flits from place to place. It was a very different experience, but I really liked it. I was both surprised and gratified to find that people seemed to enjoy having me be their hostess.
Judicious application of tape measure to car while the camp stove was loaded indicated that there is physically no way I'll be able to get period tent poles into my car if I'm also bringing my camp stove. And since any event large enough to merit a period tent would also call for a cook surface, it's not something that can happen for me right now unless I decide to invest in a roof rack. Boo. :-(
It rained from Saturday evening all the way through packing up on Sunday. So, all of my tent gear is sopping wet. I am systematically drying it piece by piece over my shower rod, which is, shall we say, not going as quickly as it would if I had actual space (other than closet space) in which to stretch things out. At present, the sun shade, screen walls and both tarps are dry. The tent rain fly is hung up right now. The tent is still to go. Hopefully, it will all be dry by the time I need to leave for Coldwood on Friday! This is clearly a weak link in my whole camping scheme. I have a vague recollection that the Palace has storage units for rent, and there's a part of me that wonders whether I ought to invest in one...but there's no saying that drying a tent in there would be any easier than it is in my apartment. Plus, it would probably cost an extra $50-75/month, and when everything is dry and folded, it *does* all fit into my apartment.
In artistic progress, I can has buttons! In fact, I have about 20 buttons made so far. Schmoozing and teaching took up the remainder of the weekend, but it was definitely time well spent, even though I had originally hoped to have them all done by now. :-) I'm pleased with how they're coming out. They're quite quick to do, which is a good thing. I also got a little spinning and handsewing done, so it was definitely a well-rounded weekend artistically.
Harold has a gig here in downtown Lowell tomorrow evening, so I'm going to hang with Aine and listen to his awesome music! Hopefully, we'll have some schmooze-time afterwards, but I think it'll depend upon what time his gig ends. I'm looking forward to that. The rest of the week will be Coldwood-prep and hopefully some cotehardie-sewing time. Certainly, there will be more buttons!