War of the Roses

Yay! I have returned from the middle ages! This weekend's camping trip was a lot of fun! For anyone not familiar with the event set up by the Barony Concordia of the Snows, it pitts the house of Lancaster versus the house of York. War points are awarded for each field won, fencing, heavy lists, archery, thrown weapons, brewing competition, seige weapons, arts and sciences and shopping (which ever side spends more money wins the point).

This weekend was packed with goings-on: His Excellency the Baron Concordia of the Snows received the Laurel (Kingdom order for the arts), three people were awarded the baronial Order of the Sapphire, five citizens were awarded the baronial Order of Friends (for service to the Barony), four dogs were awarded the Order of theFawn (for service to the Barony and one posthumously), and the Kingdom awarded the owner of the country club a baronetcy though he does not participate in the SCA for all of his help, kindness and generosity. 

The weekend over all was quite fun and though mildly marred by occasional torrential downpours on Saturday and a air mattress with a leak on Friday evening, it went off without a hitch. I've included a photo of me in my finished Chemise and a skirt made "just because" Thursday evening prior to the weekend as well as one of our camp right after I finished setting up Friday. 

P.S. Anyone planning on going to Roses in the future that has never been be prepared to deal with lots of rocks hidden undergound when you stake in your tent. 

Yay! Camping Season Has Begun!

For any of you who are in the SCA already you know that the camping season is off and running and how exciting that is. For those of you not in the SCA, the camping season is the high point of the year for a lot of people if not everyone in the SCA. For the most part all of the largest events happen during the spring, summer and early autumn. It's only understandable since it's the best weather for camping and camping allows for a longer event and the real immersion into SCA life. Like regular camping, this isn't for everyone though. So if it's not your thing, no worries!

Now I personally love camping! I'm going to my first camping event in many years and my first in the EK (East Kingdom in plain speak) To mark this auspicious occasion I went and splurges a bit on a new tent. My first tent was a nylon affair, a pup tent and let me tell you it was harder than hard to change into garb. Not to mention that it was hot and impossibly muggy inside on the best of days...never mind when it was hot and humid. My new tent is a beauty! It's a Kodiak canvas tent 10'x 14' with a 6'5"ceiling. It's a wall tent or as close to one as makes no difference. The great thing about canvas tents is that they are amazingingly breathable (not hot and wierdly humid like nylon thents) and they don't wick water. Go ahead and pile stuff against the wall, no water will seep in! Not to mention I can stand to get dressed which is a godsend. Now this tent is not a period pavillion...it's a modern day cabin tent. I'll take some pictures of my camp and post it here for you too see in another post sometime soon. 

In the mean time if you're going to be at War of the Roses this weekend, May 22-25th hopefully I'll see you there!