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I have pictures up from the weekend. I didn't really get out of camp at all, so these are mostly from La Belle, with just a sprinkling of Grey's Retinue (the great-grandkids).
I was strong, and managed to get some pics of people OTHER than just the kids I think are the awesomest in the whole wide world. It was difficult, but I managed. :-)
The funniest moment this weekend *wasn't* caught on film, though. As you can tell from the pics, Edward was REALLY into the armour. On Saturday afternoon, he put on a breastplate, a couple of gauntlets, and walked around with a buckler. We all went about our business, until suddenly everybody noticed him laying in the middle of the field, flailing about, unable to get up.
So, that myth about knights falling over in their armour and not able to get up on their own? Only if you're THREE. Poor boy!
And now, on to the pics. Oh, the full set is available here.
( La Belle Compagnie, teasers )
I was strong, and managed to get some pics of people OTHER than just the kids I think are the awesomest in the whole wide world. It was difficult, but I managed. :-)
The funniest moment this weekend *wasn't* caught on film, though. As you can tell from the pics, Edward was REALLY into the armour. On Saturday afternoon, he put on a breastplate, a couple of gauntlets, and walked around with a buckler. We all went about our business, until suddenly everybody noticed him laying in the middle of the field, flailing about, unable to get up.
So, that myth about knights falling over in their armour and not able to get up on their own? Only if you're THREE. Poor boy!
And now, on to the pics. Oh, the full set is available here.
( La Belle Compagnie, teasers )
Marching Through Time
Apr. 18th, 2010 10:18 pmThis spring's reenacting season has been fanTAStic. Jamestown was busy and warm, and our Marietta Mansion event this weekend was busy and cool. I think this is the first year in a long time where all of us made it out to both events both days, without staying home for somebody or other being sick or not wanting to be out in dreadful weather. Hooray!
This weekend was my debut event as Lady Joan Peel, taking over the role from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ichseke. I eased my way in gently by being Lady Joan's daughter-in-law at Jamestown, while shadowing ichseke. I still have a lot to remember and figure out, but I'm comfortable talking with visitors, and I'm able to extemporize in character.
The boys had a wonderful time as well. We had a bit of crankiness and tantrums, but that's kind of to be expected when you're out working and playing so hard. The boys continued what they started at Jamestown, actually interpreting to the guests. Henry LOVED being "the teacher", and said that the best part of the weekend was playing with the kids that came into camp. We were really rocking and rolling with the family friendly and history-is-fun atmosphere. :-D
For once, I took the camera and made an effort to get around and take pictures. But I'm working on uploading them, and I'm going to touch them up and crop a bit before posting, so in the meantime, I'll give you a quickie I took with my phone on Saturday morning:
And now, I'm exhausted, and about ready to fall into bed. It was so luxurious to just sit on the couch and do NOTHING tonight. Tomorrow will be plenty of laundry and clean up.
This weekend was my debut event as Lady Joan Peel, taking over the role from
ichseke. I eased my way in gently by being Lady Joan's daughter-in-law at Jamestown, while shadowing ichseke. I still have a lot to remember and figure out, but I'm comfortable talking with visitors, and I'm able to extemporize in character. The boys had a wonderful time as well. We had a bit of crankiness and tantrums, but that's kind of to be expected when you're out working and playing so hard. The boys continued what they started at Jamestown, actually interpreting to the guests. Henry LOVED being "the teacher", and said that the best part of the weekend was playing with the kids that came into camp. We were really rocking and rolling with the family friendly and history-is-fun atmosphere. :-D
For once, I took the camera and made an effort to get around and take pictures. But I'm working on uploading them, and I'm going to touch them up and crop a bit before posting, so in the meantime, I'll give you a quickie I took with my phone on Saturday morning:
And now, I'm exhausted, and about ready to fall into bed. It was so luxurious to just sit on the couch and do NOTHING tonight. Tomorrow will be plenty of laundry and clean up.
Before I forget it all
Mar. 22nd, 2010 11:07 pmI'm exhausted. But in a good way. It was that kind of a weekend (week, month, several months...).
As you all know, I've been busy sewing in a mad dash to finish Jeff's doublet. I took of Thursday afternoon to make progress, and Friday afternoon so that we could get there in time to set up. While there's still work to do, I finished the last stitch on the last eyelet (that I was planning on) AS we pulled into the parking lot at Jamestown. Fantastic.
Despite some mild confusion at the beginning of the weekend with various bits and pieces, everything seemed to fall into place quite well. At the end of Saturday, I felt that we were totally ON all day. Apparently, the judges thought so too. Military Through the Ages is a judged living history event, and we entered three categories: costuming, camp demonstration, and cooking. We took home blue ribbons in the first two, and second in cooking!
Highlights:
Lowlights:
Just plain weird:
All in all, a fantastic event. I felt really good about our impression, and learned a lot, and at the same time realized how very much I have yet to learn. There's SO much that I have to figure out by the time I can comfortably answer most questions.
Now, I'm looking forward to MTT in less than four weeks. I'd like to get two dressed made for myself by then, so that I can more appropriately portray Lady Joan Peel. Oy! Tonight, I worked on cleaning the dining/sewing room, so I can have a fresh sewing start. I need at very least a new overgown, but I will need a new foundation garment for underneath. I'm debating which silk to use, and for what layers. Anybody know where to find silver or gilt buttons?
I'm going to try and finish uploading pics of the doublet progress, but that'll have to happen on another evening...
Here's a side shot of Jeff in his doublet, kind of in the background.
I have found ONE shot of me on Facebook:
( ichseke and I in Sir Geoffrey's tent )
As you all know, I've been busy sewing in a mad dash to finish Jeff's doublet. I took of Thursday afternoon to make progress, and Friday afternoon so that we could get there in time to set up. While there's still work to do, I finished the last stitch on the last eyelet (that I was planning on) AS we pulled into the parking lot at Jamestown. Fantastic.
Despite some mild confusion at the beginning of the weekend with various bits and pieces, everything seemed to fall into place quite well. At the end of Saturday, I felt that we were totally ON all day. Apparently, the judges thought so too. Military Through the Ages is a judged living history event, and we entered three categories: costuming, camp demonstration, and cooking. We took home blue ribbons in the first two, and second in cooking!
Highlights:
- Boy clothes! stitchwhich and her apprentices did all of the finishing on four boy tunics and a G63. I really could not have gotten everything done without them. And they looked great!
- Edward was apparently paying quite a bit of attention to the rest of the camp. Midday on Sunday, I looked out and saw him in the middle of a crowd of children, holding a (wooden) sword, passing another wooden sword to another kid, and then controlling the tip of the other sword, just like Sir Geoffrey did all day. Tonight, Eddie told me that he wants to "be a grown up who teaches other people to swordfight." Awww.
- By Sunday, both boys were engaging the crowd, handing out swords and toy horses to the kids, and showing how to play with them. Henry was telling kids to try on the maille shirt, "because my daddy makes everybody do it."
- smiep was the "nurse" to the Peel boys, so I was a lady in the tent all day. It was weird. I worked on small projects, talked to people, and had to come up with completely different things to say than I normally do. The boys have always been the subject of my interpretations, so I had to find other things to talk about.
- Interpreting this scenario was fun. ichseke and I had a great time coming up with new ways to be distressed about camping in a tent like soldiers. *sniff*
- Coming up with first person ways to explain who we were was also fun. In response to "what war are you reenacting?" I came up with "We've been at war with the French since my grandfather's time, it feels like this could go on for a Hundred Years." Watching people nod knowingly and act like they were predicting the future at me was amusing.
- The weather was good and bad. The good is that it was not raining, it was not cold, and it was not miserable. Yay! According to weather.com it hit 82 on Saturday, and 79 on Sunday.
- I managed to get Edward to nap on Sunday. He was so cute sleeping in the tent, and nobody asked if he was a real baby!
- Henry and Aaron seemed to really bond when it was just the two of them. They ran off behind the tent, drew pictures in the dirt with sticks, and had a grand time.
- Chatting with the costume director (I think?) from Williamsburg, who showed up in a gorgeous polonaise, with perfect hair and hat. I just wanted to shrink her into a doll and take her home with me. So pretty.
Lowlights:
- The weather. It wasn't cold and miserable, but it was pretty warm and VERY sunny. The boys ended up with quite the heat rash all over their bodies, despite liberal applications of SPF 85, and pretty lightweight clothing. It was simply too much time in the sun.
- I didn't get ANY pictures. Since we were walking in from the car carrying what we needed, the only modern thing I brought into camp was a tiny tube of sunblock. No camera. A few pictures have shown up on facebook, but if you see any, please point me in that direction!
- Chocolate ice cream. Yeah, it's a lowlight. When you're talking about a three year old eating it while wearing a light green wool tunic. *sigh*
Just plain weird:
- Crazy re-encarnation girl! We get all sorts of people in camp. One girl just stood around quietly for a good long time, and then started peppering me with questions about knights. She was asking about "typical" knights, and kept persisting when I mentioned that typical could be a lot of different things. She eventually asked me "can you tell me everything that you know about knights?" I finally foisted her on poor ichseke to field the questions I couldn't answer, but at that point, the girl informed us that she believes in reencarnation and was certain that she was a French knight following around Joan of Arc in a former life. Oooohhhh-kay. I'm not one to say that somebody is wrong, per se, but she just. wouldn't. stop. Oy. ANYway. She stuck around for well over an hour asking the same questions over and over and over and over...
All in all, a fantastic event. I felt really good about our impression, and learned a lot, and at the same time realized how very much I have yet to learn. There's SO much that I have to figure out by the time I can comfortably answer most questions.
Now, I'm looking forward to MTT in less than four weeks. I'd like to get two dressed made for myself by then, so that I can more appropriately portray Lady Joan Peel. Oy! Tonight, I worked on cleaning the dining/sewing room, so I can have a fresh sewing start. I need at very least a new overgown, but I will need a new foundation garment for underneath. I'm debating which silk to use, and for what layers. Anybody know where to find silver or gilt buttons?
I'm going to try and finish uploading pics of the doublet progress, but that'll have to happen on another evening...
Here's a side shot of Jeff in his doublet, kind of in the background.
I have found ONE shot of me on Facebook:
( ichseke and I in Sir Geoffrey's tent )
Those damned iconoclasts
Oct. 30th, 2009 08:26 pmI've long known that there was a dearth of 15th century English imagery. From my earliest days in the SCA, I was doing Web Gallery of Art searches, and feeling roadblocked when searing on England in the 15th century. Since then, I've learned that Flemish art and artisans were simply more popular. And then standing in the British Library bookstore, I was bemoaning the lack of information when a kind college professor overheard me and told me all about the iconoclasts.
Ok, so I can get behind the Reformation itself. But why, oh WHY did they have to go around destroying all of that art? Dang protestants. Oh, wait...
In any case, I've spent some time during the last couple of days looking for what I could find.
Broad categories:
-Effigies and Brasses
-English Carved Alabasters
-A couple of manuscripts at The Pierpont Morgan library: http://utu.morganlibrary.org/medren/BrowseBooleanCombined.cfm
-The Pageant of Richard Beauchamp, although it's unclear if the artist was actually English.
There are a few here and there, but does anybody else know of any examples? Places I should be looking? It's a difficult topic for the discerning 15th c. English reenactor.
In other, somewhat related news, I just realized that Tournament of the Lily isn't NEXT weekend, it's the weekend AFTER. That's somewhat of a relief. I've gotten so distracted looking for English sources (a good distraction!) that I've been completely neglecting making my hennin.
So many projects, so little time...
Ok, so I can get behind the Reformation itself. But why, oh WHY did they have to go around destroying all of that art? Dang protestants. Oh, wait...
In any case, I've spent some time during the last couple of days looking for what I could find.
Broad categories:
-Effigies and Brasses
-English Carved Alabasters
-A couple of manuscripts at The Pierpont Morgan library: http://utu.morganlibrary.org/medren/BrowseBooleanCombined.cfm
-The Pageant of Richard Beauchamp, although it's unclear if the artist was actually English.
There are a few here and there, but does anybody else know of any examples? Places I should be looking? It's a difficult topic for the discerning 15th c. English reenactor.
In other, somewhat related news, I just realized that Tournament of the Lily isn't NEXT weekend, it's the weekend AFTER. That's somewhat of a relief. I've gotten so distracted looking for English sources (a good distraction!) that I've been completely neglecting making my hennin.
So many projects, so little time...
BPAL should make this
Apr. 19th, 2009 11:05 pmQ. Why are women reenactors so attractive to our guys?
A. Because after a day at an event, we smell like bacon.
More later. :-D
A. Because after a day at an event, we smell like bacon.
More later. :-D
Obligatory MTA Post
Mar. 23rd, 2009 09:39 pmSo, MTA. It went pretty well. The weather was amazingly good, if a little chilly in the morning, and a little sunny in the afternoon, but that's quibbling. It was perfect wool weather, and sun is better than rain any day. Especially at Mud Through the Ages.
We made it right at five for set up. The boys and I explored the site while Jeff worked. Saturday, we arrived a bit late, but shaving a few hours off of the beginning made the end of the day much easier on us, parenting-wise. By the end up Sunday, we were all a bit crunchy, but what else is new. I think maybe it'd be better to not go to site with the boys ahead of time, so all is new and shiney on Saturday.
Henry is in LOVE with Jamestown. Why not? There are tall ships, the fort, the church, a forge, the powder magazine, big fields, guns, motorcycles, swords, tents, fencers, chickens, everything that a little boy could possibly love. We sat and watched somebody make nails for about a half hour, and it was me who dragged him away, not the other way around. When Robert Beddingfield gave Henry a nail on Sunday, Henry was in seventh heaven, clutching it the rest of the day. We wandered through the church shortly after that, where Henry inspeced all of the forged nails and wood joinery in the lectern for well over 30 minutes.
I had one of those "magic moments" in there. You know, those moments where you're transported back, if only for an instant. We were sitting in the lectern, and although it was an Anglican church, and we'd have been good Catholics in 1471, the wood joined with cut nails, Henry looking all studious in his gown, quietly inspecting everything around him, crouching down with the light falling gently on his face. It was a moment. The fur on his gown, the dark wool, it all combined to make just the right picture and feeling for me.
The boys were simply adorable. By the end of Sunday Henry was weary of having his picture taken. He and Edward stole the hearts of so many little old ladies.
They were good. Intense, but relatively good. Had they not been good it would have been impossible, not just intense. It's getting easier. Every year gets just a little more manageable. We do need to come up with some more toys and activities before MTT.
A couple of non sequiter highlights. We met the man who built the HMS Surprise (think Master and Commander). He coordinated the building of a replica of the Rose, an earlier Revolutionary War era warship. The Rose was pressed into service once again as the Surprise, for the movie. She was renamed after that, and is now in San Diego. It was a bit of a geekgasm highlight. We also met the author of the book Growing up the Middle Ages. It was released after Edward was born, and after I did most of the research for my swaddling articles and such. We talked shop and traded notes, and I've resolved to pick up the book.
( ok, on to the pictures )
We made it right at five for set up. The boys and I explored the site while Jeff worked. Saturday, we arrived a bit late, but shaving a few hours off of the beginning made the end of the day much easier on us, parenting-wise. By the end up Sunday, we were all a bit crunchy, but what else is new. I think maybe it'd be better to not go to site with the boys ahead of time, so all is new and shiney on Saturday.
Henry is in LOVE with Jamestown. Why not? There are tall ships, the fort, the church, a forge, the powder magazine, big fields, guns, motorcycles, swords, tents, fencers, chickens, everything that a little boy could possibly love. We sat and watched somebody make nails for about a half hour, and it was me who dragged him away, not the other way around. When Robert Beddingfield gave Henry a nail on Sunday, Henry was in seventh heaven, clutching it the rest of the day. We wandered through the church shortly after that, where Henry inspeced all of the forged nails and wood joinery in the lectern for well over 30 minutes.
I had one of those "magic moments" in there. You know, those moments where you're transported back, if only for an instant. We were sitting in the lectern, and although it was an Anglican church, and we'd have been good Catholics in 1471, the wood joined with cut nails, Henry looking all studious in his gown, quietly inspecting everything around him, crouching down with the light falling gently on his face. It was a moment. The fur on his gown, the dark wool, it all combined to make just the right picture and feeling for me.
The boys were simply adorable. By the end of Sunday Henry was weary of having his picture taken. He and Edward stole the hearts of so many little old ladies.
They were good. Intense, but relatively good. Had they not been good it would have been impossible, not just intense. It's getting easier. Every year gets just a little more manageable. We do need to come up with some more toys and activities before MTT.
A couple of non sequiter highlights. We met the man who built the HMS Surprise (think Master and Commander). He coordinated the building of a replica of the Rose, an earlier Revolutionary War era warship. The Rose was pressed into service once again as the Surprise, for the movie. She was renamed after that, and is now in San Diego. It was a bit of a geekgasm highlight. We also met the author of the book Growing up the Middle Ages. It was released after Edward was born, and after I did most of the research for my swaddling articles and such. We talked shop and traded notes, and I've resolved to pick up the book.
( ok, on to the pictures )
A small quandry
Mar. 20th, 2009 07:18 amI wish I had time for some real research into this area, but I just don't this week.
I made the boys little pleated gowns for 15th century. Think Seven Sacraments Altarpiece. Boys are shown wearing the gown long, and sometimes, bigger boys are shown wearing the gown shorter. Hm. Maybe the same gown, dontchya think?
I made the shoulders a bit wider than they needed to be, but mostly I added about 5 inches of growth on the sleeves. That should last a while. Right now, the hem is at the floor for Eddie, and about an inch up on Henry. I want them to be a few inches up, to keep out of the mud, but I don't want a huge hem, because they look funny. I will if I have to, but...
I'm debating about tucks near the hem. I know they're period for Colonial America, but no idea for medieval. Hrm. I'm also wondering how short I can make it to be knee length when their arms grow out 4 or 5 more inches. If it's ankle length now... 5 inches in arm length, would that equate to about 10 inches in height? Maybe 3 of which are in the shins? Anybody know more about this?
The boys look devastating in them. Really.
I made the boys little pleated gowns for 15th century. Think Seven Sacraments Altarpiece. Boys are shown wearing the gown long, and sometimes, bigger boys are shown wearing the gown shorter. Hm. Maybe the same gown, dontchya think?
I made the shoulders a bit wider than they needed to be, but mostly I added about 5 inches of growth on the sleeves. That should last a while. Right now, the hem is at the floor for Eddie, and about an inch up on Henry. I want them to be a few inches up, to keep out of the mud, but I don't want a huge hem, because they look funny. I will if I have to, but...
I'm debating about tucks near the hem. I know they're period for Colonial America, but no idea for medieval. Hrm. I'm also wondering how short I can make it to be knee length when their arms grow out 4 or 5 more inches. If it's ankle length now... 5 inches in arm length, would that equate to about 10 inches in height? Maybe 3 of which are in the shins? Anybody know more about this?
The boys look devastating in them. Really.
