etienettebluet

Now to cover LILIES... I didn't go until Saturday for various reasons. I pulled into troll just before they closed for the night which meant I was looking for a spot to put up the camper in the dark. "Campers' Row" was half filled with campers but the other half was filled with parked cars. It took nearly an hour of looking and backing and looking and backing but I finally settled in the trailer park under a couple trees which turned out to have very nice shade well past noon on sunny days. Especially in hindsight as campers' row is noisy with the ice truck and traffic I was content. Sunday and Monday I sewed rats, Tuesday I sewed my three-panel skirt and Thursday I started my new red shift which will go with my mustard caftan. I made a grocery run Monday and made supper for the group Tuesday. The apple-sausage-and-bean pot worked very well with five-cup salad alongside. Tuesday night I was already thinking about leaving early but commitment for Thursday prevailed. The steady breeziness Sunday and Monday kept things from getting too uncomfortable. Tuesday was rather hot without the strong breeze. I'd missed the first rains of the war but Wednesday a morning rain blew through. I had 'last' troll Wednesday evening missing court which had been rescheduled from five to seven to my dismay. Tigernan got a torse. Another storm blew through even earlier Thursday morning. My day was busy getting ready for the Pirate Party and was able to be on schedule... then another storm blew through and I wasn't able to fire up the grill. A much reduced party did happen into the evening under the shelter of the Great Machine but I loaded up and slipped away. One new song was created telling how Gerald became Gack Goodrum the pirate. Friday morning when I woke I recognized I was done; ready to load up and go. Each morning I was progressively light headed and I deduced it was the DEET accumulating from spraying my legs each day; that had to stop. Breaking down camp I called up to a gentleman passing on the road for help bringing down the roof. Turned out to be Luther and he helped me line up the RAV to the hitch and get attached. Good thing too as I wave of dizziness hit as I bent to hook up... whoa!!! I had no trouble on the road home (being upright) and pulled in at dusk to find Leofwyna doing yardwork. Her surgery had been postponed.

Monday evening as I was putting together scalloped potatoes (using the last of my homegrown potatoes) I thought to suggest to Leofwyna that we invite Morgana to supper. She'd had a heart attack last Thursday while visiting with Cassie and was back home with two new stents. Anyway Leofwyna called and fetched her while I finished making supper and we had a nice visit with her before Leofwyna returned her home. Tuesday after I went to FoodNet we ate leftovers before heading to the movie, Logan. It was a dark ending to that particular part of the X-men series. All week I've been sleeping late and frittering away the wet, grey afternoons. Wednesday was, of course, the MagMor group followed by supper. A plan was made for a Pirate party at the Great Machine at Lilies this year. At the sewing table I'm still putting together 10.5-inch Kronberg blocks.

At FoodNet this time I got Ritz crackers, a can of white beans, two small tubes of Pringles, a couple Granny Smith apples, one potato, croissants, hard rolls, and half a dozen brown eggs.

Back from Lilies War. It was wet and hot and humid! The lake was extremely high from the spring rains. Leofwyna and I set up the Aliner at the campgrounds up the road from the Lilies site where we could have electricity for the A/C. Leofwyna went back most afternoons for a cool nap and to avoid the hottest part of the day; this worked as she was then able to enjoy some of the activities. She spent Friday dealing with a dead battery and a subsequent engine problem but was able to get back in time for the fireworks. Apparently our LOI didn't get received so there was no interview, Leofwyna gave Saraphina one of our paper copies and she passed it on midweek. Sunday morning we folded up the camper in the rain and headed in to KC for the Savers there. Drove late into the night to be in Aurora for Monday's female cousins' luncheon. Learned Streeter's Park has eight camping spots with electric and no sign in or fee. Amazing! Now Leofwyna is planning a few days visiting acquaitances in Hamilton County using Streeter Park as base.

Heading to Lilies on Friday Od and I made good time and we trolled in before eight o'clock. As I was laying out the tent Cat, Laura and Bindi swarmed down the hill to help me raise it and a couple young men from the camp across the way came over to help too. With all that help we quickly got the tent up, the groundcloths laid and the bed and totes unloaded into the tent. Having thanked them all profusely for the assistance I moved the van out to parking via Smithville (for a McDonald's supper).  Back in the tent around eleven I discovered the rachet set was missing the socket I needed to put the bed together so I did the best I could with just fingers. Upon proceeding to blow up the air mattress I discovered I had no C batteries so I spent considerable time blowing into it.  The evening had been pleasant but the night was extremely humid and somewhat chilly. At one o'clock I rolled up (fully dressed) in a wool blanket on the somewhat flat mattress on the slightly wobbly bed and slept right through until nine a.m. I later overheard it rained very heavily here Thursday.

Saturday late morning when the sun came over the trees I headed up-the-hill where I helped when the baronial pavilion was being put up. I spent all my available time thereafter embroidering Eleanor's garden badge through Tuesday when I handed it off to be basted to her mantle. I'll get it back to finish adding the face and plants later this month. Sash wasn't able to come afterall this year due to health issues so there was a cooking group meeting to adjust plans. Gotta say meals all through the week were entirely to my taste!   Bindi stayed in camp during court to make chicken noodle alfredo for our supper. I took time to put a tarp over one end of the tent, anticipating rain and it's good that I did.

It rained pretty hard early Sunday morning but cleared off to a fine day before anyone was up. Sunday supper was Haldara's beef stew.

Monday morning I headed out to Smithville for batteries and a socket and took the chance to have a hamburger steak with bbq sauce at Lowman's for lunch   Supper Monday was Oz's pulled-pork cooked with Dr Pepper which was very yummy. I had a deer tick attach but since I'd showered a hour earlier I'm thinking it was not "with" me more than a few minutes. It itched... that's how I found it so quick.

Tuesday for handwork I mended poof-pants and altered sleeves on some of my camp tunics (much more comfortable in the Lilies heat and humidity). I made supper, cabbage-apple-sausage skillet.

Wednesday for handwork I put together a double-layer arming coif for Oz.  I covered two troll shifts, one 2-4 with Cat and the other 8-10 with Felix. Skipped Laura's supper and missed out on the taco salad

Thursday was closing court (sic). Killian did steak and potatoes for supper.

Friday the windiness we'd been having all week left off and the resulting heat was brutal. The fireworks were glorious and afterwards I brought the van in. Rain is predicted for Sunday, possibly morning, so Saturday morning I struck camp while I had the shade. Od was relieved to be going home early, too.

On the drive home one of the topics that came up was 'who next' for baronial. Very interesting.

All in all it was a really good year, though I really missed some of the regulars. Our 'living room' was peaceful, tidy and having visitors was a pleasure.

I arrived at the camp in Smithville about 6pm, delivered Leofwyna's power-cookies to Owaine and had my tent set up and the van unloaded before dark. I took the van out to the lot and visited awhile in the baronial pavillion before heading down to put my bed together and get my stuff organized. I had to go up the hill to borrow an air pump as the one I brought died after only 90-seconds and a change of batteries didn't remedy the situation. Kat's pump worked better on my current air mattress than any other has since I got it; I didn't have to refresh it but once midweek.

Early Saturday morning a storm blew through with some sincerely heavy rain (soaked right into the dry ground) and winds (I didn't feel anything of it by my belt of trees). I had a leak problem I need to remedy by re-sealing the sunfly on the tent. That was also the coldest night of the week but my wool blankets kept me warm in spite of the wet. When I went up the hill Saturday morning the barony was busy putting things to right and re-raising the pavillion. Fortunately they'd brought it down themselves before much damage was done to THAT but the red (smoker's) sunshade was blown-up, Cookie's took a little damage and the GI group rebuilt their sunshade just up the dale from me. At opening Court Saturday Ingaborg got called forward to receive her Lily for her singing and verse.

Sunday-Monday-Tuesday I stayed close to camp in the shade sewing for Gold Key and myself. Tuesday Saraphina and Randwulf hosted a thank you dinner for MagMor and Lonely Tower for our good work at the JAV demo last month.

Wednesday I ran Sash into Smithville and since I had the van I went up to the hot showers and went back to Smithville for supper at Lowman's where I was disappointed to discover they no longer have baby back ribs for their most excellent bbq sauce. Unfortunately I just don't really care for regular spare ribs as they're tougher and greasier so I probably won't be going there again.

Thursday Chandra was determined to get me to Heralds' Point and we checked if my heraldry plan might manage to clear Laurel. It looks promising and I agreed to get my entry sent in real soon. During the afternoon I was feeling progressively ill and quarantined myself to my camp, by 6pm braved the tent so I could lay down. That turned out well as the heat actually eased the cramping muscles in my back. I put the fans to good use until the shade reached me and pretty much slept through until 9am except for occasioally rousing to drink water and be sick. So I missed both court and the MagMor Party.

Friday recovery and a glorious fireworks display.

Saturday break camp early to beat storm and head home where I didn't do anything at all... Well, I caught up on email, blogs and kitty lap-making. Oh, and btw I did run into the very major rainstorm half an hour up the road... bad enough visability I stopped for 15 minutes to let the worse of it go through. Leofwyna slept quite late but made me supper when she got up. Later we did a tick check and found a couple on the backs of my legs. It also seems those hours in the sun breaking camp gave me quite a scorch on neck and face.

Sunday we went to a movie, Snow White and the Huntsman, wonderfully rich and complex. Back at home we quickly unloaded the van into the garage and discovered the AC isn't working. Ouch, predictions for tomorrow are for temps of 101 degrees.

Wednesday I pulled nearly everything back out of the van and reloaded it with everything I had ready so far. Leofwyna has definitely said she won't be attending Lilies so I needed to pull her bed out to make room for a third baronial table and perhaps some other baronial stuff. Of course I got myself out for moot where we were covering post-JAV, Newcomers, Lilies, Cattle Raids and Crown Tournament. It's going to be a busy summer/fall... especially with my rummage sale and another camping trip added to the mix. After moot I went with Sash's group to Applebee's for supper. During moot I had a moment of helium hand and offered to autocrat WWM next January.

Thursday and I've already been out to recycle, bank, library, PETCO, lunch and get gas for mowing. I got the ground cherries planted and have the water running to soak down the veggie beds. I'll mow this afternoon and hand out some Gold Key to a friend of Killian's this evening. Tonight I need to put together project supplies for the week... mostly hand sewing and embroidery stuff, but I do have carving knives and three branches that I may work on staffs, too. Friday I load up the food, beverage and ice before heading down to Lilies for nine days. Here's hoping for moderate weather for tthe duration!!!

Early in June the house air conditioning unit wasn't dealing with the heat AT ALL and Leofwyna was having trouble sleeping days. I called in Biggerstaff and learned the motor needed to be replaced so I scrambled to get that accomplished before leaving for Lilies. So that occurred the same week I was busy packing and loading the van. This was interesting as I needed to reduce our usual packing for war to keep an extra seat up for another passenger.  Odierne rode with us to war, having found another ride for her baggage.

Lilies War... Laundry Lilies... we had the wash and air dry cycles on three occasions; fortunately spin dry didn't quite happen.   Friday was good for the fireworks and mostly the daytimes were dry for activities. The three main courts were filled with taps for peerages and there was a "drive-by" knighting early in the war. We may well get a couple peer elevations at Cattle Raids again this year which would be good for our coffers. And best of all, in opening court Oz petitioned for permission to marry above his station and proposed to HE Catherine right there before us all. How cool and SO romantic.

It was really good for have Leofwyna there this year but the heat got to her a great deal (because of the meds she's on). She only went out drumming a couple times and found it disappointing. Now she's saying she probably won't go for an entire Lilies again, but maybe she'll come down for 3-4 days at the end of the war for the fireworks and parties and to help me break camp. (Additional motive might be a Sunday run into KC as well... snerk!) We'll see what happens; she really doesn't enjoy staying quietly close to camp watching the world pass by as I do. This year I was the one getting out and about more when Sash wanted me to go along on some of his rounds. This resulted, the last day, on a purchase of six yards of a lovely dark brown linen for a gown. I'm planning real embroidery and all for it and will be great with the golden linen undertunic I haven't gotten made up yet.

We joined the food group and had really yummy breakfasts and suppers throughout the war. Wednesday we put on mundanes and went to KC to pick up Rosina as Gyda had to go back to Lincoln for work. Turned out this was one of the two hottest days in camp so being in the air-conditioned van that day was definately a boon.  Leofwyna and I decided we were jinxes when we tried to go to anything together; the evening movie Monday and Jenna's stories Tuesday didn't happen. Turns out Jenna was rescheduled Wednesday while we were gone.

I spent quality quiet time in camp hemming four headrails and I spent one afternoon in Marcella's camp stitching Royal Crown flannel bags to a big purple fleece blanket. I'd meant to go again but the second round of 'interesting' weather kept me close in camp. A good thing too as I had to run down the hill and drop the sunshade when the winds pushed a couple of the poles through and was ripping it up. After court Thursday I stopped by at Marcella's camp but they were preparing for Ed's household meeting so I didn't stay.

After breaking camp Sunday (and finding room somehow for Od's kit for the return trip) we headed back into KC to hit the SAVERS stores. I got a nice set of intensely hot pink twin flannel sheets and a couple books. Od found her queen bottom sheet (leopard print, of course) and a pretty black blouse. And Leofwyna came out with bags and bags of little stuffed toys, puzzles, baby onsies, dish towels, blouses and I don't know what all else. For a wonder we did find room for it all but we were definitely packed tight.

On the way home (we crossed the Missouri at St Joe since everything north to Sioux City is closed due to the floods) we were watching a huge thunder storm to the north with the most unusual lightning. It looked amazingly like shorthand, all crimped up in loops and squiggles, which lasted all the way from St Joe home.

Monday afternoon, although it was rather hot and muggy, I did get most of the lawn mowed while Leofwyna unloaded the van. I had to leave the backyard unmown as the ground was still wet from yesterday's rain. The tent and groundclothes need to be spread to dry soon. We left the beds, well secured, in the van for the Niobrara trip next month rather then handling them an extra time.  I will need to pull out a couple of the sunshade poles to repair, make the new siderails for my bed and at least one of the new sunshades before that trip.

LILIES WAR -
FRIDAY

Finished loading the van and buying supplies to head out of town by 2pm. At St Joe I got off the wrong interchange for 169 and went the wrong way half an hour before I realized my error. Got turned around and arrived at camp around 5pm, got trolled in and put the tent up 'down in the dell'. It was a very hot and humid day for setting up. When I had the tent pinned down and the supports in place there was help at hand and we got it raised so I could finish with the tie-downs and get a lot of my stuff unloaded into it. When it began raining I got in the van and tried to find Owain so I could deliver Leofwyna's power cookies. I decided to keep the van overnight to finish unloading the next day and ran into town very late for McDonalds for supper. Later back in camp while the rain continued I visited awhile with friends before heading down to assemble my bed, wash up and retire.

SATURDAY

In the morning it was just sprinkling while I finished unloading into tent. I was still in 'mufti' when I got tired of the rain all morning so went to town for BBQ at Leyman's. Back at the campgrounds I again tried to deliver Owain's power cookies; finally left them at chergeons tent. Took ice back to camp in the van and naturally Owain was there so I was able to direct him to his packet.

While putting away ice I opened up the tent a bit and headed over for the hot showers. It commenced raining again and I backtracked to close up the tent leaving the van by the pavillion since the ground was pretty wet by this point. Waiting out the rain in the tent I was organizing it when HE Cat ran down the hill, in the rain, to get my keys to move the van. Ouch, that called for a major apology later for setting up the cause for her dousing. When the rain let up I parked the van in upper lot which later became exit only parking and I didn't retrieve it the entire war. (I was very glad it started right up at the end of the war.)

I'm not really sure, now, which day the lovely double rainbow showed itself so I'll note it here by deducing which day I would have been walking up and out of camp in the way my memory has it. It was a high, tight, complete arch with a rich inner rainbow echoed by a fainter complete outer bow. Mama's come to war!!!

SUNDAY

More rain; I decided I wouldn't be setting up my 'kitchen' sunshade so I set up the tables inside to get stuff off the floor and put the food box and pans underneath. During quiet time in the baronial pavillion I converted a bedskirt into another veil. I kept supper simple with ham sandwiches.

MONDAY

Intermittant rain kept me in the baronial pavillion most of the day. I spent the time converting a black paisley print broomstick skirt into a tunic. I had pulled pork sandwich from Dumb Blondes for supper on my way to troll 8pm-12am.

TUESDAY

Intermittant rain kept me in the baronial pavillion most of the day.
I spent the time converting a red broomstick skirt into a pair of poofy pants. The weather cleared enough at suppertime that I cooked up mac 'n cheese with chedderwurst for supper using the grill.

WEDNESDAY

Planned a day away from camp so I organized food, water and handwork in my cart and dressed to be cool during the day with shift and belted stola with my overtunic along to wear later during court. I attended Jenna's storytelling sessions and was in place to get a good spot for court. Got back to camp just in time for more rain at suppertime so settled again for ham sandwiches. Went on a late camp stroll with Sash ending up with slushies at Odyssey where we finally found Marcella.

THURSDAY

Finally a dry day with a nice breeze to balance the sunshine. Too bad I scorched back of my neck sitting in smokers' porch all day. Gyda drove in to KC to pick up Roselyn of the East to spend a couple days with us; Gyda knows her from a narrow wares list. I know from past experience how much fun meeting up with computer friends can be. Since she comes from the same area as Lisa I asked if she knew her; Rose did come up with Sara Davies personna which I hadn't remembered. After dark I left on another late camp stroll with Sash and Chiara; when I lost them in the merchant area I snagged another slushie at Odyssey before heading back to camp.

FRIDAY

I had thought to get to the rest of Jenna's storytelling sessions today but the day was hot and still so I stayed at the baronial pavillion instead. I cooked up mac 'n cheese with chedderwurst again for supper on the grill and then hard boiled the eggs since I'd not dealt with breakfasts afterall. The fireworks were GREAT! We could also see an impressive storm passing north of us that evening, no rain this time though.

SATURDAY

Rain again in the morning but vehicles were being allowed off-road so Isadora fetched in the van during her ice run and I loaded 3/4 of my stuff while I still had morning shade. Another storm BLEW in through causing some damage around camp; no injuries fortunately. However, court was cancelled due to big tent having issues. At that point I finished loading and headed home. And yes, I stopped for more BBQ and brought some home for Leofwyna who was already gone to work when I pulled in. Maggie was glad to see me.

THURSDAY

More finding and packing, more laundry and packing. Sash called midafternoon to ask could I run him around on a couple errands as his ride fell through so we went to the bank, Walgrens, Sam's and Ace Hardware. I picked up a box of assorted danish from Sam's so breakfasts are accounted for next week. Tonight I find and pack air mattress, fans, kitchen tools and handwork projects and I should be done.

I head out in the morning for Lilies, leaving little Maggie and Leofwyna to cope with each other and the pills on their own. Leofwyna hasn't 'pilled' Maggie yet. I've always been the 'piller' for our cats... Leofwyna does shots when necessary. Fortunately Maggie only resists and doesn't really fight. She will, however, spit out pills if given the chance. Anyway, see you all back here a week Sunday.

MONDAY

So I'm somewhat more in the organizing mode for Lilies today. Went to the store and got the meat and wine for my jerky and spinach for breakfast pasties. Got the marinade made, meat drenched in same and refrigerated. I picked up two refilled prescriptions and dropped off the scripts to fill two others. Finally I loaded the freezers up for chunk ice and cleaned up the kitchen. Quick look over the veggie beds show the rain has been doing lots of good there. They might get another quick weeding if I find the time... mowing comes first though.

TUESDAY

Started the jerky in the dryers this noon. Got stuff switched from the car to the van and moved Lilies equipment from the garage to the van. It's just loose loaded right now as I still need to pack my wardrobe totes before tight loading the van.

LATER TUESDAY

The jerky is coming so nicely I went to the store this evening for more meat to run through the dryers tomorrow.

TUESDAY

With weather threatening we got out for some yardwork and I decided to mow instead of shifting compost. I was mowing just as fast as the mower could pull me along and I won the race finishing barely fifteen minutes before the front literally dumped a cloudburst on us. Leofwyna was proceeding down the west side of the house with her groundcloth and rocks project. She wasn't done but at least she was far enough along that her groundcloth was well secured with the first of several bags of rock. The rest of the rock will go down another day.

We were late getting back to computer and television in the evening when I found I'd won the decision for a bunkbed on the local Freecycle so we jumped into the van to go pick it up. Turned out it was a very modern style that doesn't break down into a pair of beds which I wanted it to do for tent camping. It was a very nice, sturdy bunkbed and I left it behind thinking someone with kids should be able to get it. I'll probably use Leofwyna's bedframe for camping at Lilies this year as it's much sturdier than my little white bed frame.

THURSDAY

Leofwyna has been working on a project getting a rock border in around the south and west foundation of the house. I helped when she needed the bags of rocks moved from the back to the front, otherwise I finished weedwhacking, emptied stuff out of the van from the weekend and weeded/watered my veggie beds. I'm rather disappointed to find only three of the eight potatoes have emerged. Since I have only the four beds though this will give me a chance to put in some other stuff before I head off to Lilies next month.

FRIDAY

So I'm thinking about the fact there's only two weeks until I leave for Lilies and perhaps I should be getting somewhat organized for that and for what follows this summer.

\ mail out June RUNESTAFF
\ deadhead peonies
learn camp stove usage/get fuel for it
\ make jerky (pack for Lilies)
\ make appointment for endocrinologist visit/update prescription
\ fill all prescriptions
\ June Moot/finance committee... Cattle Raids list

\ replant in veggie beds where potatoes failed
beans, carrots, spinach, radish, lettuce, nasturtiums, marigolds
\ pack up projects/clear downstairs living room
\ Maggie for vet check up/adjust prescription

\ household June 5
\ June 6 newcomers' revel
\ freeze ice for Lilies
\ sort/pack camp clothes
\ sort/pack camp gear
purchase/freeze/pack camp food
eggs, bacon, wurst, mac 'n cheese, white beans, apples, onions,
bisquik, milk, nut wafers, bread, butter, syrup, brown sugar,
oil, cinnamon, sugar, salt, pepper
load van
\ mow/mulch veggie beds where possible/water if necessary
LILIES June 11-20

\ unload van/put away camp gear
\ prepare July RUNESTAFF
exchange 'bits 'n bobs' [?]
\ sew Leofwyna's cruise gear before July 4
\ July Moot
turn out compost piles
sift complete compost for cleared weedy beds
continue clearing weedy beds/build new veggie bed frames
as available plant potato, cauliflower, brussel sprouts
strip webbing/cut down sunshade
vacate storage to garage
set up sewing area
rebuild large sunshade/make new sunshades
row cover for brussel sprouts, cauliflower
prepare fall/winter veggie beds and plant during July
peas, beets, garlic, spinach, greens
set up guest room
sort/price for rummage sale
finish and add new gold key items/mend old gold key
\ August Moot
Get Mr Amoto to remove appletree stump late summer
\ visit Kronberg with Owain and Thedrich (one trip or two?)
\ confirm portajons
\ prepare for Cattle Raids
\ CATTLE RAIDS and Niobrara trip

\ set up rummage sale
\ RUMMAGE SALE
\ clear summer harvest
put up hoop shelters for winter harvests

WEDNESDAY

Took Leofwyna's van in for an oil change so she wouldn't have to get up early. I remembered to pick up my bag at DAV, too. Ran the van home and switched out vehicles then headed to Salvation Army for their 50% clothing sale and found a bunch of cutter cotton AND five cotton sheets at $2/each. I also found a cunning little charcoal cooker I can use in camp for my meals. Had a thought to look for a little round grill to use with it and hey noni-noni found one with a retractable handle. How cool is that! I'm looking forward to trying out some of my new setup this year if I actually do get to go to Lilies.

I went out for A&S this evening and when I got back home Leofwyna and I went to a late supper together and ended up working another through another puzzle while watching our Tuesday tape.

THURSDAY

Leofwyna got up early today to get turned around for the weekend. To help her keep active and awake we drove up to Omaha to shop for cruise clothes. [She's going to Alaska on this summer.] We hit a bunch of shops and she found the absolutely necessary items and a couple extras then she treated me at Cheesecake Factory for supper. I do love the Thai Lettuce Wraps and the Pineapple upside-down cheesecake. On the way home we stopped in at Brass Armadillo and perused about half the store before her feet and our time ran out.

FRIDAY

We got up and loaded the van to head out for an event weekend. Before getting out of town we were distracted by a few garage sales. Leofwyne found an unusual wool Army blanket she'll make another chaparone from. We got almost to Nebraska City when Leofwyna realized her garb was still hanging on her bedroom door. Two hours later we were back to that point and any thoughts of stops along the way were tabled for some other trip. We arrived at our crash site in good time though so all was well.

SATURDAY

We went to Caleigh with our guest, Greg, and had a nice time at a sweetly laid-back event with perfectly beautiful spring weather. Leofwyna is really good with the patter about SCA so I let her fill Greg in on all the details. We watched the fighting, archery and Highland games, visited with their excellencies and eavesdropped on some Vatavian shenanigans. At the end of the day Greg treated us to a steak dinner at a place he likes before crashing back at his place.

I offered him tent space if he should want to check us out at Lilies this summer but somehow I doubt he'll take me up on it.

SUNDAY

During the odd free moments and quiet afternoons I've been putting random leftover scraps together crazy-style and I'll assemble them strippie-wise with leftover blocks for a donation quilt top.

MONDAY

Got out in the garden and turned over the four cleared beds and put in the potato sets and the big broccoli seedlings. I also mowed the verges and backyard. I'm letting the sqill and windflowers have one more week before I mow the frontyard.

This is so frustrating... I'd keyed the rest of the week at Lilies and it disappeared. I hate redoing this as it's never as good the second time. Oh well, here goes again another day later.

TUESDAY

This was a big day for HalfTroll as he was Fyrded on the battlefield the same day as it had been arranged for him to become squire... Volkmar's great-grandsquire. When Natalya arrived she had Leofwyna's packet of apricot-walnut power cookies.

WEDNESDAY

Since the parking lots are closed up I borrowed Gyda's van for my trip to town for groceries for the Gladiator Party. I took Owain's share of the cookies to him on my way to the parking lot. I stopped for barbeque at Lowmans and picked up twelve bags of ice for the camp. I found the Nutter-Butter Wafers I love at the Smithville Grocery (the ones Walmart no longer carries back home). Moira sprained her ankle once too often and ended up sidelined for the rest of the war. Neighbors' loud late parties kept me awake late but I was glad they both landed the same night. All the other parties during war were enough further away they didn't give my any trouble.

THURSDAY

This was an exceedingly hot and humid day so I was cranky. Then Grand Court was held on the battlefield so I stayed in camp and assembled my roll-ups for the Gladiator party while I pouted.

FRIDAY

Fireworks!! I love 'em and those at Lilies are the best bar none. I've seen bigger and longer sets but these are the best quality anywhere. HalfTroll was successful in his bid for the 'Big Damn Stick' and won the Kingdom Bardic tonight.

SATURDAY

I decided to preload 3/5ths of my encampment this afternoon just in case it rained again and vehicles wouldn't be allowed off-road; or out of the parking lot for that matter.

HalfTroll had been asked by Libby six weeks ago to be her champion in the Children's Tourney and she collected him and had her favor ready to present to him. I had to chuckle as they headed down the road hand in hand (she is as tall as his wrist knuckle) with her gazing adoringly up at her trophy champion. Her favor by the way was a rather appropriately sized for a HalfTroll pink and purple tassle nearly ten inches long and four inches wide.

Closing Court was in the Pavilion which made me pleased. Some say it's too hot in the Pavillion but I'm thinking it's hot everywhere so keep me out of the sun please! So I made at least one court this war and enjoyed it very much.

SUNDAY

So when I woke up I packed up the tent and broke down the bed before washing up and dressing. I'd kept my van in camp yesterday when I'd discovered others planned doing so. Loading up went relatively quickly and my only potential problem would have been taking down the tent in the wind, which was quite strong and had me worried. Carlos came down the hill at the perfect moment to see how I was doing and with him steadying the tent I was able to release the support and get it grounded without having it blow away. Since it was damp I didn't bother with careful folding or bagging it. I just shoved it into the available space and called it good.

We headed up to the hot showers followed by Lowmans for barbeque... our Sunday after Lilies tradition. All that was missing was Leofwyna but I arranged for takeout to surprise her with. Since Isabeau's cruise control was out and they know I have no cellphone (in case of engine trouble) they followed me back to Lincoln using my cruise control to manage the pace. I waved them on at 84th Street and headed north to home.

****************

I can't remember what day it was I landed flat on my back in the MagMor tent. The ground sloped a wee bit and when I felt my chair shift and my feet leave the ground there was no chance to prevent it so I relaxed, held up my embroidery with one hand and just before landing noted a tent pole coming down with me, reached up and snagged it with the other hand so it wouldn't fall on me. Yes, time does shift to slow motion; I had time to think about these things and react to them. I wasn't so much as bruised and things were soon set to right and conversations picked up again.

Throughout the war I visited with lots of lovely Calontiri and can't think where to place 'em in this epistle. In fact I can't be sure I remember all the right things to the right days. The only thing I can think of that would have made Lilies better would be Leofwyna's presence!!

SUNDAY

I awoke earty to the sound of gentle rain and went back to sleep smiling; camps around me were quiet. Got up just in time to throw on some clothes, grab a fruit juice and get to the Exchequer meeting on time at eleven.

Ran across Isabeau and Carlos in the A&S tents. He told me Leofwyna had a message on the list asking for help getting a package to me in camp. I'd forgotten the apricot power cookies she'd made me and Owain. Oops! They'll bring 'em back with them Thursday. Isabeau was hurting and Carlos needed to get to the food merchant area so since I was going for the van anyway I offered to came back and give them a lift. By the time I got back she'd gotten involved with some feltmaking so I took Carlos to fetch their lunch before heading into town myself.

Now begins the continuing saga of the bed. The slats had slipped a couple of times during the night and I'd had to carefully climb out of the wreckage and put it all back together. A trip to town was in order to get additional slats, enough to prevent them all from shifting at all! I was pleased to find the hardware store open and that they had what I needed and could cut to length for me. Then, since I was in town anyway, I stopped at Lowman's for barbeque. Love their barbeque!

Back at camp I dropped off the boards and ice, returned the van to the parking lot, and on the way back in visited with Owain and others at the Chirgeons tent. Back in camp again I relaxed in the living room until the weather blew in near dark and I retreated to my tent to organize it a little more before retiring. All through the night there was some major rain coming down 2-3 different times, lighting and thunder, too, making quite a show.

MONDAY

With the morning I had some mopping up to do but nothing terribly major. I think half of the problem was I hadn't gotten all the zippers completely closed and sealed. The bed was much improved but still some concern with slats near the middle slipping off the rail a couple times during the night. I tried rearranging them with the longest ones in the center. It was only a matter of scant fractions of an inch but worth a try.

Also decided I wanted to limit the number of trips up the hill each day so I organized myself, my basket, my munchies (cranberry granola bars, dried pineapple) into my cart. Spent much of the day in the MagMor living room since it was muddy and humid. Just took it very easy all day. Isadora invited me to join them for supper so I had her beef-barley burritos. The weather did a repeat, blowing in about dark again, so I retreated to my tent and read awhile. I love the sound of distant drums in the night... and the neeker-breekers... thunder... rain...

FRIDAY

Today Leofwyna sat with the rummage sale and I made a shopping run for things I need to take to Lilies. A few groceries, more bolts for the bed (needed eight, not four), and tried to find an adapter for Leofwyna's camp stove. The camp stove turns out to be something foreign (and old) and nothing could be found for it. Leofwyna had bought it at a rummage sale a couple years ago... I did what they should have and trashed it. When I sell something it works or at least can be made to work.   In spite of the rain we had a respectable second day and our third of five rummage needed some good bucks.

At end of day we pulled everything back into the garage and unloaded the stuff stored in the van during the sale into the garage.  We loaded the sunshade poles, tote of ropes and stakes, camp pans, ice chests, and then headed out to supper.

SATURDAY

I got myself going earlier than usual to finish loading the van. I was fairly well organized, I thought, and shoved off by two o'clock. Dressed at home for court on the hope I'd arrive in time for it. I thought it was scheduled for five o'clock. Remembered to stop for Leofwyna's package for Owain. Traffic was rough though and getting out of Lincoln took longer than I thought it would. By the time I got to St. Joseph I'd thought of half a dozen things I'd forgotten and it was already five.

At this point I'd thought about and decided against backtracking home for pillows, airbed, and camp table among other things. As I thought I'd missed out on court I stopped in St. Jo and got 'em there; because of this I didn't go anywhere near the merchant's during the war. I figure this was excellent use of Laurel's Christmas check.

When I pulled in at MagMor camp at seven o'clock I found everyone headed for court; I hadn't missed it afterall! However, couldn't hear much of anything from the back as I had no chair unloaded and didn't want to block anyone's view so I wandered off back to camp; I really can't just stand that long without getting a backache. Scoped out the situation there and decided I'd camp at the bottom of the hill near the treeline so I'd have morning shade to help me sleep longer. (This meant there was a substantial climb out of camp every day and I had to be organized to minimize the number of trips up it each day.)

HE Cat has a tent similar to the one Leofwyna bought a couple years ago; one which we haven't used yet and only put up once in practice. I didn't want to have to spend any longer than necessary wrestling with it and asked Cat's help getting it up with minimal false starts. Turns out our framework is significantly different (ie: harder to raise) and we enlisted a couple guys from the encampment upslope from me for the assembly of the tent's support. After that doing all the staking and tie downs went along better. Having Cat's help with all this was hugely appreciated.

I unloaded everything into the tent and assembled my bed before removing the van to the parking area. It was full dark by this time so after a short time in the MagMor living room greeting everyone there I headed down to settle in and fall in bed.   (Forgotten also was my copper wash basin, straw hat, shampoo.)

Present at this time were Volkmar, Isadora, Arthur, Oliver, Cat, Oz, Terry (now Rheinhart), HalfTroll, Gyda, Jessica (now Moira), Zino and Chiara. MagMorons camping in other areas were Owain, Mikhail, Vasilla, Calien and Callaghan, Isabeau, Carlos, Dwolm, Aibhilin, Agnes, Sabi, Amanda and Raimond. Folks that arrived later during the war to MagMor camp were Saraphima and her family, Natalya, Theron, Gwyneth, Rosa and Bristol.

WEDNESDAY

Today I finally dug out my pile of Rubbermaid storage totes and sorted through my camp bedding and garb. Spent about four hours packing up six of them to take with me. Strangely enough I don't remember taking that many totes previously but I don't think I'm carrying more garments either. I still need to pull together projects for the week and gather up the camping amenities so I can load the van Friday after we close the rummage sale.

Spent the rest of the afternoon putting up the sunshade in front of the garage for the rummage sale. I was running late when I left for Moot. After driving from one corner of town to the opposite corner I was only ten minutes late; not too bad. Mostly we discussed our Lilies responsibilities, including our Gladiator Tourney party and lightly touched on Cattle Raids coming up in August.

THURSDAY

Got up with the sun to set up the outside tables under the sunshade... there's always the shoppers that won't recognize the posted opening time. This annoys the hell out of me and civility comes hard. The weather held nice for the day and I sold lots of little stuff and a few nice pricier bits so the day's total was respectable. This evening I'm frapped and not accomplishing much of anything.

MONDAY

Got back to work on mending the floorcloths this evening and was nearly done with I broke a serger needle so stopped to run for replacements before the store closed. Wasn't sure what size to get so I got one of each available. Back at home I learned neither size worked... darn, I wanted to be done with these floorcloths.

TUESDAY

Went to the bank to make my JAV deposit for the barony and took money out of my account for change at the rummage sale. After eating lunch I dropped a bag of clothes off at the thrift store, dropped a few dozen items at the second consignment shop and dropped off aluminum cans at the recycler. I also stopped and made copies of forms before sending off checks for insurance certificates for Cattle Raids. I stopped in at Husker Sew and Vac and picked up the right size serger needles. Didn't stop at the fabric store to return the others 'cause I left them laying on the dining table. I remembered to go by Ace Hardware and switch out the wrong sized lag nuts for the right size so I'll have a bed at Lilies. It'll be much easier to get up off the air mattress with it raised off the floor. Spent some time with Leofwyna in the garage prepping for the rummage sale and late tonight I finished the floorcloths repair and nearly finished replacing the seats on a pair of metal folding chairs for camp using the canvas from old sunshades. Leofwyna made apricot-oatmeal breakfast cookies and canned brownies for me to take to Lilies... Ymmm!

SUNDAY

I started sorting for packing for Lilies but when my back got to aching I took a break downstairs. I got involved in repairing the first sample tapestry floorcloth I'd made up years ago. Actually they're wearing pretty well. I replaced seven blocks in one. The second is okay, nothing to fix in it. After supper I made a run to the grocery store for staple supplies. When I got back I started repairing nine blocks on the big one; now that's not quite done either. It's time for bed so I'll have to clear it off (the bed) losing the partial sort I've done 'cause I didn't get back to it. Mainly what slowed me down was the serger was periodically breaking one of the needle threads... not all the time, just enough to be annoying, esp. due to having to rethread everything because it would know up in the mechanism for some reason. Argh! Two steps forward, one back. Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.

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etienettebluet

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