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So got word as I was about to start my project-ing (i.e. working on projects) that my friend, birthday twin, BFF's stabby twin, one of my Queen's Graces, and my head lady in waiting from my last reign has entered hospice. Go read her amazingness here. Damn I was/am shook. We chatted for a quite a while at Coronation about projects and things and she looked good though she was tired. It was into her brain which is never good and I understand. Seeing folks's profile pictures change on IG to have her in them is nice and I'm trying to find ones with her and I'm failing and I feel bad. So I will be texting her and hoping to get a call into her. The two best photos are her and Ari at our second coronation cause they were up to trouble 1 and 2. Also good photos in this album of the scroll Bridget and I did for Arsenda's Laurel .

Needless to say I sat thinking for a quite a while. Mel was in the shop and Benton was too. I sat in the solar and just...yeah. So I made myself a strong drink and then another when I called the boys into dinner. I need to put an intercom into the shop cause I basically have to walk outside to tell them to come in. lol. I told mel and then he made a drink and I vegg'd after dinner watching YT while mel finished up items in the shop and made bread. I went to bed early.

Today is...work is dumb I had to work late due to an issue and will have to today while I'm driving to SF. I'm going to go to knitting. I'm going to give her a call on my way home.

It was also pointed out the banner we flew at WW was made by Arsenda. And I'm happy I found it and I put edging and ties on it and we flew it and I have it now.

Current Mood: sad

ianuk

this is the first 5 day working week we've had since the first week we were here and things are PITA. I have a lot to do and not a lot of time and my wherewithal to work OT is pegged to nope. So yeah.

Got done with work yesterday and got a list and headed into Canton for comestibles and other items. It took me well over an hour to get the things I needed and then had to drive home. Got unloaded and mel made dinner with smoked pork loin we had been given at war, steamed frozen veggies, and mac/cheese. He even scooped out some noodles for me and made me my own batch that I could eat. We had drinks and I then sat and spun while listening to Criminalia and putting my war laundry on. The dryer breaker only kicked out like 2 times. I had one more small load to do this AM and I had gotten things put away before bed. I'm going to be ruthless with my clothing purge when I get home. Yes sir ee. I hate how much laundry I have to do at home.

Anyhoo. We projected and had drinks and it was a very nice evening after the chaos of the day. Today I have to work late due to an issue. Sighs. And Tyler was nice enough to come unannounced with the new breaker for the dryer. He did text he was on his way down though so that was nice. It was an old dual breaker and didn't quite fit the panel style so that was good. I need to pull permits next year to have him due a full upgraded panel.

So tonight will be more projecting. I have a short list to get done while we are here which means i need to stop spinning the pretty white stuff and cut out two shifts and put some trim on my raven cloak and get the chain plying done on a thing of bobbins. but first work boo hiss.

It glorious cool 71°F weather and overcast with a bit of a breeze and I'm stuck in side. grump.

ianuk

This will all be random but things I want to not forget.
1) The camp spot we had was right next to authentic encampment and we know folks there and it was nice. They complimented our (in my head ghetto) but in their head much better attempt at period than most folks.

2) Ralph and Scarlett are always a hoot and we need to have them with us next time. Even though Ralph is stubborn and doesn't want that but liked it when he had a table to cook on while we were at court. My dude...

3) Chatting with Countess Gwen about fabric since she had just picked up the same silk brocade I used on my pelican. She also just got her Pelican in February!

3)NS fighting conventions are not 180°, its confirmation of engagement. Mel got caught on that one. oops. The guy was super nice and mel totally felt bad.

4) Fiber people are just going to congregate. The scribal open area had no scribal going on but 3 folks spinning. So I sat down and chatted. There is a laurel from canada who I've interacted with over the years around the US and she just has to be right. Its exhausting. I will remember her name eventually cause she and her husband are RV folks and come to WotP so I really should remember. But the rest of the folks were lovely and we had a nice time spinning. One of the gals was in an assistive chair cause whe she stands her PB goes to like 160. They have only been looking at her heart and not like veins etc. I suggested having them talk with vascular folks and they haven't had a table test yet. But they were happy someone listened to them and have things to chat about and we figured out when shes at home working she lounges backwards with her feet up all the time. Yeah have those legs looked at. I'm also the person who has compression socks, even when its hot and I look stoopid.

5) NS folks are not used to people traveling with a full mixing bar. I'm a west coast duchess that is how we roll. Being able to serve the queen of NS a G&T easily was awesome. Also, having NA drinks like carpi suns made one of my fave countesses super happy.

6) Becca made kolache with chicken, sweet potato, curry and spices. They were the perfect food and we had extras to hand out to drunk folks. Definitely doing that next year too. Becca will be sending us the dough recipe and she made it dairy free for me.

7) Photos of WW

8) Benton did a good job at archery helping Nikolai and other kids get their stuffies. He did not bring one home for himself. He also gave his main prize away from Kittens versus Lava to Nikolai since he had that set of legos already.

9) my new aprons worked well but I didn't get any photos of me wearing them. I'm sure I'm in photos but no idea who was shooting.

10) The cuts to the parks and bad decisions ruined the north rim

11) fire near my MIL (3 miles east) but in the last few hours it got well contained and they brought the threat level way down but people did lose homes and property. Okanogan County Active incidents so that was a spike of stress

12) my phone is dying and missing the texts etc. the battery gets hot a lot. I will put in a rec for a new one when we get home. Its 5 years old and taken a lot of abuse so we shall see.

But yeah those are the things.

ianuk

We all managed to get out of the house (fully loaded both vehicles cause Becca and Rob were leaving to SC from the war). We stopped off in Canton to get Taco johns for lunch (nom nom) and then the easy drive to Wisconsin. What was weir was the GPS took us on back roads to I-90. It meandered between SD and Iowa and then back to SD before doing the last 7 miles was a straight north county road that had 3 states from SD, IA and dumped us out in Minnesota just before the interstate. That was fun. And honestly it super quick but a bit of a meander through pretty country. We had a pitstop in Albert Lea MN and then onto site. We were setup next to Authentic Camp and that was nice We got the french bells setup and the boys got their modern tents setup but it was warm and buggy and we were hungry and realized we had forgotten the bug spray and lanterns and the food truck only took cash. So we divided and conquered to get food and things. Becca and I got tablecloths (also forgotten) and lanterns, and a few more small things and were back in came with rain coming down. My cell service at site was abysmal. But the rain wasn't too bad but I still worried. The port-potties were the best I've ever used. they had solar powered night and motion lights and were clean and new and better than the flushies at the bath house.

We got to bed late and the kids were zonked. Had drinks while it rained but everything was a soaking with things ending about 1am or so. I slept okay and then we got up in the AM, I made breakfast and we all kinda lazed about. I did get dressed and meandered to see Mel on the field and Benton had missed the kids archery for the day. Did a bit a meandering around the merchants and I ended up buying a mug and a foldable stool from Du Puy. I love their work and they are great merchants and we needed another place to put a butt since we don't have household benches here and I don't want folks standing when they can have a spot or a place to put your drink. When I showed mel he was like "nice, I like their stuff" so all good. It rained quite a bit in the evening but we had drinks and friends and hung out under the canopies. Folks were a bit surprised I was mixing drinks with a good bar. I have skillz. though we did run out of limes and lemons cause becca only heard "pack a few oranges and limes" versus "pack a few oranges, and the limes/lemons" the comma matters. But Samii was awesome and got us more on his trip to Aldi early Saturday AM. The rain stopped overnight and again, no damage, no wind nothing like last year. The temps were great and not hot.

Mel and Becca and Rob hit the field for fun times. Becca did an early tourney, Rob and Mel a later one. Benton fought and won the Kittens versus Lava tourney for the youth combat.
The stove had been finicky when I was making breakfast and I've had it 25 years with like 10 years in storage. So after shopping and a shower and hitting up the fiber guild it would not light no mater what I did. Mel tried and we figured out the pressure pump mechanism died. So we pivoted and got dinner to walk into court with from the food truck. Luckily Becca and Rob were not sitting with the Northshield B&Bs so we just hung out in court watching stuff and ate our dinners. I may have made my drink mostly gin...ooops but it was a nice court and we then got to help hand out gift baskets to the cousins and heirs. They had forgotten to bring up Rob and Becca. It was okay and then we chatted with a bunch of folks and helped clean up the hall. I met a friend of Clint and Jenn (Cathal and Genevieve) who is also a Jennifer. And a Knight from Midrealm who did the toy box run. We then got back to camp to pick up drinks and head to the torchlight/equestrian tourney where the Wisconsin Air Force was mighty (mosquitos) so it was a run back to douse ourselves in bugspray and return. We had a nice time and there were pom poms. Mel and Becca and I chatted with a cool tablet weaver and we all had a nice time and then it was back for mixed drinks for way into the night. I finally called it and changed into pjs. Becca had just had mel make her a drink and even he was done. Lol. Needless to say we all had hangovers in the morning and had to get up and not have coffee due to broken stove. So we packed up and we re-tetrised the coolers to get it down to one and I found the canned cold brew and we were awesome. We got everything loaded and packed and hit the road to Denny's by 1140am. though we now have a note in the stuff for next year to "denny's is never the plan" cause last year we walked in and they were closed for a water leak, this year they were not taking folks cause they had only one cook. So we ended up at Perkins with the best waitress who was at first not tickled to have a 7 top with 3 kids and when we were polite and had simple orders without a lot of fuss and knew how to pass things around the large table and say please she was so happy. We also made the bussers job easy by stacking everything for easy retrieval. And then we all had pie after breakfast. While I was in the bathroom and Rob was paying we found out she had discounted our meal with a BOGO offer for locals. Wow. It pays to be nice.

We then said our goodbyes and headed home. :( More details, a random geology side quest, and pictures tomorrow. There were pretty things.

ianuk

So with the rest of the family here we did some good things out side of the house like agate hunting on the road, archery practice with the whole family, movie nights where we have watched Jurassic Park II and ID 4. Hiked around Newton Hills State Park, Palisades State Park, Falls Park, crafted while the boys played video games/watched YT and hit up fighter practice. We have been active and that has been nice though now sitting at my desk for 9 hours makes my hips hurt. Le Sigh.

Right now Rob is putting in new light fixtures in the dining room and the entryway. The entryway has a boob light and the fixture in the dining room is for if 1) you had the table centered in the room, 2) if your ceilings were 15 foot heigh. Neither of those are the case since we use the patio (mom never did) and with the move of table during the overhaul to put in the bar. So I got two lights and wasn't sure which would go where. After discussions last night the stained glass went up in the dining room today and crystal in the entry. Rob had to do some finicky work to get the plates to line up and the fixture in the entry he just swapped out the shade. It looks so good! Before and . I didn't get the before shot in the entryway but here it after. This makes me happy and now no one will hit their heads in the dining room.

We also got a new dishwasher but it didn't get the plumbing hooked up cause its all copper in this house and needed a new valve. So it was a week before we could use the dishwasher for anything other than a drying rack and we have 7 people in the house...that is a lot of dishes we have all been doing. And teenage/tweens produce a copious amount of dishes.

For animals we've now seen a whole deer family unit with two does, and two fawns, including a tiny one who is so cute. But I had a muskrat visit the downstairs patio doors and I only got this photo through the screens . The bunnies and ground squirrels have been all over, lots of finches, swallows, robins (with a nest of 3 babies on our porch light), cardinals, finches, killdeer, wood peckers, and the boys saw a mouse in their bathroom drop ceiling, so I will have to get traps. We will put kill stuff out when we leave since I don't want the cats to eat a poisoned mouse. But sighs.

So wildlife and such. Its been nice to have the family here and we have an SCA trip to Wisconsin on Thursday. It will be fun and the weather is only looking kinda rainy so hopefully not with the tornado issues from last year. :)

The storms have shown some pretty skies though:
Fourth of July
June 23

ianuk

Funny thing at work before I was done for the week was a job posting came of of my exact job on a different program and the persons applying needed to be 2 pay grades above my current level. I sent an email with the job listing link to my section manager and said well this is interesting...what do I need to do to convince folks to promote me that way. He misread it completely and thought I was going to apply. (head desk) and then when I was logging off my department manager asked for some interesting info especially how much budget I control (which is a significant amount). so we shall see what happens with that. :P

so Friday I did all of the errands. The Plate were easy on the Rav but I need the title (which is in Tucson) to get mom's name removed. I had forgotten that detail (le sigh) so next year. I dropped off a whole load of stuff at good will that filled the back of teh van. I hit the first bank on the list and that was forever to get a $200 check out of the IRA. I will definitely be moving that to my other finance stuff cause they were a PITA bank, very nice people, but lax security and just weird vibes. Then I went to the main bank my other accounts are at and that was super easy and they were able to print me a new debit card onsite. And set up everything I needed to automatically start the distributions on the IRAs. Like easy peasey. I then I hit lunch from Taco Johns, Ace Hardware, and Hy-Vee before coming home.

Saturday we got up a bit late cause there was a doozy of a storm at 1am. I had to run around closing windows and the bathroom window wouldn't crank back in. (its had an issue for years but yeah) so I had to take the screen off to pull in in manually cause I was not going out int he pouring rain and the lightning. I then was up cause my anxiety kept telling me something else was wrong and I had to check things...so I slept poorly. But we got up and out of the house mid morning to Madison SD. We hit up a nice little college bar called The office, shopped at an antique store and then hit up a place from my childhood Prairie Village. We were too late to see/ride the steam powered carousel but we did manage to get rides on some of the railroad stuff. And boy howdy did we get a personalized tour of the train shop including on all of them and underneath them. There was a family reunion on site and they took a long time to load folsk on the small rail doodlebug cars cause their main conductor who runs the big trains was out sick. But Benton got curious and went to look and got invited in and we met Sonny who was amazing and volunteers there and is on the board for the center. We had a great time and got to ride around the site on the worker cars twice. The whole premise of the site is saving historical buildings and places from the surrounding areas in the county so the history is kept. Its really cool and my ownly regret other than not seeing the restored carousel is we forgot sunscreen and I was a bit crispy. When we left the farm it was raining so I didn't think it was going to get that bright but oh well. We had a good time, the we got pop and the boys got ice cream for the drive home. It was took late to go to costco but we got home and I showered and slathered on moisturizer. Sunday I got up early and managed to hit costco and another grochery run to be ready for the family when they got there in the afternoon. I managed to get home, get things put away and into some projects including making a mulberry cobbler. The family arrived and we had burgers on the grill. Even tried some from hyvee that are bratwurst burgers and those got a cheer from the crew.

More tomorrow but I did finish the follwoing things:
1) book 16 and started book 17 Slaying Monsters for the Feebleminded
2) I finished spinning the kona, plied the dinosaur fiber I had spun, and started in out the white sparkly stuff
3) found fabric for aprons and made 2
4) fixed mel's janky worn tunic from 8 years ago, and patched my one middle dress
5) have been working on socks from my trip to Virginia a while ago.