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helwen: (Woodsy)
We couldn't have asked for better weather than we had yesterday. Sunny, not humid, not too hot, a pleasant breeze. Mother Nature put on her best and everyone was admiring her :)

The Crestfallen tourney went quite well -- a bit more humorous than in previous years, but I think the merriment was good for people. There were some good crests along with the sillyness, and the crest made by Lord Erik von Hemeor was honored most justly as best crest, made in a traditional shaped leather form. Best crest death went to Lord Robert MacMinn, whose crest broke apart in different directions, decapitating the gryphon he'd made. Winner of the tournament was Sir Tommaltach macFhiachach, whose crest successfully survived all attempts. Best heraldic display went to Lord Erik as well, with his matched crest, torse and complementary surcoat and newly painted shield.

The baronial heavy weapons champion tourney went very well. The entrants were earnest and gave their best, not only in the round robin tournament and the Roman melee, but there were many fine introductions when they presented themselves before [livejournal.com profile] fitzw and I and the populace, and even finer responses to the questions posed to them.

The final results were very close, but our chosen champion for this year is Lord Gryffyn Dunham. He was fortunately able to the beginning of court so that we could do the official handoff, and then took his leave, as his dear lady is due in just a few days. We have no doubt he will fulfill the duties of his new position well. And we shall be thinking of his lady this week, most especially on Wednesday.

We also chose to retain having a banner bearer, a position the barony has had off and on over the years. Lord Sigurdr is our new banner bearer, and we have no doubt of his ability to do honor to this post.

There was a small but lovely arts display, where people could see the further progress on bobbin lace by [livejournal.com profile] harpnfiddle, as well as a couple of her finished projects from classes at Pennsic (embroidery and needlepoint). Lord Magnus displayed his finished silk tabletwoven belt and a new project on his loom... snartemo I believe, but I'm not an expert. [livejournal.com profile] ladyjade01/Lady Brangwyne of Wentworth displayed a linen dress she's working on, which is coming along nicely. And Lady Emma MacMinn exhibited an illuminated capital, which included her first effort at flat gilding. It came out pretty well, with only one very small and barely noticeable mistake -- mostly noticeable because she pointed it out! Her white work is quite excellent and the ivy leaves are delicate and vibrant. Oh, and not in the display, the scrolls were lovely too. Brangwyne took up the challenge of Gothic capitals successfully, and she has acquired the very important skill of consistency in size and spacing of the letters with a script that is new to her. Every style has its own challenges, so it's always good to see when someone succeeds at a challenge.

As baroness I always try to buy something from our merchants, to thank them for coming to our home. I may not be able to purchase much, but I feel that they contribute to our events and especially these days it can be a hard thing for them to even make expenses, nevermind an actual living. This weekend only one of the three merchants who contacted L made it to the event, but happily it was Gloriana of Glorious Dragon; I never have trouble finding something I like at her tables :)

Excellent food both at the potluck dayboard and the cooking guild's feast, yum :)

Excellent company as well; although I missed [livejournal.com profile] ellid, [livejournal.com profile] countessinn and [livejournal.com profile] sorcieredeneige, hopefully they are all faring better today. [livejournal.com profile] islenskr came though, after kindly checking in on [livejournal.com profile] countessinn and picking up a scroll for baronial court, and it was so good to see her again, and to catch up a little with her.

Throughout the day I was fortunate enough to see people making connections at our little event, learning new things from each other, from spinning, to music, to dance, to fighting tips. I think that was one of the best parts of the events, for me :)

Weekend

Sep. 15th, 2008 05:04 pm
helwen: (Default)
Friday we mostly set up the carport in the rain, being uncertain of what Saturday morning would bring. Did more work in the sugarhouse and also mowing, fixing up the covered bridge's steps (still needs work but much better than they were), messing with water for the sugarhouse, etc. Some folks came up to help finish up the cleaning and did a bunch of decorating.

Saturday the weather held for the day and we even got a bit of sunshine in the afternoon. I think we had some rain overnight, but not until long after everyone had gone home, thank goodness. Crestfallen went pretty well -- there was quite a bit of archery and also rattan tourneys. There was the Crestfallen tournament itself, with some lovely crests. I don't have pictures but I know other folks took pictures so I'll see if I can get some to put up later.

Best Crest went to Lord Robert MacMinn, who made a rearing elephant, painted with a saddle blanket and with 'gold' ring's on the tusks and all. Best Heraldic display went to Lord Erik von Hemeor, whose torse and crest of a bent arm holding a sword went perfectly style and colorwise with his surcoat and shield (which have his arms on them). Best crest death went to Uric (sp?) Germanicus, who had the misfortune to take out his own crest -- this can happen if one hasn't practiced while wearing a crest -- feathers everywhere! His brother had a similar crest but did not have quite the spread of destruction that Uric managed.

There was also the baronial rattan champion tourney, or should I say tourneys? There were several challenges, including first that each entrant had to introduce himself (we only had male fighters this year), state his reason for entering the tournament, and answer any questions gentles might have. We had four entrants but also Sir Geoffrey fitz Galen, a former baronial champion, and Lord Erik von Hemeor the current champion, participated. The entrants were thoroughly challenged! Lord Robert MacMinn and Korric (who authorized that day) did quite well, but in the end we had a tie between Johannes filius Nicholai (who authorized in February at our Shelburne Falls demo) and Baron Aethelhawk Keyfinder. Instead of having them fight another bout or considering Aethelhawk's offer to cede to Johannes, we opted for something we'd done many years ago. Johannes is our new baronial heavy weapons champion and Aethelhawk is our banner bearer. Aethelhawk gave many points of honor during the day and was also very helpful to our newer fighters, before, during, and after the tournament. They are also both planning on attending Pennsic next summer, and we will be proud and honored to sponsor both of them in the Knowne World Baronial Champions Tournament at that time.

The baronial archery champions tourney, normally held in June, was also held at Crestfallen this year -- we didn't want to compete with the K&Q's Archery Championship. There were quite a few archers and Master Mark Squirrelsbane (our champion for this past year) and his crew set up many different and interesting targets. The final four archers were Lady Emma MacMinn, Lady Tamsin Whitlock, Lady Bianca Gabrielle Solari, and Baroness Fiona Siobhan of Kincora -- yes, all women ;) The final four shot in pairs, with whoever finished shooting the targets (set at unknown distances) in order first going to the finals. The final two were Tamsin and Bianca, with Bianca succeeding in finishing first, to become our new baronial archery champion. She has served well as our champion in the past, and I'm sure will do so again!

There was also a lovely arts & sciences display, with several embroidered pieces by [livejournal.com profile] lady_jade_01 and unknown others, a bit of the finely spun cotton and tiny knitting by [livejournal.com profile] countessin, and lacework by [livejournal.com profile] harpnfiddle. I wish I knew who'd done the Tyger Cub medallion -- such tiny crosswork! [livejournal.com profile] countessinn and I agreed we need to have 3x5 cards or something at the next event, to encourage folks to put their names with their work.

***
I did a tiny bit of shopping at one of the two merchants we had: a set of dominoes, a pair of gold and black dangly earrings and a necklace, all for $20. I think the earrings and necklace will serve as nice accents to some future steamfashion clothing (when I have said clothing), although of course I could wear them with regular clothing as well.

The dominoes are because it's nice to have a variety of games that don't require electricity, and they were only $2. Although they are only sixes, so someday I'd still like another set, one that goes up to double nines maybe.

***
Lots of lovely chats with various folks. Lots of going up and down the hill to fetch things for people. Also a number of folks decided they'd like some syrup and some sugar, so more trips for that. Plenty of exercise!

***
Court went well. Lord Erik von Hemeor received the scroll that went with his having won the Luminary last Novice Schola, [livejournal.com profile] etainmbw and Patricia received their Fountains from Sommer Draw, Lady Emma MacMinn was made a Sable Bear. [livejournal.com profile] ellid stepped down from her position as Minister of Arts & Sciences, handing the office over to [livejournal.com profile] countessinn -- who gave her a sock she'd knitted, 'setting Dobby free' :D

The rattan and archery champions changed office during court as well, and Erik, who'd been given a rock at Pennsic (that's a story I'll leave to [livejournal.com profile] fitzw) not only had the rock and was able to turn it in, but also presented us with a larger rock, having "invested" the smaller stone :D He was pretty funny in court in his quiet way... kept trying to sneak away after he'd stepped down as baronial rattan champion. [livejournal.com profile] fitzw had to remind him that he was still Luminary and needed to stay in court as our arts & sciences champion!

***
Dinner was of course delicious, and lucky are those who were able to bring a bit of it home with them!

***
Cleanup went pretty well too, with just a couple of tents to take down the next day, as well as taking the trash to the transfer point -- we had nearly 100 people during the day and 50 plus kitchen crew that night, yet L was able to condense the trash down into only two bags!

Happily, I think House MacCarthaigh-MacMinn took the EZ-up and carport down while we were away to our Oakstone Grove study group on Sunday.

***
I had a headache most of Sunday, which Jeni helped with a bit -- probably a combination of mild dehydration and running around so much. Better today though.
helwen: (Default)
The event was small and cozy, but everyone had great fun. We started out with a field of 8 fighters, which grew to 9 near the beginning of the tournament, when Shiro and Dinsdale came visiting. The tournament was run as a round-robin, fighting at the barriers with limited blows (first fighter to 5 won the bout). There were a lot of great bouts and some really intense exchanges. The barriers were very cool -- we got the ones Anselim made on loan... maybe we can make some for next year...

Much chivalry and courtesy was shown all around. It turned out to be a real test of endurance as well, as each fighter defended well and fought hard - many bouts were 4 to 5, and of course one much throw quite a few shots in order to get in the ones that count -- I particularly enjoyed watching people going for those narrow slot shots, the spear-fencing, and the two-sword, speaking as a spectator. fitzw fought today, and in spite of being somewhat out of practice in some of the weapons forms he was using, had a great time and did very well.

We had a number of things on display for A&S, like lady_jade01's embroidery projects (in progress) and Henna's skeins of spun wool and the knitting projects, all from the time most of us were away at Pennsic (her private Pennsic pity party!). 3 entries in the competition - Magnus' tabletwoven protegee belt (for Emma), Brigit's rabbit stew (based on MS Harleian 4016 rendition in Take a 1000 Eggs...), and Una's appliqued and embroidered banner (for ellid's Laureling) -- all got high marks, and were awarded prizes in the order presented here.

Sir Geoffrey fitzGalen is our new heavy weapons champion and Lord Eric von Hemeor is our standard bearer. Prizes were given out for best heraldic display, best crest death (both to Eric), winner of tournament (Geoff), and best heraldic art -- Lord Rob MacMinn's new shield, painted by Mistress Eleanore M (Phred). We gave out some of the cups, a salt cellar, the pitcher, and the rounded top chest that fitzw liked, and everyone seemed very happy with what they received. Turns out the pitcher matches in color to the plates and goblets Geoff and Anne have... funny how those things work out, eh?

We had absolutely gorgeous weather, and at one point a hawk circled round over us for several minutes, enjoying the thermals.

Much chatting and hanging out during the day and evening - it was nice to talk with people I don't often get a chance to do that with, like baronessmartha and my old friend Sarah L. And yes, we'll have to get together again sometime so baronessmartha can learn Cecilia at the Spinnet :)

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helwen

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