I shoud have posted this yesterday when I still had a vacation day to go. Ah well — I woke up at 4:30 this morning so have some extra time before work.

The drive to Estrella was very smooth. It was in two parts, since we stopped at west of Phoenix to spend the night with household members who live there. We got onto site Thursday morning. The area was SMALL. Two of our members who own their own pavilions were sharing space in two other pavilions, and other pavilion-owning members weren’t there. Plus we had guests. So I don’t know what we would have done with that small space had everyone been there with their own pavilions. We were discussing that the 250′ rule doesn’t work with period pavilions and it’s all getting silly. There were also wide open spaces all over the Caid encampment, we imagine from people who decided not to come and brave the rain. (BTW, it rained earlier in the week but not later.) As it was, we just barely fit.

Estrella is cold, even for me. (I live in the mountains and dress in plenty of layers.) This leads me to believe that I need to make some tunics out of heavier wools. I use wool but it’s light because I live in Caid, and even though my home is cool the events that I visit are usually not. But 2 or so tunics out of warmer wools will serve me well for Estrella, and also for chilly GWW’s and Potrero’s. I do dress in layers but got a little tired of 4-5 of them when I had to move around! I also have a full-length faux fur coat that is toasty. It’s too big for me, but I swear I will cut it down, turn it inside out, and let it serve as the lining for a Norse-styled coat. My persona is from Northumbria, but I deliberately placed myself just north of the Danelaw so I could justify the occasional later Norse outfit.

We attended Grand Court and I was honestly impressed at the entrances and the banners above all of the thrones. (Caid’s new thrones are beautiful.) The Queen of Artemisia (I think) entered on a dragon, which was great. I loved the Viking praise poem  in honor of Their Majesties of An Tir, and Eilidh leading the Caidan marching song for Caid’s procession was very moving.

I didn’t so much shopping but did get a new loom from Pinebox Traders. I have one of the little lap ones but wanted something a bit heavier and sturdier to make handmade trim. There is plenty of beautiful trims for later period, but nothing looks right for earlier unless it looks woolen and tabletwoven. Well, except for fabric trims which I do use a lot.

We didn’t sing around our fire quite as much as we usually do, partially because our Bard Elder could hardly speak a word all war! We still had fun talking as we always do. I was not cold at night once I got under the covers of my very SHORT wooden bed — short because I forgot 2 out of 4 bedposts! At GWW I forgot half of my center pole, so I guess I’m improving. My household decided that I have to forget one crucial item per war, but that I will never forget that particular item again. It is good to improve.  ;>

We got out on Monday. I received special dispensation from my household to leave early — 10am rather than noon. This is because it was snowing heavily in the mountains where I live. (The San Gabriels of al-Sahid.) I almost made it without getting stuck but not quite. I got stuck on ice going up a steep incline. I was prepared to put on chains but wasn’t sure I could drive onto them properly because the car was slipping around. Luckily I got myself moving again. Then making the turn onto my own street I got stuck in deep snow, but fortunately two neighbors were outside and dug me out. I parked outside my driveway because of the 3′ tall icy berm blocking me. The next morning I called the backhoe who came and dug the driveway out so I could park. I usually do all my own shoveling, but when those tall berms freeze I just don’t have the strength for it. Now my locking system has done something bizarre so I can’t open the back door on my Explorer. I’m either going to have to figure out how to disable it, or take everything out the side doors. *sigh*

But heh, I am home at my warm house with my warm pets and all is well. (As I write this the cat is settled on my lap and the dog is curled up beside me. Another dog is at my feet, and another cat — well, she’s doing her own thing.)