This weekend was an SCA Event; Grand Tournament of the Dragon in the Barony of Flaming Gryphon (which was just a nonce north of Cincinnati for those keep score.) It was also the event slated for my husband’s elevation to the Order of the Laurel. (SCA: Big deal, Peer of the Realm, highest honor possible for the arts in the society.)
I had all the leaves sewn down to his elevation cloak save two sets (one I had forgotten in the bottom of the bag, oops, and Miriana’s contribution which she assured me she would have at the event.) On Friday we had a nice, fairly leisurely morning of packing up the car. We swung by Aiden and Hely’s house to pick up items from them for the vigil table and the husband ran to the bank and the bakery while I made a wreath! Making the Laurel wreath was easier than I’d thought it would be *whew* and I think it turned out pretty cool. Also major bonus; it fit perfectly in my Tupperware pie server.
There were a lot of texts back and forth with Cellach, Aiden and Gianna coordinating. Edward and I hit the road around 3pm planning to get to our hotel in time for dinner. He did all the driving there; which he didn’t have to. We got settled into the hotel and had a nice comforting meal at the Bob Evan’s across the street. We also bought a USB outlet converter at the gas station next door. (Which also had cheap gas! $2.89, cheapest we saw on the drive. We made a note to stop at this exit on the way back to fill up!)
Saturday morning we got on site bright and early and found Cellach and Vukasin in the process of setting up the vigil tent and jumped to helping. We unloaded and I moved our car to the parking lot and when I got back there was Crispin and Gianna setting up too. In quick order it became a very lovely vigil spot. We had a tree (yay shade!) Crispin’s beautiful table with an equally beautiful spread of snacks and yummies and the tent itself was adorned with Edward’s embroideries and accoutrements.
We had a hand-washing ceremony to start the vigil; Seadna provided the basin and pitcher but at the last minute was unable to attend so I read the words she sent while Sir Will poured the water, Robbie held the basin and Cellach the towel. Their Majesties were present for the ceremony which was extra special. Then we had the ceremonial hair cutting (They made me do it!) and then Edward was told “Go to your room!” hee, we set him in the tent and Their Majesties were the first to go in and offer him council.
Cadfan and Miriana took charge of the wait list to see Edward while I did my hair.. this proved difficult with all the wind! I needed helpers to hold hair for me, and managed at last to get my 14th century braids in. *whew!* I then proceeded to be a nervous hostess, constantly asking things like “Where is the clipboard?” and “Have you signed the book?” while I grazed on the food table. (I really have no self control where food is concerned.) I sewed on Miriana’s two leaves and returned the cloak to the tent between visitors. Eventually, Miriana shooed me off to the archery range for a bit. I really had fun shooting; it was a clout shoot (110 yards, approximately! Winner was whomever got an arrow closest to the pin!) I did better than I thought, and since it was unlimited arrows I shot my full quiver each time, getting more arrows in per minute, as it were. Marie came over and tried her hand at the combat archery target, she looked like she was having a blast 🙂
Back to the vigil; things were quiet. Apparently when the rain started, Cellach, Robbie and Will took shelter in the vigil tent and they were amiably hanging out waiting for the next visitor. It was a nice, chill moment. I was anxious though (because that’s me.) I went to stop by the other vigil; but they were closing down. The day had flown by! About a half hour later we closed down Edward’s vigil and he and I got changed into our garb for court. (It was way too hot to wear that wool dress all day!) I did need help getting it on… thankfully Marie was there! There wasn’t a lot of time before court started; but we hustled as a group and got the tent struck and everything packed into cars in record time!
The procession and ceremony were great; I hope that someone noticed our nod to The Court Jester! I did OK on my speech (I think I remembered the most salient points, since I had forgotten my printed cheat sheet at home, oops.) After court there was a lot of catching up and saying Hi to people we hadn’t seen all day and then we hit the road. The husband declined offers of meals in favor of a quicker return to his own bed! We got Wendy’s, heh. Oh, and we did get that cheap gas at exit 38 😉 We were home JUST before midnight and crashed, and crashed hard.
Sunday we did manage to unpack the car and put everything away somehow. I took Monday off of work, and that was perhaps the smartest thing I’ve ever done. Had a very relaxing recovery day!
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