.....Mondays are always tough. Everyone at work seems to want to catch up on stuff they let slide on Friday, and hurry up and get ready for the stuff they have on their plates for the upcoming week. So panic always seems to be in the air. Add to that all the cobweb clearing to be done from being home for two days straight, and it can be a real grindstone. Have I mentioned how much I hate Mondays?

.....This one is actually kind of interesting though, in a rather frustrating way. Dame Angharad has been maintaining Facebook in support of September Crown. We have been putting out messages to let people know they should make sure and pack some water. At first we weren't sure of how we would tap into the water available on site, and whether it was drinkable. Then, when we were given permission to tap into that water and were assured that it was drinkable, it was noted that it was a distance away from most of the camping. So we continued to encourage people to bring their own water to site. Dame Angharad dutifully promoted this on Facebook. And was pretty much beaten over the head for it with demands that all Teams should ensure sites had adequate drinking water before they were allowed to be part of a bid.

.....Dame Angharad handled it quite well actually. On my weekly informational e-mail on September Crown I'm sending out tonight, I'm making sure to include a note on drinking water. Hopefully people read it and regain some calm.

.....Working our way through the vehicle and parking issue. We're publishing notes on all the Parking Passes that essentially state people have 30-minutes to unload their gear once they get to their campsites. We are trying to get cars moved off the camping area as quickly as possible. We have never used this site for an SCA event before. We don't know its particular quirks and pitfalls and I'm being cautious. The fewer cars located in camping means fewer potential traffic jams.

.....People sent Angharad posts expressing their concern with the policy. I will have to spend some time clarifying that policy I think. It really is a hollow 'threat'. We're not planning on towing vehicles. We're not planning on standing around with stopwatches and timing people so they can be bullied out of the area after the 30-minute mark has passed. It is essentially an awareness issue. We really need people to move their vehicles off-site as quickly as possible.

.....I put this subject on today's Informational as well. We'll see what kind of response I get to it directly. If people seriously become unglued, we may need to soften that stance just a bit over the next several weeks. But as an awareness thing? It may be doing its intended purpose anyway.

.....I actually had fun at Summer Madness this last weekend. I was not looking forward to it on Friday as it had already been a long week and I have a 'to-do' list about ten miles long. I pulled myself out of bed on Saturday morning and had to convince myself that I needed to get dressed and get into the car.

.....But once we arrived on site? I had a lot of fun and the day seemed to just breeze by. Although it was HOT out there. I did redden up a bit. Thankfully there was a slight breeze every now and then, and I don't think it was as hot as was predicted. But it was still too hot for me none-the-less. :-)

.....We witnessed Morgan complete the Armored Combat portion of his Serjeantry Trials later in the morning. He and Conchobar sparred for around forty minutes. Morgan is a beast with two weapons. It was mesmerizing to watch. And inspirational. That's actually what I have enjoyed the most from the Serjeantry Trials, the inspiration that comes from watching the candidates perform and succeed.

.....After the individual one-on-one combat forms, Diomedes and Ajax joined in for some squad tactics and leadership trials. Again, in my opinion, Morgan was awesome in everything he did. It was magnificent to watch.

.....About an hour after the combat trials, it was time for the candidates to perform their bardic and dance trials. There were seven candidates present: Master Cedric, THL Morgan, THL Caius, THL Nidda, THL Jenae, THL Magdalena and Lord Albrecht. I enjoyed all of their bardic performances. I think the audience did as well as they maintained their attention throughout. :-)

.....For the dance portion, they all demonstrated the same two dances: Double Bransle and Horses Bransle. In such a large class it is a difficult thing to say they all need to do something different. But we may have to consider that for next year. I don't know. I'm still on the fence at the moment. *I* like dancing, but there are many who would otherwise have nothing to do with it.

.....The final dance was a Carolingian Pavane. Each of the candidates pulled a member of the audience out on to the dance floor with them and taught them the steps to the music. Then everyone lined up and we went danced through complete. At that point they had completed their dance trials. But we still kept dancing for one more song, the Korabushka, which is probably my favorite dance.

.....After that, it was time to set up for the potluck. Theodoric and Ella did a great job with all the cooking. I enjoyed the sausages and pork immensely. I certainly did not go away hungry, that's for sure. :-)

.....We sat around for a couple of hours, until early evening when the Mosquito Air Force came out in force from the surrounding swamps. It was like an air raid, with all of us running for our cars to get the heck out of there as quickly as possible. :-)

.....As we left for the evening I was once again reminded that we had survived a June Faire in the Uplands of Port Gamble one year. It was not our best June Faire, but we did survive. Which further reminded me that September Crown will be fine as that site is larger than the Uplands and will do fine for what we need it to do.

.....On Sunday we scooted back up to site to help Gwenllyn and Loric take down site and pack it all into vehicles for next weekend, when we'll go back to the Uplands for Huntsman's Challenge. :-) I anticipate it will be even easier than the picnic as I think we'll not have to be on site so early. But Sunday may be a challenge as we'll start working on plans to get all the bales of hay moved to the September Crown site.

.....Sigh, one thing at a time. Have to survive the week first.

.....Tonight is the last testing session before Serjeantry Trials itself. A Corpora Test tonight, based on Kingdom Law and Society Corpora. Ten essay questions. It should go fairly quickly as Magdalena gave a stellar training session to most of the candidates. Although, to be honest, most of them knew all the answers before Magdalena even started speaking. :-)

.....Tomorrow night is the regular Social at the VFW. I do not think we have anything scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday, which may be a miracle! But maybe I'll be able to get caught up with a few things dealing with September Crown. Then on Friday, back up to the Uplands to help with Huntsman's Challenge set-up.

.....And the wheel turns again. :-) The following week will be the roll-up to Serjeantry Trials on Saturday the 18th. The 19th will be a day of moving hay bales, and maybe a water tank if we're lucky, out to the September Crown site. If we can make that happen we might have the weekend of August 25th/26th open to actually get ourselves ready for Crown. I'm hoping for that at any rate.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....We're back home after a weekend on the greens of the Port Gamble Uplands. It was the weekend of our Baronial 'Summer Madness'. Billed by Her Excellency and myself as a relaxing weekend of food and fellowship. Notice I said 'weekend' rather than a one day picnic as we usually have done in the past.

.....TBT and I weren't quite sure of what to expect going into the weekend. There have been some mis-communications along the way and 'Summer Madness' seems to have been a good title for the event. It was not advertised in The Crier. Made it into The Flames and on to the e-lists. It also happened to be scheduled on the same weekend as about a bazillion other things happening.

.....But, you know, I came home today feeling pretty good. I had a good time, with good conversation, and good food. We'll see what the overall reviews are for the event from the Populace as a whole. They may decide ultimately that they prefer a one day picnic, and TBT and I will support what the Barony as a whole most wants to do. But I do know that there is a group ruminating over a bid to do a weekend picnic again next year. We'll see what happens.

.....Friday did not end well. Work kept me until the very last moment. I didn't get home and motivated until after 5PM. We didn't leave home until about 7PM. And that was considering that we still hadn't gone grocery shopping for the weekend. We decided that we would set up and then come back home for the evening, after shopping and pulling together our last handful of items. When it was full dark we had set up our pavilion, discovered we had left a quarter of the awning at home, and finally left after calling 'Uncle'.

.....Saturday, we were up early. Piled everything in Gwen's Truck, which they graciously loaned us over the weekend. Even made a trip through the Starbucks drive-through. I was concerned about how cloudy it was, but the weather report promised a clear afternoon, which proved to be correct. Arrived on site and finished setting up. Then spent the rest of the day, having fun.

.....Spent a while in the Baronial Pavilion speaking to a lot of different people who stopped by and just say 'Hi' and chat for a while. Then I wandered the site and spoke to those who had set up their day-shades in other areas. Lots of friends gathered for talking and relaxing. There had been heavy fighting and rapier fighting scheduled for the day, but in the end people didn't want to do anything along those lines. That's O.K. We emphasized quite a bit that the weekend be fun and relaxing and no one actually felt like doing either of these things.

.....But people were excited about the archery! A full York was in session, plus a smaller practice range. It was rather nice to see both the experienced archers get in their passion of a York round, and a group of newer archers get the chance to try their hand at archery and maybe find something to make them passionate. A win all around. I was especially happy to see THL Loric back on the archery range after a lengthy time away. He seemed excited about being there again.

.....The A&S Siege Competition was rather awesome. THL Madrun and TBT put together bags of odds-and-ends to which the recipients had to make something beautiful and creative. All eleven bags were handed out and people had some real fun with the activity. Some really cool things were made. But the winner ended up being a Trebuchet made by THL Mael-Duin. Go Mael-Duin! :-)

.....Lots of other activities over the course of the afternoon before dinner. Bocci made a roaring come-back and intrigued a number of players. I gave dance instruction to the Serjeantry candidates on site and it seemed to catch the interest of a number of onlookers. We'll have to add it to the agenda at future events. :-)

.....Petr and Kierran cooked for us again. Which was rather fantastic of them. They did it on rather short notice and they made bacon hamburgers and sausages. Which were delicious! People provided all kinds of good food on the side and no one went away hungry, which is pretty typical for any kind of foodie thing and Dragon's Laire. :-)

.....The 'Baby Shark' fan base is growing! We had several variations sung, which were all accepted with great laughter. There was also a Bardic Siege, which was also rather cool, with the topics being 'Her Excellency Laurellen' and 'Dogs'. Now, how do you get both of those subjects into the same song or story? Not easy, but I listened as Rycheza, Cedric and Ismenia did it with style and grace. It was fun.

.....After dinner and a lot more conversation, it was time for the bardic fire. It is starting to get easier, especially since our first at May Crown. But there is still more work to do. Deirdre came up with a good suggestion dealing with posting of particular songs prior to the event to give people a chance to print up and practice the words, so they can join into communal singing at the event itself. I don't know why we didn't think of that before?

.....I was dead tired by 10PM and trundled off to bed. The Uplands are really rather beautiful on a clear summer evening. The stars were brilliant. May have to bring the telescope up there some time. :-)

.....The dew was extra thick this morning! We ended up waiting until at least 10AM before we could start putting away the canvas. We left by Noon, and had Mexican Brunch in Four Corners. Made it home by around 2PM.

.....I'm tired, but it was a good weekend. Missed a handful of prominent people. Gotta get ready for work tomorrow, and then four weekends of SCA activities. Although next weekend may get overrun with other things, like the Shipyard. Which will look bad to cancel out on Autumn War, but I don't have a good alternative. Sigh!

.....Not looking forward to the week itself. It will be rather intense. But one step at a time. I'm glad the weekend was as good as it was, it's a good omen for the week itself.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....Yesterday a migraine attacked. I could feel it start close to noon, and it just got progressively worse. By the time I made it home all I could was getting into bed and sleeping it off. Which is exactly what I did. Missed a 7PM appointment to the Pelican Test Chat Room. Woke up at 10PM, rolled over, turned off the alarm and went back to sleep.

.....Called in sick this morning, which will have its own payback tomorrow. Which is a sigh! But I'm still glad I did it. Was able to relax and slow down a bit for a change today. Had lunch with TBT. Cleared some e-mail from the computer. Finished a circlet order. Am ready to hop into the shower before heading off to Fight Practice.

.....I'm excited about the Pelican Chat Room meeting later this month. It will have its own bugs to work out. But I'm thinking that it will ultimately enable MORE people to join in on the conversation. You can be at work, or at home relaxing, rather than trying to fight your way through traffic to try and make it to another meeting.

.....The main bug to work out is actually how to converse. When we're all face-to-face we can work in a modified Roberts rules. Or, at the very least, try our best not to talk all over each other. When you are in an online chatroom, you don't really have that luxury. And none of us in the Western Region are exactly, patient, in the way we approach things. :-) It will be a learning experience.

.....The migraines died back quite a bit after June Faire, so I think that stress has something to do with them. But I've got blood work done and waiting to be analyzed. It could also very well be an imbalance in the vitamins and protein, which Dr. Oh was religious in mentioning when I was still seeing him. Wish that Dr. Minteer were as diligent as Dr. Oh, but I'm also not so into fighting Seattle traffic to go and see Dr. Oh on a regular basis.

.....This weekend is our event of 'Summer Madness'. TBT and I plan on camping on Friday and Saturday nights. I have to pull the stuff out of the garage tomorrow night. Need to arrange for a ride to get it to site as well. Hmmm, need to remember to shop for regular food and a potluck contribution as well. I look forward to a leisurely camping thing. Not entirely sure what we're going to get this weekend, but will try to be ready for just about anything. :-)

.....The weather looks like it will be nice though. That's good. A lot of people look like they will be day-tripping. Which is O.K. This is an experiment. We'll see what people think afterwards.

.....Following weekend is Autumn War. We were planning on day-tripping. But there is a Shipyard function on Saturday that I wanted to take TBT and the Rhys Monster to. I'm not sure how we're going to handle that. We might have to back out of Autumn War, which is regretful. Will have to think that over some more. The original intent had been to go there on Friday and participate in some war. But there is no actual WAR on Friday, at least on the schedule. How sad is that?

.....O.K., I suppose I need to stop procrastinating and go take a shower now.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....Tennyson's poetry is, in my opinion, either really, really good, or really, really bad. In this case, 'The Lady of Shalott' is one of my absolute favorite poems...

On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And through the field the road runs by
To many towered Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round and island there below,
The island of Shalott.

.....It seems like a Tennyson type of day. I hope the weather lasts a few days. :-)

.....The State of Washington was finally paid last night for the sales tax I owed them from Ingasbo last year. I put together all my forms and spread sheets much earlier this year in support of the Federal Taxes, and all the appropriate figures were included on to the appropriate Federal tax forms. Then I put the paperwork aside. Every time I thought about it I kept thinking that I had already paid the State at the same time. A vicious cycle for sure. :-)

.....They wanted their money though. I was starting to get phone messages on the house phone. You know, the one on which we rarely check for messages? :-) So I slogged through it last night. Ended up owing the State of Washington almost $35. Which included a 25% late fee.

.....At some point soon I believe, just from looking at the forms, that a tax will be collected for sales made out of State and Country. That will end up being an interesting accounting maneuver. I can just imagine that if Washington State charges me for sales outside the state, the receiving state will charge the individual for that sale. Will I have to collect for both? It is already an interesting maneuver keeping track of the different sales tax rates in various locations within the State. Will I then have to track the different sales tax rates of any of the municipalities, counties, and states to which I make sales?

.....Definitely going to have to do some reading up on the issue.

.....I'm just glad I don't keep an inventory. All my circlets are done to order. I've pondered expansion into other areas at times. But keeping up with circlet orders takes enough energy and concentration. Maybe something for the future.

.....The Baronial Pavilion was loaded into the Jahnkin Mobile last night for transport to Hot Summer Lights. Part of me wishes I had taken it myself to the event today and camped. But there is a lot to do at home, and certainly TBT needs every spare moment she can get in catching up with her orders. All I have to do is to look at the August calendar to realize that any weekend night I get to sleep in my own bed should be cherished. :-) So it is home tonight and a trip to Druim Doineann fairly early in the morning.

.....It'll be interesting to see if Baron Alexsii makes an appearance at Hot Summer Lights. He's expected to. But I know there are things happening in the Blatha An Oir area as well. I know his Squire, who happens to be the HSL Autocrat, has probably worked hard at persuading him that he needs to be in attendance. I suppose they could split their forces, with Her Excellency Elspeth going to one function, and Baron Alexsii the other.

.....In either case, HSL looks to be more exciting this year than it has been in a number of years. You can see the excitement felt by the Shire Populace in reading their postings to the Shire e-list.

.....TBT and I will have our first Sargent's testing on Saturday as well. Both Jahnkin and Caedmon wanted to be put through the paces and be tested for their abilities at Heavy Fighting. Master Cedric is going to be our judge for the occasion. We sent him the criteria for the testing and Cedric understood the intent right away. He will do a great job with it, and already had ideas on how to improve upon it for next year.

.....The hardest part is making it challenging, showing the skills and abilities of the candidates, and proving that the candidates are good heavy fighters. Don't want to make it challenging to the point though that it becomes difficult to judge, or find judges to accomplish. TBT and I wanted to ease back just a little on the requirements as we emphasized the eventual Quest being as important as the Trials themselves. And something that could be done in a six month period.

.....It's been a difficult balancing act. Trying to ensure that all the various branches of the Serjeantry are evenly balanced in what is expected of them. But directly comparing Heavy Fighting for Sargents against Artistry for Courtiers is impossible. So ensuring that the Trials take as much ability and dedication for each branch to accomplish? That has been the real challenge for us. And will continue to be so.

.....Not only will Jahnkin and Caedmon have to prove their individual fighting abilities, they will also have to prove their abilities to lead a group of fighters into and through scenarios as well. I'm looking forward to watching this aspect just to see what each of the candidates do. Jahnkin and Caedmon are very different people and their leadership styles of course are very different. So what tactics and strategy will they each use?

.....Which led me to wondering how we see the same thing in the Arts and Sciences Courtiers. Can teaching be considered in the same league? Not really. So I wonder if there is something along the lines of a giant arts project that can be assigned to Arts and Sciences Courtier candidates to prove their abilities to lead, as well as use tactics and strategy to succeed at a task?

.....Or is this something that a Courtier even needs to worry about? After we get through this year and have set the Candidates on their Quests, it'll be interesting to sit them all down and go through all the questions I've been collecting over the past handful of months. There will be a few changes in the requirements next year I'm thinking.

.....No armor for either TBT or myself this weekend. Mine still needs some work and TBT is still missing a few pieces. Neither of us have really had the time to devote to this at all. We'll end up being observers again. Which means of course that I'll be teased unmercifully again. Sigh! :-)

.....Sunday will be all about getting ready for the Summer Madness weekend next. The garage looks like a disaster area and all of our camping stuff is intermixed with everything else in there. Will definitely require several hours of organization to get it pulled. Not bringing everything I usually bring to a camping event. I think the multitudinous banners will stay home. Half the chairs will stay packed, alongside most of the carpeting. :-) I think that 'fun and relaxing' better be the mantra.

.....But I should go ahead and finish pulling out the stuff I need for tomorrow now. That way I'm not scrambling for it at 0600 tomorrow. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.