in which our plucky heroine returns broken but unbowed....
This year ATWW was extra long, instead of a long weekend we got almost a weeklong SCA event at the lovely site near the southern Oregon coast. The moon was rising towards full, so the nights were well lit, and several mornings the cool mist from the ocean twisted its way down the valley and cooled the weather.
That lovely site, however, along a twisty creekside road, is several large pasture fields, with trees here and there and no real pathways or flat places. Cows and horses don't care about that, but the long event was really challenging for me physically, since getting anywhere involved walking (over very uneven ground mowed farm field) and my already damaged ankle was most unhappy at being asked to repeatedly take me overland from my tent to the portapots, particularly in the middle of the night, and to the few things I determined I had enough spoons to manage.
The good parts were that the class on block carving I taught was well received, I got to witness Vanya propose marriage to his ladylove (I have known young Vanya his whole 22 years of life, and his parents were some of my first SCA friends), and I had a chance to have a bit of a visit with Eilis who I dearly love and as she lives in Berkeley, almost never see these days. The other good thing is that all the clothing I made for them, and for Blue Cedar House over the month of June worked out really well, fit everyone, and were put to good use during the event.
Vanya and Elizabeth
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Other than those few good aspects the event was pretty grueling. I was in tears more than once. I began to doubt that camping with my friends was a good idea. I spent a lot of time remembering all the various activities that just a few years ago were so very easy that I rarely gave them thought, like walking from one end of the site to the other, or from camp to the portable shower truck on the other side of the creek... I sure am not 25 any more. I am not even 45 any more. Not only do I have
no spoons left, I am not sure there is anything left of my "kitchen utensils" at all...
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July SMART goals (x=extra)
| # | THINGS MADE | THINGS FIXED | THINGS GONE |
| 1 | 20 enamels for Wastekeep | x | x |
| 2 | tiny peach enamel | x | x |
| 3 | tiny linen bag | x | x |
| 4 | x | x | x |
| 5 | x | x | x |
| 6 | x | x | x |
| 7 | x | x | x |
| 8 | x | x | x |
| 9 | x | x | x |
| 10 | x | x | x |
| 11 | x | x | x |
| 12 | x | x | x |
| 13 | x | x | x |
| 14 | x | x | x |
| 15 | x | x | x |
