Gambesson dilemma solved :-)

With a few slight modifications, I will be using the gambesson I made for T as he doesn't use it. Problem one down ;-) I need to make an arming cap now!

Got the second lion's head sewn on Gryffen's banner - need to mark the eyes etc and sew them.

Got a bargain today at one of the local bookstores - Tudor Treasures to Embroider by Pamela Warner for the princely sum of $9.95! It has some really cute projects in it I hope to do, *sigh* the list just gets longer!

We are hoping to go to Rowany's Newcomers Feast in March but it will depend on if T's work picks up - it's a bit quiet at the moment. February is our crap month where a whole heap of bills hit at once and we have Border War at the end of February so we'll just have to wait and see.

A few projects started......

I have had internet on and off over the last few days - has to do with hitting our cap and having speed throttled - the reception isn't that great then and with 4 computers trying to hook up you get the drift ;-)

Bought Family Tree Maker 2010 on Saturday and have been entering data and searching online stuff - it is going to take years! I have a heap of research from years ago that I need to enter, documents to scan, my grandparents old photos to go through etc. It's been really interesting and exciting!

Today I started painting some sample scrolls - they aren't too bad but my hand isn't as steady as I would like it to be yet! I also did some more on Gryffen's banner, got one lion's head sewn on. I need to get some bottle green wool or crochet cotton to do the other one. Watched Mama Mia and Ever After this afternoon whilst I was sewing ;-)

Thoughts whilst driving........

I seem to do most of my thinking when I'm driving - something about the open road, the freedom, I don't know.......I have been thinking about buying a dictaphone because when I get back and by the time I get to post here, it never seems to come out the same. At least if I could record it as I'm thinking it, I could in theory transcribe it later on. I digress.......

I did have an interesting drive to Bathurst today, in a good way! LOL Just under three hours each way including a stop both ways ;-)

Between Lucknow and Vittoria is a hilly part of road where there is not a lot of opportunity for overtaking. About half a dozen of us got stuck behind a slow moving vehicle for some time. Finally we get to an overtaking lane and we all move out and around - the lane ends fairly quickly so everyone speeds up a little to get past in time. As we are doing this, over the crest of the hill comes a highway patrol car! Talk about brake lights coming on left, right and centre! Very funny! No-one got booked, the max we would have been over was 5km/hr.

As I was driving through the valley coming into Bathurst I had the most amazing feeling of euphoria. You know what, there are a lot of things to be grateful for - especially with all the turmoil in the world and things like the Haiti earthquakes. I don't think we appreciate all the good things often enough, no matter how small they may be.

Today the sun was shining, I got to drive through some beautiful countryside in a comfortable car (work car) with air conditioning, having the freedom to listen to my favourite songs, singing as loudly and as off key as I liked! LOL I was listening to the song 'Twisted' by Brian McFadden and the words really struck me. I know it probably sounds silly but I was almost moved to tears - because it really hit me how blessed I am. I have an incredible husband, incredible sons, incredible extended family (including both sets of parents) and friends, and although there are times we may get frustrated with each other, I love them none the less and I am grateful they are in our lives.

I love my life - I feel content and I would not want to trade with anyone!

Anyhow, the particular words that struck me were:

And I smile my twisted smile when I say,
Let the world keep turning
Cause I'll be standing still
And the earth feels closer to heaven
Just because you're here
I've been chased by angels
I've been drunk out of my mind
And the earth feels better than heaven
Just because you're here
Twisted

So true :-)

While I was in Bathurst I bought 2 new cds - Black Eyed Peas 'The End' and Toby Keith's Greatest Hits 2.

And it's Thursday again already!

Got lots of filing and archiving done today so was at least a productive day! I'm off to Bathurst for work tomorrow - 3hr drive, 3 meetings and a 3hr drive home. Then I'm off for a week! Hanging out at home, appointments and getting the boys ready to go back to school. I can't believe January is nearly over!

And the words of today are.......

chronic autoimmune urticaria. Say that 4 times really fast!

That is the name of the condition I have - at least now I can Google it! LOL

Shooting combat arrows is fun!

T, the boys and I, shot combat arrows at a dummy tonight until it got too dark to find the arrows in the scrub ;-) Was much fun! I am a shocking shot and only hit the target by dumb luck. T and the boys on the other hand are naturals *sigh*.

Now I need to get my gambesson made so T can finish my armour and I can start practicing! I need to get authorised at RWIV so I can keep my promise to Will and shoot his arrows back at him ;-)

It was really nice to spend some time outdoors as a family too - pity the weather won't stay this cool! Now I just need to find the armour I want. Was thinking about learning to make chain mail but I don't think I have the patience or the fine motor skills to do it! LOL

Sad and disappointed

I guess that is one way to describe how we all felt when we went to the RSPCA yesterday to help by walking the dogs. I probably should have posted as soon as I got back while my thoughts were running but needed to get ready to go out for lunch with T's parents - it was their 51st Wedding Anniversary (congratulations!!!!).

Poor Gryffen was most upset when he realised just how many dogs and cats are out there at the moment - they have had over 150 through since 1st January. It's really heart breaking - there are all sorts out there and all ages. Some are outgoing and friendly and others are timid, scared and obviously haven't been looked after. We walked about 16 dogs I think in total in the hour or so we were there - plan on going back out on Saturday. I am really proud of Gryffen, he dried his tears, picked a Chihuahua cross to take for a walk and gave it lots of love :-) They have even had to double up with pens as there are just too many and the Ranger keeps bringing them in. I hope that it starts to slow down now - the workers do an awesome job but there is only so much they can do too :-( The problem would be pretty much non existent if people were responsible pet owners - unfortunately there appears to be a large number that just don't care or think that animals are worthless. To me, they are the worthless cretins! The hard part of going out there is knowing that a lot will need to be euthanased, and of course knowing we cannot adopt anymore! There is always at least one we would love to take home! We come home, give our animals a hug and a pat and know that at least they are getting what they deserve - a good life! I love that when I go for my walk that the dogs come with me. I just have to say to Scrappy - going for a walk? And he talks right back and gets so excited. He always stays with me and if I drop behind a bit he comes running back and grabs my hand to make sure I am okay. You can't get better than that ;-) I love that when the cats come in from their pen that you get a happy meow and cuddles - and that Candy curls up next to me to go to sleep at night. Although it is absolutely heart breaking when we lose one, there is no way I would be without them. I am lucky that T and the boys all feel the same way.

Although it isn't much, we will keep doing what we can to help. If everyone just looked to themselves and their own backyard it would already go a long way to changing things.

Drooling!

After a random conversation with T this morning, we are looking at maybe traveling to Europe in about 5 years time (the boys have been warned they will need to start saving LOL). Where do you start? What do we want to do? I naturally want to spend some time in the Netherlands but it would be good to do some other stuff too. I know we won't get to see a fraction of the things we would like to see but we could always go back ;-)

Looking at spending 4 weeks there all up - so I thought I would look a few things up out of curiosity, and then went OMG I will have to start planning now to be ready to go in 5 years! None of us have ever been overseas.......

Anyhoo, when thinking about interesting places to stay, I came across this one, The Chateau De Clavy-Warby in France. I figured 2 weeks in the Netherlands, a week in France and maybe a week in Germany. *sigh* I might have to start buying Lotto tickets!!!

Excited!!!

Went out for nummy dinner with T at Hog's Breath tonight, boys are at my cousin's for a night of Warhammer and PS3. Yes, it is very quiet!!!

I decided to try and do some more research on Delden and couldn't find a whole lot - some lovely people on The Shambles had some great suggestions which I will pursue (will need Dad's help though for translation).

I also came across this site by 'accident' when broadening my search to Medieval Low Countries. It is a Review by Elisabeth van Houts of 'The Narrative Sources from The Low Countries' website. I am off to do some reading!!!

Just had to share :-)

Iz tiredz, needz bedz now........

Busy, busy week back at work but at least I feel like I have achieved something! Still a long way to go tho..........

Watched some more episodes of 'The Tudors: Season 3' last night - may be 1 more episode to go or we may have watched them all - then will have to wait for the final season *sigh*. Funny thing is T bought the original for me but he got really engrossed himself!! Yes, I know it is loosely based on History, it is after all a soap opera written to keep viewers entranced rather than being historically accurate. I am okay with that - I watch it for entertainment value ;-) Hmmm...Henry Cavill as Duke Charles ;-)

Anyhoo........after doing some reading on the net about the Tudors (the real ones), I decided to start doing some research for my SCA persona, who is from Delden, in the Low Countries in the 14th Century (haven't pin pointed exact date yet LOL). I must admit I am a little frustrated - Googleing 'Delden History' hasn't exactly given me great hits first up. I know, patience! LOL Anyone got any tips?

Oh well, time for bed. I have been good and getting up early for my walk everyday - tomorrow will be day 5 in a row and week 1 completed! Yay me :-)

This reminds me of a few people in the morning.......

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Dark, stormy skies

rumbling thunder, and a huge downpour! It still looks very dark outside but the rain has stopped for now. And I still have an internet connection - yippee!!! Turns out it was the branch on the big tree out the front interfering with our already weak signal ;-) At least the temperature has dropped a bit! They are predicting a ten degree drop in temperature - hmmmm 45 to 35, better but still too hot in my book!!!

I am starting to catch up at work, the pile of notes to be recorded is getting less but there is still so much to do! I am off to Bathurst for the day next Friday for some meetings. Will need to be at work by 8am and should be home by 6pm - then I am on leave for a week! (To get the boys organised and back to school.) The following week mum and dad will be away so need to make other arrangements for the boys after school.

So much I want to do but by the time I get through everything at work, come home, cook, clean up etc and with the heat, I just don't feel motivated!

What to do, what to do - banner making, calligraphy or play Warcraft? I might read for a bit..........

Hello, anyone out there?

Probably not, but that's okay - will continue to post when I feel like it ;-)

Have been back at work for two days now catching up on the backlog after having two weeks off. I'm having another week off at the end of January to get the boys organised and back to school.

Weather sux as usual, supposed to be a cool change coming through in the next couple of days - can't wait!

Cancelled my gym membership - it's not helping and it's killing my feet. I've decided to just eat sensibly (most of the time) and walk 5 days a week. Shock, horror, I have arisen at 6:30am the last two mornings and done two laps of the block each day (2.8km per day in total), then I've done a 20 minute walk at lunch time. On the days that it is not stinking hot I plan to walk of an evening too. According to my scales I have lost 1kg this week - could be the scales playing up though ;-) I have blisters on my blisters and my ankles have been locking up but nothing some good stretching doesn't fix. I've also got the Zumbafit DVDs but they are a little too energetic and need too much coordination to do everyday! I plan on doing that once a week to start with and then work my way up. I need to lose 20kg to help relieve the pain in my ankles. I see the ankle specialist next month - I have heel spurs in both feet - can you believe it?

Spoke with the allergy specialist yesterday - looks like this is going to be a long term thing of special diet and medication. I have to say though, as long as I follow it I feel great. I gave in at Christmas and splurged on favourite but 'not to eat' foods and paid the price. Man was I sick Christmas night and Boxing Day. Went back onto the diet and I was fine. Had Tacos tonight so now I have a rash - but I knew that would happen ;-) It should settle again in a few hours - makes it hard to sleep though! Tried Paw Paw today - not sure that I like the taste. It's one of the few fruits I can eat so I am going to look at maybe trying them different ways - time to search for recipes!

I'm hoping my Calligraphy ink and paints will turn up tomorrow - if not then should be here Friday in time for the weekend (we only get mail 3 times a week)! I'm really keen to get going on this ;-)

I have mixed feelings about the SCA at the moment - part of me is really excited about some of the things happening and part of me just isn't sure it is worth the effort anymore. I'll just blame the weather - hard to think of wearing frocks and fighting in armour when it's 43 degrees!!

I started cutting out the new banner for Gryffen on Sunday but with the heat, lost enthusiasm very quickly! I must admit Warcraft has been the go when I just want to veg out and do nothing! LOL

Anyhow, off to feed Candy and then to bed.

Waiting for it to be 11pm........

so I can start a download for C. We have reached 48% of our peak download allocation and it is only the 8th of the month! I guess that is what happens when you have 4 computers hooked up to the net and it is school holidays ;-)

Christmas has been and gone - it was a wet one this year with over 100mm rain. It rained all day but we still spent it outside at the BBQ area with the aid of tarps!



Lots of time with family, same as New Year's Eve. I got to have two weeks off work, back on Monday. Not looking forward to all the stuff I will have to deal with. *sigh*

I am handing over the SCAA Stock Clerk office after 4 years - everything is packed up. I just need to work out when I can get to Sydney to hand over all the stuff - there is too much to send via courier or the like - it would cost an absolute fortune!

I've decided to take up calligraphy - as have the boys. I'm thinking about joining the College of Scribes (if they will have me). This is my first attempt at 'Uncial Hand'. I've had to order paints and ink online as I can't get it here. One of the downfalls of living west of the Blue Mountains ;-)



I keep looking for SCA events we can try and get too but there always seems to be something conspiring to stop us *sigh*. We are booked and paid for Border War in Wagga Wagga at the end of February, looking forward to that. We were planning on attending Crown Tourney in May in Rowany but it turns out it is the Mother's Day weekend. We were planning on staying with T's sister in Sydney but she will be in Dubbo that weekend more than likely. Will try and sort something out....... Rowany Festival is out at Easter. The drive is just too far and the cost too much. Our first experience at the new site wasn't the best either so not too keen to repeat the experience at this stage. Planning on attending Spring War in October but we will have to see what happens. Keeping an eye out for Rowany and Polit events - we would have liked to go the Polit event in February but it is only 2 weeks before Border War and it is too much to do both *sigh*.

The animals are doing well, both Princess and Candy have grown so much!

We still volunteer at the RSPCA - hope to go in the morning. It is so sad though - they have received over 100 animals this year already, that's in only 8 days!!! What is wrong with people and being responsible? Sadly, a lot of people don't see animals as important.

Speaking of important animals, Candy is climbing over the keyboard telling me it is bed time ;-)