Wiesenfeuer Baronial Championship, Part II

After feast, my feet were killing me so I parked myself in a chair (the first time I had sat down in nearly six hours!) and chatted with Lady Danielle while the feast hall turned into the Court of Their Excellencies Wiesenfeuer. Eventually the rest of Clan Namu joined me, as the unsuspecting Cadfael was up for an award. We cheered for the Baronial Champions, cheered for our newest Flaming Weasel (Lord Orlando burned a large hole through his froofy-sleeved shirt whilst cooking feast so he got what is basically our blooper award) and watched as our Baroness became an apprentice to the mesmerizing belly dancer Mistress Rhiannon.

Then HL Thomas Quilliam started reading the next award. Poor Thomas. Welsh is not his forte at all. As he read the scroll, I could barely understand the name Cadfael Ap Mynnydd Ap Dowen Ap Dafydd (not that I was surprised or anything... I can't pronounce it myself!). I turned to look at Cadfael who looked completely perplexed. "I think that's me?"

"I think that's you, man, maybe you should stand up and approach the thrones!"

While Cadfael made his way to Their Excellencies, escorted by his sister, Katrina, I darted around to the side of the audience with her camera and captured a few nice pictures of the moment. When Baron Elric turned Cadfael around and introduced him to us as the newest Lord of Ansteorra, our entire clan (all 6 of us) chanted "Namuuuuuuuuuuu!" and applauded him. It was a proud moment for us all.


When he came back to his seat, he still looked bewildered. I sat for a moment looking at his scroll until Thomas began again...

"Their Excellencies do call Emine Hatun al-Tha'labii bint Abdullah into their presence." All I heard was "Emine" (the rest proved that Turkish is not Thomas' forte either), but that was all I needed to start my hands shaking.

Since I was sitting on the outside isle, I started walking that direction. Ashikaga had expected me to follow him to the center isle, so I wasn't exactly escorted to Their Excellencies, but I made it there somehow. We bowed in front of Baron Elric and Baroness Dominique and I knelt on the baronial pillow.

To be completely honest, I didn't hear much of what Baron Elric was saying. I was too busy trying not to cry (it wasn't working) and the Baroness was making "Aww, honey, don't cry!" faces at me. His Excellency had me rise from the pillow as Thomas was reading my scroll to the populous and Her Excellency gave me a long, reassuring hug. After His Excellency gave me a hug, he turned me around to face the populous while Thomas showed off my scroll. I turned to look at it and couldn't help but clap like a little girl when I saw how pretty it was. The Baron introduced me as the newest Lady of Ansteorra and the populous clapped for me and shouted "Vivat!" while I heard the low, chanting tone of "Namuuuuuuuuuuu!" That's when I looked down at Ashikaga who was prostrating himself before me, resplendent in his Japanese court garb, reverence capturing his face.

I was awe-struck for a moment as they handed me my scroll and I walked back to my seat, forgetting to take Ashikaga's arm once more. When I sat down, my clansmen greeted me with hugs and pats on the back. Tomburr whispered in my ear, "After nine years, it's about time. Well deserved." I wiped the tears from my eyes and enjoyed the rest of court with a big, silly grin on my face and the overwhelming desire to go sit in my tent and cry.


Saturday Night
After court we went back to Their Excellencies' cabin once again to prepare for the hafla. Most of the populous was already at the covered pavilion and we could hear the drummers warming up while we stacked serving platters together to transport to the little kitchen down there.

As I mentioned in my recent blog on cooking, the hafla snack bar was a fantastic success. Branislava is a goddess and I look forward to learning more about Mediterranean cooking from her. We're planning on doing a cooking day in the near future so I can learn the right way to make rahat loukoum (aka Turkish delight). I have made it before according to a recipe and video on About.com, and it turned out exactly like the video portrayed, but it wasn't authentic at all and it didn't taste all that great. On top of that I have issues with food textures and it was just too much like Jell-O for my liking.

Anyway, as we were hanging out at the hafla, it started raining and by the time the party was over, there was mud everywhere. I was ready to go home to sleep (we live about 15 minutes from site) and come back to get our sopping wet things in the morning, but Ashikaga convinced me to give our Coleman tent another chance.

Just as I remembered, camping in the rain sucks. The next morning we packed in the rain and neverending inches of red, Oklahoma mud and drove home, leaving our tent there to dry. Turns out, our tent was leaking like a sieve so we trashed it. I guess that gives us even more reason to work on getting a period tent.

In conclusion, an absolutely amazing event. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend (trust me, I tried to convince the head of my Household that it was time to make me a full-fledged member, but he wasn't buying it hahahahaha).

Wiesenfeuer Baronial Championship, Part I

I have to tell you, this was the most amazing SCA weekend ever. Aside from the rain and sore feet, an absolutely perfect event. And now, in a billion words or less...

Wiesenfeuer Baronial Championship

Friday
Whilst at work I finished a couple of sewing projects and then went home where I packed and headed for camp. It was nearly midnight by the time I got there. Luckily, Ashikaga, Cadfael and Andy had already set up our tents and were sitting at a nearby picnic table talking to our long lost Namu brother, Nickolaus. After a bit more catching up, we all went to bed.

Saturday
Saturday was the busiest day I have ever known. It started at 9:30 am when Kyna woke me up on her way to the list field. I had a gate shift at 10, so I threw on some make-up, combed my hair out as best I could, got dressed and headed for gate. I have recently made a good friend in Lady Genefe Kruse who turned out to be my gate partner along with a gentleman I had never met before. For three hours we sat under our little tent and chatted about a variety of topics. I shared my harrowing sharab experience and made Genefe promise to try my ma'mool at the party that night. She happily swore she would.

After my shift ended at 1 pm I had just a little time to play before I needed to run home and pick up the cookies and syrups and return for the Champions' Ice Cream Social. I found Ashikaga on the list field, luckily between fights. He had lost the championship to Sir Owen, but wasn't too upset about it. We both (and undoubtedly everyone who has ever met him) adore Sir Owen and agree he deserved to win.

As Ashikaga went back onto the field for some pick-up fights, I made my way toward the car. However, I was unusually popular at this event and everyone stopped me to chat. So what would have been a 5 minute walk to the car turned into an hour and fifteen minute walk to the car! Not that I would have had it any other way -- every conversation was a pleasure -- but I was a bit late getting back for the ice cream social. Shanna didn't seem to mind, though.

Lady Shanna Camber was asked to do the Champion's Ice Cream Social a couple of months ago and, much like the Middle Eastern snack bar, I offered my services to her. Shanna and I have been steadily become better and better friends over the last year so I was more than happy to help. And I loooove ice cream! haha Luckily, Lady Genefe had also asked to help, so the three of us had fun for a couple of hours dishing up ice cream to all the past Baronial Champions, their consorts and anyone else who wanted some refreshments. At one point I had five smalls asking for ice cream at once and I wound up getting it all over my gomlek sleeves (Note to Self: make a shorter-sleeved gomlek in which to work).

The ice cream social ended about 4 pm, I think, so I rushed off to see if Branislava needed any help with the snack bar stuff. She had come to me earlier to say there had been a mix-up with the lamb meat and she needed Ashikaga to help her grind it in an old-fashioned meat grinder. By the time I got to the cabin she had the lamb kofta (meatballs) finished and, let me tell you, they were fantastic!!

Things started getting fuzzy about this time because I was getting so nervous. Lord Orlando di Gilead had asked me several weeks ago if I would be Head Server for his feast. I have served many times, but I've never been Head Server, so I was starting to get rather jittery about it. I walked up to the feast hall and found Ashikaga and Cadfael already working in the kitchen. I had called for a servers meeting around 5:30, so I just kind of wandered around and mentally went over my game plan until enough of my servers had shown up.

I won't go into all the gorey details, I'll just say that feast didn't go exactly according to plan. I'm not much of a leader so I floundered back and fourth between wanting to be authoritative and follow the plan Orlando and I had discussed and wanting to accomodate my servers and make sure they weren't too stressed to enjoy it. Throughout the meal I had several people come up and tell me I was doing a great job and I never really felt bombarded by complaints from either the servers or guests, so I think that's a measurement of a success. Everyone seemed happy and full by the end and my servers got fed (we had more than enough food left over for everyone so if they didn't get their fill, that was their own fault). In the end, I think I did better than I gave myself credit for at the time.

At the end of feast, Kyna came over, wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered in my ear, "I just want you to know that I am so proud of you." I probably should have figured out then that something was up...

Portable Fiber Arts Night (PFAN) and the Simple Ottoman Veil

Last night was the second edition of Portable Fiber Arts Night (PFAN) in the Barony of Namron. I live in Wiesenfeuer, but I work in Namron, so after my shift I swung by the cafe where it was being held and, let me tell you, I had a great time!! The circle started at 7, but I don't get off until 8, so I was about an hour late. Not that it mattered much because everyone had just brought their current projects and was sitting around chatting. I am currently between inkle weaving projects, so I just took my new kumihimo wheel and practiced my box braids for two hours.

It was especially nice because my best friend, Kyna, had the night off and came out, too. We got caught up over hot chocolate (by far the best I've ever had!!) and split a bagel.

In just the short time I was there I learned a little about tablet weaving (which I'm not ready to try just yet), how to make a maru dai out of ply wood and dowels, and the best way to finish the edges of the veil I'm working on.

Speaking of the veil, I'm ridiculously excited about this project because it will be my first attempt at handsewing garb. I have handsewn before, but it has been limited to small projects like pouches and pillows. And I know a veil doesn't sound like that much work, but it's a very looooong veil, so it should take me a while. Hopefully I can get it done before Medieval Fair!

Ode to a Fair

As the new year picks up steam, almost every corner of my head is crammed with ideas. And with the highlight of my SCA year just two months away, it's getting worse by the hour!!

The University of Oklahoma's 33rd Annual Medieval Fair takes place the first weekend in April and is the largest event of its kind in the state, not to mention one of the top 5 or so largest in the nation... and it's FREE!

Even if I wasn't in the SCA this would be a much anticipated weekend, but being in the SCA gives it almost Mecca status. And I'm not the only one who feels this way...

People who haven't come to an event in four years suddenly show up with shiny new armor and fine clothes. People who haven't missed an event in decades are as excited as newbies. Okay, okay, maybe that's a an exaggeration, but it does get people pretty worked up around here, and for good reason. Our local groups see this as an opportunity to widen our appeal, bring in new members, educate the public about what we do, and maybe even show off a little.

Mostly I see it as a test of my abilities. It seems that every year since I was sixteen Medieval Fair weekend has been the time to prepare for and learn new things. The year I was sixteen I tried my hand at sewing my first piece of garb: a far-too-long, off-the-shoulder English-style gown in some heinous fabric I can only describe as a mixture of fleece and felt. I was miserably hot and constantly tripping over that ugly train. I think the next two days of the fair my friend Adena loaned me some middle eastern garb because I was so disappointed. In fact, I don't think that dress lived past its first wearing. I'm pretty sure I threw it out that night.

Last year I was just getting to know my new persona so I spent several weeks before Med Fair making middle eastern garb. I made two new ghawazee coats, two new pairs of froofy harem pants, and a standard undertunic, all of which I thought was period for this new persona -- wrong! -- but I didn't know that at the time so I felt like a goddess all weekend and got plenty of compliments on my new, pretty garb.

This year I know better. Much better.

So, in preparation for this year's festivities, I started working on some mock-ups tonight. I've been experimenting with period garb for several months now after finally learning how to draft my own patterns. Thus far I have only been able to get the salwar down because the entari instructions I had were a little off. But I've been tweaking the pattern and the mock-up I cut tonight appears to be the right formula. I'll baste it together tomorrow and, if it works, I'll tear it apart and make paper patterns off of it (then I'll sew it back together, chop off a foot or so from the bottom and call it a chirka!).

In the meantime, I also need to get a kataginu finished for Ashi. I made him a gorgeous pair of red court hakama for Wiesenfeuer Yule Revel, but he didn't get to wear them because we had to leave the event early. And since he is going to Estrella War in a few weeks, a couple more kimono probably wouldn't hurt.

Anyway, I will have a proper "dress diary" in the next week or so. Until then, thanks for reading!

Emine Redux

1. What is your SCA Name? Emine Hatun al-Tha'labii bint Abdullah. Emine means "confident" (something I aspire to), Hatun means "royal lady" (documentable even without my AoA), al-Tha'labii is a nickname meaning "the foxlike" (though probably not documentable), and bint Abdullah means student of Allah (meaning that my persona later converted to Islam).

2. What time and where do you portray? The time is 1540 and I live in Istanbul in the Topkapi Sarayi.

3. In plain English describe your device. I do not have one yet, but my (unregistered) device is a black field with a red faceless fox head. I'll worry about documentation when the time comes, but the fox head adornes my older camping gear.

4. How long have you been in the SCA? Since I was 16, almost 10 years ago.

5. Do you have any special titles you have earned? Not yet.

6. What kingdom and local group do you belong to? Kingdom of Ansteorra, Barony of Wiesenfeuer though I will always consider Namron my homebarony.

7. Do you have preferred colors for your SCA Persona? It seems Emine prefers reds and golds although she does have her eye on a green and gold jacket in the near future.

8. What is your war that you look forward to going to every year? I have only been to one war (two years in a row) and no matter how many wars I attend in the future, The War of the Lilies in Calontir will always hold the dearest place in my heart.

9. Do you hold any offices? I am currently the Webminister for the Barony of Wiesenfeuer. I am considering applying for Hospitaller, but I'm not sure the strain would be worth it at this time.

10. Favorite memory from an event? There are quite a few, but probably my favorite was at my first Lilies War. My best friend and personal SCA muse, Kyna Terricsdottir, and I had shared a tent all war until one blustery afternoon when a storm came up and completely flooded our little temporary home! My beloved Sven Sixstrong loaned us the use of his yurt as he was planning to spend the evening with a new ladyfriend. Kyna and I, both 16 years old, delighted in being able to say we spend the night in Sven's yurt, in his luxurious bed, no less! The icing on the cake was on the next day, whilst galivanting about the woods with Queen Larissa's daughter, Tressa, we stumbled upon the missing "Girls" sign from the bathhouse. With Tressa's help (okay, she did all the work) we retrieved the sign and afixed it to the front "door" of Sven's yurt, claiming it as our own!

11. Are you a fighter? What kind? If I were a fighter I would be the terrible kind. That's why I am content to sit on the sidelines and practice my stitchery while my beloved Lord Ashikaga fights to his heart's content.

12. Are you crafty (making things)? I like to think so, though I have never had the patience to finish anything to the standard I'd like for an A&S project. Someday... someday...

13. Do you teach classes at events? Ha, not in the least, although every once in a while someone asks me a question and in return they get a barrage of information they could've probably done without.

14. Do you play instruments at events? I drum occasionally. I'd like to do it more often, but my drums need attention. I have abandoned them in favor of needles and thread.

15. Do you dance at events? On the sidelines. I'm not terribly coordinated, but I can undulate a bit and I dance enough to make myself happy.

16. Do you feel that there is enough flirting and chivalrous behavior in the SCA? If that is one's goal, there is plenty to be found.

17. Are you a “Black Hat” or a “White Hat”? I'm not familiar with those terms... strange... Someone refresh my memory.

18. What is one of the reasons you’ve remained in the SCA? After 9 long years I am finally starting to find my place.

19. What peerage(s) do you aspire to? Someday I hope to have a Laurel in costuming or fiber arts as those are my truest passions. My lord aspires to join the Royal Peerage so I wish him that success and will follow him happily.

20. Who was Crown when you joined the SCA? Duke Gunthar Jonsson and Countess Sara Penrose

21. If you are a Peer, who was the Crown that elevated you? See question #19.

22. Have you lived in more than 1 kingdom and which ones? I have lived in Ansteorra my whole life and hope to die here a happy woman (although I hope there will be plenty of travel in the meanwhile).

23. Have you helped found a group? I am the Kanpaku (Legend Keeper) of Clan Namu.

24. Have you had any house affiliations? Other than Clan Namu I am a whelp of House Wolfstar, one of the last of the Screaming Spoons and the last of the Sisterhood of the Shorn Heads.