MrsBrown's philosophy of life and stuff

Thanks to Sneetch, I feel a bit like crap.  The panadol will kick in anytime now and I'll feel up to doing stuff.

What stuff?

This stuff:

go buy the last of the fabric we need for the Midwinter banner project.
finish up the plaster prototypes for casting
Midwinter admin
piggy back on mr-bassman's forging plan and melt some pewter for a casting trial

I'll also have a nap, go to dinner with their imminances and be part of the actual construction of banners this evening.

In my copious spare time, I'll be a part of Rose's kindergarten visit, write the post about being the parent of a 21 year old I've been planning, get MsNotaGoth to go to school and recover from this nasty disease.

When organising a Crown event, you should pretend that it starts 3 months earlier than it really does. 

Especially when you're also the Feast Steward.

Tonight dellascala posted a picture of a woman wearing black tippets.

It looks to me like that picture has been redrawn for the engraving in the book, which means that the tippets are in danger of having been misinterpreted by the modern artist.

So I tried to find a copy of the original manuscript online. Turns out that lots of people wrote about Willehalm de Orange, including Wolfram von Eschenbach in 1270. I don't think it's the right manuscript, but there are some very nice pictures.

There's also this nice one from 1420

This one's a child in a plaid houppelande and here's that kid again and someone in a particoloured houppelande I'm up to page 142

I found the manuscript I should be looking for, it's described here but I haven't been able to find it using my favourite manuscript search site

Here's an original picture from the manuscript, and it shows tippets!

Tonight I sewed the butonholes on MrPeacock's new fencing jacket.

And then the machine stopped making nice buttonholes, it just went forwards and backwards with a skinny zig-zag stitch.

Luckily I had done all the main jacket ones.

I had a nice time using one of the wood chisels to cut the buttonholes. Why didn't someone tell me that it's so easy?

I'm just waiting on MrPeacock so I can work out where the buttons go and the thing wil be finished.

This weekend is a sewnig weekend. I'm going to:

cut out a new dress for me and sew it together enough that it can have a final fitting on Tuesday night
make venetians for Sneetch
make sleeves for Rose
make a Bruegal coat for Rose
make shirts to go with Sneetch's venetians (I'll use my new copy of POF4 for that!!), but without embroidery.

I'm also heading to the werribee zoo on Sunday to bond with my sister, allow Rose to play with her cousin, check out the animal exhibits, eat African food and enjoy mr_bassman's gig at 5.30pm

It's a good thing mr_bassman just pulled apart the sewing machine and "lubricated the shaft" and also that MsNotaGoth will be looking after Rose all day Saturday and Monday.

or else other people have a different definition of reasonable?

First incident:

At Aldi this morning I was the second person in the queue at the check out. My trolley wasn't amazing full (but it cost me an awful lot more money than it should have, impulse buys!). I was approached by a slightly older woman with a bag of stuff and a couple of other items, there might have been less than 12 items, but maybe not. She asked if she could go ahead of me in the line. I said no and she went away to the other line. To try someone else I suppose.

Second incident:

I was driving my Flexicar back to its carparking spot. As I drove into the street there was some one doing a U-turn and I followed him to go and park in the correct place. Then he parked in my Flexicar spot. I tooted and indicated that he should move. I tooted again. Then I put the car into neutral and got out to explain that the car I was driving had to be parked in the spot he had put his car. The spot clearly marked, "No Standing - Flexicar only". He pleaded with me and told me that he would be "only a minute, he just had to pick something up". I repeated my story and told him I expected him to move. He then locked his car and started walking away!!

That's when I enabled booming embarassing voice, "I THINK YOU ARE BEING VERY RUDE, YOU SHOULD COME BACK HERE AND MOVE YOUR CAR". All the people in nearby Victoria St stopped to look and he scurried back to his car and moved it. I was only just leaving the car when he came back, so he was right, he was going to be only a minute, OTOH, how annoyed would I have been if he hadn't returned?

BTW, come and buy a fighter at Arrowsreach Tournament tomorrow and raise money for the Bushfires, as well a possibly winning a groovy medieval thing.

I need to write this list so I know what size trailer we'll need to beg borrow or steal and or how many trips we'll mr_bassman will need to make. Feel free to add to this list.

Barn tent and accroutrements
circus tent and accroutrements
extra tent pegs and ropes for the dining tent
Kirrily tent for Barracks? (ask on the list if people need it)
Our bed and futon
our trestle tables and legs? (astemudfoot, have you hired these?)
Stormhold sunshades and stuff including poles
wash tub ? (sjkasabi, what's the washing up plan?)
bedding and garb for MsNotaGoth, Rose, mr_bassman and me
Armour - lots!!!
seating benches and boxes
carpets
canvas
potje
feast gear
cart


sjkasabi, have you remembered doushkasmum's really large copper pot? do we need a welder to make a tripod for it?

yep it's a list of stuff my brain is boiling over with.

I need to finish the shoes I'm making for rose
I should finish that unfinished project I pull out every year before William Marshall
As you know I want some Roman garb
I want to make Rose some linen flemish with partlet and aprons
It turns out Rose has only 2 aprons, I think she needs more
I need to send the event form for Midwinter to Pegasus
but before I do that I have to find time at work to finalise the tourney location and thus the event costings
I need to find someone to sort out event tokens (this is a little early, but I'll keep stressing myself out to remember, so I'm writing it down so I can happily forget)
I should clean up the Family room
and put away my SCA clothes from last weekend
...
I could make some shoes for me!
and start putting together a menu for Midwinter, so we can plan times to make stuff
find the time to be a good Baroness, which I feel is lacking right now



And when I've finished all that I'll have time to angst about work

I've been feeling a bit lost lately. I haven't really had any enthusiasm for making stuff.

And then I realised that I didn't really have a list of stuff to do - hence no enthusiasm.

I got better:

Ankle boots for Rose

Flemish dress and partlet for Rose, in a fabric she won't overheat in during summer.

New pouch for mr_bassman

MsNotaGoth, who is reading this over my shoulder, says I need to put ankle boots for her on the list. Maybe she could make her own and then make some for Rose.

New shoes for me.

A theme and then menu for Midwinter

Flyer for Midwinter

Persuade MrPeacock to organise a play for Midwinter

I have a nifty drawing, but first some links to get you in the mood.

A kitchen should have a hearth raised above floor level, like the one in this castle kitchen


Note also the "chimney". It's a section of wall with an opening for the fireplace. The smoke goes behind it.

There's a section showing how the smoke hood might work on this page, scroll down to the heading "Firehood"


I think the fire window is pretty good, I saw one at the 1820's farm I visited in Tasmania two years ago.

Where does the smoke go after it goes out of the smoke hood. what happens at roof level?

There are some great pictures of a tudor kitchen interior here

Here's the outside of the building at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum


Where's the chimney? I think the smoke comes out of the triangular dark patch at the top of the gable end wall.

Flights to Perth for Midwinter Coronation for mr_bassman, mrsbrown and Rose:

Virgin - $1680
Jetstar - $448 x 3 = $1344
Qantas - $471 x 3 = $1413
Qantas frequent flyer points - 108 000 (I don't have that many!)

yep, dreaming.