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(Cross-posted from my journal.)

It was a really, really busy weekend! It was great! We went to the Black Prince's Birthday, which is an event we have in the SCA (medieval reenactment). It's actually the event our local group (read: my household) organizes and hosts. This year, I was the Minister of Arts and Sciences, which means I had to coordinate the competitions for the various medieval arts and artisan projects. I also did a lot of calligraphy, lettering names on the award scrolls I designed and painted over the past year for this.

Friday evening, there was going to be a torchlight tournament, but the weather didn't cooperate. Instead, they had a bardic circle, with music, singing, and storytelling.

The kids and I went over about 8 yesterday morning, all dressed in our medieval clothes. I had to be at A&S registration until noon, so I had some scrolls with me to work on during any down time. We had some really nice entries in the competitions, and I got to talk with some great people who do art similar to mine. Princess Anneke came by to see the displays, and Baroness Nastasiia (I think that's the spelling) came by shortly afterward. They were both really woderfull, and the Princess gave my kids each a white chocolate lollipop she'd made.

Mid-morning, there was a Tea for the Princess, before the martial activities got started. After her Tea, there was a class in the A&S hall, though I didn't quite catch what it was.

When the registration was done, I left the judges (the Princess, Baron, and Baroness) to view the displays, and I went outside to view the martial contests. We had a pretty even division among heavy sword fighters, rapier fighters, target archers, and non-combat equestrian riders. The horses were beautiful. I hung out under the pavillion with the Mistress of the List for a while, as it was a great place to view the events.

I was so happy that my boys were asked to help the water bearers carry water and Gatorade to the fighters, as the girl who was in charge of that is wonderful with kids. She kept them all day and evening, except during dinner.

Mid-afternoon, I had to go back to the A&S hall to tabulate the voting and letter the names of the winners on the award scrolls. Also, the Baroness had an additional award I needed to letter entirely, but that went fairly quickly.

When all the contests were over, and the awards were ready, the Baron convened Court, where he and the Baroness presented a lot of awards (the Princess didn't have anything to present this time). It was so cute when all the children were called forward together. Each girl got a necklace vial of fairy dust, and each boy got a stuffed animal. Even the tiniest babies got gifts.

After Court, which most of us had dressed up for, by the way, we all set up our places in the feast hall and generally got ready for feast. I ended up with two little girls, as well as my boys, sitting with me, but that was fine. We had good friends seated on either side of our group, and pretty much shared the meal with another family as one group. The meal was amazing, as usual. There were three separate removes before the dessert, as well as fruit dishes between removes for palette cleansers. The first remove was coque au vin with gingered carrots and broccoli smothered in toasted cheese. The second remove was braised pork with marinated mushrooms and saffron rice. The third remove was fish cooked under a layer of zucchini, yellow squash, and onions. We also had brown bread with herbed butter or honey butter all through the meal. Dessert was orange balls, cheesecakes, and chocolate-filled cookie sticks. The two fruit offerings were apples in a honey/yogurt sauce, and strawberries in a yogurt sauce. By the end, everyone was far beyond full. Oh, the high table, for the ranking people, also had shrimp cocktail, crackers with a cheese ball, and tiny savory tartlets at the beginning.

During feast, we held the bardic competition, with one storyteller and one minstrel. At the end of the meal, the A&S awards were presented, along with some various gifts and appreciation items. I was called up at that time, to be recognized for the huge number of scrolls I designed, painted, and lettered for the event. That was a real surprise!

After feast, the kids went over to the adjacent playground until dark, then had medieval-themed animated movies in the A&S hall. The same girl who had the kids all day took them. About half of the adults, including me, stayed in the feast hall for instruction in performing medieval court dances, usually requiring sets of four couples. The Baron partnered me for my very first court dance. It was so much fun! There was an awful lot of spinning involved, and I had to sit out after it, but it was great. Most of the rest of the adults went down to the tent area and had a bardic circle, with a lot of drumming, singing, and dancing. That's always the rowdy party, though it always sounds like fun. A few people went home at that point, and a few went to their hotel for their own party.

The kids ended up falling asleep during the movies. We had their sleeping bags, even though we weren't planning to spend the night. I decided to let them sleep, and begged spare blankets from others to make up a pallet on the floor in the A&S hall. I found a spare chemise and tabard among our things, so I could get out of my green velvet court gown for the night.

Sleeping on the concrete floor, even with a folded comforter under me, was still sleeping on a concrete floor, but I did get a reasonable amount of sleep. I was stiff when I woke up, and I'm still a bit sore, but I don't really mind.

This morning, we had a group breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and bicuits. We had some informal time to visit, and to make future plans, which was nice.

We were the last ones off the site, leaving about 2 pm today. We'll go back during the week to get all our stuff, which we locked in the buildings, and clean the site, before we return the keys. We got home to some very hungry pets, and took care of them all right away. Then I got showers for the kids and me, watching out for the scalding sunburns on all of us.

I really had an amazing time. I'm glowing a bit, from so many people complimenting all the various projects I had at the event. A number of people said they were really going to work to win my award scrolls next year, because they like my work so much. I have several commissioned scrolls to make in the next couple of months, which should be a lot of fun.

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