22 March 2010

I know it’s spring. Of course, the calendar tells me it’s spring . . . the days are now longer than the nights and daylight saving time has begun. But, the real reason I know it’s spring is that the piles of work to be done in my workshop are taller than I am!

This little pile represents a number of current projects:

At the bottom of the pile is BeaJay’s burgundy/brick red overskirt and on top of that is the unplanned underskirt and the underdoublet for John … these projects are on a back burner (hence the bottom of the pile) until we do another fitting.  You can just see one of my paper patterns on top of that pretty blue and burgundy chenille brocade.

On top of that is the delicious fabric that Linnea bought on Friday afternoon for the lining of her new Pendragon bodice.  She fell in love with the new Desree style with lapels and tails from the steampunk line.  And, of course, pink is her colour.  That fabric will be shipped off to Nicole today.

Next up on the pile is one of the two chemises I’m making for Kathleen.  I have them mostly done and am in the process of adding sleeve length and elastic to suit her style of wearing them poofed and gartered.

And on the top of this pile is one of the trims I’ll be using on Glenda’s new outfit.  It’s a very coppery gold metallic woven fancy guimp that will mark the seam between the copper skirt and the blue guarding at the hem and up the front.

And, that’s just one of many piles!

~MB

Share on Twitter

Leave a Comment »

21 March 2010

The second day of Spring wasn’t much warmer than the first here in North Texas. Scarborough’s performing company had the day off from rehearsals in an effort to prevent the cold and wet from spawning illnesses. It was a tough weekend for our friends at Sherwood Forest Faire, I’m sure. And, if I understand a couple of Facebook posts correctly, it was a very rainy second day of Spring in Florida. Hopefully our renfaire friends in Arizona didn’t have an awful day, too!

Kyle and I stayed indoors for the first part of the day—he actually had to work from home today. I got some work done, but I also must admit I discovered my newest addiction. I found a new game on Facebook that is my sort of game … at least so far. It’s called Kingdoms of Camelot, and right now I’m busily building my little corner of the world and increasing my rank in the peerage. I started training my army later in the day, and I suspect that after my four-day period of protection from attack and invasion has ended (a nice way to keep beginners from getting trounced right off the bat) I may lose my enthusiasm for the game if I have to actually “fight” a battle. But, for now, it’s pretty and it entertains me. And since my beloved Yoville has temporarily turned off some of the most fun aspects of the game for “maintenance,” I could afford to refocus that time somewhere else.

The highlight of the day, though, was popping down to No Frills to meet not only Brett and Jill, but also Stephanie and her sister and soon-to-be sister-in-law. It was wedding dress shopping that brought them to Arlington, and a Facebook message and subsequent phone call that allowed for us to plan to be in the same place at the same time for the first time in way too long. We had a wonderful time catching up and enjoying each other’s company.

And, now, I’m all caught up on The Daily KRuMB again, and it’s way past bedtime!
Wishing I could kick this vertigo that just flared up again … I don’t know if I can blame the weather and my sinuses, or the acupuncture (or the less than perfectly stable table I was on there this week), or what? I’m tired, but not looking forward to laying down. Wish me luck!

~MB

Share on Twitter

Leave a Comment »

20 March 2010

Vernal Equinox
Happy Ostara!

The calendar tells us that today is the first day of spring. But, the thermometer tells us a different story entirely! In fact, as the day is drawing to a close, we are receiving our fourth snowfall of the season in North Texas! It was a cold, wet, windy day, and although originally the forecast for tomorrow was brighter, that has changed, now, and the wise director of the Scarborough Academy of Performing Arts not only sent his people all home early today, but has now canceled tomorrow’s rehearsals and classes as well. For me, that means I will not be driving down to the faire site to deliver costume pieces to my folks. I will instead stay home and get some more sewing done.

That’s what I did today, too. I cut out a two more skirts and three chemises, and sewed the chemises to completion. I will hope to get Brittney’s bodice done by about Tuesday, and work the rest of the week on Dan’s and Glenda’s orders. Once those are done, that leaves only the Queen to finish before opening weekend. Right now, I’m still feeling a bit behind, but, there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

I took this photo early in the day, while I was still in and out of the Mouse Suite, otherwise known as our guest room or my office. Artemis has taken a liking to the back of the big chair I sit in, and at one point, as I re-entered the room with a fresh cup of coffee, I was struck by how fun and bright and cheerful was the picture of the white cat surrounded by all the Disney-esque primary colours. So, here she is. I hope it makes our readers smile like it does for me. It might be fun, also, to see who can find the most “Mickeys” in this photo!

~MB

Share on Twitter

1 Comment »

19 March 2010

My second visit to the acupuncturist went much more smoothly than my first. The only weirdness today was a little touch of vertigo as I got off the table. I even had the wherewithal to snap a photo of the doctor’s sign as I left my appointment.

I had a very busy day, and due to a morning appointment with Brittney and a “to do” list I wasn’t willing to compromise on, I was a tad late to the needle appointment. But, I called to be sure that was okay, and the doctor said to come on in anyway. While I was getting ready to leave, I realized this appointment put me a third of the way to the fabric store I need to visit for both Shannon and Glenda’s orders, so I dropped my swatches into my bag and organized my finances to be able to do that errand. On the way, I made a quick phone call to Linnea and made plans for her to meet me at the store, so we could search for her fabric as well.

After a short power nap on the acupuncture table … yes, I was more relaxed this time! … I was off to Dallas. I had a lovely chat with my mama on the way, and the fabric safari was really more of a hunt and kill expedition. I went for two pieces of fabric for my stuff, and some trim and hoped to find Linnea’s fabric as well. I came home with all four items! That might just be a first! Woo hoo!

~MB

Share on Twitter

Leave a Comment »

18 March 2010

After having Kyle at home, working in the living room or his home office for two days, I missed him terribly today. And, as a result, I spent the entire day in my workshop and never once took the camera from my purse to use it.
No photo today.

~MB

Share on Twitter

Leave a Comment »

17 March 2010
Happy St. Patrick’s Day

I was rather outspoken about the fact that if the Pub Guys were to have a religious holiday and therefore not have to work, it ought to be St. Patrick’s Day. But despite my “logic,” the owner of the Firehouse Grill wanted the guys to do their regular bi-monthly gig and record the show on St. Patty’s Day.

So, after a very odd work day where Kyle worked from home, it was off to the Firehouse Grill. Kyle left the house earlier than I was ready to go, and Kat picked me up on her way south a little while later. We were very excited to hear the PubGuys being broadcast throughout the whole restaurant when we arrived at about 6:34 p.m. The show went well, although the new wiring and speaker setup presented a bit of a challenge and there will be yet another learning curve to get everything adjusted perfectly. It also seems that the fans might have to learn where to sit under these new circumstances—the accoustics of the place are not exactly ideal. But, entertainment took place, and the recording went well. And it was yet another week of surprise faces in the crowd! Kat and me, and Lisa—we are practically to be expected these days. But, it was a wonderful surprise to see Jorge and Tracy, Brett and Jill and Stephen!

It wasn’t long after the PubGuys were done when the Mansfield Pipe Band began to arrive. When they started to play, I snapped this photo, having taken none earlier in the evening. It shows the firefighters in their kilts and it shows the size of the crowd—much, much larger than an average Wednesday night! Although the quality of the piping was questionable, the enthusiasm of the players and of the audience was not to be denied. Our group played some fabulous trivia games and a good time was had by all.

Slainte!

~MB

Share on Twitter

Leave a Comment »

16 March 2010

I worked on this project until I ran out of the proper colour of jewels and then ordered some more. They should be here by Monday or so. Until then, this pretty skirt-in-the-making adorns the embroidery hoop stand in our living room.

~MB

Share on Twitter

Leave a Comment »

15 March 2010

Happy Birthday, Stephen!

I worked rather diligently all day today, and when Kyle got home from work, we got ready to celebrate! Today was Stephen’s birthday, and we’d been invited to join him and some friends at a local barbecue place that is a favourite spot for Stephen. I had my usual stuffed baked potato, and much to my chagrin, I finished it all! Stephen opened cards and packages and there was a cake lovingly baked by his mom.

The surprise highlight of the evening for me, was that Jim presented me with an amazing packet of papers and a lovingly-made chart depicting my geneology! I had all but forgotten that he and I had spoken about all this a year ago! I now have newspaper articles and copies of official documents, and even a nearly hundred-year old photograph of my ancestors! I was thrilled, and I will continue to peruse these documents and enjoy them and learn from them for many moons to come! I strongly suspect that I will at some point decide to get curious and contact some of these folks who share parts of my family tree. I am quite jazzed about the whole thing, and cannot wait to share it with Kyle’s mom who is also very into the whole geneology thing.

But, really, despite my excitement over all that, it is Stephen’s day and we were glad to get to celebrate with him.

~MB

Share on Twitter

Leave a Comment »

14 March 2010

I did sleep in today, but that didn’t mean I goofed off. I got on a roll late at night and did the lion’s share of the sewing on the Queen’s new overskirt. My photo was taken during that process.

The day also included husband-time, and dog-walking-time, and laundry-time … for a quiet Sunday at home, it was a very busy day.

~MB

Share on Twitter

Leave a Comment »

13 March 2010

This photo is the view from East Wind Games out across the lane to Pendragon Costumes at Scarborough Renaissance Festival, four weeks before opening. Today was our second big work day at the faire site. The first day, we worked almost exclusively on East Wind Games, the big project being the replacement of the floor of the booth. This day, was to be split between the two booths, and was to involve the first cleaning of the season at Pendragon, and the painting of the new floor at EWG. I had a list of a dozen or so jobs that really needed to be accomplished, and I think we achieved all but maybe one of those. It was a beautiful day, and we had a good little team of hard working friends that Kyle and I know we will never be able to fully repay or adequately thank.

Next big work party is what we’ve come to call “Trailer Day.” Set for March 27th, that’s the day we take the trailer and truck, loaded to the brim with product, and unload everything, and set up the shoppes. It’s a long, tough day, but it’s also when things really come together and the energy of the faire itself starts to build in all of us. It’s the day I usually do some training of new booth workers, and we make the lists of last-minute projects for booth improvement. It’s a fun, exciting, hard work day. So, if you’re reading this, and you’re available on the 27th … come on down! We provide the beer!

~MB

Share on Twitter

Leave a Comment »