We set off in our matching household teeshirts on Friday morning and made it to the site by mid-afternoon. As the first arrivals from the household, we staked out a spot to set up tents, and then set up a few besides our own for later arrivers. Nobody likes putting up a tent in the dark. After checking in with the kitchen folks to pick shifts and pay, we got into garb and settled in for a relaxing evening. Things turned out to be fairly chaotic for some fellow cavalry members who had car trouble along the way, but I'm proud to say that a dozen people from our household and our local barony stopped to help out, keep them company, etc. Friends swapped out cars to get kids taken care of, and to send tents on ahead for those who would be late while waiting for help to arrive. I'm not sure how many tents we earlier arrivals set up, I think about half a dozen, but that kind of thing is why I love my SCA family. The whole household was settled in by 1 am.
On Saturday, there were lots of activities taking place to score war points in this battle between the forces of Artemisia and An Tir. I decided to participate in the Iron Needle competition, where we were given a square of linen and challenged to create a largess item by the end of the day. This was a lot of fun, but meant we spent most of the day in camp sewing instead of watching the other contests and seeing friends. We sewed furiously right up to the 3 pm deadline, and I'm proud to say my friend Mistress Giliana won the competition with her gilded fabric bag complete with documentation, with my student sister Beatriz taking the novice award for a pulled thread embroidery pincushion. I made a cup cover with rolled hems, pearl beads on the corners, and an embroidered A on it (for An Tir or Artemisia). Did I remember to snap a photo? Of course not.
Overall An Tir took the competition and kept their seaport on the Columbia River. The best part of court for us, though, was watching my husband accept a well-deserved Golden Maple Leaf (our kingdom's AOA level arts award) for his awesome work. I was so excited for him.
That night my husband took his oath to become a man at arms to his friend and knight Sir Brynjolfr. There were a lot of friends in attendance to lend their support to the ceremony. it was a lovely moment.
I turned in fairly early, then it was up on Sunday morning to pack and get on the road back to Arn Hold. This was a fun and low-key event. Though my energy level still wasn't what it was before getting pregnant and I was/am still dealing with some other fun symptoms (walking to the biffy in the cold 3 times a night, anyone?), it was nice to feel more with it than I did at Estrella. I should say a special thank you to my husband, our household, and especially Beatriz's other half Nick for making me take better care of myself than I otherwise would. That whole learning not to burn myself out business is still a challenge.
Photos below, and more blogging to come!