13.7.

Only two more working days left before my summer vacation. My part of planning the Cudgel War’s foodstuff is done, UlfR is making the lists for the shopping today and then he’s work is also done. I might read the recipes once today just in case... I made a headscarf for UlfR to wear at the kitchen... it is more useful than a coif... although he looks like a pirate with the headscarf (no it is not red it is white.. but still). I also made a new (very simple) pouch for me... because I found out that my older pouch was dead. Also I have started slowly pack things for the Cudgel. UlfR doesn’t have enough tunics for the Cudgel so I have to make something simple to him... I will go to shop some linen today. We are going to meet Elsa at Wednesday... the plan is to do panic sewing together before the event.

5.7.

We have been at Mikkeli to visit relatives and have a small vacation. It has been great because I can really do some work here. The work means counting the eaters and writing the recipes down for Cudgel War. It is very easy to work here because it’s quiet and I don’t have many distractions here like at home. But anyway it looks like that it take more time to write recipes down and do different kinds of small tasks before the event than last year mostly because we have more and more allergies in these days. It is almost impossible to provide versatile food for everybody for every day. And it really looks like that we have to make alternative choice for every dish! I only hope that we get enough help for the kitchen duties. Huoh.

I really don’t want to sound too negative.. I love to be at the kitchen but I am also very concerned about us and head cooks (feasts) and event steward’s wellbeing.

I have also picked a basket full of meadowsweet leaves and dried them and a basket full of blackcurrant leaves, (which are not yet completely dried yet) for next spring and our wedding (we are making mead and other non alcoholic beverages for the wedding). Also I have started to make meadowsweet flower liqueur and blackcurrant leaf liqueur for the first time ever (very exciting to see how tasty those will be… blackcurrant leaf liqueur is already same color than Fairy :D). The picking part was very difficult because I have quite bad hay fever. But I survived! (I couldn’t count how many times I sneezed after it).

But now.. I will write more recipes down :).

Turku Medieval Market

We are back from Turku Medieval Market with lots of new things. I now have for example a new back basket. I am very tired and somewhat in pain now and I don’t know why because I have slept a lot during the weekend.. it might be the warm weather? UlfR has asked twice today that why I am sighing all the time… (I don’t know… I haven’t noticed about doing that…and he is sighing also). But anyway I had a wonderful weekend with wonderful people at Turku. Sigrid’s mittens are almost done (only thumbs are not done). I started to do a naalbinded hat for me for next time we are sleeping at a tent. Ahh.. I can't write more today my brains are not working :). But here is some pictures..

Sahra and me at the Market with our new strawhats

Elsa making a cord with lucet

25.6.

Today is the day when the Turku Medieval Market opens. We have packed our things and we are ready to go. I am going to wear simple and light weigh medieval clothes and my new straw hat because it has promised lots of sunshine for the weekend. Today we are planning to do some shopping and tomorrow and day after that we’ll help Sahra and others and canton of Unikankare (SCA people at the Turku area) have display there so we are planning to go there also. I will bring my naalbiding stuff with me if somebody wants to see how to do it. I also have my unfinished renaissance socks with me.

Midsummer Coronation

We are back from Midsummer Coronation and from a very beautiful event site Storholmen (Nordmark, Sweden) http://www.storholmen.org . I am very tired and happy that today I have a day off from work. There is so much to tell about the event and I don’t know where to start :). It was nice to meet old friends and make new ones as well. The people at the Viking age village Storholmen was hospitable and kind. They have made lots of work at the village to reach its splendour. And what a beautiful garden they had there! I didn’t took any photos of my own at the event.. I was too lazy to do that but there are once again some good photos at Sahra’s blog.

This is one of Sahra’s photos of Baroness Katariina, Knut, UlfR and I.

The coronation itself was also very beautiful event. The new King and Queen of Drachenwald had made a big effort to make the ceremony exquisite. Part of the ceremony was in Latin and they come to the ceremony humbly without shoes. At the Saturday feast King Gerhardt and Queen Judith announced that we UlfR and Eva are the next baron and baroness of Aarnimetsä (Finland). Our Investiture is going to be held here at Aarnimetsä 11^th-13^th of September 2009. After that I don’t know what the future is going to hold for us but one thing is sure, there we are not able to be at the kitchen at the events for two years. Lots of people have been asking about are we going to miss the kitchen and the answer is sure! But it is good to have other challenges at time to time.

Before that there will be other events. This Thursday we are leaving to Turku Medieval Market (which is going to last till Sunday). Sahra and Suski are going to sell there jewellery, naalbinded things, tablet woven braids etc. Elsa and I have promised to help them.

Camping clothes and the hand sewing challenge

Yesterday was very hard day at work so after that I was too tired to do anything....

I hand sewed about 15 meters seams last week (mostly at weekend) and that means my blue linen Eura underdress and (un-dyed) linen apron (with tablet woven decorations) are finished. I now have clothes for camping and rolling in mud if needed :D. I decided not to make pants for UlfR... I didn’t have enough time for make the Thorsberg trousers and I had lots of other excuses not to do the pants yet. Today I will do some packing for Summer Coronation.

Btw. we have a hand sewing challege at our barony. It's about hand sewing 1000 meters of seams. I am definetely participating to that :) and I will send my progress here also. The challege begun at Summer Nights event.

Wonderful news!

Lady Eilgri Beccan our regional (SCA) embroidery guild head has opened a blog for Aarnimetsä's embroiders! The blog is in Finnish and can be found here: http://kirjontakori.blogspot.com/

Results from the second dyeing

The balls are from the first dyeing and the yarns from the second. The first one on the left is onion, the second is tansy and the third is lupin. Dyeing was so fun that I can't wait to have more time and space for another dyeing experiments :D

Summer Nights

I am not tired which is very weird considering lack of sleep from last weekend. Summer Nights was once again fun event! The theme was this time a tavern and travellers stopping for night at the tavern. There wasn’t the usual feast this time but food was served like at restaurants. Travellers ordered plates full of different kinds of food according to traveller’s taste and dietary habits. For example I ordered the plate with all sorts of delicacies and UlfR ordered the plate full of meat. The idea was very good and so was the execution (60 people got their food in about half an hour!). But I still think that you have to have the master planner gene in you (that Sahra has) to execute the idea that well (and very competent staff at kitchen that she had... Elzebeth, Filisia, Ingeborg, Lempi and Ilona). UlfR got is new cloak at the event and managed to got he’s first burn mark to it at the camp fire. Well that only means that the wool in the cloak is real wool. And I got more bronze spiral material, a tablet woven belt and a yarn of wool dyed with woad from Suski..

Today Sahra and I talked about the Summer Coronation. I need another apron for camp fire (I don’t want burn marks to my new wool apron) luckily I have some undyed linen at home. I don’t necessary have to make a tablet woven belt to me now because Suski gave me one. I already re-hemmed and shorten my white Eura style linen underdress for the Summer Nights so that’s done. I will continue to sew today the blue linen Eura style underdress together. I don’t know about UlfR’s new pants yet.... I had bad luck with the pants last week. I started to make the pants and the work was almost done when I found out that the wool I was using was miserably bad. It already had a small hole in it. I realized that the pants wouldn’t last without braking for an event. I was quite pissed after finding the hole and after that it has been very difficult to start making new pants and I am not sure if I have enough good wool for it (it was about 4 hours handsewing for waste).

Kragelund tunic

UlrR’s tunic is done :). It wasn’t very easy to make the tunic because the sleeve construction was quite challenging. I have hardened the shoes with beeswax and his socks are finished also. It looks like we are not going to have very good weather at next weekend so it means that we have to take lots of warm wool clothes with us to the Summer Nights event.