I'll post a real post soon about the Big Vacation (tm), the Festival, and how my life's been (crazy) recently, but I just wanted to share this with you:

This morning, as I'm puttering around getting ready for my day, I have the television on, as usual. Normally we watch the news, or the Weather Channel (Old Folks' MTV). This morning I was surfing, and came upon Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Just as they has escaped from the Black Knight by racing through the Medieval Village in the wagon, das Kind wandered sleepily into our room. He looked at the people getting into the time machine and said "That's a Privy!".

So I spent a few minutes explaining the concept of "Phone Booth".

He left for school saying "Be Excellent, Dude!" Sometimes this "Mom" thing is pretty cool. :)

This is twice now I've come home early from a performance day. Yuck! I am so sick and tired of being sick and tired. And I keep feeling like I'm letting people down, making people cover for me, and not pulling my weight. I really hate it.

Hi All!

We are busily packing, and I'm doing the last few things before I shut down the computer and pack it up, too.

Tonight, I'll be re-logging in, in Las Vegas! ("Oh yeah, Vegas, baby!", as das Kind has been saying.)

My Itinerary is as follows:

Las Vegas 6/11-6/15
San Diego 6/15-6/18
Anaheim 6/18-6/23
(Disneyland 6/20)
Fresno 6/23-6/26
Vacaville 6/26 -6/28
(Fair Oaks RenFest 6/27)
San Francisco 6/28-6/30
Home 6/30

If you're anywhere along this route, and want to meet up, jsut let me know. I'll have my cell phone, and if you don't already have the number, jsut ask, and I'll send it to you.

*hugs*

I am in the process of finalizing our Vegas/California plans for June. We're coming out for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. They were married in Las Vegas, and they want to go back for their 50th anniversary. We figured the three of us would tag along, too. Then we kept talking, and thought, well, we should go visit family, while we're in the neighborhood, and then got to talking about what ELSE they'd like to see and do, since we'll be in California, and well, I got our tax refund, and it all morphed into a kind of a whirl-wind "if it's Tuesday this must be Belgium" kind of thing. So, we'll be at Disneyland on June 20th, and the Fayre Oaks Tudor Fayre the 27th. (yes, der Hauptmann, das Kind and I can't travel without going someplace in a costume at least once.) Who wants to meet up?

I'm a day late, but

I Love You

http://www.obsessedwithconformity.com/obsessed_with_conformity/2009/03/in-the-name-of-love.html

Just a short note.

I am back from the Connecticut work trip, and the weekend at Jamestown for MTA. I didn't dress out, but I was on the injured reserved list. (I made an ER visit; Darvocet is a wonderful thing!) I had to work a half day on Friday, so I didn't ravel with the caravan, but rode down separately. I helped set up camp a little on Friday, and met the crew for Mongolian BBQ Friday night. My arm, which had started to hurt Thursday night, was getting worse. It hurt so bad Friday night and into Saturday morning that I found the nearest urgent care facility, and was treated. I slept most of Saturday, and lazed around the hotel. We (parents and das Kind) visited the site this afternoon, and left for home after a late lunch at Cracker Barrel, around 2:30. I talked to der Hauptmann about 8:30 - they broke camp and got on the road around 8-ish. The unit won 1st place in Best Camp, 1st place in Best Tactical Demonstration, and either 2nd in Best Cooking and 3rd in Best Costume or 3rd in Cooking and 2nd in Costume; he couldn't remember which. They're all pretty tired, and won't be getting back here until probably midnight or just after.

I just took another round of Advil and Darvocet, and I'm calling it a night.

I'm not putting this behind a cut. I want as many eyes to see this as possible.

Please read to the end of this post, and then decide what you can do to help.

For those of you who don't know what I do on the weekends, I am a reenactor and historian. I am one of the Living History Directors at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, where I have been privileged to lead a fine group of people who portray the household of Sir Thomas and Lady Kytson, at Hengrave Hall.

Hengrave Hall, as some of you know, is not merely the focal point around which the Living History Company of St. George at the Maryland Renaissance Festival exists; it is also a very real building, located near Bury St. Edmonds, in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is a very old manor house, having been listed in the Domesday Book, which was written for William the Bastard to detail all of the holdings in his newly conquered kingdom. Its ownership passed through various hands, and by the early 1500's it belonged to Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham sold it, along with several other properties, to an up-and-coming young mercer named Thomas Kytson (later Sir Thomas), who set about renovating and expanding the old house into one of the grand and stately manors that so typified the age of Great Tudor Building. It is an embattled manor-house, built along the quadrangle with inner courtyard style. It is made of yellow limestone specifically quarried for the purpose, and has stone dressings with expensive and specially-commissioned architectural features, including octagonal turrets and an oriel window over the front entrance that includes original 16rh Century Arms of the Kytson and Gage Families, as well as the Royal Arms of King Henry VII. In the great hall there is an oriel window with fan vaulting by John Wastell, the architect of the chapels at Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge. Its gateway, according to Mr. Gough in his Additions to the Britannia, vol. ii. p. 82. edit. 1789, “is of such singular beauty, and in such high preservation, that perhaps a more elegant specimen of the architecture of the age in which it was erected cannot be seen.”

The Kytsons never fully accepted the break with Rome, and enclosed their chapel to become part of the manor house to keep their recusancy concealed. Because of this, it contains one of the finest collections of pre-reformation stained glass in existence today, including 21 lights of Flemish glass commissioned by Kytson and installed in 1538, depicting salvation history from the creation of the world to the Last Judgment. This is the only collection of pre-reformation glass that has remained in situ in a domestic chapel anywhere in England.

Hengrave Hall underwent major alterations 1775 and again 1897-1900, and yet still contains much of it's original work and flair, including stone fireplaces, oak door cases with ogee-molded chamfers; first-floor coved ceilings of trefoil form, with molded cornices; and a large limestone fireplace in the dining room in Renaissance style with Ionic columns, strapwork, and painted coat of arms.

It has hosted King Henry VIII, Queen Mary I, and Queen Elizabeth I on their Royal Progresses, and King James I for a family wedding. It was the home of madrigalist John Wilbye and composer Edward Johnson. It is a unique witness to nearly 1,000 years of English history, and stands in mute testimony to the artists and architecture that transformed the country. It has an American link as well, for Margaret, the sister of Sir Thomas Kytson the Elder, married into the Washington family, and is an ancestress of George Washington, and Sit Thomas Kytson the younger married Elizabeth Cornwallis, whose many-times-removed grand-nephew Charles Cornwallis led British troops against his cousin George.

The Hall itself passed from the Kytson to the Gage Family, and from there to the Lysaght family in 1887, and the Wood family in 1895. It was then bought by the Religious of the Assumption, who ran a convent school until 1974, and then founded an ecumenical Community of Reconciliation and Christian Conference Center. Hengrave Hall has inspired the thousands who passed beneath its stately entrance and served their callings upon its grounds, and the thousands who know of it only as off-site home of a group of devoted reenactors who are dedicated to preserving and sharing the knowledge of Renaissance customs, skills, crafts, and folkways.

And now it needs your help.

In 2005, the Sisters of the Assumption had to sell Hengrave Hall because they could not raise enough capital for necessary improvements. It's new owner, David Harris, has submitted plans to convert this long-lived, grand old house that truly IS living history, into private flats. I ask anyone and everyone that has been touched by this house, or by the Company of St. George and its mission at the Maryland Renaissance festival, or by Living History and reenactment activities of the Tudor and Elizabethan eras, or by a love of history and preservation, to please join me in urging the local zoning commission to disallow this plan, and the Heritage Trust to purchase Hengrave so that future generations may study and enjoy this most precious piece of property for the national jewel that it it.

Please help by writing positive, polite, and concise letters to the people listed below. These are the contacts for the conservation office. I am trying to get contact information for the Heritage Trust, and will post with it later.

Conservation Team,
Environment Directorate,
St Edmundsbury Borough Council,
Western Way, Bury StEdmunds, IP33 3YS

Christine Leveson
Principal Conservation Officer
T: 01284 757356
chris.leveson@stedsbc.gov.uk

Claire Johnson
Senior Conservation Officer
T: 01284 757339
claire.johnson@stedbc.gov.uk

Email: conservation@stedsbc.gov.uk



Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Who sent thoughts, prayers, and good wishes, whether you wrote them or not. My Dad is home, happy, and, according to his doctor, pretty darn healthy. He has another check-up in 3 months, and we'll know more about how the cancer responded then.

I love you all! *big hugs*!

For prayers, happy thoughts, good energy, and/or warm fuzzies.

My Dad is going in for prostate radioactive seed implantation today, as the final step in this phase of his treatment for prostate cancer. He's 73.

Thanks.

That I have learned in the last few days from my eight-year-old:

you can't plan when to have a baby, it "just happens naturally",

"bass" is another word for "butt",

and Jennifer Aniston in a tie is "a hottie".

God help us alll. :)

I'm Done.

I am soooo tired. I have spent five weeks of the last eight in five different hotels, in five different cities. I left for the first on the last Monday in Sept., and went, rapid-fire, to St. Louis, MO, Windsor, CT, Charlotte,, NC, and Atlanta, GA. Then, I was back for what, two weeks?, and spent last week in Dallas, TX.

All for work.

Oh, and on those weekends in October? I was working at MDRF from 7am - 8:30pm or so.

Yeah, I'm beat.

Buuuuut, I survived 10 take-offs and 10 landings and had no flight delays and no lost luggage and only had to do the TSA aerobics and massage once. Not too shabby.

And, I'm taking Wednesday and Friday off this week, so I can cook and relax. Cooking IS relaxing. So, I shouldn't complain too much, anymore. ;)

And, it's 10:00pm, and I haven't been sleeping well lately, so I should really get to bed.

How're y'all doing?

Your Pilgrim Name Is

Mercy Priest

*snicker*

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
--Major John McCrae

My Dad is the commander for his VFW post. He served in the Occupation Forces after WWII, in Germany. He is 73 years old, and still says that Amsterdam is the most beautiful city he's every seen. If you've never been by my house, I live pretty close to the Festival, in a rural-ish area, and have an 836-foot-long driveway. Yeah - really long. EVERY patriotic holiday, my Dad lines it with flags. Eight big, full size American flags at the front of the drive, and then however-many-more-it-takes smaller flags, continuing on down the driveway, about three feet apart. EVERY Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July, Veteran's Day, and probably a few _I_ don't even remember, since just after he came to live with us in 2000. He puts them up a few days before the holiday, and takes them down a few days after, usually with the help of my Mom, and my eight-year-old son, who likes to haul the smaller flags in his little red wagon.

This weekend, my Dad spent almost all day Saturday and Sunday with other members of his VFW post giving small paper Poppies to people who donate to the VFW. (He's very careful to say that they're not actually selling them.) They raised over $2,000 this weekend. I don't know what other posts do with the money they raise, but my Dad's post will be using this money to buy pre-paid phone cards, which they will then take to BWI, and give to servicemen and women returning from overseas, so that they may call their loved ones. I think it's one of the coolest things that the VFW does, and I am very proud that my Dad is a part of it.

My patriotism comes from my Dad (and a few school teachers), and it's not the rah-rah-go-us flag-waving type. It is a deep and abiding love for this country's ideals, and a firm confidence that freedom, truth, and justice will rise above whatever lies, deceit, and dirt that mass-pandering throws on top of it. I have not always agreed with the causes for which the leadership of this country have decided to go to war, but I have always been grateful for the men and women who have answered that call, and sacrificed so much to do so. Happy Veteran's Day to you, as well. :)



(I actually wrote the above as a post in a friend's journal, two years ago. I edited it a bit, and am posting it in my own because I really want to remember it. And I'll show it to my Dad, tomorrow.)

Yeah - I should be sleeping. Or at least posting a real update. But, nah, it's a meme. I've been resisting it, but well, resistance is futile. ;)

When you see this, post in your own journal with your favorite quote from The Princess Bride. Preferably not "As you wish" or the Inigo Montoya speech.

"There's a shortage of perfect breasts in the world. It would be a shame to damage yours."

Ganked from rowangolightly

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test ...

English Genius
You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 87% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!
Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

Share this test with your friends! OR DIE!!!

I'm just chained to the sewing machine.

No, really. Der Hauptmann is adamant about our going to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival for the Jousting Tournament on Memorial Day weekend. He's wanted to go and compete in the Squire's Tournament for 3 years, now, but something has always come up. But this year, it's a ROAD TRIP! So, I'm sewing. 'Cause TennRen is an Elizabethan Faire, and all our clothes are either Henry VIII or Landsknecht, and either way it's "so three Monarchs ago!" :)

So, doublet and trunkhose for der Hauptmann, doublet and venetians for das Kind, and a couple new kirtles and a fitted gown for me. Oh, and a Tall Hat, 'cause he's just gotta have a Tall Hat. Oh, and a dear Friend whose husband is also competing is also sewing with me. We're doing a pair of kirtles and a fitted gown for her, too.

Much love to Margo, Ninya, Jane, and even Corynn for all the patterns and support groups I've been using. I'm gonna need a support group when I'm done. Maybe one that serves alcohol. :)

Thanks, jewelrose!

Your True Love Is a Gemini

Why you'll love a Gemini: Witty and sharp, a Gemini can keep up with your fast (and ever changing) mind. You're both fun loving and free spirits. You and a Gemini can enjoy each other without expectations. Why a Gemini will love you: Not only can you keep up with a Gemini's sharp tongue, you can introduce a challenge or two... You're appetite for fun and novelty will keep a Gemini interested - at least for a bit longer than usual!

More about me than you probably wanted to know.

1. My username is Anjabeth because I've been Anjabeth for 20 years now. (Anjabeth Hildis Krieger Hansen Blöde, Landsknecht Campfollower, and Weib des Hauptmans des TeufelsAlpdrücken Fähnlein.) This was originally going to be her journal, where I wrote about campaigns, cooking, other research, and did the occasional dress diary. Then I got sucked into the communities, started talking with people, making new friends, and it just took on a life of its own.

2. My name is not going to be revealed, because teh Intarwebs is not safe. :) I mean, seriously, those folks who know me in Real Life(tm) know who I am, and most of them call me "Anjabeth" (or "Lady Kytson", or "Your Majesty") for a good chunk of the time, anyway. ;)

3. My journal is titled Anjabeth's Happy Little Rules for Life in the Fähnlein because that's the title of a list I put together many, many years ago, that also served as the first post to this journal. Good rules to live by, both in the Fähnlein and out. ;)

4. My friends page is called Comrades in Arms because Anjabeth is a landsknecht campfollower, and it seemed appropriate.

5. My default userpic is a wonderful sketch by Urs Graf, a artist and sometime-soldier who traveled with the armies during the first half of the 16th Century, and drew what he saw. It is a campfollower pouring water and giving it to a soldier who is sitting down during a break from the march. Watering our soldiers is What We Do (tm).

6. My LJ subtitle is Deutsche Weibstrolle von Holle, which is a wonderful appellation given to the campfollowers of der Ritterlich Fähnlein (of which I was one) by Vater Anders Geisturm von Gambolputy, our chaplain. It is bastardized colloquial German, really more Mercenaire than anything else ("I don't speak German, I speak Mercenaire."), that roughly translates to "German Bitches from Hell". Meant very affectionately, and borne with pride, I assure you. :)

So, more than you ever cared to know about me. Or, er, Anjabeth. :)

For those of you who couldn't stay up, had a busted TiVo or VCR, or who otherwise missed it, the Food Network will be re-running the Dinner: Impossible episode that was filmed at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. It will be on tomorrow night, Wednesday, April 2nd, at 10:30 pm. It follows the much-loved Colonial Williamsburg episode, and I heartily recommend watching both of them, if only to understand why the first thing Chef Robert says when he sees our hearth is "Gaahhh! Get that LIT!!" :)

None of my comments made the final cut, but you can see me walking next to His Maj (who was quite awesome, BTW) and seated next to him at the Feast. You can also see der Hauptmann leading in the king's horse in the beginning, and it's his voice that introduces "Sir Robert" at the end.

It was a lot of fun, and it certainly shows the Festival in a very good light. Go watch, have fun, enjoy!

I have so much more that I wish to say, but I thought at least I can pass the word to those who have not yet heard. I'm sorry if it seems a bit impersonal.

Karen Cannon died peacefully at hospice Tuesday night, March 18, with her sister Jackie by her side, after along battle with lung cancer. Memorial plans are forthcoming, and I will pass them on as soon as I receive them. She'll be buried at the Veterans Cemetery in Crownsville with her husband - she thought that was appropriate to be near the fair!

Karen was a great lady and a very talented performer, playing such diverse roles over the years at MDRF as the Wife of Bath, Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, Lady Margaret Bryan, and Mistress Jocasta Oldcorne. I was blessed and priveledged not only to have performed with her, but
to have counted her among my friends. I will miss her very much.