It's done! The waiting is almost over! I now have two amazing new eyes!!! Whooppeeeeee.... Well, actually, just the 2 new lenses and the cataracts are GONE! The surgery is amazingly simple to go through - well, as long as you are the patient and not the surgeon. I am in the last stages where they are waiting to be sure any post-surgery swelling goes away, no problems develop and I FINALLY run out of eye drops. 3 kinds of eye drops 4 times a day in which ever eye was done, then following up with 1 or more drops X times a day to be sure all heals well. Monday I go back for one more check up then wait a couple weeks and go back to my 'regular' eye doctor for a final check to see what sort of reading glasses I may need. I no longer need glasses for driving or distance vision. White and bright colors have taken on wonderful new hues and tones. Currently I am making do with a pair of "drugstore glasses" in 2 X magnification till I get the final word on what I will actually be using. For now, it works just fine! I am SO delighted with this whole thing. I accidentally put my old glasses on the other day to see if they could still be used for reading....AARRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

It was a singularly OH MY GAWD!!!! moment. I could see nothing but blurs and blobs with the old glasses! Scary to think how bad my eyes were then and what an amazing difference those little lenses make. WOW....just wow.

May you all have an excellent and Happy Thanksgiving!

I can think of only one possible reason for banning a book - and that is to get folks to read it! The 'forbidden fruit' approach. We need more ways to get people TO read. Considering the avaerage reading level theses days - shoot - let's put comic books in the libraries! If they'll read it , it should be made available!

Just letting folks know I'm still alive and ornery as ever. This Thursday is part two in the cataract surgery schedule. Both eyes will be done and I will be seeing things quite literally in a new light!

Himself and I are trying to eat healthier and conquer the diabetes issues. New meds for him are helping. Most of the junk food is out of the house. We are making progress.

The Felines are currently healthy and ACTIVE! Cooler weather seems to have energized them.

And that's about it for now. Thanksgiving is just around the corner so I suppose I'd best haul the ham out of the freezer next week or maybe a nice turkey breast. I dunno....

Friendship.

I have a new eye.....well, at least I have a new lens in the Left eye. No icky old cataracts in that eye anymore! WHOOPEE!!! The difference is AMAZING!!!! Scary amazing because of the vast difference I now see in the two eyes. Left eye - clear, sharp, bright colors, easy to read. Right eye, tinged with gray, mild blurry edges, no such thing as "Pure white". Next Thursday, 11/19, can't come soon enough! Right eye surgery that day. My surgeon is wonderful, the surgery was, as he promised, a "piece of cake" and there was no discomfort. I dunno what kind of anesthesia they used but there are days when I sure wish I had some!!! SO, yes, I am REALLY HAPPY about the whole thing. When they are finished I will hopefully not need glasses anymore. IF I do they are estimating it will only be the "drugstore glasses" that aren't prescription but simple magnifying lenses. Fingers crossed! I've worn glasses since I was 4 years old. I'm used to them and they do not bother me at all. However...not needing them will be a major treat.

Next on the list is the Diabetes Happy Dance. The numbers are starting to do some serious behaving which bodes well for NOT having to escalate to insulin and needles. Even Himself has improved since he got together with an endocrinologist and his numbers are also improving. I may have diabetes but I'm durned if I'll let it run my life. The downside would be my having to cook more. I have never enjoyed cooking. Eating - oh yes, I dearly enjoy eating but cooking is a CHORE for me. Oh well...ya do what ya gotta do.

We are short one Feline friend. Apache got what looks like the worst end of one singularly nasty battle. The sad end of his vet care was finding whatever had tried to eat him was carrying feline AIDS. He wasn't really healing and well... We did what was best for all. He will be missed. If only I an find and trap his attacker.

Otherwise life goes on. The weather has been gorgeous. Folks are volunteering to teach assorted A & S classes and I just got a lead on a possible site for a future University - if we can get a Summer bid. Something to look into. We shall see.

We got to see a Christmas Special this past week. A Comedian / Ventriloquist named Jeff Dunham. He was funny but am I so out of touch with the media world...why must everything be punctuated with profanity? Why must all the stories, jokes, movies, etc. be full of assorted four-letter words? Whatever happened to vocabularies? I still remember almost falling over laughing when I threatened to defenestrate a guy and he grabbed his crotch! Go look it up...it has nothing even remotely involving private parts of the anatomy. Years ago there was a Candid Camera type show where they did a "man on the street question session". The question was "How do you feel about heterosexuals?"..... The responses were sadly appalling but funny as all get out.

I am fast approaching an age where I can claim membership as a "Gray Wolf". I met an amazing lady this Saturday who I hope I can be as lively as when I hit 87. Yes, she's 87 and I suspect could run rings around a lot of young pups. She told me the best story I've heard in a LONG time. She was a housemother for a girls dorm at the University of Tennessee. There was a frat house next door and she was warned that the members of the fraternity liked to 'streak' the girls dorm every so often. Do you remember the 'streaking' craze? Anyway, word got out one evening that the guys were going to streak the girls dorm. She advised the girls and then went to check this situation out more closely. She said that when the guys came around the corner, running for all they were worth, the first thing she noticed was they all had on their briefs or boxers. So she yelled at them "What do you think you're doing!" and when they stopped, carefully trying to cover them selves she informed them "I've been to the University of Maryland and THEY know how to streak properly. If you're going to streak, do it right! Now shuck those pieces of underwear and streak like a man!" The guys beat feet instead of shucking that underwear! Well, I thought it was funny....

Rest in Peace, Apache.

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Just like it says in the Subject line. The Glucose numbers are improving. Himself has seen a specialist and his glucose numbers are improving. The meter hasn't read HIGH in 3 days for him.

I've stepped up to take over the Arts & Sciences office in the Barony. Friends call me "Helium Hand" but that's okay and they're right. The Mol job is still there as deputy and it isn't all that labor intensive. Besides, I have IDEAS!!! Things that I hope the Barony will like to do and try. We shall see.

The felines are all doing okay. Monday and Tuesday they have appointments for maintenance work - shots and a check up. We have had a new old feline friend show up recently. Apache is a barn cat who spent several weeks of his kitten-hood with his litter mates living in our window well by the garage. He's stuck around and generally we see him once or twice a year when some lady cat goes into heat. This time he came seeking a warm spot to rest in while he heals up from whatever tried to take him apart. How he lived through whatever got him is beyond me but he's healing. Such a laid back, easy going cat. I guess he's next to visit the vet. Sighh...I need a cheaper vet or a winning lottery ticket.

So things are good, could be better but I'm not complaining. The annual OCtober Baronial event was good. The rain held off longer than expected so the fighters had a good time bashing each other. I didn't stay for feast - with the new challenge to get the glucose numbers under control I'm inclined to skip the feasts these days. But then you've heard my rant on SCA feasts anyway so I really should not need to make an excuse. That's about it for now. Nothing really special, just glad things are looking up for a change.

Next stop - cataract surgery! Whoopee!!!

I am hoping the last 11 days of October are better than the first 20. While I have already whined about the sudden onset of the type 2 Diabetes and the minor havoc it wreaked on my teaching at KWCS, it also postponed my cataract surgery. Double Bleahh...so things have just not really gotten done this month as I would have liked them to do.
Today is the first day in the last 8-9 weeks that I have felt close to normal, health-wise, that is. The energy level is slowly returning, but too slowly for my taste. The rest of me is never near normal and that's fine by me. I am finally getting the bulk of the weeks laundry done...seems the pump that rids the excess water from the washer cycles chose to die this morning. Himself was able to replace it but that didn't get finished till about 6:30 tonight.
I'm getting used to my new "toy", an Aviva glucose monitor that non-techys like me can deal with very easily. The glucose numbers are slowly falling to somewhere much closer the Doc's goal than the original 588 that set this whole crappy month in motion. Best number so far - 137. Fortunately life goes on.
This weekend is our annual SCA event, T & T, or as it came to be called this time - T T & T. Should be interesting. I hope the weather is good. Sometime next month I hope to hear from the KMOAS about being warranted as Baronial MoAS. Then I can worry about how to get to Unevent. Sigh.....
So it looks like I might be on an upswing for now. I hope I can get the cataract surgery scheduled in the near future but that depends very heavily on the Diabetes and the numbers. They would really like it if I qualified as a "controlled diabetic" which, right now, I am not. Wish me luck.
And the previously missing cat has deigned to return and come inside. He wasn't missing for long - less than a day - but, still, I worry. It is getting close to Halloween and he is an all black cat.
Thinking positive......... and still hunting for the entry point the yellow jackets are using to get into my computer room. Bloody distressing!

It's been a while since I posted. Being a firm believer in not plastering the blog-world or any other place with mindless blather I did just that. Just didn't have any real inspiration.
I'm still not terribly motivated to write but had promised some reports on the Known World Costuming Symposium up in Philly. I taught 2 classes at the event and despite some health issues I had a fine time. Lively students with lots of good questions..Woo Hoo! My kind of folks. Even seemed to develop a short term groupie. Lovely lady. There were 50 costuming related classes and naturally 2 that I wanted to take were canceled. Why always the ones I want to take? SIGH! No matter, I found others to take. I also picked up a couple of the CD's that they had put together with the majority of the class handouts on them. Very cool idea.
Allow me to fuss about something. The event was in the Sheraton Suites on the Philly airport grounds. Lovely rooms, very kind staff and patient as well. Food, on the other hand, was not what I would call up to par. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT LIKE HAMBURGERS. I will eat them if I am starving but otherwise I avoid them. The little hotel bistro served mostly hamburgers. Up-scale, gourmet, fancy bun encrusted hamburgers. Prices ranging from 9 to 14 dollars depending on lunch or dinner menus. No, that does NOT include the beverage. It includes either a half a dill pickle or the side dish of choice....ready? TATER TOTS! I kid you not. Fortunately they had a couple salads and Tuna fish sandwiches. Overpriced but edible. The service in the bistro was trying hard but I've seen better organized ant hills after someone kicked them. Friends rescued me Saturday night and we went to Carrabba's. Thank you Bronx Baroness!
So it was a grand event, lots of very neat classes and the Rapier half of the event was having one heck of a good time. Apparently their classes were also very well received. I'm glad I went and even happier that I could teach at the event.
Without dragging out al the gory details, Wednesday before KWCS I was declared Diabetic. Out of Control Diabetic. Oh Whoopee Do! So I was having some blood sugar issues, had been for about 6 weeks but didn't recognize the symptoms, so making sure I had the requisite food was a whole new feature. Happily this gives me one more excuse for skipping SCA feasts from now on.
Sorry folks - SCA feasts are just something I've never been wild about and scheduling and serving has not improved in the last 20 years. Yes, there have been good ones but can we work on the timing and serving, please?????
The only other thing coming up soon is for me to (KMOAS and our Barony willing) step into the Baronial A & S officers shoes. I'm looking forward to that. I hope I'll be able to travel more. I have ideas!!!
So - off to conquer the evil diabetic bug and try to avoid getting to where I need to take insulin.

It is slowly stopping the rain. I escaped for a few minutes and headed for the Grocery store. WIld Living! woohooo...escape to the grocery store. Sigh....
I do NOT like to drive in the rain. Especially in the heavy rain we had yesterday. Even the cats chose to do some time outside today as well.
So this falls in the category of a Boring-gram. I have another del nearly finished and I need to revise my opinion of what's in the project basket. I have new projects I want to start but feel guilty that some of this stuff has been waiting as long as it has. Must finish it or move on. I still need to do that one last thin out and organization in the sewing room.
Perhaps tomorrow will bring some blue sky back.

It is gray, chill and rainy. It has been raining almost steadily since about 3 AM. We even had a little power failure around 2-2:30 AM. Bless the whole house generator - I have no clue how long the power failure really lasted - I slept through it. My clock was the tattletale. Everything comes back on but nothing clock-like resets itself. According to NOAA we have a "Flood Statement" in effect or at least we did till around 4:30 PM. Old Pharts joy - checking the weather forecasts.
What is it about cold, rainy days that send the body into semi-hibernation mode? I seemed to recall reading something about chemical balance or some such but it eludes me for the moment. Probably a good thing I'm retired because I got up REAL late this morning. So I wax philosophical....from the farmers standpoint. Is this the rain the crops will need for that last surge of water intake to make the corn both full of flavor and juicy as well? Will it plump up the tomatoes and give the pumpkins a kick-start? IS it what the soybean crops can use late in their growth stages? I can attest to the ground along the road being QUITE soggy because I stepped in it when I went to retrieve the trash cans and the mail. Figures - first solid rain in 2 weeks and it was trash night. Several blocks of recyclable paper were put out but apparently survived. They were gone today. We have good trash people - they don't leave 'bits' unless they don't care for you. We seem to meet with their approval. Such VITAL info, right!
We live in a hilly area, as I've mentioned countless times, I suspect. One thing that happens during EVERY decent medium to heavy rain is 'gravel travel'. Very few paved driveways out here so the rain washes the gravel out the driveway and down the road. Tomorrow the really dedicated folks will be out on tractors or pickups with plow blades pushing it back up into their driveways. We are an economical lot. So, have I put you to sleep yet? Such an interesting topic - gravel and rain.
I really need to get some work done in the sewing room. 3 projects await me and lethargy has set in once again. Ah well...I will get it done. Really I will. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ MUST GET SOMETHING DONE....

Well, I found the answer on the 18" dolls - NO, they are not all the same dimensions. They are, apparently, reasonably close so that only minor modifications need to be made. That helps a lot for my project. Even found some free patterns that MIGHT be convertible with some fiddling. No, I have NOT regressed to playing with dolls.
Our weather is much cooler but continues to be lovely. I wonder how cold the late Fall and Winter will be. Sunspot activity indicates a colder Winter and I spotted a huge woolly worm early this week who was ALL BLACK! Time to stock up on warm stuff and make sure the pantry is stocked, the snow shovel is primed and ready to go and check out our salt, snow tire and emergency kit stuff. Doom and Gloom? No, just trying to plan ahead for any bad days.
We did some 'thinning out' today. You'd think I drove Himself for hours and hours. Not so, but I did get 2 extra boxes of paper recyclables put out for pick up. What is it about some people - they whine and moan about all clutter and papers and such but they can't seem to just pick the stuff up and dump it in the recycle bin????

"We are NOT amused....we want this junk OUT of here"

well, on to the next pile... I need room for more book shelves!

There was something I was going to note here. Nothing of any wild, vital importance but it caught my interest. Oh well. It will return to me.
I am easily distracted by someone talking to me when I am making lists. That seems to happen more and more of late. Perhaps it's simply because Himself is not wildly conversant when I am his only audience.
AH! That was it. Tuchux. I have several good friends who are Tuchux. I am in the midst of helping them collect information and make garb in Mongol style. Sadly, they live in Michigan now so working 'with' them is difficult. None the less, we persevere. It's actually fun and they seem to have dived in the deep end, even to the point of trying to keep things "in period". Fortunately we can keep leather and fur in the equation but not the chainmaille bikini's. I do enjoy my SCA life and this is of considerable fun. With luck I'll have some fabric and trim headed their way soon. Some of their early attempts were, ummm...interesting.
Speaking of Interesting.... Do you ever have those days when you just aren't hungry till way late in the day? The Midnight Snack syndrome, sort of. Yup - well, Himself and I weren't hungry this evening but just a few minutes ago Himself went out and collected the Weber grill, charcoal and paper and is merrily cooking dinner. It's 10:15 PM. Hmmm...I could use a snack about now....
I missed Trial by Fire - the Bright Hills annual cook-off, Pennsic style. I was at TAG - the monthly meeting of textile folks. We may have missed some excellent food (Her excellencies strawberries looked mighty tasty in the picture) but we had a rip-roaring good time on our own. Don't ever think a room full of folks with needles and thread and embroidery patterns are dull, quiet, orderly or well behaved! Tain't So McGee! Bad puns, jokes, good munchies, random stories plus stitching, books and just plain good company. There were only 5 of us this time but that didn't slow us down.
And the question of the day - Do all 18" dolls have the same measurements? I have a teaching project in mind and if the dolls are the same or very close it will help. I have no dolls, no female relatives with said dolls and I was a tom boy growing up and teddy bears do NOT have the same measurements as 18" dolls. I'm thinking of the "American Girl" dolls (I think that's what they're called).
Guess I best check on the Chef...

Well - Happy September! 21 days till the Autumnal Equinox - better known as the first day of Fall.

We have finally seemed to have overcome the hot weather malaise that seems to nearly cripple Himself every year and the funny little pills have made my Bursitis tolerable. So - Off to man the mowing machines! FINALLY!!! By all that is sane and reasonable - why, if I can't grow vegetables, how on earth does my yard manage to produce such a bumper crop of unwanted vegetation in such a short time! MOW that jungle? A flame-thrower would have been a better solution. However, we have a pretty sturdy lawn tractor (what used to be called a riding mower) and determination. A friend of ours came out on Sunday and made the first strafing run at the jungle with the little tractor. Monday Himself made the second run at it and worked in the areas our friend wasn't sure of. We have this "backyard" that was formerly a cow pasture and manure pit and calving shed. Thus it is neither flat, even or in any way, shape or form level.
We also have Groundhogs on steroids who feel we are really rude when we try to close down their burrows. The only thing that keeps himself from dumping gasoline down the holes and lighting them off is the fact that several of the burrows have entrances near the house and barn. Last year one farmer lost an entire crop of hay, nicely baled and stacked when he lit off one of those smoke bombs that's supposed to chase out the rodents.
So, we mow and mow and mow and there is hope for it. The front yard and around 3 sides of the house actually look pretty good. I've reached the 'fine tuning' stage where I have time to go back and trim along the foundation of the house, trim back the boxwood that took off this year and expanded like a den of rabbits. The wild rose bushes will soon feel the edge of my clippers. Himself always looks like he's been attacked by a Vegematic after mowing next to the darned bush. At least the strangle vine seems to be giving up...finally. So, I persevere and hope to bring the yard back under control soon. I feel much better about it now that I've been out mowing and clipping and such. And, yes, I am taking it easy with the Bursitis. No need to aggravate it.
October promises new adventure for me. Cataract surgery! Or did I already talk about this? No matter - it is due, needed and the doctor has told me enough to put me at ease about the surgery. I just wish we could get it over with right now! It's like ordering something custom made - you just have to wait...and I don't want to wait! Hmmm, actually, in a way, I am custom ordering new eyes. The lenses are custom made due to my lovely astigmatism in each eye. I actually got to see a topographical map of my lens and the astigmatism in each eye. Fascinating stuff! It will vastly improve my distance vision but we're not sure yet how much effect it will have on my close work vision - reading, etc. Theoretically it will eliminate the need for prescription eyeglasses in the future but I may find myself using those "store-bought" glasses for reading. Still a plus - $6-9 bucks a pair versus several hundred bucks for the prescription bifocals. I can handle that!
Coronation was nice - if HOT. I look forward to seeing our new Royals in action. Right now the weather has turned really nice (a plus for the mowing) and I'm looking forward to the week and Labor Day weekend. Yes, even retired people enjoy holidays!
Sunday I helped our friends girl friend dye some linen. We were quite successful. I've never dyed anything other than Easter eggs before so I felt rather pleased with this accomplishment. I can now salvage that black cotton that got some sun fading and put it to good use. This is a GOOD thing. And I'm beginning to yawn...must be time to read a bit and fall asleep. News as it happens!

Today was just "one of those days". Nothing major, nothing horrendous, just a day of no progress, nothing screamingly vital, etc.
I accomplished 2 things - took Moppet in for more of the shots kittens seem to need so many of. Thankfully that was this morning. Converted my two class handouts to PDF format - took maybe a minute. I'm teaching 2 classes at the Knowne World Costuming Symposium in October. REALLY looking forward to it. The rest of the day was taken up with staying out of the heat. This is vital for Himself and for whatever reason it hit me hard as well. We both crashed mid-day and napped. No, we do not have AC and the 2 window units are ready to go back in the windows but so far this Summer we have not needed them. Sigh...coulda used them today. The house was full of 4 legged, furry, throw rugs! By 6 PM the weather did seem to break, it began to cool off a bit and we have a very nice breeze working its way through the house now. We spent a fair bit of time lollygagging on the porch letting the sweat dry! Big thunderstorm is out playing hob south of us. Theoretically we have a 50% chance of rain tonight.
However, the "piece de resistance" or however you spell that was yet to come. Thank all the powers that be that something - the storm or some feline early warning system drove all the cats to come back inside. I blamed/thanked the storm front but very shortly after that SOMETHING annoyed or scared or surprised or jumped a SKUNK. BLEAHHH... It's gone now, not hit by a car or anything but I was EXTREMELY thankful for my assorted fans. The Eau de Skunque has finally dispersed and we won't need to run to the store for gallons of tomato juice to wash off a cat, the car, the house or anything else. Yes, I actually wouldn't mind a good rain just in case there is a lingering stink source waiting for something to step in it or a cat to roll in it.
Now how much more excitement can a body take!

Well now, This has been a productive few days. Considering that the Doc has said NO heavy lifting, pushing, mowing, etc...for 2 weeks, well, I call that a plus. The yard is beginning to look raggedy and definitely needs to be mowed but...I rather value a healed shoulder as opposed to surgery or physical therapy. Anyone got a hearty teenager who wants to earn a few bucks mowing the yard? It's a combination job - a n acre or two on the riding mower then an hours worth of horsing around the push mower getting the little hills, slopes and weird spots mowed. Experience dodging groundhog holes is helpful but not required. Knowing how to avoid rocks is a must. Will pay in Cash.
Paid pleading announcement now over.

So today I finished tweaking, upgrading and polishing my two handouts for my classes at Knowne World Costuming Symposium. It's 2 months away so I'm feeling pretty good about this. I have a few other items to ready for the classes but I'm feeling quite optimistic and mildly pleased with myself. It's like a mini-version of autocratting an event. When you're on, or ahead of, schedule and everything is falling into place it's a real fine feeling. I've been lucky with events I've autocratted. I can think of only 3 that were nerve wracking in one way or another. My very first event was - by all the things folks told me - DOOMED to fail! It was in the wrong month, it had no fighting and "nobody goes to events with just A & S". I was nervous, over-prepared and kept waiting for the other shoe to drop squarely on my frazzled head. HAH! Fooled them! had a very fine turnout, things all went well and the other shoe waited for 15 years, then dumped on me. I took a break after that. I know burnout when I see it. Had one dicey event after that but it was not all that bad - just took some hoop jumping to bring it back in line. So, I'm happy with the progress for this teaching stint. Looking forward to the event and the classes.
So now I need to see if I can keep this going for awhile and get the other items ready, the sewing room finally cleared of non-sewing room junk and maybe make some headway on some of the other house projects. We shall see. Then there's this Bursitis thing and cataract surgery and - finally - the dental stuff is near an end. Yup - there's hope after all. No money but lots of hope.;-) LOL!

Unbreakable case, shock proof (as in when it gets dropped), fluid proof, washable keyboard, brightly colored, limited access to the internet - example - have a built in, hard wired filter/firewall that automatically blocks 'adult content' sites. Parental controls for some sites - like the various blogs - would require the parents to turn them ON for the kids. Game sits would have a limited time allotment per day.
Yes, I'm a scrooge and I really don't think kids under 15 need yto spend entire days on their computers. An automatic save and shut down after 2 hours would be good or a clock that did a save and shutdown after 9 PM. And because I'm evil - a requirement that the parents have to log in once every 30 days (or more often if they like) to check the list of sites, blogs, games, e-mail, etc. that is being used on the laptop. We'd probably have fewer issues if parents took more of an interest in their kids computer time and topics. Might have saved a few runaways as well.

Not much of interest going on right now. I am updating one of my class handouts so it will be suitable for my KWAR09 class.

I should feel old today. I don't, however. I refuse to allow some affliction to make me think I'm old. However...CRAP!!!

I have managed to get an inflamed shoulder muscle and Bursitis in said shoulder. BLEAHH...It's the Right shoulder. I am Right handed and thus feel somewhat handicapped at the moment. 2 weeks of light duty - especially NO MOWING THE YARD. That's how I aggravated the muscles in the first place. No heavy lifting, pushing, pulling, etc...LIGHT duty. Guess whose significant spouse isn't allowed to do any of the things I just listed? Yup - you got it. Ah well - so much for the exercise program. Bummer.

On the happy side Moppet seems to be improving and is not really a problem to medicate. Such a sweetie!

It is warm and humid today. Classic Maryland Summer weather. I was supposed to rain today but so far it has only been overcast. Well, look on the bright side - if it doesn't rain the grass will not grow as fast.

Like I said - Ho Hum...

This weekend was really quite nice. ASide from a minor snafu early on - plans by himself did not match plans by herself so I let him win. He's a good guy and deserves to win once in awhile.
So on Saturday we had some folks over for a BBQ. A rather eclectic collection as our BBQ's go but we had a real good time. Wore Himself out but not to his detriment. Would have enjoyed going to the corn roast with Henmother and her hubby but see above paragraph. Besides, a short delay in the dental work makes corn on the cob...ummm..a bit of a challenge.
Moppet is back in the limelight again with a return visit to the vet due to a return visit of the conjunctivitis. Poor baby...she's up to 3 lbs 5 ounces and as lively as ever but the eye issue and the attached upper respiratory issue have simply GOT TO GO! She was quite the hit at the BBQ, however.
The various E-list are so very quiet during Pennsic. I expect a veritable tsunami to hit along about August 9th.
Sunday was TAG! Wheeee...my favorite monthly gathering. Don't EVER let anyone tell you needlework is a quiet, sedate activity. No Sir, not our TAG , unhuh! Nope. JOkes, bad puns, wild dives into the library for obscure info, FOOD-Glorious-Food!!! YUMM! Honey Almond Cheesecake. And good fun with a most lively and varied group of individuals. My needlework sucks but they tolerate me and thus I am the token thread-putz and I throw random bits of Things Mongolian at them periodically to keep them aware that there is life beyond 32 count canvas.
Himself and I finished off the weekend with a run to our favorite Cheap Chinese Buffet for dinner.
This morning Moppet and I visited the vet, she got a distemper shot and two meds and I got the bill, a chance to see a sick Iguana with a goofy owner and an appointment for a return visit next week. I finished off the day with a wild laundry spree and this silly note. Tomorrow the Doc looks at the now constantly aching shoulder to see if I've done it some serious harm. Then my friend The Chemist visits for some porch therapy (Didn't know I had a therapeutic porch, did'ja?) and a final visit before he moves to New England.
I have had several people tell me just sitting on the porch was therapeutic, relaxing, de-stressing and generally pleasant. Know what? They're RIGHT!

A friend of mine posted a message on the Merry Rose concerning certain historical images which have developed, in the modern era, an anti-religious perception but were, in Medieval period and earlier looked upon with totally different meanings.
It was the equivalent of taking a sharp stick and playing hockey with a wasp nest. Repercussions were felt from here all the way up to the top echelon office within the Heraldic Community.
We, the SCA, as I perceive it, are supposed to be a world wide group individuals who seek to learn and emulate the aspects of medieval life, to maintain the arts and sciences of those times and to enjoy portraying a fictional character who would have lived in medieval times. We do tons of research, build, make or create hundreds of different items, objects and works in the style of a particular time, place and culture. This is where we periodically run afoul of our modern prejudices and fall out of character. The SCA has always, to my knowledge, eschewed the use, following and practices of ALL religions and beliefs in hopes of avoiding being labeled as a Cult of some sort. It has not been 100% successful. The topic had been mute for a good while but within the last week it flared up and roared as only this sort of topic can do within the SCA. Once again my hopes of finding a group of people who are open-minded, scholarly and look with interest has been bruised, again. I am delighted that the majority of the SCA seems to look with if not favor, at least with tolerance or even curiosity at the idea of a pentagram as an acceptable symbol to be used in heraldry. Well, why not? We use, with no apparent issues, all manner of crosses, Stars of David and other symbols in our heraldry. Why, all of a sudden, is this one symbol so offensive when it was in use for centuries and carried all manner of symbolism as part of Christian religion? How about Swastikas? In Asia, for centuries this was a symbol of good luck. The Nazis took it and reversed it and it is now seen as a symbol of hatred, oppression and discrimination.
So I'm hoping that the portion of the SCA that has raised their voice in opposition to this most recent move on the part of the Herald's office, will kindly step back nd look into the actual period history of this device, its use and its symbolism and move on to more vital aspects of life in the SCA. The study of religion is a fascinating topic but the practice of it is a much more highly charged aspect. We must tread carefully but with an open mind.