scrawlings & scratchings, murmurings and mumblings

THIS made me chuckle... given many of us are into historical research!

This Thursday is Tavern & it's sponsored by us horsie peeps... the plan is to have silly horseless equestrian games, for adults as well as the childern... maybe food... I have to check on that yet.

Those of you in the area... PLEASE COME! :D

The car's pretty much packed... we'll be rolling out soon... either see you there or talk to you when I get back!
For the non-SCAdians THIS is Quad War!

I took 2 classes at AT War, Beginner Drop Spindle & Scrimshaw.

Using a drop spindle is one of the most basic ways of turning wool/silk/flax/etc. into yarn. I tried 3 different wools... I liked the purple the best:


Scrimshaw involves scratching a design on bone/antler/horn/ivory/etc. & then rubbing ink into the scratches to make them show up... we use bone, I did a buffalo/ox for the boy:

Here's my device as beaded by brotherselwynn


How cool is that?!!
Now I just need to figure out how to display it... suggestions?

Avec horse, sans decoration:


Avec decoration, sans horse:




At some point I'll get it all together!

So I've been waiting for the minutes of the last council meeting to come up as I had sent an e-mail to those I felt were in charge of council with my contribution as I couldn't be there. I've known other officers who have sent reports in via others so I didn't think there'd be a problem.

My e-mail, sent to the B&B, Seneschal and Deputy Seneschal:

Greetings all,

I don't know if my paperwork has gone through yet but in case it has!

I'm sorry I can't make it to Council tomorrow, I rearranged my riding lesson only to have the evening taken up with the farrier coming out to trim Ariel's hooves!

It's up to you whether you present this as my officer's report or just bring up the points as & when the topic comes up :)

Equestrian Officer

May Crown:
The Kingdom Equestrian Guild is running a barding competition at May Crown. Individuals & groups are encouraged to enter, the rules are:
Documentation, even if it is only a little is necessary, we want to put period stuff out on the field!
Must fit a real horse, if you are making a barding to fit someone else’s horse that is fine.
Please bring a picture of your barding ON the horse it was made for. We can't have horses at this event so we need to see the barding on a horse to tell if it fits.
All entrants will be featured in the July issue of the Equestrian Newsletter HArts of An Tir.
First place receives a prize, if there are many entries we usually have a second place and possibly third place as well.
Apparently the Principality of the Summits has a set of barding & they are encouraging the Principalities of Avacal & Tir Righ to make their own sets. As Kingdom has a new set, it would be awesome to see all four at a future Crown event. I am hoping to make a set for Montengarde.

I believe Robert of Clan Gunn is working on getting a horse for the Riderless Horse Ceremony at May Crown

Tavern:
I'd like to sponsor a Tavern once I know which ones are free.

Animal Policy:
I know I stated my case via the Stables but I would just like to reiterate that I feel that we should not restrict ourselves with the wording of this policy as we do not know what the future holds with regard to the events we want to sponsor.

YIS
Myfanwy Glanmorfa
Southern Avacal Equestrian Officer (Providing the paperwork is in order!)

Now I believe the following topics came up:
May Crown
Tavern
Animal policy

Other than the mentioning of Bobby Gunn doing the Riderless Horse ceremony (which may or may not have come from me) NOTHING of mine was brought up. Nothing about the barding competition, my interest in sponsoring an Equestrian Tavern or my feeling about the animal policy (thank you G for hold my end up). What is the point of being an officer if they ignore me trying to put forward equestrian interests?

I know I left it open as to how they wanted to present it seeing as I wasn't 100% sure if my paperwork had been finalized... but still!

I did get an acknowledgement the day after Council letting me know that I'd be happy with the outcome of the Animal policy as there was a clause allowing the autocrat to over-ride the policy... fair enough... but what about everything else?

So I couldn't make it to council in person... the farrier visits the barn to see to more than just my horse so I don't control the date. I'm not going to apologize for putting my horse before my hobby. It's times like this that make me want to say fuck it all, I have enough other hobbies to keep me occupied, what's one less?

EDIT:
It seems that it was just a simple mistake that caused the problem... we've not had an Equestrian Officer up to now & so it's not on the list. I know how easy it is to forget something in a meeting if there's nothing to prompt it.

OK so I'm currently designing my Tudor riding garb & basing it on my device, see above. So the bodice will be blue & the skirt will be green... I'm going to make the "V" in the front of the bodice & skirt white & hoping to put white wavy lines down the sleeves.

I was also thinking of putting a relatively wide (1"-1 1/4") white wavy line at the bottom of the bodice so that it separates the blue & green the same as in my device. My question is... will people think that it looks too much like a white belt & I'll get my wrists slapped?

Hope everyone has a great time at Quad... if anyone gets a chance to see the equestrian stuff please take lots of pictures for me! :) Can wait to hear all the stories when you get back!

1. get Ariel used to the idea of doing strange games (this may prove the most difficult!)
so far I have introduced Ariel to big bright orange cones & has her weave in & out of 3... next step is to practice this until I feel that I can do it 1 handed... Ariel is not western trained but will neck rein to some extent but there's a difference between neck reining during a relaxed cool down with a long rein & doing while collected & balanced in order to make it round the cones... once that's done I'll need to introduce her to the "sword" & let her know it's not a crop that I'm going to hit her with!

need to buy canes & something to make flags out of so we have something to try & hit.

2. see if neavecanadahas a horse she wants to/can take
unfortunately the horse she was hoping to take can't go but Robert came to the rescue & said it was possible that she could ride one of his. :)

3. see what we have in the way of transportation for our equine friends
have a trailer I can borrow providing it's not sold by then (need to form a back-up plan) so need to source a truck & hitch next.

4. make sure everyone who wants to ride has videos taken of them so we can send them off for authorization
have camera, just need to take the videos as soon as the horses & riders are ready

5. make barding so Ariel looks pretty
going to see how much our rug lady would charge to make barding... would be one less thing to worry about.

6. make garb I can ride in (DOH!)
I think I'm going to have to accept that I simply don't have the time to make the garb I would like... I think I'll just be wearing a t-tunic instead.

7. get used to riding in garb
not a problem if it's just a t-tunic

8. get Ariel used to being ridden in barding with me in garb (ok *this* might be the most difficult!!)
again shouldn't be a problem if it's just a t-tunic... barding isn't much different to her summer sheet that she runs around in outside so that should be ok.

so.... focusing on practicing the riding skills is the priority right now... off to the barn again tonight then!