Battlemoor V

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Ah what a lovely war! We got there on Wednesday, much to our relief. It has been a hectic month, and we really needed a bit of down time.

Thursday it rained. It was cold. But… we had a great time watching the Oubliette Tournament. Met a fighter named Bron, who gave Dan a length of bamboo for a sword. He may start fighting. He’s thinking about it. We didn’t party, but were in bed by 8:30pm. I heard the drummers at the party for oh… 10 seconds.

Friday we relaxed, visited with friends we hadn’t seen in a year. I took a class on Russian clothing and Dan took one on glove making. We visited the Shire Villaleon party and then headed home.

Saturday. I taught a darning class, visited and we went shopping. I got a new badge. Once again, we crashed early.

Sunday, I taught my nalbinding class in the afternoon. It went really well, and then we had the Fiber Guild meeting. After that, we dropped the tent. My friend Ceddwyn came down for the day. It was so good to see her.

Monday. Sad day. We packed up and were home by noon. 🙁 We are 99% unpacked. I have a slight mound of laundry to do, but that’s about it. We are exhausted. I’ve posted pictures, and will do so here in a series of posts. There are 93 of them.

First up, Artisans Lane. Blacksmith’s shop, Medieval kitchen, a woodworking shop, classes and our tent. Oh, and Lothar de Sauvage. (aka Dan)

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Where did the time go?

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I swear that every time I think I have a moment to write, “POOF!” it’s gone. And of course, now that means I get to play catch up. Where to begin? Umm… Oh yeah… House guests. They were with us for a month. It meant that life was a little crowded. I guess I’ll list some highlights.

July:

Painted the north wall of the Wendy House. Plus, we did a few additions to the plumbing, cut down trees and added a bunch of stuff to the compost bins. We did a lot of yard work in the back as well. Trees trimmed, firewood stacked, stairs fixed, etc. I hope to have more pictures soon.

Wendy House work1I got a new desk. I’ve been wanting something with drawers, and we found a gem. A roll top desk.New Desk4

I did a lot of sewing as well. First off, I made Dan a Utility Kilt. 🙂 Then I made a bespoke tunic for a tournament prize for Battlemoor. I did a lot of embroidery work on the Viking style tunic. I finished an under tunic as well, all hand sewn. I’m still working on two apron dresses.

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We had a LOT of rain as well. Some of it was so hard that it flooded the streets, and washed out alleys. On July 15th, we got over 2 inches of rain in less than an hour. Along with all the rain, we’ve had fog, mosquitos and lots of weeds! I think that we’ve hacked, chopped, mowed and composted enough for three bins.

August:

Dan and I have been working on a wiring job for the school district. Lots of ladder work for him, and running around for me.

Our company found a house and we cleaned house. 🙂 This was in preparation for Morgan finally arriving home. The Fuck up Fairy had done a number on that process, and were growing tired of delays. Daniel is also moving into an apartment in Pueblo, which means that the house will soon be back to it’s less crowded state.

On Sunday, we helped at a benefit concert for the Spanish Peaks Celtic Music Festival. Dan helped with sound and I helped where ever Barbara Yule needed me. The concert musician was Carlos Nunez. The music was wonderful. The venue was full, and everyone was happy. After the concert, we drove to Fowler to pick up Morgan. We saw 26 owls, a fox, a badger, frogs, and rabbits. Unfortunately, we hit two of the owls in spite of trying to avoid them. Morgan is very glad to be home, and we are happy too.

Last, but not least, we’ve been enjoying our new superintendent, Michael Moore. He is such a change from our last one. He likes getting things done and we are moving forward as a school district for the first time in ages! I attended the staff in-service day and it was wonderful. Laughter, good ideas, lots of sharing and in general, a feeling of hope and progress.

 

 

“Air you can Wear!”

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It was indeed. Last Thursday, (June 26th) we headed to Indianapolis, Indiana. Why? Well, we had a conference to attend. Mach 30’s Apogee. Club Cyberia, the maker space there was hosting it. As we 1) didn’t have money for airplane tickets and 2) had WAY too much stuff to put on a plane, we drove.

1014 miles, give or take a few, one way. We stopped in Fulton Missouri for the night and then drove the rest of the way on Friday. We met up with the Mach 30 bunch. J. Simmons, Maureen, Greg, Jeremy, and some of the Club Cyberia makers. Dinner and conversation until we were exhausted. It was also So Humid! One lady on the news said it was “the air you can wear” and she was so right!

Saturday morning, Mach 30 had meetings and I sewed on my contract tunic. (For a Battlemoor tournament) I also visited an estate sale and got two really cool baskets for $10. IMG_0056That evening, we had an awards ceremony and Dan got Volunteer of the Year. He was so surprised. 🙂 Then we watched 2001.

Sunday, I stayed in the room, as I had an asthma attack. Dan was gone most of the day and we ate at Texas Roadhouse with everyone.

Monday, more of the same. This time it was Olive Garden for dinner.

Tuesday, we headed home. We stopped in St. Louis and we saw the Arch. Went all the way to the top of it no less. 🙂 It was so cool! We spent the night in Hays Kansas.

Wednesday, we got home and went right into work. Dan had an appointment and I had school board stuff to do.

This weekend we are recovering from our trip. Relaxing, cleaning up and hopefully, we will get some work done on the Wendy House. We also have temporary house guests. They’ll be with us until they find a house.

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700 pounds of garbage.

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Yes, 700 pounds of building rubbled hauled to the dump. When we took the sheds down oh… 4 years ago, we piled stuff off to one side with great plans to recycle and reuse the corrugated roofing and other timbers. You can stop giggling. The pile has been great housing for Red Tom, and killed weeds. However, we realized that our expectations were a little off. There was just too much work to be done to reuse it. So, we cut it up and with the help of Daniel, hauled it to the dump. Our little pickup was so full, I swear the front tires were barely on the ground.

This was the start to our crazy busy weekend. Once we finished at the dump, we headed to the grocery store. Our original intent was to grab a few needed items like toilet paper and dish soap and then head home. Well… we decided to have a celebratory picnic. We grabbed chicken, potato salad, drinks, and dessert. Then we headed up old La Veta pass. We sat in a huge meadow, watched the ants and birds and listened to the wind blow through the trees. It was a much needed bit of solace. On the way home, we grabbed sandstone for our garden.

After we unloaded the truck, we started to look around and figure out what was next. Dan decided to mow the back yard. He got 4 ft done when our mower died. Yes, our brand new mower. So, we loaded it in the truck, and headed to Pueblo. We dropped it off at Lowes and then grabbed flooring for the Wendy House. When we got home, we cut the law with the weed wacker.

Sunday, I cleared the living room space while Dan went over to mow my parents lawn. When he came home, we tried to put a shelf up. This originally was a wooden fireplace mantle. Forty minutes later, we realized it would not fit where we wanted it and moved it to the East wall.

Then it was time for the flooring. We are covering old cement that has cracks, oil stains and is a bit of a mess. A variety of interruptions made a hash of the day, our tempers and stamina. By 9pm, we were exhausted, but… we had 90% of the work done. To our frustration, we realized that the area of the old ramp was still spongy inspite of everything we’d done. The solution of course is to put another layer of flooring down. sigh… However, for the moment, we have a level floor. We built part of the plinth that matches the height of the one under the wardrobes. This has been needed because of the uneven nature of the foundation on the north and east walls.

By the time we flopped into bed, I think every muscle I have ached. We loaded and unloaded huge weights of material six times. Our poor pickup! Then we shuffled, moved and built until we couldn’t see straight. In spite of all of the delays, we got a lot accomplished.

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Ah the difference of a fortnight!

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Two weeks ago we had snow. Today it is 83, and even the breeze is a tad warm. My backyard looks like a jungle, and I will have to pull tons of weeds just to find the patio. 🙂 I plan to do lots of yard work tomorrow. (insert giggle)

Friday, I went to see the school lawyer. We had a good chat and worked out various contracts and other bits and pieces. Afterwards, I indulged in a bit of retail therapy. Yes, I went shopping at Joann’s. I bought a bunch of fat quarters for a prayer flag swap I’m hosting with my online quilting group, QuiltersCoven. (350 online crazy pagan quilters.) I think we have 10 or 12 people participating. There was linen on sale, but I didn’t have the cash for it. sigh…

Saturday, we were sort of stuck, as it was rainy and damp. 🙂 Dan suggested that we head up to Pueblo and get that linen I hadn’t got the day before. I’m terrible about buying stuff for me. In the end, we got $180 worth of linen and thread to match for about $88. Rust, teal, navy blue and cream colored linen.

Sunday was suppose to be a sleep in and catch up day. Projects for the Wendy House and other things. Instead, we drove out and ‘rescued’ my parents. The oil and check engine light had come on and Dad pulled over. When Dan checked, there was less than 1/4th of a quart of oil. Three quarts later, we got them home.

My parents were suppose to head up to Littleton on Monday. However, the Subaru needed to be checked by a mechanic, just to make sure there were no hidden issues. That meant I drove my mom up to Littleton. We left around 9am. Listened to Old Blind Dogs on the stereo, talked and had a good time. I visited with my sister and her family, and picked up about 1/3 of a cord of wood. They had just chopped down a tree, and I said I’d take it. I’ll pick the rest up on a future trip.

While I was gone, Dan did some work on the Wendy House. He built the sink base for the bathroom and opened up a vent between the bedroom and living room. He also cleaned up the back porch that we use for a shop. Now to re-clean the herb room where he piled all the stuff that doesn’t belong in the shop!

Today, I’m catching up on a three day absence from the computer. 🙂 It was kind of nice. While I was reading email, I had a bird fly in the door, around my desk three times and then out the window. Tonight I have a school board meeting and tomorrow I’m gardening!

Crazy Week(s)

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I am fried. Brain dead. Zombified. Tired. The last few weeks have been plain crazy. Between lots of meetings, temper tantrums, weather, a Superintendent Search, three graduation ceremonies, Ludlow, oh, and trying to work on the house, I’m toast. It’s also cold! We had a really intense rain/hail storm yesterday, and today is cloudy and cold. (55F) I’m waiting to see if we get more rain.

Last week we had a board meeting in Gardner that was a long and rather hectic event. Then there was the high school graduation and the Ludlow Centennial event. This week we had yet another long board meeting. This was a rehash of some of the previous meeting and work on the superintendent search. Wednesday was Gardner 8th grade graduation at 1pm, and Peakveiw’s 8th grade promotion ceremony at 6pm. It made for a very long day.

I also did some gardening work. Well overdue! I planted everything that had been living in the house because of the bad weather. I have Russian sage, raspberry canes, flowers, herbs and of course, my garden guru, RedTom.

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This evening we have a retirement party for 5 or 6 teachers. Friday, I meet with the school lawyer to discuss contracts. After that, I’m curling up with a cup of tea, my book and only answering the phone if there is an emergency! I’ve got to recharge my mental batteries as there is yet another school board meeting on Tuesday!

Ludlow, 100 years on.

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This year marked the 100th anniversary of the Ludlow Massacre. It’s been a year of events, memorials, services, and all sorts of activities. On May 18th, the Centennial Commemoration and Remembrance was held.

As to be expected, there was a heavy Union presence. This point in history was a turning point in labor relations. We had UMWA members from all over the country present. It was a good day. After a number of speeches, songs and shared emotions, there was a barbecue lunch and commemorative medals. Dan and I each got one.

After the event, we drove up the canyon and visited the memorial at the Hastings Mine. We continued on up Delagua canyon and got home around 5pm.

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Cold and Quiet

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It’s so quiet at the moment, I can hear the sound of snowflakes shushing across the roof. Yes, SNOWFLAKES. Third Winters anyone?

The week was busy. With Morgan home, we did a lot of things together. Ate out, watched ALL the Harry Potter movies, played on our computers and watched Morgan sleep. Amazing how much a college student sleeps! 🙂

On Saturday, it was 75! We did lots of gardening. Mowed the lawn, pulled weeds, moved rocks, moved more rocks, picked up trash and repotted a bunch of plants. We crawled into bed smelling of aspercreme and groaning like we were 90.

Sunday, we knew it was suppose to be cold. It’s why we didn’t plant anything outside. We made bacon cinnamon rolls for breakfast. yum!

As the day wore on, it got colder and colder. Then the thunder and rain began. Soon after, the snow. Yes, snow. In May! Have I mentioned that Colorado is menopausal this year? By mid afternoon, it was really snowing.

May 10th3

Morgan packed for her trip to California. Around 5:30pm, we left for Pueblo. As we drove north, the snow slacked off, which was fine. However, the winds made up for it. We had dinner at Chili’s and then met Ashleigh and her parents at the bus stop. We chatted and made sure the girls got on the bus for California. Then the drive home. Ugh! You know how in sci-fi movies they have the star fields that move towards you? Well, that’s what it was like all the way home.

This morning, we woke up to 8 inches of snow in our yard. It’s still snowing. It’s suppose to snow tomorrow too. Can we have our warmer weather back? I know we need the moisture, but how about rain? I’d like to plant out my rhubarb and raspberry canes before July.

I have lots of pictures, but I’m going to divide them into separate posts.