This Gulf Wars marked our first event at which we had our own Red Branch Camp. Getting there was quite a challenge, given that my truck blew a head gasket only 2 hours from DC. We all 4 loaded our stuff into another truck, and were on our way the next day.
Thanks to the generosity of our sister clanne, Crawhere, who gave a generous portion of their land to us. Here are some pics:
We also fielded 2 fighters and 2 waterbearers. We fought town battle and ravine battle. Here's a pic:
The day of the field battle heraleded rain, and was also St. Paddy's Day- we had planned to go to New Orleans for a day trip. However, given that heavy storms were predicted, we chose not to do our daytrip, and instead spent the day trying to "batten down the hatches".
Turns out, no amount of "battening" prepares you for an F1 when you're in a tent. Here's what it looked like:
Friday found all battles canceled and the four of us working to pick up the pieces. We got most things dried outand pre-packed before more rain came, then we headed up to the long hall. There, we spent the evening in song, and serving tasty meats and more to all who came to the long hall that evening.
We packed up and headed out Saturday morning, stopping for a quick good-bye meal with some of the Crawhere folk at Cracker Barrel before truly hitting the road.
I can't believe Pennsic has already come and gone yet again. It was another fabulous war!
This is the second year we've camped with Dahlradia, another Celtic Clanne strongly centered in the DC metro area. Again they made us feel super welcome and like part of the family. I really hope they'll keep us- we are litter trained! I also really love the look and set-up of our camp. We have a huge open area by the road, where we put our kitchen, fire pit, and social tent. Then, all of our tents are back in the trees for all-day shade.
Dalrhadia Camp at Pennsic
My Pretty Viking Princess Palace
One of the most fun nights each war in D-rad camp is the Tequila tasting. It's an invite only event, all the guests gather in the social tent to try different tequilas. Guests are encouraged and invited to bring their favorite tequilas or their favorite tequila infusions. We always get some great ones- my all time favorite is the orange chocolate, though all the pineapple infusions I've had were magnificent as well. This year I think there were 50+ tequilas to try! During breaks or after the tasting, there is often music or dancing.
Photo courtesy of Tim Tyson
Photo courtesy of Tim Tyson
Photo courtesy of Tim Tyson
Another favorite night at Pennsic is the Bar-Bar. Our fighting group, Concusar joins with the fighters of Anglesey and Galatia to make the Bog Alliance. We are a large group of mercenaries. That means we do not fight for a kingdom or barony, nor do we swear fealty to anyone. This means our services as fighters are up for sale to the highest (or most creative) bidder.
That's where Bar-bar night comes in. First, we Celts wear all of our best finery and get woaded up.
Photo courtesy of Tim Tyson
Photo courtesy of Tim Tyson
Photo courtesy of Tim Tyson
Photo courtesy of Tim Tyson
Women of the Bog on Bar-Bar Night Photo courtesy of Tim Tyson
Then, we entertain visiting royalty as they come to our camp and make bids for our fighters. All the folks in the clanne, whether they fight or not, gather to hear the offers. The prosperity of the fighters is the prosperity of the clannes.
The hosting camp, Anglesey, builds a stage. This is where our warlords sit. Since we are Barbarians, and the royalty does not speak our language, nor we theirs, Morganna is the voice of the warlords and translates between the visiting royalty and the warlords. Once all the bids are made, the warlords confer and determine which bid to accept.
Photo Courtesy of Tim Tyson
So her'e where I"m going to leave you hanging. That's a lot of food (and pictures) for thought for the moment. Plus, I'm waiting on good ol' Ursus to post some more of his amazing pictures. Then, you'll get to hear all about War Week!
Since I learned how to crochet this winter, one of my big goals has been to make us plenty of warm wool things so we don't freeze to death at Gulf Wars. As I've been finding patterns, I've been saving them to my pinterest so I could find them later. Then I came across these:
Linwood Crafts
Hubby immediately latched on to these and wanted a pair. And I thought, "Ya know, I think I can do that!!" And so the Felted Boots project was born.
I first chose the wool: Paton's Wool Roving in Natural.
Then I determined how I needed to change my go-to sock pattern. Because felting causes shrinkage of the item, I knew that the pre-felted sock needed to be about 1/3 bigger than normal. I did some playing around with felting swatches of this wool- trying the process with different sized hooks to see how it affected the outcome.
The pattern I used is this awesome Knee-High Boot Sock Pattern. I pretty much followed the pattern as far as stitch count, etc. I simply used bulkier wool than called for and a 10.0mm N-hook instead of the 6.0mm J-hook called for. Here's what the "sock" looked like before felting:
Then it was time to start the felting process! I did a two-fold process, part in the washing machine and part by hand on hubby's feet. First I put plenty of hot water and a little soap in the machine, along with my sock and a towel, for extra agitation. I checked on the sock's progress every few minutes- it wouldn't do have it shrink too small!! When I decided it had shrunk enough in the machine, we pulled it out, rolled the water out with a hand towel, then put them on hubby's feet. We completed the felting process on his feet to be sure that they would be shaped to his feet.
After they were felted to satisfaction, he took them off and we stuffed them with plastic bags to help them retain that shape while they dried. Here's a glimpse of the final product:
This did take about 2 skeins for the first boot (more than I expected or had) so I'm waiting on the additional wool I ordered to come before I can do the other boot.
All in all, this was completely experimental, but I'm pretty pleased with the final result!
Yes, I know I haven't written in forever. But, you know how we Celts are with writing!
We had such a blast at Gulf Wars last year, that we decided to go back again this year. We'll be camping with Crawhere again and are really looking forward to it! But, there's a LOT to do to get ready!
Last year, we were so cold. I know it was unusual, but I'm not taking any chances this year! I've learned to crochet, so I'm making us plenty of warm wool things to wear. Here are just a few examples:
I'm also experimenting with felting, so I'll share more about that tomorrow once the piece I felted is dry (and I know how it turned out!).
One day, I'll be at Gulf Wars XLII and talk about "back at Gulf Wars XXII...." just like folks do now at Pennsic. This was my first Gulf Wars, and it was a BLAST! We were camped with Crawhere, another group to which some of our Meridian Preachainii belong to.
The Crawhere Camp at Gulf Wars XXII Photo by Az Parris
We were within walking distance of the rest of the Preachainii in the Bastarkmark Early Period Life Camp, which meant it was easy enough to walk up and chill in the longhall each evening.
Bastarmark Longhall at Gulf Wars XXII Photo by Az Parris
There was as always, fun with our whole Celtic Family! It is always fun to see everyone and spend time with your chosen family.
Aoife stoking the fire in the Long Hall Photo by Az Parris
Voldi and Drac roasted the fourth version of Tasty the Pig Photo by Az Parris
Of course, there was also plenty of fighting to be had with castle battles, field battles, bridge battles and ravine battles. Fortunately the weather was quite conducive to fighting during the day, but the nights sure did get cold!
Crawhere fighters after Bridge Battle Photo by Az Parris
Murdaigean and Relic in Armor Photo by Az Parris
Ceanag in armor Photo by Az Parris
Ceanag in armor Photo by Az Parris
All in all, it was truly a blast. I can't wait to go back next year. Until then, I'll be at every event I can! Oh- and who wouldn't miss seeing all these stars?
Gulf Wars Night Sky Photo by Az Parris
Here is a media video from the local news channel about Gulf Wars XXII:
It's really hard for me to believe that Pennsic has been going on for 41 years, and that I know friends who have been going for all or most of that time. Pennsic is always an amazing two weeks, and Pennsic 41 was no different.
As always, Pennsic was a gathering of friends and family. I love my whole Celtic family: my own Clanne, and my kin in other clannes like Anglesey, Concusare, and Galatia. More and more these days, I feel like a true citizen of the Bog. I love walking in to any camp and finding people that I consider kin and kith- and receiving the same sort of welcome from those people.
Though I did not get to fight as much as I would have liked this year, I still had a blast on the field, until I got a concussion! During the final battle- the field battle (which is actually 5 battles)- I was whacked really good on the head by a guy with a glave. My vision went white-out and I dropped to my knees. I somehow had the wherewithal to get off the field, but that was about it. One of the guys in our group did a pupil check, and my pupils were disturbingly slow to react (maybe because of my concussion back in April??), so they sent me to the EMT tent. Needless to say, I have recovered now. Here's some footage of the first field battle. According to the hubs, I appear somewhere in this video!
This year was an interesting year, as our kinsmen, Ailgheanan and Amber, were King and Queen of Meridies.
Our Clanne had already decided to fight for Ailgheanan, and he made a bid at the Bar-Bar for the rest of the UCF (Anglesey, Concusare, Galatia). The other Celtic Clannes accepted his offer, and the UCF got to fight together for another year! Here are some pictures of the warlords from Anglesey, Concusare, and Galatia as they field offers from various royalty. The beautiful Morganna is always serves as the voice of the warlords to interpret their "barbarian" speech for the visiting royalty.
Murdiagean and I were privileged and honored that Ailgheanan allowed us to be part of the procession that accompanied him to the Bar-Bar. Since Ailgheanan is Preachanii, and the Preachanii have a long history (some good, some bad) with the other Celts, he decided to go to the Bar-Bar not as a King, but rather as another Celt. Here's a picture of Ailgheanan and Amber's procession entering the Bar-Bar:
As always, in Preachain, we did some really awesome things. We are blessed to be the home of Scot the Viking and Maggie the Potter, of Viking-u-like. This year, Maggie brought her tools, clay, and expertise to us and allowed us to sculpt and pit-fire our own clay objects. My penis oil lamp turned out fabulously and functions very well, but I do not have a picture of it to share with you. Our items, however, were fired under the fire we used to roast Tasty the Pig (Tasty's head was removed in true Celtic fashion with a sword). Here's a picture of tasty with the clay being fired buried in the pit beneath the fire:
Of course, there was lots of fun to be had, parties to attend, and woding to get done. We also had our very popular Early Period A&S day, which attracted lots of folks and many talented artisans.
All in all, we made many fabulous new friends, who will, like most of the others we've met over the years, likely become lifelong friends that we reunite with in our Iron Age lives at Pennsic and various other events. Here are some other awesome, random photos of this Pennsic for your enjoyment:
Of course, Women in White was fantastic, spiritual, and healing all at once. It was exactly what I needed in that moment, in that time, in that Pennsic. Here's a few pictures of Women in White:
It has been more than a full turn of the wheel since I posted, but life has been very busy, both mundanely and reenactment wise. You might be wondering what we've been up to.
Projects
First, we had our helmets redone:
After that, I spent some time to make Murdaigean a period helmet liner like mine. Of course, since his was the second, it turned out much better and nicer than mine!
It is made from linen fabric and stuffed with 100% natural cotton balls. The edges have since been finished with red wool yarn. It does a much better job of wicking away sweat than the blue padding that many folks use, it works as well at protecting the head (if not better) and it looks better too!
Herbal Medicine
This year at Pennisc, I had the opportunity to replenish my herbal medicine kit. I've been getting far more serious about learning herbal medicine. I like the idea of being able to recognize and use the plants around me for healing purposes. Unfortunately, I don't get out to the countryside to gather the plants as much as I'd like, but Pennsic is a nice opportunity to buy a huge variety of already harvested and dried herbs at great prices.
Recently, I came down with a terrible cold. The antibiotics and over-the-counter treatements weren't doing much good and I was miserable. I dug into my kit and created a tasty tea that did a great job of drying up the mucus that was clogging my sinuses and lungs. Here's the recipe I used: 1/4 tsp. yarrow 1/4 tsp. peppermint 1/4 tsp. hyssop 1/2 tsp. chamomile Brew in 1 1/2 cups water for 5 minutes. Strain plant matter and add honey to taste. Enjoy three times daily until cold clears.
Next time, I'll talk about Pennsic and post some pictures!
