Oh the nagging ...

Memo to self: New Blogger mad, hates comments, requires manual turning on thereof. Almost as bad as line of dialogue on TV just now: You were built to seduce and run, Chad, you just can't help it! Secomd memo to self: If real life ever occasions moment when such a line would be apposite, turn on heel and run like the limpy wind!!!!

Yes, yes, I have been very lackadaisical with the blogging of late. This is because I have been working on a new frock, plus trying to tidy the house, plus having an apprentice shuffle, plus having lovely houseguests. Add to that May Crown, loads of work and a great need to catch up on sleep, and the blog had no chance.

So, a quick update before more serious updates later in the week (and yes, they're partially written so they will actually happen). The following are in no particular order.

* The Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists/Whaling/Communists had me in stitches for a week. I blame Maeve/Jen (who is now 30! How can she be so old? How can she be so young?) for me wasting several very enjoyable evenings on these three. Mr Gideon Defoe deserves your cash, go out and purchase his tiny tomes of giggledom at your first opportunity. They are very silly, but like all good silliness, it builds cheerfully, so persevere if you find the first dozen pages ridiculous. Each is as the name suggests, and if you think the mix of The Pirate Captain and Charles Darwin is inspired, wait till you see the PC and Karl Marx ...

* Laurel minutes should not be nearly 8000 words long. And that was after I left out the bad jokes. Honestly ...

* Apprentice 1 remains in place, albeit too busy to sew till November. A2 is off to be a Baroness and so is free unless she wants to come back, in which case her A will have been kept toasty warm for her. A3 was offered a squiredom before he was an official A. This was OK, because he had dreamed of being a squire, and it was to a knight good enough that I was prepared to let him go (he wouldn't have been given a general dispensation!), but now I'm not sure if I should take his A number as reserved or not, which matters because I am about to take on an official A4 or A3, depending on how we look at things, who is keen and lovely and has promised to be soft around we aged folk. And since her name doesn't start with A, I have to find her an A nickname ...

* J has torn the ligaments in his right elbow fighting in May Crown. They are not torn all the way through nor off the bone, but badly enough for six weeks out of fighting and no heavy lifting. Hilariously we discovered last night that there was talk he'd thrown the bout. Such talk was clearly from people who noticed neither the immense look of pain on his face at the tournament, nor the immense grumble of frustration after the tournament. And if that rumour started because he and I had a little private chat before the semis, it was him checking with me that I'd keep to our minimalist plans if he won the tournament, which was statistically likely.

I also had to laugh at some of the people offering to teach him some technique so that he would stop injuring himself. Yes he has tweaked this elbow before, but it's all for the one reason in that his muscles are far more developed in one direction than in the other. It is tangentially to do with SCA fighting, in that he has big strong whip the sword back muscles, and lithe, fast move it forward ones, but he just needs to lift some weights when his ligaments are less sore to even his muscles up so that his body stops working against itself. I would mock him, but I have pulled my own shoulder out of its socket reaching for an umbrella in the past, which would make me mockable, except my friend Sue broke her own humerus in two arm wrestling, so she wins in the stupid things with overdeveloped muscles game.

* We did Bridgewalk back in March, it was FANTASTIC. We went at night when the smoking ceremony was on; it's an aboriginal tradition to cleanse a place. It was beautiful, and enormous fun. I'm glad I badgered J into coming, and he was glad, too. Here's a photo of the bridge:


Taken from the middle lane where one would normally be flattened within minutes. I love the sculptural nature of this bridge, and I love the courage of the people who built it; both political courage for funding such a big project in the middle of a Depression and actual courage for doing such a difficult job with such rudimentary safety equipment. There is a cycle path on the western side of the bridge that is one of the world's most fun rides on a nice day; you can see all the way down the river and hear the penguins mipping as they play near Luna Park.

Of course, we were not the only people walking. In this shot you can see the smoke, but also the lights from the thousands of caps with LEDs that were given out to all the walkers. It was a nice touch by the sponsor, and it meant that all around The Rocks afterwards you could spot who had been there at that time. I'm quite looking forward to the centenary, now. Which I suspect may come about before John Howard apologises for the stolen generation, but after he leaves office, fingers crossed! (Probably not as tightly as Peter Costello's ...)


* I was a foul and grumpy haggis for most of Festival, the small reasons for which will be covered off in a subsequent post, but the big reason for which was that my foot was agonisingly painful the whole time. Aside from dust, that site is so evil in its rockiness. It was my fault for wearing period shoes, but seriously; OW!

* Anyway, we went up to see the ponies at Glenworth, site of next year's Festival and took a few photos of the property (NB, we're at the other end, but it all looks like this):

You will immediately note two major differences to Crossroads; it has grass and it is green. It is soft underfoot and when you trip, you do not damage yourself unduly. There is water, in little trickles that are quite safe for young folk of more than toddlerdom.

There are trees, and it's a valley, so there is shade and no gale-force dust-laden wind. I think that we might start camping again ...
More soon, sleep time now.