I'm sitting here with a working computer (albeit ancient and slow), catching up on my friends' lives. Full of sweet. Babies are growing, mammograms are clean, company is happily looked forward to - that's just a taste of the good stuff I'm reading about. And I have a grey kitty stretched across my lap, purring while dreaming about chasing rabbits (I think).

Life is good.

Welp, I have a husband again. Jamie stepped down as king of Esperance on Saturday. I used all my adrenalin and spoons to make it through the weekend. We had 4 houseguests on Thursday and Friday, and 6 on Saturday. Everyone left on Sunday which is kind of like a wind tunnel suck. It took yesterday to recover and today I'm feeling little pain, but have no energy. But whew! What a weekend.

I am very lucky that my extended family loves each other as much as I love them. When we get together (mostly weekends when Adria has something going), it's a family reunion and lots of love. Not tension - so nice.

I was able to get Jamie's coronation clothes finished. Mostly finished anyway LOL I'm sure people will send me photos and when they do, I'll share them here. At least he wasn't naked (I really thought he might have to wear nothing, depending on what I could finish!)

Summer is officially here. Hot hot hot and a little heat. Mix in copious amounts of humidity. Makes is miserable outside during the day, but keeping the living room coolish means keeping it dark. I hate dark rooms! But that's what the dining room and sewing rooms are for.

I slept with something nonhuman and quite vicious Sunday night. I woke up covered in bites that were itchier than anything I've ever had before. Thumbnail-sized welts on my left side - over 2 dozen of them. And our benedryl cream was old. I caked it on anyway and when Jamie got home, he left quickly again. Came home with new cream and pills and I slept away the bulk of the itchy stings after that. Today they are normal mosquito bite things and only a little itchy. A couple are still welts and a couple others were infected (don't worry, docs and nurses, I cleaned every one of them and they're all okay now). What was weird was the scratching in my sleep. I had two areas the size of CDs that were bruised from the scratching. LOL I do bruise easily, don't I?

Oh! I know what else I wanted to talk about. AFter the coronation, I came home (no way could I stay any longer for the feast = my back was killing me). The rest of the household came, too. Driving long distances and busy days makes for early evenings. And my squire came with her family. We had ourselves a healthy little party here. And I didn't die.

I can't call her my squire anymore, though. She took her knighthood (in archery) Saturday. She vassaled to me, which is very very cool, but she's no longer my squire. It's going to take some getting used to. I said then and I'll repeat it now - having her as my squire made me a better knight.

And that is a wonderful note to leave this update.

Why is it that my bed is so much softer and inviting in the mornings? And the sheets are more luxurious and feel nicer on my skin? And the same bed is almost odious at night? And the sheets feel like they're made of burlap?

I went on a mini-vacation. On other words, spent some time offline and on the couch. But I'm back now. And Jamie set up the old laptop in the office so I can have internet access without tripping over the wires all the time.

More later - I just wanted to zip in here for a minute.

Tylenol Sinus Extra Owie is my friend.

Changing barometic pressure is not.

I pulled up my big-girl panties today. Got a wedgie.

I actually made a step toward one of my goals. The goal is sitting outside and enjoying my backyard and garden. Usually I am able to stumble downstairs and fall onto the couch, unable to move or think coherently. Today, I made a concerted effort to sit down at the table with the laptop, the coffee and the applesauce. I can at least see the backyard. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get even closer to the actual blades of grass.

I had a rather rude comeuppance last night. I was cranky, Jamie was a poopyhead, so words were spoken before the ice fell over the house. In the past, that meant the house would be spotlessly clean within an hour or two. I would clean to "get over myself". I did the usual and started cleaning. Hurt my back and had to wait for the painkillers to kick in. I guess that's a sign of old age - you have to plan your tantrums around your painkillers.

had a houseful again this weekend. I'm getting better at being less. I tried to get enough rest, and stay on the couch as much as possible. I did well at relinquishing my hostess duties (that's a hard one - I have always enjoyed making sure my guests are comfortable and have full bellies). As such, I don't think this Monday is as bad as it could have been. I still would back any legislation to disallow Mondays, but I think I'll survive it.

I got Jamie's coronation costume mostly cut out, but not sewn at all. A little bit every day with lots of rest. I keep my focus to that because if I think about the coronation being less than two weeks away, I'll be in major freakout mode. There were ways I could have avoided it - like putting off a couple of other projects. But no way was I prepared to do that. One of the projects was a wedding wall hanging and the people were married a year and a half ago. The other was a final band on a round robin that is LONG overdue. Those two things had to be finished before I touched anything, and I mean anything, else. So Jamie may be stepping down nekkid. I'm okay with that, though I think he needs a bit of a tan to be able to pull it off properly.

Anyway, now to nap. More later.

Alwyn, you better renew your library book - you left it here!!!! Along with your really pretty tea plates. Oops.

This is the hummingbird bush. The one that is supposed to be about 6-foot high and that much around. It is now more like 15 feet high (at least) and at least that much around. That's with us cutting it back every winter. It's a little out of focus, but it shows the wildness that is our backyard.

Anyway, if you want to take a look at the preliminary photos of the kitty-tainer garden, there's a couple of shots here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16516551@N02/sets/72157619817864497/

"seems facebook little drive bys has made me feel like I"m connecting, but I'm not, really." (~ornerie

I think this nails it down for me. I love Livejournal because I really am connecting. Often with myself. I don't do Facebook often because it really is just a drive-by.

For my birthday, I was gifted with coffee by aixlesbains. It's two types, one Brazilian and one Armenian. This preface is so that everyone in the world can know that aixlesbains knows how to pick coffee. If you *ever* have the chance to shop with her, let her pick your coffee. Egads, I cannot tell you how good these are. I think I like the Brazilian blend better (it's so smooth and delicate). I'm not sure, though, so I have to keep trying the Armenian (which is a bit brighter). It was a wonderful gift. Just wonderful. Thank you.

This is Adria-related so you non-medeivaloidists might want to skip the post!

This past weekend I was brought into the Queen Mum's Artisans. Dame Willow d'Rara was Esperance's first royal monarch, so she's always been the queen mum. She got ahold of several WWI pins from England's Queen Mum's Needlework Guild. So Dame Willow created an order for knight artisans who continue in the arts. For me, this was a huge honor. And this is why ...

Queen Mum's Artisans are not about excellence and authenticity - well, they are, but much much more
they are about encouragement and education. It's about expanding into new areas of the arts and sciences. It's about teaching, and demonstrations, and mentoring others, and making sure we judge when needed. And that, to me, is the exciting part of the arts. The learning and sharing, trying new things.

There are other ways to acknowledge the most talented of our artisans (I'm not one of our most talented), and there are other ways to acknowledge those who are dedicated to authenticity (I'm not nearly as authentic as I will be in another hundred years or so). The Queen Mum's acknowledge those of us who are special in other ways. So I am honored beyond belief to be among them.

just one of the flowers on my patio.

Just three photos and I'm done for the night (the garden photos and the rosaries/paternosters will have to wait until tomorrow).

Our friend, Paul, has been mentioned more than once in this journal. He is family by choice, not blood, and was married to Ginger until her death.
( photo here )

Yanno how we say Keegan doesn't know which end goes down when we tell him to sit? Here's a bit of proof.
( photo here )

Same for the "lay" command. You'll also notice in the background, Princess Pitiful looking on to be sure the little one obeys all the rules.
( photo here )

Last April, we got to go with xorareyn and dsrphoenix to California Adventure. Fun day.



( Does this frighten anyone else as much as it does me? )

Yes, it's photos from ages and ages ago. You know you want to see them!

( Carnivore Feast 2009 - 4 photos )

Warning! If you use "cute" bandaids, be aware that there ARE repurcussions. I found some great little fairy bandaids at Big Lots. These in particular had a price to pay.

Last night, I had bandaided all appropriate spots, mostly on my forearms. There was one scratchy place on my upper arm, so I stuck a little fairy bandaid there and called it a night. I was in that wonderous place between asleep and awake, with one cat curled up at my back and Watcher curled up at my front. Their purring was in unison, as was my stroking of the watcher-kitty. Apparently the moonlight flashed on the fairy;. Frodo tapped the bandaid and figured it was fine. That caught the attention of Watcher who decided it was NOT fine. Fairies, apparently, are not allowed to alight on my arm. After prying her off me, I couldn't convince her it was okay. I had to take off the bandaid and hide it. Yes, hide it.

So this morning - fairy bandaids are not on my body, but a couple of puncture holes are now on my upper arm. Repurcussions to every choice you make. Thanks to the universe for the reminder. Yeah. Thanks. Heaps.

My strength is returning, way too slowly for my taste!

I put the last stitch on L and D's wedding quilt. They were married a year ago last April LOL But dayum, it's beautiful. Yeah yeah pictures coming on the craft journal. I just have to install the camera software. Same excuse I've had for weeks now.

Alwyn is here and I'm loving it. It's hard to have part of your family thousands of miles away.

I'm 52 years old. I think for real this time - it's just so difficult to keep an accurate count anymore.

The garden is blooming something fierce. I adore the time I spend outside - either front or back. Doesn't matter - both have blossoms and clean surfaces. Woo-hoody-hoo!

Current project is so much closer to complete. A long long overdue round robin. Got all the squares cut yesterday (Jamie, may the gods bless you for that fabric die-cutter!).

I've caught up on reading LJ, but didn't comment as much as I would have liked to.

It was a good day yesterday. I don't really "do" birthdays, so the assorted wishes and stuff were a surprise - no one is supposed to know, yanno? LOL I had a lowkey day, but such a good one. Kiss Me Kate, homemade bread, good cheese, good wine, good friends and chocolate covered cherries. Then out to dinner!

Today I'm working on a long overdue round robin. Don't know how long I will be able to sit up, but I'm going for it. This needs to be done in the worst way. (Read that the way I meant it, not the way I wrote it.)

Got some news this morning that should have been sad. A good friend of mine has passed away. Yes, another one. Appropriately enough, Bones has died of bone cancer. I didn't realize that he had been keeping it a secret, so I guess it's good that I didn't tell anyone. I say it should have been sad, but I'm very glad his pain is over and done with. He was ready to go. He sure was a good one, though. He bought Jess her drum. Though she never appreciated it, I did. And he gave me such a wonderful crocheted table mat. It was one of those terribly old fashioned one with frills and pineapples and I love it. Always have. Always brings a smile to my face. RIP, William Clayton.

http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2009/06/twenty-years-ago.html

This is the image I was telling you about. 20 years and it's still clear in my head and affecting my views. Tiennamen Square (sp) was a huge deal.