strangely familiar territory

1) I'm 's bitch and can't resist buying large amounts of pottery from him. Every thing in that photo is from his kiln with the exception of the black/white Please Touch Pottery mug and the unlabeled Wal-Mart $1 mug.

2) We did a lot of snacking yesterday in that most of these dishes were used before feast and that doesn't include the water pitcher (also purchased from ) and a few disposable items.

Yesterday was the Investiture of our new local Baron and Baroness and despite the crappy weather at the beginning of the day it was well attended. We almost didn't bring the pavilion but I'm really glad we did because it helped shelter others from the wind and cold and gave us a nice spot to camp. Our camp stove got plenty of use making hot water for the masses, but I think I need to label the two carafes as both being water and add instructions for how to get water out of them.

I was later than others getting to site because I had to get my nails done at 9am. This wasn't a "let's pamper ourselves after a long week" kind of appointment but more of a "I'm overdue for a fill on my acrylic nails and have to get them shortened before I go out of town again" kind of appointment. My regular nail tech (whom I love dearly as she's the best nail tech EVER) is out having surgery so I had to go to a substitute. She followed directions relatively well in that she kept the acrylic thin, but when I told her I wanted the tips square she took me rather literally. My tips looked like I had just pushed my fingers up to a belt sander to shape them.

When I showed up on site yesterday, I felt a bit rushed to get into the swing of things. Many years ago, I showed up later than I would have liked to one of my own baronial birthday events as Baroness. Niobe (who was Queen at the time) asked me if everything was okay when I got there and I told her I was delayed because of an outfit I needed to finish. She smiled and said, "it's more important that you're here than what you wear while you are here." She was gracious and kind as always, but I felt foolish and completely overwhelmed by my responsibilities as a Baroness. I had let my own priorities and projects overshadow my obligations to everyone else.

I still have that outfit from ten years ago and it's still not finished. But yesterday I had new priorities. It was nice to know that I didn't have obligations (not working the front gate, not cooking food, not holding any office and definitely not wearing any coronet) but at the same time I managed to find several services to provide on my own terms (our day board of hot tea and snacks was a big hit).

I'm figuring out what parts of the SCA I like and what parts I don't have much use for. It's like everything is old hat and completely new at the same time. I may finally be getting the hang of being helpful without sacrificing my own fun.