Geez! I let the entire month of April whiz past without a single post...and I know it didn't feel all that busy! Must have been though....

I did get a few things done. I have about 20 inches of lace done...only 20 or so more to go. My aim is a full 48 inches to give the garter a good full ruffle, but anything over 36in will do that. I also got about 24in of the blackwork cuffs done. That is enough for two cuffs with ruffling. I hope to get enough more done to get the cuffs for my Husband's smock as well. I also focused on getting our deck clear and prepped for the summer. All the snow is gone, the umbrellas and canopy are up, the kids toys cleaned and up, and we have fired up the BBQ. It has been in the mid 70's for the past few days...Heaven! My Sister-in-law in Dallas said that we were only three degrees cooler yesterday (4/30) that they were. Insane! Texas and Alaska both the same warmth, in April?! I am not arguing, it was too darn nice sitting on the deck and making lace.

My main distraction for the moth of April was in getting our local SCA Barony's Fool's Revel organized. I was the "autocrat" (person in charge) for the event, and it fell to me to get the site, arrange the activities, and generally make sure everything went off without a hitch. It was worth the effort though. The food was great, we had lots of people come, and it sure did seem as if everyone had fun. Their Highnesses traveled from Wasilla and joined in our silliness, and that just added even more fun to the mix. If you want to see just a bit of the things we did, you can check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gijvYmBVVLw&feature=channel_page for some of the heavy fighting. As we didn't have enough eligible heavy fighters for the Champion for the College of St. Boniface tourney, the Seneshal of the college opened the tourney to a "Rock, Paper, Scissors" tourney that anyone could then partake in. It was such a highlight of the event, that the Seneshal thinks that it might just happen once a year. You can check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwphBNTC5JI&feature=channel (Part 1) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyW90z4csV0&feature=channel (Part 2).

Part of my job in the Barony is the Arts and Sciences Office. My duties are to help encourage people's interest in different aspects of the past. I will admit that my offerings tend to be heavy in the needleworking areas as that is what I am most proficient in, and where my interest lies. I do try hard to bring in other aspects though, and events are one way I can do that. I usually host a competition that fits with the "theme" of the event and allows those interested to try their hand at something new. For this year's Fool's Revel, I redid a competition I offered several years ago...The Fool's Tools. I was hoping that people would be thinking about what a fool did, what they wore, and what "tools" they might have used. The winning entry this year was a baldric made from playing cards and chess pieces. While not exactly "period", it was this person's interpretation of what she thought a fool might use...and it went very well with her chess pieces coathardie she made as well.

That's it for the moment. If I can figure out how to do it, I will post my old entry from the first time the contest for "Fool's Tools" was held. Till then!