Lazy Day

Today is a nice, lazy day.

It’s chilly outside and I don’t mind because I have no outside work to do.  It’s too wet to paint the house, the gardens are in, and the yard was mowed earlier, so it’s all in wait mode.

Inside, I have the dishes to wash and I’d like to re-organize a few things, but there’s no rush for any of it.  The laundry’s all done from MedFair and the costumes and accessories packed away until next year.  The ice chest and beverage dispenser are cleaned and out away.  The tables and chairs are folded and put up, too.  The dogs’ costumes are cleaned and folded into their drawers.  The dog carriage has been disassembled and put away.

At the Fair site, the tents are all gone, the Fair’s buildings are disassembled and back in storage, and the grass has been reseeded.  The park is as back to normal as it can be.

Later today I need to buy food for the big dogs and trash bags and light bulbs, but again, there’s no rush for any of this.

I wrote a couple of chapters on the new book, did some re-writing on 2 other books-in-progress, and wrote a couple of articles for my survival blog and my badges blog.  There are some new books awaiting my eyeprints, a freshly baked apple pie, and a dance performance video to put on for background noise and motion.

A lazy day.

My Cloak

Last year at MedFaire, my cloak of 40 years decided to retire without warning, and left me with no forwarding address.

I’ve been looking ever since for fabric with which to make a new cloak. I had some deep green velour for the lining, and some wind-proof, waterproof fabric to sandwich between the lining and the outer cloak, but no outer cloak fabric.

Today, I found my fabric. It’s heavy upholstery fabric in hunter green with an all-over pattern of – get this – flat leafed Italian parsley! It is the perfect fabric for me. And the Goddess Bargaina smiled on me because the fabric was 50% off, and I received another 30% discount for buying the entire bolt (which wasn’t as much as it sounds – just 8 yards).

I also picked up fabric to cover Shika’s carriage for the Faire. Unlike Itzl, she will probably be more comfortable in the carriage than being carried in a dawgie bag. I’ve got cheesecloth to make sides, and will put a sun canopy over it with roll-down sides to block the wind.

I’m considering getting a propane camp heater to bring out there. Even if the days are hot, the mornings will be cold and some form of heat will be appreciated.

I’ve also learned my lesson to bring a drop cloth to put on the ground of the booth and fix it so it gives us protection all around with a bit of a splash guard on the far sides of the tables. If I lay the groundwork right, the booth should be downright cozy this year. Since the blacksmith is complaining constantly about his arthritis, this may well be his last year. Of course, he’s also been saying that for the last 5 years, so we’ll see.

If it is his last year, we’ve been considering what we can do to have a booth out there ourselves. We can make board games in pouches (chess, checkers, fox and geese, 9-men’s morris, and others in pouches that lie flat as the board and when drawn up will hold the playing pieces), along with divination bags (similar to the board game bags with scrying board and divination pieces held inside when the bag is drawn up), and dawgie bags (which are really only good for itty bitty dogs under 5 pounds weight), and maybe our cookbook and home made doggie treats and beverages.

We’ll see.

Adult Merit Badges

Here’s a site where adults can earn merit badges and have fun.