silvrwillow’s blog

My friends,

I have noticed that people rarely post here anymore.  Since I have an LJ (which is much more active), and this Vox blog (which is not), I am going to close this one down.  It is not necessary to post the same thing in two places since no one seems to be here, and my leisure reading time is small.  I am sorry.  I will miss you.  Come over to LJ & read me there.  It's the same user ID, "silvrwillow".  Most of the people I know are active over there.  Diana, you seem to be the only one left in the neighborhood.  If you have an LJ, I'd like to add you so we don't lose touch.  Everyone else, if you see this message, drop me  an email sometime & let me know how you are doing.  :)  I know life gets busy, but I do care about you all.  Hope to hear from you sometime.

Hugs, ~kat~

Oh glorious!
To sleep without regard for the houre, be it earlye or late.
How resplendant!
To sip from a cup of tea at my leisure, without odious daily worries nipping at my heels to hurry me along.
Ah, luxurious!
To draw my bath and sink deep into its' warmth, soaking quietly amongst my own thoughts.
Blessed peace!
To read from a book cosily inside while the rain doth fall without my regard.
Sweetest contentment!
To pet my dear companion cat, and revel in the feel of his silky fur, his sleepy eyes, and his gentle purr.
Rapturous freedom!
To do as I wish, when I wish to do it or not.

Yea, I must needs soon be about the sorely neglected business of returning my house to order: but for a while - no work, no faire, no rehearsals, no pressing commitments.

This is the unfetter'd JOY of an idle daye!

The Mediaeval Baebes, that is!  *wow*  I was just at their wonderful concert tonight up at Glen Echo.  Fantastic!  I didn't even bother to try to go see their show during faire last weekend, because I knew what it would be like.  Soooo glad I waited!  Interesting costume on one of the girls... oh my...  I really enjoy listening to them & seeing their show.  Yay!  Glad they came back.  :)

govote.org

Pass it along to people, help spread the word, eliminate any voter confusion *before* the important day!

Hi everyone.

Yeah, I know I've not been posting a lot.  So what?  Many of you haven't either - poke, prod. *snip of smart remark I made*   Anyway, enough whining & finger-pointing on my part.  I am responsible for my own short-comings.  Ok, so to make up for lost time, here is a brief summing up of the past weeks:

1. MDRF.  I'm there. A lot. Like almost every weekend except for the most recent two.  I sold cd's for Cercamon again this year.  It was great, & I miss mes amis greatly since they are now up in CT for that faire's run.  Faire is changing for me this year in subtle ways.  Unsure how I feel about this & kind of unable to put it into words...

2. I had a birthday back in September.  Thanks to all who shared the day and/or sent good wishes!  You helped make it an enjoyable time.  The number was a large-ish one.  Unsure how I feel about that too.

3. School has begun.  I've been teaching for 15 years now.  Things have sure changed since I began - lordy that makes me sound like an old codger - but it's true.  Even within the last 5 years.  I have now done almost all - have my own room, teach in someone else's room when they aren't using it, push a cart to classrooms, teach in the auditorium, teach at multiple schools in the same week, and now even within the same day.  *rueful smile*

4.  I shared in a friend's labor & delivery (see previous post). Wow!  I discovered a secret side to myself that might be worth exploring further one day.  And no, it's not me having a baby of my own, before you harbor any silly ideas.

5. Still late in finishing up auditions for my school musical groups - GRRR!

6. Glad to see that my 4th & 5th graders can be trusted to choose responsibility.  It made me smile today.  One of my tough Kindergartners had a good day in music today.  That is progress for her & also made me feel glad.

7. I have been invited to join the Sea Revels.  Sea stuff has never really been my thing, but I'll try it anyway & see what happens.

8. A select group of VARF cast members (including me) have been chosen to put on a mystery dinner theater.  Again, not really my "bag", but I'll try it & see if they will do a better job than the last time I went to one - put on by a different group which was too long, slow-paced, & boring as hell.

9. Medaieval Baebes are coming to town again.  Like last year, I'll go again to the concert the night before faire.  That was a good thing, since I never could get near enough to see or hear them during the faire last year.

10.  Went to the Revels 25th Anniversary Reunion.  Was interesting.  Saw the Abbott's Bromley Horn Dance performed for real in the fields at sunset.  Eerily awesome.  I had tears.  Heard/sang a beautiful song in the dark as we closed the evening.  Simply gorgeous... I was unhappy when they turned the lights back on in the barn at the end.

11.  Went to the Revels Kitchen Dinner/Dance.  Food was ok, company was terrific, dancing was too much fun!

12. Ed & I attended the wedding of friends up in PA.  Rainy the entire weekend, but we still had lots of fun & adventure.

13. Heh, appropriate number for this: I bought two costumes for Halloween.  One is a fairy & the other is the girl from Nightmare Before Christmas.  Ed had to help, I'm not good at this on my own.  Christmas is my holiday.  I need help with Halloween.  I prefer my "scares" to be much milder than I like my salsa!  :)

In light of Oktoberfest at MDRF this past weekend, I offer this funny little proverb - "Much drinking, little thinking."

And finally a thought from A.E. Wiggan on education: " Intelligence appears to be the thing that enables a man to get along without education.  Education appears to be the thing that enables a man to get along without the use of his intelligence."  This is SOOO appropriate on many levels right now.

No, not mine, you silly people.

My friend & art teacher colleague from school had her first baby today!  Georgia Harper Norwood was born at 4:35pm this afternoon.  She weighed 8 pounds, 12 oz., and was 20 1/4 inches long.  Mother worked hard for this little girl to arrive, but they are both fine & resting comfortably now.  I was in the room for the entire time & well, just wow.  I am amazed by how strong my friend was.  She went all-natural, with absolutely no pain meds.   o.0  The things our human bodies can do are just incredible. 

Anyway, I wish her & her family a wonderful life filled with as many blessings as they can hold!  :)  Today was a great day.

Joe Kudla, aka "Snot" of Puke & Snot fame, died on Monday at his home of a possible heart attack.  We will miss him greatly.  Rest in Peace, funny man.

I traveled to Pennsic War this year for my second time in 3 years.  It was very typical: hot, windy, rainy, dry, chilly & clammy at night, etc...  I am rarely actually found in my camp because of the sheer number of things to do: shopping, classes, concerts, bardic circles, etc...  This year, I attended 2 concerts at night - Wolgemut/Owain Phyfe, and Dragonsong.  Was less impressed with Dragonsong than I hoped.  Oh well, if you don't go to hear new groups, then you never know.  It was fantastic as always to listen to Owain Phyfe.  BTW, I spoke with him at CORF & he said that he is coming to MDRF for the last 2 weekends to play with Wolgemut.  Soooo - if you're planning a trip out here, that would be a good time to come!  :)  On that side note, the Medieval Baebes will return at that time as well.  My dear & talented friends from Canada, Cercamon, will not be around for the entire run this year.  They will be present for the early part of faire so come early to hear them.  Check the MDRF website for more info about it all of course.

Anyway, back to the Pennsic report!  I took a variety of classes (like always), and not just music or dance.  I could EASILY spend my entire time doing nothing but that!  :)  It's just that there are so many interesting things to learn: perfume history, period non-alcoholic beverages, how to redact (interpret) period recipes, herbal lore, and much more that I wanted but had no time to fit in the schedule. *pout*  Musically, I took a class on singing period rounds (most of which I already knew, but there were some new gems to be discovered), several dance classes (English country & Italian court),  and a hands-on class about wind instruments of the period.  We got to see, hear and play things like shawms, crumhorns (I want one of those!), 3 hole pipes, and a curtle (not sure of the spelling, but it's the medieval precursor to a bassoon).  Wow - way cool.  I went to a bardic circle one night, but was not feeling very well, and did not stay too long.

I am home, and doing the garb laundry to get ready for the start of MDRF in 2 weeks.  Hope some of you will come to play!  Let me know so we can meet & greet!

Ok... now really, was this necessary?

I mean, limousines are one thing.  Stretch limos, sure.  Yes, I've seen stretch hummers too, which btw, I think are ridiculous.  But now??!!  I may have seen it all.  *sigh*  A stretch pick-up.  No, ladies & gentlemen, I kid you not.  Coming home Saturday on Rt. 15 from Frederick, MD (yeah I know, it figures right?) we are passed by a stretch pick-up.  Yes, it's made to be like a stretch hummer limo thing, but it does have a pick-up bed at the end of it.   Good grief.

Well, I completed my grant proposals project for class, and mailed them off today.  *woo, like that's exciting, I know*
Next up, wash clothes tonight & pack for Pennsic.  See you all when I get back!