Old NorthWest Territory Primitive Rendezvous 2012

The End of the Line

My vacation all started on Thursday, July 6th with me attempting to secure my duffel bag to Saoirse' back. For those of you with motorcycles I wouldn't recommend  bungees! That duffel listed to the side and about 80 miles into the trip I had to pull over onto the side of 71 to straighten it. Standing beside semis going 80 MPH is a bit nerve recking. I also had my camera bag slung on my back and thanks to the size of the duffel I couldn't sit up straight. I had to lean forward the whole 2hr and 45min ride it took to get to the Rendezvous.

Once there however, I had a blast. The weather wasn't cooperating, what with it being 102 degrees on Sunday. Still we JEWETTs are a tough lot and pushed through to a much cooler Monday. Uncle Ken took it the hardest. I guess the heat can cause ones sugar to rise and it definitely sapped his energy. Then it gave me a wicked migraine and I took a 2hr nap. Uncle Greg, Philip and Kyle seemed perfectly fine if very sweaty!

We were given a reprieve from the heat thanks to Ram Rod. Everyday he made a batch of ice cream. My favorite was Maple and Honey. Yummy! Once we arrived at his camp he'd start mixing everything and allow us to crank. Turns out it's not so hard to make ones own ice cream and it surpasses what one could get at a store or shop. Not to mention healthier!



Cicada

We had many visitor throughout the day, everyday. Even though we were 'the end of the line'. Including this little tom. The uncles chased him off but I found time to give him a good scratch under the chin when I ran into him by Cactus' camp. The Colonel's camp also had many visitors of the flying verity. Mosquitoes, horse flies, dragon flies, cicadas and a gorgeous hawk who had her nest near by.


I learned many things while there. 1stly I'm a decent shot with a riffle and muzzle loaders are kind of fun to shoot. I got my tan shirt dirty thanks to the black powder though I hit a bulls eye for the trouble. 2ndly I should practice more with the hawk and knife. Also, don't shoot with someone elses bow. You always get better scores when you use your own. However, my recurves can't be used at rendezvous for some reason. I can only use a long bow so I'm going to see about trading one of my recurves for a long bow. I already mentioned the ice cream:  so lastly I found out I'm pretty. It seemed like everyone had fun teasing me about it. Perfect strangers flirted. It didn't mater if they were married or single or dating. If a lady's feeling self conscience or unattractive and they enjoy reenacting history they should totally go to one of these events. ;3

Not me best side but hay I'm shooting a muzzle loader!

There was a marquee tent and awning for sale or trade. I believe it was $1200, but I could be wrong ... it could be more. Either way I'm thinking of investing for future years if I continue to reenact.  It would prove so much easier to dress, bathe ... and well that's just about it. It does have a divider so I could potentially use if for multiple people and maintain a modicum of privacy.




Thanks to my revealing chemise I managed to get a nice tan. Its really cleared up my acne, which is bloody awesome. However, in return I may have gotten Prickly Heat a.k.a Miliaria (creepy). That last bit might not be reliable. Anyway, Sunday after having awaken from my heat exhaustion induced nap I noticed little bumps running up and down the inside of my fore arms. Uncle Ken had me visit the camp 'Dr' for a cure or at the least find out what it is. Apparently it could be a number of things:  allergic reaction, poison ivy, or heat rash. So to cover some bases he got me some Benadryl and Poison Ivy cream. Neither worked! Though by the next day everyone in camp knew what was wrong and asked 'How's your rash?'. Camp gossip, I swear!

The boys got to chop fire wood with their wee tomahawks! Poor things!

Philip's 'surprise' attack!

Such a cutie! I loved photographing the wee ones!

Paige showing off for the camera or my uncle ... not sure which!

Of the junior and sub junior contestants these two sisters won their own muzzle loaders! Go them!

All the wee ones 18 and under!

I went to urgent care when I got home ... after a nice, long, cool, shower and a short visit to Daniel at work (not in that order). Dr Tsai was a wee bit puzzled. Poor man. Doesn't look like poison ivy, never mentioned prickly heat, but settled on a contact reaction (even though by this point it had spread to other locations, the back of my ear and neck to be brief.). So I was given a cure all (Prednisone) and told to visit my family Dr if it persists. I just wont tell him he's cheaper!

PC Failure and Other Disasters

So Friday there was a wicked storm that came through. If not for a coworker my poor little Saoirse would have been laying on her side. As it was we moved her right up to the building so that she was blocked from the wind that so wanted to damage her. Sadly I had to leave her here at work until Saturday after noon.

The storm itself was fun! The power failed at around 4:45pm and so the customers and staff ended up sheltering in the building, complete dark, and playing cat games with the little children. :3

Of course I had to leave my bike at work and the next day walk 2 hours, in 88 degree weather, toting a messenger bag and several books to go pick it up. Not a fun walk and lucky me our security was just locking up so I was able to retrieve my helmet and thus ride home in stead of walking back.

Then Sunday disasters strikes again. I woke up early (8am-ish), made myself some hot tea and set to work finishing up my clients logo. About 2pm it was done in 5 different styles and saving on my thumb drive to take and show her Monday. Well ... freeze. Okay so I walk away and give 'er time to think. When I come back ... Boot disk fail! O.o Deep breaths! Right?! I restart ... same message. I shut her down, pray the files saved and go read a book before I pick up the tower and throw 'er out the second story window. Monday I show my client the designs and they didn't save correctly. All funky colors. I get upset but she's like it's all right I won't need them for a few weeks yet. (She knows I'm going on vacation come tomorrow) I pray my second HD is untouched. Then later on Daniel calls and says my pc is fucked ... an over sized paper weight! T.T I had a break down. It wasn't pretty!

However, when I got home and played around we realized that, no, she isn't dead but having problems. All my files and programs are there and looking proper but my machine just doesn't want to operate. So I'm going to go in and play with my settings, perhaps over clock it and see were that puts us. In the mean time I'm going to enjoy my experience in the Old Northwest Primitive Rendezvous with my family for a whole week. When I get back then I'll drag my secondary HD to my mothers, install Illustrator and fix the logo to give to my client. That's the plan. Please pray mother nature doesn't decide to add more catastrophic to my life!

Kildare's Irish Pub

I just have to say, last night was my first time at the Kildare's Irish Pub and it was an excellent experience. We were greeted, seated and served with smiles. Our waitress reminded me of a co-worker (which I can't wait to tell her) and she had good recommendations. Between Daniel and I we had 4/5 drinks, an appetizer, and two meals and we walked out at $50.00 after tip. I'm sure she was happy with her tip too. We even brought most of our food home.

I will say though that I don't plan to get another chocolate strawberry. It was pretty sour. However the cider was great!

Before we left we asked for a manager and prattled on about how wonderful our experience was. He was pretty cool too!

Lady Admiral

I'm putting the final touches on my gold bodice. It's a really pretty cut, with princess seams, lacing up the front as well as lacing on the lower back for a tighter fit. I was thinking of adding embroidery to the peplum but I don't really know what I want so I left it blank. I could go back to it at a later date.

I'm going to go to Joann's tomorrow and pick up a few yards of muslin so I can make my chemises. I need at least two so I don't feel too grubby. The one I am embroidering but the second one shall be of a fancy printed cotton. It'll look like it's embroidered but won't be. Cheating I know! The fabric was so pretty that I just was inspired. According to my uncle it's historically accurate so I have nothing to hold me back. Also one needs to be long while the other needs to be able to be tucked into breeches but still long enough to wear with skirts so I'm thinking knee length or mid thigh. I can just imagine it tickling my legs if it's too hot to wear stockings and bloomers! It's July so it very well could be too hot!

I'm so happy that I can bring my camera. However, I have to hide it when not taking photos. What to do?! I guess the only thing to do is knit a bag! *sigh* This is turning out to be a busy couple months.

Off topic but Daniel's grandmother gave me a huge bag full of yarns. They're so pretty and soft. I can't wait to knit something with it! I've posted some of the softer yarns online for people view and possibly commission something out of it. I've put them all under photography props however I can knit other things out it them. However, if no one commissions something by the time I'm finished with my costume then I shall knit something for grandma out of it. If they have then I'll find some pretty yarns and still make her something.

If you go to the photo location:  which is Jewett's Faire Shoppe, you can skim through the rest of my yarns. If you want a commission then keep in mind that these particular yarns are only good for small projects. I can however get a very similar color for larger items. :3

Besides my costume that I have to have done by the end of this month. I have a contest I'm entering that ends July 28th. I've offered a prize to the winner but since I'm allowed to enter I'm going to. I hope many people enter this contest because I'm excited to give out a gift to the winner.

Well I'm going to go entertain my nephew so he'll stop putting stickers on me. :3

Chapstick

Over the weekend I finally made my own chapstick. I still need to print labels for them but at least I have a few done to this point. I found a basic recipe in "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Living". Very informative book that! It shall become my bible so that when I get my farm in the not to distant future I'll be able to homestead. It should make me most happy!

I definitely think beeswax has an unusual small!

If you don't add the almond oil then Recipe 1 only fills one .15oz tube. And I'm thinking it will make it a little on the firm side:  which I like so it's no big deal. Recipe 2 which I found from "A Sonoma Garden" fills 7 tubes. I did find a challenge when pouring into the tubes. Not so much making a mess as leaving what looks like an uneven consistency. Being my first time however, I'll forgive myself for the imperfections and strive to do better next time. The four I made today shall be given out to friends. Of course keeping one for myself! That was after all the whole point in making my own chapstick. I think I shall try adding the oils next time for a larger batch and a softer stick.

Recipe 1:

1tsp beeswax

1/2 tsp honey

2 tsp almond oil/ coconut oil/ olive oil/ ets.

1 vitamin E capsule

1-2 drops essential oil of your choice

Recipe 2:

1 1/2 tsp Beeswax

1 7/8 tsp coconut oil

1 1/8 tsp cocoa butter

3 tsp olive oil

3 capsules Vitamin E

Enjoy!

Smocked Cable Beanie

Well I finished the knit hat I had planned for Mallory. It was to go with the smocked dress I had given her for Christmas. However after about an inch along I realized it was too small. I kept knitting however, thinking perhaps it would stretch nicely. I mean it is ribbing after all. Now completed I find I was wrong. If I attempted to stretch it, it would look more like a fedora. My sister will be happy with it I'm sure since it's the perfect size for a newborn. What with her being a newborn photographer and all.

I'm attempting to write it all out at the moment. I probably should have done this while knitting it but I kept getting distracted by the knitting. So know I have to go in and try to find all those damn decreases:  they're hidden quite well if I do say so. So that is the point in which I find most challenging to write into pattern. Those damn decreases! Once done however I'm going to stick it up for sale. My figuring on this is that if the pattern is complex enough to charge $3.00 and thus create a competition for my selling the hats then I'll sell the pattern. If not then I'll just post the pattern for free use:  with credit on the design of course.

Off Duty Officer Assaults Pregnant Couple

So question 1:  Should an off duty officer be allowed conceal carry in a place that has signs for no weapons allowed?

I find it amusing that the lady feels she is allowed in the express lane with a cart full of goods. She's so special just because she's pregnant! Then the officer thinks HE'S special just because he's an officer. Off duty does mean that you are no longer a cop, so to speak.

I don't have the whole story of course but what I heard on the radio this morning. Read the scoop on NBC