This week's forecast:

I hate hot weather. It's 12:30 in the afternoon, and already 88. Supposed to be around 100 today and tomorrow, and up to 105 on Weds. I think there will be a movie theater somewhere in my future. (Hello, Mr Potter!)

Not much happening, trying to not melt is my main plan these days. James was up for part of the weekend- he had a meeting Saturday. We set fire to the backyard (well, a grill-sized part of it), showed a picture of the fire to some cows, and ate them. They were mighty tasty.

In teh sewing room, I need to finish Korwyn's tunics, and then get my Queen Carmen dress done. Also will be working on Randall's stuff, fortunately that is kind of spread out amongst several people and I don't have to do it all.

And ice cream is still a Very Good Thing!

Polka dots!

The polka-dot dress was a hit! Got lots of laughs and lots of compliments. And I found that I could actually work in the kitchen in it- I just tucked the sleeves into my belt to keep them out of the way.

The only big problem at Coronation was that it was so bloody hot. Mid- to upper-90s. My camp was back under the trees, but down on the field it was unbearable. I have no idea how the fighters manage it. TRMs moved court in under the trees, near the permanent pavilion, much to everyone's relief. I was only there for part of court- for Randal to be put on vigil. After that I went back to camp to deal with the chicken. Dinner turned out wonderfully, and the little dinner party was quite nice (even if I did accidentally call Countess Morag Countess Morwyn).

The switch to the gabapentin seems to be going well. Feeling better (well, except for the current lassitude from the heat) and not twitching so much. This is a serious improvement. And I get to see the new mental health person at my regular clinic, instead of heading down to see someone I don't trust. Definitely an improvement!

I put some of the hinges on wrong on the bed parts. Waiting for the weather to cool so I can try to fix it.

Starting to plan for Sport of Kings, and for September Crown. I'll be doing a Vigil Bath for Randal, and that will require a fair amount of planning.

Ice cream is a Good Thing.

And then the Dementors come...

I read an interview once, with Joanne Rowling (she wrote the Harry Potter series), where she described the Dementors as sort of being a metaphor for depression and the havoc it wreaks on one's life. Well, she got that one right, I think.

Been a rough couple of weeks, dealing with both physical and mental issues. Saw the gal at Lifeworks- she was no help at all, was sort of 'well, what am I supposed to do about it?', which was irritating, as she is supposedly the professional. I left just as down as I'd arrived. And I had no cash on me so I couldn't stop for a milkshake. :-(

However, I saw Dr Becher this Weds, and things may be looking up. The levo-dopa is not doing it's job well enough, and the side effects- especially the somnolence and exacerbation of the depression, as well as the nausea- are a Problem. So we are adding in gabapentin (which I've had before and can tolerate) and gradually phasing out the levo-dopa. So far so good- The gabapentin takes a little getting used to- I was going to go to a rally downtown, but this morning, after a dose at bedtime, I am certain that I couldn't pass a roadside drunk test. I was having trouble staggering to the bathroom. It seems to dissipate in the late afternoon, so I can get out and go to the grocery, but mornings seem to be out for me until I get used to it. But I was feeling well enough to get upstairs and work for a bit last night, so I think I'm making progress.

Speaking of progress, I got the dots on my dress heat-set, and did up the side seams. Last light I got the seam in the maunch sleeve finished- did a false French seam. Have the other sleeve to do and the I get to put the pacing stuff on the side openings. After that it's just a hem to do. I also have the work to do on the bed- I got the moulding glued on the other day, still need to put a few nails into it, and then paint it and put on the hinges. Need to get the painting done this weekend, if it is to be dry enough to put the hinges on.

And I need to run by Burgerville- the new raspberry shakes are out!

Dots, dots, dots...

I was going to post a picture of the current project in progress, but the camera decided to not play. (I changed out the batteries- it's definitely the camera and it's dead.) So here's a picture of what I started from- a pair of mid-twelfth century Limoges enamel boxes. On the front of both boxes is a woman wearing a dark blue dress that it polka-dotted all over, with maunch sleeves. (And on the box with the handle, the fellow next to her is wearing matching hose!) I decided that the presence of two different examples of this dress meant that I _had_ to make it, right? I had a good-sized chunk of dark blue sueded rayon. And I had a round paint pouncer sponge. A short trip to Michael's and I had gold fabric paint...

All of the dots are painted on. Tomorrow I get to heat-set the paint with the iron, and then I can do up the side seams. It'll be laced up on both sides, and I'm doing the loop thing instead of sewing eyelets. Mind you, I don't have a figure like the girls on the boxes, but I think it'll be a fun dress anyway. And certainly nothing like I've seen anyone do before!

In other news...

Past few weeks I've been feeling pretty crummy. Sleeping a lot. Having a hard time with pain management. And contributing to it (or maybe in consequence of) all I'm really having a hard time with the depression right now. I've sort of run out of options on the med front, but clearly what we're doing now is not working. And I really don't know what to do. The prospect of living like this for the indefinite future is... not a happy one.

When I can stay awake, I'm reading a lot. And I guess I've been doing other stuff. I caught up on some of my backlog in the sewing room. I'm running The Survey again here in An Tir and should be wrapping that up soon. I got the robes for Malia Obama done and mailed off, hopefully in time to be there for her birthday. And I'm planning to go to the midnight show of the new Potter movie.

It should keep me out of trouble. Maybe. ;-)

I iz sewing Wizard Robez!

See, a certain First Daughter is having her 11th birthday on July 4th, and of course she'll be getting her letter, right? I figure that security concerns will keep her from going to Diagon Alley for her school things, and as 'Madam Elaine's Elegant Emporium' makes robes... ;-)

I'm madly trying to get them done so I can put them in the mail, leaving time for them to wend their way through security, and hopefully get there in time for Malia's birthday, and certainly in time for the next movie! (Less than a month now!)

I made a leap of faith and am making them Ravenclaw robes. I read what I could find about Malia online (which isn't much- her folks are doing a pretty good job of keeping her out of the limelight), and apparently she takes after her dad a lot. And her dad is soooo Ravenclaw it ain't funny. She's a bit bookish, a good student, and does her homework on Lincoln's desk. I figure Ravenclaw is a pretty safe bet. Now if I only knew if she's right or left-handed...

In other news... there ain't much. I went to 3M Defender's tourney Saturday, with Arlys. It was a nice, if smallish, event. Otherwise, just staying home. Haven't been feeling well. This weekend I'm headed south, and will be day-tripping Summits Investiture from James' place. TRMs will be there, which will be nice. And I finally finished up a bunch of my old to-do pile in the sewing room, so I can hand Bera her stuff and give James his Mickey-Mouse braies. Silly boy. :-)

Now isn't that Special...

I wrote the author of that piece on bridal bouquets do correct her notions about medieval bathing habits. She wrote me back:

Hi Laura,

Thanks for writing an informative and interesting email about the origin of bridal bouquets.

While I appreciate everything you said, I'm a humorist, not an historian. You're the first reader in many years who thought otherwise.

If I ever write a serious piece about the subject, I'll know where to go for the facts.

Thanks again.

Cheers!

Maggie Van Ostrand

Well! So I went back to the article and found... that no, she did not edit it or add anything to it. I guess 'humor' is more important than facts...

HMPH!

Yes, Medieval folk were all wet!

Yet again, someone online has resurrected that awful old viral email and published part of it- 'of course it's true! I saw it online!'

Here's the linky: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maggie-van-ostrand/common-scents-why-brides_b_209397.html#postComment

Yeah, sure. Brides carried flowers because they hadn't bathed in a month. Say again??? Supposedly this author is an award-winning columnist. No awards for her research in this direction, that's for certain!

I will admit that I was pretty cheezed still when I hit the 'comments'...

In other news:

Well, I didn't go to Crown, but I did go to Egils. The weather was GLORIOUS. The dinner parties went well. The only real problem I think was the terrain- we were camped on the end of the loop with all of the holes. Mike stepped in one Friday night and spent the rest of the weekend wincing and insisting that he was fine. (Men!) And it was clear and cold at night. James and I discovered that the slats on the bed don't insulate as well as the flat plywood surface- we were getting cold air from underneath. I need to figure out something to do about that. And I'm making a change to the poster bed- adding a board on one end so we have a headboard. Otherwise our pillows keep popping over the end of the bed all night. I got the lumber at Home Despot the other day, as well as a decorative moulding board to trim it with (the kind with the vines). Rich cut them to length for me when he was over to mow the lawn the other day. Some time this weekend I need to sand them and glue them together and then paint them and put the hinges on.

This week I've been upstairs sewing a lot. Got a whole bunch of things done that have been in the to-do pile for a looooong time. I plan to get started cutting out Wanda's pavilion soon. Also going to see if I can get Malia's Hogwart's robes done this week- need to get them done and sent off as the security goobers will be drooling on them for who knows how long and I want them to be there in time for her birthday.

Stephen's birthday was the 2nd. He's 23. Hard for me to fathom sometimes. I dream about the kids fairly often and they are usually little in my dreams. But he's six feet tall now, and not a little kid...

Just popped over to HuffPo and found that they borked my initial cranky post in the comments. I toned it down a bit- have to see if the moderators will let it through now.