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archinonlive and I were visiting his sister, who lives in a forest in Nykvarn, Sweden. We stayed there three nights, and I really enjoyed the visit. She's a delightful person, and her husband is quite nice, too. The weather at the time was nice and cold, and it had snowed recently, so I enjoyed nice walks in the woods enjoying the beauty of trees with snow on them; winter is truly my favourite time of the year, and I have really, really missed it in the decade since I left Alaska.
Since I'd been living in Italy I didn't have any decent winter shoes, and planned to purchase some when I arrived in Sweden. Alas, the stores in southern Sweden that we found were carrying only shoes intended to be decorative, not practical, so instead I borrowed a spare pair of hiking boots ofarchinonlive's. They were too big, but not as much as I would have expected given his height (around 183 cm, or near 6' 3"). For the walks in the woods I borrowed his sister's boots, which are a very good pair of winter boots with water proof bottoms said to be comfortable down to -40. I liked them very much, save for the fact that they were a bit too small for me, meaning I needed to curl my toes to walk in them. Last night we finally made it to the store here in Luleå,and I picked up a pair in my size. They are everything I wanted in boots--warm enough for when it gets cold, light enough to wear even when it isn't, tall enough to go right up to my knees, easy to step into without using my hands (a *very* important point!), and they stay on my feet unless I try to take them off.
On the last night we were at his sister's house his parents arrived with his sister's daughter (~2 years old?) in tow (the girl had been staying with the grandparents since Christmas). I liked his parent's too, but his dad's English is limited, and I don't yet speak Swedish, so we didn't get to communicate as much as I did with the siblings. From the sister's house we went to the home of another of the brothers. He and his wife and three daughters live in a farm house a couple of hours closer to where Coronation was to be held. We arrived at 14:00, and they greeted us with fresh hot baked pancake and berry jam. Yum! We then went for a walk and I enjoyed more time in the country (so very, very welcome after a year and a half in a city!). Their nearest neighbour is a dairy farm with 400+ cows. Most of the other farm land in the area isn't being worked by the folk that live in the farm houses any more, but are leased by larger farms instead.
The next morning (Friday) we drove past where Coronation would be to a town about an hour away from the event site, arriving around 15:30. We got some dinner in a Chinese restaurant and picked up some more wool from a shop there so thatarchinonlive could start a new nålbinding project. Then we relaxed at the library for an hour, stitching on our projects until the play started. The play was written by one of his friends from up here in Luleå, but performed down south because that is where the friend's parent's live. I don't yet speak Swedish enough to understand the play (which was about Galileo), but the actors spoke clearly enough that I could catch those words I do know when they were said. There were many songs and musical bits interspersed with the dialogue, so I enjoyed the evening (though I found it difficult to stay seated when they played the pavane La belle qui taint la vie; I wanted to get up and dance). After the play we visited a bit with his friend (who also acted in it) before driving back to the SCA event. We arrived on site around 23:00 and found someone who could tell us which bunk house we'd be staying in, got stuff brought into the room and changed into garb and returned to the main hall to visit for a bit, but being tired called it an early night, did yoga together around 01:00 before going to sleep before 02:00.
Saturday we got up early enough for breakfast before court started. I found the court interesting to compare with others in other Kingdoms in which I've lived. The fact that the outgoing royals crowned both of their heirs simultaneously was interesting, since I am used to the outgoing royal by right of arms crowning the heir, who then crowns the one who inspired the victory. My modern ideals of gender equality liked the fact that both outgoing royals get to place a crown on the heads of one of their heirs, but I wonder how right that is for our game and the Medieval ideals? I also wonder how that would be approached if a woman won Crown? Would the outgoing King by Right of Arms crown the incoming Queen by Right of Arms while the outgoing Queen by inspiration/love and beauty crowed the incoming King by inspiration/love and beauty? Or would the hats pass by gender regardless of which one did the combat?
The site for the event is the same one they use for Double Wars in the spring, and while it is probably a fine site for a largely outdoor event, I found the main building a bit small for a 12th Night event--that building has two decent sized rooms, either of which is just large enough for court (they had one court in each room over the course of the day, so I am certain of that fact), but neither of which was large enough to seat everyone for the feast. As a result there was the main feast room, with a high table and rows of other tables that was very crowded and noisy, and the other room which had a few tables scattered about, more like a modern restaurant than medieval set up, and which was much quieter. We wound up sitting at a table in the smaller room, not by intention, but because the other was already full before we went looking for a table. I suspect that this was better because the noise level was low enough that it was actually possible to converse with our table mates (none of whom I'd met hitherto). After the first few courses were served (none of which I ate, of course, since the feast was scheduled for 19:00, and actually begun sometime noticeably later than that) I spread a cloak on the floor in a corner nearby and did my yoga. While I did that a child of around 5 or so (given her height) came up and watched. She tried talking to me, but was so soft spoken I couldn't tell if she spoke in Swedish or German (both languages were in use on site, as was English) and after a bit she wandered away.
As I was nearly done with yoga an older child came over and announced in clear, easily audible English, that she would watch. Soon there after she and I wound up playing a game of "can you do this" as I did various yoga poses for her to try, and she set me a variety of challenges. Some of her challenges involved my picking her up and letting her do flips over my arm or the like. In those cases we'd then callarchinonlive over to be the big person to pick me up and let me do flips over his arm or whatever. Honestly, that was the most fun part of the event for me--getting to play and be active. Yes, I enjoy court, and got lots of stitching done, but the day was mostly sitting still. There was meant to be a ball after feast, at which a dance champion for the Kingdom would be chosen, but I don't know if it happened or not. When the feast hall still hadn't been cleared for dancing at 23:30 we gave up and went to bed knowing that we had a long drive starting very early in the morning.
We got on the road at 04:30 and did the 6 hour drive back to Uppsula to the home of the first brother we'd visited at the start of our southern adventures. Once there we mixed up and baked a birthday cake forarchinonlive and then took a nap. When we woke up the family took us out for sushi and then we went home to enjoy the cake. We split the single large cake into three layers. The bottom layer was spread with a mix of banana, frozen raspberries (partially thawed and then mashed together with the banana) and some whipped cream. The second layer was a mix of thawed and crushed raspberries and black berries and more whipped cream than the first layer needed (there being no banana in that layer), and the entire cake was frosted with whipped cream and decorated with the remaining raspberries, black berries, and some sliced fresh kiwi fruit. Yum!
We had a very nice visit with this family (this brother's wife is an academic specializing in 19th Century American Literature and I enjoyed talking with her on that topic) and we finally got back on the road in the evening. From there it is about a 10 hour drive to Luleå, so we got here around 07:00 on Monday morning. I managed to nap some during the drive while he listened to a book on tape (in Swedish), but had no problems sleeping when we finally crawled into bed for a few hours sleep here around 09:00 (after doing my yoga for Sunday, so it was really 31:57 on Sunday when I started yoga).
Since then I've had a couple of days to start getting settled, learn where the local grocery store is, etc. (Can I tell you how wonderful it is to once again live somewhere where one may purchase oats and other ingredients for one's muesli at any grocery store and not have to make a special trip to the natural food store 30 minute walk away?)
I am loving being in the north again--it is so pretty here! There is snow on the ground, as is right and proper for this time of the year. There is snow on the trees! Instead of ugly dead-looking brown sticks surrounded by green grass we have proper, beautiful, snow-covered trees--even trees which lose their leaves in the winter look lovely when their branches are white! And the temperatures are nice here--nothing warm enough to melt (which they had in the south as Coronation was ending--it actually rained down there, the roads were ick!), the temps have ranged between -6 and -15 C so far--perfect for going out for walks (properly dressed), and cold enough for the roads to be clear and safe to drive upon, no slush, no slippery ice. The only thing I'm really lacking is mountains, but I'm told that they are only a couple hour's drive from here, so with luck time will be found to investigate that for myself sometime in the not too distant future.
Now that I'm here I need to resume work--I need to get the last of the data we collected processed and our results written up for publication ASAP. I need to return to my long-neglected PhD results and get that written up for publication, and I need to resume learning my Swedish, one song at a time. Those lessons fell by the wayside while I was doing the last of the packing and all of the travelling. While I have sung the songs I've already learned daily, I haven't made time to learn any new ones in a while.
archinonlive and I were visiting his sister, who lives in a forest in Nykvarn, Sweden. We stayed there three nights, and I really enjoyed the visit. She's a delightful person, and her husband is quite nice, too. The weather at the time was nice and cold, and it had snowed recently, so I enjoyed nice walks in the woods enjoying the beauty of trees with snow on them; winter is truly my favourite time of the year, and I have really, really missed it in the decade since I left Alaska. Since I'd been living in Italy I didn't have any decent winter shoes, and planned to purchase some when I arrived in Sweden. Alas, the stores in southern Sweden that we found were carrying only shoes intended to be decorative, not practical, so instead I borrowed a spare pair of hiking boots of
archinonlive's. They were too big, but not as much as I would have expected given his height (around 183 cm, or near 6' 3"). For the walks in the woods I borrowed his sister's boots, which are a very good pair of winter boots with water proof bottoms said to be comfortable down to -40. I liked them very much, save for the fact that they were a bit too small for me, meaning I needed to curl my toes to walk in them. Last night we finally made it to the store here in Luleå,and I picked up a pair in my size. They are everything I wanted in boots--warm enough for when it gets cold, light enough to wear even when it isn't, tall enough to go right up to my knees, easy to step into without using my hands (a *very* important point!), and they stay on my feet unless I try to take them off. On the last night we were at his sister's house his parents arrived with his sister's daughter (~2 years old?) in tow (the girl had been staying with the grandparents since Christmas). I liked his parent's too, but his dad's English is limited, and I don't yet speak Swedish, so we didn't get to communicate as much as I did with the siblings. From the sister's house we went to the home of another of the brothers. He and his wife and three daughters live in a farm house a couple of hours closer to where Coronation was to be held. We arrived at 14:00, and they greeted us with fresh hot baked pancake and berry jam. Yum! We then went for a walk and I enjoyed more time in the country (so very, very welcome after a year and a half in a city!). Their nearest neighbour is a dairy farm with 400+ cows. Most of the other farm land in the area isn't being worked by the folk that live in the farm houses any more, but are leased by larger farms instead.
The next morning (Friday) we drove past where Coronation would be to a town about an hour away from the event site, arriving around 15:30. We got some dinner in a Chinese restaurant and picked up some more wool from a shop there so that
archinonlive could start a new nålbinding project. Then we relaxed at the library for an hour, stitching on our projects until the play started. The play was written by one of his friends from up here in Luleå, but performed down south because that is where the friend's parent's live. I don't yet speak Swedish enough to understand the play (which was about Galileo), but the actors spoke clearly enough that I could catch those words I do know when they were said. There were many songs and musical bits interspersed with the dialogue, so I enjoyed the evening (though I found it difficult to stay seated when they played the pavane La belle qui taint la vie; I wanted to get up and dance). After the play we visited a bit with his friend (who also acted in it) before driving back to the SCA event. We arrived on site around 23:00 and found someone who could tell us which bunk house we'd be staying in, got stuff brought into the room and changed into garb and returned to the main hall to visit for a bit, but being tired called it an early night, did yoga together around 01:00 before going to sleep before 02:00.Saturday we got up early enough for breakfast before court started. I found the court interesting to compare with others in other Kingdoms in which I've lived. The fact that the outgoing royals crowned both of their heirs simultaneously was interesting, since I am used to the outgoing royal by right of arms crowning the heir, who then crowns the one who inspired the victory. My modern ideals of gender equality liked the fact that both outgoing royals get to place a crown on the heads of one of their heirs, but I wonder how right that is for our game and the Medieval ideals? I also wonder how that would be approached if a woman won Crown? Would the outgoing King by Right of Arms crown the incoming Queen by Right of Arms while the outgoing Queen by inspiration/love and beauty crowed the incoming King by inspiration/love and beauty? Or would the hats pass by gender regardless of which one did the combat?
The site for the event is the same one they use for Double Wars in the spring, and while it is probably a fine site for a largely outdoor event, I found the main building a bit small for a 12th Night event--that building has two decent sized rooms, either of which is just large enough for court (they had one court in each room over the course of the day, so I am certain of that fact), but neither of which was large enough to seat everyone for the feast. As a result there was the main feast room, with a high table and rows of other tables that was very crowded and noisy, and the other room which had a few tables scattered about, more like a modern restaurant than medieval set up, and which was much quieter. We wound up sitting at a table in the smaller room, not by intention, but because the other was already full before we went looking for a table. I suspect that this was better because the noise level was low enough that it was actually possible to converse with our table mates (none of whom I'd met hitherto). After the first few courses were served (none of which I ate, of course, since the feast was scheduled for 19:00, and actually begun sometime noticeably later than that) I spread a cloak on the floor in a corner nearby and did my yoga. While I did that a child of around 5 or so (given her height) came up and watched. She tried talking to me, but was so soft spoken I couldn't tell if she spoke in Swedish or German (both languages were in use on site, as was English) and after a bit she wandered away.
As I was nearly done with yoga an older child came over and announced in clear, easily audible English, that she would watch. Soon there after she and I wound up playing a game of "can you do this" as I did various yoga poses for her to try, and she set me a variety of challenges. Some of her challenges involved my picking her up and letting her do flips over my arm or the like. In those cases we'd then call
archinonlive over to be the big person to pick me up and let me do flips over his arm or whatever. Honestly, that was the most fun part of the event for me--getting to play and be active. Yes, I enjoy court, and got lots of stitching done, but the day was mostly sitting still. There was meant to be a ball after feast, at which a dance champion for the Kingdom would be chosen, but I don't know if it happened or not. When the feast hall still hadn't been cleared for dancing at 23:30 we gave up and went to bed knowing that we had a long drive starting very early in the morning.We got on the road at 04:30 and did the 6 hour drive back to Uppsula to the home of the first brother we'd visited at the start of our southern adventures. Once there we mixed up and baked a birthday cake for
archinonlive and then took a nap. When we woke up the family took us out for sushi and then we went home to enjoy the cake. We split the single large cake into three layers. The bottom layer was spread with a mix of banana, frozen raspberries (partially thawed and then mashed together with the banana) and some whipped cream. The second layer was a mix of thawed and crushed raspberries and black berries and more whipped cream than the first layer needed (there being no banana in that layer), and the entire cake was frosted with whipped cream and decorated with the remaining raspberries, black berries, and some sliced fresh kiwi fruit. Yum!We had a very nice visit with this family (this brother's wife is an academic specializing in 19th Century American Literature and I enjoyed talking with her on that topic) and we finally got back on the road in the evening. From there it is about a 10 hour drive to Luleå, so we got here around 07:00 on Monday morning. I managed to nap some during the drive while he listened to a book on tape (in Swedish), but had no problems sleeping when we finally crawled into bed for a few hours sleep here around 09:00 (after doing my yoga for Sunday, so it was really 31:57 on Sunday when I started yoga).
Since then I've had a couple of days to start getting settled, learn where the local grocery store is, etc. (Can I tell you how wonderful it is to once again live somewhere where one may purchase oats and other ingredients for one's muesli at any grocery store and not have to make a special trip to the natural food store 30 minute walk away?)
I am loving being in the north again--it is so pretty here! There is snow on the ground, as is right and proper for this time of the year. There is snow on the trees! Instead of ugly dead-looking brown sticks surrounded by green grass we have proper, beautiful, snow-covered trees--even trees which lose their leaves in the winter look lovely when their branches are white! And the temperatures are nice here--nothing warm enough to melt (which they had in the south as Coronation was ending--it actually rained down there, the roads were ick!), the temps have ranged between -6 and -15 C so far--perfect for going out for walks (properly dressed), and cold enough for the roads to be clear and safe to drive upon, no slush, no slippery ice. The only thing I'm really lacking is mountains, but I'm told that they are only a couple hour's drive from here, so with luck time will be found to investigate that for myself sometime in the not too distant future.
Now that I'm here I need to resume work--I need to get the last of the data we collected processed and our results written up for publication ASAP. I need to return to my long-neglected PhD results and get that written up for publication, and I need to resume learning my Swedish, one song at a time. Those lessons fell by the wayside while I was doing the last of the packing and all of the travelling. While I have sung the songs I've already learned daily, I haven't made time to learn any new ones in a while.
