kareina

but not for lack of complications...

My friend Åsa had picked it up for me on Tuesday last week, and it sat in her parking area, in a suburb south of Stockholm till today, when Alexander, the husband of a friend of ours (but I have never met the husband--he doesn't come to SCA events these days) was able to pick it up, with the plan to drive it up to his home in Umeå, where we can fetch it tomorrow, so that we can take it to Broken Arrow on Wednesday.

However, today Keldor gets a call from Alexander--the car has an empty fuel tank, and the red light for brake oil is glowing. I check in with Åsa, both were fine when she brought it home last week, so it looks like someone stole the fuel from the car as it sat there (I have heard that is a thing in Stockholm). What happened to the break fluid, we don't know. Can people steal that too? Is it a sign of a problem? Did the service people forget to check the brake fluid levels after replacing the wheel and everything that goes with it? He managed to get the car to the nearest station, where he filled both up, and last I heard he was going to try to drive north. I hope he makes it!

On Wednesday we took down my pavilion, which has been standing in the back yard to dry since we got home from Double Wars, Thursday I managed to get the last of the things organised so that we could pack for this weekends event, and most of the rest of the things we had brought have been put away. Therefore, I think that I can claim to be recovered from the event. This means it is time to reflect on it, and share thanks.

Our trip south started later than we wanted, for reasons outside of our control, so we skipped the runestone sort of adventures we normally do on a road trip, and just drove first to the rest stop at Tönnebro, where we slept a few hours, and then to the Stockholm area, where we picked up Harald.

As we headed back to the highway the van made a weird noise, and then threw a wheel across traffic and into a field. Luckily, there was a bus stop just there, so we parked the van, fetched the wheel, spoke with insurance, and only three hours later we, and everything we had brought with us, was in a larger rental van and we were on the way again.

We arrived on site just before 23:00 on Friday, 25 hours after leaving home, and were shown the location for Camp Northern Lights. That far south it is rather dark at that hour, and we were tired, so we tucked his armour bag on the floor by the passenger seat and covered it with sheepskins to make a nest to sleep. Sunrise at home was 02:00, but on site it didn't come up till 04:00, and I got up and spent a couple of hours sorting things into piles trying to find everything needed to put up the tent (no thought or care had gone into the emergency transfer of stuff from one van to the next).

Eventually I found everything and Keldor woke up, and we set up the tent. Neither of us had any idea what the time was, having lost all sense of time during the long drive. Therefore I apologise to everyone we woke thereby. There was no malicious intent, I assure you...

The good part of starting set up that early was that we had our tent and sunshade up and the car out of the way before the other Camp Northern Lights people arrived. They are the first people I really need to thank. Daniel, Gerdis, Þórólfr, Askar, Bjarni, Hjalmar, Silubrein, and Geiri were all delightful to have living (some more full time than others) in camp. So often I would think "I should (insert camp chore here)" but then decide that I needed to do something else first, and when I returned, the chore was already done.

Everyone always forgets something when packing for an event. Therefore I am grateful to Aleydis for loaning me a hat for the week, so that I didn't have to buy a fourth to go with the three I left at home, and to Sighvald, who was willing to return the hat to her after the event, so I could keep using it after she left site.

After we were moved in and properly set up my focus switched to hiding in the hall to attach the wonderful embroidered roundels people had made for Keldor’s elevation caftan (as that was a location I knew he wouldn't come, so I didn't need to worry about the surprise being spoiled). As a result I missed many fun activities and classes I would have liked to attend, but I think the result was worth it. Certainly Keldor loved it. I will do a separate post with thanks for that, as FB doesn't want me to tag people more than once.

I did, however, make it to the Laurel Sponsored Display, where I enjoyed seeing all the wonderful things people are working on. I love the way our hobby sparks hobbies! I also made it to one of Helga's classes, and loved every second of it. I hope I get another chance to learn from her when I am not distracted preparing for a friend's elevation.

On Wednesday I managed to find time to trade a much-needed massage with Eira, just before the bardic circle we hosted in our camp, both of which I really enjoyed. Thank you to everyone who came and participated!

Thursday during the day we sold a few of Keldor’s knives at the market, and enjoyed visiting with everyone who came by. Thursday evening was Keldor’s vigil, complete with a "fiskedamm", from which people could pull out one of four categories of prizes: candy, tiny bottles of booze (with a single lingonberry in it--apparently this is a Norrland thing), cute toys or hats made by Keldor’s late mother, or small things he's made in the smithy. It was fun for me running it, the visitors seemed to enjoy the "fishing", and I really appreciated the company and help of Emma working with me behind the curtain.

I am also grateful for the help of everyone who helped me set up for the vigil--the food buffet you created (while I was inside setting up the vigil space) looked amazing. I know that the list included most, if not all, of our above-named campmates, with help from (at least) Jörgen (who doesn't actually recommend setting up one's own vigil) Tobias, Annette, Wilhelm, Kokko Sylvi, and Erin. Huge thanks also to Mari who sent the vigil book, and Ermina, who decorated it.

On Friday was the elevation court for Keldor’s laurel. Thank you to Haakon, who sent touching words and a "scroll" (drinking horn, the cast bits of which were made by SvartulvR), John, who made the medallion (out of iron he'd forged from bog ore, using period instructions for doing enamel!), Ermina, who made a lovely scroll on parchment, William, Jovi, Egil, and Þórólfr who all spoke from the heart. I always love seeing our peerage ceremonies, because of the love that is shared, but to be able to be the spokesperson for my own beloved partner, and to hear words from people who have known him decades longer than I have been in the Kingdom is extra special.

Saturday we took everything down, helped with camp take down tasks and started driving north. We had no car troubles, so we visited a few runestones before returning Harald, then slept some hours at Tönnebro, before taking an inland detour to see the 31-monumentet at Ådalen and crossing the Sandöbron. We arrived home on Sunday 27 hours after leaving the site.

We have been talking about selling my car, since it is having issues again (1. not long after having the break work done last summer the "check break pads light started shining again. 2. sometimes it refuses to go into reverse, which means that it is a good idea to only part places where one can go forward, just in case the next time one wants to go anywhere is one of those times (this one is infrequent enough I don't always remember to park were I can go forward, and only once so far have I needed someone to tow me backwards out of the spot so I could go forward again, and, of course, the next time I needed reverse, it worked). 3. Since Norrskensfesten the battery has been having issues in draining when left unattended for a while, so we have been unhooking the battery in between use to keep it from being drained.) However, before we advertise it seems like a good thing to get it cleaned off of the thick layer of ice that accumulated while I was gone, when it snowed and then rained on top of it (since David has decided that this winter, instead of letting the car sit in the carport, he wants the tractor in there, since the car is fully enclosed, and the tractor is not, which means that if the tractor gets snowed on it requires lots of effort to get the snow off the seat so that one can use it to clear the driveway of snow. I understand his logic, but I really prefer to have the car under the carport), plus the additional snow that has fallen since then, all of which was well enough attached to the car roof that it doesn't fall off when driving, not that I have been doing any driving with this car since I got home from Seattle, since dealing with both the snow and ice, plus the battery, has made it seem like too much effort.

But knowing that the only way to sell it is to get it usable again, last night I got the battery re-attached, and the windows clear of snow and ice, so that I could drive to Folk Dance, since David wasn't up for going, and his car was at Caroline's apartment, and the car worked fine. Therefore, when I got up this morning, and saw that it was snowing I decided to take the car to work, as an excuse to sweep off the new snow. While I was shovelling a path to the car I noticed the big yellow tractor that often plows the small private road to the neighbour's house was busy doing just that. So I walked over and asked if he would be so kind as to also get my driveway this morning, just one quick pass in one end and out the other. He said that he would have a look, and, much to my surprise and delight, he not only did that bit, but while he was in the top part, where we park, he also took the time to push the pile of snow that David had built up with our tiny tractor at the edge of the parking area back several meters. There is no way our tractor could have done that. As a result of his kindness I didn't have to do that much shovelling this morning (only about 45 minutes while the car warmed up).

I spent the morning in the office. I have been having a bit of a block work-wise. The folk at UTAS/CODES have released a beta version of a program for LA-ICP-MS data processing That they call LADR, and, back before I went to Seattle, the plan was to do a side-by-side test of it and iolite, the program we have been using. But, of course, that didn't happen before the year ended. Since coming back I have tried opening LADR a few times, but each time ran into problems, closed it, and found something else to do. Today I resolved that I really do need to learn it. First I tried messing with the same project I had created before Seattle, but soon hit the same issues. Then it occurred to me that what I needed was to start over, with a new project. So I went to my notes and found a suitable one, for which I have actually done all of the data processing in iolite, and have results with which I will be able to compare the LADR results, once I have them. By that point it was 11:30, and I realised that I should take the car home and shovel some snow, since it had been snowing all morning, and tomorrow was likely to snow as well.

So I decided that I should work from home the rest of the day, shut down my computer, unhooked it from the docking station, put on my coat, and boots, grabbed my back pack, and went out the door. I drove home, got the car lined up to back into its parking spot next to the carport (where it at least is sheltered from wind blown snow from that side (which happens to be the prevailing wind direction), got out of the car, shovelled the parking spot, backed the car into place, turned it off, opened the hood, unhooked the battery, grabbed the shovel and started working on the path to the house. Then I realised that, as I was unhooking the battery, I noticed that the ice at the edge of the roof, closest to the window, had clearly melted a bit on the underside, and was now sitting a but above the roof instead of touching it. So I walked back to the car, hit that ice with my hands, and enjoyed watching it break off and slide down the window.

At that point I realised that if I turned the car back on, and let it run for a while as I shovelled snow, I would get both the benefit of additional charge into the battery, and more melting of the ice on the roof. So I did. I first knocked loose more bits of ice on the front bit of roof, and then started clearing a path to the shed that has the tarps in it, thinking that once the car is ice-free I should cover it with a tarp to prevent a new build up of ice and snow. Then, after about 40 minutes after I first started shovelling the parking spot so I could put the ca in it, I realised that while I had un-docked the computer, I hadn't actually packed it, nor had I brought it home. So I hopped back into the car and drove the 4 km back to uni, got my computer, and drove home again. This time, when I went to back into the parking spot again, the car didn't want to go into reverse. So I put it into some other gears, and tried again, and it worked, and I started backing up. But when I got half way into the spot the tires bogged a bit in a softer patch of snow, and it didn't want to back further. So I drove forward again, got out, took the shovel to that area, and went to back into the spot again. But it wouldn't go into reverse. Putting it into other gears didn't help, either.

Since it has sometimes helped to drive a little bit forward and then try again, I did that. Nope. And again. Nope. I don't recall how many times I tried, but eventually the car was on the far side of the driveway, in the area where guests normally park, and I was running out of room to go "a little bit" forward. So I gave up, left the car running, so that it would stay warm in there, got a step ladder from the house (I am too short to reach the middle bit of the car roof without help, or perhaps the car is too tall), and in fairly short order, knocked loose the last of the ice from the roof. I gave it one more try, but it still wouldn't go into reverse, so I turned it off, unhooked the battery again, and went and got the tarp from the shed and covered the car, tying it down with a heavy twine passed under the car body in front of the tires. Then I finished up the rest of the shovelling the path to the house and sheds (another hour after I had gotten back from uni the second time).

Then I went inside, fell into a book (accompanied by a bowl of popcorn and green salad) for 35 minutes, and updated my logs a bit, and, just as I was about ready to resume work, got hit by a nap attack, and slept for 30 minutes. Then I finally sat down to resume my interrupted work day.

This time I decided to be much more methodical in my approach to learning LADR, and I took detailed work flow notes about which buttons I pressed for which step, and what decisions I was making as I made them, and, much to my delight, made much better progress, hitting far fewer issues. I even figured out what was wrong with the instruction to "hold control and then double click" that the LADR "getting started" pdf had instructed me to do for one step (it turns out that it is actually a "hold shift and double click" that does the trick). I managed to get further along in the work flow than I had on my previous attempts, but eventually realised that I was tired and perhaps I should put it down for the evening. Fully five hours after I had sat down for that session of work! (Bringing me to eight hours total for the day, which means that tomorrow I can focus on Durham stuff with no guilt, as I am doing good for LTU hours so far this week.) With luck all of these notes, which look clear and easy to understand today, will still make sense when I pick this back up the day after tomorrow.

Edited to add: the next day I tried again, and this time the car went into reverse with no problems, so I backed it into its normal parking spot, unhooked the battery again, covered it with a tarp, and left it be till next we need it, or we find a potential buyer who want to see it.

Crossposts: https://kareina.livejournal.com/531389.html

( first there were minor car problems getting there )

After than minor delay in arriving the rest of the visit was very nice.

lord_kjar's family are very delightful people. This year there were 15 of us--his three brothers, their parents, partners, and children, and us. His sister didn't make it this year (spent it with her husband's family down south, I think), or there would have been another two adults and two more kids. The visit was a near perfect mix of being sociable with the others, curling up alone with a book, playing in the snow, and eating too much good food. I am grateful that I am such a fussy eater--once one eliminates the meat and fish dishes and the things containing anything in the vinegar family the amount of food remaining was reasonable, so I ate only slightly more than on a normal day, rather than hugely more.

Well, ok, save for the traditional desert, risalamata, which is made by first cooking short grained porridge rice in way more milk than you think it can absorb, till it is completely absorbed (they do this in an oven set to a fairly low heat). In that form it is a traditional holiday breakfast, served with a little milk and cinnamon on it. I like it that way, but I truly love the transformation into risalamalta: chill the rice cooked in milk till it is cold. Whip more cream than you think it needs, blend them together. Serve with berries. This year the choices were hjortron (cloudberry), black berries, and strawberries. They are all good, but, honestly, I would happily eat the risalamalta all by itself without berries, too.

Normally I find it easy to eat only a reasonable amount of things. Not where this desert is concerned--I had thirds! I am quite certain that I ate more risalmalta than I did dinner that evening. The only thing that stopped me from having fourths is the fact that my stomach was already on the uncomfortable side of full--I still wanted more! (note: some recipes for this on line suggest adding sugar to it--don't. It is perfect as is, and you can sweeten the berries if you want sweet.)

We stayed at his parent's place through to Wednesday, and then the two of his brothers and their wives who live down south and so hadn't seen our house yet drove us home and stayed for home made pizza. I must admit that as nice as it was to be there it was even nicer to come home and to do my own cooking again.

Sadly, one of the little girls was a bit sick while we were there--complaining of a tummy ache. We have no idea if it was something contagious, or something she ate, but when we got home both L and

lord_kjar came down with the same problem--tummy ache and digestion tract issues. I skipped the tummy ache, and had only slight modifications to my normal digestion processing, so whever the cause either I got a milder case or have a better immune system or something. Luckily, it was only a bit more than 24 hours that they were really bothered, and we are all back to normal now.

Up until late last night the weather has been perfect--nice and cold, the snow has been soft and fluffy, and I have been enjoying having a small sledding hill in my yard. Last night I started getting grumpy, and we assumed that it was just because I was tired, and sent me to bed. This morning I woke up still easily pushed into grumpy, and I noticed that the temp has risen to just above freezing, which meant rain on top of my snow. Now I suspect that the change in pressure with the change in weather was probably a factor in my grumpiness, and, of course, I am not happy to see rain--one of the main reasons I want to live this far north is that I love snow and never, ever want to see rain in the winter. If the weather makes a habit of this every year I do not know how long I will be willing to live on the Swedish coast--it will be time to move further north, further inland, and higher in elevation. So this had better be a rare fluke and not repeat again for another decade or three...

Current Mood: disappointed in the weather

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the car may make it home

Double Wars trip

now that is more like it

four days in Piteå

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May 2025

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