Sheds and Archery - A Full Weekend

DH spent Saturday at the Fair solo. Although he ate a variety of foods, he was unimpressed with what he had tried. Then again, he was alone and he hates to be by himself. In his own way, he's a social creature, and mixing with thousands of strangers just doesn't do it for him. He did, however, have a chance to have some serious discussions with the Home Depot about the shed we're buying from them, and found out some ways we might be able to save enough to get a double-wide door instead of just a standard one. He was so exhausted from his day at the Fair that he was fast asleep when I got home and didn't wake up for another hour or more.

We're looking at something similar to this, but with roof vents
instead of windows on the sides. We want storage for things
like our wood chipper and pressure washer. They're already
into October dates for set-up, so we're actually on schedule,
but the weather starts to get iffy as we approach Halloween. 

On Sunday at Renaissance Festival, we spent the first 45 minutes or more walking through the Fest trying to find breakfast. It's not that there's no food. Food (and especially alcoholic beverage) stands are the primary type of shop - at least it certainly seems that way. Good food, on the other hand, well ... that's a much harder item to locate. I finally ended up with a lovely apple dumpling with iced cream for my breakfast. DH ended up with a helping of BBQ'd rib tips for his. Both of us were very happy with our choices, although the were located at the exact opposite ends of the grounds.

My dumpling wasn't quite this fancy, it's a Fest, after all. Throwaway plates
and utensils, and not quite a well browned. But it was still a very
nice breakfast since my favorite breakfast vendors are no longer selling. 

We shopped - didn't buy anything, but looked at new corsets for me and shirts for him. We wandered the grounds, and we purchased chocolate covered frozen cheesecake slices for a snack to eat while waiting for the annual "Long Bow (and Not Long Bow) Competition". In essence, there are two categories - long bow and recurve bow - and even though they shoot at the same time, they are scored differently with two overall winners, one from each type of bow.

The difference between the longbow and the
recurve is the ends of the bow. Which is better?
Can't say for sure, although most of the time when
I've been watching competition, the longbow has
won the day. My bows are all longbows. (No, I don't
participate in the competition. No time to practice
in my life right now.) 

Although they had 40 archers on Saturday, they only had 32 archers on Sunday. They start at the 20-yard mark and move back in 5-yard increments. Each archer is allotted three arrows and at least one of those arrows must hit the target to progress to the next round. Everyone is pretty good for the first few, but by the time the 40-yard mark is attained, they are starting to drop out.

As usual, we also had several practitioners of the Japanese Longbow in the
competition. The power they get from their bows is extraordinary, and their
draw is beautiful to watch. The older gentleman draws an 80-pound
draw, a female accompanying him draws a 40-pound. (We asked - we
were curious.) They had a demo scheduled for 4:00 pm, but we were already
on our way home by then. 

We had several excellent female archers this time out, one of whom ended up winning second place overall in the longbow section. The winner of the longbow portion, an older Scotsman who has won in the past, ended up going head-to-head with an older man who won the recurve section for distance. He just edged the recurve winner out at the 60 yard line. It was great fun.

I love McDonald's kids meal. It's the perfect amount of food. Is it
really nutritious? Hell no. But it's the right amount of calories
for me, with just the perfect quantities of naughty things like
french fries and a burger. I don't indulge often. 

We wandered for a bit longer and then called it a day, opting for McDonald's for dinner later on. I admit, I love their kid's meals. It's the perfect portion of fries, a lovely cheeseburger and apple slices (or an orange in season), along with a milk. I add a Fillet of Fish sandwich to that for the perfect dinner. DH has fallen in love with their grilled chicken artisan sandwiches, so he always opts for one of those along with his Big Mac burger meal. All in all, it was a lovely day. This coming weekend we'll have Sharon along for the ride. WHOOT!!!

Red

Red. It's a color, it can be a description as in "seeing red" for anger or "red hot" for heat, or it can describe me as I sit in my comfortable computer chair this morning after my first of two Festival Weekends. DH and I went to the Fair on Saturday night for dinner, sounds, sights and to see what we thought about the new transportation hub. Consensus:  we don't like the hub. It lets us off in the opposite direction and old habits are hard to break. But, we had great food. I had a Farm Handwich (thinly sliced beef brisket, pimento cheese and crispy potato all in a bun. Messy but incredibly good.

The other new food we tried was the Korean Bar-B-Que Pork Collar with Kimchee pickles. Although the pickles were uninspired, the pork itself was fabulous. DH went on to have other things besides, I left it with a simple twist ice cream cone for dessert several hours later.

Sunday we went to the Renaissance Fair. It was 91 F out, and we wanted to watch the longbow competition. It was held in a new area and although it had wonderful length for the competitors, there were NO TREES to provide shade for the spectators. I'm broiled like a lobster even though I threw a scarf over myself after an hour or so. Three and one-half hours in the pounding sun on Sunday and a bit of sun on Saturday have left me resembling a cooked lobster.

So today's post and photos are all about red, since that seems to be my prominent color right now...but, my blog program is giving me hissie fits about photos today, so you're not getting them because they're not transferring over properly *sigh* Hopefully things will be fixed by tomorrow... Have a fabulous Monday!

Learning and Practice

My day off was rather wonderful in its own way. I did manage to do the repair that I needed to do. I'm a few days late returning it to the customer, but not too bad. I ran all over town to do my errands and still ended up forgetting to buy post-it-notes (how did we ever survive before these little items were invented?) and completely forgot to drop by the comic store *sigh*. But I got the myriad of other things on my long list done and I did treat myself to one thing...

At the archery store/range they taught me the
step-through method of stringing my bow.
I don't think I like that method, so I looked for other types. 

I bought a bowstring for one of my bows! I spent time at home practicing stringing my bow and unstringing it again, and practiced the proper hold and pull for the string. This is absolutely using arm muscles that I haven't used enough recently, so it will take some time to get into the groove. I figure if I practice the basics like this and pull my string as if it is an exercise (number of reps, resting, then pushing for another rep, etc) then by Spring I might be ready to actually shoot some arrows. At any rate, the exercise certainly can't hurt.

This angel is using the brace and pull method. I've been using
this method and I like it better than the step-through method.

Picking up the bow and learning how to string and unstring it reminded me that even though I see something and ask questions, if it is a new process, it still needs to be learned and practiced. Certainly there are some things that may come easier to a person than another. I'll never be a woodwind or horn player - just not. I have no breath control and my lips vibrate too much with reed instruments, making me laugh because it tickles. My string instruments, however - they are my love. I suspect someone who plays trumpet would be unlikely to pick up the violin as a second instrument.

This is a kneel and pull method which I might play a bit with. I'm
still looking for a method that feels comfortable and natural
for me to do, but so far the brace and pull method is what I'm using. 

Muscle control and the ability for fine motor control are learned through practice and repetition. What is hard the first five, ten, twenty or one hundred times will become easier with practice and eventually will become second-nature. I'm asking my muscles to do things that I've always wanted to do, but never had the equipment to do before. It will take time to train my muscles into these new patterns and practices.

This is a vintage photograph of a brace and pull method
in use. The disadvantage of this method is if the bow slips.
The disadvantage of the step-through method is that it can
put uneven torque on the bow as it is being stresses into
its new form.

So as we enter the back-side of the week, think about the things you practice in your daily life. I write every day - that's practice because I'm constantly attempting to improve that skill. I communicate back and forth with friends on a daily or weekly basis - I think that friendship needs to be an ongoing thing, not left to rely on sporadic rain showers and sunshine. I work on my artwork, create new patterns and check out new processes, not only because it's fun but also because it's practice in the various techniques I want to use.

Skills are learned and then refined. What will you learn today?

Breathing While Drowning - Accomplishments and Failures

My SinS is complete! And it leads to the failures listed below, but in itself it is an accomplishment. I had so many problems getting this together and yesterday, a day that I was supposed to spend cleaning for Sharon's visit next week, I spent most of my time finishing the writing and then going through with a serious review and edit before sending it off to my wonderful, fantastic and completely amazing beta. She copy edited it last night and it was back in my in-basket this morning. I'll take one more look tonight, then slap on the header and send it on its merry way. Finally! SinS is complete. It didn't meet every criteria my recipient wanted, but it meets most of them and more importantly - I'm very happy with it. Whew!

I'm celebrating! Writing my SinS was a chore, but I'm so happy with
how the story turned out.

I received my element(s) for the LOTR Community September assignment and, through some strange act of an unknown deity, received two elements. They actually work together, so I sent another email and said I could do both of them if they wanted, but otherwise they would have to decide which of the two I should use. Hopefully I'll have an answer by the end of today so that I can get started on this one.

I indulged a little bit and dropped by Bwana Archery and talked to them about my bows. I'll bring them in and they'll take a look at them, but they said that unless they see something obvious, the wooden bows might last for one shot, or ten, or 100, or break when being strung. Apparently there is no way to tell off-hand how well a bow has survived the years just hanging on the wall. A new bowstring will run me between $12-$15, so that's affordable. I'll bring them in after Labor Day.

Is the outfit necessary to string my bow? I hope not.

The Minnesota State Fair opens today and will go for the next ten days. We have the largest attendance of all state fairs (both daily and average attendance) The Texas State Fair has larger attendance, but also goes on for a longer time period. The first State Fair was in 1859. It wasn't held for five years between then and now - a pretty good record. It was cancelled for two years during the Civil War, a scheduling conflict with a similar event in Chicago in 1893 also prompted the Fair's cancellation. World War II caused it's cancellation in 1945 and a polio outbreak caused the cancellation in 1946. It occurs on a permanent site of 320 acres. Although it started out as an agricultural showcase it has expanded to include the interests of a varied state population. I have blue ribbons on my wall from beadwork I've submitted in the past.

Love this night shot from the Space Tower. 

Famous events for the Fair include a very famous speech by Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 when he said the infamous words "Walk softly and carry a big stick". He would become President 12 days later when McKinley was assassinated. The amazing horse Dan Patch matched his 1:55 pacing mile record at the 1906 Minnesota State Fair. He appeared at the Fair several times over the years and one of the main Fairground streets is named Dan Patch.

Dan Patch, Champion Harness Horse of the World

Chickie is going to the Fair today so my manager will work for her. I hope to be there Saturday night and, of course, Sharon and I will be there for three days next week. The State Fair - it marks the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, and I look forward to it every year.

Now to get my house clean *sigh*.  Oh...and check out Google today - a lovely animated frontspiece set to Clair de lune celebrating the 151st birthday of Claude Debussy.

Summer Is Ending

Summer is ending. I am into my normal summer/autumn activities now and one of these activities is our Renaissance Festival. The Ren Fest opened this past weekend and originally we were going to push off our attendance until next week. Then we decided we were going to go, but for a very foreshortened time. Finally we ended up at the gates in time for the cannon that signals the opening of the doors and beginning of the day's activities at 9:00 a.m. and we didn't leave until 4:00 p.m. - a full day for us. Looking at the daily schedule we realized that the long-bow competition - usually held over the Labor Day weekend - was actually being held opening weekend and we were there! Call us happy!

This particular artist had his final year at the Fest last year.
The building, a prime location, has been taken over by
someone else now.

The morning started off good - my Renaissance Fest clothing is in one section of my closet and everything was clean and ready to go. Originally I thought about black velveteen pants, a cotton shirt (long sleeved which is mandatory for my fair skin) and a longer tunic, but then I decided to try out my original corset and see how it might fit, after all, I was off thirty pounds and maybe at the upper limits for this piece of clothing. Amazingly enough, it actually fit well, so I switched to a different shirt and went a bit more wench-like, although I did keep the pants for the day instead of switching to a skirt.

One of the many fairies at our Ren Fest. We have what's called
a "fantasy" fest - outfits from many different eras and fandoms
are welcome including anime, history, and total fantasy. 

It's rather amazing. When we walk through the gates of the Fest grounds our worries and daily issues just leave. It's almost magical. Well... OK... That might be a bit of a stretch. But in so many ways just being outdoors, hearing the bagpipes and harps, watching the people both in costume and not, hearing the happy children as they ask for wooden swords and shields and other weaponry to bash each other over the head, makes us relaxed and happy. And our friends are there - old friends, new friends, and Festies who recognize us from years of attendance. It's like coming home after a long trip.

I had to share this one because it is so true. 

Having the long-bow competition was an added bonus. There was a large field of archers - more than thirty of them, both men and women. They started out shooting at targets from 20 yards (18.2 meters) and increased in five yard increments (4.57 meters). Five archers were still standing at the 50 yard distance (45.72 meters), four men and one woman. The winner got all three of his arrows in the bullseye, the second place man had won the tournament in previous years, and the third place man was a former winner as well. The remaining woman outshot all of the other women and most of the men. She won the women's first place award and it was a delight to have such a strong female competitor. It was wonderful to watch them. It was sponsored by one of our local indoor archery arenas and I'll be contacting them about some new strings for my bows as well as advice and a place to practice. Yeah! Bows and arrows - Whoot, Whoot!