Michaelmas was a great event!

So I had an amazing time at Michaelmas, as the last weeks worth of updates can attest to. This was my first time attending this event, and my friends up in Gainesville can really throw a great party! Next year, if you have the time off I highly recommend making the trek out here.

The campsite is rather nice, big enough to let people have a sense of privacy but small enough that its a quick walk to anyplace you wanted to be. The cabins were clean and well air conditioned (most of the time) and the hot water in the showers was a welcome treat at 6am. Sarah and I arrived on site Friday and were greeted by both fire ants and a cheerful Madhavi and Guan. Cabin set-up was relatively simple, I remembered enough sheets this time to give my bun privacy, and before long I was garbed up and ready to go! I had a nice chat with the gate staff which inspired me to write a short story which can be found here, and then I was up to the Feast Hall for prep with the next days meals.

After food prep was completed, I packed up my gear and headed down to the vigil site to spend some time with Signy. She had chosen to have a vigil prior to her elevation, and as such it was a great party and a wonderful time. I spent a good long time talking with her and Mistress Anne, picking their brains for why they chose what they did (Anne elevated on the spot while Signy asked for the vigil). It was fun to get the insight into why they chose what they did, I learned a lot about both of their persona's as well! It was nice to sit and chat with the people there as well, one of my favorite pastime's for the SCA is just to listen and learn.

Saturday came nice and early, and before I knew it I was up and awake in my new roman garb and cooking in the kitchen! Funny thing about roman attire, no pants. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, I was a touch nervous about cooking and being around dangerous things without pants on. But soon enough I was having a great time, I didn't even notice the lack of pants! The Regional Art/Sci went really well as it always does, I learn a lot from my mistakes and successes and my judges have for the most part been incredibly helpful and kind. During Art/Sci I had my fundraising lunch and judges lunch, a more complete write up for how that went can be found here, and it was a huge success! We sold out of lunch and raised 85 dollars for the Kingdom Warchest, and everyone really liked the noms to boot :). It was fun doing a period lunch, roman in design and style with the chicken recipe actually coming from a 4th century roman cookbook.

Feast prep went into the afternoon, so I sadly missed court, and before long the meal was served and consumed! The food did fairly well, everyone seemed to enjoy their meal and I thought it all tasted great. I think the mushroom and leek soup was my favorite dish, just because I love the hell out of leeks and mushrooms and the fresh broth just tasted so yummy with the two. I'll be doing another blog post on my impressions on the meal and feast on Sunday and it will link back to this post as well later on.

After Feast it was time for relaxing, for friendship and for ceremony. I was made the apprentice to Mistress Madhavi, a wonderful Laurel and great inspiration to me here on what I do. I can't do it justice here again, so I'll once again cop out and link to my original entry on that here, and hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

What a great event, one I hope to make for many years to come!