Trying this blog thing again

It has many years since I last tried blogging, and now that I’ve resettled in MA, gotten active again in the SCA, and am doing new things in general, I decided to give it a shot once more. I toyed around with Blogger and WordPress before deciding that I still like Blogger best. This blog will primarily be focused on my SCA experiences and projects. If this works out well, I may start another page for my mundane stuff like gardening.


After playing in the SCA in Northshield for more than 20 years, we moved to Baltimore and lived there in Atlantia for 4 years. I never really “gelled” with the group in Baltimore. Practices were held in a location that wasn’t terribly convenient, especially once Toni started working in DC and getting back home late. We did go to a couple of fun events in Virginia and the Carolinas and met some fun folks, but our events were few and far between for various personal reasons. One big factor was Trip was aging, and finding kennels for the dogs was difficult (also a hefty drive). 

Earlier this year we relocated to the NE Massachusetts area, and have started playing again. I now live in the Canton of the Towers, part of the Barony of Carolingia. So far I’ve been to two events here in the East. The first was hosted here in Carolingia in September. It was a fun outdoor event where got to enjoy the fall weather for a bit. My friend Mistress Dreda was kind enough to introduce us to some of the natives, and I got to see a few folks from college and Northshield that I hadn’t seen in years. We brought Cooper along to his first SCA event — he enjoyed the attention a lot, but was a bit spooked by the noise from the heaving fighting, so we ended up having to leave a bit earlier than expected. 

Our second event was Autumn’s Inspirations, held outside Portland, ME. The site was a lovely church in a small town, and the city, surroundings and weather were all quintessential New England Autumn. The event was a lot of fun! It had about 70 people, and was a day of classes and A&S. I taught two classes (Bayeux Tapestry Stitch, and Intro to Icons), which were both received well, and we ended up making several new friends throughout the day. This is pretty much my favorite kind of event, and I had a wonderful time with a bunch of great folks. Looking forward to seeing the “bad folk” from Malagentia again!

Cooper at his first event, September in MA

Ivan teaching his Bayeux Tapestry Stitch class to a packed room at Autumn’s Inspirations. I had EXACTLY enough kits to go around. Unfortunately the handout was mangled by the printers, but the class went well anyway.

Fun pewter stickpin site token from Autumn’s Inspirations. I’m not sure who created these, but they were a great idea.

At the last minute at Autumn’s Inspirations, I decided to enter one of the show and tell items I brought along for my Bayeux Tapestry class in the A&S table. The piece was very well received, and I was honored to receive the popular vote, which came with the grey ceramic mug you see at the top as the prize. The box to the left shows all the popular vote beads I received. A few personal tokens were left behind as well. Not sure who they came from though!