Crazy, crazy life!

So I have to tell any who happen to read about how crazy the last few weeks have been.  I'm beginning to think that I have pissed in someone's cosmic cheerios!

First the plumbing problems: 
1. The upstairs tub faucet is leaking fiercely, not a drip but a constant stream.  No, not an easy fix like replacing a washer but something that will include cutting a hole in the wall behind the fixture, cutting off the old faucet, adding new pipe and soldering in a new faucet.  Oh and the drain was also backing up in the tub.  At least that one seems to have been an easy fix.  Our awesome neighbor snaked it and the problem seems to be solved.

2. The sink faucet in the same room has started dripping.  Hoping that all that needs is a new washer and not a new fixture.

3. BOTH toilets run at random times and will not shut off properly.  The guts have been replaced in them both already and this hasn't stopped the problem.  They need to be replaced.

4.  Both sides of the kitchen sink will not drain.  They will happily drain into each other, but the water level will not go down.  We have tried Drano, a plunger, taking the U joint off and emptying it, snaking it from both the top and the bottom and snaking the trap in the basement.  For about a day it drained somewhat but now it's back to not draining at all.  We have had to empty it by hand in order to do dishes. Oh yeah and because of the treatment they have received, the pipes underneath the sink have started leaking so we have to have a bucket underneath there now.

5. The electricity had to be out for a few hours the other night so the city could replace a power pole that had been hit by a car.  After the power came back on, the water heater thermostat no longer worked.  It's LOVELY to take cold showers! 

Then the family issues:
6. Brendan got suspended from school for 5 days.  What happened is that before school one day he lent his calculator to another boy who tossed it to a third boy who ran away with it.  Brendan ran after him, put him in a headlock and attempted to get his calculator back.  The boy who threw the calculator then pinched Brendan in the neck and the other boy got away and punched Brendan in the eye giving him a black eye and a cut under the eye.  So what does the boy get who started it all?  He gets talked to - nothing else.  The other two get suspended for 5 days.  Yeah, that's a great way to help kids get an education.  Suspend them that long.  I think all that does is let them know that if they are bad they get to stay home and not have to go to boring school.  We have a meeting with the school tomorrow to discuss things.  I'm seriously thinking of home schooling the boys until next year depending on what is accomplished at this meeting.  I'm not hopeful of a good outcome there.

7. Ashlyn had to quit her job because she was denied pregnancy leave.  Not once, but 4 times!  She has brought in paperwork from her doctor multiple times, filled out paperwork multiple times and still they keep sending her letters saying she hasn't proved she needs to go on maternity leave,  WTH???  I cannot believe the incompetency of Convergys' HR person!!! 

8. She is also having really bad rib pain due to the baby forcing her floating ribs outward and causing muscle spasms in her obliques.  She can only sit for about half an hour at a time before she has to stand up or lay down.  We had her in at the ER the other night before we knew what was going on thinking the muscle spasms could be premature labor.  Luckily she was just fine - well except for the ongoing pain. 

And finally the car issues.  Of course all this happens now because it needs to be re-registered in October.
9.   My brakes are acting funny.  I think they need to be bled and have at least the pads replaced - maybe the rotors turned too. 

10. The turn signal will not shut itself off any more.  The steering column will need to be opened to fix this. 

11. And last but best Robert was driving home from an appointment last night when he heard a *pop* and the passenger side front window shattered!  Not sure if it was hit with something or just randomly decided to die.  Strangest thing.....

12. Oh and my work is being dumb and I'm not happy here for the first time since getting this job....bleah.....

Okay, now you have heard the litany of strange and stupid things that have been going on in my life lately and I feel a little better for having whined for a while.  Now I just need to win the lottery so I have the money to fix all of this.  I know it will get better, it just seems like everything is happening at once without a chance to recover from anything before the next happens.  Hoping things quiet down soon so I can get going on sewing and scrolling which is what I am really wanting to do.  At least I have my craft room back!

Thanks for listening to my rant...my love to any of you who care for me enough that you've read all of this :)

More delays

So I haven't done much on my ACC progress in the last few weeks.  The most I can say is that I got the pieces cut out for my caul...........
Yep, that's it.
I guess I'll at least get pictures of that so I'm not in trouble with Bianca :)

We nearly have Jordan's room cleared out so that we can clean the carpets, paint and move Ashlyn in - hopefully sometime BEFORE her baby is born!
Then we'll move Jordan into Ethan's room and Ethan into what was my craft room which is now Ashlyn's room and then hopefully I'll still have some room for painting and sewing and can make some real progress on all the things I really want to be doing.  I'm actually "jonesing" to be sewing.  How strange is that for me?

I'm also dying to work on a scroll or two as well.  Maybe I'll make up a pack of blanks as a present for the new Baron and Baroness of Gryphon's Lair.  We'll be finding out soon who they are going to be and I'm so excited to know!!! 

I can't wait to get home and get on the cleaning so that I can have my space back.  Dear Bianca, please don't scold me too badly for my pitiful progress. 

ACC Update

Here is my sad progress (other than a bunch of research) on my ACC Project. 
Picture 1: The fabrics I have so far - red linen for the main kirtle, red cotton broadcloth for the lining, black duck for the interlining, black linen for the partlet, white cotton for the drawers and smock.
Picture 2: The Reconstructing History pattern I'm basing this project on and the traced and cut out pattern pieces I'll be using.
Picture 3: The mock-ups of the bodice and partlet that Serafina fitted to me (thank you Serafina!!!).
I'm looking forward to going to Bianca's on Monday to work some more and enjoy the company of the awesome ladies that are planning to be there.  Heaven know I need the inspiration!

Another Inspiration Pic

Here is picture I found that I like and looks quite a lot like the look I want to achieve with this project.  Simple, understated, fabulous :)  Now I just need to get some pics up of the actual project in process!

1490s Circle of Sandro Botticelli Portrait of a Plainly Dressed Lady

Projects stalled for now?

     We made two trips down to Orem this last Saturday to move Ashlyn back home.  Things haven't been  wonderful with her (paternal) grandparents since she told them she was pregnant a few weeks ago.  She went to stay with her Dad for a few days and came back to find all her things packed up.  Supposedly this was so that her Uncle could stay in the room for a few days, but......well we all drew our own conclusions.
     Luckily her work allowed her to transfer up here.  Well in actuality she went on a leave of absence at Convergys in Orem and was hired on at the Convergys in Roy in the interim.  Either way, it worked out that we had to move her very quickly, a fact I was not at all prepared for.  The room she will be using used to be my craft room and now I have no room for my stuff.  It's actually out on our back porch right now.  Not sure where everything will go, so I've decided now is a good time to get rid of a bunch of things.  I'll be bringing them to the project day at Dria's house on the 20th of August if it's stuff SCA friends might be interested in.
     This all being said, I'm not sure how this will impact the ACC project.  I'm hoping right now to just invade Serafina's or Jaquelinne's houses a lot and get it done there if they are amenable to that.  I'm feeling kind of lost, displaced and a little depressed right now because of everything. Oh, and whiny....yup, very whiny.  I'm hoping to once again find a place that can be mine soon or I'm afraid I'll just say "forget it" and stop doing arts again like I did when I was pregnant with Ethan.  It sucked.  It's not me.  I don't want to be that way.  Told you I was whiny :)
    Anyway, I'm so glad to see a lot of you making wonderful progress on your ACC projects.  I just love to follow the blogs that are being posted and see all the outfits come together.  It reminds me just how lucky I am to be among people that are wonderful, talented and inspiring.  Yay you guys!  I'm so glad you're my friends!

My New Favorite Book

So, I have to tell you about my new favorite book.  I know I'm a little old for children's tales, but this one is a classic.  I believe that everybody should read this to their children starting when they're very young.
After all, who knows when the zombie apocalypse shall occur.  We need to make sure our children are ready to sever the spinal cord or destroy the brain no matter how young they are.
Here is a picture of the cover.  I think you can see the intrinsic value in this book even before opening the cover....

Good reading all!
If you think this book looks interesting but are not sure about purchasing it, please go to Amazon.com and look inside.  I KNOW you will want it then.

Men's Short Cloak 1580-1600

Here is a pic of another cloak from the Tudor era.  This one a man's cloak with couching and embroidery.  Now couching I can do!  I'm hoping that the general rule applies that if they did it on men's clothing they also did it on women's.  I'm thinking the design form from the cloak in the last post would translate very well into couching as long as it's not too much of a stretch to do so.  I also found several cloaks that were lined/trimmed in fur which sounds like a lovely idea also.  I think I'll at least go with the fur lining.  Now whether it's in real fur or not is up to the budget.

Tudor Short Cloak

     Here is a picture of a silk velvet short cloak from the Tudor era that I really like.  I'm thinking of making one like it for the ACC challenge.  Sans embroidery of course, I'm not totally crazy.  I'll have to find some way of adding some detail to the front without embroidery though - maybe some wide trim?  Suggestions anyone???  
     I already have some blue velvet in my stash that I could use and not take up any of my $100.00 budget, so that makes this idea even more interesting to me.  Guess we'll see what happens.

Artemisian Costuming Challenge

     A short while back there started to be a buzz in the SCA about a challenge issued at Uprising War.  Baroness Maestra Bianca had decided to inspire the members of Artemisia to make at least 4 items of garb for themselves (or a patron) that were done completely within this year (2011) for the sum of $100.00 or less ($200.00 with patron).  The details are here: http://coteduciel.org/challenge.html . 
     Since I was not able to attend Uprising this year, I heard about it second and third hand but it was enough to get me interested.  I asked Bianca about the challenge and she sent me the link above.  Since the Challenge start date was the end of Baron's War (July 25th) and I was still madly trying to finish up preparations for Baron's War and the Elevation of the lovely and talented Serafina Basso, I thought that I would not have a chance to enter.
     Near the end of Baron's War I realized that my project list was fairly empty and that I really wanted to "get in on the action" and fun of this challenge - and to light a fire under my booty to make myself some new garb.  Realizing that I still had time to enter, I madly sent off an email to Maestra Bianca and did so.
     Long story (sorta) short I am going to attempt to sew myself some early Tudor common-women's clothing.  I realize that in the SCA we are all supposed to be at least upper class personages, but as anyone who has gone to a camping event knows it's very hard to DO much in corsets, silk stockings, farthingales, etc. 
     I LOVE the look of this particular kind of garb and also it's extreme usefulness.  It's great for chasing children in and since I have five of these and a grandson on the way that works for me.  It's also very versatile according to the weather.  With a pin on partlet and tie on long sleeves you can go from hot to cold weather garb in a matter of minutes.  I also love the fact that all of the pieces are simple to make and the linen I am going to use to make it is inexpensive and washable. 
     I am NOT a seamstress, probably won't ever be.  Sewing is a chore to me, but I love garb so I'm going to do my best to complete this project, even though I know I will not win anything.  Completion is the goal and I'm very happy with that :)
    
All of this being said, here are the layers I'm going to make:

Underwear:  A new smock, probably of the higher-necked variety.
Main layer:  A front lacing kirtle with partlet and removable sleeves.  Since it's so hot at camping events during the day I plan on lightly boning it so I don't have to wear another under it for stiffness.
Outer layer:  A loose gown or fitted coat of some sort.  I'm still in limbo about this layer.  I think I'll probably take Serafina's suggestion and do a short cloak of some kind.  Now to locate pictures/material for inspiration!
Accessory:  A caul to keep my poor head from being sunburned again :)  Probably not embroidered.  One step at a time is how I have to go with this sewing stuff.

Also planned/wanted, but not necessary to the challenge:

Underwear - I know only some common women wore them at all, but still...
A petticoat.  I love the look of the contrast under the skirt and the shape it gives.
Leather shoes.
A Laurel medallion that isn't too "blingy" for the outfit.

     I'm sure there will be more wants added to the list later, but at least I can say I've started my blog now!  Pics of the work so far will also be added soon.  I went to Serafina's house last Saturday and she helped me fit a mock-up of the bodice so I can start cutting real material ASAP (scary).

Good luck to all with their challenge outfits!!!