This is my favourite medieval event of the year. It is a day of classes, which is always fun. I didn’t bother trying to organize a class this year, which was a good call. Instead, I made it to swim practice and then arrived in time to learn how to cook up some fruits found locally during the winter, After lunch I accompanied my baroness for a bit until she headed of to choir practice and I made (and ate) dumplings – we made cheese-filled varenyky, but also tried cheese ravioli, mantu and pelmeni that Marina had made in advance. Somewhere in there I took an embroidery class and finally mastered the Bayeux tapestry stitch! I first tried to learn it decades ago (and a few times since) but I never got to the stage where I felt confident enough to do it on my own. This time, I actually finished a small section and continued on the next section after the class and again today.
There was a really interesting guest speaker who talked about diversity and inclusion within our club. She flew in from Washington State for the weekend.
The best part of the day, though, was court – I got to see some friends recognized for their fine work in the arts, and then I was surprised with an award of my own. On the 30th anniversary of being made a member of the Order of the Black Hare (our baronial arts award) and the 20th anniversary of my elevation to the Order of the Laurel (the society’s top arts award), I received another Black Hare. And what a Black Hare it was! The words were written by Dubhease, and the illuminations were by Lucia and Alais. All three are/were my apprentices. The triptych itself was made by Aelfwyn (some assembly required, so I have a play date at her house to install the hinges and get some help on a few other metalwork projects).
The horses at the top playing harps represent my own horse love but also the harp that is both part of my name and my coat of arms. The horses come from the Tympanum of a church in Saint-Pierre Aulnay, France. The left panel has my cats Pandora and Mambo playing with one of my spindles (from two cats hunting mice, British Library Royal 12C XIX f36v), then a nativity scene (because I love them, and this is from an altar frontal found in Catalonia), and a storage room with sausages because sausage making is something I do a lot (no specific Lin, but there are many pictures like this). The right panel has the badge of the Order of the Black Hare, then Saint Siglinde (that’s me!) catching the Graouilly in one of my nets. The Graouilly is a dragon or similar monster who according to legend lived in the Roman amphitheatre of the city of Metz (where my medieval persona is from). He was driven off by St Clement of Metz somewhere between the 1st and 5th C AD. The bottom picture is me advising my apprentices. These last two are in keeping with the Stavelot Triptych’s scenes of St. Helena.
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