From the Almost Frontlines: Almost-Spring Ithra

This weekend was the Shire of Shittimwoode's "Almost Spring" Ithra. They do have a gift for naming things. :-)

Saturday morning I learned about Period Cartography, including the fact that through most of period in Europe there were three different groups keeping three different kinds of maps secret from the general populace and each other.

Saturday afternoon was Heraldry (names and devices), in which my opinion that all heralds are at least slightly nuts was fully confirmed ("bendy sinister"? "checkwise"?). However, it was fun (OK, I'm at least slightly nuts too) and I made some progress with my device. I'm now leaning towards:

Per fess argent and azure, on a phoenix gules a sword or, beneath a mullet sable.

In english: on a shield with the top half silver and the bottom half blue, a golden sword superimposed on a red phoenix (centered), with a black star at the top center of the shield.

Sunday morning was A Survey of Medieval Architecture, a direct companion to Castles and Fortifications that covers the civilian side of things (houses, churches, etc.). Did you know that the Romans used concrete, but it wasn't rediscovered until the Enlightenment?! Man those guys were good. Anyway, we actually used period methods to make a wooden truss, a brick arch (pre-made bricks), and we made a wattle and daub section about 8"x10" (cheated a little again; mixed in a bit of plaster to make it dry faster... and we didn't use any manure). We also played with linkin (sp?) logs and pre-cut spiral staircase sections. Doing the wattle and daub in particular really gave me a feel for something I hadn't fully understood before.

Sunday afternoon was Period Encampments, or "How to make your camp look period... even when it isn't." Although the class normally includes setting up a chunk of an SCA camp, they didn't get permission for this section, so that rather important part was skipped. :-(

Overall it was a very good Ithra, and it didn't even rain until Sunday afternoon!

Oh, and Happy Pi Day, everyone! I ate pie (and muffins and other round things) yesterday - did you?