Home from the SCA-busy weekend. Tired, but contentedly so. Wish I’d had more time to spend with friends, but grateful for all the time I did have to spend with them.

We picked up Dave (of Amanda/Dave/Gordon from the UK) from LAX and headed north, mostly on Hwy 1 because it’s pretty. We grabbed a snack at Jack-in-the-Box and parked by the ocean and opened the doors to hear the surf. Then we continued on to Oxnard, with a detour to Ventura and Trader Joe’s for food for the event(s) (hummus, lemon/artichoke dip, mango guacamole, cream cheese/pesto/sun-dried tomato spread, brie, Welsh cheddar, cherries, and wheat pita bites, plus chocolate for Morgana and Brian).

We got to Morgana and Brian’s and chatted for a bit and then all went out to dinner at The Greek at the Ventura Harbor. We got a massive amount of scrummy hot and cold appetizers (Dave and I shared the entire plate of tzatziki because nobody else wanted any. Fools.), and only Ken ordered real dinner food (so he could save half of it for breakfast). I confess my small Greek salad wasn’t impressive—it wasn’t bad, but they skimped on the feta and the lettuce was boring. I also ate almost everyone’s olives, because they didn’t want them. Fools.

The real highlight, however, was the ME dancer. She was new, according to M&B. And she was awesome. Stunning. Amazing. She wasn’t someone I would have looked twice at on the street, but when she danced…oh, I was in lust. She was incredibly limber as well as being an incredibly good dancer, and she made good eye contact and had a brilliant, honest smile. She was also tireless—I think she did five or six dances. We had dollar bills for her, and at one point Ken just reached over and handed me a fiver to tuck into her bra. No complaints from me.

Back at M&B’s, Dave crashed and the rest of us sat up chatting for a bit before retiring ourselves.

The next day, we got to the Coronation site and I went off to find the Chamberlain and see if I could help out. “Do you sew?” she asked. And so I ended up helping sew trim and tassels on Queen’s Guard Favors. I was called up in Court with the rest of the Court members to get a token, and afterwards helped clean up the Royal Ready Room. I wasn’t even needed at the feast.

Which was fine, because we sat with M&B, Guillaume and Felinah, Ceridwen and Rowen, and Leonora—all very fun people. The feast was excellent; the only thing I didn’t eat was the beef because of the mushrooms, although I tasted it and it was nice. I wish there had been menus at the tables because I would have loved to keep one to show other head cooks.

We all repaired to M&B’s, where everyone at the table happened to be staying, and again sat up chatting until far too late.

This morning I rode to the event early with Brian because I wanted to be there well before Opening Court to help out. TRM weren’t there yet, so I helped various folks schlep things, hung out with friends, etc.

The day got busier after that. During Opening Court, I helped out behind the thrones, essentially attending to Her Majesty. During the Royal Progress, I trotted along next to Her Majesty with my parasol (even though she said she didn’t need one. It was very sunny, so she really did.) and helped make sure she had enough tokens to give out. Later, when I was attending her before the final round of heavy weapons, she spoke with someone to whom she hadn’t given a token, and I took my own off to give to her. (And subsequently forgot to get myself another one. Must remember to do that.) In between everything, however, there was a fair amount of down time, so I lounged in the Darach pavilion and caught up with friends, and caught a few of Ken’s fights. (He made it pretty far up the ranks—it would have been funny if he’d won, so we both could have been on Court.)

We left just before Closing Court; I wasn’t needed to help out, but more importantly, Dave wanted to get checked in to his hotel in Pasadena. He did, and then the three of us found a sushi place. Mmmmm, suuuuushi. It was good sushi, too. Thus sated, we left him at his hotel and hied ourselves home.

Now it’s late, and bed is imminent. Sleep will be good. I’ve unpacked my things, unpacked the ice chest (which Ken then rinsed out), done all of the dishes, sorted the mail, and done a pass through e-mail. I can rest easy. ;-)

Tomorrow I have a massage and chiro, and then I’m meeting with Jenn, Christine, and I believe Vera, in Santa Monica for lunch. Fun! In the afternoon, Muirenn is coming over, and we’ll do supper and then some patterning/sewing. I’m definitely getting fired back up to sew. TRM’s Court is Middle Eastern, so now I have extra incentive to make those Persians!

In other news, a historic Victorian near M&B is for sale. Their former Realtor is handling the sale, so they called to find the price for us. Way more than we can afford, but apparently she insisted that the sellers wanted to find the right people and were willing to negotiate. Probably they’re not willing to negotiate all the way down to a price we could afford, but I’d still like to see the inside of it and meet the owners…

G’night, pets!