Erebus

Well last week sucked arse, Mary was sick and is finally feeling better, so I stayed home to help her out. Then at the end of the week we got Erebus, out new 9 week old brindle bull mastiff pup. He is well mannered (for a puppy) and actually fairly quit, although we he does bark to try and get Aeron (our bulldog) to play with him it is a deep rumbling puppy bark.

He is taking to his crate training very well and is doing OK on this house training and chewing. Got him a variety of chew toys and that seemed to help a lot, he really likes his binkey buddy (got buckwheat in it you can heat up) and a plush/hard chew snake.....ohh and he really like furniture and bedding......we are working on that one.

Hoping to get started fighting again, my shield is up and running and my legs should be done soon, need to buff up a few more pieces and then put everything together and get the strapped and hung.

Shield

Well got my curved birch plywood heater done finally and I really like it, and I learned a whole lot of little things I will do differently next time. The edging is just rope and cloth covered with rawhide sew to the shield, so going to see how that holds up and add the thin metal edging over the next one.

For the first time in a long time I am excited about fighting again and going to have Zach reteach me how to use a strapped shield, it has been a very long time since I used one. Also working on finish up my an larger aluminum heater shield to have too.

Got World of Warcraft: Wraith of the Lich King Thursday, stood in line for 45 minutes and picked it up at midnight after armouring Wednesday so it was bonus. Haven't played much with work and all, but so far having fun.

My legs are almost done and hoping to start on my greaves next week.

Red Hot Sexyness

Well didn't go to Knight School at Fight Practice Tuesday, was feeling all that well and haven't been sleeping well. Wasn't going to go to armouring either, but glad I did, as I had a great time.

Sent a good portion of it just talking with Zach and getting the placement of my heater shield done (going to strap it up this weekend) and talked about putting together my new sword too. Zach painted up his new shield (or at least got it started).

I got all my leg pieces sanded finally and now I will move on to getting them buffed and polished. Once that is done, I will put them together and strap them up and they will be done, finally.

Zach got his sabaton braced and then fired it......can see some pics of it on his blog http://burgundianhours.blogspot.com/ was some coolness.

Mary gets home Wednesday, really looking forward to her getting back. When are still trying to decide on dog names for the new puppy: 1. Fyodor, 2. Niko or 3. Titus.

Shield Making

Well working on Zach's new ½ inch birch kite shield, we cut it out last Wednesday and I got the cloth covering on the face yesterday. Today I spray painted (cheated) the back black and then went over it with some black paint. When that dries I am going to smooth out the edging and then move on to the attaching the edging. Once I get that done I will then prepare the face with gesso and then it will be ready for Zach to paint.

Once I get it pack I will move on the edging it with rawhide, which will be sew on to the shield every inch or so. Think I am going to dye the rawhide edging black, just need to make sure I get the right dye and figure out the best way to see it. I also plan to attach some heavy felt covered with heavy linen to the back for an arm pad. Once that is done it is back to Zach's for the final strapping.

After some thought, which was inspired from a nice chat with Zach last Wednesday night, I am going to settle and concentrate on Chivalric combat and give it a go again. I need to get into better shape and get back to strengthening my left shoulder back up. I made a commitment to to fight and then flaked out, which hasn't set sell with me. I do not like to make commitments and then abandon them as I take my given word seriously.

Armouring 10-08-08

First productive armour workshop in quit a while, had a good time. Turn out was Zach, Kevin and me. I got all but 4 of the leg harness pieces sanded and hopefully will get them done and on to buffing them next week. Kevin worked on some half-gauntlets in 410 spring stainless and Zach re patterned his sabatons.

Hoping next Tuesday I will be up for some practice, not sure where I want to start though: get ready and get authorized Chivalric (on the road to Combat Archery) or Rapier (on the road to Cut and Thrust). Guess I just need to decide which path I want to take within the SCA.

Zach cut his shield out and I got mine measured, going to work on getting them prepped and gessosed for painting the edge them up.

Mary gets home from Georgia in 2 weeks, can't wait and we should have our new puppy the 2nd week of November. Need to get looking for a name for him.

Road to Recovery

Well going back to work Monday (10-06-08) and finally starting to feel better, my side is still a little tender and my stomach/abdominal muscles get fatigued, but on the mend.

Went to armouring at Zach's last night, did get much done but had a good time. Learned a whole lot about the subtlety of lines and form and just how beautiful medieval lines can be compared to modern lines (in regards to some sabatons Zach is working on).

Going to work on planning out my kit to meet my goals.

1. SCA Chivalric for Baronial War Company (c. 1400-1425)
2. SCA Chivalric Combat Archery for Baronial War Company (c. 1400-1425)
3. SCA Rapier for Cut and Thrust & Heavy Rapier (c. 1425-1450ish)

Mary is coming back in 3 weeks and we are putting a down payment down for a new puppy (male brindle bullmastiff) tomorrow and he should be come around the 2nd week of November.

Not a Good Year

Well 2008 has not been a good year. I turned 39. I reinjured my shoulder yet again and all the BS that goes along with that. I had to put my dog down, which was terrible, not only did my dog die but we had to make the choice. Vacation was ok, it rained the whole time we were there, but still had bun and now I have a hernia and have to have surgery. Hoping next year is better.