Interview went ok. I'm terrible at determining how I do at interviews, but everything was pleasant and civil. Won't get a yay or nay til end of month though.
Scaffolding is finally, finally coming down from around the flat. Builders have been peering in the windows for the past couple of days as they unclamp and hump boards around. So far they've only squashed one of our shrubs in our (admittedly neglected) postage-stamp front yard, by dropping a reinforced plank on it.
This means that the estate agents will be back to take pics of our clutter, in an effort to flog the place. Joy.
However, I'm beginning to think the biggest impediment will be the neighbours.
Yesterday I was accosted by our noisy downstairs neighbour who told me off for speaking to her dog and 'giving her a dirty look' last week, and told me not to 'disrespect' her or her dogs ever again, or else she'd take me to court. She must have a strange idea of what's worth taking to a lawyer...
What a tiresome, offensive and annoying woman.
Today a different neighbour left her dog indoors to howl and whine and scratch at her door for over an hour. I really feel sorry for this dog - all they seem to do is yell at it. If you don't want to train and care for a dog, why keep one?
Viceroy tourney was a pleasant return to camping. It was damp most of the weekend, but beautifully sunny and bright for packing up and drying the canvas. Both the repaired bedframe, and the restitched cone of the pavilion, held up fine.
I missed most of the tourney. In the time it took to go make myself coffee, most of it was over. I came back only in time for the finals, which happily were decisive and clean.
I don't understand why, if there's only four people in the tourney, the organizers don't stretch it out - fight all three bouts of best of three? best of five? For Pete's sake, the winner has to be the 'leader' for the next six months - he (or she) should at least work for it.
Vitus has leapt into the viceregal role with gusto - it's lovely to see him so excited about it.
The ID officers meeting was productive and thoughtful and ran smoothly - Etienne runs a tight meeting. I always like spending time with him, even when he's not set on being entertaining.
The pleasant part of the weekend was sitting and visiting with other ladies, and working on handwork, and dining with
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purple_peril ,
caomhinmaca, and lady Ynes. Unfortunately, the feast ran late - I was surprised, because Rafe and Ariel's previous feasts have run like clockwork, with an embarrassment of food produced at a brisk pace. Because of the lateness, dancing was rather late too, and sparsely attended. We have two new musicians, who attended their first event at Viceroy, who were playing - AND who are promising to turn out for Coronation - hurrah!
blue_dormouse and maredudd1066 have lent me their 16th c. knitting needles for the duration. It's a set of four 2.0mm uncoated steel needles. They need a touch of light sanding or buffing before working with them. I'd like to try a Tudor flat cap on them - can't justify any more stocking projects!
On the
stocking front - after four tries and a chat with the pattern designer on Ravelry, I finally got the eyelet section of the
Eleanora de Toledo stocking to work correctly. Turns out both I'd been counting wrong,
and there was a mistake in the copy of the pattern I had. Don't know when the mistake was fixed - sometime since January, when I printed it. Argh. At least I can get past repeating the same 2 rows and go on to something new!
Further textile excitement - I visited Ynes at work at MoL on Friday, and got a peek into the storage areas where many of the fabric finds are kept. I got to
see the garter fragment that she'd mentioned! Hurrah.
Sure enough, it's a narrow strip of garter stitch, probably no more than an inch wide - no ends, so no indication of how it's started or finished, or if it's tied, or buckled. I'm going with tied for the moment. Generic mud-brown - can't tell what colour it might have been originally.
Enjoying
The fifth elephant - the request for the library copy finally came through. (I'm a late convert to Discworld. When something is hugely talked up, when you *have* to read it because everyone else does...I tend to shy away from whatever-it-is. So it took me awhile to get to them.)
I'm still waiting to find the book where Constable Angua is introduced, as well as some of the other 'ethnic minorities' - the gargoyles, for instance.
When do the trolls join the force? They're introduced in the Light Fantastic as characters, but when do they join the Watch?
Can anyone advise me which book it's in?
Still puttering on the
second soapstone mould - going slowly, trying to avoid any irreversible incisions.
I'm never carving gritty stone again!
