An epic weekend indeed. Anzac Day Anarchy was fun, although once again it was even quiter than last year. We're all getting old. Adam and Jess rode the 38km from here to Shelly Beach, Jake and I drove down and met them *L* [livejournal.com profile] jb_rulztheworld, Tracy, Robbie and Sandy were already there and for the first time in at least 5 years we had a beautiful day to enjoy in the park. Although nice weather also meant loads of people so we didn't get our usual concrete shelter, but we did manage a picnic table so it was all good. I also took 30 or 40 photos for my photo essay due later this week. I need to narrow it down to between 7 and 11 and then edit and 'shop them together by Thursday. Since the theme is 'History of Sydney Waterways' and there are some seriously awesome rocks at Shelly, I might go with 'Erosion'.

A couple from the set I shot )

The drive up the mountain range was quite plesant, although the single-lane winding roads at 80kph were a little more interesting after it got dark... we got to the show and found our group just in time to unload the car and be served dinner. Hurrah! Met some of the Battery guys, played Napoleonic trivia (we came 3rd out of 4 teams... the first two got prizes, and [livejournal.com profile] knightsmarshall's team did so badly they had to be recognised in front of the whole ANA... and we got nothing :p), Adam went off to bed and I stayed up until after midnight talking to [livejournal.com profile] knightsmarshall and Andrew and Garth who I used to do 15thC swiss with. Slept surprisingly well considering I was only on a pallet made from a couple of blankets and got up at the luxurious time of 7am. Found [livejournal.com profile] knightsmarshall (he, Dee and Gene had stayed in a cabin offsite, luxury!) to borrow a needle and thread as I had ripped my pants the night before (where the fall-front attaches). Costume malfunction resolved, it was time to drill the cannon. There are 4 men to the cannon, each with their own duties. We rotated and drilled through each position 4 times so that we all knew who was responsible for what and coule keep an eye on one another. However my main job for the day was loading charges. Adam was on a different cannon, but he too ended up in the same position.

We had two battles, one at 11:30 and one at 2. They were great fun. We were short on powder for the first but we coped, but we made up for it the second battle. We had 5 extra shots to we ended up double shotting a couple of times for extra bang for your buck, and even triple shotted the very last one as we had 3 charges left and only time for one bang. I even got to fire the cannon once, boom! :D We got to run the guns out on to the field and reposition it as the french forces moved and all that, hold fire while our own troops marched across, and 'kill' a cheeky frog bastard who had wandered away from his own line and was threatening to drop his breeches. There were also some pyrotechnics to replicate falling shells from the opposing cannon.

The only decent photo I have of the weekend )

I should mention that it was fucking FREEZING. The actual temp varied between 6 and 13*C over the course of the day, however there were 50kmph+ winds, very little cover and showers on and off all day, sometimes with an edge of sleet in it which made the apparent temp somewhere around 2*C. There's a reason those little jackets are called bumfreezers, they stop right above the bellybutton. They called for snow and hail all day but thankfully it held off, although quite a few tents got damaged in the howling winds. We hung around after the show and packed up the tent we had borrowed, then helped the Battery move their gear into a locker room as they weren't leaving until today. Stupid winds meant that I got hit in the face by a flying METAL CAMP BED. No fair either, it hurt a hell of a lot more then the stupid ant bite last fortnight and I had nothing to show for it, just a tiny cut inside my lip where it hit my teeth. The invisible bruise still bloody hurts *sulk*

Anyhow, we hung around and went for dinner at the local RSL Workman's Club with the Battery and also [livejournal.com profile] knightsmarshall and co which was fabulous. Sure, we had to drive the whole way home in the dark and didn't get home until very late, but it was great to have a chance to actually talk with people, and have a nice hot meal and let my fingers thaw out a bit before we had to drive home. Once we gort there it was straight into a hot showr and bed, ahh.

Oh, and John also gave us a thank-you gift: a small, hand-cast pewter cannon made by one of the group's members. It's SO COOL. The wheels spin around and everything, and it's bloody heavy. It's about 5 inches long including the cannon frame, I still need to take a photo of it. Dee got some photos of us actually loading the cannons during the battle so hopefully I'll post those sometime soon too.

Today I bought a new computer chair, and finally finished my Report of Dooooooom for class tomorrow. That leaves the photo essay and HG Wells for Thursday and Friday respectively. Fingers crossed for me...
Regency photos )

Essay is not progressing fast enough. In fact, I'm not sure if it's progressing at all. Bah! And my hair is shitting me to tears. I've been due for a haircut for the last 2 or 3 weeks but I haven't had the time (or the funds) to go get one. Split ends everywhere and I've been banned from playing with scissors or clippers. Bond's come back from the old house so I can now afford to go get it (and also get my scripts from the chemist if I can ever find the fuckers now), but I have stupid assignments to do. My red bits have all faded out to nothing too, but I need natural-looking hair for this weekend (or so much as I can look natural anyway) so I can't re-dye them. Phooey.

While I was in Canberra over the weekend I must admit, I had to stop and think when I saw the signs on the highway... Melbourne is only another 600km down the road. I miss my Melbourne ladies something fierce, it's hard to believe it's been 6 months already since I was down there last. Feel like yesterday, feels like forever.
WTF? We dropped in to Target this afternoon to get Adam some new long pants for winter and I ended up with a copy of Enchanted... I blame [livejournal.com profile] last_chael and [livejournal.com profile] chastangela. But I also got a copy of the so-awful-its-awesome National Treasure 2 so it's all good.

I also bought my wedding band. I dragged Adam to a jeweller to show him one I'd seen a while back and he thought it was nice also and we told the woman behind the counter we'd think about it. Then we went to Target, and there was a Prouds right next door so I ducked in to see what they had and yay. It was rather an impulse buy, but I think it's perfect. Now I have to wait a week while it's resized, and then another 2 months before I can wear it. But it's shiiiiiiny... on the other hand, I've managed to resist the temptation to wear my FUCKING AWESOME purple shoes for almost 6 months... I get to break them in soon though, yay! And I finally sent off the invite stuff to the graphic designer this afternoon, so fingers crossed that all gets underway soon.

So yes, home from Canberra... I had an excellent weekend with wonderful company. I also got a rather insane amount of sewing done, some of it was even mine. Helped Dee finish her Regency dress and made her a reticule and stays (and did her hair for the ball, yay), modded Adam's sailor jacket to match the artillery ones (added cuffs, changed the neckline, added a collar, shortened the hem) and made him a hat, and yesterday I made two regency washerwoman skirts (one for Dee, one for Gene) for next weekend. Fingers crossed my sailors pants still fit me and I'm pretty much sorted for Ironfest. Which is handy because I have far too much uni work to do between now and then :( Besides, I'm kind of all sewn out... although on the other hand I have a serious urge to make more stuff. Partly because of that 'satisfaction of a job well done' feeling after the weekend that I want to replicate, and partly because sewing it better than essays :p
On Wednesday [livejournal.com profile] knightsmarshall was called to Sydney for an emergency meeting, so he crashed the night at our place and joined us at trivia where we tied first. Hooray!

Thursday morning I got another shift at work, this time sitting in the warehouse counting leaflets and posters and bundling them into job lots. Not especially exciting work, but it was easy and I had my mp3 player and good company. Plus for a good hour of it I got to stare at Daniel Craig as one lot of leaflets was promo material for his next movie. Mmmm...

Then home to pack a bag of clothes and a bigger bag of fabric and back onto the road down to Canberra. [livejournal.com profile] knightsmarshall and Dee are off to the Jane Austen Ball tonight and I offered to babysit, and Dee still hasn't finished her regency kit *facepalm* Yesterday I whipped her up a set of short stays just like mine (I even managed to handsew all 24 of the eyelets before the end of 'Pride and Prejudice') and made some covered buttons to close her dress. This morning it was more bloody eyelets as I made her a reticule for her wallet/ camera/ etc tonight. Right now we've resewn the sleeves on her dress (they got botched and removed multiple times over the course of the week before I arrived) and I've attached the buttons, now it just needs buttonholes and the bodice lining tacked down and we're finally done, phew! My fingers are blistered and filled with needle holes, and I haven't actually done any of MY kit yet for next weekend :p

I've also been trying to do some reading for uni, although there has been no actual essay progress as yet. Bad Jess.

There has been the tiniest bit of wedding progress though. Cake is now sorted, I have all the shit to send to the printers for the invites (although I haven't sent it yet as I still need to compile it into a useable format, but I have rung my aunt and uncle and apologised for the delay and confirmed that it's all still OK for them to do them for me), and the mother-in-law is trying to make us have a bagpiper, or possibly an entire bloody pipe band *sigh* Apparently the fact that Adam is wearing a kilt means that we're having an entirely scottish/ celtic wedding, which was not our intention at all. Adam just wants a kilt *L*
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