2026 Happy Blog Challenge

Some happy things from the last day of July: The class I took today was on making the Skjoldehamn Belt .    The belt is made using a 12 strand braid.  I wasn't late, but I also wasn’t one of the first ten to arrive and therefore didn't get a kit.  A couple of the late comers (like me) stayed to audit the class.  One of the people who got a kit let us practice it on hers.  Whether I am able to remember all I learned today when I get the time to try it is another thing. 😅  I have a handout, took some notes, and I know the teacher. I made a fingerloop braid for one of the camp mates who has been extremely helpful around camp.  It came out nice, but I forgot to take a picture of it.  It was black and purple and the colors worked together really well. It was Mint Sekanjabin for today's water enhancement.  My limited research on the syrup implied to me that mint is one of the more traditional flavors.  I've liked all the flavors my frien...

Some happy Thursday things: Sometimes the best part of the day is the quiet time when there aren't a lot of people around.  That is when a gray catbird found something to eat about 15-20 feet from where I was sitting.  The sekanjabin I chose to try today is the orange one.  It is pretty good.  I've been having a hard time drinking just water lately, the flavors are helping.  That they also contain electrolytes as I overheat during the day is a bonus. Only two flavors more to try. The bead making challenge tonight was something about spinning.  Or spirals.  I got there late and the theme has twisted in my memory.  😉  Anyhow, I am making mistakes and having fun in the process.  Everything seems challenging for me right now, and that is okay.  I definitely struggled with getting the glass hot enough.  In hindsight, there are special glasses to wear to keep our eyes safe.  I wore two different types tonight and I wonder if th...

Some happy things from today: Keziah and I got up early for our shift volunteering for the Watch.  We drove around the entire encampment in a golf cart looking for things that were out of place and being a radio source if anyone noticed us and needed help.  Our shift was from 5-8 AM.  We started in the dark, tried to watch the sunrise through the clouds, and drove around as people woke up and started their day.   Some of the following photos are thanks to Keziah who snapped some pictures while I was driving. After a nap and lunch I made a fingerloop braid for Keziah’s medallion.   Keziah chose the light blue clasps. The sekabjabin I pulled out today was a very delicious Ginger. Keziah and I took a lampwork class.  Keziah made three beads and decided that the craft isn't for her.  I made three beads and decided to go back after dinner to do more.  The later lampwork time was for a challenge.  The challenge theme was ‘Black and White’...

 Some happy things from today at Pennsic: This morning Keziah and I signed up to volunteer on a watch shift.  We will get to drive around in a golf cart and watch for things that are out of the ordinary. After that I went to help set up the East Kingdom encampment. One of the ways I have helped there before is setting up their gate pavilion.  I did that again today and took more notes to try and improve that task for next year.   Here is the before the gate tent was set up. I forgot to take an after picture! A friend made sekanjabin for me to share in camp.  Sekanjabin is an ancient water flavoring (syrup) that contains electrolytes to help avoid dehydration.  Yesterday I think the flavor I had was strawberry basil.  Today I tried the raspberry lime.  They are both really good, but so far my favorite is the raspberry lime.   There have been many helpful people this year.  A wind wall went up, the firewood was stacked, and some ...

 July 27th Some happy things from today: It seems like there are always some kinds of problems with getting the shower to work every year.  This time I feel like the problems weren't as bad.  We didn't end up making a town run for a random thing that broke.  The new water softener seems to work fine.  I remembered to go back this morning to put plumbers tape on the few hose connections that were dripping.  Fingers crossed that the only bad thing to happen now is that the propane goes empty and just needs to be replaced.   The meal plan started.  Next year I really need to plan the before and after meal plan times.  Today I'm happy the plan has started and there is good food to eat. Keziah and I were able to do a few things to help out our friends that lost their car and Pennsic house on the way to the event.   After a lovely meal Keziah, Gideon, and I went to town to watch the movie Hadestown .  It is only in theaters for ...

 Some friends have been working really hard to build a house/shop for Pennsic.  They have been merchants at Pennsic a really long time.  They finished building their house yesterday, loaded it up, and headed for Pennsic.  Somewhere around 3 hours-ish from Pennsic their car caught on fire followed by the house they just finished.  Obviously I am not at all happy about this.  What I am happy about is that the people involved are all alright. Some happy things from today: There are some great people here in camp.  We were able to set up the Common Tent, put up the shower, and I got the plumbing to the shower connected and working.  There is even hot water.  There is one part of connecting the shower that has given us problems from the beginning.  What I thought was going to fix it didn't.  With the help of power tools (Keziah and I did work at it with hand tools first) we made the holes just a little bigger and it has made a big differ...

 Some happy Saturday things: It has been a long day.  We didn't plan as well as I wanted when it came to food.  So I'm happy that there are places open on site where we were able to get food this morning.  Keziah had errands to run and brought back food for the evening.  Yay food!  We are part of a meal plan that starts tomorrow or Monday. We got the awning onto our tent which provided some much needed shade.  Some of our neighbors have been clearing away brush and Gideon and I helped with that some.  We have some nice neighbors here in our little section of Pennsic.  We were asked to deliver some things to Pennsic for other people.  There was something that I didn't know what it was and (should have listened better) thought it was some kind of game.  It turns out that it is a board to use to make bow strings.  Now I want one!  😂   I got a picture of the moon.  A few minutes later I tried to take a picture ...

 Here are some happy things from Pennsic Land Grab Day: After a nice breakfast at the hotel we made our way to Pennsic.  We left a little later than I had hoped and were greeted with a really long line.  That was fine though because we are at Pennsic! There was a deer on the side of the road as we left the hotel. Pennsic 53 (LIII) Long line. A door in the gate building that we thought was funny. When we got to our block someone had already measured everything out.  That was great, except I had to check it.  The end result was that changes had to be made.  I was a little bummed, but we were able to make it work.  It helped that Keziah, Gideon, and I reworked the map over restaurant food in an air conditioned building!  Keziah did most of the reworking.  Thankfully Stephanie set us up right with all the tools we needed to rework it. Keziah, Gideon, and I got the pavilion up and it is mostly set up inside.  It was a learning experience for ...