It's a long one, and we're in Orkney now

Well, we're stuck in a bar in Scrabster, waiting for the ferry. Two hours before the restaurant next door opens, and three hours before the ferry starts boarding. Four hours before it actually leaves. It's an hour and a half crossing - we could go there and come back in the time it'll take us to wait for it. I'm composing this in a text file because there is no internet connection in the bar.

This is one of the more annoying points in the travel. 'Though I think the worst of it is the travel that we found out (long before we left) that we couldn't do. Our plan is actually to get up to Shetland, and we had wanted to take the ferry from Shetland to the Faroes Island and then to Iceland, but they canceled the Shetland to Faroes link. No crossing of the Atlantic in the footprints of the Vikings.

Instead we'll need to take a ferry from Shetland down to Abeerden and drive back to Glasgow to pick up a plane at the International Airport.

So.... to continue the chronology then, since I haven't blogged in a few days, we woke up a few mornings ago, and started off bright and early at the Scottish Crannog Centre.



Crannogs are these things that were set out on the water in lochs all over Scotland in the Iron Age. People lived in them and used the waterways for transportation. It's not really our time period of interest, so I can't give you many details.

There is some carry over into the Viking Age however. This is a warp-weighted loom.



The guide was careful to say that we don't actually know what kind of loom they used, since we've made no actual discoveries of intact looms, but the same problem exists in the Viking Era as well. Things that might be loom weights have been discovered, and there's a sketch on a Roman vase that looks like a warp-weighted loom (link). This particular loom hasn't been used since they set up the Crannog centre, some 10 years ago. Pity they don't have a weaver on staff.

And honestly, that's my only criticism. This was a fantastic place, with great hands-on interpretors/guides and things that we could try out for ourselves. Like this bow-drill...



Our next stop was the Edradour Distillery, one of three distilleries that we've visited so far, and the smallest in all of Scotland. Neil picked up a bottle, of course. I must admit that I fail completely to understand why he wants to lug bottles of whiskey around for the rest of the trip, but I suppose that's one of those things that one just ... accommodates in a marriage.



He finds my attachment to things that grow amusing. If I thought I could take plants home successfully, I probably would.

This beautiful burst of colour is growing all over the highlands.



Here's a closeup - it's called Gorse. I'm going to try to buy some back home and install it in the garden. It's very pretty. (edited later: Hmmmm.... just got to an internet connection and looked it up - invasive by seed dispersal. I'll have to think on it.)



We drove some windy narrow roads at decent speeds that often weren't fast enough for the other drivers, and eventually arrived in Inverness at this delightful guest house called the Trafford Bank Guest House Lovely rooms and genteel breakfasts in the sunroom, a very helpful hostess, and many modern amenities like Sky TV and ipod docking stations in the rooms. My only wish might have been for a softer mattress.

We spent two nights in Inverness, and the intervening day driving around the countryside. We had many plans but weren't able to achieve nearly all of it. Everything closes up shop at 5:30pm so it's often difficult to fit everything in.

We did get to Urquhart Castle which has a great visitor centre and brief history of the castle, before letting you out to see what's left of it for yourselves. As a centre of power, Urquhart is dated back to Columba visiting Picts to convert them to Christianity somewhere in the range of 560 AD. It is not known exactly when the castle itself was built but apparently some records refer to it in the early 1200s, and it finally blown up in 1692 to prevent it from being used as a base for the Jacobites.

It's on a promatory in the middle of Loch Ness, but sorry.....no monster sighting. :)



I found this fellow (Neil) leaning over one of the window sills...



And later in the day, waving up at us from Corrimony Cairn. Corrimony Cairn is a short distance away from Urqhart Castle.

Corrimony Cairn is dated back some 4000 years ago, and is a passage grave in which the bones of just one occupant (probably a woman) were found. There's a circle of small standing stones around it. It's probably the strangest of our historical visits so far - it's just off by itself surrounded by sheep, almost in the middle of nowhere, with no visitor center or staff - just a single information sign.



These people - the sheep - are everywhere in Scotland! On hills so steep it's a wonder they don't fall off of them, in little runs just barely on the outskirts of any given town. Everywhere - it's amazing.



Today was a long day and is ending with us safely ensconed in Orkney. More on that trip later....

Karen

Edinburgh, and Out

Yesterday, we entered this place around 12:30pm and left..... 4 and a half hours and some 650 photos later, at closing time. We didn't even get out of the Early Peoples exhibit hall.



There were lots and lots and lots.....and lots... of Viking things to photograph.





Reporting was briefly interrupted by exhaustion and dietary distress.

This morning, we rented a car, got all turned around in Edinburgh on the way out by one way roads, roundabouts, bus and taxi only lanes, narrow roads, and people parking on the street to make the roads even more narrow. Driving on the left was only mildly terrifying as a result.

Once out of the city, it was still annoying, but Neil is slowly getting used to it.

I was a bit disappointed by Deep Sea World - great style of presentation, but not enough of it. Not for the price.



On the other hand, the Dunfermline Abbey was stunning. I would gladly have paid the price that Deep Sea World asked, to see the Abbey. Our Historic Friends cards got us in for free - I almost felt like I was ripping them off!

The place was beautiful, and felt very..... old and still.



This is just one of the many beautiful stained windows.



These stairs were rather tight, and steep!



History that I can walk in, and touch. I love it.

Karen

Hafnarfjordur, Njarðvík, and Edinburgh

You have no idea how hard it is to pick images to blog with out of the some 80 odd images that I've taken in the past two days.

Upload them, tag them (all), pick them, rename them, make thumbnails, and finally mount them. Then ya gotta type the link in correctly (a little detail). Whew!

And I've got two blogs to update tonight - here, and on DARC's blog.

Thankfully, the husband has been very helpful tonight.

So, we last left you yesterday (sunday) morning in Iceland. The plane to Glasgow didn't happen until 5:30pm (Iceland time) so we had some time to wander around a bit more.

First we went to Hafnarfjordur for lunch at the Viking Village.



I think Neil wanted to get it over with quickly because I really want to check this out, and ....let's just say it doesn't have a reputation for accurately portraying the Viking Age. Vandy, you should check out the menus.

Unfortunately for both of us, the restaurant only does dinners. So we'll have to go back when we're there again at the end of May.

Instead, we ate a hot dog and looked at some art near the harbour.



Off to Njarðvík, which is on the way to the airport, where we just tripped upon a Viking ship (see the DARC blog) and this rather neat bit of Viking-inspired art in the middle of a roundabout.



For my Canadian friends who are just getting used to the things, Iceland is swarming in roundabouts. They really do make the driving so much more efficient.

In the airport, we had some more skyr. It really is delicious. I wish we could get it in Canada in a fashion that's easier then ordering it express-couriered from Gimli, Manitoba (edited because Vandy's right, I am too tired and too far away to know my provinces).



So.....on to a plane, off to Glasgow, which we immediately skipped and hired a car into Edinburgh. We'd planned to take the train, but the cost proved to be only a tiny bit more, was much more efficient and direct, and the driver was an absolutely delightful travel guide.

Woke up the next day and headed off to the Edinburgh Castle, where they are just starting to set up for some sort of event just outside the Castle. I tried to figure it out to provide you a link, but I'm mystified. Anyway, we likely won't be here to partake. We've got one more day here and then we're off to see the rest of Scotland.



We spent quite a lot of time in the Edinburgh Castle (it's huge), here's another view. The small buildings in front have been converted to a small restaurant called the RedCoat Cafe. Pleasant enough.



This is one of the gardens inside the castle grounds. You know me and flowers, I couldn't resist.



And this is the view inside of St.Margaret's Chapel. It was very.... still. Peaceful. A zillion visitors didn't disturb this tiny sanctuary.



We also hit the Royal Mile Whiskies shop (apparently they find shipping to Canada difficult) and the Scotch Whiskey Experience (Neil decided that £9.50 each was overpriced for a one hour tour and one shot). No pictures there, I guess I'm just not as attached to Scotch.

Another edit here - I must have been really zonked last night. I completely forgot to mention the Tartan Weaving Mill. And I can't imagine why I didn't take any pictures here. Maybe Neil is subtly influencing me - he hates plaids.

I was a bit disappointed. The place is huge, contains lots of shops, is all about the history of tartans - and all of the displays of weaving are covered in a hefty layer of dust. Not to mention that they did't have the family tartan that I wanted in a lady's kilt "off the peg". I'd have to special order it at some large price. I am considering just bringing the fabric back and staring at it for the next 30 years instead.

And finally..... of course, there was fudge. :) The fellow who was making the fudge was quite the showman and reminded us both of us of a friend.



Tomorrow is another day in Edinburgh. Must blog at DARC and sleep soon.

On the Road!

Or.... more correctly, in the air! We flew off to Iceland, on IcelandAir for a quick pit stop on the way to Scotland.



Vandy, my dear, you'll be happy to know that Neil has threatened me with having to write the postcards if I don't blog instead so.... here I am, at long last.

It's only been a day, really, since we went away, and I must admit, that I do miss my gardens.



But I digress. :) Back to Iceland.

The Northern Lights Inn is in the middle of no where .....



....next to the geothermal plant that brings up water from the Earth's core to power just about everything here in Iceland....



.......carrying away some of it's hot water in pipes......




....and throws it's leftover water into the nearby lava field ....



to create the Blue Lagoon.



We spent two hours here, just soaking in the hot tub temperature waters filled with healing (theoretically) mineral salts & Algae.

We also went for a walk around the lava fields in the evening (dig those long hours of sunlight in Iceland). I haven't the foggiest what this building is used for, but I liked the fall of my hair. :) It's near the hotel and the geothermal plant, but then there's very little else here except lava fields.



Max belongs to the Northern Lights Inn.



Our flight to Glasgow leaves Keflavak at 5:30pm, Iceland time. Iceland is four hours ahead of Ontario for those who want to know.

Off to lunch!

Facelift

Once again, Alda from The Iceland Weather Report inspires me. For those of you not in the know, Alda was my inspiration some years ago to start my own blog.

Of course, we have totally different interests, topic matter, and followings, but I still read her blog daily.

This time, it's the facelift. I've been meaning to get around to put a picture up in the header bar, but I didn't get off my butt and do it until I saw Alda's new look. She's gone quite a bit more complex then I have so far, with rotating pictures and all. Go and check it out and see what true art is - reload the page a few times and see the pictures change. :)

I'll be back over here basking in the simple glory of just one good picture of just one truly wonderful (and stinky) flower from my garden. I'll get around to a few other details (like updating the sidebar) eventually.

In the meantime, stay tuned. I've got a road trip coming up in a few weeks and I plan on blogging as we travel.

Coming around again

Neil's been to California and has returned safe, and sound.

We've been to Canada Blooms, and it's now done for another year (and it's still not spring yet).



We stayed in our favourite hotel, the Cosmopolitian, and walked to the convention centre for the show. The restaurant that we planned for that evening was just around the corner as well. Iceland Naturally and the Icelandic Community Club of Toronto collaborated with several places throughout Toronto to present "A taste of Iceland". One of Iceland's foremost chefs was trucked in to create special Icelandic dishes in two different restaurants in Toronto. We went to the Biere Market on the Esplande. I had the duck - delicious!

But the real gem of the weekend (for me anyway), was the meal we had in the new restaurant at the Cosmopolitian. It's called Eight, and it's billed as a wine bar. I'm sure the wine is lovely, but I didn't have any. I had the lamb. Oh my gosh, I have never tasted a better lamb in my life.

Now, the only disappointment was the invasion of the NYPD helicopters. Yup, that's right - NYPD helicopters. They were filming in the area of the hotel and were a bit....noisy.

Does this seriously look like New York to you? That's the CN tower in bottom of the picture.



Karen

Small bits of news

Neil's going to California again soon. *pout*

Vandy, aka Anti-V, has just (finally) started writing in a new blog, specifically about historical food, called Dagda's Cauldron.

Elliptical machine exercising - good, slowly working my way up to a half hour a day. Lots of sweat and feeling like I'm gonna die, followed by really cool endorphin rushes. Love those endorphins! Health, smealth.....

Canada Blooms is on the horizon in March.

I've just started doing my boss's job for a year while she's on Mat leave and my head feels like it's gonna explode by the end of every day so far this week. Life is fun.

Still lots of snow here, I'm getting impatient for spring. Sunshine, fresh air, warmth, pretty growing things in the garden. Let's look at something from last year, shall we?

New Gadget in the House!

Gonna get me some of that exercise stuff!

Karen

Fibers Questions, answered with pictures

Nina asked me questions, just like I had hoped someone would. :)

What are your final thoughts about your spinning lessons? Did you enjoy them, learn lots or think they were only somewhat helpful?

I definitely enjoyed them and I learned lots! Donna, from Wellington Fibres is a great teacher.

Did they convert you to the dark side? bwahahahaha.......

Wheeling, as opposed to Spindling? *g*

Well..... yes. I'm converted.

I won't give up the drop spindle, I do enjoy it. And I do need to know how to use to demonstrate it at the demos that DARC does for the public, but the spinning wheel beats the drop spindle hands down in two very important ways.

Production value. And it doesn't hurt my shoulder.

What was the best thing your learned from the lessons and what was the thing that you think was the least useful?

I learned what all the modern lingo means. I learned the differences in the type of yarn that different techniques produce. And I can apply that knowledge to the Viking Era that I study.

I learned how the darned machine works. I've had it on loan from Anti-V for more than a year and hadn't made any progress in teaching myself just because I couldn't make the darned thing work. One or two little tension adjustments and understanding their connections - it was like a light breaking through the clouds!

The least useful? Two things, actually.

1. Chemical dyeing. Don't get me wrong - it was fun to play with colours, but I'm just never going to dye that way for myself. I enjoy natural dyeing far too much, and the chemical dyeing just isn't applicable to my historical interests.

2. 'Modern' fibers like angora and mohair. They just don't have a precedence in the Viking Era.

I would like to take further courses (maybe just one day workshops) in each of flax and silk spinning. Both have an application to the Viking Era.

Did you spin small samples or large enough to use for actual projects?

Small samples of most of the projects for the course, but large enough to do something with was learning to 3-ply. I used my own Icelandic top for that and spun a whole bag - approximately 3 skeins worth. Now I just need to figure out what to do with them. The general consensus so far is socks.



What project are you working on now?

I bought some mystery roving from Donna on the day of my last class. I'm currently working my way through that. It's a mixture of modern fibers and funky colours. You know, the stuff I said above that I wouldn't have much use for knowing how to spin. ;)

Blog Fun

RSS feeds - come and see me! It's a pretty site, really. At least I like to think so, anyway. Nonetheless, let me put a bug in your eyes - my blog content is suffering from boredom and inertia. Ask me questions, or offer quotes for the Quote box, or make suggestions for content. I'm listening!

Renovations are in the blog wind - I've just finished finally adding a label to each and every one of my 3 years worth of posts (yes, I know I'm a little slow).

The Dark Ages Recreation Company (to which I belong) has just finished a huge huge overhaul of it's website. And now we have a blog on site as well!

Check out the 2008 Bloggies! The blog that got me started 3 and a bit years ago is the Iceland Weather Report, and it's one of the finalists for "Best European Blog".

American Gladiator

I have a confession to make......

I love American Gladiator. :)

It's good old fashioned thoroughly smary fun, completely devoid of reality. Something to strive for, to cheer on, to mock, hiss and boo.... in every episode. Bright colours, simplistic scenarios....it's got everything!

Karen

Old Year, New Year

Big snowstorm at the end of December! It's all gone now with a rainy warm spell this past week. Who knows what happens next?



The New Year brought a brief burst of new energy. I cleaned up my stash. This is just the downstairs part of it - either yarn I theoretically will be crocheting with shortly, or fiber to spin. I've been spinning a great deal lately, because I've been taking lessons in wheel spinning.

I know how to knit, but I prefer to crochet. :)



Never fear, dear drop spindle, I won't ignore you for too long. Although the wheel is kinder to my shoulder. Has anyone else had "spinner's shoulder" with the drop spindle?



Neil took a new job at the beginning of December. His old one was killing him. We decorated his new office over the holidays. He's flying off to California later this month for a few days on the company's dime. I'm. not. jealous. at. all.



Neil gave me this Tigger doll for Christmas - it bounces and talks when you press it's tail. The dog hates it, but I'm still getting a giggle out of it. :)

Karen

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Karen

New stuff, by request

I've gotten poked by two friends. Vandy sent me email reminding me that I'd promised to put up some commments on Neil's recent bead explorations, and Nina left a comment kicking me to post up about my experience with spinning lessons.

So let's do this chronologically then and I'll throw in a visit to Peterborough as well.

First there was Neil's bead furnace experiment. He's finishing up his degree in archaeology at Wilfrid Laurier University and one of his courses asked for students to actually _do_ something in an historical manner. Neil made a bead furnace and made beads.



Neil made the furnace by himself, but needed an extra set of hands for the bead making so I pitched in.



Very ugly beads, eh? :)

His paper is replicated on the Dark Ages Recreation Company webpage, here.

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Later that same month we visited Peterborough to take in the Vikings exhibit at the Peterborough Centennial Museum. A friend of ours was the lead curator for this exhibit.




Our friend called upon DARC to donate some of our re-creations to supplement the exhibition, to make a simple panel presentation more 3 dimensional. That's Neil's shield in the picture.

But more importantly to me, is the loom that Dave made for his wife Anne, and then borrowed back for the exhibition.



I greatly admire Anne's disciplined approach to study and recreation in the Viking Era textiles. Look at the fabric she's getting here...




Now, she's all modest and doesn't think much of it, but I think it's great! I have trouble just getting started with the weaving.

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The most recent development has been that I've started taking lessons from Wellington Fibres. Specifically, in how to spin on a spinning wheel. My friend Vandy loaned me her Ashford Traditional more then a year ago, and I've been trying to teach myself off and on. I finally came to the conclusion that it just wasn't working.

Ability with a drop spindle doesn't seem to translate that easily.

Now, I realize that I still need to make some progress in consistency but I was pleased as punch when I made my first plyed yarn on the wheel.



Three skeins later, I'm a little more annoyed by the slow progress and a tad worried about how badly overspun my singles are. It makes plying very difficult. Let's just say that plying from a center pull ball is an exercise in frustration that I'd prefer not to repeat very often.



This past saturday was Dye day! Look at the pretty colours we got!



Now, these are all acid dyes and I doubt I'll repeat the experience very often unless I can visit the shop another day to hand paint some more skeins. I just don't have the equipment or space at home to handle acid dyes safely or comfortably. But that's okay, I'm good with natural dyes over the fire, like the Vikings did.

Now, this skein I'm pretty happy with. Very thin as a single, I could almost use it as sewing thread. Plyed, I don't really know what to do with it, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.



It's very pretty - 75% wool, and 25% acid dyed green mohair. Vikings didn't know what mohair was, but I certainly enjoyed spinning it.

Of course, they hadn't yet been introduced to the spinning wheel either (even though some version of it had existed in China at the time), but I'm sure they would have enjoyed it's production value if they had had it. :)

Becoming a Flugelman

Nina asked, in the comments:
What does it take to become a Flugelman?

I'm so glad you asked! (oh look, blog content that I don't have to think up on my own. :))

First, the basics of Bogenschutzenfest. The hubby says it's history is that of drunken Oktoberfesters running about shooting at weather vanes with their bows and arrows.

At some point, they made it a family event and created a styrofoam bird to sit up on top of the flag pole instead. There's still drinking, let's not make that mistake - it is Oktoberfest, after all. But the event is held during the day and it's hard to be too drunk that early in the day.



This picture is actually the bird used for the King and Queen shootoff, I didn't get a pic of the styrofoam version, but they look the same.

So.... the person who shoots the crown off the head of the bird is called a Croneman, and the person who shoots the head off the bird is called a Kopfman, and each of the wing men are called Flugelman.

I made the shot that brought down the right wing.



Okay, so 4 or five rounds of 70 odd people aiming for that wing rather loosened it up for me, and I was just lucky enough to hit it when it finally decided to break off. But still..... :)

I've been shooting in the contest for the last 5 years and this was my first time winning a prize.

The guild membership / badge is a one time only thing, upon your first win, but the badge indicating which body part you got can be had over and over again as you win them. The trophy also happens every time you get a body part.

There's also another part to the contest - that of becoming the King or Queen of the shoot. The bird changes to plywood version, and there's a red button in the middle that hides a shotgun shell. Hit the red button, and the shell goes off.

We break into genders and each person gets one chance to hit the red button. You're eliminated if you don't get it, and there's a shoot-off if more then one of you do hit it. We need one woman, and one man to hit the target to become the Queen and King of the contest. The King and Queen are encouraged to join the Oktoberfest parade later in the week.

Oh, and there's one more draw to the contest but it may appeal only to a limited few. My mother is firmly in that club - I have got to get her to come out some year because.......

Elvis is a member of the Guild, and on the organizing committee. Yup.... Elvis. And you all thought he was dead some 20 years ago, yes?