Pennsic 38, First Weekend

The drive from here to there is almost two hours long. As we finally turn onto Currie Road there are suddenly dark clouds in the sky. We pass through the one lane bridge, which to me always marks a feeling of being transported. Like crossing the bridge takes me and everything in the vehicle into an alternate reality. The sun that has been with us for most of the two hour trip disappears and as we are waiting in a line of cars to park and check in it looks more and more like rain. We are parked and quickly duck into the covered area to check in and pay our final gate fee at Troll. All paperwork and verification of pre-registration is handled by Pennsic volunteers but the final money transaction always goes to the bemused men and women in scrubs shirts that are part of the Cooper's campground staff. This process takes maybe ten minutes. Just as I am handing over the cash in the last step, the heavens open up and the rain starts pounding down. We dash for our packed truck.

Slowly we wend our way up road, past campers in the midst of setting up in the rain, to our campsite. Much to my surprise, we find that not only Chris and Cameron are there and have set up their tents as well as the screen tent (that we refer to as cook tent since most food stuff is stored there and food prep happens there) but also that Drew has already been there and gone. According to Chris, Drew pitched his tent, dug a hole and left. All throughout war the phrase "pitched a tent, dug a hole, and left" was used while picturing Drew showing up at random campsites doing just that for no known reason whatsoever.

After the rain let up, we were able to set up our tent and unpack the truck. We then discover as we attempt to back out, up the hill to get to the parking area that the ground was much wetter than we took it for. Our truck is not a four wheel drive and is now stuck in the mud. We tried putting pieces of wood behind the wheel to give the tires something to catch traction on. Didn't really work. Ron and Chris tried pushing from the front while cameron sat on the back tailgait. No go. In the end we had to carefully pull foward, avoid the fire pit and just drive the truck down the hill through our campsite to the road below.

Ron and I are weary from this adventure and decide to blow up the airmattress that a nap is the works. We then discover that the patch previously placed on our airmattress to repair a two inch slice in the bottom has inexplicably, somehow, fallen off. Luckily we had brought a patching kit with us. So on goes the new patch and the timer is set for one hour to allow it to set and dry. By this point it is starting to get dark and a mist from the rain is hanging in the air. Chris, being the dedicated fire maker his is, has gotten a good size campfire going despite the wet. We all sit, and relax. Cameron has decided that he is going to make me a beaded cord for my medallion even though the light is fading. At Pennsic you are to wear you medallion at all times. It is a magical protection from being banished from the realm (i.e. your reciept for having paid for entrance). During this beading I learn that a surgeon's knot with three twists is same thing that Cameron calls a french knot.

The timer goes off. We inspect that patch, blow up the airmattress and I put sheets on the bed. By 10:30pm Ron and I have decided that enough is enough for one night and go to bed. We sleep until 10:30am, when the "chris alarm" wakes us to find out if we would like to make a trip to Megan's house for a table.

First weekend to be continued....

Back in the saddle!

So, yes, I know that it has been two months since I last updated. All I can say is that I will try to do better from here on out. I plan on starting a multipart post on my recent adventure to Pennsic War XXXVIII. My goal is to have at least one post a week on this subject done. I know that I am not a fantastic writer but I will try my best to capture as much of the flavor and feeling of Pennsic. Stay tuned.

Finally some baked goods

For a blog titled Books and Baked Goods there hasn't been much involving either books or baked goods. Partially, this is due to actually getting pictures from the digital camera to somewhere on the computer where I can get to them. So without further ado here are my latest baking adventures. I made the cinnamon rolls using the recipe Megan's recipe (without the icing though) and I got the lemon bar recipe from a recipe book called Mom's Big Book of Baking. I also made chocolate chip cookies the same night (recipe from the same book) I made the lemon bars but I didn't get pictures of them. I will go record as saying that i LOVE parchment paper. If it wasn't expensive-ish I would use it more.

Update on Updating

So I know that I haven't updated in awhile. I was trying to put more "baking" into Books and Baked Goods. I have within the last few weeks made lemon bars, chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon rolls. I took pictures of the cinnamon rolls and lemon bars but there have been issues getting the pictures from the digital camera to the computer so that I can post them. As soon as I have access to the pictures I will post them. I will also be posting about phase 2 of the the fence project as soon as we get pictures as well as some info on our new espresso machine ($100 machine on clearance for $20 is awesome). So to sum up, more to come.

Fence, step 1

When we began researching applying a protective stain to our fence the products' directions insisted that the wood must be cleaned first for best results. Both my husband and my mother in law thought that cleaning the fence would be a waste of time, energy and money. I was not about to go through the long and expensive process of staining the fence without getting the best results. I demanded that we do the cleaning step. We bought the cleaner and a sprayer to apply it with because the cleaner specified using a sprayer and that "no scrubbing is required". The sprayer reminds me of a grown up and boring supersoaker. You have a plastic jug with a pump handle. Attached to the jug is a wand that sprays the cleaner. You have to stop to pump fairly frequently. Following the directions we sprayed on the cleaner starting at the bottom of the plank and went up. We then let the cleaner sit for 10 minutes and then had to hose off the wood. The product stated that if we used as directed it would not harm vegetation or pets. The result as you can see above was rather dramatic. I am pretty sure that the main ingredient was bleach. It smelled like bleach and caused pale dots on our clothes like bleach. In the end I was also wet and cold because my job was to use the hose and spray down the wood and surrounding grass. Unfortunately the hose we borrowed from ron's parents had some...issues. Lets just say that there was water spraying out of more than just the nozzle on the end and that duct tape is not as effective with wet. Next weekend we should be able to finish the last segment of fence closest to our neighbor's house. Then we will begin staining the fence. Sometimes being an adult is exhausting and expensive.

Espresso

I swear that this was part of Jody's master plan. First she started me reading a mystery series by Cleo Coyle that is set in a Coffeehouse. Then she got an espresso machine and made me a very tasty mocha at Drew's. The most recent phase involved her bringing her espresso machine to my house and teaching me how to pull espresso shots and froth milk. She KNEW I would enjoy learning the process. Its almost like chemistry which is why I enjoy baking so much. I am still not a fan of coffee but a properly made espresso drink can be really good. Damn Jody and her evil genuis ways.

$300

So this post has been several days in the making. I had this epiphany driving home a few days ago. To be clear these are "wants" not "needs". So without further ado here is the list.
1) a nice surround sound system to go with our tv. average price on amazon $300
2)the awesome cobalt flux ddr pad. regular price on best buy.com $300
3)getting my current used flute repaired. $300
4)a nicer used couch/sofa to replace our loveseat that is falling apart. probably around $300
5)a new back door with a screen door. might be able to get it around $300
6) my new obsession http://www.wholelattelove.com/Gaggia/new_baby.cfm a refurbished very nice espresso machine $310 ...said new obsession will get its own post later.
7)Pennsic XXXVIII pre-registration plus gate fees for 2 adults $330.

Ron insists that there is a reason that my wants are $300. He says that the $250+ is just expensive enough to keep us from buying the THING with out some serious planning ahead. I would counter by saying that I still haven't bought the $120 pair of Birkenstock shoes that i have wanted since I bought my first pair of Birkenstocks last year.