Event Review - Chemin Noir Fair of the Harvest 2006 - by Zubeydah

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This page contains an event review by Zubeydah. This represents solely her opinion and views/thoughts at the time of writing, and do NOT reflect upon her Barony, her Region, her mentors and friends, or anyone else.

My planning and preparation for Fair of the Harvest began… well… over a month ago! House Halfiras and I were determined to uphold our pledge from last year to further support Northkeep’s Canton up in distant Bartlesville. Chemin Noir is a great bunch of people and we wanted to do all we could to show them we care about their growth and continued well being.

All through October, Halfiras Tulsa met at Renault’s house. Sometimes it was twice a week, others, it was just once a week. We worked together to make bath salt soaks, work on banners, and plot and plan and distribute materials for the next section of the projects. The goal was to create a really nice basket for the step down prize for each champion. Each time we met, we’d reiterate what was completed, what needed to be done, and who was doing what. It was a wonderful team effort! Everyone added to the endeavor and the brainstorming. We also tried to include a decorative element to the items we made, so that everything looked extra spiffy – be it an extra nice label, or a black star traced onto the top of a jar, or coordinating tassels to decorate the baskets.

Waterbearing was being led by the ever gracious Mehpare, who had sworn last year to repeat her service as Waterbearer in Charge. The event’s waterbearing was paid for by very generous donations from the Northkeep Populace at the October meeting. Over $115 was collected!! With that bountiful of a budget, we knew we could put together something very special.

As the event grew closer, our pace grew more frantic. I was also working on a side project that I knew would take a lot of time (baking spiced nuts for HL Elizabeth, for her feast at Defenders of the Rose), so I wanted to make sure everything was DONE the week before the event. Well… that was the idea, anyway!! (No plan of attack ever survives first contact with the enemy – I’m convinced that no logistical plan survives 1 week out from an event!)

We’d been debating back and forth about the idea of Halfiras hosting a sideboard luncheon; open to anyone who wanted to show up, using both donations from the house, and some of the items purchased for waterbearing (cheeses, fruits and veggies, etc.) At that point, it was up in the air as to whether or not my husband could attend. He really wanted to be there to see Mehpare and her new baby, Avalon, but his work schedule has been downright tyrannical of late. I wanted to make sure there was food he could eat for lunch, if he came to the event. So, I planned on making some soups: A New England Corn Chowder and a sausage-potato-green bean soup that he particularly likes. We also debated spaghetti. It was agreed that spaghetti could feed lots of folks, so I bought 8 lbs of it, and a gallon of sauce. I thought it would be a good idea to put the spaghetti in the cooler chest for storage – that way, I’d know where it was, and it would already be ‘packed’. Unfortunately, I neglected to write a reminder note to myself where I put it … more on that later!

Saturday, November the 4th, I was focusing on the banners. We’d gotten them cut out, partially assembled, and the tops painted. Unfortunately we learned that the “A.S.” year we’d painted on the banners was incorrect. So Saturday, I spent the afternoon and evening cutting off the dates, sewing the tops to the banners, and backing them.

Sunday the 5th was a day of planning and logistics. I drove out to a family farm in Bixby, where I bought the nuts. They had several varieties of pecans, which I wasn’t expecting. I tried samples of all of them, and found that one particular type had a slightly sweeter taste than the others. Of course (just my luck) it was also the most expensive. I attempted to barter the price down a bit, since I was buying a large quantity. The shopkeeper wouldn’t budge, so I went ahead and purchased four bags of 2.7 lbs each of the sweetest pecans they had. I really wanted the quality to be tops for the Defenders of the Rose feast. Another stop on the way home by Sam’s Club, and I had four bags of almonds, at 3 lbs each. Once home, I pulled out all the ingredients I’d need, and laid it out on the counter for the following day. I also made a big ole batch of New England style corn chowder, and once it had cooled, bagged it and put it in the freezer.

Monday through Wednesday, I made two double batches of nuts per evening, with a brief pause to run out and get more cinnamon. I had *just* enough of the cardamom the recipe calls for – I was glad I didn’t have to buy more, as it’s a very expensive spice, and I’d already heavily abused my budget for the weekend. ::erk! Don’t tell Abe!:: I also made the ganache for the truffles, and got that chilling in the fridge.

Throughout the week, I was attempting to “chat-up” the event, and encourage folks on various lists to attend – mostly Mooneschadowe, as Will Rogers is a VERY short trip for them. At one point, Sieur Jean Paul de Sens asked about the Heraldic Display competition, and whether or not any of my chocolates were in the prize basket. I replied that _at that time_ I didn’t have any made, but since he’d made the request, I’d try and get some in… but that he’d have stiff competition, because that was a contest I was working hard to win! (more on that later!)

Tuesday night, I completed the design for the scrolls, and got them copied onto a good quality paper. I wanted to work on them, but every time I’d get the next batch of nuts going, and would get my hubby taken care of, and sit down to start painting, the oven buzzer would go off! (the nuts have to be stirred every 15 minutes) So there was no painting accomplished on Tuesday or Wednesday, which made me feel very bad.

Thursday at lunchtime, I ran out to Sam’s Club to get cheese, olives, and a few extras to donate. Immediately after work, I headed for Renaults, only to realize I’d forgotten the cheese! I headed back to work and just caught them before they were locking up the office for the night. Yikes! Back on the road, I zoomed over to Renault’s, where I met him and Raghnailt. Our fiery Scotswoman could not stay, as her eldest son had gotten a job and wasn’t available to watch his younger siblings. So we paused outside and tossed around ideas and current assignments. I handed out the scrolls that needed to be painted: Raghnailt took half and I kept half. She also took two skeins of yarn, to make more tassels and cording for the Heraldic Display. Renault took the gift tags I’d made and penciled in the lettering, and the gold paint – they’d be painted up to match the banners and help easily identify each basket. I left the ‘slab o cheese’ with Renault as well, as he said he’d have time to cube and bag it. HL Elizabeth stopped by, so I handed off all the finished nuts to her. I was also supposed to have dropped off the spaghetti with Renault, but I hadn’t been able to figure out what ‘safe place’ I’d put it in.

I got home around 6:30, and made finishing the chocolates my first priority. Once those were all formed and chilling in the fridge, I frantically began painting. By midnight, I had my four almost completed – I wanted to do some decorative gold work on them, but the paint needed to dry more. I also pulled out the corn chowder, which had been frozen solid since Sunday. Unfortunately, we also got the news on late Thursday night that Abe had to work Saturday morning at 4:30 am, and would not be able to attend the event.

Friday, during my lunch hour, I zoomed over to Aodh’s house to pick up a pavilion and a table and some items for the raffle. I called Renault and told him I still couldn’t find the spaghetti (which I later learned that I had put safely in a cooler chest), and we discussed various options. He agreed to go ahead and buy more, and cook it up for the following day.

As soon as I got home, I started bagging and tagging the chocolates. Once that messy task was done, I started doing part of the calligraphy on the scrolls, adding the titles of the Champions. Anything I didn’t have to try and do at the site, I wanted to try and have accomplished in advance. I hadn’t used a dip pen before, so I had to practice a bunch before I felt comfortable putting pen to paper. Finally all of the scrolls had the proper champion’s title on them.

There was also a great deal of packing, staging, organizing and toting to be done on Friday. With the help of my beloved husband, Abe, I got everything except the cooler chest packed into my car, with a small wishful thought for a cloaking device to hide it all. (I don’t live in the best neighborhood – there have been many break-ins, and I always worry a smidge when the car’s full of Interesting Things overnight.)

I got to bed around midnight, and woke a few times from sheer excitement, and also my husband’s alarm going off at 4:30 for his 5:00 conference call. I hauled myself out of bed at 7, having blissfully enjoyed far more sleep than usual for an event day. I immediately started a pot of coffee: It had really gone over well, having coffee for folks at Triumphe of the Eclipse, so I wanted to do the same for Fair. Three pots of coffee later, I had a full 2 gallon cooler. I tossed a few extra items into another duffle bag, and was ready to head out, wearing my new garb – a $0.99 eBay find! Abe carried all the items to the bottom of the stairs for me, and I loaded up my wheeled cooler and headed off.

The journey to Will Rogers was a smooth one, and I made excellent time. Gate was not in the normal spot at the entry of the site, so I headed around behind the kitchen area to unload. I was a little dismayed to see so few cars in the parking lot, and not that many folks visible. I truly hoped folks hadn’t forgotten or abandoned interest in this lovely little event.

Within moments, Renault arrived and assisted me with unloading the car and loading up my little cart. It took three trips to get it all transported to the waterbearer station. There, Angus and several others assisted us in raising the pop-ups. I set up the coffee, and let folks know it was there. Angus MacKnochard and his household had also put together quite an astounding breakfast, and were serving it to a variety of folks. We had competition!

Mehpare and Shannon and Avalon arrived shortly after I did, perhaps 15 to 20 minutes after I pulled into site. They were a smidge wiser than I, and pulled the suburban directly up behind the waterbearing station. That way, there was a much shorter trip to unload. It was around this time that Ludo arrived, and offered his help. He had been extremely kind and emailed me during the week to let me know of his willingness to help. He immediately set to unloading, toting, carrying, filling water jugs, and generally being enormously helpful. (If Renault was the Super Helper of Triumphe of the Eclipse, Ludo was definitely that helpful during Fair!)

Within a short amount of time, the pavilions were up, we had tables laid out and covered in bright golden cloths, and were already starting service. Renault heated up a veritable mountain of bacon as well as the fighter biscuits. I had the hot coffee going, and with Ludo’s help, got my little stove burner fired up with some hot chocolate. While that was heating, I started organizing and decorating the two tents.

I was very excited about the Heraldic Display competition, and noted the presence of a few other displays. I wanted mine to be over the top! I draped the Halfiras tent with black fabric, and then arranged the bright gold tassels in and around the swathes of lace and chiffon. Because the tassels were strung on black cords that blended into the drapes, they seemed to ‘float’ in midair: Doubly effective – both Kingdom and group colors displayed in one! To the tent decorations, I added the six banners that had been made for the champions (which included the Chemin Noir colors and device). I also made the small banner I’d painted of the Chemin Noir arms, and hung my Ansteorran WaterStar banner on the lovely banner pole that Hersir Thorgrim made for me – which has my device carved and painted on it. Both the Halfiras banners were hung up as well, as was a small leather shield which has my device on it. I arranged my chair (which has my device on the back) prominently at the front of the tent. It looked *great* and I was very excited to have the pavilion judged!

Around this time, Aoife stopped by, and I let her know that I had the table, pavilion and pillows from Aodh. She took the pillows, and let me know the pavilion and table were for the archery area. We left them on the cart for the time being. She also very kindly gifted Mehpare and I each with a large Celtic tapestry/wall hanging for our waterbearing efforts. Aoife is a lovely and gracious lady, and if you don’t know her, it would be well worth your time to make the effort to do so. She has a very wicked sense of humor, and makes me almost laugh every time we speak.

Two young ladies associated with Devora the Chirugeon came by, and offered to help. Mehpare quickly found tasks for them, and reviewed the basics of sanitation and safe waterbearing. I busied myself with continuing to help Mehpare with making Gatorade, filling trays, and starting prep for lunch.

I didn’t get to watch any of the fights, as with just the two of us, and two little girls, we were extremely busy. There was no sitting down, that was for sure!! There was a great deal of running around plugging in crock pots, pouring things into pots, and general juggling of ingredients. Throughout it all, we had a revolving circle of gentlemen helping out, which included Renault, Shannon, and The Amazing Ludo, all of whom got chocolates and one of the lovely purple or burgundy tassels I’d brought as waterbearer Thank You gifts. I didn't get a chance to catch Pooky, who helped with waterbearing in the final combat rounds - I owe him my thanks.

The combats and the children’s activities broke for lunch a smidge earlier than we were expecting. The spaghetti had gotten.. well.. not very warm, and the sauce hadn’t come up to temperature yet. So Shannon grabbed his stove, and we cranked up the heat on it as my little butane stove was just Not Doing The Job. We improvised, and soon had a pot of hot spaghetti and sauce.

Lunch was a generous repast: two soups, two bacon and Swiss cheese quiches, spaghetti, cheeses, meats, hummus, vegetables, fruit, and many other yummy things. We made a general announcement, and the line appeared instantly! It took about half an hour to serve everyone, and to our amazement, our provisions actually JUST exactly covered all those who wanted some food! I was positively delighted. Most folks were very polite and complimentary, which made me feel really good. We got a lot of compliments on the food laid out, and the savory scent of the two soups. The sausage and potato went the fastest, though by the time that everyone went through, every pot had scraped down to the bottom, completely empty. As I’ve said before, I have to have been a Jewish mother in a past life, because few things make me as happy as seeing people happily eating good food that I’ve made. : )

After lunch, I stepped into the hall for a bit to go through Gate, and to buy raffle tickets. There were a number of great items in the raffle, and it was a good cause. When I went through Gate, Anawyn was there, her lovely smile lighting up the chilly hall. She’s one of those people in Northkeep that are the mortar that keeps the group together – always helping out. Not an event goes by that I don’t see her doing SOMETHING to assist things in running smoothly.

Randall, Winfryth and their merry crew were busy at work in the kitchen, and the scents that filled the air made my mouth water!! I really miss the variety of cuisines available in California, and Indian is my personal favorite.

While inside the hall, I worked on getting some more amber strung together into necklaces. Ludo came over and offered to help, so I showed him what I was doing, and let him run with it. That freed me up to do the calligraphy on the scrolls that we had the winners’ name for. I was very nervous, as there was a young child who kept bonking the table, even though his mom kept asking him to be more careful. I was terrified of having ink splotches on the scrolls. But fortunately, I managed to get four of the six done with no major disasters, and all the names spelled right!

By the time I got back to the station, all the combats were over, and Mehpare was already puttering about closing down the station. Ludo and Shannon were right there to help, moving things, loading things, rinsing things out. Renault met me at the tent, and we paused in our cleanup for a moment, and grabbed all the items that were to go into the gift baskets. He helped me carry everything over to the Baroness’ cabin. There, we found HE Kelandra, HE Mercedes, and Lady Faolan putting together the baskets. They already looked good, but with the added items from Halfiras, the baskets looked generous and wonderful. I sorted out who got what, added chocolates to each, and got everything where it needed to be.

Back to clean up!! Renault very kindly brought my car around to where we were breaking down, then headed back to assist Her Excellency of Northkeep. By this time, it was 4:55, and they made the announcement that the prize drawing was going to occur at 5:00. I was emphatically sent in to the hall by Ludo, who had been amazing in all of his help, and he and Shannon insisted upon finishing the tear down tasks. The first time my name was drawn, I selected a lovely dragon clock, for Avalon’s room. Then Mehpare’s name was called, and she picked out a pretty tapestry. I left the hall, and encouraged her to stay, saying I’d finish up with the packing. Mehpare followed me out for a moment, and I asked her to please give my friend Jennifer (Lucretzia) a package for me (She particularly likes Halo by Frederick’s of Hollywood, which I happened to have a lot of – so I’d packed up a bag full of perfume, scented soap, and body lotion, all in the Halo fragrance, as a thank you for some help she’d given me working on a costuming pattern.). When Mehpare returned, it was to let me know that my name had been drawn again, so she’d picked out a brown yin-yang tapestry for me. Lucretzia had also won, and she’d picked out a blue dragon tapestry, and given it to Mehpare for me! What a sweetie!! I asked Mehpare if she might like to keep the brown tapestry for Avalon’s room, and she thought that might be nice. I kept the blue one from Lucretzia, which also perfectly matched all the blue drapes I already have for my pavilion.

By this point, pretty much everything was packed up, the raffle was over, and folks were being sent out of the hall so they could finish up feast prep. I moved my car out of the middle of the field. It was starting to really get chilly again, so it was nice to be in the heated vehicle for a few brief moments.

I decided to change into my nice, clean clothes for feast and court, and by the time I finished doing so, it was time for feast set up. Halfiras was gathered at the very back of the hall, near one of the large fireplaces. A lovely flame danced within, set by His Excellency Duncan of Namron. We all laid out our things and got ready for feast. Mehpare looked exotically lovely in a deep sapphire blue velvet gown that clung to her voluptuous figure, offset with beaded teal satin pants, a bright hip scarf, and coordinating veil. She looked scrumptious as always.

Feast was served very rapidly – one item after the other in quick succession, with no pauses between the courses. This allowed folks to eat in one smooth sitting, rather than a staggered set of courses, and was especially nice. I tried to sample everything, but the dish that completely wowed me was the Mongolian Chicken. It was sweet and yet flavorful, and perfectly bite sized. I think it was also Mehpare’s favorite.

The Feast Steward, Randall Lee, came to each table to check to see how folks were doing. Mehpare and I positively gushed over the food, and I proclaimed it my personal favorite of any feast I’d ever had. During the courses, there was also entertainment, as three people strived to win the Troubadour title: Aderyn (the current Troubadour), Damon and Tadgh. Unfortunately, Tadgh did not get down to our table until feast was pretty much over, and we had already voted. He did an excellent job, however.

Also during feast, there were many toasts, several of which kept interrupting Aderyn as she tried to perform at the next table over. She tried to handle all the interruptions with professionalism, but it was easy to tell it was hard to keep her rhythm and the interest of her audience with the constant distractions of the toasts. She did a good job, though, in keeping up an entertaining patter. Damon’s performance was a battle song, and Tadgh told a story of the Norse pantheon, and how Loki came to be the god of fire.

In the end, one name was chosen, and I was given it, as well as the name of the thrown weapons champion, to calligraphy onto the scrolls. I did so as quickly as I could, as feast was done and court setup was well underway. I finished the awards and grabbed Shannon’s camera to take some shots of the gift baskets. Almost as soon as I had them, folks started entering for Court.

I took my seat with Shannon, Mehpare and Avalon, with Cearl nearby. Ottokar, the autocrat, spoke briefly and invited each of the champions to come up and talk about their particular event. The past champion then welcomed the new champion, who received the scroll and any pass down regalia. Ottokar then presented the stepping-down champion with their basket and banner of stuff. The new champions included:

Warden: Angus MacKnochard (Who, when kneeling before her, was the same height as HE Kelandra) Ranger: Therese Marie Giovanni (The enormously cool – can it be said enough times? Nope.) Sergeant: Igor (The father of the previous Sergeant, so it stayed in the family) Huntsman: Lord Ulrich von Budigen Inspector: Catan ingen Ca'irihinss (Who did a nifty handmade bone needles display) Troubadour: Damon Hroarson (who was very surprised)

When Cearl, who was sitting next to me, returned with his basket full of goodies, he wasted no time munching on one of my truffles, after confirming that yes, I’d made them. He was really impressed by everything in the basket, and that was good to hear – that folks’ efforts were appreciated. He even (very kindly!!) gave me one of the truffles! I giggled that I’d never actually won any of my own chocolate, so it was nifty to get one. He thought that was kinda amusing.

After the adult competitions were handled, the youth activities were lauded. Each of the children received scrolls for participation and also for any badges they completed. They also received one of Raghnailt’s tassels and a badge sash. Two children had won competitions: Youth A& and Youth Bardic.

Several members of Chemin Noir were called forward, to receive recognition for their efforts. Ottokar received his Sable Comet, for service to Chemin Noir. His lady wife received a Compass Rose for her work with children. Lady Aoife received praise and a Sable Thistle for her work in costuming. Northkeep just LOVES a ‘gotcha!’ when it comes to awards, and so when she and her escort – her son, Fintan – turned to leave, the herald sternly said, “FINTAN! Her Excellency has NOT given you her permission to depart!” He then received a Sable Comet.

In a tone that sounded just a smidge artificial, the herald, Lady Zahava, did an ‘Oh, silly me, I forgot the heraldic display competition!’ She chatted about the competition for a bit, expressing that she was very happy that folks had made the effort. She said that the winner had really gone all out, and then she announced my name! Whoohooo!! I scampered up to the front of court and made my curtseys. As I made my way up, she laughed and said that the box contained items donated by me, too! She handed me the box and I did a little happy dance, squawking, “I won my chocolate! Yay!!” (I was pretty gleeful about it, as I’m very strict with myself and I don’t allow myself to eat many of my own truffles.) (And yes. I made myself look like a complete goofball. Serious lack of decorum. Shame on me.)

I thanked Zahava for the opportunity of the contest, as I’d had an awful lot of fun preparing for it. I also made a point of saying (very playfully) that Sieur Jean Paul de Sens had said that he was going to try to win the competition when he learned my chocolates were in the prize basket. . . and that I’d told him I was going to do my best to win them… and that I didn’t see Sieur Jean-Paul in the crowd! That I challenged him to do his best next year! Baroness Rhiannon of Mooneschadowe pledged that she would bring my words of challenge back to him.

I turned to curtsey to HE Kelandra, and something in her expression made me pause. I took a sloooow, sliding step backwards, and she suppressed a smile – I could see her lips twitch with the effort to hide it. (Remember how I said that Northkeep just Loooooves a ‘gotcha?’) I took another sloooooow slide-step backwards, never turning to leave. Someone (I didn’t hear/see whom) said, ‘What are you doing, Zubeydah?’ to which I replied, ‘Her Excellency didn’t give me permission to leave, so I’m not sure if I can…?’

Kelandra and others started laughing, and the herald said, “It would be best if you stayed put!” I immediately returned to where I’d been standing, knelt, and made a full obeisance before Kelandra, with my forehead touching the floor. Folks immediately grabbed their cameras and started taking very unflattering pictures!! Erk! So I sat up and grinned back at Kelandra. She said that my efforts to help Chemin Noir with their scrolls and prizes last year had not gone unnoticed, as well as this year as well. I did beg permission to correct her, and let folks know that I’d had a lot of help with my helping this year – Renault and Ragnailt!! Zahava read Their Majesties words, and I was really surprised and touched to receive a Sable Comet for helping out Chemin Noir, and a hug from the Baroness! The Canton is a really great bunch of people, who are warm, caring, and welcoming, and it’s been my pleasure to work with them on various projects.

Almost as soon as I returned to my seat, Mehpare was called into court. This caused a smidge of momentary panic, as she was feeding Avalon at the time. She got things re-arranged and handed off her daughter to her husband. Since he was baby-tending, I escorted this gracious lady into court. Many words were spoken of Mehpare’s service as a waterbearer, as a server at feast, and her many contributions to prize baskets. She was acknowledged as a Lady, receiving her Award of Arms and a great big hug from Kelandra. Mehpare scolded me terribly as we went back to our seats, because she could tell that I knew it was going to happen. We ooohed and ahhhed over one another’s scrolls: Mine was not signed by the painter, sadly. Hers was painted by the Star Principal Herald herself, Druinne!

If you have never given yourself the gift of attending one of the smaller group events in the north – Please consider doing so. Chemin Noir is a great group, and I was disappointed that more people did not show their support for this wonderful Canton. I think their event was an unqualified success, and was really delighted to have been a part of it.

Hope to see you there next year!!