Shopping and zombie bunnies

As I have not forced you too to revel with all that is wrong as regards the event I just stewarded, I figured I'd let you see the zombie bunny pouches I made as prizes for the various tourneys. I had one of our scribes (who is a very good sport) design a plague stricken rabbit and then I appliqued and embroidered it on wool and linen. Why a bunny you ask? The reason is twofold: the proximity of the event to Easter, and the number of children that are a part of our Province, thus making rabbits an unofficial mascot. Besides, bunnies are less gross and more heraldic than regular zombies.


The even was loads of fun and rather educational if I do say so myself. We had a full day of classes on various topics relating to the theme. I taught a class on jewelry designed to keep away evil, there was an overview class of the myths in a variety of cultures involving undead and another on ghosts and ghost type stories. One of my teachers took the opportunity to look at Norse views of death. Another introduced us to the Welsh Mabinogion, a poem that goes at least back to the 6th century and possibly the Bronze Age. There are several stories in it involving people that don't die-- both warriors thrown into a cauldron and a head that laughs and tells stories for 77 years after death until the wrong door is opened. There was a wonderful class on the imagery of the Dance of Death that included a fun group participation segment where people read the various levels of society and their poetic response to death. Lots of literary references being thrown around to be honest. I was really pleased with the creativity of the classes and how different they were. Also, how silly some of the event was and how much fun was had, but how there were still lots of serious educational moments. We also had a fabulous turnout for the bardic with some great historically accurate ghost stories.

I know several people were dubious about my theme when it was announced, but I appreciate everyone who went with me and trusted that I wasn't completely off my rocker and that the undead would be a reasonable "Mystery" to explore.

In other news, I have been shopping. I've been looking at blue brocades for days, trying to figure out what I wanted for the jacket. I was thinking I wanted something in the teal blue, but this one grabbed me. I don't normally wear black, opting instead for brighter (and more obnoxious) colors, but I bought this one. Still no idea why, but I think it is going to be gorgeous. I also bought 40 or so ostrich feathers. I wanted to get the giant sized ones, but my budget wasn't so thrilled by the prices, so I've got 10-12" ones coming. I am telling myself that I already have the peacock feather fan that is sort of like a war mace in its size and heft, and a smaller fan isn't a bad thing. I couldn't decide between bright blue or white, so I split the difference and got a soft grey blue. Things are shaping up to be classy and elegant-- I'm wondering how that happened?