Waiting–it can be so hard to do! And yet we are required to do it so often.
Right now I’m waiting for my Celtic harp to be finished and shipped to me. I chose for it to be purple, which I may regret, but what the heck? Purple is one of my favorite colors.
I have tons of new harp music, some of which I can play on the little travel harp that I’m borrowing from my friend and fellow SCA member Halle Snyder (Mistress Halla of Mugmort). But most of it must WAIT until the new, bigger harp arrives.
I’m hoping it will get here very soon, so that I will have some time to practice on it before I take it to the Red Spears Yule Feast in Toledo Ohio in early December:
Join us for a German-themed Yule Feast in the Canton of Hróðgeirsfjörðr
Surely you will, right? And I’m sure you’ll have no trouble at all pronouncing the name of the Canton. 🙂 This event is another thing I’m waiting for. One big reason I’m looking forward to it is the chance to see again my table-mates from the Feast at Red Dragon in October, the many-talented THL Piotr Zavilov and his lovely partner, the Lady Ayla Volquin. You can learn more about Red Spears Yule Feast here, but I must include the menu for the evening feast:
GERMAN FEAST
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The only thing I’m not waiting for on this menus is turnips. I can do without turnips. Although actually one of my ancestors [but not in my direct line, instead in the English cousins’ line, the ones who stayed in England when my direct ancestors came to America in the 1600’s] was actually called Charles ‘Turnip’ Townsend (1674-1738), because he introduced the turnip to England.
This fact is brought to you by The Domesday Book: England’s Heritage, Then & Now, edited by Thomas Hinde, Coombe Books, 1999, page 193. It contains excerpts from the original Domesday Book, which was ordered to be compiled at Christmas Court 1085 by William I (the Conqueror) of England so that he would know “what or how much everybody had, who was occupying land in England, in land or cattle, and how much money it was worth.” The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Illustrated And Annotated, edited by Bob Carruthers, Coda Books Ltd. 2012, page 251.
‘Turnip’ Townsend lived in East Raynham, Norfolk. Much of northwest Norfolk, in the Raynham area, was granted to my direct ancestor, one ‘De Haville,’ in 1066 by William the Conqueror, in whose train De Haville traveled and fought during the Norman conquest of England. De Haville married the daughter of the Saxon lord whom he displaced and took their family name of ‘Tunneshunde,’ later spelled ‘Townshend’ or ‘Townsend.’ Now you know… 🙂
I’m attempting to put in a map of Norfolk showing the location of East Raynham, but I’m having problems. You can however, look at it here on Google Maps–East Raynham, Norfolk, England. Maybe someone can enlighten me in the comments as to how I can put a Google map into a WordPress post? Meanwhile, here is a map of Norfolk that shows Fakenham, which is a few miles away from East Raynham. Fakenham is to the northwest of Norwich and the northeast of King’s Lynn:
Well, after writing this post, I’m still waiting, for a number of things. Meanwhile I guess I’ll go do my homework, then practice on the travel harp and on my Renaissance lute. I’ll be playing the lute on Christmas Eve to accompany a fellow church member who will sing “What Child Is This?” at the candle-lit service. Our pastor has proposed having a babe-in-arms at the altar while we play. We have several good candidates for that. 🙂 I also have a bunch of calls to make for church about this Sunday, which is our annual Alumni Sunday complete with luncheon. I’ll be making a sweet potato-black bean chili for that.
What are you waiting for?
Let Us Live Like We Mean It! 