Harvest Revel at the Castle is this Sunday!

There’s a chill in the air, leaves on the ground, and the scent of freshly baked pies and cookies in the air. All harbingers of our annual Harvest Revel at the Castle (with PIE)!

The Harvest Revel will take place on this Sunday, 19 November 2017 at the Castle (755 Stonegate Dr, Wexford, PA 15090 – map). There will be some changes to parking, so there will be further information coming with details about those changes as we get closer to the date.

The schedule has been updated and there is a change to the time of the Barony Meeting to accommodate other activities:

11:00 a.m. – Site Opens, Thrown Weapons Practice
12:00 p.m. – Pie Competition Opens
1:00 p.m. – Barony Meeting, immediately followed by a Business Meeting (all are invited to participate)
1:45 p.m. – Choir Performance
2:00 p.m. – Heavy Weapons/Rapier Practice

There will be the usual launching of the pumpkins towards the end of the day. So, bring a pumpkin and see it go “SPLAT” in glorious fashion. Only fresh pumpkins are allowed, no rotting ones as they are awful to try and clean up.

But I know what you’ve all been waiting for and that is the opportunity to win GLORY!!!

As the Baroness and her crafty cohorts work on specifics for the Pie Competition (and the chance for GLORY!!!). Here is what we know so far: The categories are FRUIT, VEGETABLE, and PERIOD. As always, the definition of pie is stretched to its absolute limit, all it has to be is a baked dish of fruit, or meat and vegetables, typically with a top and base of pastry. Whether you call it empanada, calzone, tart, Roman libum, pasty, pye, trap, quiche, tourtière, Bedfordshire clanger, or Bridie – it’s all pie. Ravioli? Pie. Piroshki? Pie. Chicken Pot Pie, even though it lacks the bottom crust? If Mary Berry says it’s pie. It’s pie. This competition is about creativity, joy, and most of all GLORY!!!

In addition to everything else, Countess Ariella will be running a fundraiser in support of the Equestrian program that Lady Gesa Wellenstein so generously started here in the Barony. This whole summer, she has been paying for replacement and construction of all jousting and mounted games equipment out of her own pocket. This fundraiser will help to reimburse her for that and any remaining funds will be deposited for future activities. If you would like to support the Equestrian program and the efforts of Lady Gesa, please bring and/or buy baked goods. There will be a table in the Great Hall with labels for ingredients and prices.

At this time, the schedule is pretty much set, but we still have some time and space available. If you would like to do something like offer a short class or coordinate some largesse-making activities (or anything else), please contact Odriana at seneschal (at) debatablelands (dot) org. For those of you who are concerned about such things, it’s a bye week for the Steelers.

As usual, no garb required, unless you really want to wear garb. We will be happy to see you regardless of your attire.

We thank Count Byron and Countess Ariella for again opening their home to us. If you’ve not yet been to the Castle, here is a link to the information website for the Castle. It’s even better in person.

If you’re on Facebook, please RSVP on the event page.

Thrown Weapons Practice.

Konichiwa Debatable Lands! I’ve been debating this with myself all day, checking forecasts and so on. The temps look to be in the low to mid 30’s for most of the morning. Part of me wants to brave it and hope for the best. The other part.. where the marshal resides, is telling me it’s too cold to throw safely. If your hands go numb from gripping cold wood and steel, control becomes a problem. So with that in mind, I’m going to cancel thrown weapons for tomorrow, November 12. I’m not giving up hope to get one more practice in before the weather turns permanently, so I will keep posting about practice for a few more weeks. I’m hoping for one more warm spell.

YIS, THL Kumagaya Kentarou Masamoto, BMDL TW MIC

 

A&S BMDL – Weaving Anywhere – Thursday, Nov 9th

Greetings to the Debatable Lands!

Thursday is A&S in BMDL, and we will be continuing our fiber-fun trend with a class on Weaving Anywhere taught by Mahin Banu Tabrizi. We will build our own looms out of string and small sticks, and weave on them. This is an easy-peasy way to have fun with string!

We will be at Victory Pointe Gaming Lounge (and ice-cream parlor), upstairs in the game room, at 1113 Carson Street on the South Side, starting at 7 PM. Come early if you wish, people start arriving about 6:45.

Upstairs is not Accessible, so if you need assistance or have questions, please call or text me, (724-759-3333).

Be sure to park safely — feed the meter if needed. They ticket like crazy on the South Side. I think the best place is across the street in the bank parking lot.

See you there!
Elss Augsburg

On-line Heraldic Office Hours

Greetings from your Comet Pursuivant!

On-line Heraldic Office Hours will be happening this evening from 7:00-9:00pm! Please watch this space just before 7pm for a link to a Google Hangout to join me with whatever heraldic questions or curiosities you may have! Other heralds are welcome to join in!

Kieran MacRae

Site clean up and Thrown Weapons

Konichiwa Debatable Lands! Join us tomorrow early, around 9am for site cleanup. Rakes and trash bags are appreciated, gloves are recommended. Rumor has it there will be hot cider and stew… Thrown weapons will be tentative until I can assess the range ground for the safety of the footing. If it is safe, we will throw.  Hope to see you all there bright and early!!

YIS THL Kumagaya Kentarou Masamoto, TW MIC BMDL

Practice Site Cleanup & Archery after Halloween Practice


Come early tomorrow to the Highland Park practice site to help us clean up the area, and show how much we care for our practice site.

Swing by for cleanup for 9am. Bring gardening gloves and rakes. There will be hot cider from Ranka, and a delicious stew from Master Urho Waltterinen.

Then between 1030 and 11 we’ll be setting up our post Halloween shoot. Bring your old jack-o’-lanterns for some shooting fun and we will be shooting for some prizes against some Halloween styled targets. 😉

Hope to see you there.