After a long voyage I am almost there, this weekend will indeed see my return to my favorite Faire. I am missing my old friends more and more each day, it has been a long time and I wonder what fortunes have found them.

To be sure there may be many who will be lost or missing, and mayhap new comrads will be met. I am plotting out a substantial visit that will also include a trip to good King Richard's Faire in Carver on Labor Day. I have seen some pictures of comrads at the Faire from the past two weekends- Vlad your as shiney as ever. So let the flowing of the stories only be out done by the brew. If fortune finds you at the Faire- I hope your well met and mayhap we can share a refreshment at the pub.

For those of you that are voyaging to the PA Ren Faire- if you stay at the wood known as Pa Dutch Country (OW) then drop me a line and join in great revelry after the last song- to be sure my group will have a great fire and freely flowing refreshments- just bring your stories and your favorite refreshment. Hope to see many of you there.

Greetings my brothers and sisters in arms! A new season is almost upon us, and as my troupe and I linger over our calenders I am counting the days down. There are many smaller Faires at the end of May and throgh June and July, including one or two Celtic weekends. I am nearly finished with my third plate mail project, and am working on some other costume ideas as well. As I think about the season ahead I miss my friends, and hope to see them all at the various Faires this season, I am hoping to find them all well and to toast those that are missing.

So what have I been up to? Well I have been working on new plate mail armor designs, lots of pounding- a few burns, and yes a few mis-turns. I am just completing a 3/4 set for one of my friends, its turned out very nice for a completly new design. I think one of the most challenging things is the live rivits- they just don't make them any more- in fact traditional rivits are a bit hard to come by in general. I did make one helmet- but gave up on them for some time as I have not cut a proper bowl for them yet.

So my fellow travelers, I hope you are planning on visiting many Faires- I will find myself in most of the Faires in NJ, PA, NY, MA and perhaps ME and VA. We are camping extensivly this year so I don't plan on being at my Keep for most of the summer. I will be at my home Faire for as many weekends as possible- but thats not until August (PA Ren Faire). My Troupe and I have also started traveling on wine tours through NY, PA, and VA, there are few things that match the Catskills in the early morning or the fields in Virginia in the Fall.

Yes I look forward to seeing my friends and fellow travelers soon, I hope this meets you well and drop a line to me, mayhap we shal share an ale or two and tell bawdry stories and other lies.

Wicked! No really if your from the PARENFAIRE you have to go, its February 20-22, cost is $35 for the whole ADULT weekend so it ought to be a most excellent time. Go to http://www.wickedfaire.com/ and check it out. Thanks for the comments on my projects- yes I will be at Wicked in armor, so I hope to see as many of you there as possible- I am betting Lord Vlad will be there. Update on my armor- just completed the majority of my helm, again dragon theme, lots of fluting. I will get a pic up shortly- also anyone interested in being in the Qeen's guard next year at the PARenFaire? Check out http://www.parenfaire.net/  ok may all of us have a better new year than the past, I wish health, happiness and love for all of you my brothers in arms and sisters of the shield.

Just added pictures from my first etched platemail armor project- not bad, I learned tons and am now working on my next full set.

Greetings to all fellows, brothers-in-arms and Nobels

The Yule season is well upon us, but not such a season have we seen before. Indeed it is hard to be of cheer in these times but I often think of Yule's from long ago. Everyone is truly blessed, if you think of the first renaissance period, things were much simpler and often it took only warmth, food, a bit of ale or wine, and good friends to make the season. This season I find my circle of friends, may they be missing or not, to be larger than in previous years, all from the Faires we attended. I wish each and everyone of them, and you, the very best of a Yule season. On the last call of my home faire, a group of us held a toast that may fortunes find us back together once again in a years time, and find us all well. The act reminded me of an oath set in the Dragonlance books, as dark times broiled and friends went off.

For one I know that I have been blessed, and that hard times are here and bound to get darker before they lighten. None of us can say what is to come or if we will be together again, but even in the best of times the wisest among us cannot say that either.

Indeed its been hard to be in the spirit, going forth in the next two weeks I will spend with dearest friends and family, I will have toast to all of you, my absent friends, and wish you health, fortune, and love. So I will put up the lights, the decorations, open the wine from my home faire, and make merry, and hope that all of you do as well. We shall all meet again, that will be my wish for all, and that our fortunes shall be improved, untill then we must go forth with the hopes of days to come.

So here it is, December 16th, and I have been missing the faire already. Not one to be bored, I decided around Thanksgiving to make suit of plate mail armor for next season. So I spent quite a lot of time reading and mucking about to determin just how to do it. I considered leather (www.theleatherguy.org), and that was a great possibility due to how you can work leather, its light, and many of my friends wear that kind of armor. Untimately I decided on metal, and interestingly enough discoved that armor was made in fact by an armor guild, not a blacksmith, and that by the properties of the tinned alloys made to make the suit, it was not shiny. In fact Sir Walter Raleigh was banished from court for having polished armor! Take note next Faire season. In fact the closest metal today to the original look was...Aluminum. Now the good thing about that is that Aluminum is light and does not rust, its about 1/3 the weight of steel. So this was my material.

So I created patterns for my first (yes my first) set of plate mail....but I didn't want it to be boring. It could not simply look like simple bent stock, no it had to be artsy...and it is.  I also (i have an extensive chemist background) figured out how to deeply etch complex designs into the metal, and the results are...well cool.

My first set is multi-segmented and semi-gothic, with a dragon theam. I have it nearly completed and am already planning maybe two or three more armor projects before next season- I am planning on making my friends suits as well but in other theams. I will start posting some pictures as well. One of my friends is a great seamstress and we have been thinking about becomming merchents next year, but I digress.

So for those with interest- here is a good start: www.armourarchive.org/patterns/

The coolest armor that I have ever seen is here: http://www.princearmory.com/product.php?productid=24&cat=1&bestseller=Y

(Praise Prince- maybe I can someday become as good in the craft)

Here are great starts: http://www.bokalosarmoury.com/express.htm

Ans Awsome Helmets (so good I don't think I would go through the trouble from scratch) http://www.ashcraftbaker.com/index.htm

Right now I am working on the legs and knees, and do have a helmet started before I found Ashcraftbaker.com. The whole project is very educational, and my meta-working skills are getting a good run for the money as well. This is better than going to a gym! On top of this it combines several skills beyond metal-working, it includes many art-skills, tailoring, pattern making, and lots of patients- but is also a good outlet (tell me you don't feel better after hammering on something.

As my home faire is the PaRenFaire I have been keeping up with the happenings there, they are selling season ticket for next year (got mine), and would love to go to their plays, its just been a bit hard getting away. I also am plotting to see just how many Faires I can attended next year- King Richards in Mass is great as well- maybe I can get drafted as a volunteer....