After a long winter and a continuing longer spring (so much rain!), the members and associates of the Golden Oak Inn Household decided to get together for a well deserved gathering this April 30th 2011.
The purpose of the gathering, as are all gatherings of nuts, was to feast! The thing we do best! As well, an opportunity to catch up on the other thing we do best, talking!
Though we missed a few members we were blessed with a wonderful turnout of 19, including their Excellencies Baron Seumas and Baroness Esperanza, long supporters of Golden Oak Inn, as well as a very small adopted supporter, Hunter! Hunter certainly knows how to charm the ladies!
Being a potluck event, we were all extremely well fed with many dishes available to choose from. No one will ever forget the Rooster Lombard,a most delicious addition to the feast! As an added treat, it being our young Thane s birthday, we finished off with a celebration cake. Not to be overlooked, however was the nom nom nom yummy crème brulee prepared by the lovely Baroness Estela. All yummies were washed down with a rare and Devine water no one quite knows which spring this rather intoxicating infusion came from...
On a personal note, I, Lady Isolda Fairamay, was presented with a beautiful hand woven green belt by the Baroness Estela Dufrayse. This belt signifies that I am now a novice to Estela, akin to an apprentice if she were a Laurel (which all of us in the Golden Oak Inn already feel she is!). This was a very special moment for me, as I feel extremely honoured to be thought of as worthy of such a class. I very much hope I can live up to this title and make Estela proud.
I would also like to thank everyone who made the supreme effort to prepare dishes that would be safely gluten free for me to eat. Having to deal with a diet concern as complicated as celiac disease usually does not afford me the treat of eating such a wide range of foods when attending a potluck! This was a luxury I cherish. Thank you, friends!

This portion is from Seumas and Esperanza

Ok here goes. Maria and I were invited to the Golden Oak Feast. The event was a fantastic success as far as we were concerned with "Great food" (too much :-)) great conversation among some really great people. The kids that were there were well behaved especially Hunter. What a fantastic little boy he was that day. Lugg seemed to like Hunter especially.
It was good to see people and get to talk about all sorts of things and not have to worry about somebody getting the wrong impression or pushing themselves forward for an award or recognition. It was a great day with great food and great People. We both ate way too much and laughed a great deal to the point where the next day my stomach muscles hurt. It was a good hurt though. Again we would like to say thank you to the Golden Oak Inn for inviting us and thank you to the people who were there and made us feel at home.

Market Day at Sigtuna, Seashire, 9 April 2011.
From Lugg

What can this old Viking say about this event, hmmmmm if you were not there you missed out on one hell of a good time!! The food cannot be described as you had to sample many of the vendors items and there was lots to be had, the best were the beef pies, mmmmmm beef pies arrrrrgh drool drool !!!!!!!
The tournament was also something that had to be seen as even thought there were many know combatants there were some new ones there that had the crowd holding there breaths on numerous occasions as they demonstrated endurance, willingness and knowledge of arms even thought this was there first event.
The meal afterwards was fit for a large Viking as all I can say is that I left the event full of fine food, plenty of sweet pastries as well as with many new friends and old friendships rekindled.
I also heard that my fine white sheep skins were the talk of the market, baaaaaah !!!!

Sew Little Time 4, Seashire, 5 February 2011.
By Spurius and William

It was with a bit of apprehension, but also with hope that this Make and Mend day would be a good day. As soon as I walked in the hall around 10 AM, there were about 20 folks already at work on their projects. By 1030 there must have been 40 folks and they kept coming in until mid afternoon.

At first we had the large room separated in two, with the noise makers, armour builder, power tool users in one corner and the not so noisy sewers, drafters, embroiders etc in the opposite corner. With the music playing in the background it gave the feel of a village fair. Well by mid day both groups came together due to the amount of people working on their projects. We actually had to use all the tables that were available. All apprehensions I had were gone by midday, and my hope of a good day was replaced with joy, which seemed to be on all the faces in the hall.

At the sewing tables many people were busy at work. New gambesons were being planned and patterned, new outfits created and older ones mended. Needle point and fine finger fineries were busy being developed and many a new masterpiece of the sewing arts were well on their way to creation.

Truly there was something for everyone. Veteran fighters and “armourers” could be seen mentoring our newest batch of enthusiastic fighters. Armour plates were created and chest armour was formed. Leather hardening was demonstrated along with the skills of metal cold forging. Rattan was cut and sized and techniques were discussed. In the end all of the new fighters were well rewarded with the learning of new skills, and some new body armour.

By mid-afternoon there was even time for a dance lesson or two with Brianna. Many folks took the chance to stretch their back and legs so they could go back to work all refreshed.

Again, I can not stress the fact that over all the noise of music, machines, and hammering on steel was the murmur of voices talking and sharing in skills and enjoyment in laughter.

Supper came and all broke bread sitting together to talk about the wonderful day that had passed. Plans were immediately made for “the next time”. All are enthusiastic and all are looking forward to it.

It was one of the best non-events we have attended.

12th Night, Distant Shore, January 2011.
By Isolda

So the 12th Night event was well attended yesterday. The hall was a good size though we almost passed it on the road!
I loved how it was organized with respect to feast. There was no formal feast but various and sundry removes presented throughout the day. Though I went off board due to the gluten thing I probably could have been on board since each cook informed me of all the things I could eat anyway! I am glad that I stayed off board anyway, mainly because I believe some of the cooks (and NO offense intended!) were probably not as well informed about cross contamination as others. This is REALLY spurning me on to create a "Cooking Gluten Free for the Middle Ages" class for the next schola.
The removes being available at various times during the day gave people a chance to really enjoy all the food available without getting completely stuffed to start AND it also gave people a chance to enjoy DANCING throughout the day! This made ME very happy as I love to dance. Gey Gordon done twice! Yahoo! I also really liked the change in formality...I think having the food available this way allowed people to mingle a little more as well. The only thing that didn't happen was toasts...I think they were meant to happen but were overseen due to the informality.
On the A&S front there were ELEVEN entries! That's fabulous! I'm so glad there were a lot of people entering many different things in to the comp because that gave me a chance to see what others were doing too. Of course, that also means competition was stiff! The winner of the day was Lord Nithmund for his beautiful piece of jewellery (Sileas, you will have to ask to see it next time you attend an event!). But I am blushingly happy to say that I received a rather unexpected token (a laurel leaf I believe!) for my participation in A&S over the year. I almost cried when they called me into court! Spurius, of course, not to be overlooked, received his own token for service over the year.
As for Hawkwood's Inspiration, we are very happy to report that m'lord Jean (Jay) received this award and deservedly so. He's attended many fight practices with the intention of rapier practice and has practiced by himself even if no one else was available. What's more, he entered a rather gorgeous watercolour painting into the A&S competition that I'd say rivalled most other entries (and received and honourable mention to boot!). Can't wait to see what this lord shows us in the future.
Nerina spent a quiet day between moments of dancing. After witnessing many others working on their "hand candy" I enticed her into starting some needlepoint which she thoroughly enjoyed. Maybe this will give her incentive to enter the A&S comp next 12th Night!
A little tidbit for those wondering what the next event will be...there was a proposal to the Baron and Baroness for a "market day" to be held sometime in April. A little like "Birka" but not quite as large. This could be an exciting day to look forward to!
And as usual, I am fairly wrecked today. The usual day after an SCA event grogginess! Back to the couch now!

.

Herne the Hunter,18th Dec 2010, Distant Shores.
By Isolda Fairamay
So after an unexpected amount of snow on Friday we were happy to see clear skies on Saturday for the drive to Distant Shores. This is an extremely good thing because Nerrina has a new suitor, Julien, who has shown enough interest in her to want to accompany her to an event to see what it's all about.
The event was held in a church that reminds me of Dr. Who's Tardis...it's bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside! A wonderful space for an event. The tables were set up in one room upstairs with the fighting set up in a room downstairs. Dancing was done in a rather large foyer. And there are two, yes TWO kitchens in this place! And lots of bathrooms and change areas. And lots of extra rooms in case someone wanted to have a schola there.
So after an hour or so of getting organized and such, we finally go to the auction lunch. LOTS of good food available for that! Even though I brought food for the 4 of us Spurius couldn't resist bidding on a lunch made by the Baronness herself. We have leftovers in the cold box. My "English Cream Tea for Two" went over rather well, capturing, I think, $20-$25 in bids. It contained a completely gluten free (and vegetarian) meal of cream scones, thick cream, jam, two kinds of English toffee, shortbread cookies, clementines, cherries, grape tomatoes, tea and two Christmas crackers for fun.
Once everyone had eaten, the fighters prepared for the tourney. And then it was time for the heralding competition. Before that actually happened, though, I was presented with a beautiful bouquet of red roses dressed for Christmas by Dominus Spurius on bended knee...for payment for my being his herald. What a sweetheart! I love him so much! In any case, of course I had to defend my title from last year to see if I could win it again. In the end, it was a race between me and Magdalena who heralded for Nick. Sir Gareth had us stand in front of the crowd to see who gathered more applause and even then he couldn't tell who got more (though I think I got a smidge more!). So he had to consult with the Baron and Baronness. The decision was made and Magdalena had won! A good contest anyway! For those of you who could not attend, this is my speech, with emphasis on the obvious places:

ASS you prepare for battle you will never hear of another warrior ASS enthusiASStic ASS the one I tell you about today.
He uses ASSorted means of striking fear into his ASSailant, he can ASSertain your weaknesses within moments and he is ASSociated with the building of deadly siege weapons.
Do not ASSume this man will grant you mercy. He will use his many ASSets to ASSault you, harASS you and embarrASS you until you can no longer stand it.
AlASS, you should all be quivering in your boots because the LASST thing you’ll see ASS your body and soul perish on this battlefield today is Dominus Spurius Genucius Rutilus and his shiny golden MULE.

Get the picture? Tee hee! Don't know how I'm going to top that for next year!
So it was time for the tourney. And though I stayed for about 10 minutes to watch the beginning I confess I missed the rest of it. I am told that Llywelyn ab Olwyn won the day.
The rest of my afternoon was spent dancing with Brianna! I have never danced so much at an event before! It was wonderful! It was great because we didn't have to move out of the way for anyone. We started with a small group and went up and down in numbers all afternoon finishing off with a good group of 10-12 people. We were there for a good 2to 2 1/2 hours I think. I got my workout for the day! So much fun.
Time for feast, and oh what a feast! It was massive! Even though I could not eat everything, I could eat most of it and I'm telling you, I COULDN'T eat it all! I was absolutely stuffed! As were many many other people. The most interesting thing on the menu was bear. I tell you, I would never have thought I would eat bear in my whole life. But I tried it. The yummiest thing on the menu was the orange rice. It was part of the middle courses, but it could have been a rice pudding! Yum!
Of course there was the annual auction. Spurius was lucky enough to come home with a canvas tent for a mere $35! Not that I care about tents, but I am glad for him. The buttertarts were auctioned off as a lot of 48...for a $50 bid from Gareth. Poor Brianna wasn't paying attention on that one and missed out on the bidding! But thankfully Gareth was nice enough to 'sell' off some singles for $1 each...Nerina snagged a few from him too.
I must tell you that Nerina had a great day having Julien tag along. He wore one of Spurius’ first tunics (with shorts underneath!). He said he felt a little silly with his white addidas running shoes on! LOL. But he seemed to really enjoy the day. Watching the fighting was of course his favourite part but he joined in on dancing with Nerina for a while too. What a good sport! Not sure if he'll be able to come to a lot of events but he seems to think Spurius and I are all that because of the cool things we do together. He turns 18 in the spring so who knows???
So a good day was had by all. And as usual I am tuckered out today! At least I don't have to go to work tomorrow. Yahoo!

Tir Mara Crown Principality Arts and Science and Rattan Championship,
09 October 2010.
By William

We arrive at the hotel around 630pm, Friday evening. We then went to get supper and met the good folks of Lyndhaven for the Pre-Rev at one of the local establishment. It was nice to see people that we have not seen in a long time and some others that we see regularly.

Saturday we got to the site and as I exited the car I was greeted by His Majesty Gryffith. After attending to the gate keeper I went and got dressed for the Tournament. Estella, Sileas, Isolda, Nerina and many more of the Ladies took their post for chit-chat, Hand-Candy and most of all People Watching.

Isolda entered the A&S tournament with her totally hand sewn garment, which came very close to be the top choice. Well done Isolda.

Outside in the Rattan Championship there were six participants out of the ten that were from Ruantallan; Lady Cornilea, Lord Guthfrith, Lord Manfred, Lord Nicolas, Dominus Spurius and Me Baron William. The last three are from the Golden Oak Inn. At the end of the Round Robin Nicolas had 6 win 3 loss, Spurius, Lluwellan and William had 7 Win and 2 loss. Spurius faced Nicolas and I face Lluwellan. Then it was down to Spurius and Lluwellan. The New Tir Mara Rattan Champion is Lord Lluwellan. I still want a re-match.

In court the presentation of the regalia to the new Rattan and A&S Champions were done and then Isolda and Nerina were called. Spurius escorted them to Their Majesties, and they were both made Ladies of the court. From now on it is Lady Isolda and Lady Nerina. Well deserve to both of you.

FEAST. I’m still full. It was one of the best feast I have attended. To the Autocrat and the Kitchen Staff a big Thank You and Well Done.

Pictures can be seen here.. Happy viewing.

Ruantallan Baronial Investiture Anniversary, 25th September2010.
By William.

Estela and I got to the hall on Friday evening, to help Spurius, Isolda, Brianna and many others, set-up for the event. I used the big ladder and did some of the scaffold work, while Estela was keeping me in a straight line.
I must say that the hall looked amazing. The work that Spurius and Isolda did in the prep work was beyond what I’ve seen at any event.
Well Done
Saturday, Estela, Sileas and myself got in our “as early period as possible” to go with the Roman theme for this event. We were pleasantly surprise to see that most folks did just that.
I got dressed in my armour and did some emergency repair work on Brun Loc’s armour, but we got ready in time. There were ten fighters in the tournament, nine from the Barony and one from Lyndhaven. Spurius organized a good tournament, where there were no actual killing blows. In the spirit of Gladiatorial tournament we could only wound our opponent. A Killing blow would only cause your opponent to lose an arm. Once you lose the use of both arms you would concede the bout.
At the end of the Round Robin Sir Gareth had a record of 8 wins 1 loss, and Guthfrith and I had both a record of 7 wins 2 loss. To decide who would face Gareth in the finals we had to face off in a single elimination bout, which I was victorious. Then came the finals. Gareth and I faced off using glaive and small rectangular shield in the first round, then great weapon, and in the final round glaive and Trident. Sir Gareth won the bouts and is now the Baronial Champion.
In court Lady Anneke received her Manche and Lord Guthfrith a Tygers Combatant. Well done to both.
Feast was too good to qualify. I had some of everything and all the items were excellent. Hon. Lady Cristiana you out did yourself.
After the hall was cleared, the tear down commenced. We were done and out of the hall shortly after 10pm.
To Spurius, who was the Autocrat for this, my best event in years Thanks and Well done. To Isolda, the grounding force behind the man, you did an outstanding job, Thank you.

Crown Tournament, Iles Du Dragon Dormant, 8th May 2010.
By William.

Being proactive pays most of the time. Since we wanted to leave early in the morning, we decided to pack the car the night before. The Armour and swords are in, the big suitcases and some of the smaller ones were also all in the car. All we need to do is get ready and pack a few more things and leave. We figured we would be on the road by 0600.
At 0530 I was about to put the last of the things in the car, when I notice the back window smashed in and stuff missing. Someone thought they would do us a favour by removing the three suitcases that were obstructing my rear view. After calling the police and going around the neighbourhood, dumpster diving, we returned, unsuccessfully to the house to see that the police found two of our cases. We were still missing Estela’s clothes. After talking to the police we went on another search party. This time we found the remaining luggage. After getting the window repaired we were finally on the road seven hours late and minus 230 dollars less in our pockets.
We arrived at the site Friday afternoon were we booked our hotel and had a good supper at the local Greek Restaurant.
The next morning we got to a very soggy site. I was ready to go. We met with Christiana, Spurius and several others from our fair Barony. There were only three of us from Ruantallan that took part in this tournament, Spurius, Manfred and me. After getting inspected we made ready to fight. Spurius and Manfred picked their opponents and I had to be the last to pick since my station put me in the middle of the pack.
My first opponent was a Sinister Baron, sorry I forget his name. I was able to attack quickly and after he lost his sword he basically gave me the bout due to the many landed shots. The next two bouts I lost, but they were non-the-less good fights.
Estela was at my side the whole afternoon. We were very wet from the rain at the end of the day.
I’m not sure how Manfred did this day, so I will not elaborate on his bouts.
Spurius did well on this day. He placed in the top 16 by winning two fights. His bouts took place at the same time as mine so I was only able to view his last fight. He was opposed to Sir Wulgar. He did well enough and defended very well, but after about three minutes it is Wulgar that, with experience and skill, had the better of this one. Well Done Spurius.
While we were outside fighting and watching, Selias was inside socializing and keeping dry. A very wise Lady this Selias.
After Court we all packed in the car and went back to the hotel for another evening on the RACK. The next morning we left to return home. The trip home was without incidents.
Pictures and videos can be seen here.. Happy viewing.

Ruantallan 12th Night, Seashire, 9th January 2010.

As per the norm would have it, most of the Golden Oak Inn was at 12th night this year. This time Isolda and Spurius entered in the Arts and Science competition. Isolda submitted a beautiful Roman Toga, and Spurius entered a pair of Roman Boots. They both received fair marks. It was however Lord Guthfrith who won the competition with his period lanterns.

Her Excellency Estela took some time out of the kitchen when she came out to take on another student. She wrapped Matilda with her blue sash.

During the day the children were involved in a quest to help the Baron and they had to find the wise woman to do so. First they had to see the apprentice who sent them to the foolish man, who in turn sent them to get a favour from the Honourable Lady, in order to confront the Warriors from afar. Yes Sir Gareth, Spurius and I were those Warriors. After a battle wit, we sent them to the Wise Lady who was the troll. The smalls were then given a candle to give to the Baron at court.

Brunlock was given the Laurels recognition for his work in the Arts and Sciences.

Dame Sarah was the lead in the kitchen and she was assisted by HL Cristiana and Baronne Estela. Others helped, but their names escapes me. The food was excellent and abundant. My comment to the kitchen staff after the feast was that this feast would have been a perfect fit for an intense fighting event, because it had it all to satisfy hungry fighters.

Most people that I talked to said they had a great time, as did I. Here as the pictures that Sileas took during 12th Night.

2009 in a compressed format.

Yes I have done it again. I let the website go far, far behind. For this I wish to apologize. Let see if I can do a recap of the events since the last post.

When we last saw our valiant and intrepid nut cases, it was the beginning of the warm weather, which means that it was the beginning of war camp season. Some of the Nut gang went to our Baronial war camp and took part in the fun at a new war camp site. I was not able to go since I was away due to other war commitments.

Spurius, Isolda and Emily loaded their chariot and traveled far to attend the Great North-Eastern War (GNE). This was their first time going to GNE, and from what I gathered from their stories they had a good time except maybe Isolda’s sleep depravation. Maybe we should have been more explicit when we described the party atmosphere that reigns at GNE.

August brought us a Royal Progress. Their Majesties Andreas and Gabriela came to our fair lands. They gave us the honour of staying at the Golden Oak Inn for this event. We were able to take them around and even had a lobster feast. The event was host to the first rattan tournament for the newly recognized Crown Principality. The Golden Oak Inn had three members entered in the tournament, and all three moved to the semi-finals. Spurius faced against Master Conrad from Ile du Dragon Dormant, while Nicolas faced off against me, William. Conrad and Nicolas were the victors and went on to fight the finals. Master Conrad is the first Crown Principality rattan Champion. If I’m not mistaken, I believe he was the first Northern Shores Champion when we were first form as a region.
Lady Sileas was called, but did not come forward as their Majesties went to her. She was still playing that bad leg thing. She was given a Queen's Honour of Distinction for the jewelry work and service she has done for their Majesties. Spurius also was called to received his Award of Arms.
At the same event Estela and I were called forward and we were both made Court Barons and I received a Grant of Arms. Yes this was a total surprise for the both of us. It was extremely heart warming to hear the cheers from the populace assembled when we were herald as Baron and Baronne.

In October Lady Cristiana went to The stepping down of Andreas and Gabriela and at their last court, She was given a Queen's Cypher and a Grant of Arms.Now she will be called an Honourable Lady Cristiana.

We Also held our Baronial Anniversary and held the Rattan Championship. As the reigning Champion I was the marshal in charge along with Sir Gareth. Spurius and Nicolas entered the tournament for the Golden Oak Inn and both went to the semi-finals. Spurius faced and defeated Lord Guthfrith to become the next Baronial Rattan Champion.

November rolled in and at the end we had Herne the Hunter, which turned out to be a Royal Progress with their Majesties Conrad and Branwen. Herne is well known to have lots of heavy fighting and lots of food. This was no exception. We had Quad Damage, Highlander tourney and Mixed-up weapon melee. Then food came by the buggy load, and it was good.
Here are pictures taken at Hern the Hunter, I'm sure they will show that we had fun.

2009 has not been a bad year when you consider all that our members have received. AoA, Queen’s Cypher X 2, Court Baron(ess) X2, Grant of Arms X 2 and a Baronial rattan Champion. Not a bad haul.

That would be it for the year 2009, other then the passing of my mother on the 8th of November. Isabelle was 73 and she was still a very cool chick. All those who have met her would agree. I will miss her.

I know I have said this before, but I will do my best to keep this up to date.

Ruantallan First Spring Muster, Seashire, 28th March 2009.

Spring is here and the smell of war is rising, or is it Eau de Fighter. Ruantallan had to muster its forces to make ready for the upcoming battles. We had a gathering of cooks, dancers, fencer and heavy fighters.

This being a pot-luck event all the folks brought in food for the lunch and supper feasts. Before lunch there was a fencing tournament, organized by Lord Guthfrith. After Lunch it was time for the light of foot and Heavy armoured to go to work. There was dancing with Lady Brianna inside and Rattan outdoors with Lord William as the fall back Marshal due to a banged-up elbow.

Supper was a selection of many dishes, which include several dishes that participated in a Food A&S competition. It was all good, I had to go for seconds. After Supper it was time for more dancing.

We had a good time. It seems that the grand majority of the folks in attendance did too.

Another Baronial Election Completed.

The ballots have been sent, counted and the results are in. We are happy to say that the new Baron and Baroness of Ruantallan will be Donal and Allesandra. They will be invested at the end of August. We would like to thank those who supported us in this election.
We will continue to support the Coronet as Rattan Champion and Heads of this Household.

Ruantallan 12th Night, Seashire, 10th January 2009.

Many members of the Golden Oak Inn went to this event. We made our way to the event hall, we set our table near a wall, with our banner behind it. On the table we had fruit, juice, cookies and other treats. We set it up near a wall so that other folks could come and join us and feel welcomed. I mostly walked around the hall and chatted with people. At one point I got up to dance the Gay Gordon, that is always fun. Estela was dressed in a much earlier time period then usual and many people did not recognise her at first. Most of us got up and played a game of Life-size Mancala. It was a battle of wits between our out going Baroness Janet and the Vicar Dame Sarah. Dame Sarah had advisors and Her Excellency only had the advice of her human tokens. Never the less it was Baroness Janet who took the most human tokens to win the game.

At Ruantallan 12th Night, we have two competitions. One of them was the Bardic challenge, which was a year long competition. This years winner was Mistress Elise, mostly due to the many war stories that she shared with us throughout the year.

The other Competition was to determine the next Ruantallan A&S champion. We had two members who entered this year. M’lord Spurius entered his newly fabricated Roman sandals. They were on his feet all day. Lady Sileas also entered. She entered the scroll she prepared for the N.S. A&S competition and a lovely jewellery pin. Lady Isa won the day, with her carved wooden box that holds Elise's copy of the Lutrel Psalter.

After a great day of chatting, dancing, playing games it was time for court. The Vicar, Dame Sarah entered with the usual Baronial Entourage and conducted a quick and pleasant court. During court the Peers of the Barony presented token to those who showed enthusiasm, aptitude and just basically inspired them in the past year. Sir Yessunge presented the chivalry token, a link of the chain of fealty to m’lord Spurius. I must say that I am inspired by Spurius enthusiasm for this game.

Feast was a WOW experience. Lady Juliana prepared a feast that was fit for Kings. After stuffing our bellies we made it go down by putting chair and tables away. We made our way home happy after another good event.

To see some pictures of 12th Night that Sileas took. Just click on the link.

Herne the Hunter, Seashire, 20th December 2008

This was another fun event. It was held at the same hall as the N.S. A&S event. The fighting was upstairs, while the schmoozing was downstairs. Sir Gareth was held up in An-Tir so I was asked to organise the fighting. I made them sweat. We ran two round robin and then the Quad Damage and the some barrier fighting. After the two round robin I counted up the points and it was Lord Guthfrith who won by only one point.

Meanwhile on the other floor, it was all about the young ones. The parental units kept an eye out for their young folks and they, in turn had a blast playing games and with toys with each other.

Then it was Feast. Meat, Meat with a side order of Meat. Of course there were veggies but Herne is a Meat Feast. It was most excellent. I always enjoy going to this end of year event. Sorry We do not have any pictures for this event.

Northern Shores Arts and Science Competition, Seashire, Ruantallan, 29th November 2008

The wagon was packed and ready to go to another great event. All we needed were the folks to pack in them, First came Lugg, then Stephane and Evangeline, and then came Keegen and Laura. The gang is here. Cristiana left early since she had stuff to bring to the site. Lugg, Estela, Sileas and I in one wagon. Stephane, Evangeline, Keegan and Laura were in the other. We made our way to the site, with a few U-turn and some choice incantations. Lady Asa joined us at the site later in the day. It was nice to see her again. The rest of the NUTS could nut make it. we missed them all.

The hall was a Gem. Fighting occurred upstairs and the main attraction for the event, the A&S display, was downstairs. Stephane and I had a blast. We fought in a “fun tourney” organized by Sir Yessunge.
The video of the bouts can be viewed here

As I was saying the main purpose of this event was to host the A&S Championship for the Region. I did not get to see many of the entries, but those I saw were amazing. It was the entries of Lord Guthfrith Yrlingson who accumulated the most points from the judges. He is now the Northern Shores A&S Champion. Well done!
Many pictures taken by Sileas are available here

Ruantallan Baronial Investiture, Seashire, 4th October 2008

We packed the wagon and joined up with friends for the journey to the 20th anniversary of the founding of our Barony. Once on site we set up got changed in real clothe and then relaxed. Chat with folks and played cricket with the young ones.
About 30 min prior to the stat of the tournament the crowd start to gather and I was attempting to get in the zone. I had my own bard team playing in my ears. I guess my musical team played the right songs and I got in my zone quickly.
There was another Golden Oak Inn member that took part in this tournament, Lord Nicolas was also a challenger for the Baronial Rattan Champion title. He fought very well and in virtue to his prowess in the list accessed to the semi finals.
After the Round Robin the four finalists were Lord Sawney, Lord Guthfrith, Lord Nicolas and myself, William. I was opposed the Sawney and Guthfrith was against Nicolas.
The two winners of the best of three semies were Guthfrith and me. After a 10 min break we met in the list with Great sword and then Sword and Shield. I won both. I am the new Rattan Champion.
Court followed were we saw many awards presented to deserving members and also saw many new people attending their first event. The Golden Oak was responsible in bringing in about 12 new folks.
For Feast, Estela and I were seated at the head table, with the present coronets and their predecessor, and their predecessor. Yes we had had the three set of coronets in our midst for this millstone anniversary. The Food was plentiful and excellent. Speaking only for myself I was stuffed and I had a happy belly.
Now the only thing I have to do to complete this event is to recover the regalia from our previous Champion, Sir Gareth. Yes the regalia were forgotten at home.

More Pictures of the event can be viewed Here

EK Crown Tournament, Lyndhaven, April 2008

After a short four and a half hour drive we arrived at the hotel, where we met Duke Andreas and made dinner arrangements. We went to a small Pub were we had drinks and food in the company of Sir Andreas, Sir Willem, Baroness Vienna and their Royal Majesties.
On completion of dinner we preceded to the Pre-Rev, where we met with several Friends of House Blackwood, Kernough and the Shire of Lyndhaven. It was good to have a few drinks and more food with our friends.
Saturday after breakfast, we got ready for Crown and made our way to the site. Once there we found out that we were not on the Participants list. This was rectified rapidly by THL Alethea. Yes this is the same Alethea who later became our Princess when Duke Darius won the finals against Duke Andreas.
The feast was created by Lady Griet, despite not having any stoves in her kitchen. She and the Autocrat arranged to use the stoves in another building to produce an outstanding supper.

Pictures of the event can be viewed Here

EKU, Ruantallan, March 2008

Ok so I lied. I said that I was going to update this page more often and here we are with more the nine months between updates. SORRY.

The first significant event for the Golden Oak Inn that marked the 2008 year was EKU in March. At this grand event we had the opportunity to host Their Royal Majesties Andreas and Gabriella. The Barony had two vigils on that day. Lady Elise became Mistress Elise a Peer in the Order of the Pelican, and Lord Gilbert became Master Gilbert a Peer in the Order of the Laurel.

She Has Been Gotten
A few months prior to this event a select few received word the effect that Lady Estela would get a special award. We had a great time keeping it a secret, because she is good at figuring out stuff. So we made up a story that another person was getting a different award. Estela got busy with projects related to this bogus award. She worked on a QOC glove. She had Sileas to create a scroll for this fictitious honour. Sileas completed the illumination on the scroll and Estela loved the work, exclaiming the recipient will be very happy. At this point when Sileas works on the Calligraphy aspect of any scroll, she always locks us out of her workshop. Sileas came down to the Shoe, with a dejected look on her face. She told us that she spilled a bottle of ink on the scroll. The beautiful scroll was destroyed.

On the day of the event Estela was busy in the kitchen, preparing a great feast. So during court she was called out of the Kitchen to come before Their Majesties. At this time King Andreas went on about the great deeds that Lady Estela has done. How she created “Works of Art” clothing many people, including many Kings, Queens, Prince and Princesses. At this point a scroll was read out loud. The Scroll declared the Andreas and Gabriella King and Queen of the East bestowed upon her a Grant of Arms. Now Estela is known to all as Honourable Lady Estela du Frayse.
See Estela's acount of the event in Estela's Live Journal