I received an odd compliment today. One of my co-workers commented on my vest (asking if I had made it). When I told her that it was a thrift shop find, she said, "You always coordinate your colors so well, I don't know how you do it." I finally learned to accept a compliment so I just nodded & say thank you. But WTH? Yesterday I wore a dark purple turtleneck, a deep plum & tan tapestry vest, black slacks, etc, with amethyst pendant & purple Czech bead earrings. Today it's navy slacks, light blue turtleneck & Williamsburg blue and cream tapestry vest. Okay, they are the same color family & they do coordinate. But it's still an odd complement.

books: Sisters Grimm 2, And Able, Swimming without a Net, and Royal Mess. My Amazon order arrived & I've done a lot of reading. I've re-read one book by Maggie Shayne, The Brands Who Came for Christmas.

tatting: I've been working on an edging before sleep. The thread's only broken once. Not bad for old thread. I've given up on the last round of the latest snowflake. I screwed up the 2nd chain and decided that it looked fine without the last round and cut it off. I've started repeating one of the snowflakes but with a silver filament. I also found some variegated green to do Jane's tree.

other crafts: tried to use that odd cotton string/thread on the loom in a loose lattice knit. It didn't work. I need to read the directions again.

clothes: I've mostly covered this already but add in braided hair, Celtic knot earrings, ring & pendant, flower band, navy loafers and socks.

We used the Tivo for the first time last night. We saved a couple shows. I'll watch at least one of them tonight.

tv: we watched an episode from the 1st season of Bones, an old Mission Impossible episode & part of a Superman cartoon.

books: I finished Sisters Grimm. It's an excellent book. It uses a many of the traditional fairy tale characters, in a novel way. I think I'll get the next book. I started Willing and re-reading Making Money.

crafts: I finished the headband but this time it has more orange in it. That's not very flattering next to my face. I have some lovely ribbon yarn, I think I'll make a lattice scarf from it.

clothes: black suede shoes; black jeans; same belt, watch & hematite band; onyx earrings & pendant; braided silver ring & matching pair of bracelets; black short-sleeved sweater & braided hair.

I stayed up too late last night. The game (the 2nd one) ended at 9:30 but I still didn't get to sleep until late.

It's cool and rainy today. It's almost stereotypical fall weather. I'm not complaining about the rain. After all, I have an umbrella & a warm coat.

books: I finished re-reading Ready by Lucy Monroe. I started reading The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley. But I'll probably go back & re-read Willing by Monroe before I finish it.

clothes: black ankle boots/shoes, black jeans, same black belt & silver clip watch, brown/black Vorkosigan polo, 3 women pendant, fem power ring, same hematite band, & butterfly earrings. My hair is braided simply because I didn't feel like doing anything else to it.

site of the day: Lucy Monroe, romance author. I've read a few of her single (as opposed to Temptation, etc titles) & I've enjoyed them. Here's a video trailer of her latest book:

Ren Festival: Well, we arrived about an hour later than we'd planned but we did get really good parking. Rosemary remembered her walking stick so her leg didn't give her as many problems. Her leg is getting worse though.

We watched the Art of Falconry and boy that's an interesting show. I came in half-way through the Redtail Hawk (I went & fetched some lunch). Igor, the black vulture, and the Lannae (?) Falcon (it's related to the Peregrine Falcom) were great. And since all the birds were less than fully co-operative, the falconer filled the time with interesting tidbits of information. For example, according to the latest DNA studies, Igor is more closely related to the stork than to other birds of prey. Looking at him walk, it's quite clear to see.

I bought a new black belt, from Bald Mountain Leather, to replace the one that I broke. This one is wider & heavier with a heavier buckle but both leather & buckle have Celtic knotwork. I'm trying to wear the belt a lot in order to soften it up. I was sorry to learn that they are retiring about 30-some years of Ren'ing.

I didn't have quite enough money for a new bodice but Chris loaned me the difference. So, I bought a new, fabric bodice from Ophelia's Fynery. Rosemary bought the Juliet chemise in a gorgeous blue washable silk. My bodice is a reversible brocade/black one with a triangular panel.
I watched part of the belly dancers performance & then we all watched the Manolete' with Gypsy Boleadoras and fire cords, etc. I think I got some good photo's of what he did. We missed Dextre Trippe, except what we could see from Fellowship Foundries. I bought a rune pendant & Rosemary bought a necklace, too. I picked up a new hair clip from Bronze Jewelers. This one appears to have oak leaves & acorns on it. Chris bought two of the latest prints from Ruth Thompson. I also bought some scented candles, they're votives & they're supposed to last 8-10 hours each. We'll see.

All in all, we had a good day. Although Rosemary decided against buying anything from Pearl's Revenge. The head clerk, while working with a difficult customer, reached over Rosemary's head & flipped shirts in her face. Without even an 'excuse me' or an apology. Rosemary thought about selecting what she had been planning to buy, taking it to the counter & telling her 'this is what I was going to get. But due to your actions, I'm not.' But the clerk in question was still occupied and Rosemary didn't want to take it out on the younger clerk on the register, who had been helpful.

Gaming: Yesterday was Rosemary's game. We finished off the fight, finally. We were doing pretty good, considering that we were fighting the avatar of the god of murder. He did kill 5 of the Purple Dragon guards, alas. But Midnight did something deific and sealed him in an amber shell. We don't know how long it will last so we booked it out of the castle. The Lord of High Horn offered to make any of us members of his personal guard of the Purple Dragons. Guess who took him up on it? That's right, the half-drow cleric/fighter. Amber will never take the prestige class (for one thing, she's chaotic) but she rides openly as a half-drow now. That Purple Dragon tunic, sword, helmet & other accoutrement really catches the eye. In addition, she keeps the writ that the Lord wrote, vouching for her by specific description, close at hand.

My stomach's bothering me again. I don't know why. It's more drawn out than the usual issues I have. Also less painful. Just as annoying.

books: I read Princess of Wands & then loaned it to Chris. it's so refreshing to see a fantasy in which the heroine is strongly, devoutly Christian without being either preachy or Bible Thumper. She tries to Witness by example, by being the best person she can be. I find that quite admirable. While I don't agree with her on some matters, I respect the depth of her faith & feelings.

Today I finished re-reading Blame It On Cupid (must remember to write author).

clothes: Saturday it was bright mottled blue t-shirt with fancy bird & quasi-Chinese knotwork, blue jeans, tennis shoes, lapis earrings, silver chain with paui shell pendant & lapis ring. I kept my hair braided due to the wind, but used one of my Bronze Jeweler clips at the top of the braid.

Sunday I wore dark night sky & woman t-shirt, blue jeans, loafers, flannel shirt, feather & quartz chip earrings, rune pendant (black cord), & same hairstyle.

Today it's my newly mended black ankle boot/shoes (we picked them up on Saturday before we left, not cheap but worth it), black jeans, new black belt, clip watch (again), onyx earrings, dark sage green rayon shirt embroidered with leaves & flowers on the chest, labradorite pendant, black stone ring paired with ~rope band & hematite ring. I was wearing my hair up with 2 chopsticks but I started getting a headache.