Coronation

As soon as we knew that our most awesome of friends Prothall and Cecilia had won crown we also knew we'd be heading up to Sweden in January for the coronation. It booked out fast. We managed to get my apprentice, Ailitha to come and the decision was to all drive up together. She arrived the day before and then on Friday, after manic packing on my part for 2 days straight Marcus can home from work and at 3pm we packed the car and got on the go.

Usually I take pictures of this but I stuffed the camera in a different bag. Oops.
We drove up to Puttgarten and got on the ferry to Rödby right away so that meant no break in the journey then drove through Denmark up to Copenhagen and over the massive bridge. In difference to the last time we drove up the Sweden for a coronation it was mild and mostly just a bit drizzley not a raging blizzard. We still managed to get lost.

We arrived on site sometime after 9pm and after the 1st round of hugs found our respective rooms and started the unpacking process.  Our awesome room mates rearranged  their bedding so that I could have a bottom bunk and Marcus could sleep on the top one over me. ( thank you) Once dressed in Garb it was off to another time and space.

Friday was about presents. The first one was the tablet weaving starter kit from Mervi ( who is co author on a fantastic book about it applesies-and-fox-noses) and to my delight and surprise this included a copy of this very book which is awesome and then Mistress Katheryn gave me her tablet weaving loom. The generosity of my friends is always astonishing to me, I don't ever expect presents but it's wonderful when that happens.

Later on Sir Gilliam brought me a bottle of his amazing mead ( Dark Side mead complete with the appropriate pictures on the lable) and I told him I'd have to get him back, he said that's okay because I was doing his scroll, bwahahahaha I just smiled and said yeah some time... knowing full well that I had finished his long awaited knighting scroll and that he'd get it at the event but he did not know this. The mead will come with us to Feast of fools. He also introduced me to my evil twin. He regrets this. We sat in a delightful round with people we'd never met before and some we don't get to see very often and had a great chat until we decided it was time to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Marcus in his new viking garb

Saturday's highlights were breakfast, court at which we had great seats so I could take photos of the Knighting ceremony and stuff! becoming Queen's Companion and being given a key to the "royal room". lunch, Hanging out with great people, getting an amazing lesson in tablet weaving from Katheryn, the realisation that I understand a HELL of a lot of Swedish even if I can't speak it. The duchy party, conversations about cats, then sitting with the best people at feast and laughing so hard through almost all of it that people thought we were "on something".  SALMON...don't touch the salmon. Chocolate mintu, conversations about everything, meeting more new to me people. Eventually I ended up quietly slinking off to sit with HRM and make tea in the lateness and chat until we were so tired neither of us could do more than yawn. I slept very well.

Sunday I was up early so toddled down to sit in the breakfast room and munch on yummy pancakes and drink coffee and chat with Mary which was lovely. As more people awoke and came in the conversation expanded and was awesome...eventually the husband and minion joined us. After that it was time to pack and slowly make our goodbyes. 

On the way down to the bridge we decided to eat on the way maybe stopping in Malmö and I remembered that Cecilia and Prothall had planned to meet up with some folks there and have lunch so a quick phone cal later we had lunch plans in Malmö. After much confusion with the parking ticket thingy we found everyone in the train station and had a fantastic lunch  which sort of extended the event, after watching Russia score the 1st goal in the bronze game of the juniors we hit the road for home. Caught the ferry with plenty of time, purchased chocolate mintu and then made it home where we proceeded to flop on the couch and watch Alias.

Today we had an easy start, ate a big brunch and watched Despicable Me 2 with minion#1 and then she also hit the road to go home. Soon it will be back to reality with a bump.

 It was a brilliant event and I really want to say THANK YOU to all the people who worked their asses off to make it so wonderful.