"hello, this is your biggest fan calling"

I got a call this morning from Kees de Kok, that photografer who has been wanting to take my picture ever since the Elf Fantasy Fair. We still feature a picture of his on the Dolle Griet website (here, to be precise). He does some great work when it comes to photography. His e-mails are a bit too fanboi-ish though.
He was nice on the phone and we talked for a while. He still wants to do pictures, and had browsed my web pages frantically. I decided I wanted to take him up on his offer, providing NoKey would accompany me at the very least. Ragar is invited too. We are now still looking for a good location, indoor or outdoors. I don't particularly mind changing clothes in the middle of a forest, I'm a larper after all. But I'd like to have NoKey and his 14 years of experience at taijutsu at my side.

In other news, NoKey will go see the doc this afternoon. My mother diagnosed him with bronchitis, and after last night's coughing drama I'm not so sure it isn't pneumonia. But Doc will know.

Tonight, Malor and JW will come over for coffee. Am much looking forward to that, even if yesterday was very busy. sjuuls and her two very energetic (to say the least) kids came over. Lotte is in her princess phase and just hands me whatever she wants to get rid of just like I'm her maid, and demands mints or whatever candy there is around. Sjuuls has nice kids, but they get under my skin after about 10 minutes (5 if they're bouncy). I'm just not a kids person.
After 50 minutes of Julliette and her kids, steelweaver arrived, and I made her tea. Then Eagle, Juul's husband, came to pick up Wolf. Juul had to leave around oneish, so she turned out not to be able to do very much, but the lockmachine was tested and approved of. The pattern pieces she had cut were assembled in no time, and it looked good already. Steelweaver had to tie up some cardboard box induced errors in her group assignment and was working on my computer, which for the occasion was granted to reboot in Windows.

After Juul went to work, Steelweaver and I worked on our clothing, while NoKey baked bread. My 1880s top turned out not to be made for real women, after all, real women don't have shoulders. I'd like to see an American woman, size 22, with those kinds of shoulders. The top was a disaster for me in any case, and the (american-made) pattern will have to be adapted. I can still make a bodice pattern that will fit me, a woman as real as women get, with real hips you can carry laundry-baskets on, and real shoulders ready to bump you out of the way. I'm very historically correct when it comes to that.
The skirt was good though, and because it needs to be gathered at the back it will fit perfectly over my coffee serving tray butt-cushion. The fabric is still nice, but unwashable.
I found out Jennifer Thompson of A Festive Attyre (I mentioned her in a post earlier this week), is also working on a 1875 dress. I can match my progress to hers, though hers is much more professional, and she doesn't buy patterns but makes them herself.

After five, my mother and older cousin Gea dropped in for a pit stop of tea and freshly baked bread. I showed Gea the appartment, and told her about all the dresses we made. She seemed impressed.
When they left, Steelweaver also put on her shoes. NoKey and I brought her to the subway and then walked to the pizzeria, where we got two pizzas. We ate them while recovering from all the visitors (the cats shared a basket toghether (which they never would dare admit were they feeling good) because of those millions of strangers we had and those THOUSANDS of kids that came over); we watched Disneys Hercules "Honey, you mean HUNKulese! Ohooo, I'd like to make some sweet music with him....". Hades RULES! After that we read some more of Kushiels Dart until the very big CHANGE in the book. We're loving it to bits. It was a very good gift, and I'm reading NoKey all of it, a chapter or three a night. Thanks to voltar and his girlfriend sjiva