We had a gorgeous storm tonight that brought us some much-needed rain. Even though it wasn’t a lot, we are thrilled and thankful.

Bear and I have been working flat strap the last few days getting ready to head to St. Ives (near Sydney) for the St. Ives Medieval Faire. It’s a new event for us and we’re delighted to experience medieval camping in a new way. Instead of going as our usual Blackwolf Bedouin encampment, we’re joining the Templars as a pilgrim (me) and combatants (Bear and our friend, Adam).

As much as I love our encampment, and I really, really do, I’m excited to see how the Templars live, camp, and eat. We’ve been getting to know them over the last few months and they’re such a hilarious and jolly bunch.

I’m wearing new garb for this event too. Gone is my Finnish dress and in its place is the garb of a woman on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I must say it’s rather fun to embody a new persona, if only for a weekend, and I look forward to grilling our Templar friends to learn more about what life would have been like for “me” during the Crusades.

In order to go adventuring for four days, Bear and I have been working hard to get the gardens and orchards watered and mulched, and all the feed, water, and shade ready for our animals so our lovely caretakers don’t have anything to worry about. They do such a good job keeping an eye on our house, property, and animals while we’re gone, and we like to make things as easy as possible for them.

I’m sure looking forward to this getaway with both new and old friends.

Now it’s time to finish packing and get all the food together. I’ve got homemade oatmeal raisin cookies, dried apples, dates, nuts, seeds, bread rolls, double-smoked ham, Croatian salami, and frozen bottles of our fresh-pressed apple juice. I think we’re almost ready.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend! xo