martelvonc

I have come to realize that when you shoot archery you are sometimes required to search for your ammo in some less than desirable places...

poison ivy patches
under logs
deep brush or forest clutter

At practice a couple of weeks ago I saw one of the guys use a branch to scrape on the ground looking for arrows.

EUREKA!

Yesterday I made myself 1, and the barony 3, arrow finders.
Dowel rods with screw in hooks on the end.

Now we can move brush and scrape the grass looking for arrows without the extra thrill of a bad rash, snake bite, or a spider bite, in a couple of hours.

And maybe, just maybe, we'll find some more arrows.

(hey, I'm a Laurel, I MAKE things) :-)

No really,
after 2 years I was finally able to shoot 3 royal rounds so I could be classified for the first time. Boy, do I need to practice my consistency-

My scores were a 22, a 24 and a 40! For an average of 28.67
Sheesh. I had arrows all over the place!

I've been shooting at various archery events. I even posted a score for the Inter-kingdom Winter Archery Challenge- I came in at 196/319. But until today I was still technically a "Novice". No more! My average will allow me to be classified as an "Archer" with a re-curve bow.

My weaknesses are-
*timed shoots, (I need to practice getting the arrows on to my bow in a timely manner)
*keeping my inner arm out of the way,
*very close targets 12 feet away or so (crazy but true) and
*clout shoots (I'm not tipping back on my hip far enough to get distance).
I hope these will improve with more practice.

I tried aversion therapy with my arm today by not wearing my arm guard for the first half of practice. A bare arm will teach you to keep it outta' the way or risk getting stung! I got slapped twice and they were lessons learned.

Archery is wicked fun and challenging. It gets me out of the house and into the fresh air. It also allows me to do another activity with another group of my barony members. It's a win win situation!

Sharks are not my friends and neither are trap pigeons...just sayin'

Remember how, like, I was being virtuous and Laurely like, and stuff?
The hand sewing and the repairing and the projects?

Well, I fell off the wagon last weekend.

It all started...
When we went down to the Outer Banks,
AND the ONLY knitting store was still in business,
AND the Knight was willing to let me wander in there to my hearts content,
(bless you free wi-fi, a fancy I-Pod touch, and a comfy chair he could sit in)
AND they were selling this cute little pattern for a cute little bag purse,
AND they were selling the yarn to make the cute little bag purse,
AND they had the knitting needles I needed to start the cute little bag purse.

I couldn't just LEAVE it there now could I?

What?

I did make one SCA related project this week. I made myself an arrow mop in my heraldic colors. After shooting in the down pour rain at the Barony of Lochmere investiture last fall and having no where to clean my arrows of the gawd awful mud except to wipe them off with my hand, I decided to make myself one of those useful gee-gaws. Not historically accurate but useful none the less.

So there, I can look at chickens if I like....