Amazing. Totally Amazing.

You know, I revamped all my Pennsic planning and packing last year with the hopes of simplifying things, but somehow I didn't think it had worked out so well. For one thing, part of the scheme involved making sure things were all put away properly after Pennsic - but since I had such a crappy Pennsic, and we had Biblical-proportion rains and everything got wet, and I came home in such a bad mood, I thought I hadn't packed everything up the way I'd wanted to. I just didn't expect the scheme to work out very well.

Apparently it did. I have never, ever had such an easy time getting to Pennsic or such an easy and relaxing set-up weekend as this one.

Usually the week before Pennsic is a flurry of activity, scrambling around trying to find things and pack. I used to have a 'staging area' where I'd begin stacking stuff that had to be packed, either on my porch or in my garage, and it would be a mess for a week before-hand; then I'd spend hours trying to fit it all in the truck.

This year I did almost nothing the week leading up to the first weekend. I decided not to go out till Sunday, and when it came time to pack the truck, it took all of about 15 minutes. I just put in the totes and a couple of crates with miscellaneous stuff in, and I was done. Truly amazing.

When I got there, I set up my tent and little porch / pavilion, shoved the totes and crates in the tent, and was done. I actually had time to sit around and relax and enjoy myself. More amazing.

The only thing I did preparation-wise earlier in the week was pack my garb - it was upstairs hanging on a clothing rack, and I packed it in a giant Ziploc storage bag and tossed it in a tote. And normally I'd have spent time setting up the inside of my tent set-up weekend, but I didn't, because it had some leaks which I seriously seam sealed yesterday, plus coated the entire tent twice with Camp Dry - so I didn't want to unpack everything until it sits there through a rain or two this week and I see whether my waterproofing worked. Once I get back on site, I'll unpack and set up the inside - but I enjoy that part, so it's not like 'work' to me.

So anyway, apparently my scheme worked better than I realized, and knowing that, and seeing the fruits of last year's labors, I'm going to be more mindful of it this year when I pack up. It was well worth it.

Of course, this didn't count all the public 'camp' stuff, which is what is usually the major thorn in my side. Since Greg and I didn't go out together this year, I didn't end up hauling half the camp as well as my own personal stuff. Greg took less than usual because he only had the one truck to haul it in, which also helped make camp set-up somewhat easier than usual.

Granted, I had the supposed flurry of activity in recent weeks, but even that wasn't nearly as much as it's been known to be in the past. In the first few years, when I had little garb, and would of course wait till the last minute to make it, I'd be sewing till sometimes 11:00 or 12:00 each night in the weeks before Pennsic. I used to get exhausted and so sick of sewing. Nothing like that this year. I fixed and sewed a few things, but it was all pretty laid back and easy. I did fix the purple dress this past week, adding in the insert material.



I also pseudo-finished the pirate coat. I didn't get the embroidery anywhere near done, but I had stopped at a spot that let it kind of stand on its own for now, so I felt I could wear the coat as-is for this year. I sewed the cuffs on, hemmed it, and plan to wear it anyway, even though it has no buttons and the embroidery is only barely started.




That will eventually be a full compass rose with an outside circle and more points, and there will be a matching one on the other cuff. But I figured it looked decent enough for now to wear as is. When I come home, I'll carefully remove the cuffs so I can go back to work on their embroidery, and over the year add the other embroidery I want to do, and buttons. By next year it should be completely finished. But at least I get to wear it this year.

This week, though, is going to be busier. I have to go grocery shopping for all my food for next week (except the stuff I already cooked) and for Tyler's food; I have to cook up a batch of food for him; and I have to do some last minute packing of stuff I don't take till I go back to stay (books, knitting, shower stuff, etc.). And work's going to suck, since I usually have to get all caught up before I can go, but I'm so far behind this year there's no chance that'll happen, so I don't know how that's going to go over with my boss. And he's on vacation this week, which also adds to the mess at work right now. Oh well ... only four days!

And best of all, I love my little tent set-up this year! I didn't want to leave it yesterday, it's so nice. I put my pavilion / porch up in front of my tent, and it's truly perfect.


It gives me a nice shady place to hang out when I want some privacy but don't want to be cooped up inside a hot stuffy tent; it puts the side of my tent that's facing the sun in total shade, which should help keep the tent from getting as hot in the first place; and it's just a wonderfully cool place to hang out. It could use a little more esthetic appeal, but I can work on that over time -this is the first year I've tried this. I do have some pretty purple and green sheer material hanging on the sides, but it was blocking the breeze, so it's tucked up right now. This pavilion is on it's way out, it's ripping out in several places, so next year what I plan to do is salvage the frame, and use the current plastic-y pavilion top as a pattern to make a new cover for it out of canvas or duck cloth. Then I can make it more decorative and pretty. It'll be an ongoing project.

I'm seriously considering doing something similar with the tent, if I like camping in it this year and it's big enough (this is the smallest tent I've ever taken to Pennsic, only 7x9, but I needed a smaller one if I wanted to add the space of the pavilion to my camping area). If it works out and I like it, I'm seriously considering also making a canvas cover for the tent itself, to make a nice matching set-up. I figure if I'm not going to end up dropping $1300 for one of these ...

... then I'll do my best with what I have to work with. I'll call it the "White Trash Pavilion."