Let The Countdown Begin!

[Trillium]

not quite sure what happened but...
I think today is 2 days!!

[KiltedPrivateer]

According to the official time keeper
It is 1 day, 18 hours, 44 minutes
until Saturday, October 8, 2022 at 9:00:00 am (Conroe time)

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/to?msg=TRF%202022&p0=5007&year=2022&month=10&day=8&hour=9&min=0&sec=0&fromtheme=generic

[KiltedPrivateer]

TOMORROW, TOMORROW
TRF is Tomorrow

I hope you have a great weekend Keeper

[Trillium]

24 hrs and 20 minutes!! Enjoy the weekend!

[Trillium]

KABOOM!!
HUZZAH!!!

[KiltedPrivateer]

Huzzah

[Sir Martin]

Huzzah and best wishes to all.  Not sure what weekend I will attend yet, but will let you know and if any of you are there we can raise a toast!

[KeeperoftheBar]

Opening day TRF 2022.  My critique.  Note, this is my and only my opinion.  I couldn't see everything and what I did see may be different than others.  And as I have been attending TRF for over 30 years, I may be prejudiced by missing the "good old days", when I was younger.
They have redone the front courtyard outside the gate removing those teeth shaking (on StudMuffin) cobbles.  Very smooth but somehow seems less period.  Statue of "King George" should probably be inside the gate as vandals may have a heyday with it.  Opening ceremony seemed less than usual with fewer spectators but that is because so many were already in line (stretching out to the parking area) for admission.  The cannon seemed to catch almost everyone by surprise.  But once the gates opened people flowed in quickly.  Immediate sad moment was not seeing Sholo in his usual spot, but I know he is in the halls of Valhalla.
We checked out the new "Thirsty Pirate Pub".  My impression, a great place to attract "danes, but does not yet have the character of The Sea Devil or even the Barbarian Inn.  Alas, this is another place with an upstairs that StudMuffin and I will not be able to visit.  They have a stage alongside with many tables and misters overhead.  Good place on a hot day but I doubt I will visit often.  This pub replaced the Mint & printing press exhibit which disappoints me. 
The grounds were in good shape for opening day.  They spread pea gravel in some low and muddy places that over time I hope gets packed in.  StudMuffin got stuck a couple of times because of it but Lord Mongo was right there to assist.   I didn't notice the cast in the lanes as much as they were years gone by but possibly, I just kept missing them.
For such a fine sunny day, I thought attendance was down.  Many mundanes but fewer people in garb, probably due to the pricing fiasco.  Which may be what the Management wants.  'Danes spend more in their one visit, but Regulars spend more in their usual multiple visits.   I have heard that the campgrounds particularly were less attended, but I didn't make it out there to see.
Prices for food & beverage came as a shock, even more than I expected.  Up anywhere from 25-100%  I can't comment on prices for goods as after 30+ years, there is little I want to buy.
One thing that saddened me was the lack of old friends and acquaintances in attendance.  I know many are boycotting TRF this season to demonstrate displeasure with many of the price changes.  I myself chose not to camp for opening for the first time in over 10 years.  But it made the few friends I did meet all the more special. (Hi Zaubon, Dennis & Hector".)
All in all, I will continue to attend TRF but I shall begin to do most of my eating & drinking in the campground (when I camp) and I will likely cut back on my usual 3 -4 visits a year.  I realize TRF is a business but this year, it seems to me, that they are removing anything educational or entertaining (for free) and replacing it with money making enterprises.  For example, the May pole, the Battle Mound, the SCA pavilion. The Mint, the artillery display and the number of shows on each stage.  To be fair, only the Mint disappeared this year.  The rest were in years gone by.
Just my opinion...

[KiltedPrivateer]

Thank you for the excellent update Keeper. Glad you had a good time. My hope is that the laws of supply and demand will eventually balance things out. Time will tell.

That said, roughly 363 days till TRF '23 😁

[Sir Martin]

Thank you for your observations, Keeper.

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

*Door creaks open*

Hmmm

*Rolls into room

KEEPER...KP...you left dust in the corners!

Good day and well met, surviving R/F members!  Tis I, your wayward brother, Fraser!

SURPRISE, MoFos!

[KiltedPrivateer]

FRASER!!
So glad to see ya back on the interwebs. Hope you're healing up well. Also hope to get to get to see ya in person in the not too distant future.

[Trillium]

Huzzah!! Fraser is back!!!

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

"Here we are, born to be kings...we're the princes of the universe..."

Like a freaking Phoenix, I arise from the ashes of my former self. 

When the doctors cut open my skull, the doctors got a surprise, which isn't good when you have the base of a man's skull open.  You know it's bad when the top neurological team, at Methodist, doesn't know what they are looking at.  I'm that guy.   Three angioplasties and two 10 hour open skull surgeries later, I found out how rare a condition I had.  A self healing inter-cranial aneurism, who's scar tissue attached to the brain stem & spinal column.  Nasty little space invader had worked it's way inside C-1 and crushed my spinal cord down to the diameter of a dime, if not smaller.  This, unfortunately, was just the beginning of my journey to Hell and back.
I started having breathing issues but no one was getting what I was trying to say.  After three days in ICU I was moved to a normal room...only to be back in ICU four hours later with pneumonia, a collapsed lung and a 41% blockage of the other lung.  This is where the Hell really kicked in.  They vacuumed out my lung and re-inflated the other one BUT unknown to them, I was awake during the procedure...and then on a ventilator for three days.  Being strapped to a table, unable to move your head, with the only thing to look at being a clock...*shudders*...yeah.

A month in Methodist/Kindred and another month in Encompass rehab, I came home, determined to finish my rehab there.

I'm in no way done healing...the little IT guy, in my head,  is still re-wiring my hard drive but in recent weeks I've been making good progress.  I can do some walking, using a hemi walker and I've learned to run over feet in my wheelchair.

I've gotten to the point where I'll be at TRF for AHE...camping with my clan and sleeping in my brother Nasty's new trailer.  I'm not going into Faire...I'm there for the people that I know and care about.

It might be the kind of healing I may need...healing of my soul.

Thank you for the prayers and strength sent...I don't know how I made it but I did.  My neurologist told me that there have only been a thousand cases, worldwide, and I was one of few that survived it.

KP...Keeper...Trill...thank you for not letting this little thread die out.  I appreciate it. 

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

Oh, yes...btw...the final Nasty Fraser TRF Loki flavor is...

White chocolate raspberry...and it's freaking outstanding