Stimpzilla's Renaissance Dress Blog

Yes! We actually have electricity! Yippee! Happy Dance!

The saga included such fun as, the power man showed up at about 7 at night. He shined his flashlight and Jim noticed it out back. We ran outside not believing still that anything would get done. But the power man said he was on it.

Then came the bad part, some people's cars were parked in a way that blocked him from reaching the transformer. The dozen or so of us outside were not daunted. The Power Man said he would come back before midnight! We magically tracked down the owners of the cars and they moved them. Parking is scarce here so they were very nice. We were happy because we did not want to have the cars towed and thereby cost the owners money.

Then we built a little barricade and blocked the spaces with our bodies. We sat and drank sodas and waited. Q drove around on his scooter trying to find the Power Man again. Low and behold about two and one half hours later, the Power Man arrived in his glorious chariot. He jumped into the back and rose up into the air like Apollo ascending to Mount Olympus and replaced the transformer! There was a flash of light, most likely a tree branch singing and we were lit!

We all performed the FPL (Florida Power and Light) cheer that we made up several hurricanes back. Then we bowed down to his great power. Then went home and turned on lights, TV and computers. Life is good!

We forgot to add that IF you emailed us and did not get a reply there were server problems due presumably to the storm. So, please email back!

Thanks for you understanding!

YIKES!!!!!!!!

Well we still do not have any electricity..........We may not have it for weeks......BUT the gowns are all safe, the silk is safe, the machines are safe, and we should have another place to sew soon. We will need gas to get there though so that should be avalible in a couple of days. There is gas now but i would run out of gas trying to get more...I didn't fill up before the storm because of a ratty looking fan belt, I figured it would break any second but it really wasn't that bad and I should have. Anyway......No windows blew out. It only took three days to clean up the yard, and the air is still cool enough to make sleeping possible. The roof is intact. We were very lucky....

Trees have fallen everywhere, cars are crushed, glass is everywhere. Most people's dogs are happy becasue there is nothing to do but walk your dog. We don't have a dog, so we sit outside petting everyone's dog. Oh and we stepped in some dog poop which was not fun.

A very special thanks to My Muse , Queen Of the Silk Whores, for posting information. And thanks for all your emails asking how we are.

Also John Percy, who is in fact not imaginary is doing well also. Though he did hide in the closet when the winds really picked up. He is spending his days fetching ice and water. Though he is now relieved of his water duties as if today, as we no longer have to "boil water" for safe drinking.

Appologies for bad spelling. There is no spell check here, the key board saw better days in 1982 and it's sticky as heck. Also the monitor is wiggling about, but at least it's something usable! I just don't have the patience to try and re-read everything becasue the monitor is making us sea sick.

Another thing is that we have been forced to eat everything we and out neighbours had in their freezer. So we have severly pigged out, and intend to for the next few days, weeks, whatever it takes.

To the people whose clothing we are sewing, everything is safe, and we are working on the hand sewing portions. We expect everything will still be on time so no need to worry.

I'll keep trying to check in to the email every day or so and the phone is still avalible. I can get the battery charged now as lots of other people have electricty.

Stimpzilla's Muse is happy to report that our beloved Stimpzilla and her imaginary assistant, John Percy, are alive and well, but without electricity. And we are happy to report that none of our beloved silks were damaged either (which we all know is equally as important)! WHEW!!! ;D

Due to the fact that Wilma literally tore apart the area where Stimpzilla lives, she does not have access to the internet or her e-mail and has limited telephone service. During this time, she has asked me to let her faithful minions know that she will be able to access her cell phone briefly once daily. Please be patient if you are trying to reach her. If you are desperate for updates (which her muse will provide periodically here) you can reach me at ryanpattyxf@yahoo.com and I will try to get a message to her for you.

Thank goodness Horace, King of the Possums, scared the bad storm away! More later....

Well we are awaiting the hurricane once again........As if that hasn't gone on all week. At least the waiting part anyway. We can finally feel it coming in. So far so good, but we aren't expected to have the full effect, as the people on the west coast of Florida will. Still, we have battened down the hatches, and we have loads of supplies.

So..for all of you who have gowns here don't worry too much. As the usual drill goes, every thing is packed up high in plastic water proof containers. We could loose electricity so if you need to contact us, try the phone, if we don't get back to you within the day.

The List is for the Hurricane Wilma Supplies.
1. Cans of tuna. Who even knows how many we have. Every year at the beginning of hurricane season we buy some that is only for hurricanes, so we don't have to go through the "I'm freaking out at the grocery store because there are only two cans left and I'll scratch out the eyes of anyone who tries to take them before me". Then we continue to hard more and more tuna, because you just can't have enough of it and it doesn't go bad. It's all gone by the end of winter, so it's a big pile. This also goes for caned ravioli. Yes, it can get bad enough to eat cold caned ravioli.

2. Beer....A couple of cases worth of different brands.

3. Doritos, potatochips,pretzels, and cheese doodles.

4. Jack Daniels, Tequila and Rum.

5. Giant ox of batteries....Anther supply the grows larger through the hurricane season.

6. Gallons and gallons of water.

7. Reading material, newest Vanity Fair, various local weekly papers and collections of short stories

8. Couching thread...No matter how boring life gets one can always couch gold thread and be even more bored. I'm tired of couching as you can tell. I started a project that requires quite a bit of it, but the gown is coming out lovely all the same.

9. Swords are polished and stand ready in case of looting..GHz you never know...and most people will run away from you if you are brandishing old school weapons...

10. Toilet paper.....Just have to have lots of that anyway.......

11. Already prepared food includes, chicken, chili and some corned beef. Ate all the bacon already...not that it is already cooked.

12. Our Tiara. We like to wear it for important occasions and this one counts.

13. Several bottles of nail polish...It can get boring enough to re-do one's nails, over and over again when there is no electricity.

14. Almost every Saint that has a candle is represented here. In Miami Beach, we have a dollar store that sells Saint candles. They last long, and it probably doesn't hurt to have them on your side.

15. One pound of cashes, but we already ate those. Wilma is taking a long time to get here!.

16. Swimming goggles. I should think that is self explanatory.

17. First Aid kit. Includes leeches.

Well we have all the gowns and doublets we are working on safely put away in water proof containers. So if we are working on a commission for you there should be no need to worry. We have a back up plan too in the event that the hurricane decides to behave badly. Most likely we will be with out electricity and once again sitting for days on end wondering when the electricity will come back on.

In the mean time we have decided to start work on a gown for ourselves. Risking the weather with our own silks seems alright. We have been couching with copper Japan thread and there will be days of work left to do. By the time it becomes tedious, it won't matter as we will already be in that fog of time that hurricanes bring.

We also have been preparing for another round of cards later this week. We expect to win enough pearls to properly adorn our new gown, but we may want to do this over several nights, as we do not want to upset the losers. Raleigh says he will be brining some deep pockets, who should make the game fun. If he brings Dudley again though we shall have to double our usual quantities of good wine. He does know the difference. Tomorrow we shall send John Percy to the shops to acquire some.

Well we have all the gowns and doublets we are working on safely put away in water proof containers. So if we are working on a commission for you there should be no need to worry. We have a back up plan too in the event that the hurricane decides to behave badly. Most likely we will be with out electricity and once again sitting for days on end wondering when the electricity will come back on.

In the mean time we have decided to start work on a gown for ourselves. Risking the weather with our own silks seems alright. We have been couching with copper Japan thread and there will be days of work left to do. By the time it becomes tedious, it won't matter as we will already be in that fog of time that hurricanes bring.

We also have been preparing for another round of cards later this week. We expect to win enough pearls to properly adorn our new gown, but we may want to do this over several nights, as we do not want to upset the losers. Raleigh says he will be brining some deep pockets, who should make the game fun. If he brings Dudley again though we shall have to double our usual quantities of good wine. He does know the difference. Tomorrow we shall send John Percy to the shops to acquire some.

It's been back to work as usual, two gowns and a doublet are in the works. Weare also trying to get some of the ready to wear items photographed. But once again another hurricane heads in our general direction. Hopefully there will be electricity or we shall have to dress in one of our finest gowns and sew by candle light as a proper Lady would. However, we all know that we are not proper, at least when it comes to cards....

Raleigh was here earlier and drank quite a bit of wine. We we are in a pleasant mood as we have managed to purchase some fine fabrics earlier this week, so we let Raleigh win a few important hands at cards. Chris Hatton will be in town again next week and we hope that he shall make the trip safely. We enjoy his company so well, that we are even getting young John to collect some special silk for a doublet for him. We can't wait to see the surprise on his face!

We have a picture of Linda's renaissance gown to post. We think she looks fablous! The gown arrived last week at her home and she wore it to the hio Renaissance Festivle. Linda is the owner of Malachite Dragon and is vending at Ohio. She has made many beautiful pices for us, and most recently sent us a fantastic Chain Of Office to wear with our Orange Suit Of Pearls.

Linda's gown is made of black cotton, a rather extravagant fabric, but as a wealthy merchant she can afford it. The embroidery is done in various shades of wool. The sleeves are made of silk also embroidered in wool with a deep green silk interlining. Her underskirt is terra cotta silk with zardozi embroidery and gem stones set through out.

The underskit was made as a thrid one to match her green gown which Linda comissioned us to make two years ago. She has many sets of sleeves also. We throught that the black with the variety of crewel worked shades would work well with her existing wardrobe.

It's been a long time since we last posted as we went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Ooooohhh fun! Ooooh great beer for a good price!

It was a very quick trip, but most pleasant. We stayed with our dear friends Steve, Sir Black Fox and Lady Cynthia. They are wonderful hosts! And many thanks to them! As it was pirate weekend they, and Steve's children were all dressed as pirates. Lady Cynthia even made Sir Black Fox's officer's coat, and all the kid's (Kyra and Alex) clothing. Lovely picture of us below in the parking lot way before the gates opened....


We had a most wonderful time. Lady Cynthia and I roamed the faire together while Sir Black Fox's ship The Polly Dodger was commissioned. (This naturally involved Pub Crawling.) We weren't there but a few minutes and we found our friends Jay and Richard who also attend annually our home Florida Renaissance Festival, dressed as rather Dandy Pirates. And what a site! Jay also choose an orange suit! We are pictured together below.



And what a marvelous faire! Forested grounds with fixed stores made built into wondrous buildings. The Globe Theatre recreated before out very eyes! Elephants and jousting. The most delicious of foods! Jousting and long bows! Everything to make a woman happy! Including the fabulous vendors, and did we mention great beer? Oooh and very handsome jousters? Which is a whole other issue...Apparently Lady Cynthia is convinced the reason we find the jousters handsome is becasue they look like our husband!

We will fill you in more soon!