(no subject)

Nothing to report today.

I hurt, with my usual post-work aches and pains (if you find your genie in a bottle and wish for long life, be very certain that it is not a life plagued by chronic illness).

I put away about thirty of the books lying round and have most of them to go. I've still got one and a half books to read for the Aurealis awards and really, really need to finish them because there will be more next week.

I also ought to work. Not sure I know what work is. All I know is that I do a little of anything and then find myself asleep. I wake up with a headache and stretch and stuff then find myself asleep again. I think the trick of doing too much at an SF convention is not to have the SF convention finish during the most allergic days of Spring.

At least I put some books away. There is now enough space on my couch for two people to sit as long as they don't lean back. I just found a picture of that self-same couch on Trudi's blog, if anyone wants to admire my Anatolian kilim and the company it keeps.

The Grand Tour

I was so busy grouching, I forgot the announcement.

I've talked about this before, but now it's bookable. This tour is particularly targeted at those who want to ask unlimited questions, get access to my research (the Beast!!!), walk Medieval places and learn how they operated. Elizabeth Chadwick will have lunch with us one day (all going well) and I plan to hit with learning intent museums and old walls and a whole bunch of other places . Also, you'll have time to write and to enjoy food. I can't imagine any tour led by me not having a foodie element or being terribly physically strenuous. You don't have to be Australian to do this tour (why it starts in York - you can come from anywhere).

England for time travellers: a writers’ excursion to Medieval England
Led by Gillian Polack
14 days (ex York, England), 6-19 July 2008

Do you write (or want to write) fiction using the Middle Ages? Join Gillian in York and London in 2008. There will be seminars and excursions to learn about the Middle Ages, plus time for writing and having fun. The tour leader is Dr Gillian Polack, Medieval historian, historical fiction adviser and fiction writer.

Travel arranged through Active Travel Pty Ltd.
ACT Licence No. 18800213
Phone: (02) 6249 6122 (Martine Chaytow)
Fax: (02) 6249 6788
Email: Martine@Activetravel.com.au

Day 1
Tour guests meet at tour group hotel.
Day 1 to Day 10:
The days in York will be structured and designed by Gillian Polack. They will include visits to major sites and museums, lectures on key Medieval topics, private consultation time with Gillian and time out to enjoy the city. York will also serve as a base for travel by rail to other English towns (probably Lincoln, Durham and Derby).

Day 11 to Day 13:
Travel from York to London. Included in the London itinerary is a Medieval Banquet and Globe
Theatre show (subject to availability). The London segment of the tour will focus on understanding Medieval London.

Day 14:
Tour finishes in London, tour guests will make their own way to the airport for their onward flights.

Price per person twin share: Approx. $5635.00 (Land Only)
Single supplement: $735.00
Price includes:
- Arrival transfer in London only (day 11)
- 13 nights accommodation on a twin share basis
- Breakfast daily
- 1 Pub dinner in London
- 1 Medieval Banquet dinner
- 1 Pub dinner in York
- Globe Theatre performance (Subject to availability)
- 2 day London Pass
- 3 day York Pass
- 3 day London Travelcard Zones 1 & 2
- 4 day England ONLY rail pass (Second class)

IMPORTANT: A $400 non-refundable deposit is required to secure your booking. The closing date for the receipt of deposits is 30 November 2007 and should accompany the booking form. If the booking form isn't on Active Travel's website, then give me an email address and I'll send it to you.

PS If you don't know about The Beast, it's a draft manual comprising several years work by a small team on the Middle Ages (mainly France and England) for writers. It covers a vast array of topics and everyone who has had access to it has complained madly that it isn't in print. When I get enough income in a year I plan to move it forward, but until then other things must take precedence. This will be its main excursion outside Canberra next year.

Regency Gothic Banquet

Another update.

Wait 12 hours and all the recipes used for the Regency Gothic Banquet will be available here In fact, all except four desserts are up there already.

I'd love to hear what you think of the recipes.

We started with four thousand pages of cookbook and twenty-five volunteers and this is the last little bit to finish. Thank you so much, everyone who shared the experience, whether it was by testing or tasting or helping with shopping or turning up to eat on the night. It's been awesome and wonderful.

I am now going on a diet. Eight months of food from the South of England in the early nineteenth century has made my waistline look very prosperous. (OK, so quite a bit of the waistline is metabolic disorder, but the sentence sounded good.)