Steampunk at the Strathern
I didn’t even know this was a thing until we saw this small sign outside a Hobby Lobby in Simi Valley on September 22nd. It was only two weeks to the event, and me being into steampunk – and writing it – we decided to go. 
The Strathern is an historical park and a museum in Simi Valley https://www.simihistory.com/, which made it perfect for a steampunk event. It’s on an historical site, El Rancho Simi, which I guess is where Simi Valley gets its name. 
We went on October 4th, the day after we went to Oktoberfest in Ventura. The venue was smaller, but had a lot of interesting things. A model T and a model A cars were driving around. Not expecting them, I didn’t have my camera ready to take any pictures.
One of the first things we encountered was three spinsters – three ladies spinning wool into yarn. They explained the process and the different wools used; sheep’s wool, alpaca wool and even yak’s wool. They also had samples of spun silk, which is very soft.
There was a booth there that was part of an airship society, and had some models of steampunk ray guns.
On site at the Strathern is a building with ancient wagons are on display and a working forge. There was also a blacksmith there that was doing demonstrations and explaining various tools and techniques of blacksmithing. Kristine asked him a lot of questions pertaining to the techniques as two of her characters in her own series of stories are blacksmiths and she wanted to get a feel for what was accurate about the trade and what wasn’t.
For visitors, like myself, he was making swords out of nails. That was the best souvenir from the event that I got. 
There were also a number of vendors that were all in Victorian costume.
This gentleman and his wife were selling their books and fruit preserves that they make. I thought he looked familiar and he confirmed that he and his wife have been to Gaslight Gathering in San Diego. That’s probably where I’ve seen him before. We went there a few years ago and had a splendidly great time. After sitting in as many panels as we could, my butt was really hurting from those hotel chairs. I bought his first book and am just starting to read it.
Steampunk at that Strathern was a small event, much smaller than the previous day’s Oktoberfest, but I enjoyed it more that Oktoberfest. While not a foodie adventure, it was full of interesting things to see and people to talk to. And, again, in my field of steampunk. We learned that the spinners and the blacksmith are from the Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park. https://stagecoachinnmuseum.com/ That’s another place I will have to go to and visit.
The weather was 99 degrees and it was an outside event. Because of that, we didn’t stay long, about an hour and a half, but it was the best hour and a half of the weekend. I definitely want to go back next year. Hopefully the weather will be cooler.
Dennis
343rd blog completed.
First Steampunk novel: 76,285 words. Reconstruction complete. In final spell check and edit.
Second Steampunk novel: 18,234 words. Will need to be reconstructed.
First Steampunk screenplay: Will need to be retrieved from backup and updated.
Second Steampunk screenplay: 158 pages. Will need to be retrieved from backup and updated.
Third Steampunk screenplay: 38 pages. Will need to be reconstructed.
Yesterday, I started on my 17th gallon of blood donations. If a chicken like me can do it, so can you. 
And you can do it at the upcoming Loscon, the Los Angeles Science Fiction and Fantasy convention coming up this Thanksgiving weekend. https://loscon.org/
Buy the way, that’s not me signaling, “hang lose”. That’s me signaling starting my 17th gallon. That’s 17 in binary, 10001. Yes, I’m a nerd.
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