SCA: Making Mustard Medieval Style

We learned to make mustard medieval style. The class was taught for our local Society for Creative Anachronism branch by one of our members who plans to teach this class at events. Really good class–and good for kids too! Our class used brown and white mustard seeds, a choice of vinegars, herbs to add flavor if desired, water, sugar or honey to sweeten, and a mortar and pestle to grind up the seeds. It ages on the counter for days or weeks, developing its flavor and mellowing. My effort used apple cider vinegar, honey, 2/3 white mustard seeds, 1/3 brown … Continue reading

Apology for my lack of posting

I note that I am neglecting my blogs, there are several reasons, all due to being quite busy!  I attended a Society for Creative Anachronism event called Gulf Wars in March, which was a blast. I also decided a few months back to begin updating my skills in puppetry and add ventriloquism to what I knew. It seems there are now some excellent resources for ventriloquism online, so this has been a great boon to me. AND I have been working on ONE song playing it on each of my autoharps in an attempt to learn to play something.  I … Continue reading

Links Page for Beyond Appearances Home School Co-op Presentation

Lovely Garb Links for recreating historical clothing: FABRIC TO INSPIRE: SARTOR:  Reference page to see fabrics recreated from archeological finds. Currently, they have a Viking fabric in polyester and rayon that could be trim. But this is more for reference as these fabrics (especially the silks) are very costly. LINEN:  The ILO19 is a nice weight and good for our climate. The price is reasonable for linen and they run daily sales. WOOL: absolutely period, for every region of the world, for every part of the period you are studying. Every person at every economic level would have had garments … Continue reading

Eight things I learned at Bordermarch Autumn Melees 2013

My first SCA camping event was wet cold and fun. I didn’t know what to expect really, the wait for hubby to finish redoing the RV so I could use it did not go well so I purchased a tent, cot, and other needed items and went camping. I am very glad to have done so and learned a lot about camping. First, if you have a back problem– WAIT for the guys to unload the heavy stuff for you. I wanted to get it done so I unloaded one too many things myself and paid for it with pain … Continue reading

SCA: Common Sense Authenticity

Where do you fall on the spectrum between the creative in “creative anachronism” and historical accuracy when playing in the SCA?  I fall into the camp of doing the best you can with what you have. Personally, I love authenticity, and applaud those dedicated souls who spend their money and put in hours using historically accurate materials and methods to make historically accurate “stuff”.  I’m nowhere near that standard but it is an ideal toward which I gradually move. Still all the historical accuracy in the world MUST be balanced by common sense! HEALTH and SAFETY Glasses are safety, we … Continue reading

SCA: Ancient Hairstyles

The Hair Archeology of Janet Stephens delights even as it enlightens. I learned of her through a post on facebook, and then a reference to her youtube videos. I am now a FAN!  I love my long hair, and these are all simply stunning hairstyles using long hair.  I’ve included one of her videos but there are quite a few others. Enjoy! . I would be thrilled to have someone who could sew my hair into such intricate and lovely styles.  Meanwhile, I shall continue to be content with a twist and a modern clip. Dear Lord, thank You for … Continue reading

Home Education: Teaching History

Teaching History in a Home School setting can be a challenge, especially when we are faced with teaching ages 11 and up through High School. Most of us learned what little history we know from textbooks that sucked the life out of the stories and bored us nearly to death. A few of us were fortunate enough to run across writers of histories who are anything BUT boring. Historians like Dr. Warren Carroll whose books (like the very short 1917, Isabella, and Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Conquest of Darkness, and the heavy duty Christendom series) challenged and delighted … Continue reading

Great Weight Write-off Check In Feb. 16, 2013

Great Weight Write-off Check-In time!! pull up a mug of coffee and join in. This week was a net loss of weight!  YAY!!  I am now the lowest weight so far– and I feel very good about that!  Further, healing from my car wreck last December is progressing and the pain levels are coming down so I asked the doctor’s opinion on my returning to driving my own vehicle. Well, my doctor suggested it is now time to test my healing tissues by returning to more of my favorite physical activities. This week, I hope to add at least one … Continue reading

Arts and Sciences: SCA

I fairly commonly go on about the fun I have in the Society for Creative Anachronism.  My favorite part, that dovetails with my love of history and my interest in learning enough to live and breath and write in my chosen time period, is the Arts and Sciences competitions.  I find such things very exciting and am eagerly working toward the day when I am able to compete. This years Kingdom Arts and Sciences competition, for our Kingdom, took place last weekend.  I could not go but a good soul (THANK YOU) filmed the exhibits and the announcement of who … Continue reading

Ice and Fire Crown Tournament January 12, 2013

Ice and Fire Crown Tournament is a big Society for Creative Anachronism event for Ansteorra, hosted this year by the Shire of the Shadowlands.  I attended, had a lot of fun, and participated by helping to prepare all the food for the Soup Kitchen we set up for lunch for what may have been around 150 people or so. [official count 206 persons attended the event!] The cooking started in December.  I prepared the base for the beef stew and had planned to take it to a work day at Isabelot de Florin’s house but had a wreck that morning. … Continue reading