First Fire of the Season

The fire pit is an old dryer  tub. It has a lot of air flow,
sometimes too much. 

The great weather yesterday inspired me to get outdoors. We cooked dinner over our first outdoor fire of the season; fresh asparagus and hot italian sausages. I had to jury rig the set up but dinner came out great! We ate with our fingers. Grease everywhere! The asparagus came right out of the garden into the pot. It tasted so green and fresh. I was able to find some my camping cookware and it was even ready to use. It was a success, if how quickly it disappeared was any indication. I am ready for a wonderful summer getting my open fire cooking skills back. It had been years since I cooked anything more than a s'more over a flame so I am looking forward to it.

I used the rotisserie spit from a grill we got rid of
to hang the pot over the fire

Dinner is on the fire.

Grease flare ups get high.

Working Hard?

Well, here I go again. I'm going to try to blog more often. I have some great ideas for going forward. More articles and book reviews on topics related to both my medieval and modern interests.

I started work this weekend on a series about medieval drinks and modern equivalents. I'll be finding out more about the medieval and tasting the modern. This should start this week. Weekends as beautiful as this past one was perfect to sit in the yard and have a tasting! I'll need some beer and wine drinkers to help out as I go, so my friends, feel free to volunteer!

I'm also working on pilgrim's bags for the store. I'll post some pics here as I work on a medieval looking design for modern and reenacting use.

Today is too beautiful to stay inside, so off I go to the garden!

Experiments in blogging

Lately, I've been trying out new types of posts. Book reviews, pointing to interesting things on the web, this stuff is new to me.  I'm trying to find the voice I want to write and you want to read. If there is something specific you want to hear more about, let me know. If you have some feedback, I'd love to hear it!

Medieval Bartertown Rocks!

I have been a member of the Facebook group Medieval Bartertown for a while now. I never had the nerve to join in until just recently. I have finished my first barter and am just waiting for the US postal service to deliver my new goodies for the other. 

I bartered Sara this silver necklace for the lovely rust/burnt orange linen. I also bartered Helaine a Scottish themed knife for some natural colored linen. The post office still has the natural linen.

I am thrilled with how this all went and am looking forward to bartering again. Its nice to know that I can get great stuff for other great stuff I'm just not using!

Medieval Bartertown is a closed group. If you are interested in medieval reenactment, its a wonderful resource for gear, inspiration and camaraderie.

Silver Celtic Seahorse Necklace

Rust/ Burnt Orange Fabric

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Scottish Themed Knife (photo by Helaine)

Book Review: The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England

I just read a great book by Ian Mortimer. The book is  The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England.  It's subtitled A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century and Ian delivers. He writes in a conversational style that we wish for in many guidebooks. Fourteenth century England comes alive as a country you may want to visit. He covers all the items you may need if you suddenly have access to a time machine. With chapters on the landscape, people, what to wear, traveling, the law and more the past, this book is based on excellent research on the time period. I look forward to reading the rest of the series as well as his other history books. I just got an email from my library saying one is in. I'll talk about that one next week.

Food in Medieval Sicily

A fellow group member on Facebook has had her article picked up by Medievalist.net. Congratulations to Christine Truelove! Medievalist.net is a great resource for those studying the Medieval eras. They take articles published throughout the web and make them available in one place. I will be reposting their articles to highlight great research and interesting ideas. Please take the time to read this article on Food in Medieval Sicily.  The comments on raw onions from period sources are wonderful. They thought peoples brains were addled from eating raw food. But don't read what I have to say, read the expert.

Live on Etsy!

JustGwen is live!!! I made the decision and dove right in. I opened my Etsy store last weekend. It's filling up nicely with my stash of finished items and vintage patterns.  I hope to begin putting more of my current work soon. I wanted to get my completed pieces up while I still had the gumption. Please click over and take a look. I have been getting new items up every day or so. I've set up a coupon code for those who read this blog. Until October 20th, enter JGLive in the coupon code for a 10% discount on any item over $5! Just click here to get started!