Month: April 2007

EventsLeave a comment

Second lesson

Greet Gijsberts

Second lesson – Thursday of first week.Reviewed footwork.  Did drill again. Attacks:Close range attack = straighten arm.  Right of way discussion.  Distance drill with foils and masks.  Got to poke the teacher.(I wear a size 4 mask – of 5, and an XtraSmall glove.  Big head, small hands.  Shut. Up.) Noticed during the distance drill that:1)  It’s still weird to be allowed to poke someone with a sharp object – even when you filled out paperwork and wrote a check to qualify.2)  I’m lunging already, to correct my distance judgement.  Time for… Mid range attack = straighten arm  + lunge … Continue reading Second lesson

Events1 Comment

First lesson

Greet Gijsberts

First lesson: How to hold the foil.  How to stand en garde.  Salute.  Foil taken away.First position.  Second position.  En garde. Footwork.  Advances.  Heel first, stay very level.  Keep steps the same size.Retreats.  Back foot first, try to keep L-shaped position of feet – overcross backward is Hungarian. (I pointed out that any Hungarian bad habits are totally appropriate.  Was told not to do it anyway.  But nicely.) Drill: Opponents face each other across a counted distance.  One opponent leads.  The other tries to keep the same distance.  We practice on a tiled floor with 12" tiles, which is very … Continue reading First lesson

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Greengray smocked shift

Greet Gijsberts

This shift is made of a greenygray linen, and I’m going to make it a practice version of the lovely Mary of Hapsburg gown’s shift. Stay tuned for progress. 4/14 – Major gathering breakthrough!  I (and others) wondered how the Hapsburg gown got such fine gathers.  I know how!  I’ve done it!  And it’s EASY!!! Now you want to know, don’t you.  Patience is a virtue.  (Sorry, it’s a cloudy day.) Continue reading Greengray smocked shift

ResearchLeave a comment

Albrecht Durer

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It’s no longer customary to sprinkle our speech with references to higher powers guiding our paths.  Regardless of personal belief – the more I look into my Hungarian connections, the more I find. I was researching this dress, and generally having a lot of fun reading what Web Gallery of Art had to say about the various Durer portraits, when I stumbled upon this bit of personal info: The family name `Dürer’ originated from the name of the birthplace of Albrecht the Elder’s father, since the village of Ajtó where he came from means `door’ in Hungarian and this was … Continue reading Albrecht Durer

Food1 Comment

Veg Maps – Ancient World

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From Answers.com (Start at the easiest to find, and work down.): VEG IN THE ANCIENT WORLD (Greek physician Diocles of Carystus)beet greens, mallows, sorrel, nettle, orach, iris corms, truffles, and mushrooms (archeological remains in the Fertile Crescent)cucumbers, chards, gourds, onions, garlics, leeks, melons, chickpeas, lentils, cress, kales, and sesame—both for the seeds and for the oil. Colocynth melons, which resemble small watermelons, were grown primarily for medical applications. (Phoenician traders introduced to N. Africa and S. Spain)shallots, artichokes, saffron (Egyptian papyri and tomb paintings) The most commonly mentioned vegetables were lentils, leeks, lotus, melons, gourds, garlic, asphodel (grown for its … Continue reading Veg Maps – Ancient World

Food1 Comment

Who ate what where?

Greet Gijsberts

One of the difficult questions that I thought of while sitting through cookery classes at Gulf Wars, was Has anybody made a visual summary (a MAP) of who ate what, and where? I still want an answer to this.  Particularly because I want to take advantage of millennia of human agricultural experience in solving the gastronomic and color questions – I want to know what to plant in my garden. As I’m still on a "How to Be A Gardener" high, and the Meyer lemons have finally set on my particular tree, I want more progress in the garden.  I … Continue reading Who ate what where?

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Greet’s Grandmother’s Garb

Greet Gijsberts

So here’s some new pics of garb – but it’s too early in history to be new clothes for Greet herself.  This is the version I got so many compliments on at Gulf Wars. Perhaps they’re her grandmother’s court dress – circa 1380 – which is a bit of a stretch, since Greet is twenty-five in 1520.  One of Greet’s parents must have been a  younger child in a string of siblings.  I’ve got it – it’s her paternal grandmother’s stuff.  Her, er, MY father is a younger son, and I was born in his middle age.  The clothes are … Continue reading Greet’s Grandmother’s Garb

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Mary of Hapsburg gown

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"It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can’t expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make the attempt. That’s morality, that’s religion, that’s art, that’s life." — P. Ochs Amen, Danny. This seems to be a good place to introduce my next major sewing project.  I’m going to reproduce Mary of Hapsburg’s wedding gown.  But the rural kindred, country tailor’s knockoff, in linen and wool.  It looks like this.  Or this.  Here’s another writeup. This woman has tried making … Continue reading Mary of Hapsburg gown

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Carders renewed

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I got a pair of carders for 10 bucks at the same place I got my spinning wheel.  They looked pretty beat up, but they still worked. Sort of. When I bought that pile of alpaca with Vegetable Matter in it, I thought, "Well, I’ll just card it out."  And a lot of the straw did come out with the carding.  And the spinning.  But I’m weaving it now, and there’s still a little straw in the weft. So I decided to send off the carding pads to Howard Brush, and get new ones. This is a great, old-fashioned company.  … Continue reading Carders renewed

Clothing and Equipment2 Comments

Laundry and Towels That Dry

Greet Gijsberts

(thanks to the lovely and wonderful Lord Eoin for today’s inspiration) Here are some lovely re-enactors playing with laundry.  (we are so nuts.  who else would do laundry by hand, probably scrupulously taking notes somewhere behind that gorgeous washtub, and call it "play"?  Go see the rest of KirrilyRobert’s pics.) Do you think those shifts that are being worn are cotton?  The green dress looks like linen – I find it very funny how I’m learning to tell at a GLANCE which is what. I’ve been looking forward to hanging my laundry outside again – the machines are in the … Continue reading Laundry and Towels That Dry