Blacksmithing and History Camp Start Today at St. Albans

Jeff set up at St. Alban's last week and is starting to forge with the campers this morning.  What a great opportunity for the kids!  

Summer of 2016 Photo Project

I have started a summer photo project, giving myself a challenge to take a picture daily of something that reflects our summer.  Photos will be posted on my website every few days, and I'll share a few on the blog.  It's forcing me to think more proactively about my photography...and to remember to keep a camera with me at all times!  Most of the photos are being taken with my smaller (and lighter!) Fugi X100T camera, which I love....

Fiona is Happy about Weaving Plans

Fiona the cat was thrilled to discover the fabric that I hope to turn into a rag rug tomorrow at a class.

Blacksmithing for Farm Day at Burgundy Farm Country Day School

We had a great time blacksmithing for the 1st graders and Kindergartners at Burgundy Farm Country Day School this past Friday.   In honor of farm day, Jeff made hoof picks, as well as nails and S hooks.  And, as always, the children got to try out how it feels to hammer like a blacksmith using our child-friendly anvil and aluminum pieces.   It's a joy to be part of such a special school!

Medieval Barley Bread Challenge

My older son's class at Burgundy Farm Country Day School has been studying the medieval time period and their study is culminating with a Medieval Festival tomorrow.  Parents were asked to sign up to help provide food, and I took on the challenge of baking barley bread.  I'd never baked with barley before, although I bake plenty of wheat-based bread.  Nor had I ever cooked in the medieval time period.  But, I am a historical interpreter of other time periods, so I was excited to try.  And, I've been watching a lot of Ruth Goodman's television shows, so the timing was perfect!

Working with barley flour was very interesting, and I had a fair number of fails.  But, I did learn a lot.  In the end, I will be serving an upper class person's barley bread, which used ale, yeast, and more white flour than barley and wheat flours (ignore the air bubble in the photo, please!); I also made a middle class person's barley bread, using the ale and yeast, but more wheat flour than white flour; finally, I found a recipe for what would be a lower class person's barley bread, using no ale or yeast or wheat flours at all.  This unleavened bread turned out to be more of a pita or tortilla.  Fascinating.

And, I learned that barley bread tastes fantastic, too!

Scenes from My May Garden

Setting up for a Very Wet Blacksmithing Demo at Claude Moore's Colonial Market Fair

 

New Soap!

Lots of new soap has been packaged and lots of other blends are getting ready for sale.  All these blends are available at the River Farm gift shop in Alexandria.  River Farm is the headquarters of the American Horticultural society.  And, Washington's Green Grocer has several other blends (honeysuckle/lavender, peppermint, a citrus blend, and lemongrass/rosemary) for sale.  Of course, you can always contact me and I'll see what I have on hand, as well! 

Our Demo at St. Aidan's Celtic Spring Fling

We demo'd at our church this past Sunday in an effort to support the Celtic Spring Fling at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church.  Despite damp conditions, the event was a huge hit with the community with lots of music, dancing, a corn hole tournament, blacksmithing, a silent auction, and good food.   The kids' anvil was a hit as usual.  And, it marks the first ever demo of ours where we served cake -- we might have to continue with that tradition!   

Scenes from the 16th Annual Fairfax Civil War Day