A lot of mundane stuff got in the way this week. Most of the cooking time was taken up with storing harvest foods, mostly new world and modern. The sewing going on was also very mundane, mostly stuff for Anja and Loren’s shop. They’re finally starting to catch up from the summer rush.
Potluck this coming Sunday! Anyone can play! Get pix of some period or perioid food, or your feast gear, or you in garb, or something feast-ish and post the photos on the House Capuchin Facebook group. If you make something, send us the recipe or source! …and eat the yumminess! We’re talking about carrot pudding, some german renaissance “chicken nuggets”, trying more of the mead, pork tarts, maybe getting the mock pear recipe right and so on. 🙂

All meetings are on hold for the moment, although Project Day and the Monthly Potluck are being held in the Virtual Realm. We’re also doing mini-potlucks, just Anja & Loren and one other “pod” at a time. Let us know if you’re interested!
- Herb Bunch – At Ancient Light, Saturdays, 11am-1pm
- Sewing Time – At Ancient Light, Saturdays, 3-5pm
- Project Day – At Ancient Light, Sundays, Noon to 6pm
- Cheese and Wine happens irregularly, usually announced with little notice on our Facebook group.
- Next Virtual Potluck – 10/18
- Next Winter Feast tentative Date is 2/15/21, Probably not being held….
Here is the direct Portfolio link which has all the past Project Day reports and various projects, original here: https://housecapuchin.wordpress.com/portfolio/ and new one here: https://housecapuchin2.wordpress.com/portfolio/ and number three is here: https://housecapuchin3.wordpress.com/portfolio/

Dance Vids – Tir Righ!

Classes – Online Class: Guide for Newcomers to Retinue with Dame Gorandookht Mamigonian

Early Week – Mostly was plant tending/watering. I did manage to pull the other pickles out to get photos and did a bit of work on both the sampler and the runner.


Cookery – Farmers’ Market on Wednesday again. We picked up at lot of apples, cucumbers, tomatoes and both summer and keeper squash, plus some pumpkins for decor and pie and jack-be-littles for stuffing. I found some more small onions to add to the onion pickle and the dehydrator and soup pot were running for days. Apples were the last on Project Day
MMMK – Barley Porridge
At last! A dessert
Ancient Roman Gourd and Eggs
On Sunday Anja and Loren started talking about foods for the potluck. More below.

Sewing – Anja was pecking away at the border on the runner again and mundane sewing. She’s making toys for the baby contingent at trickortreat!
Arlys is finishing bits for pincushions of her Assisi work.

Sundials, etc. – Via le blog d’Erik Kwakell
Applications in the Middle Ages.., What do you think of this truism: a book is a book, and something that is not a book is not a book. This post will knock you off your chair if you are inclined to agree with this statement, because in medieval times a book could be much more than that. It turned out that tools were sometimes attached to manuscripts, such as a disc, a dial or a button, or even a complete scientific instrument. These “add-ons” were usually mounted on the cover, extending the book’s original function as an object to be read, turning it into a practical object. The addition of such tools was a procedure that involved drilling the wooden binding or drilling holes in the pages. Despite this, they were very popular in the late Middle Ages, especially in the 15th century. This shows that they really served a purpose, adding value to the content of the book: some clarified the meaning of the text, others functioned as a calculator or, surprisingly, allowed the reader to read the time. These fascinating add-ons – which are really not so different from the applications on our smartphones – have transformed a static handwritten book into an interactive object.La Volvelle A volvelle is an instrument that consists of one or more rotating discs mounted on the page. The volvelle allows the reader to make a variety of complex calculations, such as the position of the sun and moon, or the precise date of Easter, or astrological forecasts. The one in the first photo contains no less than three rotating discs, which are pinned on the page at a central point: two show the cycle of the sun and moon (note the charming representations at their tips), and a third shows the Zodiac. Despite its simplicity, the device provides an astonishing wealth of data, which could be read if one knew how to interpret the dials. However, the volvelles were not always crude instruments providing dry data. Some were actually a pleasure to look at, while others added an entertaining touch to the moving parts. The one in photo 2, for example, calculates the date of Easter, a popular application of the volvelle, but in this case, the answer is given by a woman turning. The latest example of an instrument that has been added to a book also has to do with the sun. Like an iPad, the book in the last photo has a smart cover. The front of the sheepskin binding is not filled, as was often the case, with a blind embossed decoration, but rather with a sundial glued on it. The reader could put the book in the sun and place a stylus on the cover, which would indicate what time it was. Although it is not a very practical clock, the cover reveals that it was probably used for this purpose: the ‘prints’ of the stylus are still visible (note the small circle and the black spot next to the letters IHS at the bottom). Also, the severity of the stain suggests that the book was frequently used to read the time. Just like our modern smartphones, the medieval book could be a versatile tool that combined content with countless applications – giving the scriptorium the look and feel of an App Store. – Août 2020

Herb Bunch – Most of the week was watering and tending. A bunch of starts got re-potted early in the week and plant pots got sorted around. On Friday some harvesting was done: feverfew and sweetgrass, mostly. Small garlics got planted around the bay tree and two comfrey plants went into a vacant bucket.

Project Day – Anja was busy working on this week’s newsletter and starting to think about next week’s potluck. Runner border got worked on, the last zucchini and tomato came out of the dehydrator and the last apples in. Loren was sorting materials. We found some interesting bits of partially carved things, tagua nut, bone and a broken bone spoon, that’s going to get finished and acquire a handle. We also talked about the potluck and getting ingredients. We’re looking at a carrot pudding, some pork tarts, Renaissance chicken nuggets and some other things.
Peggy Vlach So… here is my rendition of the French taxidermy frogs…We

This was very late (anniversary is 9/20!) but we decided to try one later in the day. We pulled on the Valkyrie’s Choice. It’s a good drinking mead. Not sweet, but not too dry, either.
Carnations

Next in my series looking at the meaning of flowers and the way they are depicted in the Renaissance Period we consider the carnation.
Self-Portrait with Carnations; Bartholomaeus Bruyn the Elder, 1525, Oil on Panel, University of Michigan Museum.
This elegant self-portrait depicts a half-length figure of a man in three-quarters profile with his left arm resting on a stone ledge. The somber colours of his garb, consisting of a white shirt with a dark robe, is offset by luxurious details: the fur collar of his robe, the black ribbon and gold chain around his neck, the embroidered collar and cuffs of his shirt, and the three rings on his right hand. Two pink carnations appear on the ledge before him.
The Greek name for carnation, dianthos, means “flower of God,” and for this reason the carnation often appears in paintings of the Madonna and Child. A vase of carnations, indicating divine love, was a popular motif in the Renaissance Period. The carnation could also symbolize earthly love and marriage.
Bartholomaeus Bruyn the elder displays his rank as a successful young painter in Cologne through this elegant self-portrait. For the painting he adopted a casual but self-possessed pose that imbues him with an air of confidence that is reinforced by the understated luxury of his garb and jewelry. The gold chain around his neck perhaps refers to his profession as a painter, and the carnations, popular symbols of conjugal love, on the ledge before him suggest that Bruyn might have painted this portrait for his betrothal or marriage.


…Copyright © French Moments Ltd unless otherwise stated. Read more at https://frenchmoments.eu/tour-de-beurre-rouen-cathedral/ .
Full article – https://frenchmoments.eu/tour-de-beurre-rouen-cathedral/
Miscellaneous pix of children

Music – A la Via! – Street music from XIII to XVI cent. Ensemble: Anonymous & Strada

Links
Post-Medieval pottery salt – https://museum.wales/collections/online/object/2d8743fe-6fd1-3031-917e-16494c437899/Post-Medieval-pottery-salt/?field0=with_images&value0=1&field1=string&value1=tudor&page=4&index=40
Acorns in the Middle Ages – https://www.medievalists.net/2020/10/acorns-middle-ages/
Downloadable Handwriting Fonts – http://kps-fonts.ch/en_gruppe1.html?fbclid=IwAR3raQr65jIBOrApDyLij33wfy716LIjSp4dFZJtfhIAw5M2on__R5hrpHo
NEW STUDY RELEASED: Shields and Hide – http://combatarchaeology.org/new-study-on-shields-and-hide/
Did ancient warriors like the Spartans have physiques similar to those of modern day special forces?


Video Links
Grimfrost Academy: Viking Age Herbs in Food, Culture and Magic
Village of the Templars | FULL EPISODE | Time Team

Funnies

Largesse Item Count – (includes gifts, prizes, auction items, etc.)
- ASXLVII = 24
- ASXLVIII = 88
- ASXLIX = 794
- ASL = 2138
- ASLI = 731
- ASLII = 304
- ASLIII – 146
- ASLIV – 222 plus 4 puppets, 3 hippocras mix, 4 powder fort, 8 cheese spice and 9 powder douce packets, 1 kiss-lock pouch, 10 tiny bobs, 7 pincushions, 3 pins, 4 snip case w/snips, lucet cords, 25 pouches for block-printing, 1 medium pouch, 4 small pouches, 12 bookmarkers, 14 unfinished pincushions, 1 sewing kit (except for bone needle), varnished stuff (124), 2 emery strawberries,1 woolen spool-knit cord
Total as a Household = 4053 handed off

In ministerio autem Somnium! Anja, graeca doctrina servus to House Capuchin
Page Created 10/5/20 & published 10/12/20 (C)M. Bartlett
Last updated 10/12/20
Leave a Reply