Herbs  

Posted by Mermaiden in ,

I have already done a lot more with my herb garden this year than ever before, and the fun is just beginning.  I had started ramping up on the kitchen herbs last year but never used to do too good at gathering all the seeds or leaves before the season end on some of the plants. Roger gave me some plants due to his having to move which I vowed to tend well to!  And they are lovely.  The huge basil plant just started yielding seed so I'm gathering those. I'm drying and storing herbs too, not just seeds, like stevia, and some wild passion flower I found out back. Some of these will get turned into balms and salves... like the lavender, and lemon balm. Some of them will go the kitchen, like the thyme, oregano, basil, savory, and marjoram. A few plants I just don't know if they'll actually yield enough to do anything with.  Even if they don't, I'll scoop them up and move them indoors at season's end - rue, and parsley. But then there are others that are nice and full and ready now and I should start using in the kitchen right away!: texas tarragon (tastes pretty much the same as the original kind), the thriving parsley from Roger, and finally some chives. Not sure how the onions are fairing.

And yet others have been trying to get going, calendula and johnny jump ups, both making it but not yielding like I wanted, so that I could use them for some concoction or other.  But I will be patient. 

Of course too there's the cherry tomato plant and leeks we have been using, and the roma tomato that is just beginning to form fruits.

And then there's the late seeds I started. Lavender since only 1 actually grew in the 1st round, sage I thought I no longer had, woad I've never had but so thrilled to have strong sproutlings of on the 2nd try, more calendulas, and they're all shooting up quite well so far. Oh, and cilantro! I thought they weren't going to sprout.

And then there's the later seeds that can get sewn - lettuce, and fall calendulas. But since I started more calendula late, I will probably skip a third planting there.

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Intro to Herbals for Kids  

Posted by Mermaiden in ,

Another link for the blog - here is the class I taught at Page School at RUM last weekend.  An introductory class to kids about herbs, and some things that can be done with them.  Designed to be variable in the teaching based on class turnout. I brought several herbs for smelling, and then using in the sachets afterwards.

I had to request a small fee for the class because I did need to pick up just a few supplies.  I was hoping I could supply them all from my own stock, and I almost did!  But not quite all were mine.  Mountain Rose Herbs has never let me down. ;)  The rose petals were gorgeous, and the orris root was nicely powdered. 

Guess what my next largess will be?  Yep, the supplies not bought and used all go to me, so now I get to play....  ;-)

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My Project & Herbal  

Posted by Mermaiden in ,


In determining which herbs to study and work with, I decided first to learn which grew wild, natively, around me. This is something which my medieval ancestors might have done, whether through their own exploration or from being shown and taught the local plant population by their own people. So I began a study over the course of a year, observing as many wild plants as I could uniquely observe, and watch. It is important to know every phase of a plant in order to prevent mis-identification. Every part of the plant tells something about its identity, including leaf, stem, flower, seed, fruit, and root. In order to observe a variety of plants, some of which only appear during certain seasons, and some which will of course only flower or yield seed during certain times of the year, it was necessary to keep a journal on my plants of study, and follow up with them throughout the year. Photographing the phases of the plants and collecting the images into a digital file greatly helped me to keep track of the plants. I resulted in over 100, trying to keep it narrowed down to only those plants which I had seen in the wild, or that I have planted myself, knowing that they grow well in my particular region’s climate. For these will be the plants which I can viably get my hands on to use, and this is what I feel was most important about my plant selection. This, I feel, makes me as close as I could get to the same practices my ancestors would have used when they selected and used plants. They would have found them locally, or they would have been given plants and then would have grown them themselves.

After a year’s time I had collected enough data in order to begin identification. This of course took many months alone. But having the database allowed me to have a sufficient number of plants which I could go through to“weed” out those which are native to the US and are not any which medieval Europeans would have grown or known about.

Now, having arrived at this point, this leaves me with many viable plants which I not only know were used by medieval Europeans, but also have readily available access to.  Also, I know each plant quite well, having studied it in order to identify it and to begin building my own personal knowledge base about.  For this is what the herbalists have always done: having a stockpile of information allows one to create an Herbal, which is a collection of one’s own knowledge, as well as a repository of all the known facts one can gather about those plants. This is what will make it possible to use my knowledge, as well as share it with others. In my Herbal I can store bookmarks to other references such as Gerard for a medieval source, as well as modern sources, because when studying herbs of course we must look to both.

As we have made quite significant advancements in our knowledge and technology since the medieval ages, we know a great deal more about all the plants which we still use today that were used by our ancestors.  Consequently we have learned that some of them are in fact NOT to be used at ALL.  For example, nightshade is poisonous! (Gerard knew that Sleepy Nightshade would cause death if too much were ingested, and called it a plant which was furious and deadly; however, he did not speak this way of the Woody Nightshade, which we now know to be toxic as well.)

The modern technologies of being able to photograph instead of simply draw my plants has helped me to share them across the world with others online to help me collect identification. It is still, however, important to remember to learn each part mentioned, just as you would draw: stem, leaf, flower, root, and fruit or seed where applicable.

Where will this project go from here? As I continue to flesh out the Herbal itself, I will take parts of this information and turn it into an A&S entry. And of course, the knowledge learned along the way will be at my disposal anytime it is needed. I am certain that I will create other projects, such as comparisons of herbs and their uses and applications in various ways. But in the meantime, you can explore my collection online right here.

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AV7putOjOnrqZGhycnhwZ25fMGdrY3R2dmRk

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Musing over titles...  

Posted by Mermaiden in ,

Welsh Titles -- Arglwyddes/Bonesig/Boneddiges
Stress in Welsh is easy. In any word longer than one syllable, the emphasis is always on the next-to-last syllable.


bonesig
‹bo- ne -sig› feminine noun
1 (title) Lady (peer; wife of a peer)
Y Fonesig Rees Lady Rees

ETYMOLOGY: Michael D. Jones (the founder of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia) coined the word boneddes (= lady) (First example c.1876).

This is (bonedd = nobility) + (-es noun suffix indicating a female); by removing the syllable -edd he came up with the reduced form Bones

Bonesig (First example c. 1898) is (bones = lady) + (-ig diminutive suffix added to nouns)

------------

boneddigion ‹bo ne DHIG yon› (npl)
1 nobility,

boneddiges, PLURAL: boneddigesau ‹bo ne DHI ges, bo ne dhi GE se› (feminine noun)
1 noblewoman
y foneddiges the noblewoman

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Making a Fighter's Tunic  

Posted by Mermaiden in , ,

1. Measure the fighter.  IN armor.

Measure all the critical points first to know how big to cut your fabric for sewing.
The neck should go over the unarmored head and neck so it doesn't have to be armored for measuring.



1. Measure the neck and do not worry with armor on when sizing here; he will put the gorget on OVER the tunic anyway.  And the helm will go on over that. So a close-fitting comfortable neckline like a T-shirt is desired. If you use bias tape, you don't need to worry about seam allowance here.
2. Measure the circumference of the arm at its width at the widest point with armor on, as the sleeves MUST fit over all armor at the absolute widest point.Remember to add seam allowance to both ends when cutting.
3. Measure the length of the arm, from the armpit to wrist, or desired sleeve length.  Remember to add seam allowance to both ends when cutting.
3. Measure the length from the top of the shoulder to the desired length. Remember to add seam allowance room this when cutting.
4. Measure where the slit will go.  He may want it on the sides, or he may want it in the front/back. It should land, like the diagram below (right before step 3) shows, just above where the crotch is. This allows full mobility of legs.

2. How to cut the fabric for the tunic.It's all in the fold.


Holding it as if it was a sheet of paper, the tall part up and down,

First fold the fabric downwards like this
Then fold it across like this, left to right.
Now you can cut out the shape! 
But first we must get some measurements before we start cutting....
3. Now you will figure out the right measurements for your template.  I HIGHLY recommend you do the first attempt at the tunic on a piece of practice material, like an old bed sheet, to be sure it's sized right before using your nice fabric. You'll probably want something like a nice heavy linen for the final tunic.

a) Take arm and divide by 2.  The amount you get goes here. 
For this tunic it was 13 inches here.  Seam allowance added!  Remember there will be 2 edges of fabric you're sewing on, and the hem will occupy additional space, so add in your seam preference x 2!  So if you are used to leaving 1/2 inch between the edge of the fabric and where you're sewing, you'd add an extra inch! VERY important!  Use a seam gauge to see how far away from the edge of the fabric you sewing.

 b) Take the midsection girth measurement and divide it by 4.  That's the amount to place here.
So for this tunic, that was 13.5, including the seam allowance amount.
c. The armpit length goes here

d. Add the mid-girth quatered number to the armpit length number, and that value goes here.


e. If you were using an existing template, you could put the neck of the folded finished tunic against your fabric and mark it for the cut.  Otherwise just wait and cut the neck later.
Important! Seam allowance and neck varies based on how you're doing your neckline.  If you choose to add bias tape around the neck, you do not have to leave any extra allowance.


4. Cut It Out
If you don't add extra inches for seam allowances, the tunic will be smaller than you measured it for!  This is very important!

5. Unfold it

6. Sew it up - stop sewing at the split, if your slits will be on the sides.  If not, then just keep sewing, and cut your slit on the front and back after you've sewn.

7. Hem the slits and the bottom.


8. Finish your neck.
To ensure I cut a neck that fit just right, I used dressmaker chalk to mark where the t-shirt neckline aligned on the template.  Then I could cut it out and add bias tape over the edge. 

9. Add the square.  Placed over the top of the slit, it reinforces it.
Just make a square, hem in the edges, then sew it down over the slit.

10.  Trim it, if you want to.

Tada!


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Henna  

Posted by Mermaiden in ,

I audited a class on Henna at Gulf Wars.  Somehow, I had no idea it was herbal, or just hadn't really thought about it, before the class.  Now I find it of interest and would totally do it!  Anyway, here are my notes.  I scratched them down inside my class booklet so I thought I should put it all out somewhere it made more sense, so I can remember later.....

First, there are 3 terps (contain terpinol) that darken the colors: cardamom, lavendar, and tree tree oil.
Also added are lemon juice (no pulp!), sugar (it binds it), for darker stain, and of course the henna powder.


Mixed together, this should be about the consistency of stiff mashed potatoes. 
As you stir your mixture together, just add henna powder to thicken it if needed. 


It takes 24-48 hours for the color change to occur.  The dye will change, and this change varies based on every person's individual body chemistry.

The henna is applied with either jacks or cones.

You can add essential oils.  Make sure it's the real body-grade essential oil, not fragrance oils. A bit of something calming like lavender soothes the subject.

You can freeze leftover mixture for up to a year!  Just store the finished cones.  You can always reconstitute them all together later and have a nice batch of henna ready to use.

Where to get good quality henna?  www.thehennapage.com
hennapages.com has good info.
It should be a fine powder, soft is desired.  It should NOT be black henna.  This is not real.
"Black" henna is PPD and should be avoided!!!
*Side note, henna powder is soothing to the skin! You can add it to soap and prevent razorburn!

You can apply henna to non-skin, too!  You can paint with it.  Add some food coloring to the henna for colors.  Apply Mod Podge over it when finished to seal and protect it.

Now, to put henna art on a person.  Place the arm or subject you're working on upon a pillow.  This gives the part stability, plus you can move it around more easily as needed.

You can put henna in your hair and it makes a beautiful natural stain.  It's also incredibly strengthening and makes hair soft and smooth.  Leave in hair 4-5 hours and apply heat.  It repairs damage, helps strengthen, and also helps with dandruff.  Real henna will end up black/brown to blood red, purple, chocolate, orange....

It will last 1-3 weeks on skin, 4 months on hair.

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Iron Mountain Singers  

Posted by Mermaiden in ,

Aranwen has picked up one more activity, too!  For the blog I will make a post about this to mention it here too.  Yes, I have started attending the singing night. Just 3 nights ago but already the parts of the tunes that I am singing are stuck in my head. Now I can't wait to get back to it Thursday. I know I will be doing better at it now that I have a feel for the music after the first night. I listened to the recording today so I could go over the music here at home. Repetition forms muscle memory, after all!  This I know from all the piano lessons I've had in my life........ and from Master Gareth teaching me about this being true for the recorder, as well! ;)

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