Medieval Living

I already have enough on my plate to keep my busy for several months; however, I feel a need to address some other projects that need worked on. In particular, I am wanting to assemble a sub-directory on the website that focuses solely on homeschool resources for New Mexicans. I have a draft of what I think the pages will look like, but need a little more time before actually writing code to put them on the site.

I am hoping that some of my readers will be able to assist me on this project. There are hundreds of websites out there that would be appropriate to include in the listings . . . and I know I don’t have enough time to do all of the research myself. If there is anyone out there who has a good “feel” for internet homeschool resources, please contact me at scott@medieval-living.com – I can’t pay anyone for their efforts, but would be glad to publicly recognize them for their contributions.

Most students enjoy putting puzzles together – so I figured it would create a few lessons which would appeal to the puzzle-builders. One of the building techniques used in Medieval Europe was timber-framing . . . a construction method that is still used today. Students will receive a pre-fabricated kit and instructions that will allow them to build a simple table-top structure. It will be a good lesson on geometry, physics, history and art – I will keep everyone posted when I have these designed and ready for the first class.

The second project will be a table-top model of a trebuchet. Don’t worry moms and dads, they won’t be able to launch boulders through your walls at home! Similar to the timber-frame project, the kit will be a pre-fabricated project that can be easily assembled in a single meeting.

The third project will be a multi-part model of a Medieval castle. I don’t have all of the particulars figured out yet, but I am confident that I can produce a fun and educational activity. I hope to have a some prototypes to photograph and will place them here and on the website shortly after the Santa Fe Renaissance Fair.
All of these will be available to students who attended our classes (probably beginning in November) free of charge. However, I will also offer them online, available to anyone but for a fee – all proceeds will be used to defray the costs of production. I will keep you informed on this – but I think it will be really exciting and popular.

Well, I can’t believe the summer has gone by so fast . . . and now we’re only a few days away from September and the Santa Fe Renaissance Fair. The “fair” will be held September 18 – 19. Here is the link for their website – Santa Fe Renaissance Fair.
We will be locate in the SCA village – just look for the yurt, that large round tent with the red door. There will be signs posted: “Medieval Living – Resources for Homeschool Families” or something to that effect. Just come on in and see what we have. This is a good opportunity for homeschool families and co-ops to visit and find out more about our services. We are looking forward to meeting everyone and talking about the future of Medieval Living and what we are hoping to accomplish.

Well now that summer is officially over and school has started here in Albuquerque, it’s time to get our classes back in session for the homeschool community. You can click on the Calendar page to see what’s up, but here is the basic rundown: Two introductory chainmail classes, September 7 and September 14, the first at Cherry Hills Public Library, the second at the “Gazebo” at Haynes Park in Rio Rancho. The meeting in Rio Rancho is outdoors, so weather will need to be considered. Then on September 21 and 28 there will be inkle loom weaving classes: again, one at the Cherry Hills Library and other at the Gazebo at Haynes Park.

I’ve been struggling to find a good meeting place in Rio Rancho. I don’t want to say anything negative about the city library, but I felt very “discouraged” from hoping to hold classes there. However, the park is free and the weather in September usually agreeable, so an out-of-doors class seemed like a good idea. The “Gazebo” is on a first-come, first-served basis . . . I’m hoping that a 3:00 pm meeting time will put us at an advantage for using the gazebo – if not, I do have an easy-up that I can set up.

Recieved a comment from David Andrews, local author . . . as soon as I finish “Catching the Stone”, I will publish a full review. Let me say that so far, I have enjoyed the book – the story line is well thought out and is an easy read. One comment for the homeschool families . . . there is some mature (not graphic) situations in the story which may not be quite appropriate for younger readers. Otherwise . . . it’s a nice story.

And in an unrelated bit of news . . . today is my birthday (ugh getting old is really annoying sometimes) – I will be at the Toro Bar and Grill sometime after 5:00 for dinner with family – if you find yourself in the neighborhood, please stop and say “hello”!

I’m going to revisit some of the classes we held in the spring this year. I’ve had several people contact me who have an interest in the inkle loom weaving class and the chainmail class. I also think I will have another go at the pennywhistle class. For me, school begins in a couple of days . . . so although I know it adds alot of work to my schedule, it also means that I will have a better chance at planning activities.

It looks like we will be losing James in a couple of weeks. I appreciate the classes that he taught and the contacts he made for us. Hope things work out for him in the future.

Garage sale this next Saturday, August 21 – 805 Cerro de Ortega, Rio Rancho . . . I don’t know that we will have a large amount of “stuff”, but all of the proceedings will benefit Medieval Living.

It sounds like the Saint James Tearoom will be holding a fundraiser for some undisclosed charity (I know that Medieval Living has been mentioned as a possible recipient!!!) There will be a ginger bread house contest among the employees . . . with a silent auction open to the public, with the proceeds going to some charity. I know that it hasn’t been decided yet, and perhaps I am being a little greedy about the prospects of Medieval Living being the recipient . . . but since so many of the younger workers at the “Tearoom” are homeschool kids, it would surely seem appropriate. Added to the obvious financial benefit, we would also receive a significant amount of publicity, which is very important to our ongoing success. Dunno . . . will have to wait and see.

I had to order “Cathing the Stone” online . . . the book by a local author that I mentioned in my previous post. Once it arrives, I will give it a read and review on here. Looking forward to it!

Well enough for now. I really do hope to have some dates for events scheduled very soon. Please leave a comment or email me – I would love to hear from all of my readers.

Scott
Medieval Living

Well, it’s August, and I said in July that this is when I would get back to blogging and developing programs for Medieval Living. So . . .here I am.
I enjoyed a recent article in the Rio Rancho Observer about David Andrews. David is a 52-year-old author from Rio Rancho who recently published a book about 18th century Scotland. According to the article, Catching the Stone “is about men who are willing to die for their integrity, their honor, and their way of life. It is about the evil men do and the good which they’re capable of doing. And it is about men who value their heritage as a living thing they only wish to see passed on to others when they go.” What a wonderful story line – especially for us here at Medieval Living, as we are very much interested in promoting the spirit of chivalry and civility in our world.

I plan on heading down to the local Barnes and Noble and picking up a copy – the online price is under $20, so the in-store price shouldn’t be too much more. I will post a book review after I’ve given it a read.

So . . . tomorrow I will begin scheduling some activities for Medieval Living – looks like my schedule will force most classes to be held in the first part of the week, as I’m obligated during Thursday and Friday. What am I obligated with? Well, I’ve been moonlighting over at The Saint James Tea Room, working in the kitchen doing a varity of things – mostly baking, which I seem to have a natural knack for. What I enjoy most about the “tea room” is . . well, actually there are several things . . . the concept for the “tea room” is to recreate a sense of civility, to create an environment where people can eat in a relaxed, peaceful, and elegant manner. I like that! They also are extremely supportive of homeschool students – in fact, many of the servers are from homeschool families. It is a great place for them to develop some employment skills and to learn how to interact with people in a professional setting. I like that too! It’s very refreshing to have a business that is truly intersted in social responsibility while at the same time providing a wonderful dining experience for the community. Actually, it’s a four-star dining experience – I would encourage any of my readers to contact the Saint James Tea Room and make a reservation for a wonderful meal.

We’re looking forward to this fall – cooler weather and maybe a return to well-attended class and events. In particular, we’re excited about the Santa Fe Renaissance Fair in September and the Farmington Renaissance Fair in October. Both events will be at no cost to Medieval Living, as we are only interested in educating others about Medieval life as well as advertising our free services to the homeschool families in New Mexico.

I had hoped to have some additional classes in July, but my calendar keeps filling up with “other” activities – unfortunately, in order to have funds to support our fall activities schedule, I’ve had to take on additional paid work . . . which in turn takes away from my available time during the summer. I am really hoping that by this time next year, we will have located some major fund sources so that we can focus entirely on Medieavl Living. That includes salaries ( 3 full time and one part time) as well as a classroom and activity center (temporary, until the day we acquire land and begin constructing the musuem/village).

OH BY THE WAY . . . if any of the local folks happen to shop regularly at Albertson’s Market grocery stores, please contact me to receive an Albertson’s Community Partners card. Every time you shop at Albertsons, you show them the card (they will scan it) and then 1 percent of your purchase price will be donated to Medieval Living. There is no cost for you, you do not have to sign-up for anything, and Medieval Living is supported through your patronage of Albertsons Market. Just drop me an email or post a comment on the “Contact” page and I will send you a scan card. The ones I have now are temporary – within the month I should receive the little tags that you can put on your key ring. Thank you for your support!!!

Well it’s been a while since I last posted on here . . . between being very busy and having my computer crash, blogging just never entered the mix! A new (used) computer is sitting on the desk and I am dealing with programs, files and so on each day.

We had a tapestry weaving class last week: there were three signed up for it, but only one was able to attend. The nine-men morris classes had similar numbers, so I’m assuming that summer has arrived and people are finding other things to do. We had hoped to have archery up and running by now, but trying to find a suitable location, the appropriate equipment, and the necessary insurance and paperwork has been a barrier – but we will work it all out.

I was very encouraged to see an after school program in California where one of the activities was fencing. The students participating were late elementary school/middle school age. One of the issues with the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) is that in order to participate in fencing/rapier fighting, an individual must be 16 or older. Now I know darn well that in collegiate-style fencing, students start at a young age and are well on their way to being a notable fighter long before they turn 16. So . . . why the wait? I think that is yet another area that Medieval Living will explore – Medieval-style fencing – based upon the individual student’s aptitude and maturity, rather then age. (Which is the way I handle all of my classes – age should never be the sole determining factor of a student’s appopriateness for an acitivity or class.)

I attended the Albuquerque Folk Festival on the 19th of June – what a fun event!!! I wish more people would participate in this very worthwhile activity! I attended the beginner’s tinwhistle/pennywhistle class led by Andy Moss . . . as usual, his class was excellent and well attended. During the class, he offered a slightly different notation system for the whistle, which I will post on the “Music” page of this blog. Also a the folk festival was a gentleman who was spinning wool. I venture to guess that he was in his late 30s or early 40s (I am horrible at judging ages) – but he had been spinning most of his life, and was very adept at the art. I had the pleasure of visiting with him for 30 minutes or so, discussing the art or spinning. He gave me some ideas for “spinning” classes for Medieval Living, so look for that this fall.

I will continue to schedule some activities in both Albuquerque and Los Lunas this July and early August, but I think we will slow down a little, as it seems that most families are traveling or occupied with other things. Instead, I will spend my time focusing on developing some new classes and “tweeking” old ones, with our sight focused on September.

I don’t remember if I posted this or not . . . Medieval Living, Inc., has finally received it’s 501(c)3 status from the IRS – very glad for this as it allows us to pursue more funding opportunities then we could without it.

And of course, I have to return to the public school classroom this August, so I need to spend some time lesson planning and preparing for the new school year . . . unless someone offers some financial support to allow me to focus solely on Medieval Living – I would prefer the latter, as it would be truly what I feel I should be doing!!!

Enough for now – hope I haven’t lost too many readers during the “down” time – send me an email or post a note on the message board.

Cheers!

James and I spent part of today in Bosque Farms – the local Girl Scout group was having a summer day camp activity. The vast majority of the girls are from homeschool families, so it seemed reasonable for Medieval Living to support their activities. They were looking at several different countries as part of their week-long program, with one of the countries being England. Our part was to make a connection between “civility” and respect for authority, which is also an aspect of Girl Scout law. So James donned his knightly gear and I “garbed up” in some Medievalish costume and we spent several hours there, James teaching about chivalry and me teaching the girls how to play Nine Men Morris . . . some of the girls had already attended my class on Nine Men and were excellent assistants throughout the lesson. I think every one had a good time and all the girls learned some history. Thanks for inviting us!!!

With one of our goals being to construct a Medieval village, I am always on the lookout for others who have done similar things. This morning I learned about a museum in Gloucester, Massachusettes – Hammond Castle Museum. Built during the 1920s, Hammond Castle was home to John Hays Hammond, Jr., who was apparently a collector of Medieval artifacts. Hammond was also a noted inventor, having over 400 patents – he is responsible for the development of “radio control”.
Anyway, the museum is open to the public on just a few days during the week. It is also available for rent, for such things as weddings and special gatherings. The fee – only $950 per hour.