Medieval Living

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.

At the pennywhistle class in Los Lunas this week, I had printed out some music for the students with pennywhistle fingering notation, as most of the students have no knowledge of how to read musical score. One of the parents asked if I could give them a couple more songs with the fingering, to which I eagerly agreed. So . . . here’s a couple of songs for everyone to use who is learning the pennywhistle – please enjoy. If your friends ask you where you got the music from, please tell them “Medieval Living”!!! I will be posting more during the coming weeks, but wanted to get a couple of songs on the site as promised. I will add a “Music” page to the blog site as a common file location.

The Ashgrove This is the tune that I gave to the students at the class . . . a well known song, the fingering is simple and the tune easy to learn.

A Fig For A Kiss One of my favorite tunes I first heard played by Eileen Ivers from her Crossing the Bridge album.

Si Beag Si More A standard among Irish music enthusiasts!

I hope you enjoy these.

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Of course, anyone who reads that title will think that I don’t know much about grammar . . . the title should probably read “Nine Men Morris Is Coming” but . . . meh! On June 8th at 10:30 am, Medieval Living is holding a class for homeschoolers on Nine Men Morris – that Medievalish game that was right up there with chess and draughts (checkers). Every homeschool family who attends will go home with a nine men morris gameboard and pieces. I think the game is easy to learn and alot of fun – and similar to checkers, it can be played by any age level. So far, there are two families signed up for the class (four kids total) – plenty of room for more to sign up!

Just a quick note: there were eight students at the Los Lunas Library for the pennywhistle class! Nice turn out and some very good pennywhistle players!!! Considering that most of them had never played an instrument before, they did very well. Some of the smaller hands had some trouble with getting the fingerholes covered, but with some practice, they will get better at it. I had worked up some music with both traditional music score and also whistle fingering diagrams. That seemed to work well, considering most did not know how to read music. I will work up a few more tunes and post them here on the blog or website.

All for now . . . just remember . . . Nine Men Is Coming!!!