Midsommer pleasantries

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Midsummer= Sunna high in the summer sky, peeking through Thor's oaks
Huge old oak trees, at Oaks Bottom Park, the site for Portlands Midsommer festivities.




Sunna shining through the sun hoop.
The two hoops represent, either the Moon and Sun, or a man's testicles. It's any folklorists guess, and Iam sure an elderly Swede would say ", Who knows what it represents, it's just what we do."
I like to think of it as the sun and moon, and I couldn't help taking a pic of the Sun shining through the garlanded hoop. It was glorious!


A happy cock for the top of the pole!
So, if the two hoops on either side of a large phallic pole don't give you a clue about the whole fertility aspect of this, then the big red cock on top should. The male force in nature is being venerated whether all these nice Lutherans want to admit it or not. Really though, the ones I talk to know exactly what's up with the pole, and don't mind a bit.



Mr. rooster, looking majestic



Up it Goes!



Our local Midsummer Maypole being raised
Midsummer has come and gone. The day of our local midsummer festivities was wonderful, we attended, along with others from our local Sons of Norway lodge. The sun shone, people laughed, children sang and danced around the Maistang. It was cool. No surstrumming to be had Iam sad to report.
But there was a beer garden, and lots of good stuff to eat, booths to shop for Scandinavian doo-das, and trinkets. oh, and an IKEA booth. They were handing out free yellow frisbees, with the blue IKEA logo on them. I snagged two as they will be fun at Summerstar, to fling around in the parking lot while I work at the check in gate.
I hope everyone had a good midsummer, and are preparing for the hot days ahead. There's some new ironwor to be put in here, so I'll try to post them soon.

Been busy! Midsommer is coming..

Happy Midsummer! Tradtional fare,Surstromming , note bulging can..mmm! It's ready!

Well I have been fairly busy with new work, and orders for our Viking age stuff. This is a good thing! It means we can pay bills, eat and keep the lights on. We have had a rainy , cold and rainy spring so far. Great for slugs, not so great for growing anything except root crops, and even they have been sulking. June is shaping up to be another cool one, but that won't deter us from celebrating Midsummer, the Summer Solstice this weekend with friends. We also celebrate it on the Solstice proper, with a swim in the river, and a picnic. I suspect this year though, it's gonna be a quick dip, as the winter snow melt is still filling the mountain rivers with freezing cold run off. Hypothermia is not part of my plans that day. There is also the added bonus of our own local Midsommer festival on the 25th, (Midsummer proper in most of Europe). This event is hosted by the League of Swedish Societies, and has gotten so popular they've had to move it to a bigger park this year. They will have a maypole, but I bet there won't be surstromming, infamously stinky fermented herring. My Swedish friend Marta assures me I would love it!


Detail Of Hearts

Finished up a nice fireplace screen, bleeding hearts. I designed it, and forged out the pretty bits, and handles,Hubby forged the frame, stretched the screen.



Putting on the Beeswax Finish

We use a traditional beeswax/turpentine finish for most of our interior projects. Those are my lovely hands buffing that metal..


All ready to go to it's new home!

We also built this same client a handrail, but I need to get over there for some picture taking. They were thrilled with our work,and I can't wait to see this screen with a fire behind it. I love what I do and am truly grateful that I get to do this for a living!
Now it's off to get ready for the weekends festivities. Gte some spuds and dill, roast some ribs drink some good beer, laugh and celebrate the turning of the wheel!Have an awesome and wonderful, magical Midsommer, Sonnenwende, Midsummer, Solstice! The Sun is at her height, and will slowly descend back to her winter depths from here on out.

A year

Pa helping Dan at the Norse Hall
Well it was a year ago today(okay, it was a Sat. last year) that my step dad Charlie John passed over to heaven, Folkvang, Elysium, the After Life, the All that Is. Now while he was not my biological father(that was Nick) he was in every other way as beloved to me as a blood father could have been. He was my Dad, and I wish truly he could have been there even earlier in my childhood, but hey, he got me during my broody, moody hormonal teenage girl years. Bless his heart, and he also raised three other daughters before me. One who is his only biological child. He was a hard working man, was expert woodworker, and draftsman. He could build anything, and I mean anything.
He treated my mother like a damn queen, and I could never thank him enough for being such an amazing husband and friend to her.
I miss him, and I know he dwells in the heaven of his faith, with his ancestors. If there is Rainier beer in heaven I know he is drinking one. Hail Pa, we all miss you so much, but I know you watch over all of us.

Recent Work

Fireplace Screen
Recent work, Hubby made the frame I did all the fancy bits in the middle. Nothing from a parts catalog, all designed, cut, forged and shaped by me. This is now living in front of cute little hand plastered fireplace. It's beehive shaped, simple but fancy. I wish I was one of those mega-smiths who do huge public art, out of control rails etc..requiring a team of men and a crane to install. sadly Iam not. That's just not where we have gone with our business, unfortunately.



Flower Detail
Dogwood style flowers, to match those in the tiles that ran along the front of the mantel. The holes are slit open hot, then opened with a punch. You have to do this hot, or you could tear the sheet metal. No one wants that, as it is a pain in the butt.





Finished Screen
I use a torch and a linseed oil, turpentine, bees wax finish to get the dark color. That's the traditional way to obtain the black iron look. You can use paint, but that looks cheesey , and cheap and insults the metal. How's that for sounding artsy and pretentious!



Next up= Arts and Crafts tulips..
This is a sweet little handrail, for a Craftsman style bungalow.
The flower is the one above, it has a keyhole in the center, with the leaves of the one next to it on the right.



Better get to work!

The Wheel Turns

Me and the Oldest Friend, Circa 1976
I have never been a girly girl. At the age of 4 I preferred playing with Tonka trucks to dollies. It was just who I was. My mom Iam sure wished for a dainty little thing, but she was a tomboy too, and so was her mother. So it is in the blood.

Being a tomboy it's not always easy to have friends, especially girlfriends. That not wanting to play jacks or dolls gets in the way. It didn't help that I was a nerdy, skinny kid with glasses, who the other girls thought was weird for wanting to play war rather than house.
So I was lucky to meet another outdoorsy/tomboy like myself back in 5th grade. She is my oldest friend.
My oldest friend and I are still in touch, we were instant buddies, and have know each other through everything really. Although there was a time in my 20's I was not as in touch I should have been. We live on opposite sides of the country, but can still have a great conversation when we speak, which is fairly often. We also laugh a lot.
She has been going through a ton of change in the last year or so, as her mother died, and the estate had to be sold. All of it, belongings and home. That was her parents wish. Had I the money I would have bought it. Alas, I am a poor artisan, with nothing but dreams, so that did not happen.
The family home belongs to a school mate of ours now, who I know will take good care of it, and I hope, use the farm for a working farm again.

It is all sad for me, and I know it was a heartache for my Old Friend, but she has moved on, and what else can you do? Life moves on, the wheel turns.
Somehow I still grieve, and I think it is more than just knowing I can never go there again, or missing my friends parents.
I think it is tied into being 45, looking back and knowing that that was the happiest time of your life.
Wishing you could escape the grind of adulthood, to once again be 10, fishing on The Pond, or hunting in the cornfields, the only thing you had to care about was being back to the house in time for dinner.
It is silly I know, but I mourn that loss of youth, and freedom.

Stringing the Hops

The Maypole Waiting to be Strung
Spring has sprung and it's time for hops to be strung. Along with all the duties of running your own small, nay molecular, business, there are the farmin' duties. We actually strung the hops several weeks ago, before the Oak Grove Funnel Cloud hit. That's another post though. Suffice it to say we sustained no damage.
The hops started emerging in February , early really. March is more usual, and I attribute it to our lack of actual freezing weather this winter. Rain, plenty. Snow, well, not much here in the Oak Grove river valley, or "The Holler" as I like to call it. It has rained buckets, for weeks on end though. Turning my backyard into a muddy, mucky swamp. The garden beds like little islands in the murk. We built a wooden walkway to the shop from the house, it feels very Medieval village but without the feudal system. It's just depressing, and woe betide you if you fall off the wooden path..
As you can see things looks cluttered and needing picked up. Here in The County blue tarps are more than just a way to keep your firewood dry, they are excellent for building temporary structures that require no permitting whatsoever! Although the plan is to build a wooden overhang instead.
That's parsnips in the foreground, waiting for em to eat them. I forget what type, but they are sweet as heck.



The Hubbinator Tying off the Strings
We decided after much debate that the Maypole should be recyled into the hop rack. Every year we hold a May Day hoopla here at the Hof, but since the addition of the pole building there just is no room for such capers. The pole part is a lodgepole pine, that I topped with a lovely red cock, and iron ring for attaching the ribbons. The men would erect the pole, and the women would decorate it with flowers. Well, we decorated it before it went up, I should say. It was a load of fun, and everyone enjoyed themselves, the weather usually cooperated too. So we would have sunshine, warm temps. Usually.
The pole is 20 feet long, or so, and required us to toss the ball of twine back and forth. He'd catch it cut a strand, tie it off, and toss it back. I'd chuck it back to him. Repeating this until we felt we had enough strings attached, and /or got bored.
Note= Ugly teal paint on house was not my idea, we just have never found the time to repaint after we bought it.



Mister Rooster All Ready to Go!
We stuck him in his holder, and raised the pole up. Iam a little sad we won't be using him for our May Day fun, but the hop bines will love this to climb up. The red rooster watches over the property. A perch for flickers, song birds, and the odd Sharp Shinned hawk, who wants to eat the songbirds.


The Pole is up and Ready For The Hops!
You can see we live in a glamorous place. That's or neighbors boneyard for his work trucks and excavation business behind the orchard.
The horse head is what the hops used to be tied off to, but they are mature now, and need some room to run. Plus it will look so cool, living ribbons of green lushness on the Maypole. Or Maibaum as my ancestors called it Germany.
The Hop bines will grow up, and cover the end of the shop. Our hop varieties are Willamette, and I think..Fuggles. I forget it's been awhile..We do use them for breweing, they are organically grown, I use only the finest Welsh pony manure, from happy ponies who grazed along the banks of the mighty Abiqua River. For hop aphid control it's ladybugs who arrive in their hundreds to clean the leaves of pest.Lacewings show up too, and their larvae consume what the ladybugs don't.
The hops are now several feet high, since we took these pics. I'll have to get a shot to insert here.


The Massive Leek.
I leave you with this, the Uber Leek. I know I should eat it, but I can't yank it out yet. I over wintered some leeks, and for some reason this one grew most vigorously. Same soil, same everything, but for some magical reason this one did best. I have to look into the propagation of leeks, can I gather seed from it when it blooms out?
Here's to the Sun coming out here in the NW, so my hops can grow their one foot per day, and I won't go barking mad from lack of sunshine.

Freya the Cat

All I wanted was a cup of tea
But I got a kitten on my back. The is Freya, our 7 month old kitten/cat. Dan rescued her tiny little , mewing self back in October, as she cowered near a boulder in the neighbors parking strip. Since she showed up Friday, He named her Freya, after the Germanic/Nordic Goddess of love, whom some say Friday is named for. I also call her "Widget", She is my little Widget, as in "Hand me that widget please."
She was wee, thirsty, and homeless so being the crazy cat lady on our street I took her in.

Alice our other girl cat hates her little guts, but we are working on things, they can sit in the same room now without Alice trying to corner and kill her, so that's a step forward.
Freya for her part stopped turning into a feline chainsaw every time she saw Alice, or heard the name "Alice", so maybe one day they will tolerate one another.


Freya and the Hubbinator, with Ludwig making a cameo.
She is cuteness personified, and we both adore the little nibblet. She started riding around on our shoulders when she was tiny, and weighed the same as a piece of toast. With butter and jam. Now she is getting to be kinda big for this sort of acrobatics. Having 7lbs. of cat launch onto your unsuspecting t-shirt clad shoulders will wake you up pretty damn fast.. She will also launch herself from heights, and it's a special kind of pain when she lands on your tender flesh.. Like hanging a bag of flour onto yourself with fishhooks. I try to resist the urge to scream, as that will only make her dig in harder as she climbs your head to get away from that alarming sound.
We are discouraging her from this behavior, but as you can see Dan is a sucker for her, and he wears a hoodie so she has more to hang on to. she ambushed me when I was getting my tea. I would never encourage such behavior from such a cute, little sweetie pie. never...

Dragon Grill More Viking age fun..

Dragon, rough, fresh from forge.
I just finished this nice little Dragon Gill for a member of our Sons of Norway lodge, Grieg Lodge. Dan and I joined our local S.O.N lodge because we liked the people, and they didn't chase us away after we did a Viking age blacksmithing demo. Neither of us are Norwegian, maybe by invasion back in the Danelaw, but we both love Nordic culture, and Viking age history. Thanks to my many awesome Norwegian patrons I have done several of these dragon themed projects. Gates, fireplace screen, the one above , and now this grill.


Laid out on table, over original drawing
I draw out the design, on paper, or plywood, or the floor of the shop. Then I forge and sculpt the steel to do my bidding. I try to design with the limitations of steel and the laws of physics, but sometimes I forget and get carried away. This project was thankfully, easy, fun and creatively satisfying to build.




Close up
Since my clients family name is Thorsen, Son of Thor, he wanted to honor the God Thor some how. The central hammer reads, in English, but written in Old Norse runes, "Thor Bless".
I also wrote up a house blessing, and carved it into the dragons bodies with a chisel. It reads=
"Name sake Asa Thor, bless our hearth fire burning bright"



"Namesake" in runes





Heating Steel for Applying Finish
Using the torch to heat the steel so beeswax and oil can be applied. I use a mixture of bees wax, linseed oil, and turpentine for my finish. You heat the steel so the mixture will soak into the metal, leaving a warm, velvety finish.

Making sparks!
My awesome ability to measure twice and still screw it up, I had to grind off 1/8 of an inch to make it fit the space.



Finished Grill, all Done!
It turned out so nice, and I wish it was in my house! It is about three feet long, 6 inches high..I think..could be 9"..


Finished Grill in It's New Home
So, here it is, all nestled into it's new space!

Yorkshire Pudding

The Pudding In Situ
Most of you (all 5 of you out there) know that I love to cook. I love cooking traditional folksy food, the kind that fills you up. Makes you warm, contented, whole.
The kid of food my grandmother made, and her mothers made before her. For me that would include food from Croatia, Ukraine, Germany and England. I'm a typical American Mutt, a little of this, a little of that.
So, as part of my attempt to connect with my culinary heritage, specifically the English side. I set out to bake a Yorkshire Pudding. No buying those horrid little frozen ones at the local Brit import store. Ohhhh no.
I scoured my cookbooks, looked online, Delia Smith had a good recipe, so I ued that but added an egg. It's all very touchy making the batter..Is the right runniness? Is it too warm? Did I beat it too much? Is the sun in alignment with Venus properly..There is alot to factor in, and honestly I was scared I'd screw it up. What if it doesn't rise, and just lies there in the beef fat, smoking and looking flat. Mocking me...You just have to go for it sometimes when trying out something new.
So I set the roast to roasting, and went for it.


TA DA!
I'd like to say I took lots of preparation shots, but I didn't, I was busy trying to not get eggshell in the batter, and keep the cats off the counter.The Hubbinator, who was out in the forge, kept coming in occasionally to look hopefully at the oven door and ask "Is it done yet? It smells amazing!".
No. Not yet, the roast isn't done. Now go on..I'll call you when it's ready..Repeat this pattern for several hours. When it was time, I called him in to watch the pouring of the batter into the hot fat. Other than my hair smelling like roast beef for the rest of the evening, it all went fine.
I poured the batter into the hot fat, it flowed like white lava into the pan. I shut the door and waited..
Okay. Everything is a go, now we wait...
Tick tick tick....Then it was time.
"My God you could ski down those peaks!" He exclaimed as I pulled it from the oven. I grinned. Success was mine!!!

No waiting or graces
So powerful was the allure of this pudding that the Hubby broke out his knife and started cutting a hunk out of it. Who could blame him? It was deeeeeelishcious, we managed to get the roast on the table along with the veg to enjoy it with, but to be honest, it was all about the fried dough.
The pic above shows it after the carnage had begun, and it's peaks had deflated.
Still. It was amazing, and I felt triumphant as a cook.
I think it might be time to do up another roast with pudding, this is making me hungry just looking at the pics.
Here is a great website, Historical Foods, they have recipes from every era, and taste.
http://historicalfoods.com/1033/roast-beef-lunch-recipe/

New Year

Wow! I have not blogged in...oh...ages. Mostly I just have don't have enough to write about..
Only a few people read it, yes they are my freinds, and wonderful. Not for reading the blog, but for being awesome people. I have to admit wishing people liked my blog, and found me interesting enough to read it regularly, but pagan lady blacksmiths who swear and drink ale aren't popular.
Well, onwards.
We were in our local newspaper back in October, The Oregonian, here is the article.
Very fun, it brought us some new commissions, thank the Gods, but it isn't enought to keep us alive. Dan is hunting jobs in his field, archaeology, and Iam just trying to not be depressed 24 hours a day while I forge steel, working on the jobs we do have.
Life teaches us strength by trying to break us down, that's what I have come to learn. Either you completely break apart, or you rebuild yourself, stronger, wiser. It isn't easy, nor is it pleasant.

One of the "teachers" out there, for me, is an amazing woman who writes the blog "Milkweed and Teasle". Jennifer and her husband are survivors and thrivers, literally. I love reading about the life she shares with her husband as gamekeepers on an English estate. She and he have been through it, they make do and mend fences. They work hard and love their lives, exhausting as it can be. Iam grateful that she shares it with all of us, because it inspires me to not just give up on my dreams, and that yes, life is hard. But also wonderful.
She also has a cluttered house which I can relate to. :) No time for being Martha Stewart when you have work in the shop all day thanks..
Anyways check her out.

Road Trip, Fall rites..

On The Road, The Gorge
Well, after a fine tour of these Great United States, well okay, just the Western bits, through to Nebraska..I return to write of the excursion. It was loads of fun, exhausting, but fun.
My father died this May, and so my Mother is alone out there on the prairie. We decided it was a good time to drive out and visit, make sure she was okay. Help out, etc..
We had planned on attending the Baker City Oregon Highland Games, and since we were already on the otherside of the state, well hell, why not just keep going?
So we did.


The Cabin, at Rancho-Costa-Plenty
Our amazing friends Devon and Rachael graciously offered their cabin for us to stay in while we visited. They lived in this amazing cabin for 11ish years, until they finished building their own house. Yes, they built the house themselves, with their own hands, tools and love. The Big House is wonderful, don't get me wrong guys.
But I love the cabin. I would live here always if I could I love it that much, cozy, nestled in the aspen, with it's herd of security turkeys ever alert to danger..

Blurry "Action" Shot of Turkey herd..they move damn fast..
The birds sleep high in the trees behind the cabin, safe from predators.
The above was taken as they made their way up the trail to the hill beside the cabin. Where, once they reached the proper high spot on the hill, they launch themselves in a flurry of feathers into the roosting trees. Smart fowl I say, working with gravity, not against it. It's a herd made up of several adult females and their young, long legged gawky teenage birds.

Off to Bed They Go..
Fast little hens, I barely got this shot with my crappy camera..


My Bonney Man and His Pipes
The Highland Games were great fun. We arrived late friday and had to set up during the start of the games, I was worried we would be a problem, but everyone there was just happy we came. The wonderful Marna sent the Boy Scouts out to help us set up. Devon and Dan helped the lads get our smithy set up while I put the forge together.
When my nose started running and my hands turned blue I realised I might need that sweater I had brought just in case. In Eastern Oregon in the high country winter can come in Sept. So people understand how to live with cold, but this was Labor Day weekend, late August.
It had been hot and sunny earlier in the week. High 90's there in Baker, so people were not quite ready for the shock. A cold front had rolled in, rain, snow in the mountains, temps. in the 40's. Were had a fire so we stayed warm, and everyone had a good time anyways. After all, this was more like weather in Scotland.


His Nibs, The Piper
Dan was invited by the Pipe Major of The City Of Trees Pipe and Drum Band to play during the parade..I have never seen my husband more excited or happy. I was very proud of him. They were a great group of folks. Thank you guys and gals, you made my Hubby very happy!

Bellows Boy
We both did demonstrations, meeting the good people at the games, and teaching the craft. We had a young man who was perfect at running the bellows. It is a tricky thing to do, and he caught on quickly. I wish I could recall his name, Thank you Little Boy Scout dude! You were a big help!



I'm too Sexy for My Kilt...
For those of you out there who care this is NOT my family tartan. We are Stewarts, and this is not. Donna our good friend and amazing bagpiper, gave me this kilt as a gift. What is hard is when members of this clan come running up to me arms thrown wide exclaiming how thrilled they are to meet another member of the clan. I just play along, as I don't have the heart to tell them the truth, it has only led to trouble in the past..
Stay tuned for Part Two of this saga..

Since arriving home I have been making apple butter, and canning it..

Before..
Fresh apples from my orchard. Lots of apples, the Wassailing back in January worked ! I ended up with three 5 gallon buckets from this dwarf mystery variety alone..


After!
Yes it looks like sludge, but it's really yummy apple butter..ready for canning or eating on fresh toast with melted butter.. Devon cream would be awesome with this..Sadly, some of us can't get proper Devon cream here to go with..sigh..some folks have all the luck.;)

Beets Two Ways

On the road to babushkahood...
This years long cold spring gave me a fine beet crop. So yesterday I made two Ukrainian salads using fresh veg from my garden. Beets, carrots, onions, and potatoes. I got carried away, as
I tend cook enough to feed a small warband, even when Iam not trying. Both salads were yummy, although the grated beet was the favorite.
Smoked chicken from our favorite German deli Edelweiss, some braised kale, and cold hard cider to drink. It was perfect. The days have been hot, as it's nearly Lughnasadh, or August if you prefer the Roman naming. The feilds of grain shimmer under the hot sun like gold, ready for the farmers scythe..

This time of the year is hot here in Orygon, upper 80's to 90's, Not stifling hot like it was back in PA, we just don't have that humidity hell. It's a get your jog in early or you will roast to death later hot, but after this years endless murk of rain I am embracing it like it a lover.
So beet recipe, I owe this recipe to this nice woman and her blog on life in Russia. I was hunting for beet recipes when I found her page.
When I read the combination of beets and mayo I was dubious..but honestly it is delicious, addictive and Iam about to go get some for breakfast..

Shredded Beet salad that feeds several..=
4 medium /large beets boiled until they are just tender, a fork will just pierce them. You don't want them cooked to mush, just not raw hard crunchy. Allow to cool.
1 raw beet
Grate all the beets up in a bowl. Admire lovely color of shredded beets. Then pick off the flicked out bits of beet off the walls, your hair and the toaster.
Wash hands.
Then get=
Three tablespoons of good mayonaisse. Trader Joe's makes a damn fine organic mayo..or make yer own if you want. I don't.
1 cup of chopped walnuts, chop into small bits, not quite ground but close.
2 teeth of garlic(cloves) these you want to mince fine..
I added one Tablespoon of cider vinegar.
Pepper to taste, in my case that was about 1/4 of a teaspoon.

After you have grated the beets add all remaining ingredients, mix well. It should all sort of congeal together, and turn a nice lighter shade of ruby. It should not be a creamy mayonaissey mess, the mayo just binds it together.
I chilled it, and it was fabulous with the chicken. We ate until we could eat no more. Iam poor in money but Iam rich in good food.
Nastrovye!

Changes..

Me in the May snow, in Laramie Wyoming after out running a tornado..no Im not kidding.

I think I have like, oh three readers and that's counting my Husband. Im just not a prolific writer, but this months abscence was not my lack of material. May was actually coming along quite wonderfully for things to share. We had a great Beltane/May Day, then went to the Oregon State Draft Horse ploughing competition, so I will write about that, as I got some cool pics.
One day I would love to learn more about handling a team, and actually own a pair, but that's not yet.
All was May, birds were singing, the garden starting to really take off.
Then what I had feared was coming finally came. My Father died from his lung cancer.
He lived long enough to celebrate his 77th birthday on the 3rd. It was almost as if that was the time marker signaling the end. The next day he failed hard, and I was called to come home ASAP. Now I had been begging to come home before this, and indeed we, the Hubby and I, had gone back in Feb. to visit. Iam so glad we did, because that was really the last time he was "all there". The illness started dragging him down after that, and by the end he was not the man he once was. No even a shadow.
My Mother is doing fine, given that her best friend and soul mate has just died. Me, well I cry, but most of the time I'm just getting on with life. That's all I can do, miss him, but live on well. He would never want any of us sitting about being maudlin, he hated that.
The Hubby and I drove back, through raging storm and snow, across the Rocky Mountains, over plains, saw plenty of antelopes, hawks, Golden Eagles, and cows. Lots of cows.We agree, cattle should be the national critter, as they are everywhere. Thought about Pa all the way, but it wasn't until I got home that it all came crashing down emotionally. I sat in my living room looking at daddies picture and just bawled my eyes out. All the the worry and stress of nearly two years of him being sick with cancer washed away with those tears..time to start a new chapter.

Dragons

Iv'e got a dragon by it's tail
It's Ostern and I'm enjoying my morning with some coffee, reading my favorite farming, homesteading and archaeology blogs and updating mine. Ludwig the cat is sitting in my lap having a bath. It's all very cozy, as the weather is still cold, dark, and stormy outside.
Crappy weather and all the Ostern hare has been by, as there are colored eggs and chocolate bunnies to be had in the kitchen..MmmmMmmm!

Been working on a project for a friend from the Norse Hall, it's a fireplace screen, with a nice happy Urnes style dragon on the front. The above is the start of the tail, or part of it's tail.
This is 5 feet of steel, and when it's done it it will loop around the body. I love this kind of work, it's what I really enjoy about smithing, taking steel and transforming it into something useful or beautiful, or both.


Happy Dragon
Here it is laid out on the board, I have to get pics of the tail bits..Dan is building the frame,and the runic inscription that will surround the dragon, a passage from the Havamal, which I need to go get and post here..as shamefully I can't remember the exact words..Bad heathen..no mead for you.

Nature, and Healing

Bleeding Hearts


Well, today Im making the attempt at working the garden. It's just too sunny and gorgeous to stay inside and be sad. The apple trees are blooming, and it might just be warm enough to lure the bees outside and into my garden.

Yesterday was truly a suck day, today is better, only in that the sun is helping, nature is helping. I forget that, and get caught up in the tailspin of depression. I forget that when I was a kid growing up in the country the only place I ever felt truly "me" was outside. Up a tree, climbing the branches to a place I could sit, and simply be. Gaze out over the pastures, and fields, watch the swallows coming and going from their mud nests in the barn eves. Hidden from everyone, safe. I was just me, and the land understood.

When I was sick I would beg to go outside, just so I could lie on the ground in the sunshine, smell the clean air, feel the earth beneath me. Once when I was deathly ill my Hungarian pediatrician told my Mother the best thing for me was to let me go outside and sit in sunshine, lie on the earth, feel the clean air, the antibiotics were not working, so maybe the sunshine would..it worked. Smart man.Old world wisdom.

So today I decided until the pain lays me low or paralizes me I'm going to dig in my garden, plant my veg and soak up Mother Earths life. It's the only thing I know that helps.

Elf-Shot

The Austrian Oak's back, not mine. Mine is much smaller, and hurts like hell.
I suspect the cause is thus, I have been Elf/Alf shot!

‘Elf-shot’ is a concept which will need little introduction to students of Anglo-Saxon
culture, and the thrust if not the words of Singer’s statement in his British Academy
lecture of 1919, ‘Early English Magic and Medicine’ (1919–20, 357), will be
familiar:
a large amount of disease was attributed … to the action of supernatural
beings, elves, Æsir, smiths or witches whose shafts fired at the sufferer
produced his torments. Anglo-Saxon and even Middle English literature is
replete with the notion of disease caused by the arrows of mischievous
supernatural beings. This theory of disease we shall, for brevity, speak of as
the doctrine of the elf-shot. The Anglo-Saxon tribes placed these malicious
elves everywhere, but especially in the wild uncultivated wastes where they
loved to shoot at the passer-by.

Elves were thought to be invisible or hard-to-see creatures who shot their
victims with some kind of arrow or spear, thus inflicting a wound or
inducing a disease with no other apparent cause (elfshot). They appear to be
lesser spirits than the Æsir (Odin, Thor, Frigga) deities, but with similar armaments in spears andarrows. … This attack by elves was eventually linked with Christian ideas of
demons penetrating or possessing animals and people, who then needed
exorcism."
Ohhhhh...So That's what's going on with my back! Well at least that's what it feels like..I guess I better make right with the Alfs/elves so they knock this shit off.

So yesterday I wrote of my heinous back pain, I went for a nice massage, which helped calm me down, but still the nasty little spear man was jabbing me to death. I tried to watch the tube while not thinking about how uncomfortable it all was just trying to relax, but gave up. Chronic pain is exhausting, if you have experienced it you know what I mean.
It sucks all life and energy and hope out of you. It's like being hunted down, chased for miles and never really getting to rest. Or at least that's how I see it.
So I ate a handful of ibuprofen and laid in bed wishing I could die.
Finally after a crappy night of not much sleep it was time to go see The Dr. and see what could be done. I explained to her the situation with my back, and ribcage, the pain etc..Did I have a slipped disc? Did I need an MRI I can't afford? X-rays? A shot of tiger tranquilizers maybe..

'No," she explained "that I needed a good rib crunching, to put the ribs back into position, cold packs, REST, and a deep massage from the lovely and Mighty Alicia." So crack me she did.
I have to say Iam sore, but the truly deep evil pain is subsiding, just like she said it should.
She stressed the REST part, not even light yoga, certainly not laundry shlepping, blacksmithing, bodybuilding, or lifting anything heavier than a cup of tea or a cold beer.
She was even dubious about me doing dishes.
So the amazing Hubbinator has been handling the heavy stuff today, like mucking out the cat boxes, hauling the heavy laundry basket, bringing me tea..it's all very swell.
He is being very wonderful through this whole ugly episode, while I watch a Time Team marathon and drink green tea while lying on a frozen hunk of beef roast.
Pain relief and dinner thawed in one! Amazing!
Okay time for more cold pack, and another cup of tea. Here's hoping this all starts mending up, and I can get some damn sleep. I will also be sure to honor the Land Spirits more often and generously, being Alf shot sucks.

Hail the Growing season springtide comes..

"Erce, Erce, Erce, Mother of Earth,
May Thor Almighty grant you, the Thunder Lord ,
Fields sprouting and springing up,
Fertile and fruitful,
Bright shafts of shining millet,
And broad crops of barley
And white wheaten crops
And all the crops of earth. "
Ahh happier days in the garden, just a few weeks ago.
Note how warm it was, me in no sleeves...and the sexy new tartan wellies..a fancy gift from Marta the Honey Voiced. My back not in it's current state of excruciating..

The Hubbinator and I decided the ugly raised wood beds had to go. Mostly they were home to a zillion slugs and snails, and too small to grow "enough' of anything really. That and we also were sick of trying to mow the lawn between them.
So, one truckload of bedding dirt later, there you have it. We laid down woodchip for paths, made lovely earthen rows for veg. I did NOT shovel, he did. I raked, and fussed and planted beets and peas. Heirloom English shelling peas, and Oregon sugar snap. mmm peas...
I have lots of plans for the garden, but if I can't get my back pain under control it's just gonna be beets and peas I fear.

My usual back issue is my lower back. The discs between L3 and L5 are trying to escape and shrink, and this causes great pain and a cramping of my normally active style.
BUT I have learned how to "deal" with it. Painful yes, but nothing compared to the latest adventure in pain.
One of my ribs is "out", the muscles just under my right scapula, and the surrounding muscles of my ribs are strained. The muscle spasm squeezing the hell out of a nerve in my mid back.
It is nonstop. Nothing helps.
It feels like (I would imagine) a red hot spear being shoved into my back, and then drawn across my ribs..All the damn time.
There is no escape, no amount or shifting, stretching, lying on one side or the other will stop this agonising pain. It has brought me to sobbing tears. Honestly, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, well, except a few people, like Hitler.

What did I do to cause this ghastly injury?
I reached back behind my head to brush my freakin' hair is what.
Yep. I reached behind my head when "WHAM!' the muscle felt like it had been hit with a hot poker under my right scapula. everything seized up.
I think I said"You have to be freaking kidding me!!! Noooooo! before collapsing onto the bed in agony.
I probably strained it doing squats, and the lifter muscles under my shoulder blade got so strained, but not enough to become a full blown muscle spasm. Then when I asked them to do something simple like brushing my hair they said
"NO."
So off I go to the chiropractor to get things reset. Mmm can't wait for that special popping a rib back into place pain tommorrow, but it has to be done.
BUT first I get a deep tissue massage this evening I hope it helps.

Life and blogging

Hey? What are you doing in there?

This blog is a bit of conundrum for me. I'd like to write more intimate details of my life, and thoughts, like a journal, but I always think I sound whiny when I do. I mean sure life is hard, but I'm not in hell. But still.

As for a strictly technical blacksmith blog, well...I'm really not nerdy enough to prattle on and on about crucial temperatures for forge welding, which fancy steel to use, or other terribly geeky things. I'm coming at this craft as a sculptor. Technical stuff bores me to tears for the most part. I do love good working tools, just not chatting on and on about them. When Iam around other smiths who can prattle on and on and on about such things I tend to drift off.
So, I need to think about what I want to do with this blog.
hmmmm..think I'll go feed the cats..

Hard week

Things are kinda hard around these parts. Dad's been in the hospital with pneumonia all week, he's home now.This is good, but Ma is not unpacking his overnight bags just yet. He originally went in monday, came home tuesday, and promptly went back in the next day. possible heart failure, lungs chock full of fluid, it was scary.
They also got his cat scan results. Unfortunately the lung cancer has spread to his liver. This is a bummer to put it mildly.
There isn't much I can do, just be there for my Ma when she calls, and think positively.
It's a bummer, but the earthquake in Haiti is a horrible.
I have tried to avoid tragedy overload all week, but finally watched the news last night. Crumbled buildings. Masses of bodies, throngs of survivors in the streets of Haiti. I watched and tried to not cry.
Then they showed a small boy with a broken leg, and head injuries. Both his parents dead. The medics began to set and wrap his leg, he began wailing his heart out, a cry like I have never heard in my sheltered life. A cry that I hope I never hear again because I know what sort of pain it means now..I wanted to reach through the screen and hold him.
It was then I burst into tears.
No more news for me, Iam full.

So today Iam focusing on getting things done here that need doing. Like splitting wood, spreading wood chip on the garden paths, doing the mountain of dishes in the kitchen. Cooking, and making the Hubbinators lunch, he's teaching all weekend, so I get a little time to catch up on haus verk.
Listening to Polka also helps me slog through the chores. I like all sorts of music, from Ancient to Viking metal, but Polka has a special place in my heart. So off I go to scrub some pots..

If you want to help the people of Haiti=
The Red Cross and
Doctors Without Borders are a great place to start.