madamebuttery

Book Sale at The Buttery

2009-11-02T02:46:18Z

Good day to you all.

I'm holding a BOOK SALE at The Buttery, 24 Kenwood St, Dorchester

Sun, Nov 8 AND Sat & Sun, Nov 14 & 15

10 am – 6 pm each day

Over 800 used books for sale – CHEAP!

Subjects with lots of books:

Cookbooks and cookery, past and present, foreign and domestic

Gardening, herbals & herb/spice books

Other subjects include History (especially Medieval); Theatre; Building and architecture (specially Medieval); Crafts (especially needlework and basket making); Foreign language dictionaries and instruction; Gypsies; Sports and games (emphasis on cards and archery); some Kidlit, some YA.

If you log on to librarything.com and search the library of oldmarian, you can see items tagged cookery and gardening -- the rest aren't cataloged. Items include almost complete run of PPC,1-85; bibliographies (Bitting, etc); Medieval household books, and much more.

More info? Email me.

A beautiful day

2009-10-01T10:09:33Z

...
And now it's October already! Today is forecast to be sunny and crisp, a perfect New England fall day, the sort that makes me eager to get started and overdo it. I shall try to contain myself, but I think I have to bake something! Probably a couple loaves of not-quite-white bread for the household.

I bet this means I'm nearly well.

Cheers to all.

madamebuttery @ 2009-09-29T18:05:00

2009-09-29T22:16:16Z

...
Because xiphias asked...

My mother's name was Sarah Barbara Blatt, but no one ever called her Sarah. She was always Barbara. It happened thuswise: My grandfather really wanted to name his first child after his brother Abe, the eldest of the 12 siblings. But Abe was still alive, and therefore that was forbidden by Jewish custom. They chose the name Sarah, for the biblical Abraham's wife, but were still unsatisfied. So they went to the rabbi, who said it was easily solved. He opened the bible to a random seleection about Abraham and found "Abraham blessed..."; he suggested "barucha" (blessed), since that word came after Abraham! In this way my mother was named "after" Abe without breaking any taboos. Barbara was the nearest English equivalent.

Do they still make rabbis like that?

M

progress report

2009-09-29T16:18:39Z

Dear friends,

Two weeks ago I had surgery for my colon cancer. I'm home, recuperating, getting gradually stronger (except today, when I just feel worn out). I don't know what else is in store -- info on possible chemo and radiation has not yet been passed on to me. I suspect I'll hear at my followup appointment next week. In the meanwhile, the surgery was successful, the patient lived.

I tried being social on Sunday, and lived through that, too. So I guess things are getting back to normal.

Besides, I have food from Mary's waiting! Yum. I've had enough chicken broth to last me till the next century.

Love to all, and thanks for all the encouraging messages.

Cancer update

2009-09-10T17:02:27Z

Well, friends, I go into surgery first thing Monday morning (9/14). Wish me luck.

I thought I'd mention that I DO NOT want visitors at the hospital. First of all, I'll be doped to the gills. Second, what with all the IVs, tubes, catheters, bags and pumps, I'll have more attachments than a vacuum cleaner; I can't imagine making light conversation under those conditions.

Also, I do not want flowers. Maybe I'm just a prude, but severed sex organs used for decoration sort of put me off.

If anyone is really interested, write to pryder , who will of course know what's going on. If all goes well, I should be home by Saturday Sept 19, and he can tell you if I'm feeling social or not at that time.

I'm hoping my next entry in LJ will be more cheerful. I know this one is not my usual style. Please forgive.

Cancer, Punk, and Me

2009-08-27T21:24:02Z

...
Today I went to MGH and they gave me a tattoo. Next month it will be body piercing.

Who would have thunk it?

I am mildly surprised they didn't put studs on my hospital bracelet.

Traffic tamers in history

2009-08-23T11:29:45Z

...
Today is the anniversary of the first one-way streets opened in London, in 1617. Charles I was on the throne and George Bolles was Lord Mayor. London had a population of only about 200,000 and an estimated population density considerably less than modern Boston, but evidently traffic was bollixed up even then.

Thanks!

2009-08-21T20:36:11Z

...
Thanks to all who sent their good wishes. I appreciate the thoughts. Opinions here and at home definitely favor the red wig.

see:
http://www.naergilien.info/rainbow/rainbowlarger.jpg

I'll keep you posted on this aspect.

Not Quite the Way I Planned to Spend My Vacation...

2009-08-21T14:12:04Z

...
Last Friday (8/14) I found out I have colon cancer. Without going into all the gory details, I think I can say my level of social activity will be somewhat curtailed in coming months. However, there will be a Thanksgiving at the Buttery (even if we have to buy a cooked turkey) and of course, New Year's will happen -- at this point there's no way to stop it!

I've been told that the prognosis is good, and I probably don't have to buy a wig -- which is somewhat disappointing: I had been debating between a fairly natural white hair thing and an aging-Elizabeth I red thing that I could stick full of (fake) pearls etc. But if not necessary, there's no justification for the expense.

What a Way to Go!

2009-07-09T03:38:47Z

Man dies after falling into chocolate vat

Wed Jul 8, 2009 3:51pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man fell into a vat of hot melted chocolate and died on Wednesday at a factory in New Jersey, a spokesman for the local public prosecutor said.

The 29-year-old man was among four workers on a platform above the vat who were dumping in pieces of solid chocolate to be melted down, said Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

"He somehow slipped and fell into the vat," Laughlin said. "Inside the vat, he was hit by a piece of equipment called the agitator that's used to stir, and that killed him."

Laughlin said the vat at the Cocoa Services Inc plant in Camden was around eight feet deep.

"At this point there's no suggestion of foul play," Laughlin said, adding that the man appeared to have died instantly from the blow to the head from the agitator.

Buttery Birthday, etc.

2009-07-01T20:58:39Z

So we survived our 31st Birthday party. Remarkable. I never imagined that living in a particular house would change my life so much. herooftheage put on a repeat of Henry V, which was delightful until the fields of Agincourt became too muddied and everyone fled inside. I got to watch the rehearsal in the morning and see some of the show in the afternoon...my favorite Shakespearean play, after all. It was a tremendously exciting experience for me.

Now that the play is over, workmen have taken over the back yard. Our little back porches (about 6'x7' each) are about to become enclosed into two little storage rooms. I had not planned to take care of this so soon, but the discovery of some rot in one of the beams made the project more urgent.

Meanwhile, I continue to labor in the basement. Yesterday, I achieved complete floor -- no more trying to hop from one 2x4 to another. It took longer than I had hoped, but I am feeling rather smug: all the sills and floorboards are now in place. Today the floor, tomorrow the walls!

Readercon paradox

2009-06-24T05:00:32Z

Readorcon information states:

A child will be defined as any person who has not yet had an eighteenth birthday.

Haven't these people ever seen Pirates of Penzance?

Mme B

Tearoom redux

2009-04-29T16:35:02Z

Thanks for all the suggestions for a name for the tearoom -- I really appreciate all the offerings (except Steffan's). In particular I like Royale, which would surely attract the sort of "genteel" clientele who would patronize a tearoom.

This week I experimented with lemon curd, a necessary product for such an enterprise. It turns out there are two schools of thought on making this: (1) slow, requires long stirring, depends on much butter and many eggs for its smoothness and thickening; and (2) faster, uses cornstarch to achieve the same ends. I'm sure you can all guess which approach I took.

Good news: The cherry tree is in full blossom and (weather permitting) we may have a good crop this year.   I look forward to summer pies, cobblers, crumbles, etc. The apple tree, still a youngster, has blossoms but less of a display.

Now May Day approaches. I trust I will see some of you Friday morn.

   Yes, we'll gather at the river,
   The beautiful, the beautiful river,
   Gather with the folk at the river,
   That flows by the Weeks Foot Bridge.

nearly May

2009-04-25T06:55:05Z

Due to a boo-boo on one big toe, which prevented me from wearing a shoe that covered it, I have been unable to work on my basement project for the last few weeks. Back in regular shoes at last, I look forward to resuming construction -- I may be impractical, but not so stupid as to use power tools without protecting my toes!

However, I have racked up a few accomplishments:

(1) Tracked down all the copyright paperwork for my mom's book (The Dictionarius of John de Garlande, translated) so that it can be web published. It is now up on Thomas Gloning's site, which pleases me immensely -- right up there with those wonderful Medieval cookery manuscripts. It was a difficult search because the publisher had folded with no forwarding address, disconnected phone, and an expired web site.

(2) Finished making my share of the costumes for Henry V. These were for the four captains, Fluellen, MacMorris, Jamie, and Gower. I used up a bit of glitzy trim that (due to my current persona, a Gypsy, being somewhere south of peasant and just north of leper) I will not be using for myself. Individually the riding coats looked all right, but when viewed together I think I may have overdone it. Oh, well. If this army gig doesn't work out, they can tour as Sargeant Bardolf's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Lately, I have been consumed with visions of making an elegant afternoon tea. This is a project for the fall, I think. pryder is going to make a compilation disc of appropriate background music for me, bless him. I know how to make clotted cream to put on my scones. Today I experimented with making lemon curd. I actually own some linen tablecloths and napkins. They all have the monogram BBR on them, having been part of my mother's trouseau, but I feel sure there is some tearoom name for which these will be appropriate initials. Any suggestions?

Where are my books?

2008-12-30T19:50:59Z

I describe LibraryThing as my new video game. I have now advanced to Second Level, having entered all the books on the South side of my library -- mostly cookery and related subjects. I'm not a book collector -- I just read the stuff -- so my total is not going to be any kind of record. Still, it was nice to know that I had about 700 cookery books on the South Wall and section 1 of the West Wall. The rest of the West wall is mostly gardening and herbal books. The North has a random selection of history, literature, needlework, and over-sized books. East Wall has a lot of theatre books, SCA related stuff (history, Medieval towns, etc.), some fiction, and books on currently hot hobbies. Then I get to do my books in the kitchen (more cookery), the first half-landing (mostly classic literature), the skylight room (light reading for guests), and parlor (mysteries, regencies, humor).

I started this project because I had trouble finding books I KNEW I had somewhere. For me, the important tag is the shelf locator. This is clearly a Good Thing for someone whose senior moments are occurring with increased frequency.

Thoughts on Napkin Rings

2008-08-25T17:26:17Z

Last week we hosted some morris dancers from a Cornish team, the Wreckers -- although it turned out the four who stayed with us were actually from Devonshire. They were delightful people, and before they left they gave us some gifts, including a 2009 calendar showing sites in Dartmoor, a tea towel with pictures of Cornish wildflowers (a woman can never have too many tea trowels!), and a matched pair of home-made napkin rings.

Is there anything in the world more useless than napkin rings in the present day? Especially matched ones? In Victorian times they served a purpose, because people did not wash napkins after every meal. When you finished your meal, you put your napkin in a ring with your initials on it, so that at the next meal you got your own dirty napkin instead of someone else's. Napkin rings for children too young to recognize their own initials sometimes had images of animals or toys, again so they could identify their own. It's not clear how many times napkins were used before finally being laundered --- at the end of the day? at the end of the week? -- but at least you only had to deal with your own gross leavings. It probably encouraged neat eating. But no one used napkin rings for CLEAN napkins, which are the only kind we generally use these days. And if we were using rings to save the napkins for another meal, MATCHED rings totally defeat the purpose.

Men's neckties have sometimes been described at useless, but at least they add color to drab modern clothing -- is there any possible reason to continue making napkin rings? And are there any things out there even more useless?

Thinking back on Pennsic

2008-08-24T19:23:25Z

One of the delights of Pennsic is meeting old friends and hearing the tales of their adventures since we last met. One of the stories I most enjoyed this year was from jtdiii and concerned the conversation he overheard between some fur-bikini-clad females waiting in a line at the food court. jtdiii, I hope you will post it on your journal page.

Two Olafs, Remembered

2008-08-22T18:00:52Z

So there we were at Melville Keep, celebrating the 21st century with a relatively small gathering, when alexx_kay mentioned he had recently heard about the two Olafs, kings of Norway and Sweden, who settled a dispute by rolling dice. I remembered seeing a poetic version of this years ago, penned by Malkin Grey (m/k/a Debra Doyle). I wrote to her and she has kindly supplied the lyrics. Although she didn't mention it, I would consider them copyrighted by Debra Doyle and not used without attribution.

The Dice Game of the Two Olafs

(to the tune, more or less, of "Sullivan's John" )

When Olaf the Stout was Norway's king,

of Harald the Fair-Haired's race,

And Olaf the Swede of the Uppsala breed

then ruled in his father's place,

No love was lost between the two,

although they shared a name,

And they went to war for many a year

over land that they both did claim.

A farmstead sat in the border lands,

right on the boundary line.

Each king his claim would loud proclaim,

insisting, "This land is mine!"

The years went by and no settlement stuck,

so they hit on a fair device --

The kings would settle who owned the farm

by casting a pair of dice.

First Olaf the Swede he throws a twelve,

and he thinks that this can't be beat.

But Norway says "No, to equal your throw

is not an impossible feat."

He shakes the dice and he throws them straight,

and he uses no sleights nor tricks,

And they roll across the tabletop

and come up with double six.

"Let's try again," says Olaf the Swede,

and he rolls a twelve straightway.

"I've won!" he cries out, but Olaf the Stout

says, "Wait, there's my turn to play."

And he breathed a prayer as he shook the dice,

and onto they table they've spun,

And one showed six but the other broke --

and the halves came up six and one!

Now Olaf the Stout was a Christian king,

and later was called a saint.

By which we may see that sanctity

isn't always as monks would paint.

May he lend us luck when we need it sore,

for an edge when the times get lean;

Let a toast be our prayer to Olaf the Stout,

the gambler who threw thirteen!

She also wrote "Song of the Shieldwall", which you may have heard. Ah, those were the days!

You know you've been in the SCA too long when...

2008-08-15T19:32:31Z

...your year has three seasons: pre-Pennsic, Pennsic, and post-Pennsic.

I had a lovely lazy Pennsic, camped with McGuire's Marauders. Went to a couple of classes, did a bit of shopping (mostly books, no fabric). And met some interesting people, including a blacksmith who made me a hanging skillet like the ones shown near the middle of the page at http://www.ramshornstudio.com/cooking_with_iron.htm

This is an item I've wanted for a long time, to complete my hearth/campfire cookery equipment. I've seen antique ones for sale for many $$$, so to get one for under $100 was wonderful. (The smith, Daniel of Irontree Works (dan@irontreeworks.com) says now that he's made mine -- and a couple of others for people to whom I showed mine -- he's prepared to make more. ) And now I can start making oatcakes...

Since returning from Pennsic, we've started work on the basement remodeling again. I've decided that what I want for my 70th birthday is an English tavern -- and that's less than a year away, so I better get cracking. As part of the greater project, pryder has put some ceiling lights in the basement. This is a mixed blessing, as now I can see all the dirt I need to clean up. In July my grandson Jake spent a week here and he also did a quite a bit on the room he refers to as "Th Hub and Pub". Once upon a time I thought I would do most of this project myself, but I have come to realize that my family is doing an awful lot of the work. And I'm very grateful for their help.

My Life (the update), including some High Drama

2008-06-30T11:21:28Z

I haven't posted anything for a while, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

Life in the Basement continues.

I've had contractors in to remove the old drainage pipes that used to hang from the ceiling: when the house was built, the outside drainpipes from the roof used to drain into these pipes, through the basement, and out to the sewer. The City of Boston has now outlawed such drainage and stopped up the holes where the water flowed in, so the pipes hanging from the ceiling were only good for occupying space and collecting dust and getting in my way when I tried to work on the ceiling. So now they are gone.

The paint room in the corner of the basement has been demolished, and all that lathe and plaster disposed of. The trenches in the floor that were the home of the walls of the paint room are also gone, filled in with new cement. And the area outside, between the house and the driveway has been paved so that water drains down the driveway instead of into the basement, which I consider a great improvement. No water has come in there since the work was finished!

All the ceiling plaster that was leaving the lathe has been removed, bagged, and disposed of. In the area that will be the new wood shop, the furring strips are mostly up, to be followed by insulation, wallboard panels, and lighting fixtures.

My grandson Jake will be spending a week here before Readercon to help me with this stage of the project.

The Danny Kaye Film Day went well, with about a dozen people present at any one time, about 15 or 16 all together.

Buttery Birthday Party. Celebrating 30 years of living in this house! The Buttery was not the first Scadian house in the Boston area -- I think that honor goes to Pagan Place -- but it has endured. And although it has not been primarily a Scadian residence for years, there is enough activity here to keep the connection. Anyway, we had a very pleasant party and many people brought excellent food. The weather cooperated, being remarkable cool for late June -- we never did fill up the kiddie pool. And despite the party being referred to by some people as "Buttery XXX", it wasn't really THAT sort of party.

My Near Death Experience. Did I mention that people brought lots of wonderful things to eat to the party? They did, and I overindulged. This is a Bad Thing for a diabetic to do, and when I checked my blood sugar level late in the evening, I was alarmed at how high the number was. So I did what I usually do in such circumstances, which was to give myself an insulin booster shot. However, this time I seem to have completely miscalculated. At about 2 in the morning (and I have no memory of this; I'm relying on pryder's account) I was in very low blood sugar territory. He recognized the signs and fed me some sweets. For the first time ever, this did not have any effect, and when I was not responding (or even conscious) after 20 minutes, he found my blood sugar meter and a reading of 34 -- dangerously low, considering he'd been feeding me sugar stuff for 20 minutes. So he called my health service, who told him to call 911. Ten minutes later a Boston EMS team arrived. By that time I wasn't swallowing, so they couldn't feed me glucose paste and gave me an IV to get the glucose directly into my system. Gradually I came around.

Now this is the weird part: As I was coming back to consciousness, I was aware of how the room was filled with bright light (which, it being near 3 in the morning, it wasn't really) and I had a clarity of vision so that I could read the titles of books on the shelves across the room, as if I had 20/20 vision, and all the colors of the room and the books and such were incredibly saturated and clear. The confusing thing was that there there were all these people in uniforms in the bedroom, and it seemed as if the bedroom had expanded in size to hold them all. I kept asking pryder "Is this real?" because it was all so unlikely -- that there was so much light, so much clarity -- and so many people! It turned out the the people were real, but the other stuff was my own misperception.

Anyway, now I'm fine, blood sugars back to normal, etc. It was an interesting experience, although not one I'm anxious to repeat. I am incredibly grateful to all the people who rescued me, starting with pryder. He may not be everyone's idea of a hero, but he probably saved my life, and that makes him my hero! And the next time I'm writing a check for Boston property taxes, I will remember the valuable services I received; that should make paying those taxes a lot less painful.

Danny Kaye movies

2008-05-08T18:54:03Z

You are invited to a day-long marathon of Danny Kaye films at The
Buttery on Saturday, May 31, 2008

Danny Kaye has been dead for 20 years now, but these movies hold up
well. I have chosen five of my favorites: two silly comedies, two
musicals, and one bitter-sweet war story.   It was very difficult to
choose just five from the nearly 30 films he made for theatres and TV!

SCHEDULE:
1 pm: First set
   Wonder Man (1945) This is one of the three top-rated films starring Danny Kaye, according to reviews on the IMDB. Kaye plays both Buzzy Bellew (who is killed after witnessing a gangland murder and spends most of the film as a ghost) and his bookworm twin, Edwin.
   Hans Christian Anderson (1952) A totally unhistorical biography of
writer H. C. Andersen, in which Kaye sings several of the stories
(Thumbelina, Ugly Duckling, Emperor's New Clothes). Anderson plays well
with other children but has problems relating to adults. Not as
saccharine as you might expect.
   Knock on Wood (1954) Kaye plays a ventriloquist whose dummy Clarence spikes all his love affairs. This was a Cold War era film, so Kaye gets mixed up in a Spy vs. Spy attempt to get the Secret Plans that someone else stuffed into his dummies. While trying to escape the spies and the police (who think he's a murderer), Kaye impersonates a British car salesman and unintentionally joins a ballet troupe. In my opinion, this film has one of the best last lines ever, right in there with "Nobody's perfect" and "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
6:30 pm: Dinner break
7:30 pm: Second set
   Me and the Colonel (1958) The least typical Kaye film: no musical
numbers, no klutzy physical comedy. Kaye plays a resourceful Jewish man
trying to escape from Paris before the arrival of the Nazis. In this
effort he is uncomfortably partnered with a Polish Colonel who detests
him. The humor is subtle, the resolution sweet.
   The Court Jester (1956). Perhaps the best-loved of all Kaye's
movies. Of course you know that the pellet with the poison's in the
flagon with the dragon… One of the funniest sword fights in any movie
pits Kaye against Basil Rathbone in a spoof of Errol Flynn vs.Rathbone
in Robin Hood.
Estimated end: about 11 pm

The films each run about 100-110 minutes and there will be short breaks
between films. Popcorn and some soft drinks will be provided throughout
the day. After seeing Hans Christian Anderson we will choose our dinner
orders from a pizza/sub place, collect money for them, and arrange for
them to be delivered by 6:30 pm.

This is a family-friendly event. Polite children of all ages are
welcome; but if your children have short attention spans for movies or
problems sitting still, please bring something to amuse them quietly in
another room while the rest of us watch the films.

RSVP's appreciated but not required. Questions? Write to
marian@buttery.org or call 617-461-3747 before May 31. For directions
and maps, please go to www.buttery.org/directions

Please feel free to extend this invitation to individuals for whom it might be of interest; however, I'd rather you didn't post it to whole lists.

Thanks, and hope to see you then!

Why I'm in the basement with plaster dust

2007-09-27T01:19:47Z

The Buttery rests on two great beams which each are supported by a row of lally columns. Thus the house (and the basement beneath) is divided roughly into three bays, each oriented north-south.

The easternmost third contains the laundry room, the darkroom (a once and future half-bath) and the empty area under the parlor that contains only the oil tank at this time. Eventually that will be the work-shop area. The laundry room and the dark room have lights. The area under the parlor needs lights.

The middle third contains some shelving where residents keep Stuff, the furnace, and a water heater somewhat smaller than the Caspian Sea (we don't like running out of hot water). This area has no lights except for one small incandescent bulb in a late Victorian fixture on one wall. It needs lights!

The westernmost third is the area under our dining room and living room. It not only has lots of lights but also 3 windows that get a lot of afternoon sun. This is the area I am working on. The plan is to wall this third off from the rest of the basement, insulate it against noise, and fashion it as a room that can be used for games or music or other things that last late at night,.

The paint room is currently occupying part of this area. But I want a large, open room, so I have to remove the paint room walls. This is the current demolition project. I removed all the shelves. Then I removed the inside plaster. Then I removed the inside lath. Now I am removing the outer plaster and then its lath. I am leaving the studs as "bare bones" until last, like putting up walls but in reverse and slow motion. Since I am not an idiot, I work carefully, a little at a time, and don't bring anything down suddenly.

The paint room also has one incandescent bulb to light it, high on one wall. Before I can take down that section of wall pryder needs to remove that light and the wiring leading to it. Then we can use the circuit for lights elsewhere in the basement. He is not an idiot either and has done work like this before. It's all done as safely as possible.

The eventual goal is to have a large room about the size of our dining room and living room combined, about 34'x13'. It will a ceiling height of nearly 8', a nice wooden floor, recessed lighting on dimmers, 4 casement windows, and a fireplace (well, a fake fireplace, but I'm not about to start hauling wood down the basement steps whenever I want heat!). Because pryder is a geek, it will have outlets along the walls for plugging in computers and plenty of current to run them. Because I am a part-time medievalist, it will have a post-and-beam look (I have to disguise those lally columns somehow!), with oak-paneling along at least one of the walls.

Actually I don't know if it's oak or chestnut, but it has beautifully pegged and tenoned rails and stiles, with various sized panels, good depression-era work when labor was cheap. It used to line the basement of the Mishna Tefilla synagogue across from Franklin Park. When that building was sold and became part of the Edna Lewis School of Fine Arts, the new owners sold all the good stuff to a salvage company -- the stained glass, pews, chandeliers, etc. The rubble from the salvage operation fell into the basement. But I like checking out old buildings, and I could see that although the rubble was piled half-way to my knees, there was all this good paneling (though painted bilious green) along the walls. I asked the director if I could make a donation to the school and then haul away some of it. He looked at the trash-filled basement with distaste and asked how large a donation. I offered $100. He accepted. We had a U-haul truck rented that weekend for another purpose and when we finished that job we went back to the old synagogue and loaded up all the truck could hold. That was in 1979 and I've been waiting ever since to use it for something. I find it fitting that it's going back into a basement.

So that's the Plan.

My life in the basement

2007-09-25T12:53:15Z

...
Demolition time! Plaster dust everywhere. Every day I emerge looking like an 18th C aristocrat with powdered hair.

In the SW corner of the basement, under the living room, was a small room used for storing paint. Many bags of debris later, it is now just a shell of a room. Good thing it didn't have bearing walls, because previous water damage had rotted out the bottoms of the studs near the exterior walls. Basically, the lath and plaster were holding the studs up.

Now that the inside plaster and lath are nearly gone, I can start on the outside layers. Many more bags of debris to come. The more wall I remove, the more light comes through the holes, so at least I can see better in that little room. Eventually it will become part of the main room I am creating.

Also, we purchased some lighting fixtures for the other parts of the basement. pryder hopes to start installing them this week. I'm almost afraid of what I might see once there's light down there to see by!

Well, one project completed (at last)

2007-09-14T16:51:07Z

Well, it is finally up and running ! (At first it was up and trudging slowly.) I have created a database of Medieval garden plants at:

http://www.buttery.org/marian/Garden_Welcome.html

This database contains 260 herbs, fruits, vines, trees and shrubs named in Medieval garden lists by authors from the 9th through the 16th centuries (plus Palladius, since he was much translated and consulted in our period).

The database provides common and Latin names, descriptions (both period and modern), and pictures; it notes uses for scent, cookery, dyes, medicine, etc

Although this took me about a year to do, its completion gives me hope I may someday finish some of my other long-term projects. Now, back to the basement...

Today I was a zombie --maybe this is a DeadJournal post

2007-09-09T23:18:50Z

...
Today I was filmed in a scene for a small local movie company's latest horror flick, "The Resurrection", due to be released in fall, 2008. This was an easy scene -- no lines. But I was made up to be very bloody and messily dead. Then I had to walk a bit. Or lurch, more precisely. That's okay -- I'm good at lurching.

In my previous scene I played a cantankerous old harridan who browbeats a librarian. It's no wonder someone wanted to kill me.

I don't get paid for this, but I've been promised a DVD of the finished product and an entry in the IMDB. And it's been fun.

Being retired has generally been fun. I recommend it highly.