elefianora

William Marshall Feast

2009-10-19T04:49:51Z

Those who know me will not be surprised that I am cooking for William Marshall this year. It is a Royal Visit and in honour of Her Majesty has a Spanish flavour to it (specifically Moorish, as neither of their Majesties eat pork).

The menu so far:

1st Course (on tables as people arrive)
    Sekanjabin - in mint iand lemon flavours, possibly also pomegranite or rose syrup cordials
    Platters of tropical fruits and nuts, with ginger, rose or pomegranite syrup

2nd Course
    Bread
    Broad bean broth
    Rice casserole with diced lamb (extra one without lamb for vegetarians)
    Pigeons (probably chickens) stuffed with cheese prunes and basil
    Zucchini Frittata
    Salad

3rd Course
    Pumpkin ravioli with sage butter
    Stuffed trout with lemon
    Veal involtini
    Asparagus
    Garlic fried Mushrooms

4th Course
    Sweets: Halva, baklava, ricotta fritters, rose jellies (admittedly an English recipe), meringues(also English), with rose scented whipped cream. I need something light and fruity here too.

I still need a few more vegetable dishes. Eggplant is likely as I have found a number of dishes that use them. A salad would be a good idea, particularly if the weather is hot. An icecream or sorbet would be good if it's hot. I'll have to check whether the kitchen has a freezer or only a fridge.

I would love to have a large amount of lavendar, roses and nasturtiums (flowers and leaves) to decorate the platters and tables. My single red roses will bloom in the next few weeks and will probably be finished before december, although I can at least use them for the jellies and rose syrup.

As I will be doing this only just after finishing a frantic year of study, I am trying to keep it as simple as possible.

The sekanjabin and cordials can be made ahead, as can the syrups for the fruit platters. The rose jellies will be made when my roses bloom. If I pick some mint now it might grow enough to be useful by the end of November.I'll also encourage it to layer into multiple bushes.
The broadbeans, rice casserole and stuffed birds are all just bung it in a pot dishes.
The frittata just needs lots of grating.
Ravioli will be made ahead and frozen. I have heaps of sage in the garden. After hacking it unmercilessly to get enough for mrsbrown to use for mid-winter it has grown back thick and bushy.
Involtini is simple but fiddly.
Baklava and meringues can be made a few days in advance, halva will be bought.
Marmalad may have to be rethought - quince season may be over.

Edit 12 November: Added mushrooms and bread, removed marmalad - even if I can get quinces I'm running out of time.

I think I need to get some deep plates, about the size of bread and butter plates, to put the moulded rose jellies on surrounded by whipped cream. They can go in the fridge and be put in the middle of the dessert platters just on serving.

Up and Walking

2009-01-04T09:36:07Z

This evening, holding on to two handfuls of the clean washing I was folding, my little frog walked about five steps to Daddy. After she got lots of cuddles from him, and encouragement and praise from both of us, I held up the toy she was wanting and she walked back to me - but only after she had picked up the right set of clothes, a different shirt just would not do! All up she did three sets of five or six steps before deciding on the fourth trip that crawling was easier.

peace and quiet

2008-12-09T01:13:13Z

Earth Garden magazine, chocolate donuts and a sleeping baby...
Pity I have to go pick Ro up in half an hour.

elefianora @ 2008-12-03T12:30:00

2008-12-03T02:22:35Z

These are the class notes for the chemise I mentioned in my previous post. They were written a few years ago and have updates about what did and didn't work for each chemise I made.
Dorothy of Wadham's chemise, a late period T tunic.

by eleanora de la birche.

A few years ago I realised that I had photos of the front and back of the same garment, from two different sources. One showed the whole chemise, in a poor resolution, the other had far better detail but only showed the upper body and one sleeve. Between the two I had a chemise!

Sources: Photo in 'Textile History' magazine showing the front. It occurs in an article about Henry VIII's wardrobe and the only comment is that the King's laundress could wash a linen garment such as this. 'Textile History', 29 (2) p145, 1998 by Maria Hayward.

Photo in a book 'Elizabethan Embroidery' by G W Digby in Brunswick TAFE library, showing the back and with the caption 'Shirt of Dorothy of Wadham. With pale lilac silk. Wadham College, Oxford', which clearly shows the blackwork and seams.

Dorothy and her husband endowed a college at Oxford in 1613, so the chemise is either just in or just out of SCA period.

As the body and sleeves are covered in blackwork, in Lilac coloured silk, the chemise may have been expected to be seen, as in a night shirt. However the cut of it makes a lot of sense for wearing under tight fitting sleeves of a day dress or jacket, where the full gathered sleeves that we often associate with late period garb are uncomfortable and cause the outer sleeve to bulge and pucker. For these reasons I am making mine to be worn with garb at events, not just to sleep in. (maybe I need to make another for sleepwear for Festival, but not this year.) The amount of fine embroidery indicates the it was an upperclass garment, not lowerclass a century behind on cutting styles.

The cut of the garment is very simple – it is a tunic with collar and cuffs. The front and back are cut as one piece (no shoulder seams), there is a gore in each side (but NO front or back gore), the sleeves are tapered rectangles with a square gusset under the arm. The sleeves are open for the last couple of inches at the wrist and pleated onto a cuff which must do up somehow, probably with a button or lace. Mine will have buttons as that is less to trail in things. The neck is cut straight across the back and curves fairly deeply round the front, to end in a deep keyhole slit. The slit is cut to the waist (which is good for breast feeding) and it allows variation in how I wear the neck – open, closed, or have the collar closed but the front fanning out like some late partlets, leaving a triangle of cleavage showing above the bodice. As a comparison, one of the Bath Smocks, held at the museum in Bath, which appears to be basically the same cut, also has the neck slit cut to the waist. The cuffs, collar and hem of Dorothy's chemise are trimmed with lace.

After peering at photocopies and discussion with

hometime we have concluded that the edges were all finished in buttonhole stitch and then the garment was put together by sewing the loops of the buttonhole together using an insertion stitch or whip stitch; this gives the ladder/ feather look that can be seen in the photo, which is not even across the two sides of the seam, or consistent along it. Edging each piece before putting the chemise together seems like a lot of extra work, but the edges of each piece would need to be finished to prevent fraying before the blackwork was done. From that point, just whipping the loops together is easy.

The first one was done in a mad pre-Festival rush ~~two~~ several years ago, out of a self patterned white cotton, and run up on the overlocker. Being in a rush the fabric was not pre washed. I cut it a little large to allow for that, but it shrank - lots. I have continued wearing it because I love the style, but it is definitely time it was replaced with one that fits. (It's now gone to a friend who is somewhat smaller than me.)

The next one is from a medium weight linen. I buttonholed the edges with olive green no 8 cotton perle. I would have prefered a finer thread but that was the thinnest I could get in a colour I wanted – it is working better than I expected, using a tapestry needle the thread pulls through easily and the stitching shows clearly, like Dorothy's does.

The chemise is finished, it took three weeks with a one week break in the middle. Points to note: The sleeves are tapered, not straight, there are (should be!) only a few small pleats to bring it in to the cuff. The bias cut fabric stretches as I work it. The neck ended up too big. The side gores also stretched. Seam allowances are tiny. The chemise ended up bigger than expected, especially across the wing span because of this.

Overall the chemise worked out really well. I am really happy with the way the seams work. They are decorative, have the same pattern as Dorothy's, and they have a lot of give in them. They shouldn't break, no matter what I do to them.

Next: a white chemise. Just the stitching in off white at the edges, no embroidery. This is for kitchen work, all white so I can bleach it. The stitching is in a single strand of Madeira silk. Being fine I am using an ordinary sewing needle. It is easier than the perle and tapestry needle, not as much pushing required. I will still use a tapestry needle for whipping the edges together. One strand is probably a bit fine, it doesn't give the stong definition that the seams on Dorothy's chemise has. A thicker silk such as the one from London would be better, or failing that a number 20 coton perle, or two strands of Madeira. Also the silk wears and I can't use as long a thread. All in all the seam has a flimsier feel to it, which I don't like. Ironically this one took far longer than the green one. I wasn't as focused but it seemed to be getting nowhere fast.

Next: High contrast black stitching. On this one I was in a rush and used the iron to press the turnings over. It's a lot faster but turns more under than finger pressing does which makes the arms on the buttonhole stitch longer, and to get the proportions the stiches were longer, still pretty but I prefer the finer look that the green stitching has. This was sewn with cotton perle in either no 10 or 12, I can't remember and Ronan has taken off with the label, as usual. Apart from redoing the collar it took a week to make.

Talking of collars, looking at the pictures again, I think the collar and cuffs were actually done in two pieces (an inside and an outside) to get the buttonhole stitch sitting nicely all the way around. Mine have been varying degrees of difficult and uneven.

In conclusion the chemises are comfortable to wear and practical for doing things rather than just sitting around looking pretty. They sit neatly under slim sleeves and don't dangle in things if I'm not wearing oversleeves.

Update 2008 This is still one of my favourite patterns, and of the three hand sewn chemises the one I wear the most is the one with the green stitching. It is both sturdier and more decorative than the other two.

Pink

2008-12-02T23:43:14Z

Sunday was Gwen's 6th birthday. It was PINK. The theme was fairy princess. We had pink cupcakes, a chocolate birthday cake decorated with half strawberries and pink sprinkles in the shape of a butterfly, pink fruit platter, fairy fizz (apple raspberry cordial with mineral water), stripey pink jelly squares... There were pink streamers and the washing line had a sunshade and walls and was filled with bobbing butterflies and a rainbow on one wall.

I didn't get her dress finished, so she had to wear her old one - purple and green panne velvet. The new one will be finished for her to wear to sca this weekend.

It's an Elizabethan in pink pin whale cord, laces at the side back of the bodice, skirt open at the front, over a purple spanish farthingale. I planned on it having big hanging sleeves - says she doesn't want them, so I might make them with the tops gathered and bound so they can easily be laced on or tacked on. The chemise is the Dorothy of Wadham style that I've made before. (Hmm I was going to make the documentation for that publicly accessable. cthulu_for_pm was talking about a web page, maybe I should just post it here.) Essentially it's a T tunic with side gores but none front or back, square gussets under the arms with a collar and cuffs.

A voice under my elbow

2008-12-02T23:17:06Z

"ello ma-ma"

Yes it was Kiera. Apart from the usual mamama, dadada, nanana, she now and then says ello. Last night it was ello mama, whilst grinning up at me, AND cthulu_for_pm was there to hear it too!

Last week she started standing up on her own. She wobbles there for a few seconds and then goes plonk on her bottom.

wedding anniversary

2008-09-25T01:14:46Z

Today it's nine years since cthulu_for_pm and I got married. He's put up with me for that long. (Well longer really, since we had been together for two years before that, and friends for a couple of years before we started going out.) Where has the time gone? It doesn't seem that long.

Our relationship has gone from friendship, to romance, to frustration and misunderstandings, to knowing we are inseparable, to working together with a far deeper understanding of each other and a love that has little in common with the romantic passion of a decade ago.

Wuffu, gorgeous.

Toothyfangs

2008-09-25T00:09:49Z

Kiera cut both front bottom teeth two weekends ago. So far, she hasn't bitten me.

She is also begining to crawl. She has been pushing up with her arms for weeks, but is normally on the polished floorboards, so she just slides backwards. She's now spending more time in the loungeroom, which is carpeted, so she can get a grip and get her knees under her.

This morning she grabbed my hands and used them to pull herself to standing. It won't be long before she's pulling herself up on the furniture.

The things you learn!

2008-08-24T02:09:12Z

Gwen and I were doing her school reader this morning. Rivetting stuff of the form "An A is large. A B is small. A C is large..." We got to the last page. "A kowari is small." It had a cute picture of a thing that looks like a marsupial mouse. What on earth is that? So we looked it up. It is a carniverous marsupial rat, native to SA, in the area around Lake Eyre. It is listed as a vulnerable species.

http://www.australianfauna.com/kowari.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowari

elefianora @ 2008-07-01T12:13:00

2008-07-01T02:18:21Z

How do you know an elephant's been in the fridge?
Footprints in the butter.

How do you know a mouse has been in the kitchen?
Toothprints in the butter.

It's ignoring the fruit and bread but gnawing on the butter. Bugger! Time for a major clean up.

roly-poly

2008-07-01T00:49:26Z

Kiera rolled over last night! She was on her tummy on the floor at my feet, and suddenly started squawking in panic. I looked down to find she was on her back. She's five months old now, has been eating rice cereal since before she was four months and fruit on and off. This week I'm going to promote her to two solid meals a day, one fruit/veg and one rice.

In other news, the big kids have just done the dishes for me. I wonder how clean they are, but they are out of the way. The floor is wet and so are the kids, but they've had fun and will each get a sticker. Ten stickers equals a cheap toy/book/hair things or whatever they want.

How much can a girl achieve in one day?

2008-03-04T11:29:03Z

4am feed Kiera
5am Still trying to convince her to go back to sleep. She thinks playtime happens after every feed.
7:20 get up, organise Gwen for school, have shower.
8:30 Kiera's _starving_... feed her now.
9:00 leave for school, she was about 10 minutes late, oh well.
The rest of the morning was spent vacuuming the lounge room, dinning room, kitchen, hall, kids room, and bathroom. I put about 6 supermarket bags of rubbish out, did the dishes, cleaned up some of the stuff near the sink that cthulu_for_pm has been going to get around to for months.
Midday, feed Kiera, feed Ro and me. Hold Kiera, cuddle Kiera, burp Kiera, feed her again.
After we picked Gwen up from school, I cut and made a new pair of jarmie trousers for me (they just need elastic in the waist) and then cut out and made three pairs of tracky pants for the kids. I even wrote their names on some ribbon with laundry marker and sewed that into the waist bands. How organised is that?! By the time that was all done, I realised it was getting late - heat up left over ravioli and feed the big kids, after feeding Kiera, who then chucked most of it up (is that because Gwen was having cuddles and tipping her all around?)and wanted more. We got Daddy on the phone to say goodnight and then I tucked Gwen and Ro in.
It's now 10:20 and Little bright eyes is still wide awake so I am typing one handed, I have never learnt to touch type but this is even slower.
I had hoped to make a new top today. I want to do it with a seam under the bust and gathers under the boobs, so I need to check I've got the pattern right in a cheap fabric, before I go and cut the purple pure wool knit. I also had plans to clean out the pantry. I guess they're now jobs for tomorrow.

She's arrived

2008-02-10T11:45:23Z

On Monday 28th January, I had a little girl. Well... not so little. She weighed 8lb 12, almost 4kg. That's over one pound more than Ro, and he was a half pound heavier than Gwen. Labour was 8 1/2 hours, much longer than I was expecting, and much more painful. The worst part was the pain through my lower back. When I saw my chiropractor some days later, she found my back was out, in exactly the spot to pinch the main nerve from the spine to the uterus. When Kiera eventually came, it was in a rush, one contraction got her from halfway down the birth canal to completely out - oww, but what a relief it was over, or so I thought...

The membranes didn't break until second stage, but then they disintegrated, so the midwife and doctor were fishing around trying to get them out, whilst stitching me up, then I started bleeding. Now we get to the really ironic part. The doctors had been wanting to induce Monday evening, and I beat them to it by about 15 hours, I'd avoided that drip. Kiera was born at lunchtime, but because the haemorrhage was caused by the uterus not contracting, I was hooked up to a drip all afternoon - of the same syntocin they use to induce labour, only in a stronger dose! And the midwives were pummelling my tummy as though they were knocking down and kneading bread dough. :( Does anyone else NOT like the idea of having a baby and then going back and doing first stage again?

Because of the problems, I didn't leave hospital the same day, as I had intended, but left at lunchtime Tuesday. By then I was feeling pretty good, and by Wednesday we were planning a party for the Saturday. It killed two birds with one stone. All the rellies were wanting to come up from Melbourne to see the new baby, and Ro was expecting a birthday party, as it was his b'day on the Thursday. We only invited family and had told them it would be nothing fancy - nibblies and a birthday cake. Just as well. By Friday I was not feeling well. Those remaining membranes had caused an infection. Thankfully by Saturday the antibiotics were kicking in, nonetheless I partied in my PJs.

What a week! It's a very scary thought, but if I was living even 100 years ago, the complications from Kiera's birth would almost certainly have killed me. Now, they are not pleasant, but are treatable.

For a few days after the birth cthulu_for_pm had just about convinced me that Kiera should be our last, now I'm going clucky again. I've always wanted at least four. We shall have to see about that further down the track. I don't want to get pregnant again straight away. Feeding whilst pregnant takes too much out of me, been there, done that. It depends, too, how he'll cope with another.

My doctor has told me that the risk of haemorrhage for future births is only very slightly higher than for someone who has not ever haemorrhaged. She has also pointed out that at my age every year that passes will really increase the risk of Downs and other problems.

Kiera doesn't seem to have got much of a mention, I guess that's because she is just wonderful. She's doing all the things a baby should do, like eating and sleeping. My biggest concern with her is whether she's eating enough. She's meant to be on demand feeding, but she is going so long between feeds that I'm often waking her up to feed. I can't believe I'm waking a sleeping baby, but 8-10 hours is far too long between feeds.

elefianora @ 2008-01-27T15:15:00

2008-01-27T04:49:07Z

I was really expecting the baby to arrive yesterday. The other two were late, and born the last Saturday of the month. It didn't happen.

Instead we had a lazy day, then took the kids to watch the fireworks over Lake Wendouree. Despite getting there at the time they were expected to start, we got a parking spot on the parade, nose in to the park, 10 m from a vacant picnic table and right across the road from the toilets. Sat and ate our pizza, cleaned up, then as the fireworks started cthulu_for_pm and the kids took off to a better viewing spot. I waddled after them at a more sedate pace with the picnic blanket. The kids were thrilled. It is probably something our gandkids will never see, the amount of greenhouse gases they let off will most likely see them banned before then. (Umm... fireworks that is, not grandkids.)

So far today I have pre-washed several lengths of fabric, gone through my pre-festival sewing list and made a list of all the extra bits I need (contrast fabrics, ribbons, tunic length of wool for Ro, etc), tidied the sewing room a bit (found a white cotton tunic I started for Gwen two years ago, needs finishing and Ro has scored an extra undertunic), put together my sleeveless shift. I think it's nap time.

elefianora @ 2008-01-25T21:15:00

2008-01-25T10:27:46Z

Well, I've managed to cut one sleeveless shift for me, with front and back gores, and two RED linen/cotton tunics for Ro. None have been sewn together, but at least they're cut.

Somehow, I don't think we'll be making it to the surveying expedition at all. It is Friday night, and the baby has yet to show any signs of moving out. It's now 10 days over. It's somewhat annoying, I had wanted to go, and Cthulu for PM (BTW how do I highlight/link that) needs some practice before festival.

Reflections and planning.

2008-01-24T11:14:20Z

Well, today's achievement was to finish a linen tunic for Ro. I cut and overlocked it together a week or two ago, so all that was needed was to hand finish the neck, wrists and hem. He now has 3 linen, one silk and 2 wool tunics for festival.

After reading Hometime's link to a C14 shift, http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/1_Originaly/01_Goticke/I_01_12.htm I cut and put together 2 for Gwen a few days ago, maybe I'll get those finished tomorrow, or maybe I'll do the 2! linen tunics for Cthulu, which have been sitting in the sewing room for months. OTOH if brain and body are both functioning, I'll try to cut out more garb - a chemise for Gwen's cheersquad dress, or a shift for me, or more tunics for Ro. Handsewing can be done when I'm braindead, or sitting in bed full of stitches, cutting can't.

elefianora @ 2008-01-23T19:40:00

2008-01-23T08:41:32Z

Well, this journal is mostly about babies and SCA a&s, so I may as well start with babies...

I had my 41 week ultrasound yesterday, yes, that IS past full term, and the follow up with the doc today, with ECG. Everything is normal and healthy. There's enough fluid, placenta and umbilical cord both intact and functioning, and baby is kicking around with a good heart beat. If it hasn't decided to move out by then, the doc wants to induce Monday evening, which will be 13 days past due date. I'm not sure that I see what the rush is, the other two were overdue and perfectly healthy.