Friday Morning

 This morning I woke up to a world of frost; it was 7:30am and the back 1.5 acres was glittering white. Rose and I ventured to the back landing, shivering as we let Pai out to relieve herself and watched the sky grow ever more pink. If you look hard, you can see the University of Tennessee's Farm Division. We share a street with some 200 head of black Angus cattle. Each year in the spring the fields are verdant green with spots of fuzzy black were the calves rest in the gathering warmth. Rose and I can hear the cattle lowing in the distance but head back inside once the dog has concluded her business. I get busy making oatmeal and heating water for tea. I get into the dishwasher and put up all the cleaned dishes from the night before. This is a daily chore for me. When you have six people and two pets in the house, cleaning is a constant among your everyday tasks. It gives me some time to think in the quiet chill of the morning. I turn up the radiator in the living room, settle little Rose with oatmeal sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg. I put on "Room on the Broom" for her and she is happy as a clam. A few hours go by and the clean dishes are now up and the dirty ones are on cycle. Rose and I have both had breakfast; Rose plays at her table with her costume jewelry and stuffed great white shark while I allow myself one episode of Grey's Anatomy. With the episodes being 45 minutes on average, I rarely have more free time than to watch one or two episodes before attending to the other chores of the Clanhold.

The frost melts in a few hours and by the time 10:00am rolls around, it is melted off the back acres and a half. Despite the clean sky and sun, the wind is up and cuts straight through my light top. I head back in to get some proper clothing on before I go into town to return a couple of movies back to the Blount County Library and pick up bananas for Rose.  While the entire Clan can feast on its home grown pumpkins, squash and tomatoes during the spring and summer, bananas are beyond my ability to grow. Organic bananas are $0.69//lbs at Kroger in Maryville.

I am pleased to pick them up slightly under ripe. Rhiannon likes them best this way and it allows me to keep an eye on them better if there are any left for making banana bread later. It is just Rhi, Rose and myself here at the Clanhold this weekend as other Clan's members are traveling this weekend. Seamus is going down to Alabama for Magna Faire and I cross my fingers in hopes he will come away with an award for his essay in competition. Unfortunately, I did not get my registration forms sent in before the deadline and thus will not be competing in Magna Faire. It was my own fault and next year I will make sure to mark the registration deadline on my calendar. For my readers who don't know, Magna Faire is an Arts and Sciences fair competition within the Society of Creative Anachronism. Most of the Clan is part of the Barony of Thor's Mountain here in Knoxville, with Colin and Seamus fighting heavy. Both Kieran and I hope to authorize in Heavy fighting; I also plan on pursuing Arts and Sciences for period brewing and baking. For more information, visit Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA) and Barony of Thor's Mountain.

To the right in a picture of our Clanhold around 10:30am in the morning. All ours trees are in the front, a lovely dogwood tree and three large oaks. Fallen branches from these oaks are stacked by the front door to dry, then carted around back for use in the smoker. We never buy wood unless absolutely needful and that is a rare circumstance. Nature provides the wood and the Clan provides the work to see that the smoker does not run out of fuel. The smaller branches we break with our own hands or over our knees; the larger branches we take a hand saw too and use an axe to split them into pieces the smoker can handle. In addition to gathering wood today, I also drained the rabbit hides and added a little more salt. Tomorrow, I will tack them to a wooden board and begin fleshing them for the soaking stage. Colin has asked me to look up the prices for tannin powder for when I actually start the tanning phase. I am a little concerned that the tannin powder, which is oak, will stain the white rabbit fur but I will use white vinegar to try and prevent this. Even if it does make it a little brown, I am okay with that as long as it is properly tanned and I do not lose any of the fur. That  will be Saturdays chores, along with dishes, baking bread and gathering more wood.

May you all have a wonderful weekend and thank you for reading the Heart of Home: Finding my Homestead.