Routine Maintenance and Upkeep
I changed templates… again. The idea behind the other one was to give me the ability to make the home page a “news bulletin” style page. However, the upkeep was more work than the site was being used for the purpose. The template was also incapable of having pages without side bars, and I prefer when the informational pages on the site are less cluttered. So I switched templates again and scrapped the bulletin as I suspect most people get their news updates from Facebook anyway.
There was much more work to do on links this time around.
- Groups Billboard
- The Kansas City Sword Guild’s website is under construction, and has been noted as such.
- A home page for a living history group growing up around my pursuits here has been added to the Groups Billboard.
- The Company of the Radiant Heart’s Facebook page seems to have been removed. There appears to be a private group associated with them, but without a public page their entry has been moved to the morgue.
- The Household of Sir Anthony Woodville has been moved to the morgue with no discernable homepage anymore. I couldn’t find anything except for the historical figure on a cursory google search.
- Plymouth Medieval Society also has a broken website. When I reached out they said the company that leased them their website went out of business and they’re in the process of getting a new one up. They have a Facebook group, but I am not comfortable linking to unofficial or semi-official groups and prefer informational web pages or at least Facebook pages, so they’re not in the morgue but don’t have a link for now.
- The website for The Swords of Dalriada now goes to a Thai online casino and sports betting site. I sent them a message about it and they’ve confirmed their presence has shifted entirely to Facebook and so they let the website go. Their entry has been updated with their Facebook Page.
- Merchant and Artisan Roll
- Josh Davis has rolled out a website update with a secure store check out now, so his entry has been moved from the Artisan roll to the Merchant roll.
From Neep Manor
Announcement!
I could not be more excited to finally announce the good news, Lady Karley and I are expecting a new tiny turnip! When I posted it to Facebook on November 11th I asked for people’s guess, boy or girl. Between the page and the community group we received many guesses and voted for “team boy” or “team girl” and after tallying up all the votes it was a perfect tie between boy and girl votes/guesses. And, drumroll, we’re having a girl! Keep an eye out, in February or March we’ll run a fundraiser contest for things such as hair color, weight, etc.
Cooking Video
As we teased last month, production on the next installment of Medieval Cooking with Kids series was well under way and we finished the video on making Armored Turnips!
Guest Article
In case you missed it, my good friend Matt from Agincourt Soldier and History Live North East was featured on the website writing a guest article reviewing a recent sword purchase he made.
Instagram Milestone
Just in time for the newsletter, yesterday Instagram reached the 1,000 follower mark. Thank you all for your support, you have my gratitude and my love.
Community and Conversations
Medieval Funnies
I have a project idea I am going to develop over the winter, and may film come spring, which requires as many good medieval puns as I can get. I asked the community for their ideas and have gotten some hilarious ones so far. What do you think, have a good medieval pun or joke? Tell me in the comments.
Group Demographic Survey
A project I have not forgotten about, but is one which progresses slowly in the background, is my long running survey of medieval living history groups, their make up, how they’re organized, etc. I shared the link to the form recently and have gathered some more responses, which is wonderful, but I have data from only a fraction of the groups which exist out there. Do you run or are part of a living history group which does the medieval era? Consider taking this survey.
Show Notes Special Gift
So as some of you may be aware I have a Patreon which helps cover the cost of the website as well as articles, news, videos, podcasts, etc. One of the benefits of the Virgater and above support level is access to behind the scenes material such as working scripts with hand written notes on them, photos from stories which didn’t make the photo album, sketches, vlog style short videos from working on projects, etc. I thought I’d share a little preview since this is the first time I’ve been able to actually provide that benefit and I am excited. If you want to download a full copy yourself sign up on Patreon.
Notice of Exile
Akash Ghara
As the knight of his manor would protect his denizens from bandits and marauders, in these modern times I assume the responsibility of keeping for my community on Facebook or Discord or elswehere, digital peace and harmony. For his crimes against the common decency of the community by spam, I sentence him to banishment from the Facebook group.
Executed November 10th, 2020
November Hall of Fame
A highlight of some of the most popular things on the Turnip Network. Do you have content you think is a candidate next month? Tag me on Facebook or use the hashtag #turnippicks on Instagram for a chance to be featured on the page, and if you make the top, a mention in the newsletter!
#turnippicks
The nine #turnippicks photos posted in November and receiving the most likes (in order top left to right)Â @larpcraft_karsten, @centreazincourt1415, @clawfy_, @marka_belfry, @timewalker_finn, @comora.lh, @medievalbushcrafter, @californiaskiesphotography, and @pierre.melis.med. Check out these great Instagram accounts!
Facebook Fun
The top three most liked posts on Facebook in November were:
A photo from Steinr Von Breitenborn of a 14th century combination dovecote and communal oven in Urval, Dordogne, France.
A photo album by Julien Danielo Auteur Photographe of the group Hermine Radiouse reenacting the trial of Pierre Landais.
A photo album from Ladies Medieval depicting a variety of medieval braided hair styles for women.
Future Projects
Every month I release some sort of project for the community, be it a long form written article, an audio episode, or a video, or some blend of the above. The items below are the projects I have in various stages of completion, which are at a stage where they are candidates as the headlining topic for next month. Esquires and Knights of the household on Patreon have access to a monthly poll where they can choose which topic I will work on for the next month. If you want to cast your voice, become a Patron!
- A “Behind the Metal” interview featuring Trevor Clemons of the Kansas City Sword Guild, focusing on his considerable expertise and success with creating a crossover HEMA and living history group.
- I have a simple, slender belt from Lorifactor I could review. Anything I wear I could review. Do you want more product reviews?
- More tent diagrams, from other companies or from more tent styles of the companies I already have worked on. Maybe re-do the hand drawn one in CAD like the new one is. These drawings are very time consuming though, and with how many size/shape variations exist among the preeminent manufacturers of medieval tents, it will take me years to work through them all (or sufficient support to work on the website full time.) Also, the dead computer doesn’t help.
- I went on a mission to find fixes to a persistent wardrobe malfunction where my hosen would bunch up on my feet and bind with the rough leather of my boots when putting shoes on over my footed hosen. I received a list of possible solutions, some of which I have tried and some of which remain candidates for experimentation. An article on the subject would include trying and documenting my experiments with all the suggestions.
- I am collecting old, dead tents to re-purpose their fabric for an “Archer Lean-To.” This project would be to benefit any group or encampment portrayal. The idea: unlike the Knight himself who would purchase a proper tent, the commoners who joined him on campaign might opt instead to take an old cast off tent which could be purchased for cheap or salvaged for free and use it to erect a shelter for themselves while on campaign. Hanging a rectangular swath of canvas, as a tarp, can allows a variety of options as a shelter. It could ornamented with cheap mattresses and other excess material culture to give the impression of three or four men (representing a few archers and camp servant in their absence) and provide a contrast in quality to my tent. I need to research, however, is if this is a speculative construction, a reenactorism I have seen others do without any primary documentation. Part of the project and the article would be doing said research.
- Can you portray an Atheist or Godless medieval impression?
- How to tie an arming point? (Video and/or print guide.)
- How to use a fibula style brooch? (Video and/or print guide.)
- Practical example against cutting corners, using tent stakes and hammers as a reference. (Video)
- An article/video on medieval camping and comparing/contrasting slavishly accurate camping vs. modern reenactment “glamping.”
- Knotwork / ropework guide, either as a single large video/article or in a series (knots, bends, splices, marlinespike skills, etc.)
