In the news...

Went to the flea market over the weekend and found a fantastic piece of leather to make my new belt out of... and it was a bargain. I can probably get at least two belts out of it.

Also went to an Army surplus place and found a gray wool blanket for like half the normal price, so I snatched it up too.

Going to Bill's house tonight to work on some things, and to get ready for the YULEFEST encampment this weekend. I'm excited. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures and things to share soon!



*UPDATE- new belt finished with tons of help from Bill. With a few hours and a little man-power... we turned this beauty out!

So Here's Lizzie and myself just after the October battle.

We laid a blanket out on the hill in the shade and chilled for a little while. It was great! You can even see the hole in the shoulder of my shirt.

Lizzie's a real sport for humoring me and my love of the 18th century... and she's cute in her period garb too!

For the jury

In order to be able to participate in events at Martin's Station, I required a few pictures that I might be 'juried'. Basically, they just want to have a look at you to ensure that your clothing is correct.

This picture was taken by the fireplace in the physician's cabin at Mansker's Station. Please make note that my right sleeve still has the red and black makeup from the face of the savage that I was forced to dispatch some weeks ago.

A few words about the clothing: The waistcoat was originally a light natural linen color, but I dyed it in a walnut stew and replaced the funky pewter buttons with the black leather ones that you see here. The shirt is linen, the very same shirt I started reenacting in... yikes 6-7 years ago! I recently had to have the shoulders patched where they had worn through.

And if you look at the large version of the picture, you'll see where the wax from candle making dripped all over my right shoe. God I love the 18th century!

None of your beeswax

The weekend of October the 12th, 13th & 14th, Lt. Maddox and I went out to the Bicentennial Mall to participate in a timeline event that highlighted different periods in Tennessee history.

We demonstrated some of the skills that we put to use out at Mansker's, Lt. Maddox showed off his carpentry skill, and I made beeswax candles for the public. The way those school kids watched me work, you'd have thought I was playing HALO 3 or something. They wanted to stand there all day... and several did.

Just wanted to post these arty pictures of my candles. Thanks to Lizzie for taking them.

A few weekends ago there was an indian raid on the fort and the local citizenry were forced to defend themselves.

This battle had been planned out for months ahead of time... and my hand-to-hand fight with one of the indians was no different. All the practice and being thrown around only served to remind me that I am not as young as I used to be... That lousy indian kid really threw me around with great gusto! Especially during the real thing.

During the course of the fracas, I lost both shoes and my period spectacles. I got thrown flat on my back and a leg/hip injury that ached for days. I also got the Indian's black and red face paint all over my right sleeve and a big hole in the shoulder of my linen shirt. In short, it was awesome!

Mark (the aforementioned lousy indian kid) was a really great sport and I really feel like our hand-to-hand scenario was one of the highlights of the battle for the public in attendance.

In the end, all our goals for the battle were met... Safety for all involved, and entertainment for the guests of the fort/park. And the Doctor lived to tell the tale!

Musings of an 18th century man.

I've been doing this for quite some time now.

Traveling between two time periods that is... not blogging. The blogging part is actually quite new to me.

I suppose all things being equal, I have been going back and forth between this present year and 1780 for about six or seven years. I started off as the 'schoolmaster' because I had no other viable 18th century skills... I couldn't 'carpenter' or 'blacksmith'... I couldn't hunt or fish... I wasn't much of a soldier... and given my 21st century occupation, schoolmaster seemed like a natural fit.

SO I began my 18th Century occupation as 'schoolmaster'. The problem I discovered after a time was that I became the de-facto fort babysitter... not good. Once the shine began to fade from that job, I began to 'apprentice' with the fort doctor (Thomas Walker). After a few short weeks at this, I was thrust into the doctor position when Doctor Walker was whisked away to the World War II era!

Now as the fort physician, I have my own cabin and a real position of prominence!