We’re well over halfway through our re-enactment time at Kentwell now. We have dressed as tudors, spoken as tudors, worked as tudors, eaten as tudors. We sleep, thankfully, as 21st century folk, although it must be said that there are ppl in authentic style tudor tents, so going the full 24 hours Tudor style.
Today Big learnt to spin on a wheel. So she’s done carding, felting, (drop) spindle, lucet and spinning wheel. Apparently she’s now made 4 skeins of wool, and is really quite proud of herself.
Small has mainly been an urchin. He has attended Barn School, learned his numbers (Roman), some extra letters such as thorn, and new methods of multiplication and addition, as well as playing much chess and other medieval games. There has also been rambling and wanderings with other boys around his age, and it’s been great to have him have freedom without me having to worry particularly about where he is or what he’s doing. Because all the adults keep an eye on all the children, meaning I’m fairly sure all is well with him at all times.
Smallest has majored in being cute. She’s ever so good at it. The one drawback to being Tudor myself is I can’t whip out a camera and immortalise her, so I’m hoping that other ppl have done it for me, and I shall be searching flickr and the net when I’m home.
I have learnt a little of how to felt. It’s rather fun. And so fast! Do you know how long it would take me to knit a statute cap? They can be felted in two days. (Though I have just discovered that the statute of the name was actually after the year we’re in. Oops. Historical anomaly as Sheldon would say.) And I’ve taught children their letters and numbers, and about canonical hours versus god’s hours, and mazed them well, by telling them we rise with the sun, and I kill my hens when they stop laying by ringing their necks….
Oh well.
It has been, in every sense of the word most wondrous.
And the reason I’m blogging this now rather than when I get home is because you still have time to come and see it. The Great Tudor Re-Creation runs until Sunday 10th July, and is open to the public this very weekend. There will be a great fair, with many entertainments, challenges, games and things to buy – if you are within reach of Long Melford Suffolk and have any interest at all in things Tudor I hugely recommend that you come and see it. And tell your friends. And relatives. And if you arrive, look out for me. I look a little like this:
Leave a Reply