Everything is connected…

I’ve been down the ogham rabbithole – still there in fact -, but I am surfacing just a little to share an amused observation. In the course of my “Are ogham letters named for trees?” research I’ve discovered a side tunnel that joins up to my “tell me about dyeing in Ireland” research that I’m…

Letters from the Trees

I’ve been putting this post of for an age because I’ve been reluctant to find out that a lot of what I thought was true about the subject would turn out to be Victorian fabrication, as this has been a far bigger element in my research in the last few years than I would like….

Venetian Treacle – (Not what it says on the tin)

Watching Netflix recently I was reminded recently of a great project a former member – Lady Cassandra della Corona of Dun in Mara – worked on previously,  recreating a plague doctor mask.  I knew that the established story about plague doctor masks was that they contained various medical and strongly scented herbs as well as…

The Battle of the Trees (Cad Goddeu)

I am about to beg indulgence while I try to dislodge or redirect or do *something* with the enormous build up of frustration. I don’t know whether it is working in an office with a whiteboard and a printout of a calendar rota with the overwhelming sensation that my life is being somehow chopped up…

DEAD IS DWERG

I’m minding my own business, wandering around the Internet when I am smacked in the eyes by an interesting blog title – “Dwarf begone! Five early medieval ways to rid yourself of dwarfs” (https://thijsporck.com/2020/05/03/dwarf-begone/) I believe it is the worst kept secret that I tend to be easily earwormed, and an even worse kept one…

Tracking down a source for Bluebells used as glue

There have been a few bluebell filled days recently, and yesterday was perhaps the most Bluebells I have ever seen in my life. Oceans of them flowed over the curious landscape of an until yesterday undiscovered-by-me part of Charleville forest, luxuriating in the May sunshine in their hundred of thousands, mellowing under slow wandering clouds…

Essential tools for early pyromaniacs.

Long, long ago.. okay it was April-ish … I heard many excellent tales about an event called Serve it Forth, held in Polderslot.  It appears to have been an event I would have enjoyed very much, featuring cooking and food related classes, and I was sorry to miss it.  The bit that really made me…

The dreaded tooth worm

The attendant extravagances of pain associated with dental problems in the 21st century make me seriously wonder how humanity survived to this point.  I had a ‘lovely’ time not all that long ago with a dental abscess, followed quickly by more problems in teeth close  to the same spot (the original problem causing tooth having…