General

Someone posted this on the internet. Because someone posted this on the internet, someone else got upset. Why, you may ask, did someone get upset over having the above pointed out?

Well, one person pointed out that they were upset they were alive, that they were homeless, didn’t have a bed, and were hungry. Being told to be grateful for things they didn’t have was wrong.

Another person said that the act of stating, “Be grateful,” is an order, and that in so ordering someone to be grateful, you may as well add “or else” to the end. It’s not a statement of joy, but a threat.

Another said it’s a performance piece designed to anger people so they lash out.

I can’t make this shit up. I can’t EVEN.

If you are reading this, you are alive. Even if you feel like total shit (and if you do, PLEASE reach out, because I’d rather spend hours listening to you talk about your bad day than minutes reading a eulogy at your funeral), you’re alive. You may not have a home, but I’m guessing if you’re reading this then you do. There aren’t a lot of people hanging out in political discussion groups on Facebook or the internet in general who are homeless. But even then… a tent, a car, a van, even a box can be a home if you want or need it to be. I’ve lived in a lot of odd places, and almost all of them were “home” even if only for a short while.

If you’re sleeping, you have a bed. It might not be a good bed, but you have one. Your bed might be made of a park bench, the backseat of a car, or a sleeping bag on the ground, but it’s still a bed. I’d hazard to guess pretty much no one reading this is living hard on the streets, though. That means you have a mattress, with sheets and probably a box spring, pillows, maybe a heating blanket, definitely warm blankets. You have a bed.

You have food. And I’m going to be blunt on this – if you don’t have food, that’s on you. There are so many food banks, church dinners, community soup kitchens, and people just outright offering to feed folks that if you’re going without, it’s your own fault. There, I said it. I’m sure that makes me a horrible person, but I’m only speaking the truth. I think what most people mean when they say they have no food, is that they have no food THEY LIKE, and that is not the same thing. At all. You have food.

Me, I am alive. I’m in a better place (physically, emotionally, mentally) than I have ever been before. I relish being alive, even in stressful moments. I’m alive, and I’m bloody grateful that I am.

I have a home. I actually have several homes, because I’m that blessed. I have my home with my family. I have my home with my boyfriend. I have homes with friends, who’ve made it clear I can show up at any moment, any time of day or night, and there will be all of the other things I need. I am so damn grateful to have a home, and not just a house. My heart lives in my home.

I have a bed. I love my bed. I even got to pick the mattress for this bed, which was awesome. I have a cot, too, my “bed while camping,” and I love it as well. I love all my warm blankies, my heating blanket, my pillows that squish just right. I’m so grateful to have a bed that allows me to get amazing rest and wonderful cuddles. And other stuff. Heh…

I have food. I may not have filet mignon, but I have chicken and ground beef. Heck, in a time of need, I know how to get squirrel and deer and turkey. I have a pantry full of rice, beans, canned meats, pasta. I know how to make bread and have both flour and grains to make flour. I have FOOD, so much food. I’ve spent a lot of time saving up that food. I prepare for times when we don’t have a lot, because that always happens. When it does, it doesn’t slow me down. It just changes some of my recipes. And that’s okay. I’m grateful for the ability to think ahead and plan in advance, and I’m grateful for the food I feed my family.

I am grateful. I have all of the above, plus friends, extended family, neighbors… Things might not go exactly as I want them to, but that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I am a blessed person, grateful for all that I have.

This past weekend was the timeline event at the Fort at No. 4. We invite reenactors from whatever other time periods who’d like to be there, and we assemble. People who are around the Fort’s era (1700s) are inside the fort, and everyone else is outside. Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to be.

See, it rained this weekend. I will conceded that if you lived on the coast, this was a major thing. But over on the Vermont border, up north? No, thank you. This was a non-event storm. It rained, folks. It was just normal autumn rain. But a few of our groups decided they couldn’t make it, which made me sad. I am trying to be understanding, but I’m grumpy. Ah well.

I chose to make one dish for each of the time periods that were (supposed to be) at the event. So I had tons of food planned out, and I did not make all of it. I ran out of steam about 4pm on Saturday, after a LONG day of cooking over the fire. Still, we had much MUCH more food than people to eat it, and everyone waddled off happily afterward.

It was a fairly epic feast, I must say. I did a bunch of medieval, WWII British home guard, and 18th century recipes, and my friends L & J did a bunch of Asian foods for the Vietnam and Korean wars. The only complaint (and I heard it from more than one person) was that there were so many options that even if you only took a spoonful of each thing, you got too full and couldn’t eat everything. LOL…

It was a thoroughly exhausting weekend, but my bread turned out gorgeous, the chicken puddings were spot on, and my apple crisp was pretty tasty! All in all, it was truly worth it. I just wish we’d had more people there. I think we ended up with about 30 or 35 people, all told. But next year we’ll do better!

My summer season is just about over. I have three more events: Jaffrey Fall Fest, Mayflower Days (a modern market that I’m doing a little 18th century corner in), and the Hammond Castle Ren Faire. All of these will be fun! After that, I’ll be transitioning into craft fair season, which does not involve tents, camping gear, or any of the cooking stuff. It’s mostly just sitting at tables, dressed up, talking to folks. Whew. So much easier.

In the background, Chris has been dressing up and interpreting, as well. He’s pretty amazing. 🙂

Note Mr. Atkinson’s words above. Read it over a few times. I did.

“To criticize a person for their race is manifestly irrational and ridiculous…”
Note that it doesn’t say it’s morally or ethically wrong. It doesn’t say you’re a bad person for doing it (though it implies you’re being silly). It’s not RIGHT, but that doesn’t necessarily make it wrong.

“…but to criticize their religion, that is a right.”
You can criticize someone for their race, and people might think you’re dumb, but if you criticize their religion, that is YOUR right. It’s a right. It’s a God-given right. That doesn’t just apply to the ones you dislike, by the by. I can criticize Christianity, Judaism, the multi-forms of paganism, all in one breath. That’s my right.

“That is a freedom. The freedom to criticize ideas, any ideas – even if they are sincerely held beliefs – is one of the fundamental freedoms of society.”
One might almost say that if you do NOT have the right to criticize ideas (any ideas, even sincerely held beliefs), then you are not living in a free society. If you are not permitted to criticize ideas, then how can you claim to be free at all?

“A law which attempts to say you can criticize and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed.”
Why would such a law be peculiar? Because it restricts very stringent freedoms; the freedom of thought and the freedom of expression. If you aren’t free to think, and to express those thoughts, then you are not, in fact, free.

“It all points to the promotion of the idea that there should be a right not to be offended. But in my view the right to offend is far more important than any right not to be offended.”
Being offended by something is entirely internal. While offense can be triggered by outside forces (bad words, bad actors, etc), the actual act of being offended is 100% inside your own head. I can prove this, because those same things that made you offended don’t make your neighbor offended, and vice versa. Therefore, the offense is internal, not external. Of course, the moment “being offended” goes from the words someone says to fists or weapons, that’s an entirely other thing. Assault is not offensiveness. One is criminal, and the other is just a part of life. At some point, we’re all going to be offended because some Karen is spouting off. The thing is… the Karen? She really doesn’t matter.

“The right to ridicule is far more important to society than any right not to be ridiculed because one in my view represents openness – and the other represents oppression.”
Someone who is offended has not been harmed. If you’ve been harmed, then you can do something about it. Let me share a story with you.

A couple of weeks ago, I was heading up to the fort at way too early in the morning, and Chris offered to get me Dunkin for breakfast. As someone with a dairy allergy, I know exactly what I can and cannot eat at Dunkin, and I always state at the register, “I am a person with a dairy allergy, and it is life threatening.” There is no ambiguity about my allergy.

Well, I ordered a safe item, and happily took my bag and went off with Chris. A few miles later, I opened the bag to get out my food, and ran into cheese. I frowned, and assumed it was his sandwich. And then I realized the other two sandwiches were also covered in cheese. I couldn’t eat any of them.

I called Dunkin, and talked to the manager. I explained (and yes, I was angry and quite short, because this is poison to me) what happened, gave them my order number, and said I was very clear that I had an allergy. The woman basically said “Gee, sorry. I’ll give you a free sandwich, but really, it was just an honest mistake. I have a dairy allergy, and I can just take the cheese off.” I was offended.

The mistake she made, in giving me the sandwich with cheese, was actionable. I did go get my free sandwich, and then I talked to corporate because they are supposed to have an allergen awareness and I felt that her minimizing of my concerns was criminal. Corporate agreed, and they are doing something. That’s all I wanted, honestly.

My offense, on the other hand, was not actionable. I was pissed with her because I took her words to mean I should have just dealt with it. If she’d said those words to Chris, he may or may not have been offended, but likely not like I was. Regardless, she’s free to tell me what she wants. And I’m free to call corporate because what was BEHIND the words was dangerous.

The other side of that was an Italian place I went to with a friend. I told them I had a dairy allergy, and the apologized and said that they could not serve me. They were polite, offered to let me have free drinks while my friend ate if I wanted, and I appreciated their honesty and bluntness. It saved me being sick. I wasn’t offended in the least. Someone else might have felt offended because the restaurant didn’t carry food they could eat.

Offense is internal. Feel free to be offended. I won’t be the least bit offended if you are. Heh…

I’m not going to eulogize Ms. Parton. She was amazing, and if you think differently, well… you’re wrong. So I bring to you, Dolly’s first performance of Coat of Many Colors, from Jan. 13, 1970:

I’ve been a Dolly fan for years, and more than her music, I have loved her attitude. She understood how to give someone a hand up rather than a handout. And that’s what I remember her for. Rest easy on your bed of comfortable cotton, Ms. Parton. We miss you already.

This summer has been a ridiculously busy one, and real life kind of slapped us all in the face. Between car issues, truck issues, injuries, illnesses… we just haven’t been on here. And that needs to change. I’m going to be making a huge effort, though please excuse any hiccups between now and the end of September.

I’m going to throw some quick stuff together and hopefully I’ll manage to get my writing back in gear.

To give you a quick rundown of my summer, I spent early summer dealing with some minor but negative health things, and then went right into New Hampshire Renaissance Faire. I want to say, that was the most difficult and yet most satisfying year ever. We managed to raise over $147,000 for the NH Food Bank and over $97,000 for Rockford NH Meals on Wheels. All that by doing a fair that everyone loves anyhow. 🙂 It’s my most important charity event of the year, and I give it everything I’ve got.

Because I gave it everything, I then missed a couple of events I’d intended on attending. I was just … spent. But I did 9 library gigs this spring and summer, I believe, and that was a real record for me. I love doing 18th century library gigs, but wow, that was a lot. I moved from those into Maine Ren, which was a full 3 weekends this year. You might not think that sounds like much, but it’s four days (Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon) of hard labor for each weekend of fair. I managed to do something to my foot and ankle, so I missed yet another event after that one, so that I could take care of myself.

From there, I moved into Fort events, which are a little easier for me. I’ve made the sad but necessary decision to step away from my French F&I group, the Pequawket Alliance. I just don’t have enough time to do stuff with them. I’ll still see everyone when they come to the Fort, though, so it’s not an entire goodbye. Still, it was sad.

And then I missed the event I love doing every year, Hillsboro History Alive, because the truck’s alternator died. I was packed and ready to go, and then we fizzled. So I spent last weekend at home, sleeping and reading. I’m ashamed by just how much I needed that.

I have a handful more events this year. New library gigs may arrive, and I also have Auburn Duck Race Day (Sat. Sept. 12, 10am to 3pm, Auburn Village on Hooksett Rd, Auburn NH), the Timeline event at the Fort (Sept 26/27), Mayflower Market Days (Oct 17/18, in Plympton, MA), and the Hammond Castle Ren Faire days (Nov 7/8).

With more time on my hands, I’m sitting down to get caught up on my writing, which was sadly neglected since May. I’m working apace on my latest vampire novel, with a hope of getting it out for the xmas rush. That would be nice. 🙂

I’ll leave you with a little bit of the Working Man’s Blues:

This post is from a FB group called Collective Evolution. I’m sharing it here because it says a LOT.

***

Tomorrow morning (Friday, May 22nd), I’m leaving for the Fort at No. 4. I’ll be doing cooking and baking demos, first for school children on Friday and then for patrons on Saturday and Sunday. It’s also the week of the big Original Rendezvous, which you can tour if you visit the fort over the weekend. The Rendezvous covers the time from about 1740 to 1840 (roughly). There are mountain men, F&I folks, RevWar folks, and a lot of others. It’s a lot of fun, and highly educational. I encourage anyone and everyone to come visit me and the Rendezvous people!

I’ll be doing my first attempt at large batch baking this year. That means putting between 12 and 20 loaves of bread into the big bake oven, at least a few times during the week I’ll be there. No more “make 2 loaves at a time” stuff; it’s time to learn how to make a lot of loaves, as they would have back then. I’ll also be doing cooking for myself and my helpers, and making more notes for my 18th century cookbook.

Unfortunately, all that means I won’t be posting here. I do have some small access to internet there, but it’s sketchy and I generally don’t use it. This is my time to DISconnect from the world, and so I’ll be going dark here for the time I’m at the fort. I promise I’ll come back with tales of food cooked, bread baked, and new skills learned!

This is “the hut.” It’s a one story with short attic, built entirely by Chris and the kids. Some of it is finished, and the rest of it is, as you can see, still waiting on siding. However, today it received a major upgrade. The window is in! As you can see, the front window is now in place, allowing light to come in. Of course, now I have to make curtains for it, so people can’t see in, but whatever. It works. LOL…

This is Chris’s wood workshop. All his woodworking tools will be in here eventually. Quite a few are there already. Now that it’s in place, he’ll be able to get his woodworking done in a better way, and have GOOD storage for all his tools. On top of everything else, this has a really good roof, and is incredibly sturdy (and new of course, relatively speaking). It’s a good place to store stuff.

This is the same hut where our xmas decorations are stored, and where my historical stuff will go in the off season. The loft is high enough on one side that I can almost stand (at 5’1″, it’s a low bar…. a really, really low bar LOL) upright. With the winch setup, it’s easy to get things up and down. I can lift the xmas tree and heavy boxes without having to scale a sketchy ladder on my own, hoping I don’t trip or drop something expensive.

I think it looks pretty spiffy. It seemed to go in quickly, too, as Chris and son went to work on it and it appeared to take less than an hour. I’m impressed. And did I mention there’s room for all the woodworking stuff now? Yay!

Well, I just ordered the proof/galley copy of my latest book. It’s been professionally edited, updated, fixed, futzed with. Provided there aren’t any major problems with the galley, it should be available on Amazon within two weeks. This will be my fourth cookbook. Once it hits the screens/shelves, I can start serious work on my 18th century cookbook, which is long overdue.

This one is a story about bread. About half the book is anecdotal, stories of how I got from “can’t even make pucks” to “loaves like you get at fancy stalls at the farmer’s market.” The other half is recipes. There is one chapter dedicated to BREAD. There is a second chapter dedicated to bready things like bagels and babka and challah. There’s a third chapter called “Bread Adjacent” which is all things you eat WITH bread.

It’s my hope that this book will be of use to people who want to learn how to bake. It’s taken two years to get it from “written” to “published” (which, for the record, is pretty darn fast), and I’m glad to be done with it. We’re all on diets because of this book (because I have to test cook stuff, don’t blame me).

The back blurb:

Bread, stories, and second chances in the kitchen.

I spent years failing at bread. Every attempt ended in frustration, with inedible bricks or doughy masses. I was told my hands were too warm, that I kneaded too much or not enough, and that one day the mystical “silky smooth” stage would simply make sense. It did not. It took me years of practice, failures, successes, and work to finally perfect my baking skills.

This book is written for every beginner who’s ever stared hopelessly into a bowl of dough that didn’t rise, for those who desperately want to bake but haven’t managed to succeed, and those who are just starting on their journey. It’s also a great collection of recipes for veteran bakers.

The first half of the book includes the real, often funny story of my own messy journey—from a childhood with no baking at all, through years of setbacks and irritation, to the gradual discovery that good bread is possible for everyone.

The second half is filled with the approachable recipes that finally worked for me: straightforward loaves, comforting sandwich breads, crusty rustic rounds, and sweet treats, all written with the nervous beginner in mind. No intimidating jargon. No vague instructions. Just clear, patient guidance, honest troubleshooting, and the gentle encouragement you need to keep going.

Join me on this journey. Whether you’re baking your very first loaf or trying again after past disappointments, I hope these stories and recipes help you find the same. Never give up, and you’ll be baking delicious loaves in no time!

This is part of why I haven’t been writing on here. My usual typesetter has  been so busy that he hasn’t been able to help. I am not a typesetter. I struggled. I think, I hope, I pray that I got it right. Whew.