#tansy suppers

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Almost every holiday comes with its own accompanying foodstuff.

For Thanksgiving, it is turkey; for Hanukkah, donuts filled with a thick plug of sweetened jelly, or latkes.

Many Muslims break their Ramadan fast each day with dates; people in Japan greet the New Year with mochi and soba noodles.

Easter treats seem self-evident: chocolate, eggs, chocolate eggs.

But for hundreds of years, the English ate something entirely different at Easter: a sweet, herbal concoction—somewhere between a pancake and an omelette—known as a tansy.

Tansies took their name from the herb tanacetum vulgare, which grows wild across the United Kingdom.

With yellow flowers the shape of flying saucers, it had various charming nicknames, including bitter buttons, cow bitter, and golden buttons.

Recipes for the simplest tansies are short and to the point.

Per a “Mrs. Rendle”:

“Pound a handful of green tansy in a mortar, add the juice to a pint of batter, and bake it.”

As time went on, however, other herbs found their way into the mix.

A recipe in the 1588 Good Housewife’s Handbook used the juice of tansy, feverfew, parsley, and violets, mixed with “the yolkes of eight or tenne eggs, and three or four whites, and some vinegar, and put thereto sugar or salt.”

It was then fried. Essentially, it was a big, flat, slightly sweet pancake, with a faint greenish tinge.

It’s likely that tansies originally had a medicinal purpose. The herb itself was believed to cure various ailments:

One 16th-century medical tract, Treasurie of Health, prescribes it soaked in a pint of wine for “a drinke for them that be hurte or brused,” while another claims that “it is good to dissolve windiness of the stomach and guts, and to kill worms in the belly, expelling them out.

It is also used to provoke urine and to break the stone of the [kidneys].”

(Tansy is now known to be slightly poisonous.)

Its appearance on the Medieval Easter table, therefore, makes some sense. Throughout Lent, Christians endured a long, boring diet of lentils and dried fish.

Tansies, one early recipe claimed, were “good for the stomach, on account of discussing the flatulences generated by eating pulses and fish during Lent.”

In short, they were probably a practical solution to post-Lenten gut squalls.

(But tansies had other, year-round medicinal uses: In the early 19th century, physicians told women with “hysteritis” to place a “tansy pancake” against their abdomens to ease uterine pain.)

But a curious religious element also seems to have linked the herb with the holiday.

Despite commemorating different events, Easter and the Jewish festival of Passover have striking overlap beyond their often-coinciding springtime dates.

The word “paschal,” which derives from the Hebrew Pesach, can refer to either holy day.

In Italian, Easter is Pasqua; in French, it is Pâques.

For English Christians, eating tansy seems to have been a nod to Easter’s ancient roots—with a strange note of anti-Semitism.

In an 1885 Notes and Queries, the scholar Edward Solly traces “the custom of eating tansy pudding and tansy cake at Easter back to the the Jewish custom of eating cakes made with bitter herbs.”

However, to make it clear that this was still a Christian festival, he wrote, "people made a point of eating pork or bacon with the cakes to take from it any Jewish character.”

Although many Lenten dietary rules were relaxed or forgotten during the Reformation, people continued to eat tansies.

Over time, however, they became increasingly decadent.

Many omitted the eponymous herb altogether in favor of ingredients such as ground almonds, rose syrup, bread crumbs, grated nutmeg, brandy, artery-choking quantities of cream and butter—and sometimes all at once.

Tansies transformed from a kind of herbal pancake into something more reminiscent of a sumptuous clafoutis.

Tansies also played an important role in raucous, regional Easter celebrations.

Residents of what is today the northern part of Cumbria would make a “tansy puddin’” on Easter Monday to carry through town to the public bakehouse.

A 1905 glossary to the region’s dialect explains:

“During the day, women carried flour about and threw it at any one whom they passed. Young men would often steal the puddings or pies from the women. The day ended with a supper and dance.”

Held in the church or cathedral, these balls involved “slow, stately dancing, … solemn chanting,” a religious service, and the distribution of tansies with a rich, rum sauce.

These were called “tansy neets” or “tansy suppers,” and culminated with young men slipping the fiddler a shilling at the end of the night.

By the early 20th century, however, people were speaking of these puddings and traditions as vestiges of the past.

Tansies and tansy neets vanished from Easter plates and celebrations.

The Easter Adventurer, from 1826, calls tansy “as essential [to the holiday] as pancake to Shrove Tuesday, furmity to Midlent Sunday, or goose to Michaelmas day.”

Today, those holidays and their culinary accompaniments are all but forgotten.

And though we celebrate Easter, our chocolate egg hunts and subsequent gluttony would be unrecognizable to any flatulent, flour-throwing, tansy-pinching Easter Monday reveler from centuries past.

[theforumcat]

Hello! It is now spring break! I do not have school for two weeks! Also, I now have a tag! This is all very exciting. Who is Hod? Moving on, I had decided to not make a Tumblr, but Tumblr then made it so that I have to make a Tumblr to ask questions. My current plan is to make a Tumblr and use it exclusively to ask anonymous questions. Does this sound like a good idea or should my questions be non-anonymous (and if so, what would a good Tumblr name be)? Or should I do something else? Moving on again, how is Tansy? What is she doing? Please tell her I love her. Also, my mom really enjoyed the mac and cheese as well. Thank you!

Hod is an Unsounded fan who also used to always be on anon. We’re friends. I was supposed to go to his wedding but had the pestilence.

That seems pretty valid, but do probably at least reblog a couple things and put up an avatar or else you’re likely to get blocked and when you’ve been blocked you can’t do anon. If you choose to actually use your tumblr you could pull a Business Anon and make Puppy Anon your username. Or something else. I’ve been forumcat for like thirteen years, but I’ve had many handles before then of varying regrettability.

Tansy is mournfully licking her food bowl because she is starving and withering away and it’s all going dark and fuzzy and could anyone spare some change so she might get some supper? Which is to say dinner time is in six minutes and she is literally fine.

Today she was a chilly girl and the babydog wasn’t in bed with me so she spent all day napping with me to hide from the chilly. She had a good day.

I’m glad the macaroni and cheese continues to be a hit!

[wellpresseddaisy]

7, 10 - Snape asks

7. What is your most self-indulgent Snape headcanon? No, your MOST self-indulgent headcanon. That one.

It's bright and warm in the garden so far into the sunniest summer in decades. Bees buzz from flower to flower, carrying pollen back to his hives. He'll be well-stocked in honey before the summer is out. The sun won't last much longer -- his scars are aching in that odd way they do before the weather turns -- but he'll sit outside as long as he can. Perhaps he'll take his supper out in the fresh air.

Here on his own bit of earth he doesn't have to worry. Oh, he has his wards, four sets of varying lethality, but he also has enough space that his shoulders settle and relax and he can enjoy a quiet cup of tea and some work in his garden. He's learned to slow down, not rush from experiment to experiment, and he has the time, now. Time and funding and a place of his own.

A bee lands on his hand and climbs about his fingers for a moment before flying off. He leans back and sips his tea, watching the tansy blow in the soft breeze.

10. Snape plays an instrument, but who taught him?

"Do not slouch, Severus." Narcissa's severe tone had him straightening up quickly. "Do I need to reconsider a shoulder brace for you?"

"Sorry, 'Cissa," he sighed an apology. "And, um, no. I'll remember."

He'd much rather have spent his Saturday afternoon with Lily, who didn't give a fig about his posture, but when Narcissa Black gave an order, you followed. And she'd cornered him after breakfast, terrifyingly intent.

"A gentleman plays an instrument competently, Severus, and you will be a gentleman if it kills both of us." Narcissa continued, shuffling through a stack of sheet music. "Ah! Here it is."

She unfurled something into the holder...a diagram of the keys? Severus stroked a finger down one white key, half terrified he'd break it. Mum never let him touch nice things like the piano Narcissa somehow arranged to have.

"We're going to start with learning the notes and how you make them. This will help." She tapped the sheet in front of them.

"Yes, Narcissa," he murmured. He depressed one of the keys, sounding a deep, rich note, and snatched his hand back as it lit up green. "I didn't..."

"Don't fret, Severus. Look at the diagram." She pressed down on a key and Severus watched as it and the matching one on the diagram turned green.

"So it'll show me the name of the note?" He ventured.

"Exactly! You'll learn in no time, really. Lucius was telling me that you're already ages ahead of your yearmates in Potions. He's frightfully proud, really." She leaned down, a conspiratorial light in her eye. "Just don't tell him I told you. He's so silly about these things."

"I won't, I promise." Severus managed a smile back. He still wasn't sure why Lucius, a seventh year, would be so interested in a halfblood firstie, but he wasn't going to whinge about it. And now Narcissa.

"Now, we will make you as passably musical as we can. Remember, sit up straight, and think of the keys as potions ingredients. When you combine them correctly, you get a lovely piece of music. If it's the wrong combination..."

"An explosion?" Severus tried.

Narcissa laughed, probably the prettiest sound he'd ever heard. "Well, the keys won't hop off, but it'll sound sour. Like a congealed mess. Let's try a few scales so you can get comfortable."

Somehow, Severus didn't mind music lessons so much anymore.

But he was drawing the line at dancing.

[blackphoenixalchemylab]

Harvest Moon + Friday the 13th

The Harvest Moon is sailing toward us, arriving nonchalantly on Friday, 13th 2019 as if that’s a perfectly normal and acceptable thing to do. The nerve!

But we are here for it, and you, with a cluster of Lunacy offerings to sweeten the season and ward off any unnecessarily hard luck. 

Here’s everything you’ll need!

++ A LITTLE LUNACY

HARVEST MOON

Harvest Moon is celebrated in almost every culture, and the bounty of the season is marked in a myriad of ways. Harvest Moon touches the Equinox, the festival of Janus, the culmination of Homowo, the “crying of the neck” in Cornwall, and the Women’s Festival of the Moon. This is a day that celebrates abundance and beauty, fertility and progress, and the light of this full moon blesses new undertakings and reunites lost loves.

The Harvest Moon, by definition, is the Full Moon that falls closest to the Autumnal Equinox, and thus, it shares some of that Sabbat’s characteristics. This Full Moon was thus named because it rises within half an hour of the sun’s setting, in the Northern Hemisphere, and at this time farmers are able to work longer into the night by the light of this Moon. As the year draws to a close, the Full Moon rises an average of fifty minutes later each night, with the exception of a few nights surrounding the Harvest Moon, which only rises 10-30 minutes later. This moon is also, to the human eye, the fullest and largest of the year’s Moons, hanging gloriously huge, yellow and low in the night sky, and many lunar illusions play tricks our eyes at this time.

The Harvest ushers in many celebrations, including the Equinox and the Festival of Janus, God of Doors. Janus is the Roman Lord of Gateways, beginnings and endings, and transitions. Thus, the Harvest Moon is a time for blessing new ventures, the onset of new and progressive phases in one’s life, and rites of passage into adulthood. This time of year also marks one of the Festivals of Dionysus, Lord of Ecstasy and the Vine.

This Harvest lunacy blend combines the autumnal scents of dry leaves, mulling spices, balsam fir, pine needles, cedar, juniper berry, clove, saffron, damson plum, white sage, yarrow, and lily twined with Dionysus’ sacred grapes and ivy, a bounty of apple, black fig, and pumpkin, and the amaranth and lingum aloes of Janus, all touched by a gentle breath of festival woodsmoke and sweet wine.

(Don’t forget, you can also purchase Dan Santat’s Harvest Moon illustration, pictured above, as a tee shirt!)

++ DUETS

A fresh batch of simple, two-note perfumes!

👯 LIME AND WHITE MUSK

Startlingly invigorating!

👯 RED AMBER AND OUD

Fierce, warm, and animalic.

👯 TUBEROSE AND MANGO

Sweet and strangely sensual.

👯 BOURBON VANILLA AND YELLOW CARNATION

An absurdly happy scent.

👯 RED ROSE AND TOBACCO ABSOLUTE

A filthy, heady bouquet.

++ FRIDAY THE 13TH

13

13 is significant, whether you consider it lucky, unlucky or just plain odd. Many believe it to be unfortunate…

…because there were 13 present at the Last Supper.

…Loki crashed a party of 12 at Valhalla, which ended in Baldur’s death.

…Oinomaos killed 13 of Hippodamia’s suitors before Pelops finally, in his own shady way, defeated the jealous king.

…In ancient Rome, Hecate’s witches gathered in groups of 12, the Goddess herself being the 13th in the coven.

 Concern over the number thirteen echoes back beyond the Christian era. Line 13 was omitted form the Code of Hammurabi.

The shivers over Friday the 13th also have some interesting origins:

…Christ was allegedly crucified on Friday the 13th.

…On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and sixty of his senior knights.

…In British custom, hangings were held on Fridays, and there were 13 steps on the gallows leading to the noose.

To combat the superstition, Robert Ingersoll and the Thirteen Club held thirteen-men dinners during the 19th Century. Successful? Hardly. The number still invokes trepidation to this day. A recent whimsical little serial killer study showed that the following murderers all have names that total thirteen letters:

Theodore Bundy

Jeffrey Dahmer

Albert De Salvo

John Wayne Gacy

And, with a little stretch of the imagination, you can also fit “Jack the Ripper” and “Charles Manson” into that equation. 

More current-era paranoia: modern schoolchildren stop their memorization of the multiplication tables at 12. There were 13 Plutonium slugs in the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Apollo 13 wasn’t exactly the most successful space mission. All of these are things that modern triskaidekaphobes point to when justifying their fears.

For some, 13 is an extremely fortuitous and auspicious number… 

…In Jewish tradition, God has 13 Attributes of Mercy. Also, there were 13 tribes of Israel, 13 principles of Jewish faith, and 13 is considered the age of maturity.

…The ancient Egyptians believed that there were 12 stages of spiritual achievement in this lifetime, and a 13th beyond death.

…The word for thirteen, in Chinese, sounds much like the word which means “must be alive”. 

Thirteen, whether you love it or loathe it, is a pretty cool number all around.

…In some theories of relativity, there are 13 dimensions.

…It is a prime number, lucky number, star number, Wilson Prime, and Fibonacci number.

…There are 13 Archimedean solids.

AND…

…There were 13 original colonies when the United States were founded.

Says a lot about the US, doesn’t it?

This version of 13 is a departure from our usual theme for this ongoing project. So many of us are going through so much right now; it seems right to make an oil that contains 13 herbs, flowers, and resins of peace, tranquility, and grounding: lavender, litsea cubeba, sandalwood, ylang ylang,  king mandarin, patchouli, blue tansy, Roman chamomile, bergamot, Oman frankincense, angelica, hops, and borage.

++ VIRGO SEASON

VIRGO LOCKET

The Zodiac lockets have returned! Exquisite, elegant, and exclusive to Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.

These are heavy lockets, thick with silver, and are perfect for use as a perfume oil conduit. Dab your favorite Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab concoction onto muslin, velvet or cotton, and place the swatch inside the locket. Your body will warm the silver, and the locket will exude pure, unadulterated scent.

The Zodiac lockets are hand cast 925 sterling silver that has been partially gold washed using a method popularized in the 19th century, and each is adorned with at least one stone corresponding to the sign the locket represents. Each locket’s bale sports one of the BPAL logos: the alchemical symbol for brimstone. Portions of the face of the lockets have been deliberately tarnished. They measure approximately 1.25″ in diameter. These lockets are heavy. They are not fragile, filigreed pieces; they are durable, extremely weighty with silver, and are suitable for your most adventurous airship excursions.

These lockets are exclusive to Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and were created by and for Black Phoenix. They cannot be found anywhere else in all of Heaven and Earth.

Each piece is hand cast.

Our lockets come with a 24″ nickel-plated iron chain.

The Zodiac lockets were designed by Alicia Dabney of Elements and Artifacts.

VIRGO SOCKS

Created in the USA by the wonderful people at Sock Dreams for Black Phoenix, these socks are exclusive to Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab!

They’re made from 80% cotton, 15% nylon and 5% elastic!

...Also, PSST! Guess what? We’ve freshly restocked our REVENANT RHYTHM!

[red-arrowe]

No. 2346 Prehistoric Food

Food is biodegradable, but the implements used to prepare and cook it are not. Food turns up in ancient art, all the way back to cave paintings. Old bones and shells remain to tell us what creatures we ate and often how we ate them. Occasional humans have been found, preserved since ancient times in peat or in ice. We've learned much from the contents of their stomachs.

This slim volume is both a cookbook and a history. Most of Renfrew's evidence comes from gathering and farming societies that rose after the last Ice Age. So it leans toward vegetarian food.

But she offers evidence that even ancient hunters ate a diet of only twenty percent meat. And, in agricultural societies, meat was largely a garnish. Those people drank a lot of soup and ate many forms of gruel. They inclined to season both with meat stock -- fats and less desirable animal parts. For that matter, very little of any fish or animal went to waste. Take hakka muggies:

A muggie is a fish stomach. Take the stomach of a ling, she says, wash it carefully and fill it with layers of cod liver and oatmeal. Tie it off and boil it gently for a half an hour.

She tells how to extract, and mix with flour, the marrow of large animal bones -- how to make fish soup from the "trimmings" and heads of large fish. And we realize how fastidious we've grown in our eating habits today. We may eat worse things, but we keep the organic realities of our food out of sight.

Renfrew's plant recipes are easier to digest mentally. Nettle puree is exactly that -- a puree of young, still-tender, nettles mixed with sorrel, dandelion, spinach, or watercress. She recommends cooking it in fast-boiling water to preserve the nutrients. She tells how to make pudding from tansy leaves or peas. And breads need not be made from wheat. Riddle bread is made from oats, blaanda bread from barley and oats.

Actually, many of those odd breads can be found in stores today. And her oatmeal porridge is made exactly as my mother made it, back in my own Stone Age. But, while I put brown sugar on mine, Renfrew tells us to sweeten it with honey.

What a striking variety of edible stuff we once found in our forests and coastlines. We are a profoundly omnivorous species. It's safe to say that we have, now or then, eaten everything that ever could be eaten. And we've contrived ways to make it all palatable.

[thesquireinvictus]

Forefathers

Here they went with smock and crook, Toiled in the sun, lolled in the shade, Here they mudded out the brook And here their hatchet cleared the glade: Harvest-supper woke their wit, Huntsmen's moon their wooings lit.

From this church they led their brides, From this church themselves were led Shoulder-high; on these waysides Sat to take their beer and bread. Names are gone - what men they were These their cottages declare.

Names are vanished, save the few In the old brown Bible scrawled; These were men of pith and thew, Whom the city never called; Scarce could read or hold a quill, Built the barn, the forge, the mill.

On the green they watched their sons Playing till too dark to see, As their fathers watched them once, As my father once watched me; While the bat and beetle flew On the warm air webbed with dew.

Unrecorded, unrenowned, Men from whom my ways begin, Here I know you by your ground But I know you not within - There is silence, there survives Not a moment of your lives.

Like the bee that now is blown Honey-heavy on my hand, From his toppling tansy-throne In the green tempestuous land - I'm in clover now, nor know Who made honey long ago.

[thetradeway]

Session 41 17 Apr 2021: Wait, a TRAP door? Ahleqs casts Mage Armour.

Duncan is walking back from the opticians, so we start a little bit late. Ed is also going to be late, but he says to go ahead without him and he’ll catch up.

Mr. Pickles has a gift for Ahleqs (which Joe forgot until this week…)

Should be fun riding through the streets of Waterdeep - until he gets done by animal rights activists.

Matthew reminds us of what Brother Charity and Gideon did at the end of the last session - the buddy cop movie, during which they got some names of some people. (He explains in a very sketched out way until Sophie asks him to clarify a bit further, ‘like I was asleep or something’.) (For those who weren't there at the time, she *was* asleep.)

Mirt, Harper’s quest, Maxeene, talking horse, ride around the city, inn with a glory hole in it, disguised selves, names of a sun elf fellow and a half orc lady. Timothy P. Fuckapple and Thunderbuns, ah yes. (apparently Matthew was going for Danny Dyer, but he’ll take Ross Kemp.)

“That was exhilarating!” Charity says to Gideon as they flee down side alleys.

(Joe shows us an image of Undermountain, the dungeon under the Yawning Portal.)

(holy shit.)

We pick back up at the Dagger. Kessler wanted to ask Shanks about procuring us a book to offer the monks at Candlekeep. (Joe shows Melaina her new weasel…)

Kessler and Ahleqs arrive back at the Dagger, shortly followed by Charity, Carl and Gideon. Kessler points and laughs at Gideon’s disguise.

Tarragon has gone to find Renah and challenge her to an arm wrestle, loser buys drinks. Matthew worries that it might turn into a bar fight. Ahleqs: “It’s all fun and games until someone throws a dwarf.” Tarragon wins 18-21, and asks for a half an ale. “I’m very small and I’m not used to drinking.”

The others are deciding how to contact Shanks about the book. Ahleqs asks at the bar what would be the best way to get in touch. Ria and Jirr are tending bar tonight. Ria isn’t sure who Ahleqs means when he asks for Shanks. She offers to ask the other staff, and has a chat with Jirr.

Jirr can get a message to Shanks for us. Or - do we want to meet her? That might be better. Jirr will organise a meeting in the cellar. This might take a day or so to arrange.

Do we need preparations or supplies for the journey to Candlekeep? (Shopping episode! Somewhere, Travis Willingham sighs.)

We probably need rations. We also need to get passage on a boat - we could ask Surge (Gunna's water genasi friend in the Docks Ward), or Larissa. Either way, to the Docks Ward!

(Charity Prestidigitations Gideon before we leave.)

Kessler debates buying a shield and goes to speak to Filiare before we go, as well. (Scribe’s note: Her AC is already 18.) He will sell her one for 7gp; she accepts, choosing a metal one with a plain front so she can add her own design. She sells her crossbow bolts as well.

Ed joins us and Charity remembers about the mad druid that Tarragon needs to speak to, but that’s not for a few days. We decide to speak to Surge first as he’s slightly less dodgy, and if he’s unavailable or can’t help, then we’ll try Larissa. We’re trying to get passage but also get paid for it, like going to a festival and pretending to be cleaners.

(Duncan gets lost on his way to the kitchen to make coffee, and finds himself in the off license buying beer.)

As we go through the streets toward the docks, a bird lands on Tarragon’s shoulder and gives her a scroll from Amithrel, giving her the name of the druid whose tome may be of use in curing Tansy’s illness. She asks the bird to thank Amithrel for her and it flies off.

Kessler: “I wonder if I could snatch that bird out of the air…”

Duncan OOC: “This whole time I’ve just been imagining you grabbing birds out of the air and eating them.”

There follows a discussion about the diets of goblins, and how much evidence there is to suggest that they really do eat babies.

Melaina makes a Perception check to get us to the Docks ward (I almost wrote Dicks ward by accident lol). We find the temple, and Surge is in the middle of it, feeding sick sailors. He sees us and recognises us, and asks straight away if we’ve seen Gunna.

Melaina, suddenly and excitedly: “Have you seen him? Not that we care about… where… he… is…”

Surge says that he saw him briefly before he left, and that he said something about visiting his father. It could take a few months for him to return.

Melaina asks about passage on a boat. Do we want to pay, or work, Surge asks us? Well, we’ve acquired some skills in recent times. He asks about what sort of skills we have. Fire magic?, Ahleqs suggests. Tends not to be popular on wooden boats.

Kessler can make stuff…? Melaina is an elf, she could make a good lookout? Tarragon is a herbalist, she can make poultices. How many are there of us? Six? Yeah, six. Seven, if you count Brother Charity. (We’ve accepted Carl as one of us.) (Charity looks wounded.)

Ahleqs makes a Persuasion check with Guidance - 25 total.

To Candlekeep, you say? Maybe the return journey as well? Space for seven, we’re looking at a cargo ship. Is there any way Surge can contact us? We’re staying at the Dagger. Surge will ask around and send word.

Brother Charity has some shopping he wants to do. Where would he find adventuring supplies? Market in the Trades Ward. He wants Healer’s kits and scroll scribing kits, that sort of thing. We like to travel in a lump; our lump arrives in the Market.

Between a lucky roll and help from Charismatic Ahleqs, Charity can have 20gp off the asking price of 70, to the shopkeeper’s chagrin.

Tarragon buys some more herbs, as she’s offered her services as a herbalist on whatever ship Surge can get us passage on. Kessler buys some healing potions.

Anyone else want to do some panic buying? Chain mail! A gun! Some big bombs! The Death Star! Nope, that’s it. We head back to the Dagger.

So - rations, and a meeting with Shanks to maybe procure a book. Gideon has a heavy supper and falls asleep in front of the fire. (Tarragon: Five bean chilli from the new vegetarian menu, and a peach liqueur.) As we sit down to eat, Jirr motions to us. We’ve got a guest.

Shanks meets us in the cellar. Can she procure rare and curious books? Ahleqs explains what it is we need - a book that the monks of Candlekeep don’t already have in their collection. What about something unique, like a journal? Are we familiar with Xanathar’s thieves’ guild?

No-one is really sure what it’s real name is. The higher ups in that guild are known as The Hand. Their master of magic is a woman called Emerine (I think?). She’s a powerful wizard, not to be crossed. But she is undertaking research in the sewers, Shanks knows where. She has a something called the Tome of Bindings. Shanks could take us there to get it? She can time it for when the wizard isn’t in.

Would this wizard part with the book, or will we have to nick it? If we time it right, she won’t be there to defend it. But she’ll likely have traps and stuff. Ahleqs asks what do we think the chances are that she has an actual Beholder there? Low, says Shanks, as the guild leader is one and Beholders are notoriously territorial and won’t put up with another close by.

It would be doing Shanks a favour, if we got that book away from her. Can we be ready first thing?

Charity: “All those in favour say Aye.”

All of us except Kessler: “Aye!”

Kessler: “I don’t see why not, I mean I’ve got no objections…”

Shanks tells us it’ll be another trip to the sewer, so get ready.

Tarragon, thoughtfully: “Do you know anyone who sells nose plugs…”

Shanks returns the following morning and leads us into the sewer. We make CON saves against the smell. Only Tarragon fails and is polite enough to lean away rather than puking on Brother Charity, which she feels is very magnanimous of her.

Shanks leads us to a new (to us) part of the sewer, where we haven’t been before. It looks in poor state of repair. She points to a locked trap door. The wizard has been seen going in and out of there. Do we need help picking the lock…?

Melaina: “I think we’ve got this.”

(Wait, a TRAP door? Ahleqs casts Mage Armour.)

Melaina checks for traps and unlocks the door with ease, and after some wrangling, Joe gets a marching order out of us. (A police car goes by in horrible Nottingham.) There’s a small delay while Joe fights his way through all the gubbins I’ve filled roll20 with (SO MANY RED DRAGONS!), and puts our tokens on the board.

Back in the charming sewers again! It’s a nice part, and doesn’t smell. It’s part of the old elven sewer.

Ahead of her Kessler sees a metal door, with a slot into which something presumably fits. She checks for traps - it is not trapped. She goes for a pick, but rolls a 12 so nothing happens. She could try impact engineering… (Is that a fancy-lady way of saying she’s going to twat it?) Melaina elbows her way to the front and does it properly.

(Gideon has had too many meads and has probably fallen asleep - or gone to the kitchen to get sausages, so the DM moves him gently out of the way.)

We are just exploring when Joe tells us to stay where we are - uh oh!

We all make STR saves except Tarragon, who is now glad she was stuck at the back.

They roll so badly that they couldn’t pass if they added all their scores together. They are hit by lightning from the pillars in the room, as well as being blown around by wind.

Kessler shoots at one of the pillars to try and discharge the magic, but is at Disadvantage because of the wind and rolls a 9. It zaps her, and she takes 13 lightning damage.

Melaina has a go but also fails and takes some lightning damage. Joe rolls 4 1s for her damage though, noice.

Ahleqs makes an arcana check to see if he can figure out this magic, but rolls a nat 1. He uses a Sorcery point to re-roll for a 17. It seems to be retaliating when attacked, and there are glyphs on the floor that zap you if you stand on them.

Kessler and Tarragon see that the winds inside the sphere seem to be physically blowing the ammunition off course. Perhaps magic might work better…?

Ahleqs tries an Eldritch Blast, and it hits. Yay! He assumes the foetal position; just as well because he gets hit with lightning.

Tarragon does a Thorn Whip, which also hits. The pillar is starting to look damaged, and she takes 17 lightning damage. Oof! Kessler fires off a Firebolt, as Ahleqs downs a potion. She hits for 3 damage and takes 15 lightning damage. Yikes.

Melaina does a magic arrow at it - or, a spell? Or Charity can do a spell, so Melaina isn’t using up a spell slot?

He does a Divine Eldritch Blast. (A what? He is a Cleric, right? Sophie, OOC: ‘He’s a sneaky bastard is what he is.’) It does 1 damage, which is just enough - the pillar breaks. He does a Cure Wounds for Kessler, and offers the same to Ahleqs.

Melaina tries the door. It is a large, metal double door. She checks it for traps - once she’s found her character sheet again. She sees the telltale signs of trappage! She sleight of hand disarms it with a 27 - “Bazinga.” She then unlocks the door. It swings open to reveal a monster - “Lock it again! Lock it again!”

We roll initiative. DM asks if one of us want to take the Grease Wizard “because I think you’ll need him”. Oh shit. Matthew and Sophie both take him so they can squabble over him.

(Sophie OOC: “What is that thing? Oh, it’s massive and it’s got a big old sword.”)

It moves forward and breathes poison on Kessler, Melaina and Tarragon. Only Melaina makes her save. If only our front-line fighter wasn’t on a boat going to see his mum!

Tarragon rages and does Cure Wounds on herself (but the other way around); Melaina casts Woundbind on Kessler, who went down after the poison breath. (How’s that shield working out?) Melaina bonus-action-disengages and backs up.

Kessler gets to her feet and goes for a Thunder Gauntlet, which misses. She stands her ground.

Ahleqs: "I stand my ground too!" (We all laugh.) He screams (part of his spellcasting ritual), and casts Fireball. It doesn’t bother trying to make the save - ah shit.

Kessler, Tarragon, Ahleqs and Gideon (and Melaina) make perception checks - we all notice that the creature absorbs the fire, and any little dents in the armour repair themselves. Matthew-as-Gideon - “Fire appears to mend it!”

Ahleqs runs away.

Grease wizard doesn’t have Enlarge-Reduce prepared, sadly. He has a go at Enfeebling it instead. He rolls an 18 and it misses.

Oh fuck…

Kessler, right up in melee range: “Run, save yourselves!”

Ahleqs, already halfway out of the room: “Way ahead of you!”

Charity casts ‘a buffing spell’ on himself to get more HP, and then shilleweghilghosllhsoaslkhhah. Carl holds an action, as there’s not much he can do.

It’s the golem’s turn. It tries to squish Kessler, who is standing right in front of it, by bringing its sword down on her noggin. It misses! But dents her new shield. Then it swings an arm, trying to slam her into the wall. That time it hits for 14 damage.

Tarragon goes for an Indiana Jones slide between its legs but fails her Dex check and hits it in the legs. (If Duncan was DM she’d have hit something else.) She tries to batter it with her quarterstaff, but misses.

Melaina hides and shoots, and hits the thing! She rolls badly on her damage, however. (Joe assures us that this fight is winnable; we all make dubious noises.)

Kessler goes for the Thunder Gauntlets and hits it for 11 Thunder damage. She uses Fury of the Small on top for an extra 7 damage. She would like to disengage for a bonus action and split her attack; after a short discussion it’s decided that she can. She wants to move behind it so she makes a DEX check - and passes! Like a greased seal she slides between its legs. She goes for her second attack, with Advantage as she and Tarragon are now flanking it. She hits again for 8 more Thunder damage.

"Are we still in the shit? We kind of are, aren’t we." Ahleqs uses all his remaining Sorcery Points to create a 4th level spell slot before screaming “GO AWAY!” at it and casting Banishment. It fails the save and disappears!

We still need the gem around its neck, which is very much phase 2 of the plan, and Ahleqs will leave that to us.

Kessler: “I would say next time make that your opening gambit?”

Ahleqs, Concentrating: “Look, let’s not waste this minute bickering.”

(DM decides that was inspired so he won’t enforce it now, but next time Ahleqs casts Banishment he will actually have to produce the spell component - something distasteful to the target. Duncan, OOC: "I may go full monkey and fling my poo at it.")

We prepare - moving to flanking positions and rerolling initiative. Tarragon goes bear and waits to re-Rage.

Bear Tarragon and Kessler both hit with their attacks of opportunity as the thing pops back. Brother Charity goes for a whack with Sheldflhjdasdlaflfghhh, and natty 20s it for triple damage - 36 total!

It’s Kessler’s turn. She punches it upside the back of the head for a 19 which misses, then natty 20s for her second hit. Max damage, then she rolls the damage dice again, yeah!

Tarragon does a multi attack and crits with her claws - bloodied nose. Max damage and roll again - she gets max damage on that roll too! She’s so pleased it’s hard to maintain her rage.

Melaina goes for a shot but misses.

Ed has woken up! He is pleased to know that Matthew, about to take Gideon’s turn, was about to Grease something. He asks how this thing feels about fire, and is warned that it loves it. He’s very disappointed until he realises that he can use his new toy.

Wait is this the main big bad, or is this on the way to the big bad?

Sophie, OOC: “We just got into this dungeon, we’re in the foyer.”

He does Phantasmal Killer! The thing makes a WIS save - at Advantage - and fails. Ed, delighted: "It’s timid and scared and frightened." It makes another WIS save on each of its turns, or takes more psychic damage; for now it takes 16.

But…

It’s immune to psychic damage - and being frightened.

That is a poor show, Joe.

Brother Charity is up, and he’s the last one before the golem. Gideon: “We’ll have to do this the old fashioned way Charity, go and stab it with a spear!”

It’s still flanked, so Brother Charity rolls with Advantage and hits it with a 26 for 12 bludgeoning damage with Shillgslahkfksjddkghglhlhllbblhh. It’s looking tatty now, yeah!

It doesn’t get its breath weapon back, phew. It attacks the bear, at Disadvantage (because it is not attacking Kessler). It hits, but she takes half damage.

It’s Coward Time! He doesn’t need to move closer so he casts Shenanigans at level 2. He expends a spell slot to regain a sorcery point. Now he casts Shatter at level 3, using the sorcery point to use Careful Spell and steer it around his friends.

It does a CON save (“I imagine it’s okay at those”) which it has Advantage on, but it’s a construct so it has Disadvantage as per the spell. They cancel each other out so it makes a straight roll, and gets a 16 which succeeds. It takes half damage though. Having covered his eyes as he cast the spell Ahleqs shouts, “Did I get it?”

We all want Carl to get the how-de-do-dis. He does Gauntlets of Helm but misses even with Advantage.

Kessler goes for the Thunder Gauntlets and hits with her second attack, for 7 thunder damage. It’s at Disadvantage to attack anyone but her again.

Tarragon does a multi attack and hits with both - and gets the how-de-do-dis! She rips it apart with her bear claws, with a horrible screeching noise of claws on metal.

We get the crystal key!

(After the dust settles, Joe reminds us of when we fought the Flesh Ripper and Melaina very cleverly hid herself on the other side of a doorway through which the Flesh Ripper was too big to fit. We look again at the map we’re on now to see that we came through a corridor that would be too big for the golem… We are so stupid.)

The crystal fits in the slot in the door, which leads us down another corridor into a study. Melaina rolls to pick the lock with a 27. We get the book, yeah!

(Next week we pick up with our old campaign, for which I DM. I will try to add an entry here, but it won’t have the same level of detail!)

[traditional-kitchen-garden-blog]

Traditional Homecrop Kitchen Gardening Kits

The conventional kitchen plant, otherwise called a potager or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space isolate from whatever remains of the private garden – the elaborate plants and grass regions.

Kitchen plant is the developing of products of the soil at the patio of house by utilizing kitchen squander water.

Generally called as Home garden or Nutrition garden or Kitchen planting or Vegetable cultivating.

Kitchen cultivate is a gadget to develop vegetables on a little plot of land. It is great diversion and can be sought after at homes or in school. Build up a preference for kitchen cultivating and it will remain in your life.

The significance of a kitchen cultivate is awesome and complex. A kitchen plant guarantees a cheap, customary and helpful supply of crisp vegetables which are essential to nourishment. The green vegetables contain vitamins and minerals which ensure us against illnesses. Absence of vegetables, especially the green verdant vegetables, drives o ailing health which causes ailments like frailty and night-visual impairment. Dim green verdant vegetables, for example, Palak and darker vegetables like carrots counteract blinding lack of healthy sustenance.

Kitchen cultivate likewise causes us to tackle our sustenance issue. Aside from green and verdant vegetables, we can likewise grow a few roots and tubers like potato, suran, goradu and so forth which are like oats and give us warmth and vitality. These roots and tubers can be substituted to grains.

Importance of Kitchen Gardening

Organic Vegetables You can grow you own vegetables Organically and it will be without any contamination.

Compost It is the form of Plant Fertilizer that is made up by decaying the Organic Material like Kitchen Wastes. You will get Two Benefits from the Compost. 1. Vegetables will be organic and grow fast. 2. You will get rid off Wastes without throwing it in garbage. It takes almost 6 Months to make Compost from Wastes.

Cheap and Easy way of getting Vegetables By Kitchen Garden you can grow vegetables in your Home that help you to save some of you Money that you spend in buying Vegetables Locally.

Recycling By the Kitchen Gardening you can recycle your Vegetables. For Example , you can collect your unwanted vegetables and make Compost of it and again you can use Compost Growing new Vegetables and Herbs.

TIPS FOR KITCHEN GARDENING

Site Selection

The ideal site for a kitchen plant is one that gets a lot of sun and has a saved zone that is somewhat shaded with the goal that you can develop all your shade-cherishing herbs and vegetables there. Likewise, it ought to have great waste and soil. One approach to check seepage is by checking the territory after a deluge. On the off chance that puddles shape, it's not appropriate for a kitchen cultivate, but rather if the water appears to leak in or stream away rather rapidly, it's fine. Picking a level territory without roots and shakes makes it simpler to till and set up the dirt preceding planting. In the event that, the dirt needs great seepage, consider making raised beds that enable plants to become over the ground level.

Begin Simple

On the off chance that you never had a green thumb, ace the nuts and bolts of becoming these most mainstream and simple to develop vegetables, at that point begin developing finicky edibles that need some care like cauliflowers, Brussels grows, onions, cabbage, artichokes, rhubarb, severe melon, carrots, melons, and so on. For natural products, you will require united saplings. Developing them in your kitchen plant is likewise a smart thought.

Begin to Grow Vegetables in Raised Beds

Developing vegetables in raised beds have numerous advantages, not just they enhance the profitability of the vegetable garden yet additionally makes the arranging and planting less demanding. Like in the event that you have the issue of poor soil you can top off the beds with quality topsoil. Raised can likewise spare you from back strain as you don't need to twist around over and over to gather the products.

Lacking Space? Go VerticalGrowing vegetables vertically spares time as well as improves the support part since you can see effectively where the natural products are. Likewise, upward-confronting plants are more averse to fall prey to contagious diseases, on account of the enhanced air flow around the takes off.

Consider developing vining crops along one side of raised garden beds, and utilizing tough end presents in the middle of on give a solid climbing surface. Keep in mind to anchor the developing vines with the trellis, and don't worry about tying substantial organic products like melons and squash-they tend to shape thicker stems for help.

Space Out Well

Focus on how you mastermind your products. Dispersing out well is the way to get a decent yield from each bed. Planting in columns or square examples is normal yet you can attempt to plant your vegetables in the triangular example. Along these lines you can tuck in up to 15% more plants in each bed. Guarantee not to pack them up in your planting beds. Plants don't achieve their maximum capacity (as far as size and yield) when swarmed. Here is a planting space manage for your reference.

Do Succession Planting

Progression planting can help you in enhancing the efficiency of your kitchen cultivate and furthermore gives the steady supply of vegetables.

Utilize Transplants as opposed to Sowing Seeds Directly

You don't need to sit tight for the garden products to develop before beginning the following clump. Sowing seeds in pots can give them a decent head begin, and even block the misfortunes that emerge when the seeds battle to adjust to the garden soil. Once there is sufficient space, you can transplant develop seedlings on the dirt as opposed to sowing seeds. Since the transplants are two or three weeks old when you plant them, they will be more beneficial and adjust quicker than the direct-seeded plants.

Pick Varieties that Mature Early

Particularly for those living in cooler zones, where summers are short. Along these lines you'll have the capacity to reap the greatest number of products as you can before the developing season closes. So clearly, choosing crops that develop rapidly is the most legitimate advance.

Take a stab at Interplanting

Interplanting good plants spare space, repulses standard bugs and even makes your wander more gainful all in all.

Here are a few cases of good blends you can attempt:

Corns, beans, and squash

This exemplary three sister combo works since every one of the three harvests require a similar kind of climate conditions. Powerful cornstalks bolster beans, while squash develops on the ground, in this way outcompeting those bothersome weeds.

Tomatoes, Basil and Marigold

Marigolds are routinely planted among tomatoes to repulse creepy crawlies and nematodes. Basil, rosemary, sage, and parsley make commendable associates too. Keep in mind, while tomatoes and potatoes are a piece of a similar family, they improve the situation when planted independently.

Basil, Chives and Pepper

Developing pepper nearby basil and chives is an incredible method to upgrade the red hot kinds of pepper, and also stifle weeds.

Eggplant, Beans, Thyme and Spinach

Eggplant has a nitrogen necessity, which can be met by planting vegetables in a similar planting bed. Thyme avoids creepy crawlies, while spinach holds the weeds within proper limits while it thrives in the shade of eggplants as it lean towards clammy space that gets fractional sun.

Do Edge Planting

It essentially includes developing help harvests or buddy plants on the garden quaint little inn the edges. The motivation behind why these plants are so critical is that they advantage the garden by offering mulch, assurance from weeds, avoiding irritations and going about as windbreaks.

A Few Crops for Edge Planting

Plants like basil, tansy, marigold, wormwood, brambles, lemongrass, comfrey can be utilized for this.

For shade

Halcyon Hosta

Impatiens

Pachysandra

Lenten Rose

For sun

Crawling Phlox

Crawling Juniper

Angelina Stonecrop

Yellow Alyssum

Silver Mound Artemisia

How Frequently to Water the Kitchen Garden?

Since foods grown from the ground are 70% water, you'll have to guarantee your plants are getting a decent splash frequently. This is considerably more vital for youthful seedlings that haven't yet shaped a profound root structure. Your most secure wager is to water the plants once consistently when they're building up. Once the harvests begin to develop, they won't require in excess of an inch of water each week. On the off chance that you live in a hot territory or place with sandy soil, water all the more every now and again.

Upkeep of Kitchen plant

Develop the plants vacillating via preparing

Dump all the kitchen squander in the excrement pits and keep up in wet condition.

Organic method of plant protection

Neem oil

Neem seed kernel extract

Panchakavya

Implements used in kitchen garden

Spade

Pick Axe

Hoe

Hand sprayer

Rode can

Rose

Secature  

We make it simple for you to appreciate delightful natural create straight from your own particular lawn cultivate. Our hand-manufactured raised vegetable beds cunningly and deductively consolidate your selection of vegetables, organic product, and herbs to create the best yield in the littlest space.

Interview and Design

It is safe to say that you are occupied with supporting a sound way of life? We'll prescribe vegetables that help heart wellbeing, cholesterol administration, and other regular conditions.

Looking for a fun, instructive open air family venture? Your garden will incorporate plants that are amusing to eat and simple for minimal ones to tend.

Do you cherish pesto? You'll get enough basil plants for a time of delightful pasta suppers. We'll even give you exhortation on the most ideal approach to store it to save season and healthful esteem.

Detest brussel grows? Never fear, we'll make sure to let them alone for your arrangement.

Development and Installation

Timber Frame Bed

Restrictive Growing Medium

Weed Mat Cloth and Mulch

Water system framework

Plants

Garden Management and Maintenance Services

Contact at +1 3154076989

[memalem]

The floor was dusty and her footsteps were muffled as she made her way through the small hut. A board squeaked and she stopped, foot hovering mid step. When it became apparent that no one was coming, she put her foot down. The hut was only a single room, dimly lit by what little light filtered through the shuttered windows. Against the far wall was a low rough hewn bed, barely big enough for child. A desk stood at the foot of the bed, books stacked high on the small surface. Some were open, the pages held open by pots of ink and oddly shaped rocks, while others were shut, long scraps of exotic fabric wedged between the ancient paper. She went to the desk first and examined the books. She had never learnt her letters and could not guess what they were about except by looking at the pictures. There were diagram of plants and parts of animals: flowers and guts, leaves and brains, roots and hearts. She considered taking one of the books to show to her friends outside, but they couldn’t read either and they would call her a coward for not taking something more impressive. There was a cauldron in the opposite corner and some bottles on shelves. Upon inspection she discovered that the cauldron contained only the burnt remains of a long forgotten supper. The bottles on the other hand, were far more promising. She picked up the one nearest to her, a red bottle with a shiny liquid inside it. It reminded her of the top of a river on a bright day; how the sun shimmers on the surface like mirror shards.

“What are you doing girl?”

She turned around suddenly, almost dropping the bottle. The hut was empty. There was no one there except for herself.

“I said, what are you doing?”

Something moved under the desk, a shadow detaching itself from the rest. She was about to run when she realized what it was. It was a dog. It’s glossy black coat had blended into the shadows so well that she hadn’t noticed it when she had first come in. It walked towards her, it’s paws tick-tacking against the wooden floor. It looked up at her, it’s small shiny eyes glinted at her front behind it’s long beard.

“I asked you what you were doing girl, are you going to answer or not?”

She blinked a couple of times. If she had met the dog anywhere else she probably would have ran away screaming, but here, in the wizard’s hut, it did not seem all that strange.

“My friends made me come in, sir. They told me I had to come in and bring something back for them.” she had not even thought to lie.

“Well, there are worse reasons for breaking in. Why did they make you come in? Did you do something?” said the dog.

She fiddled with the bottle, not meeting the dog’s eye.

“I saw Owen and Tansy in the old field, sir. I heard noises and I thought something was wrong but they were just lying on top of each other without their clothes on. They saw me and  Owen started shouting at me, telling me to go away, but Tansy caught me and said that if I told anyone then she’d hurt me. I don’t know what all the fuss was about but i said yes because she was twisting my arm and it hurt. She said I had to prove that I was loyal. She said I had to go into the wizard’s hut and bring back something magic.”

The dog gave her a long look.

“And these are friends of your’s?”

She shrugged, letting her mousy hair fall across her eyes.

“How old are you girl?” the dog asked

“Eight, sir.” she replied, still looking at the bottle.

“And your name?”

“Molly, sir.”

“Enough of that ‘sir’ nonsense, my name is Raffataff, I would appreciate it if you used it.” he huffed.

Molly looked up, somewhat surprised that the dog wasn’t angry. If anything, it almost looked like he was smiling.

“Show me that bottle you’re holding, maybe I can help you find something.”

Molly held out the bottle and turned it slightly so that the label was facing forward. Raffataff stretched out his neck and read it carefully.

“That,”  he said with a snort “is a potion of invisibility. Possibly the most useless potion he ever made. It makes you invisible, sure enough, but it also makes you blind. I told him it wasn’t a side effect and that that’s just how light works, but he wouldn’t listen to me. Put that one back Molly, we’ll find something else.”

Raffataff trotted further down the shelves, reading the labels as he went. Molly followed slowly.

“That one on the end there. The blue one with the glass stopper.” he pointed to it with his chin. Molly reached up and took the bottle. The potion inside looked black against the glass and it clung to the sides when she swirled it.

“There you go, that one will serve you well.”

“What is it?” she asked

“Can’t you read, Molly?” Raffataff asked, aghast.

Molly shook her head and looked down, embarrassed.

Raffataff sighed.

“He couldn’t either when he first came here. But he learnt soon enough. I miss him, you know, he left years ago, chasing some girl.”

Molly stood there awkwardly, trying to decipher the writing on the bottle with little success. Raffataff looked up at her suddenly.

“I say Molly, how would you like to learn magic?” he said, his eyes shining in excitement.

She looked at him. She saw a dog much older than he had seemed at first, with silver in his coat and a stiffness in his tail. She saw someone who cared and someone who needed a friend. Molly nodded and smiled.

“Yes. Thank you Raffataff.”

Raffataff beamed at her, his old tail wagging in excitement.

Molly thanked Raffataff for the potion and left the hut, being sure to close the door behind her. She walked calmly out of the woods and back to the village. She came back to the hut that night, empty bottle in hand. She could not go back to the village, not after what that potion had done. Molly knew she should have cared, but she didn’t. They had never been her friends, not really. When she got to the hut Raffataff was waiting for her, his little doggy eyes shining with joy.