Kitchen

October Tavern Work Day

September 26, 2023 / By

Upon the 17th of October, a few Gardiner’s and friends gathered at the Tavern site to continue brick work on the Tavern base. Seven of us started work in the crisp air of Saturday morning; mixing mortar, soaking bricks prior to laying, cutting bricks down to size, and laying bricks.


We quickly discovered that we were disturbing the sleep of a local barred owl. Of course, the photographer didn’t bring her real camera, so it hung out quite a while despite the noise of breaking bricks and calls for supplies. Eventually it flew off and moved to a lower limb, but further in the woods.

 

After a break for lunch, Ann joined us back at the work site. She started laying bricks for the doorway plinth wall working towards the same corner Vic was working towards. Bob set the bricks for the final corner, and let Vic and Ann meet up in the middle.


At the end of the day, the tired crew had made significant progress. We have completed all of the low plinth walls that will serve as a base for the timber framed walls, and built up a few courses along the back chimney wall.

 

Happily at the end of the day, tired and sore, Laura fed us full of salad and Shepherd’s Pie, and then Key Lime Pie. You can see a few more photos from the day on Tavern Site photos, if you need more.

Site Improvements and Kitchen Progress

September 27, 2023 / By

On July Fourth we held a work day for the Tavern site. One group of folks started laying bricks for the kitchen back wall, specifically starting and setting the two back corners.

Kitchen at the start of the day on Sept. 5th

So on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, a crew of members continued laying bricks, raising the back wall to about a foot high, and adding the two rows to complete 95% of a plinth wall on the south wall of the kitchen. We’ll plan more workdays to get as much brick laying done as possible before winter’s freeze sets in.

Kitchen progress at the end of the day!

Gardiner’s also ordered a big pile of dirt to help us even out the low spots around the tavern site. A hardy crew spent the day moving the mountain of dirt to the various depressions sneakily lying about hoping to collect mud and trip passers by. We have further plans to spread grass seed, and possibly aerate the area to encourage a nice lawn for pike drills and skirmishing.

The daunting pile at the beginning of the day.

The much smaller remaining pile of dirt. 🙂

And another crew worked on the roof tiles. They built a shelf system for tile drying and storage, cleaned up the already poured tiles, mixed up and poured another batch of roof tiles into the molds, and then tested out the existing tiles on a nearby woodpile roof. This final test proved very illuminating, as the tiles cracked due to vibrations from nailing them in place. Using screws instead proved more holy, if less accurate. The crew also noticed that the broken tiles had more air bubbles in them, so perhaps a way to encourage fewer air pockets might help too. So, we’ve still got a way to go to figure out and make enough tiles.

Test use of roofing tiles proved informative.

On the whole, it was a very successful weekend. We accomplished quite a bit on Saturday and the site and kitchen are progressing along nicely.

 

Amy works on laying bricks

Laura weeds out some saplings from the site

Child labor was legal in Elizabethan England!

Bob “Ever But At Times of Need At Hand” washes down the newly laid bricks.

Bob “Ever But At Times of Need At Hand” washes down the newly laid bricks.

And you can see more pictures of site work on Flickr.

 

Kitchen Update

October 23, 2023 / By

Lots happening this month on the kitchen.

Given the nature of the soil (clay) and the driveway was carved out of a forest, the ground was soft and unstable. After a good rain, it was difficult to get up the hill leaving the site. So we’ve had gravel put down on the driveway.

Just to highlight why the rock was necessary, the gravel truck got stuck at the entrance, and they had to get another truck to pull it out. The entire driveway is now rocked right up to the back of the kitchen site. The rock was needed so the cement truck could get in and pour the slab.

The rock is a base; it’s large stone that we want to settle before we do anything else with it. Right now it’s for trucks (mine has no problem getting up and down without 4WD), but we’ll grade and put a final layer down that will make it good for cars as well.

A slab was the easiest and quickest way to get a foundation under the kitchen. It gives us a solid base that won’t shift or heave. It also provides secure footing for the cooks. We’ll cover it with pavers of some type after the building’s done.

Our next job will be to lay a brick plinth wall and the full back wall and sides for the fireplace. That will form the base on which the timber framing will rest. In concept, it will be something like a medieval kitchen done by a group in Sweden.

We can start laying brick later this month, once the freeze threat has passed.

We’ll post more on the project as we move forward.

Robert

 

 

 

Tavern Site

September 26, 2023 / By

We staged a few photos on Sunday morning to give a better idea of the space of the newly cleared tavern and kitchen site. It’s quite large and spacious with plenty of room for kitchen, tavern, tents, drilling, skirmishing, archery, and games.

Bandesmen stand at the approximate four corners of the kitchen.

Marking the proposed corners of the tavern, while Fanny admires the space.

Looking to the gathering in the tavern, with a corner of the kitchen to the right

Looking across the drilling green to a gathering of Bandesmen in the tavern

A few more photos of our first meal on the Tavern site during a break in work on Saturday, and the site on Sunday morning, are available on Flickr.

Timber Framing

October 19, 2013 / By

Two of our members, Bob and Harv, traveled up to Michigan to take a Timber Framing class with Tiller’s International. It was encouraging to discover that creating a timber framed building for a kitchen, and eventually even a Tavern of our own is possible. We look forward to them sharing their tales and skills with the rest of the group.

Tiller's Timber Framing Oct 2013 181

You can see some pictures of the process on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42497948@N00/sets/72157636447150155/