Catch up time - June 2021
Now, I'm sure I posted about lockdown and the lonely Christmas we all had but I can't find the post now, so sorry if I've neglected you. Life has been as full as ever, and all without leaving the house! I've had my second jab now and so has my husband but we still don't feel very confident going out. I am happy at home with plenty to keep me busy.
My writing has been on the back burner for a few weeks while I frantically sewed garments for my reenactment group's first outing since 2019. We are The Fyne Companye of Cambria, based in Wales. You can find us on facebook, twitter and instagram.
I had some last minute adjustments to make to Henry VIII's costume, and then the Duke of Norfolk decided he needed a new coat. This was on top of finishing my medieval houppelande gown and henin. Anyway, we all looked fine on the day, and despite it being so extremely hot we had a good time. The picture above was taken early on in the day before we all got too hot and sweaty. My son, Simon, on his first outing as Henry was fabulous and he is looking forward to our next time out.
Our garden is very important to us and when the sun shines I must get those jobs done before the rain comes to chase me indoors. We live right on the coast and much of the worst weather, frosts etc. pass us by but we do get gales, often laden with salt that coats the windows and destroys our plants. The two pictures above show the garden when we moved in and how it looked last week. You can read about how we transformed it on my other blog:
Back to writing news. A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, the Aragon Years is going down very well with readers and I am currently working on book two - or not working on book two, depending on the weather. I recently had a lovely book blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club when I throughly exhausted myself writing interviews and articles. If you missed it you can still catch up by following this link:
https://www.coffeepotbookclub.com/post/blog-tour-a-matter-of-conscience-henry-viii-the-aragon-years-by-judith-arnopp If you scroll down the page you will find all the links.
As well as that I am writing and researching a book on Tudor clothing for Pen and Sword books. I have just completed a rough first draft, reading through and seeing where improvements can be made. It is such a vast subject, covering the years between 1485 to 1603, that I sometimes feel I am drowning in information. It is difficult deciding what material to leave out or the book will be way too long. The sewing I've been doing is part of the research process, helping me understand the details of Tudor clothing so I can pass the information on to you.
So, if you don't hear from me often, it is because I am either up to my ears in research, fabric or weeds! Rest assured, if anything important occurs I will let you know. In the meantime, enjoy the summer while it lasts! And remember my motto - Read a Book!
