The morning drive to work.

Shelf Life of Fermented Vegetables

• Sauerkraut and cucumber pickles are traditionally long-fermented vegetables. They can last for up to a year in a dark, cool location.
• Other pickled vegetables in To retain greater texture, store them in the fridge for up to a month after the initial fermentation, then store in a cool dark location for 6 months to a year.
• Chutney, salsa and relish
Best if stored in the fridge for up to 3 months or in the freezer for 6 months.
• Hot sauce can last for 6 months in a cool dark location.
• Kimchi is typically eaten fresh; 3-5 days after desired fermentation, can easily last up to a year in a cool dark location.

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Your culture & heritage are not lost, they're running through your veins. Hear them call!

(Music: Ulvens Döttrar - Var hälsad moder Sol / Svensk Folkmusic)

Follow @europeanspirit

When discussing an issue with someone, we must be careful not to hold too tightly onto our biases and preconceived notions of how, what, or why things are. We mustn’t let certain words or terminologies trigger us to the point of not understanding a concept, thus resulting in knee-jerk reactions. As intelligent folk, we must reduce emotionalism, listen open-mindedly, sincerely seek the point being conveyed, internalize and analyze the information, then decide if we need to change our mind.

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Luck

In the Germanic idea, the moral estimate is always ready to rise to the surface; in fact, for the expression of goodness, piety and uprightness, the Teutons have no better words than lucky (Anglo-Saxon sælig*, Gothic séls and similar terms), which embrace the idea of wealth and health, happiness and wisdom. In later linguistic periods, the ethical side of the idea often becomes dominant, and determines the use of the word in Christian writings. Thus the Gothic séls and the opposite unséls, are for the translator of the Bible the best equivalent for the “good” and “evil” of the New Testament.

― Vilhelm Grønbech, The Culture of the Teutons: Volume 1

* the Old English word sǽlig, means: blessed, fortunate, prosperous, happy

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History of Thatching in England

Thatch roofing is a traditional roofing method that involves using dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, rushes, sedge, and so on to create a roof covering.

Gradually, thatch had at one time became a mark of poverty, and the number of thatched properties gradually declined, as did the number of professional thatchers.

In England, thatch roofing has started to become more popular again, as a conscious design choice because of its aesthetics and for its ecologically-friendly credentials as a sustainable material.

The material composition of thatch, with its natural voids and surface irregularities, provides excellent insulation when dry and compact. However, when degraded with an accumulation of moss and rainwater, the insulation properties are less reliable. Thatch can also be vulnerable to fire.

Thatched buildings were very common with primitive English dwellings, using wild vegetation.

Straw is believed to have been used as a roofing material as far back as the Neolithic period when cereal agriculture began to develop.

In some parts of England, thatch was the only commonly available roofing material until the late 1800s, when the commercial production of slate began, and the new network of canals and railways, made other materials more viable.

The use of thatch began to decline towards the end of the 19th century because of the agricultural recession and the urbanisation of previously rural people.

The most common type of thatching material used in England was straw, either longstraw or combed wheat reed. Water reed was used in wetland areas such as the counties of East Anglia. This led to a diversity of styles, with different types of roof being characterised by the type of thatch. For example, combed wheat reed roofs are shallow pitched, whereas longstraw roofs are more steeply pitched.

• Water reed

This is the most durable of the thatching materials, with a life expectancy of around 50-60 years. When re-thatching with water reed, new reed is fixed directly onto the rafters, starting at eaves level, with the butts of the stalks exposed. Steel or hazel sways hold each layer of reed in place. A legget is then used to dress the thatch into shape.

• Longstraw

Longstraw must be made into yealms before it can be used for thatching. A yealm is a tight, compact layer or straw which is level at both ends. This straightens and tidies the straw, making it manageable for thatching.

When re-thatching with longstraw, existing material will usually only be removed back to a base coat, before the new straw is fixed using hazel spars. Netting is usually fitted to the whole roof as longstraw is more susceptible to attack from birds.

• Combed wheat reed

Although similar to water reed, this is a type of straw which has had the grain removed using a combing machine. Applying combed wheat reed is similar to water reed, however, the existing material from the roof doesn’t necessarily all have to be removed.

The Venerable Bede, is the first and one of the best records of England’s early days; In his book Bede makes a few passing references, to thatching;

"In the year 429, near St Albans; one St Germanus is saved. As: ‘the adjoining dwellings which at that place were thatched with reeds from the marshes’, are destroyed all around him. The saint was bed ridden, but his thatched cottage is spared."

In around 651, the pagan, Mercian king Penda, attempts to set fire to a city. By;

"Pulling down all the neighbouring villages, he carried to Bamburgh a vast quantity of beams, rafters, wattled walls and thatched roofs."

At Cadbury, a fortified hillfort in South Somerset; here, on a prominent hilltop position, the remains of a large hall were excavated; dating from around the year 500. Dark Age thatchers once covered a timber building, 63x34ft (23mx12m). That’s a thirty foot (9m) roof to thatch over; a daunting prospect at the best of times. Even more so on a windy hilltop, five hundred feet (152m) above the Somerset marshes.

Perhaps they cut reeds in the surrounding wetlands, if so that meant carting four thousand or so bundles up the steep tracks to the hill fort.

A large barn fit for a King, at Eastbury in Berkshire is around three quarters of the size, of the building that once graced the hilltop at Cadbury. And gives us some idea as to the scale, of the various regal feasting halls, that once dotted England. The low eaves on the barn were probably replicated, on any royal forebears. As a single story building doesn’t need high walls. And is thus easier to construct.

In Suffolk; at Sutton Hoo one of the many treasures King Raedwald took with him, was the chain that had hung over the fire in his main hall. This remarkable artefact gives an insight, into the buildings of this period; that normal archaeology cannot achieve.

It’s length tells us the approximate height of this ruler’s hall. From any main cross beam to the large cauldron, the chain no doubt supported. A structure, of around twenty three feet (7m) in height has been estimated. (It depends how high you place the cross beam, from which the chain hung.) This would have given the thatcher, a roof of around twenty three foot (7m) to cover. Modest, compared with other royal dwellings. Maybe the chain hung lower in the roof, than is thought.

The living conditions inside are hinted at. The skilled metal worker, who wrought this masterpiece, decided to gradually lessen the rich ornamentation, as the top of the chain is reached. It was so smokey where this hung; not even King Raedwald would have seen it.

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Ethnic faith is natural, healthy,
and how we are intended to be.
The image above is not meant to slight christianity per se, but all monotheistic, universalist religions.

We were polytheistic many millennia before the invention of monotheism.

When you leave behind the spiritual graveyard of universalistic religion and embrace the true freedom of life affirming ethnic faith, the spirituality of our forebears, your life takes on new meaning.

The old ways are tried and true.

You will not burn in an eternal lake of fire, nor be tormented without end.
You will find fulfillment in knowing that you carry with you the stories of the folk, and have a share in the blood of the divine.

Turn inward, and realize your true self worth. We are meant to be heathen.

Embrace it and let it wash over you like a cool breeze in the
midst of summer.

Be proud Hyperborean. You are descended of the gods.

The Soul

In the midst of the world of souls stands man, and he stands there in virtue of a soul, a life. This soul can bear precisely the same antitheses as the other souls or natures in Middle-garth. One may quite well begin in the Anglo-Saxon riddle- fashion by saying: “I know a strange thing: it is invisible, yet stands forth before the eyes of all men in the hall; it is no more than six feet tall, and yet none can see more than one end of it; it can be felt with hands and without hands, and yet none can grasp and hold it fast; it goes over heath and breaking wave as swiftly as cloud before the storm, and a dog can overtake it; it flies in the air, and yet lies sleeping in the hall” It is bound to matter, and free to move about in spite of time and space and gravity. It is formless as the heat that passes in a grip of the hand from one arm up into the other, and invisible when it spreads as a force from a warrior to all his host and inspires them all as one man. And it is obliged sooner or later to take shape.

― Vilhelm Grønbech, The Culture of the Teutons: Volume 1

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An important day (in the life of a 7th century CE Englisċ mæġden).

https://youtu.be/q877Z5eePVg

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