Different skillsets for different people

 

 Ludlow Castle. Shropshire, England

When Will and Bobbie got a letter informing them that they had been accepted to be part of “Life in a Castle” for 6 months to learn and manage the reality of life in a castle, well, they were beyond excited. 

Apparently, they had skills that would prove useful for the care of a huge old castle in Ludlum, England. Will had won Forged in Fire episode where he won $10,000 for making an outstanding sword.

Bobbie’s special skill was not really evident. His dad owned a company that installed septic systems for excrement disposal. On his dad’s advice, Bobbie wrote that he was a manager of “Septic System R Us”.

They found themselves in the bailey with a large crew surrounded by forests leading to bog land, a variation of villages and fields around them.   Will was led to the stables where he would prove his skills making metal objects. No problem, he would do just fine.

Bobbie, on the other hand, was taken to the part of the Castle called the “garderobe”. He thought he would be a guard of a robe, some sort of clothing. He strutted proudly to the area, where his skills could be used.

When the group reached the side where the “garderobe” was, it was explained what it was. Bobbie looked up at the part at the top of the castle where the occupants used the garderobe as a toilet and deposited excrement to fall all at the bottom of the wall. Workers then shoveled the poop into a wagon to take to the fields beyond. 

Bobbie shook his head, sighing heavily, looking at a pile of excrement recently dropped from the toilet “Poop follows me wherever I go. Dad would be so proud.”

 ***What is a garderobe? Look here: https://share.google/2rGf5I3qoK0TRZg1b

Wed Words, 6-5-26 can be found at River, where other bloggers are challenged to use 6-12 words and write for fun. Go there and post your own take on the words:

1.sculpture  2.amendment  3.timeline  4.bog  5.castle

and/or:

1.sword  2.crew  3.buffalo  4.forest  5.variation

 

First Cut

 

We are faithful fans of Forged in Fire and my husband John had reactivated his passion for knives and swords.  It has been a long time passion since he finished grad. school.

Whenever he passes a sword tent at some street fair, John will hoist a sword from its scabbard and says, "Hmmm. Nice balance..." even though it is clearly something from China. 

Note quality engraving

His love of knives and swords led me to purchase a good quality chef knife set. Made in Germany. Sharp as all get out (which means to the extreme). He exclaimed with joy as he opened it.

On Christmas day, I was going to chop chives for Christmas dinner. I'll just use these German Knives.                   

All was going well as I pulled the knife from from its block and picked up the chives, and made the first slice. That single slice resulted was totally painless until I saw my finger  was bleeding like a son of a gun (a mild or euphemistic term for son of the bitch). Looking down I could see the knife had sliced a translucent piece of skin from my left index finger.

Grabbing paper towel and racing to the first aid supplies, I ran water for minutes to staunch (which means stop the flow of bleeding). Also poured hydrogen peroxide. Then wrapped the dam with layers of gauze.

I picked up an old knife, finished the chopping. BUT my right little finger brushed the new knife, just brushed it. Another flow of blood. It was just a slice, a tiny slice. But, oh boy howdy (which means an exclamation of excitement and surprise from the South or Texas) that slice was leaking.

First aid, gauze, tape. Oh bloody hell (which means interjection which is an exclamation of awe and surprise, sometimes in anger or despondency).

Even as I wrote this, I had to do the hunt and peck typing
.
It was time to change the dressings. 

Cat Stevens

First Cut Is the Deepest

Sing it, Cat. I will definitely understand it.

 

This is a re-post from 2018. My husband was not thrilled of the gift, so the knives are still sharp.

 

The First Cut Is the Deepest

Hunky Host

We are faithful fans of Forged in Fire and my husband John has reactivated his passion for knives and swords.  It has been a long time passion since he finished grad. school.

Whenever he passes a sword tent at some street fair, John will hoist a sword from its scabbard and says, "Hmmm. Nice balance..." even though it is clearly something from China. 

An awesome purchase

His love of knives and swords led me to purchase a good quality chef knife set. Made in Germany. Sharp as all get out (which means to the extreme). He exclaimed with joy as he opened it.

On Christmas day, I was going to chop chives for Christmas dinner. I'll just use these German Knives.

All was going well as I pulled the knife from from its block and picked up the chives, and made the first slice. That single slice resulted was totally painless until I saw my finger  was bleeding like a son of a gun (a mild or euphemistic term for son of the bitch). Looking down I could see the knife had sliced a translucent piece of skin skin from my left index finger.

Grabbing paper towel and racing to the first aid supplies, I ran  for minutes to staunch (which means stop the flow of bleeding). Also poured hydrogen peroxide. Then wrapped the dam with layers of gauze.

I picked up an old knife, finished the chopping. BUT my right little finger brushed the new knife, just brushed it. Another flow of blood. It was just a slice, a tiny slice. But, oh boy howdy (which means an exclamation of excitement and surprise from the South or Texas) that slice was leaking.

First aid, gauze, tape. Oh bloody hell (which means interjection which is an exclamation of awe and surprise, sometimes in anger or despondency).

Even as I write this, I must use the hunt and peck typing
.
It is time to change the dressings. 

Cat Stevens

First Cut Is the Deepest

Happy New Year!!  

A Reality that Lives in Fire

A Skilled Blade Smith

Ask yourself. What do the following have in common:

The Bachelor, Project Runway, Cake Wars,  Cupcake Wars, Ice Truck Drivers,  Civil War Gold, Trading Spaces, Survivor, Dancing with the Stars...

Reality shows, of course. The past decades have shown an explosion of everyday people and celebrities baring their souls in one way or another.  

We have discovered a reality show where the participants are skilled and dedicated to their profession. Nothing fancy happens here.  It is earthy, sharing a lifetime of honing their skills and passion. To call Forged in Fire a reality show is an insult because these are skilled men and women handling a forge, anvil, and hammer to draw out creations from red-hot glowing steel.

Creating knives and weapons from history is enlightening and enthralling. War and blood, fire and steel, millennia and today--all are wrapped up in this reality show. It is not advocating violence in any way. It is providing an eye to view how history itself was forged.

One forger said, "Failure is not fatal and success is not final." This statement sums up the character of these blade-smiths.