A map of medieval Amsterdam

This is the January illustration from the 1450 Book of Hours. I've been kinda busy lately, so instead of doing anything fancy, I was lazy and posted this photo.

I thought that a few posts with armor photos might be of interest to some people so here is the first one.
This is a spangenhelm of 6th century Ostrogothic origin made of iron on bronze-gilt approximately 7.5 inches tall. If complete it would also have cheek defenses.

One of the two Viking brooches found at the burial site near Cumwhitton in north Cumbria. The brooches are made from a copper alloy. Also found in the same grave was a wooden box which may contain weaving equipment.

Thought I might shift gears and and give you a detailed photo of some Viking jewelry. This little beauty is not in my collection unfortunately but you can find more details and other photos where I got this one. Pictures like these can be found all over the internet, so I know I am not providing anyone something that they could not get on their own and it is not original research, but hopefully, I can provide people with a spot to jump start their own searches.

http://www.bbc.co.uk

Enjoy!

The December illustration from the Book of Hours.

Thought I would post a couple of photos for anyone interested. These are photos of a Roman bronze ring, size 3 1/2. As exact dating and providence is difficult and expensive to obtain, the only information available on this ring was "Roman and pre 400 AD". Not much for anyone really wanting detailed documentation for research, but should be enough for someone wanting to make a reproduction for their own use. I had this ring in my own collection, but since I moved, I have been unable to find it. Lots of stuff still in moving boxes though so hope springs eternal.

Well in continuing the series, here is a print from the 1450 book of hours that represents September. I think when December rolls around, I will post that one and then go forward instead of backward in order.

This is the October print from the same 1450 book of hours.

This is a print from a 1450 book of hours for the month of November. I think I may start adding some of these photos that I have so that viewers can use them for reference. Let me know what you think.

Well, I know that this is not related to my alternate life, but today, the day before Turkey Day, I decided to surprise my wife by painting the hall and stairway. It has been on my to do list for some time and since I was at home, I figured I would paint it and she would have a nice welcome home from work and so would I... However, and I have no idea how this happened but as I was about halfway through with the paint job, she calls me. She said she had been thinking and wanted my opinion on an idea she had. "What if instead of the blue she had picked out for the hall, we changed to Loganberry?" Now since this had been on my list of things to do for a while, why in the hell would she pick today of all days to be thinking about changing the color?

Remaining calm since she had no idea I would actually be painting today, I asked her what was wrong with the blue. Her answer was that the blue would not look as good with the hardwood flooring she had decided that I needed to install before Christmas! I told her that I am a chemist and I sell real estate, I am not a builder but she said that she was confident I would be able to do it.

Of course, most men reading this might wonder what color loganberry actually is. Well according to a quick Google search "This thornless berryfruit is a cross between the blackberry and the red raspberry". So basically, it is a medium dark red that is somehow much better than the blue would be with the wood that I have never seen. And she wonders why I don't do the honey-do list more often. Of course, I suppose that the argument could be made that if I had painted it when it was assigned to me, that this would never have happened, but I don't believe it for a minute.

Well, this is my first time ever to actually try blogging. I have made many web pages in the past, but never a blog so I will see how it goes. Putting thoughts down on paper (so to speak) is a relatively new experience for me. If I enjoy this activity, I may just have to go back to putting up a web page where I can have basically unlimited content.