Sig and I have been spending way too much time in the Middle Ages, and it's getting pretty darned expensive. We already had the basics of a good period encampment, but then Sig decided to try to get into the combat archery in ernest. We also already had all the components to make the arrows, and the correct weight of bows, and the armor -- but he needed an expensive helm, and rigging leather, and under-armor padding, boots, gloves, etc. And we began brewing a lot more, and we bought some kegs and cheap-O carbonation equipment, and some additional supplies. Then we realized the cheap-O stuff was not cutting it, so we purchased a CO2 rig, with gauge and tubes and doohickeys, which is not really very medieval at all, but it's pretty darned expensive to waste 5 gallons of ale that you've spent several hours making and several weeks aging because oxygen got into your keg. Stale and sour ale is actually VERY medieval; but our motto is "The Middle Ages As They Should Have Been". Not with sour ale, highway brigands, high infant mortality, famines, body odor and plague. Since buying garb is pretty expensive, even though most of it is of much better quality and craft than my mundane clothing and lasts pretty much forever, I have taken my fellow Shire member Solveig up on her offer of a monthly sewing meeting. And if my garb lasts forever, you may ask, why do I need new garb at all? Well, Sig needs a gambison and a surcoat to cover his objectionable Kidex armor. I need to line my wool cloak. I need a couple more underdresses, as I only have one. We need some banners and hangings. It would be nice to make my grandbabies some tunics, trewes and leines. Sig could use a couple of long tunics, too, although he does have three really nice ones. And he REALLY needs some trewes. He only has one or two pair now.
And then there are the target archery arrows. Those cost about $25 per dozen, and if you've ever shot target archery in the field, you know that wooden arrows are often damaged and lost, much like golf balls. Arrows also require actual functional quivers, which tend to be expensive. Again, you can get cheap-O quivers, but they aren't big enough and they don't have enough strapping to really be very useful. You also need either very long and tight leather gloves, or leather armguards, because the bowstring WILL snap your bowarm. And you will need new bowstrings periodically, bow string wax, finger tabs or a three finger glove to pull your bowstring, something in which to carry all of this, etc.
Calligraphy requires pens, points, inks and a vellum-substitute parchment paper that is more expensive than drawing paper. You will need to consult some good books with period examples of various scripts. You will need something to carry your supplies in. If you go really crazy, you will want a light table and a drafting table, and various implements to square your work and measure your lines.
Then there are the embellishments to your garb, or to make jewelry: wire, beads, metalworking tools, needles, cord, hoops. And something to carry your supplies in.
And since most of our SCA lives revolve around events that we stay at for two nights to two weeks, camping, you need a period tent and chairs and bedding and rugs and floor pillows and feast gear and a brazier and lanterns/oil lamps/candles and a way to clean things and dispose of refuse and store food/drink.
Now, mind you, we had already accrued much of this stuff over the past several years. We already had the basics. And you might point out, and rightfully so, that perhaps it would be less expensive to just have ONE craft. The problem is that whatever it is you do in the SCA, and wherever you enter the great wheel, eventually that thing will lead you to another thing. Archery leads to combat archery which leads to heavy combat which leads to being recruited to fight in wars which leads to travel costs, for example. People end up with trebuchets in their back yard, and they had no intention of ever having such a thing. I am not joking about this. I once saw a post from a person needing to sell his TWO trebuchets, because he was moving and would no longer have a place to keep them.
My goal is now to discover ways to keep my medieval avocations, but also keep them within a budget and not drive my mundane self into the poorhouse. Several months ago, I thought about a new direction for this blog, which started out as a response to the overheated bubble market in Sacramento area real estate from the perspective of a renter who hoped to buy soon. That ship has sailed, and several blogs cover those issues much better than I ever could, like Average Buyer and Sacramento Land(ing) . Many of those blogs came about because their creators were trying to cope with their own fears and frustrations over housing. And it strikes me that if I'm stressed out about losing my sense of community and my social outlet because it revolves around what can be expensive avocations, others probably are, too. A lot of people didn't just use their HELOC to buy a Hummer, or go on a cruise. Some of us used them to buy pavillions, armor and trucks/trailers to haul this elaborate stuff around. And we're just as tapped out as the mundane folks, and probably just as stressed about lifestyle issues. I wish I could say that I'm going to use my medieval life as a work in progress on living the Dream on Le$$, and that is my goal, but I suspect that I am going to fall short.
