barnaby-webster

[barnaby-webster]

“Evening by the Lake,” Max Nonnenbruch, 1901

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My sister is smashing the alter she built in her room and screaming about “spells” being “useless” 🫠

[barnaby-webster]

Fantasy Guide to Employment: Household of a Castle

The castle does not run itself. The castle would remain a pile of stones without servants to keep it running. The guide below focuses on the private household of the lord himself, anybody who worked inside the main keep of the castle. I will be expanding outside the walls in a future post.

The Steward/Seneschal

This person was the head of the household staff. They would have the task of running things on the Lord's estate. They are the managers, so it is up to them to keep the staff in line. The steward would keep the castle accounts and keep the lord informed of all of the goings on of the lands and tenants. They would have to be educated needing to do accounts and write letters. Though the castle's Lady would be expected to do all these things, the steward served as a backup and assistant in all the tasks even representing the lord and lady when they were unavailable.

The Chamberlain

The chamberlain is the servant employed to look after the Lord's bedchamber. He would look after the Lord's clothes as well and keep track of the other servants' liveries, the official uniforms of the guards, pages and squires. This was not always the case, some larger households had a separate office but most medium seized manors and castles lumped them together. The chamberlain's main task was ensuring the lord was kept happy. He would even be the last servant a lord would see at night before he went to bed at night. They would be educated.

The Marshal

A Marshal was in charge of the stables as well as the military presence in the castle. They would oversee the household's horses, carts, wagons, and containers. He oversaw blacksmiths, horse grooms and stableboys. He also oversaw the transporting of goods. The Marshal was sometimes in charge of disciplining servants. They would likely come from a middle class background as well as having military experience and education.

The Page

A page was a young noble boy about seven years old who would be sent to serve a Lord. He would be in charge of tidying up after the lord, carrying messages to other servants and occupants of the castle and serving him at meals. Unlike others on the list, the page would not be paid. His experience was his payment as he would learn the running of a castle and manners of a lord.

The Lady's Maid

The lady's maid is be the female body attendant of the castle's noble women. She would be in charge of caring for the lady's chamber and her things. She would dress the lady and attend her wherever she would. (The lady's maid would basically do all the work a chamberlain would but you know the wage gap...)

Maidservant

A housemaid/maidservant works to clean the castle. She would be among the first to awaken every morning. Her first task would be sweeping the floors. The thing with mediaeval floors a that they were often covered with a thin layer of rushes, a kind of grass. Weekly if not daily, a maidservant would be expected to change out the rushes and scatter new ones. If it really needed it, she would scrub the stone floors which would be done with a soap called lye, made from ashes and lard. The maidservant would also be expected to go into the bedchambers when the occupants awoke. She would empty the chamberpots if need be. She would get rid of the ashes from the fire and ready the fire for later. She would make up the bed or strip it for the laundresses. She would wash anything that needed washing including furniture and ornaments.

Laundress

The laundress was responsible for the cleaning of anything made of fabric in the household. The laundress would have to fetch their own water either from the castle well or from a nearby river. They would heat the water in large vats and add lye soap (the most popular of the cleaning agents). The constant exposure to soap and hot water was physically tough on the hands of the laundresses and their backs. When the detergents were added to the water, the laundress would dump them into the vat and stir that shit like soup. To dry it they would pin it out on lines or beat the water from it. The laundress might make money by selling secrets. Since they are handling unmentionables, they knew what happened behind closed bedchamber doors or what didn't.

Nursemaid

The nursemaid was in charge of the castle's children. They would ensure the child was fed, washed and generally kept alive while the parents would either be away at court or busy with the lands. The nursemaid would be a common woman from the surrounding lands who would come in to care for a noble child in the stead of the mother who would be expected to get on with other jobs. The nursemaid would be an underlying of the noble governess, a sort of hands-off nanny.

Cook

The cook was one of the most important servants in the castle. They would have the task of overseeing the running of the kitchens and keeping supplies in order. They would likely be on call at all times. Henry VIII's cook was often woken in the night because his royal master wanted a midnight snack. The cook was a valued member of the household and would have been highly sought after if they were a very skilled cook. Cooks would have been paid a handsome wage.

Scullion

The scullion was the lowest member of staff. They would be responsible for scrubbing and cleaning the servants quarters and the kitchens. They would scrub floors with lye, scour pots with sand, sweep put the fireplace and clean up after the other servants. They were the first to rise in a castle and tasked to light all the fires in the kitchens.

Payment & Lifestyle

Within the mediaeval household, payment came from the hand of the steward. As the Lord's manager of accounts, he was in charge of paying staff.

The grander jobs in the castle such as the marshal, the chamberlain, nursemaid and lady's maid would pay better. They would have certain privileges including better bedchambers.

A nursemaid who was breastfeeding the Lord's children would be a valued member of staff. She would be fed better than the other servants.

The page would sleep in a chamber off the lord's bedchamber or sometimes at the foot of the bed. A page would wear the Lord's livery so he would be dressed on the Lord's coin.

The chamberlain would have rooms close to the lord and lady, just in case they were needed by the master in any kind of emergency.

The cook would sleep near the kitchens so they were close enough just in case they are needed in the night.

The other household servants would all sleep in chambers together. The women would sleep in one and the men would sleep in another. Nightly dalliances were frowned upon massively.

Most servants came from the surrounding lands of the castle. When the lord and his family were away at court or somewhere else, there would be a drop in employment. Everything would be cut down ex. Instead of three laundry maids, only one might stay on after the lord goes. The steward, the marshal, the chamberlain, the page, the cook, the nursemaid and the lady's maid were all important staff so their job would be permanent.

[barnaby-webster]

She broke the smoke alarm

My sister is walking around my apartment, chanting in Latin, setting off the smoke alarm with her incense.

Should I be worried?

[barnaby-webster]

AITA for telling my sister she can’t live with me unless she stops "practicing witchcraft?"

So, my (31M) sister (22F) recently moved into my place after breaking up with her boyfriend. What I didn’t realize was just how far she’s taken her whole “witchcraft” thing. I knew she was into wicca and read a lot about the history of witchcraft, but I always assumed her interest was purely academic. BOY WAS I WRONG.

The day she moved in she set up a full-on altar in her room. There are now pentagrams on the walls, black candles everywhere, and jars filled with who-knows-what lining the shelves. She put up these creepy dolls with pins stuck in them. I don’t know if they’re supposed to be voodoo dolls, but they’re seriously disturbing.

The night after move-in, she decided to hold a “full moon ritual” in my living room. She was dressed in a satin robe, chanting in some language (I think Latin), and waving around this giant staff she apparently made herself. Then she started throwing what looked like wet animal bones into a circle of salt she made on my floor.

A couple of nights later, I woke up at 3 AM to weird noises and found her in the backyard, dancing around a fire she’d started in my metal trash can. She was tossing herbs, papers, and some other stuff into the fire, and I’m pretty sure I saw her drop a photo of her ex in there. I confronted her about it, and she calmly explained that she was doing a “banishing spell” to rid herself of “negative energy.”

She’s been leaving “offerings” around the house. Like bowls of raw meat, coins, and strange liquids just sitting out in random corners. I’m a vegetarian and kind of a neat freak so the smell of uncooked meat and parade of ants through my kitchen is really putting me on edge.

She has quit THREE good paying jobs in the past year because of tarot card readings. She said the cards told her that her bosses were “energy vampires” trying to drain her life force. Instead of addressing her problems like a normal person, she just walked out of each job without notice, leaving her broke and jobless—hence why she’s living with me.

Yesterday I came home and found that she’d drawn a pentagram on my hardwood floor. When I asked what she was doing, she said she was trying to summon a spirit to help figure out why her life was “out of balance.” I finally had enough and told her she either needs to tone down the witchcraft or find somewhere else to live. She freaked out, accusing me of trying to suppress her freedom and saying I don’t understand what she’s been through.I feel like she needs to get help. I love my sister more than anyone else in the entire world and I’m tired of seeing her destroy her life over and over again with her fickle impulsivity. She’s not the first member of our family to spiral due to religious mania. I don't want to lose her but I feel like my life is unmanageable and I don’t know how to balance respecting her freedom and giving her space with my own desire for a tidy, un-chaotic home.

[barnaby-webster]

Stressing about what to wear to my friend’s wedding this weekend. Send cat pics to soothe my harried mind.

[barnaby-webster]

I'm very bad at posts like this but if people want to help then whatever can be done is very much appreciated

On August 2nd, a hit and run suspect driving on the highway lost her wheel and the rim of her tire cast sparks on the dry grass near my parent's property where my husband, myself, and our Ark of Animals lived in our Winnebago RV.

The grass caught the bushes and the bushes caught the trees, and the trees caught the RV. And so on and so forth.

We were alerted of the fire by people driving by that had actually tried to stop it, but when a strong breeze blew the fire out of control, they ran to pound on our door. We had 60 seconds for get dogs and ferrets out before going back in to look for cats but by then the RV was already on fire and starting to come apart.

Within 30 minutes we lost pretty much everything except the clothes on our backs. The fire spread to the back, where luckily someone had thought to cut the fence to set my horses loose, where they were soon rounded up by a neighbor. They managed to save the main house but the rest of the property was leveled; from our RV to the 1000 square-foot storage building, to the barn. 5 acres just wiped out.

We lost our car, my truck, two horse trailers, 20 years of horse equipment, 13 years of archery gear, and most tragically, two cats.

We have to rebuild from the ground up. Thanks to the kindness of friends and strangers, we were given a car, most of my tack has been replaced, and I'm on my way to having my archery arsenal replaced but that does need me in need of a truck and horse trailer, as well as feed and building materials. I'm working full time but winter comes fast and it's just going to get more difficult.

If you have a couple spare dollars lying around, here is my

[K0-fi]

[GFM]

Or my Venmo (preferred) is @/strongbow-horsearcher

We are also very much grateful for gift cards for Walmart, Wilco/Coastal, Home Depot, or Lowes

Also, I feel the need to say, if you don't want to donate to a faceless person on a random hell site, please please PLEASE consider doning to the Red Cross if your able, or reblog if you're not.

Many thanks and much love 💚🫶

[barnaby-webster]

[barnaby-webster]

Summer fresh

[barnaby-webster]

My little sister is, ONCE AGAIN, making a major life decision based upon her reading of some tarot cards.

I’m literally begging her not to quit another stable job. She’s lost 2 already because of her impulsivity.

Legitimately livid right now. She can’t keep doing this.

[barnaby-webster]

[barnaby-webster]

I wish I still had a cat

[barnaby-webster]

Update: It wasn’t incense. Apparently she’s burning loose sage in one of my mugs 🙄

My sister is walking around my apartment, chanting in Latin, setting off the smoke alarm with her incense.

Should I be worried?

[barnaby-webster]

The Knight of the Flowers (1894)

— by Georges Rochegrosse

[barnaby-webster]

[barnaby-webster]

My sister is walking around my apartment, chanting in Latin, setting off the smoke alarm with her incense.

Should I be worried?

[barnaby-webster]

Some of my favorite watercolor blueberries 🫐