Hard work and good fun @Ahlhauser Hammer ironforge

 After a somewhat shocking hike to the ironforge, I was greeted by Daniel and the folks. Daniel had forged a pipe accessory set (for cleaning up his pipe) and had brought some brochures and geological probes for display.

 Also he had dug up some coal all by himself!

 Nick and Jonas were forging a walking stick tip from spring steel.

 They insisted on hot punching a fixing hole... ;-)

Dirty fire. And no, they would not listen. So I stopped telling them.

Period.

We go through 25kg of coal each Friday, with huge amounts of slag.

I am not to be made responsible for that anymore.

(Not that I were in the first place).
  

Katrin, our owner´s daughter came by to try a project of her own. I was very delighted to see that she had a lot of fun. She was thinking about starting a goldsmith apprenticeship once... these rae rings she ad made then. She started a ring hot-forged from 6mm stainless steel and a leaf-ring with my help.

This is the oak that our senior blacksmith had planted when she was born. And this is the reason we do what we do.

Period. ;-)

 She was a bit sceptical of both my skills and her getting away unscathed by the fire... but all turned out well.... ;-) at long last...

 Jonas at the forge....

 ..had acquired a new handle for his hammer. By the way, lot of our folks put their trust into Krenzer tools, which are produced in the immediate neighbourhood of our smithy. More: www.krenzer-hammer.de.

 They look like this, see? ;-)

Then on Saturday we did a hike to the ironforge again. It turned out the forge had to be remain cold for some time, and we joined in to take away the construction platform from the ruin part of the building, for it was needed outside. Bit of an ordeal, but my utmost respect goes to the girls, Natalie and Katrin, who really know how to work and can teach the guys a thing or two about both power and comradeship! It was a right joy to work with them, and in no time the job was done, and ere we knew we were sitting in the sun and had a sip of beer with Ewald and Gudrun, forging plans and planning what has to be done next. I really liked that. Something is moving now, and it really good to see things are happening!

 Natalie and katrin were heaving and puffing..,

 Hats off to Katrin, who is afraid of heights and went up the platform no less for´t. In fact, her courage encouraged myself to join in and confront my own fear of heights.

 Natalie ws in command, because she is a learned painter and knows a thing or two about construction platforms.

 Then we were off to the forge, and I showed Katrin the ins and outs of knifemaking with C45 wall hooks. We chose that steel because it is easy to work with for starters and you can make a decent blade from it with little effort. We carburized it a bit in the forge...

 She ws a bit impatient, but to be honest, she was one of the most talented clients I ever had.

 ...

 Fire, steel...

 ..and the blade that was born from it.

There´s a message in a nutshell. I daresay the other folks can make it out... ;-)

Anyway, it was hard work, but also good fun to see good things happen.

A cool day at the smithy @#Ahlhauser Hammer

 Each Friday we open up the smithy for just about everyone who wants to come. It´s actual work most of the time, but sometimes just plain old fun. Last Friday was one of those days that were fun to have had. I arrived a bit late. By the way, Thanks to Nick, who is there every Friday, even when I have to work. He had already lit up the forge and was forging for himself for a change.

 Kathrin, our cash manager, arrived just a bit later. We all contribute voluntarily, for it´s our having a ball we pay for, if that makes sense... ;-). Kathrin quite certainly does a way better job than I did, and we are able to act flexibly now. This shows, for instance in the fact that one ton of coal just arrived, providing us with fuel for the months to come, at a right bargain price. Thanks, Kathrin!

The area is just cool and relaxing. And it breathes heritage. This oak was planted as a memorial by our senior blacksmith when he was young. It is a kind of symbol for us, for the responsibility, but also for the tradition, and a legitimation at the same time. The Ahlhauser Hammer is more than just some smithy, but goes back to medieval times. All of that time there have been smiths working there, and our humble efforts, as feeble as they might seem when compared even to the achievements of our senior blacksmith, are all that´s left. And the sorry truth is, since a guy like our senior blacksmith, who is a master in all but the title does not want to share his knowledge with us, we have to figure it out for ourselves. We ask iron itself, and iron answers.

The atmosphere is idyllic and peaceful. But there is something lurking, something I cannot yet figure out. Not a curse, exactly, but something that is waiting to be put right. Sorry if I am sounding like some esoteric tart, but I can´t put it any other way.

The place quite certainly has a rhythm of its own, and I still cannot figure out, that´s the thing. But I keep trying, and I try to blend in. Even the owner and master of the smithy did not figure this out, and even if he lives there, did not blend in to that rhythm... and there is something wrong there, something like one tiny gear that does not meet with others, a cog that is not that important for the functionality of the whole thing, but that continues to disturb the motion of it all. As I said, sorry, but I cannot but it into better words.

We all try to figure it out. And we all do it our way. And since spring is on its way, most came by bike. That was kind of a cool vibe.

I like how this picture tells a story. A story of a couple that does not have a life that is exactly easy. A story of two persons that are not the easiest persons. But that story has a happy ending that shows in the way they interact with one another.

I, however, mostly interact with fire and steel... ;-) and this came out. It was inspired by a product of jorgencraft:



http://jorgencraft.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=61_99&product_id=130

and was inspired by  the find of a knife found at Biskupin, Poland. Unfortunately I could not find a picture of the original...

Then Natalie arrived, daughter of my favourite misanthrope, Willy. She did a ride through the thicket and just dropped by to say hello and make some funny faces... ;-)

The knife quenched and tempered.

Also I made this all-steel camping hatchet. Leaf spring steel, not yet tempered, and forged to shape almost 100 % (no precutting the shape, mind you! ;-)). It will get a handle of reindeer or elk antler with carvings, or maybe yew or oak with carvings... we´ll see where it leads me.

Then suddenly the day was over and we made for the way home. I must admit...

...I missed riding in a pack...

...of funny people a lot. Even if the Belgian roundabout we tried did not quite work out for the folks where way too chaotic, it was cool to ride together... maybe a group ride in the future? We´ll see.

It was a cool day at the smithy, one we did not have for quite a long time, to be honest, and we feed on experiences like this, of course. I look forward to many more days like this!

More Hobbit Day mayhem... ;-)

 This is one of the most popular motives of the weekend... how come? ;-)

 "Oi there, I look like a dwarven miner!"

 Cozy....;-)

 Fritz came by, too, and I was right delighted to see him join the feast, not only because he had prepared some delicious lamb stilts!

 Cutie was totally drunk.... ;-)

 ...I don´t exactly know whet she likes about this brute... ;-)

 Buffet!

 We hid the plastic tents as well as it could go behind the re-enactment campsite.

 "Oi there, piggy, I love you!"

 ...

Yours truly and Erich the Viking doing some pig surgery...

 ...

"Yeah? Is it really in there?" ;-)

 "No it isn´t. F*** off!" ;-) - "But is it?"

 "Oi, look, I can already feel it coming!"

 "Look at them brutes making a dunce out of themselves!"

 "Too much beer, but I am glad it´s gone now..."

 "Uuuuh I don´t feel so well...."

 "Don´t be sad-it happens to all of us sometime..."

 "Need a refill from the dwarven miner?"

 Ben caring for the fire...

 A whole new concept of lava stone serving... ;-)

 "MEAT! NOW!" - "Okayokayokay, I do my best, don´t get mad at me!"

 "THAT suit you?" - "Hmmmmmmkay... it´ll do in apinch..."

More cuties...

 ....

 ...or maybe not... ?;-)

Mineallmine!!!!!!!!!!!;-)

 Julia re-enacting the statue of liberty....

A fire. A pig.

And a Panda with a beer for a man.

Hangover morning meals...

 Master Panda pancakes makes...

 Kidding aside, we owe Panda a lot for making his traditional Irish pancakes...

 It was way cool to have a strong Java in the morning and delicious food for breakfast, not necessarily pork, by the way ;-)...

 Mind you, Ben even ate a piece of bread on the weekend!

 Erich with his porridge spoon... ;-)

 Only bunny was lazing in the sunshine and did not do much...

 Cozy camp of Tamara´s and Panda´s...

 On Friday, we were in for some hard working. I was especially fond of Ben and especially the magic troll who just joined in to help me and that lady whos ename I forgot sweeping and cleaning up the ironforge´s hall.

 "Früh!Mittelalter! Yo!"

 Then Danuta came to help, too, all in re-enactment attire. How the magic troll achieved staying clean with all the grunting and heaving she did completely eludes me... must have been some magic...

 We managed to clean up quite a bit, and the folks were righteously proud.

 We also sweeped up the whole of the square!

Kathrin and Julia preparing dreamcatchers...

 Kathrin had made some delicious Rose Lokoum, a Persian sweet, and I had made date concentrate with rose essence and grenadine.

 Was cool and refreshing after all the hard work!

 NOMMM!

 Then the magic troll made sweet frumenty for lunch. Look here for a recipe!

 All the while, everyone was crafting something, in wool and leather, in steel and wood.

 ...oh, yeah, just about ... ;-)

....

 ...

Erich having some meat ;-)...

 Danuta having her cuppa tea...

 "Love, don´t forget to bring some of those funny mushrooms when you go for a leak..." ;-P

Nick had built an archery site...

 Jonas practicing his skills...

 Nock, erm Nick taking aim...;-)

 ...and fire! ;-)

 More cozyness.... ;-)

 ...

 ...

 Tamara playing her new Jew´s harp... from Vietnam, that is ... ;-)

 More Amulett stage pics. I cannot thank them enough for coming and contributing to those great, great days!

 ...home, sweet home...

 ...

....

 "... go bugger off, I got a hangover!" ;-P

 ...

 ...

 Julia being proud of her dreamcatchers...

 The bracelets and neckbraces by Kathrin and Julia in Viking knit technique...

Tool pics. Those are tools that were produced in the ironforge.

 A hot punch...

 Amulett playing!

 One of the coolest aspects, even if it might appear we were drunk and irresponsible the whole weekend through (which is only partly true, no really, it is!;-)), was the amount of kids just taking part in it all and finding it cool, and the fact that everyone just acted naturally but responsibly around them and I daresay they learned a trick or two that weekend. All of them were using very sharp and pointed knives owned by the adults, but the adults taught them how to use them sensibly. On the other hand, the kids were sensible and enjoyed learning just as much as the rest of the crowd. A community without the young is dead, and this was a cool sign that we are alive!

 Tina showed them how to make the leather pouches she is becoming famous for.

 More Amulett pics...

 ...

 Yours truly tempering under grave circumstances... ;-)

 Beaming Julia...

 ...watching Kathrin barter.

This is Ewald, our master and first chairman of the club.

Danuta naalbindning a hat...

 Panda naalbindning a sock...

 Tamara with the drop-spindle, spinning wool.

 More Amulett pictures. For song samples, visit their website: http://band-amulett.jimdo.com/.

Drop spindle valkyria!;-)

The magic troll in a rare mood of making her wonderful music... look here for samples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG5v9O1ZuTQ

She also tutored Julia, who is just about to take up playing the harp...

Tamara naalbindning...

Michael taking care of the meat...

Julia and Kathrin Viking-knitting...

Nick sneering down his nose... ;-)

Jonas tutoring Ronja. This was way cool... Jonas, who is apprentice himself, was doing his best to show Ronja the how-dos of the projects he feels safe at. This is how it works, folks!

....how can one possibly add to this picture by uttering words? The whole weekend was of the like. There was something beneath it all eluding description....

From roaring fire...

...to casual basking in the sun.

Tablet-woven bands...

..and the aforementioned passements by the magic troll...

The belt pouch the magic troll made for herself....

Tina´s tinder pouch with the striker I made for her some time ago....

Leather pouches such as Tina makes with kids, nice and relatively simple.

Bunny becoming awake... on the middle of the day!!!!;-) Lazy bum, if you ask me!

Nele and Michael taking care of the fire... it was everyone´s turn of course, but it all blended in naturally...

Michael preparing the spit for the spitted roast...

...with Ben helping out.

Funny folks graze the smithy...

Jan tutoring...

Tribal knifemaking for beginners... ;-)

The dwarven miner after the third horn of delicious... erm... brew...

The fat lady sang, but it wasn´t over yet!

Take note, folks: Never listen to this guy before his first morning coffee! ;-)

More details of Jan´s birthday pancakecaketart ;-).

NAMMM!!!!!! ;-)

Panda tending to Bunny....

...who desperately needed some tea to get awake...

Then it was Masterpandathepancakemaker´s turn to delve deep into the pancake dream he had made!

Tina cooked us a delicious stew, named "Ritschert". This dish was being reconstructed...

...from the archaeological finds...

...of Koproliths...

... no, really, it was...

...and some say, it still shows!

No, really?

Tugging, my beard, do you?

It consists mainly of sorghum, lentils, beans, carrots, celary and a load more and while it looks as if you´d eat it twice, it is absolutely delicious. Look here for a recipe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ri%C4%8Det

http://hallstatt-forschung.blogspot.de/2015/10/schwein-gehabt-vom-kochen-und-essen-der.html

Seemed to find appeal, though... ;-)

Then Bunny was flirting with the magic troll...

Damn mischief-maker!;-)

Passion, eh? I GIVE YOU PASSION!!!! ;-)

NO I AM NOT JEALOUS!!!!;-P

The smithy was crowded the whole days through... it was the heart of the event, so to say.

 Camp...

Yap, it was one of the coolest weekends of my life, and one of the most arduous. I must be mad, but, schedule for 2017 is already on:

21.09.2017 Arrival, camp life, gathering by the fireplace and food.
22.09.2017 International Hobbit Day celebration: Ye oulde foodie, drink and sweets galore
23.09.2017 to be announced yet: Either a Crafts fair or general celebration
24.09.2017 Hike in early medieval re-enactment gear, and breaking camp.