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"Eik en Zwijn" is the fictional name for the lodgings of Mergriet van Wijenhorst. In her time houses were known in parts of Holland, including Antwerp, by such names as "Kalf met de Wieg" and "Den Draeck" and house plaques would reflect the names. The "Eik en Zwijn", aka: the "Oak and Boar", was chosen in an effort to mimic the practice and to give Griet a place to call home.

Mandy, SKA: Griet

Most people in the SCA usually call me "Griet". I have been playing roughly for about 13 years, my how time flies, with my first group being the Canton of Seashire, located in the Barony of Ruantallan, in the East Kingdom. After playing there for a few years, I then moved to the Shire of Lyndhaven. During that time I also had a short stint in the principality of Avacal, An Tir. Presently, I am now living in Ealdormere but am likely to be in Bordergate (located in the An Tir principality of Avacal) before the year is out.

Teaching

I taught my first class (soap-making) at an East Kingdom university (EKU) at an event called "Take one Sheep" (2001) though it was not the first EKU I ever attended. Since this time I have gone on to teach at EKU's in both Ruantallan and Lyndhaven as well as at Schola's and more informal settings. The classes I have done had mixed successes but even teaching can be a learning experience. Some of the more common classes I have taught were soap-making, pen making, illumination and smocking.

Offices

The first office I held was more of an attempt at A&S minister at canton level in Seashire, it didn't end up working due to distance where getting to meetings posed a little difficulty and not quite feeling like I knew the group yet. It would be some time later before I gave it a try again, which would be in Lyndhaven where I took on various deputy roles or stepped into short term roles. The longer term full offices I did take were for Chronicler and Webminister which I actually did enjoy but felt the need to leave after a few years of doing it in order to give someone else the opportunity to play. I also took on the position of Minister of Children for the Northern Shores Region, now the principality of Tir Mara. Unfortunately, I had to give up volunteering in offices in the area due to the growing number of obligations and "real life" outside of the SCA.

A Beastly Feast Indeed

My first foray into cooking in the SCA was in other people's kitchens, potlucks, or making subtleties, or doing up dayboards. It wasn't until I was in Lyndhaven did I get the opportunity to run my own kitchen as head cook. The first feast I cooked was for "Beast Feast" which was followed by the "Burgher Event" and another "Beast Feast" along with a healthy dose of event dayboards and potlucks (at events, practices and A&S gatherings) concluding with one large feast at a Crown event. (well, not concluding here, I have gone on to do subtleties, paticipate at potlucks and did one dayboard since.)

Researching and experimenting with food and foodways is one of my biggest loves in the SCA and though the shire I lived in for the past 7+ years did not hold many feasts, I made a lot of opportunities to play and cherish my time there with good friends and good food!

Scroll Work

The first scroll I did for anyone was a commissioned piece on behalf of the Dabblers guild on granulations for someone newly inducted into an order. Following this, came illumination work for a guild charter scroll (Ruantallan Dabblers ) and another commission for a household from another group to present in court to my Barony (this scroll led to a "suck-up" scroll later on). From that point I went on to produce 2 backorders for the iceburg (baronial), several "blanks" for kingdom, 3 AoA scrolls (illumination), many many many prize scrolls for events and two regional champion scrolls as well as the charter for the Ruantallan Cooks guild (even though I was residing in Lyndhaven at the time, I enjoyed the opportunity).

Guilds

The first, and dearest to my heart, guild I joined was the Ruantallan Dabblers guild. I was with the guild from the beginning, I got to work on painting their charter and they gave me my first taste of scroll work for the SCA as well as SCA-related web page building. The dabblers made for a wonderful opportunity to, well... dabble in all that is the SCA.

Since then I have followed various other guilds of interest but I could not truely feel like a participant through only virtual means so eventually strayed over time. The last group I was fairly involved in was the Ruantallan chapter for Athena's Web (many folk from other groups participated as well).

Recognitions and awards

• AoA, 2002, EKU, Ruantallan (received later)
• Maunche, 2004, EKU, Ruantallan
• Cooking entry, 2007, Northern Lights, Stonemarche
• Seamstress to the crown, EKU, Ruantallan
• Burdened tyger, 2008, Coronation, Carolingia? (received later)

Misc. Activities

I have been an incurable hobbiest for years and often game to try new things, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm going to want to try lots of different things in the SCA. Some of the varied things I do, or have done, in the SCA are: fencing, archery, fletching, cooking and confectionary, costume (aka: garb), mead making, scroll work (callig. and illumination/painting), soap making, research, card making, metal work, carving (bone, ivory, wood), needle arts, printing and other stuff I'm probably forgetting.

© Copyright 2010 A.J.K.

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