Elisabeth Besancon
@mselisa.bsky.social
Retired elementary teacher, medieval history reenactor, textile artist, bird watcher, cat lady, social justice activist
My latest embroidery project, based on historical samples and the heraldry of local SCA groups, has become my podcast and casual get-together project. Brick stitch from the 1300s would have been silk on linen. This is all cotton because it's what I could find easily in my supplies.
November 4, 2025 at 8:28 PM
My latest embroidery project, based on historical samples and the heraldry of local SCA groups, has become my podcast and casual get-together project. Brick stitch from the 1300s would have been silk on linen. This is all cotton because it's what I could find easily in my supplies.
A neighbor's cat has decided my yard is her smorgasbord, so I'm putting bird feeders UP out of her reach. This golden-crowned sparrow was drawn to the top of my bean trellis this afternoon.
October 23, 2025 at 1:24 AM
A neighbor's cat has decided my yard is her smorgasbord, so I'm putting bird feeders UP out of her reach. This golden-crowned sparrow was drawn to the top of my bean trellis this afternoon.
If you know, you know.
October 19, 2025 at 5:13 PM
If you know, you know.
With busy weekends and a sick cat, I've had a few zucchini of unusual size show up in the garden bed. They've been chopped, dehydrated, and processed into zucchini flour to add to my tortilla flour mix. Yum!
September 30, 2025 at 2:53 PM
With busy weekends and a sick cat, I've had a few zucchini of unusual size show up in the garden bed. They've been chopped, dehydrated, and processed into zucchini flour to add to my tortilla flour mix. Yum!
I participated in a medieval fair recently. A friend put a seven ring labyrinth down in chalk paint in the middle of our camp. I enjoyed watching everyone walk and play in it all weekend as I sat in my tent and embroidered. This was after a night's rain but before the public arrived on Sunday.
September 23, 2025 at 6:54 PM
I participated in a medieval fair recently. A friend put a seven ring labyrinth down in chalk paint in the middle of our camp. I enjoyed watching everyone walk and play in it all weekend as I sat in my tent and embroidered. This was after a night's rain but before the public arrived on Sunday.
I participated in an SCA (medieval) demo yesterday. A friend brought her Shiba Inu puppy who promptly climbed through my trestles, knocking them over, trying to visit me. So I brought out a chair to sit with him. Such a wiggle!
September 7, 2025 at 6:36 PM
I participated in an SCA (medieval) demo yesterday. A friend brought her Shiba Inu puppy who promptly climbed through my trestles, knocking them over, trying to visit me. So I brought out a chair to sit with him. Such a wiggle!
I'm dehydrating pears from a friend's tree. Yum!
September 1, 2025 at 5:54 PM
I'm dehydrating pears from a friend's tree. Yum!
I've been slowly sewing this green wool into a simple medieval-style dress, and I hope to finish it this week to wear at two upcoming history demos.
August 31, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I've been slowly sewing this green wool into a simple medieval-style dress, and I hope to finish it this week to wear at two upcoming history demos.
I had a lovely day at a small, friendly Society for Creative Anachronism event on Saturday. We can receive awards for arts & sciences, service, and martial arts. I was honored with an award for continuing artistic endeavors in our local group.
August 19, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I had a lovely day at a small, friendly Society for Creative Anachronism event on Saturday. We can receive awards for arts & sciences, service, and martial arts. I was honored with an award for continuing artistic endeavors in our local group.
I picked 25 pounds of figs from a friend's tree on Tuesday. I immediately filled my dehydrator, and those figs are ready to be vacuum sealed into jars. I now have 15 pint jars of roughly-mashed fig jam for jam-oatmeal bars and 12 cup jars of pureed fig jam for everything else.
August 9, 2025 at 9:30 PM
I picked 25 pounds of figs from a friend's tree on Tuesday. I immediately filled my dehydrator, and those figs are ready to be vacuum sealed into jars. I now have 15 pint jars of roughly-mashed fig jam for jam-oatmeal bars and 12 cup jars of pureed fig jam for everything else.
It's a sleepy day after a late night driving to Seattle to see Paul Simon in concert. I wish I could have seen him when his voice was still strong, but he and his band were outstanding.
August 7, 2025 at 8:52 PM
It's a sleepy day after a late night driving to Seattle to see Paul Simon in concert. I wish I could have seen him when his voice was still strong, but he and his band were outstanding.
The Bear Gulch fire is coloring our sunsets. I caught this view between the Temple of Justice and a few of the large trees on the WA state Capitol Campus. By the time we got home, we could feel the smoke in our throats.
August 1, 2025 at 4:20 AM
The Bear Gulch fire is coloring our sunsets. I caught this view between the Temple of Justice and a few of the large trees on the WA state Capitol Campus. By the time we got home, we could feel the smoke in our throats.
Dahlias in my yard -- a small joy
July 22, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Dahlias in my yard -- a small joy
Swallowtail butterfly. They become common around here this time of year, but I never tire of seeing them.
July 3, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Swallowtail butterfly. They become common around here this time of year, but I never tire of seeing them.
I lightly fulled the wool yesterday. The best results were with a light rinse in the washer and five minutes in the dryer, then repeat. It had already shrunk some just in pulling it off the loom, and now it's lost another 10 percent. I will soak and rinse it one more time before making my hood.
July 2, 2025 at 6:38 PM
I lightly fulled the wool yesterday. The best results were with a light rinse in the washer and five minutes in the dryer, then repeat. It had already shrunk some just in pulling it off the loom, and now it's lost another 10 percent. I will soak and rinse it one more time before making my hood.
I hope that it will be cool enough tomorrow morning that I can full my woven wool in a tub out in the yard.
July 1, 2025 at 1:52 AM
I hope that it will be cool enough tomorrow morning that I can full my woven wool in a tub out in the yard.
I spent Saturday weaving wool and talking with hundreds of people. I finished the weaving on Sunday morning and now will full it before making it into a hood.
June 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM
I spent Saturday weaving wool and talking with hundreds of people. I finished the weaving on Sunday morning and now will full it before making it into a hood.
I will be weaving wool at the Kitsap Medieval Faire this weekend. It's a lot of work to have everything possible ready ahead of time and to transport a floor loom in pieces, but it's worth it every time someone says that they've only seen a loom in a book or on television.
June 16, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I will be weaving wool at the Kitsap Medieval Faire this weekend. It's a lot of work to have everything possible ready ahead of time and to transport a floor loom in pieces, but it's worth it every time someone says that they've only seen a loom in a book or on television.
Reposted by Elisabeth Besancon
The heraldic enamel Laurel cloisonné work is done, (after grinding away four tiny air bubbles not visible last night, and re-firing this morning). Everything always takes longer than estimated. Now to build the complex hexafoil setting, with luck will have that finished tonight...
June 15, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The heraldic enamel Laurel cloisonné work is done, (after grinding away four tiny air bubbles not visible last night, and re-firing this morning). Everything always takes longer than estimated. Now to build the complex hexafoil setting, with luck will have that finished tonight...
NO KINGS. This is Washington state's legislative building as we were gathering to listen to speakers this afternoon. Turnout was huge and friendly.
June 14, 2025 at 10:26 PM
NO KINGS. This is Washington state's legislative building as we were gathering to listen to speakers this afternoon. Turnout was huge and friendly.
Olympia WA from the Capitol Campus overlook 6/8/25
June 10, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Olympia WA from the Capitol Campus overlook 6/8/25
We had a challenging but lovely walk in Stewart Memorial Park, Aberdeen, WA, today. I'm glad I had a cane with me today, and I really should get a pair of trekking poles.
June 8, 2025 at 12:42 AM
We had a challenging but lovely walk in Stewart Memorial Park, Aberdeen, WA, today. I'm glad I had a cane with me today, and I really should get a pair of trekking poles.
We attended the Pride flag raising ceremony at the Washington state Capitol today.
June 4, 2025 at 9:09 PM
We attended the Pride flag raising ceremony at the Washington state Capitol today.
rhubarb and strawberries
May 30, 2025 at 4:59 PM
rhubarb and strawberries
I attended my first SCA camping event of the year last weekend and had a grand time. A nap was necessary in the afternoon heat on Saturday, and a friend took my picture just as I was waking.
May 27, 2025 at 6:12 PM
I attended my first SCA camping event of the year last weekend and had a grand time. A nap was necessary in the afternoon heat on Saturday, and a friend took my picture just as I was waking.