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SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR CHORES
While chores are part of every day camp, some are easier than others. The ones listed below are merely suggestions to help trigger your imagination. There is no hard and fast rule on how chores should be done, so long as it is kept within the realities of a wagon camp...(one couldn�t vacuum out a wagon for example). A chore is often a very big aid in helping others "see" the camp as it lives and breathes, and detail, as in everything is important.... (For example.... so and so..."washed the dishes" is no help or value in being part of a camp life as it gives nothing to aid imaginations, and is an insult to both the person doing the chore and those watching them, but to add how the chore was done makes it come alive. The heat of the water, color of the dishes, type of dishes, how a girl stands out all make a good chore, and *laughs*. They are read, believe me. Often a girl is assessed on how well she can execute these chores, firing imaginations of those around her. It is not a race as to how many you do, as so many girls think, but rather how well you do the ones you do. These chores listed here are but a few that may be done. Feel free to adapt them to your own individual styles. They do not include personal chores issued by individual Owners. Also, some girls have been granted the privilege of "taking care" of certain chores, for example,sanaa takes care of making soap and bath salts.... tempest takes care of pottery making, simply through showing a flair for the chore, or extensive RT knowledge. Although help is always welcome and often encouraged, it is polite to ask first where personal chores have been granted as favors. BASIC CHORES COOKING...May be done in the open air, by the main central fire, or, more usually, in the commisary wagon where everything is stored, on or by the hearth fire. The pots and pans are kept on the bottom of the main shelves, and utensils on a smaller shelf by the hearth fire. Food is kept either in large pottery earthenware containers on the floor in the corner of the wagon, as in the case of dried goods, dried vegetables and fruit, or in the small annex off the main wagon, the cool room, as in the case of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, and on the counter in canisters, as in the case of herbs and spices. Most things can be cooked...it is just a matter of thinking things out and "converting" the thought to a Gorean type equivalent, e.g. using vulos as chickens, bosk as you would for steak, etc. CLEANING...Metal and wooden buckets are kept all over the camp, with empty ones stacked in both the commisary and the supply wagon. Soap flakes can be found in a canister on the counter in the commisary, and cloths can be found stacked on the counter, or in the supply wagon. Some things that often need cleaning are floors, walls, steps, counters, dishes, shelves, etc DUNG COLLECTING...An empty sack made of burlap or Hessian may be found in the supply wagon. It is recommended that you use a stick to poke at the dung before picking them up, as the wet ones are squelchy and stinky, and don�t burn well at all. The dried ones have no smell and make excellent fuel, often when precious wood is in short supply. Dried bosk dung is the main source of fuel. MILKING BOSK...Using a small stool and herded into a makeshift pen, the animals are milked much the same as cows and the milk can be made into butter, cream, ice cream, yogurt and cheeses. EGG COLLECTING...Using a basket found in the commisary underneath the counter or hanging in the supply wagon and lined with grass or straw, the tiny vulo eggs can be taken from the baskets where the birds are kept in a makeshift pen, washed with a damp cloth and put in a bowl on the countertop. Always leave one egg in each nest to stop the little birds going broody and refusing to lay any more eggs. Use any cracked eggs in omlettes, cakes etc SEWING...several small sewing kits are in the supply wagon on the shelf. Threads of different colors are kept in a basket. Different bolts of materials, ranging from brocades to silks, taken in raids and traded for are kept in the supply wagon at the back, along with tanned soft leather and furs. Different things to make are blankets, cloths, clothing, curtains, cushions, bags etc etc, as well as mending FEEDING ANIMALS...The animals are all kept in make shift pens, and grain is kept in a sack in the supply wagon for the vulos. They are fed the same as Earth chickens, scattering the grain on the ground, usually a girl would then dart in and take the eggs from the unprotected nests. Sleen are a bit trickier because they are mean and eat almost anything...scraps are kept in buckets in the commisary and care should be taken not to get too close to the pens as the animals are known to bite off errant slave girls fingers should they be too slow LAUNDRY...Can either be taken to the river for washing, along with some soap flakes, or can be cleaned in camp. Rep cloths can be rinsed out in a bucket of water and then boiled clean in a kettle on the main fire. Use a stick to get them out because they are hot! DISHES.... Bowls are found under the counter and soap flakes in a canister up on top of the counter. Hot water is always present in kettles on the fire, and cold in buckets. DUSTING, WAXING AND POLISHING...Bees wax, scented oils and cloths can all be found in either of the commisary wagons, and can be used to polish anything wooden in camp, e.g. furniture, chests, etc FILLING WATER BARRELS...Barrels of water are dotted around the camp and often need refilling from the nearby river, using cleaned buckets, often combining the two chores. CLEANING BUCKETS AND KETTLES.... Usually done at the river, scouring them out with river sand, then brought back to camp filled with clean water GROOMING BOSK...the animals should be washed, and brushed regularly, and the spare "hair or fur" can be spun, and used as thread, either for sewing or weaving CLEANING FURS...Furs around the fire often need cleaning. They are rarely washed, just needing a good beating to clear them of dust that blows through the camp. They are very large, so try not to let them drag on the ground, and toss them over a tight line, using a stout stick to beat them hard, until no more dust rises from them. It is hot hard work GREASING WAGON AXLES. Just under each wagon is a small bucket hanging on a hook with a brush, full of axle grease. It is important to keep the axles well greased for when the wagons move. MISC....Tending the fire, cleaning guest wagons, raking the dance pit, watering plants, etc SLIGHTLY HARDER CHORES BASKET WEAVING...Using reeds from the supply wagon hanging on a hook, soak them in water until they are supple and weave a round mat, using thinner longer, reeds as "spokes" and the fatter blades to weave with, until a base is formed. Bend the remainder of the spokes in the air and continue to weave, a little tighter than the base, round and round, overlapping the larger flatter ones when joining on. When a desired height is reached, tuck the loose top ends down and soak the whole thing in water and leave to dry by the fire. This tightens the basket up and makes the joints seal better. HAMMOCK MAKING...Take long equal lengths of rope and tie a knot in the top of them, all together. Spread out in a fan, and wrap each rope around a length of wood...Number them in your mind 1.... 2...3...4...etc. leave a gap, and tie an individual knot in the first two, 1 and 2, the second pair, 3 and 4, and so on across them all. Leave a gap and tie another knot in 2 and 3, 4 and 5, etc. across them all. Repeat the two lines as needed for length. Wrap each one around another bar of wood and finish off in another overhand knot using all of them. Slide the knots over a hook attached to the side of a wagon, or tree, and ta da...a hammock. NET MAKING...Same knotting procedure as hammocks, not needing the wooden bar, using thinner cord, and tighter rows. MAKING BLACKWINE...A marble mortar and pestle can be found on the bottom shelf in the commisary, and blackwine beans in a canister on the counter. Place a handful in the mortar and crush the beans with the pestle, grinding them up as small as possible. Take a small piece of clean netting and using a piece of twine, tie the ground beans into a small bundle tightly. Pop into a kettle, add water and put on a low heat to simmer, either inside or out on the main fire. WEAVING...A loom is kept in the supply wagon in the corner, along with a shuttle. Thread is wound onto the shuttle, and passed over and under horizontally vertical threads tied onto the loom...After every row the "line" is pushed up hard and tight. Patterns are formed using different colored cloths, and this material can be used for blankets and rugs to keep out the cold. TANNING HIDES...The skins are scraped with sharp stones, taking care not to press to hard to remove all flesh from them, then pounded over and over making them softer, staked out and left to dry, or cure. It is a long job, taking days to complete. They may be waterproofed using fat well rubbed into the inside of the skins. BUTTER MAKING...Skim the cream off the top of fresh milk, using a slotted spoon, or netting like a sieve. The colder the milk, the thicker the cream. Leave for a day on the counter to let the cream sour, otherwise the butter does not separate easily. Place in a butter churn and fasten the lid on tightly, pushing the plunger down into the cream and dragging it back up again. It is a slow process and your arms will ache, but you can feel by the plunger as it gets harder to push down that the butter is forming. The mixture separates into butter, and buttermilk. Pour off the buttermilk and use it in baking. Add water to the butter, and continue to churn, pouring away the water as it gets discolored. This works all of the buttermilk out of the butter, which is important, as buttermilk will make the butter go rancid. After the water runs clear, add a small amount of salt and beat in. Store in the cool room until needed CANDLES...Several size candle moulds are kept in the supply wagon, and are made of plaster, and are in two halves so when a wick laid along the length between them, and they are joined together tightly with bands, form a hollow mould, encased in plaster, which through a small opening in the top allows heated wax to be poured through and cooled. Oil may be added as the wax is cooling. Once the wax has hardened, the bands are removed and the candle released. The seam line can be trimmed with a heated blade. In the case of scented candles, they are wrapped in cloth and stored. Candles may also be made by dipping a length of wick repeatedly in hot wax and allowed to cool between dipping. Take care to use an old pan, usually kept in the supply wagon to avoid confusion with the food pans. A low heat to melt the wax is needed as it ignites quickly. MORE DIFFICULT CHORES REQUIRING RESEARCH AND "ADAPTING TO GOR" Making...Cheese Soap Incense Smoking meat Salting and preserving meat and fish Drying food |
