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My first clear memories are of the horses. That was my father's passion, the horses. He bred the finest horses in Herefordshire, England; they are in demand by everyone from the guard to the King. My father is gone now but the horses remain.
I am Lady Judith of Herefordshire, wife to my lord James and mother to one son. I am the only child left of my father's issue as my younger brother died some years ago. My mother still lives though she dwells many miles away with her sister.
The horses are my responsibility now and I strive to preserve the bloodlines my father believed in. Our horses are grace and fire. Swift as the wind, they are dutiful companions and I feel a kinship with them that I rarely feel for the people that dwell here. Although I have many duties, the stables and fields are my favorite places to be. Now that I have told you of my favorite things in life, let me tell you what the rest of my life is like.
The present year is the year of our Lord 1096 and it is summer in the Shire of Hereford. Our summers are mild and at this time I am concerned with the training of the foals of the past year and the stewardship of our estates. My lord and my son are campaigning for our liege, William II in the Holy Lands. This means that I must tend to all matters of the estates from the crops to our defense. Our holding produces some of the finest wool in the shire and our sheep this summer have reached the number of 97. The shearing has just ended and preparation of the wool for spinning is consuming much of our time. Then the wool must be spun and cloth woven and dyed. We feed ourselves from crops raised here and I tend the sick and wounded with medications from our herb garden. I have a loyal and dedicated steward but the final word on running the holding belongs to me.
Should we have cause for defense as we have had in the past, I still drill sometimes with the Master of Arms. This is a custom my father instilled in me long ago and I try to maintain some level of skill with the sword and the bow. Of course I delight in training our horses in the moves of war though our borders remain peaceful now and have for some time.
My father went against custom and sent me to the Abby at Hereford to educate me in the arts of reading and sums. I did not stay long in the classroom however; the monks felt that I would never need more than the smallest amount of learning in that manner and refused to teach me for long. My mother felt that I should spend many hours at my lessons in needlework and taught me well the many things that I would need to know about housewifery. It must have been very difficult to keep me reined in however as the only place that I wanted to be was on horseback.
In addition to the holding in Herefordshire my lord maintains a holding far to the south below the Thunder Mountains. It is an untamed land and I so -->
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