What I Never Knew I Always Wanted

Moving In

It took two weeks for the Fillmore’s to arrive on Venus and then another two weeks to get from their landing point all the way to Coccham. Once there, they were greeted by Abbess Hild who was in charge of the village since Lord Uhtred and his warriors had already left to go fighting at the bequest of King Edward. She then gave them a brief tour of the village, the location of Lord Uhtred’s Hall, the Church, blacksmith’s shop, mills, laundry, docks and fields before guiding them to their homes.

When Cornelius first entered into his new, temporary home, he noticed how simple it was. The main room had a simple fireplace with a hearth and a couple cooking pots and a couple dishes, a chest with foodstuffs and a table with four chairs and a counter with basin and hand pump for water and a couple pegs on the walls for hanging things.. The next room had a simple bed with drapes surrounding it, a bazaar for heat, a small table with a single chair, a cabinet with healing herbs, a clothes chest and a couple pegs for additional clothes, such as his cloak. On the other side  of the main room was a smaller room. It contained a toilet and a large wooden barrel with sealable spout at the bottom for bathing (with a water trough from the main room to allow water to be pumped from there and into the tub), a shelf with a pitcher and basin and a spot for soap and a cloth and a couple pegs for a simple linen towel. Outside, he found a small garden plot that he knew was for herbs and vegetables.

Then he went over to see his parents' home. It was similar to his own but contained a second small table and chair and a second clothes chest in the bedroom and a couple more dishes as well as the addition to a spinning wheel and a loom in the main room. Otherwise, it had the same layout and details to his own. He then chose to help his parents unpack before they left for Lord Uhtred’s Hall where Abbess Hild told all of the newcomers (two young families with two children each, four independent adults, plus the Fillmore’s) the evening meal would be provided for them. 

Over the next couple weeks, he settled into a routine. Wake up, dress, eat a quick bowl of pottage then head out to the fields. He would then spend the next number of hours working in the fields before having his midday pottage, working a few more hours in the fields before going home to work in his garden and prepare his evening meal, which he would sometimes share with his parents or they would share with him. Then he would wash and prepare the next day’s pottage. He would do this seven out of nine days per week.

The other two days were different. On these days, after he had woken up, dressed and had eaten, he would do household chores. These included laundry, spending more time in his garden, taking grains to the mills for grinding, mending his clothes, cleaning his home, bathing, exploring the village, and going to market. On one of his earliest market days, he decided to purchase four laying hens to provide eggs for himself and his parents as well as a milk goat. When he returned to their cottages, he and his father went to work building pens for the new animals to live in and so the animals wouldn’t destroy their gardens.

All in all, they were settling into life quite well.