About Misha

Hi there!  I’m Michael, or “Misha” to my friends.  I’m a history-lover, homesteader, and homebrewer.

Misha tasting meads during Laurel vigil
Tasting mead during my Laurel vigil

On the homestead front, my family and I live on an eight-acre farm near Frederick, Maryland; in the six-plus years we’ve been here, we’ve progressively moved from “rural” to “almost suburban,” but we’re still trying to keep things farm-like. The house dates from the 1880’s, and we’ve been slowly renovating it, room by room. The garden, “orchard”, and outbuildings are coming back, slowly, from years of neglect. We have a flock of chickens, who provide us with very tasty eggs, as well as four large dogs and six indoor cats. The “Homestead” portion of this site will document our trials and travails at getting things fixed up, and getting the farm back to functioning.

My homebrewing “career” began in 1995, when I brew my first batch of beer for a housewarming party, thrown by myself and a new roommate. It was wildly successful–and the beer was pretty good, too!  Since then, I’ve brewed literally hundreds of batches of beer, wine, and mead. My current “beer log” began in 2004, and contains the recipes for the most recent hundred and sixty-some batches. The “Misha’s Brewing” area here will go over my brewing, batch by batch, as well as some of my ventures down related side-paths, such as growing hops and barley, or “capturing” wild yeasts.

I’ve been active in the Society for Creative Anachronism, as Mikhail Chayka Pavlov-syn Novgorodets, for well over a decade, and have “played” in multiple kingdoms, including Caid, the West, An Tir, Ansteorra, Aethelmarc and the East, but “home” and my current kingdom is Atlantia. Geographically, I’m in the Barony of Highland Foorde, which is central and Western Maryland. I have my AoA, as well as a Coral Branch, an Opal, a Pearl, and being a Laurel for my brewing. I have an insatiable curiosity, and greatly enjoy “dabbling” in new Arts and Sciences, as my mood takes me. To support this habit, and to help free up shelf-space from the things I’ve created, I started an Etsy shop, primarily selling turned bowls, cups, and plates, but lately also dabbling in carved bone. The “Misha’s Miscellany” portion of this site will take you along with me, as I try out new things, and keep working on some of my older ones.

Lastly, the “And Other Things” portion of the site will cover those rare things that don’t fall directly into any of those categories. I’m sure they’ll be strange and wonderful!