EXAR has its annual conference on October 5 - October 8 this year, and it takes place in Lauresham/Lorsch. The central topic of the conference is: "Experimental archaeology in science and education 2023". 

Registration and CfP for the conference are now open, and you can register via their website. (I haven't been able to attend for a number of years now due to timing conflicts, but the conference used to have a lot of German contributions, and last year's conference programme lists exclusively German titles for the contributions. So the conference probably makes you happier if you have good enough German language skills.)

Let me show you a very helpful cat: 

What I wanted to do is try and see how that piece of cloth folds up into something that might be used as headwear.

What I ended up doing for a bit was petting the cat, who instantly appeared when I put the fabric on the floor, sat down and started to groom herself. Because that's what you do. Right?

(I did get to try out stuff a while later, when she decided that there's other places more worthy of her being there...)

And with this, I wish you a nice weekend and (if you have it) a nice bank holiday on Monday!  

Things I did today? Had coffee. (Obviously.) Got blood drawn for a check-up of hormone levels (we will see if there's some adjustment needed, or if things have become stable inside the "good values" area). Served the cat more food. Sorted through the things I used at the demonstration last Sunday, to tidy them up and make life easier when the next demo starts.

Looked through some books for research purposes. Had lunch and more coffee. Repaired my phone (the bottom module was broken, so it was only charging very, very, veeeeeery slowly). Found out I also have to replace the SD-Card (it has digested some pictures, it's not supposed to do that). 

Admired the first flower of my passionfruit plant:

I doubt that there will be actual fruit coming from this, as it's the only one for now - there's a second bud on the plant, but it is still closed.

Then there was some organisatorial stuff for the next European Textile Forum. Since our long-time trusty catering company does not exist anymore, gettting the group fed has turned out to be a little tricky, so I'm still looking for a good successor to Frau Schröder (who was fonder of canned pineapple than I am, but that was never a real problem). There was also some work done on the CfP (which is due out soon, very soon).  

And now? Some emails to take care of - and then we're having a public holiday on Monday, it being Pentecost, so I'm already looking forward to a long weekend...

Tick season is here again - at least in our area it has started, the cat brought the first illegal passenger back home weeks ago.

In case you're in an area with ticks, check if your vaccination is still valid... and in case you're in Germany and in a region with ticks, you might want to check out the project by the RKI Germany, which is collecting ticks for a survey about species (including new ones settling in here) and the pathogens they might carry.

You find more information on the site about the Zeckenatlas Deutschland, including info on how to send in the little bastards. 

It's a holiday today, so you get this picture of a sleepy cat: 

Advertisement is an art unto itself - you want to be visible, and you want people to hear about your things, but you don't want to get on their nerves too much. (At least I don't, as I feel annoyed sometimes by too much explanations of how good something is... and I don't want to be that seller.)

Ads can be an art themselves, too, and especially older ads are quite interesting to look at. They do reflect the time they were made in, and sometimes they look weird and funny to our eyes, with different backgrounds and different lifestyles. And, in some cases, a bit more knowledge about what might be a good idea and what might not be one. (Radioactive potions, anyone?)

In case you, like me, enjoy looking at old ads once in a while, the Internet Archive has you covered. Here's their selection of advertising art from magazines. Enjoy! 

Even though this was a sort-of-shortened week, I'm feeling more than ready for the weekend... which will include some work as well, as there's some membrane thread work scheduled to happen. 

Before I go to have a coffee and a little break, though, here's a few more pictures for you, from the recent trip to Lisboa (more or less):