The sprang caps are progressing - the sprang middle part is finished, and is currently drying after getting a little soak. Pictures will follow tomorrow - and then, once it's dry, I can start on getting the first of the sprang panels stitched into the cap parts.

It's always very nice and exciting when something like this comes together! 

Finally! No, not only finally Friday (though that is welcome as well), but also I finally have... The Needle.

Years ago now. I was shown a needle found in Lorsch (which is an early medieval monastery). The idea, straight away, was to find someone who would make these for me so I could have them in my shop.

And as so often in the field, getting to the point took... longer. In that case, I think it was about 7 years. The process usually starts with getting enough information about the object (which was not the big thing in this case), then try and find someone able to do it, figure out if they are also willing to do it. Quite often, this is where you go back to square one because things don't work out due to whatever reason (don't want to do this, would do this but has no time, would do it but the price would be too high, would do it but cannot get the materials, or reason unknown because at one point I just don't get any answer back on my mails). 

Repeat from "try and find someone able to do it" as often as necessary. Then, once someone is found, you need to settle on a price, then I put in the actual order, and then... eventually... it's in the shop. 

As are these now: 

And if you're interested, you can find it here. (There's not much more information, but the magical button, in case you need one of them now...)

Taxes are, finally, about done - it's always weird to do them, somehow. I have all the stuff I need collected, and the book-keeping is complete or finished anyways, with standing notes to check for some items that have to be checked or added as they're no regular bills.

So basically it's just opening up the software and hacking in all those numbers (where things are not imported automatically anyways). And still I have the strong desire to let everything rest for a day or two once it's finished, and only send it off once it has ripened for a bit. Although there have been times when I remembered something that was forgotten, or should be re-checked, during that ripening phase, so it's not completely without merit, it still feels weird.

Now the stuff is finally in the ripening phase, with plans to send it off on Monday. Hooray! And that means another year all done and dealt with, finally. The deadline for handing the stuff in used to be a good bit earlier in the year, and that actually felt less weird - because now it somehow seems like the current year has been so long already that the last one is ages ago. 

As I said: Weird.

And because the heat outside has probably stolen my brain, you're getting a random photo of a box being made (or more precisely, getting the lid pressed after glueing on the papers to cover both inside and outside): 

I'm always quite amused by the constructions that get created to have everything nice and straight and all bits that should be weighted down nicely weighted down. It's always fun, this stage. 

The heat is on here, and it's again much too dry for this time of year. We're still not watering the garden much - the lawn (or what counts as it) can grow crispy as far as we are concerned. Watering is for stuff in pots (looking at you, tomatoes) and fruit-bearing plants.

Hedgehog activity last night was surprisingly low, with even some food left over. We'll see if that was a fluke or if there is less going on for more than just one night. And here's a photo of one of the guys on the way back from snacking, taken a few days ago: 

Unfortunately it's not that easy to tell them apart from a few images on the camera, so we're not sure how many different ones are visiting the Snack Palace...

Well. I don't watch much TV or movies or other stuff (in fact we don't even own a TV), but we do have some DVDs of things we enjoy. Among them are things with Nathan Fillion.

This is due to a present from a friend of ours, who gave me, many birthdays back, a DVD with Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on it. (Fantastic. If you like weird, go for it. It's only a good half hour. I will wait here.) 

We liked it so much that we looked for other things with the same actors, and that led us to watching Firefly, plus some other things, with Nathan Fillion playing a (usually big and important) part. 

And now, by chance, I found out he got an honorary doctorate and gave a speech, where he gave his three steps to success. 

 Some of this certainly sounded familiar. I can't count how many times there was something that I was slightly (and sometimes more than slightly) scared of, and I did it anyways, and it was the Best Idea Ever. (Or maybe not quite that, but it definitely was a very good idea and I never regretted it.)

The Textile Forum. Quite a few of my workshops. Going to fairs. Going for being self-employed. Committing to writing a book with a colleague on another continent, whom I barely knew at that point. All glorious ideas, in the end.

So, from my point of view: The steps he gives are entirely valid. And I would add that in my personal opinion, they are not only valid, they will make your life nicer (gratitude tends to make everything more friendly, and more mellow, and you will have kinder people around you if you are kind yourself) and more interesting. (Even if it's a little scary sometimes.)

 There's another long weekend coming up - so I'll be back on the blog on Monday. Meanwhile, if this video upload thingie has worked, you can enjoy a hedgehog checking out the feeding station in our garden: