The last few events have drained my stock of wares quite a bit, so on the list for today's work is: Make new portions of gold thread, iron gall ink, and other stuff that has almost run out. I will also need to re-stock my spindle whorls rather soon. And I'm thinking about adding something else to the shop - but I won't tell you yet.

That's not all, though; the desk would like to get cleaned up again, the cat wants to be cuddled regularly, and there's a stack of books to sort and a list of things to finalise for the Forum. Now... where is one's Secret Evil Twin to pitch in with some additional work power when one needs it?

I am back from a wonderful weekend at the Cave Gladium, where I had a thoroughly nice time offering "home-shopping" to lots and lots of different groups in their camp. It was a different way to meet people and get them to know the things I offer (including workshops and courses), and I spent quite some (really enjoyable time) chatting about textiles, techniques, the valueing of textile crafts (and other crafts), and other things.

What really blew my mind was the hospitality I also received - offers of a place in the shade to take a rest, offers of drink, offers of food. It made me feel really welcome and really appreciated, and especially the offers of drink kept me watered enough to be well and happy in the heat. And hot it was - beautiful, hot, dry summer weather with blue skies, almost no clouds, just a very slight breeze from time to time and high temperatures from early morning to late at night. I tackled the heat by moving very, very slowly (assisted by a slightly hurting foot, partly thanks to an unextinguished cigarette end lying on the ground in my path, happily smoldering away) and accepting almost every offer of drink and shade.

It was a lovely working weekend, and will not be the last time I shoulder my "Kiepe" (a carrying basket to wear on your back) and take a walk!

Brought to you, via myself, from Beatrix Nutz of the Lengberg Bra Fame:

The Department of Medieval and Post-Medieval Archaeology, Leopold-Franzens-University Innsbruck, together with the Urban Archaeology Hall in collaboration with the Seminar of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology of the Georg-August-University Göttingen cordially invite to the third Postgraduate Conference on Medieval Archaeology (PCMA) in Austria.
This meeting will be held from March 28-30, 2014 in Hasegg Castle in the historic town Hall in Tirol.

There is no conference fee beyond the expenses for visiting museums, exhibitions, and staying at Tirol. Deadline for registration, with or without paper, is January 15, 2014. You can find more information about the event on their webpage, which also lists the contact addresses to send your abstract and title.

Sadly, I'm too old for this stuff (being no postgrad anymore), but it does sound nice and interesting - and one of its aims is to build bridges between archaeologists in the East and the West, and that is always a brilliant idea.

A little bit of last-minute packing and organising, then I'll stuff all the things into the car and will be on my way to Cave Gladium. It's the first time since ages that I go to an event without my own stall or tent, and the first time since even more ages that I will offer a kind of mobile services. (Actually, it's the first try of doing the mobile salesperson for me - back in my very beginnings in going to medieval events, I'd sing together with a friend, wandering around the place.)

So I'm quite excited, and not at all sure how it will work out, and whether it will work well or okay or not-at-all, and a little anxious too. Which is... sort of nice, as it has the feel of doing something entirely new. And as we all know, something new now and then is good for us!

Here's three links to pictures that might interest you - or at least amuse you.

First of all: Men photographed in classical pin-up poses. I think this is all kinds of cool, for several reasons - not least of them: those pictures do show how weird these poses are.

Secondly: Self-portraits, taken with napkins, in aeroplane lavatories. The article calls them "in the Flemish style", and they do indeed look a little like Flemish portraits.

And thirdly, for something completely different: A tattoo artist helps women who had breast cancer surgery - by tattooing them trompe-l'oeil nipples.

I'm not fully back yet, brain-wise, or so it seems - the usual morning routine has yet to re-establish itself. The list of emails has shrunk much, though, and the list of to-do items has grown, so that is normal-ish again.

This weekend is the Cave Gladium, a medieval market/event in Furth im Wald. A few years ago, I was there with a small market stall; then I did not manage to get there for a while. This year, I'm planning to go there with a little basket of goods for sale and take a walk around the encampment on Friday and Saturday.

And then, very soon, our Textile Forum will take place. Amazing how time flies by!

Just in time for the Forum, the first Forum Proceedings will come out. In case you are interested in the book (details here), I am planning to carry it in my online shop. If you want to make sure that you will get one without ordering it from Oxbow directly, just drop me a note :)

I am returned home from a wonderful and lovely time outdoors with friends - time spent paddling in warm, clear waters, swimming, reading, having lovely food (both homecampsite-made and dining out), knitting some socks, looking at the lush greenery, making oodles of bad puns and generally relaxing a lot. It was not only wonderful, but also a much-needed recharge of my batteries.

I spent the first day back going through 300+ emails, and one of those is the reason you get a blogpost today already instead of tomorrow. If you have read German academic books, chances are that you have held one published by de Gruyter in your hands. It's one of those typical academic publishing houses that have a very good reputation, but can be extremely pricey.

De Gruyter has bought up two other academic publishers, namely Akademie Verlag and Oldenbourg Verlag. To celebrate this, they are granting free access to the ebook versions of all the current titles of both publishing houses. The books are in German, but if you read German and need a book from their programmes, this is your opportunity.

Free access is possible until August 31; you find the titles of Akademie Verlag here and those of Oldenbourg here. And if you visit the site, have a laugh at some of the ebook prices they offer - the printed and bound version costs 19.80 €, while the ebook is priced at 198.00 €! (I wonder why... don't they want to sell ebooks too?)