No, it's not a trash documentary in the sense that the film is trash - rather it's about trash, especially plastic waste, and how it gets treated and recycled (or, spoiler alert: not). You can watch it here in the ARD Mediathek.

It's hard to find words about all the shit going on in today's world, really. And very obviously, one of the best ways to help with the plastic waste problem is to cause as little as possible. 

Today was checkup day - all kinds of tests to see if the bit of extra I had in my skull is still gone completely, and if there's anything affected by the removal. So I got treated to some relaxation again, and to some waiting time, and to chats with lovely healthcare people, and now I'm home again with another disc full of images (yes, there's still a brain residing in there, that area was never touched), and the "all clear" for now. Next check is in one year's time, when I will hopefully hear just the same.

There's checks to see how my cortisone levels are doing before that, but the Much Ado with the more elaborate tests are done for now. Phew! Which means I can now concentrate on getting the things prepped for the next events - which is the museum anniversary in Ingelheim on September 1. The Great Wheel will have an outing there, so it wants to get dusted off, oiled up, and given a test spin before we'll travel to the Rhine...

I will be in Ingelheim to demonstrate spinning in the medieval styles, with both the hand-spindle and the Great Wheel. There will be the opportunity to try medieval-style spindles for the visitors - and a lot of other things to see and try as well, plus free entry into the museum. You can find more info here on the museum page.

So how far did I get on the skirt during the weekend? Here's the progress pic: 

I had about 5 cm of the starting part woven, so weaving in the extra cord for holding the loops was done on site - and all the weaving that follows, and the cording, and the ring-making. The pic makes it very obvious that the cording and ring-making take more time than the weaving, and hence the rather great reserve of un-corded loops. This, by the way, was my workplace: 

I swapped the setup around after that image, so that I was facing the other way - this would have sat me with my back to the main path, and thus to the public. The other way around I had a nice view on the horse showing Bronze Age tack and on the musician explaning (and playing) his instruments, and the fisherman with all his nets and hooks and things. 

And as usual I have no pictures from during the day, as I completely forgot or was too busy explaining and working. I didn't get to have a nice stroll around to take pics of the other stations either, so no images from there. The curse of the soloists! 

I'm back from the weekend doing corded skirt weaving, and a little more tired than I'd hoped for - thanks to the new sleeper trains with their single cabins, which are in theory very nice, but have a rather hard mattress, too firm for my taste. So I didn't sleep too well, and then at a little past four suddenly the light was on in my cabin, and then I had to get up in time to leave the train quite early, so altogether I arrived here already looking forward to a nap.

It was a lovely weekend, even though the weather was a little more rainy than the forecast had predicted. For a little while on Sunday, I thus had to take shelter in the 19th century garden pavillion together with my weaving, but the rest of the time, it was at most a very, very light drizzle, so that was fine. The wool was a bit miffed by the high moisture content in the air, though, and stuck some more than usual. 

Apart from this, I can only complain about being so busy explaining that I didn't get away from my place all day, so there was no time to stroll around and visit the colleagues. The visitors stopping by were very interested, and I got a good chunk of weaving done showing how a corded skirt is made. (It's far from being finished, of course - I'd need a few weeks of demo-ing for that.)

I also got to hang out with the full skirt I made for the museum again, and it was such a nice moment to lift it out of the box and hold it again. For explanatory and demonstration purposes, I also wrapped myself in it a lot of times. It does not fit me correctly - the Egtved girl was of a slighter build - but where it was lying in double layer as intended, the movement of the cords is really fascinating. Yes, they shift and they can fall apart when moving, but they fall apart on top of the leg, and more or less flow together in the lower (or should I say the nether?) regions. 

It's a really fascinating garment, and I had a lot of nice discussions about it, both with visitors and with some colleagues stopping by. A very nice weekend indeed, and I hope it will get a repetition some day!

Because it's a good way up from here down south in Franconia to Syke, where I'll be demonstrating this weekend, I'm travelling today (and then will go check out my place for the weekend and ponder the best setup...

My bags are packed, coffee for the trip is in the best of all travel mugs, and I'm looking forward to a fun weekend!

Sometimes, info turns up at unexpected times and unexpected places - just like this info about a conference with Stone Age clothing as the focus topic. There's not so much evidence (because of not so much in organic finds from back then), but the programme also includes body ornamentation.

The conference is in Halle/Saale, taking place September 25-28, and conference language is English. You can find out more about it, and register, on this webpage. Registration is open until September 15.

And here's the next event, though sadly I will not be able to go there (I have something else going on that weekend): Archäologie am Berg! That's a yearly event organised by the Natural History Museum in Vienna, Austria, and it takes place on THE mountain if you're talking archaeology: In Hallstatt. It's on September 14 and 15, and the programme (fitting for the topic, which is eating, drinking, celebrating) does sound delicious...