One of the things I've learned recently (of the category "oh, well, yes, seems logical, but I never really thought about it") is: Earwigs have wings. Some varieties use their pincers to help stretch out the wings, some varieties almost never fly, but they do have them, very neatly tucked up and folded under their tiny wing covers.

So if you're curious now, here's a video (with some more bonus flying critters):

... was done today, though I don't have nice photos to show yet. I've finished securing all open ends of all braided structures, and finished hemming all parts, and got started on the needle lace for the front.

And otherwise, there was a checkup to take care of, and a cat to cuddle (on the desk), and mails to send - so the usual, apart from one very weird paypal occurrence that actually needed a call to customer service. (With a very nice and helpful lady at the other end.)

And now I'd be ready for the weekend, if only that Friday worktime did not stand in the way ;) 

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...