It's time for the summer break! As every year, I'm taking some time off both for holidays and relaxation, and for doing some behind-the-scenes work that tends to get into conflict with the day-to-day stuff with everything running. Website stuff, for example.

I will be back with blog and shop on August 11. Until then, I will leave you with these pretty flowers:

and the hope that you will also have a very nice summer time.

(This, by the way, is post no. 3000 on this blog, if my system counter is not fooling me...) 

One of the things I really love about conferences is getting to meet and to connect with new people as well as catching up with folks that I already know. 

When I was going to my first conferences, I was still quite shy in approaching people - and I do remember that it felt so nice when, as you're approaching one of the small tables in a coffee break that people stand around, someone shifts to make space for you to join. (That, back then, was an easy way to join a random group of people, because you obviously need some place to put your coffee cup to be able to wrangle your coffee break snack... so it didn't feel so much like I was sneaking up and trying to impose myself on other people.)

Since then, I've gotten less shy regarding the approach of new people - but I still remember how nice it was to be welcomed by someone shifting to tacitly invite me into their circle. So, since then, I have always tried to shift and make space when someone comes close to the table I'm at. And today, by random chance, I found out that there's a name for this: The Pac-Man Rule. The short version is: When you're part of a circle in a conference (whether around a table or not), always leave an open space in the circle for someone else to join. (But do go and read the full post behind the link, it's worth it.)

Leeds International Medieval Congress is having its CfPs running, and one of the sessions will be "Threads of Knowledge": 

Enter your text here ...

Wax tablets are a nice, and very practical thing if you need something to write on. Unless you go into extreme heat, the writing on it will stay, and they are rather easy to make and easy to carry. If there's need for more space, a number of tablets can be strung together in a kind of little book. Very handy indeed.

In case you want to read some more about wax tablet finds in Pompeii, here's a little article about them describing a project made in Köln, and some nice images of charred wax tablet fragments. 
 

...when you manage to spill half of your morning coffee on your desk. There was, accordingly, the smell of moist wood and a rather unhappy cat because her spot was not, um, spotless. 

The rest of the day went suprisingly well for that start - though now I'm rather happy that the weekend is coming. Hopefully with nice weather, so we can get outside for some sunshine and fresh air, as the last few days were cooler and felt more like April weather than like summer.

But first, maybe... 

a nap?

I have no clue why time is going by so fast - maybe it's being washed away by the rain outside pouring down? There's bouts of heavy rain and inbetween nice-ish weather, so there's hope we will not get drenched when we go outside to catch a bit of fresh air. 

Meanwhile, there's been some writing on the madder experiment stuff, and some other things, and I have had another look at the madder swatches and their incredible spottiness...

It's a nice colour, but not one that would get praise for its crafts quality! It's still not clear how measuring it with a colour checker often enough and then taking the average will work, but I will find out. Eventually, when all will be measured and their numbers crunched... 

Once in a while, a truly spectacular find happens - such as this Roman wine, which was preserved in the tomb of Carmona. The liquid has been analysed, and it's white wine - the oldest wine in the world. Not very tasty anymore, apparently, but still very, very interesting.

You can read more about it in this article in Journal of Archaeological Science. Cheers!