Friday fragments

Terror, confusion, and sadness... all before breakfast! Well, maybe our plucky heroine exaggerates a little bit, but still I prefer to not have adrenaline as an appetizer...

Working backwards, the sadness is that whatever has gone south in my left achilles tendon earlier this week is not improving, so getting some medical attention has become was necessary. This may preclude will prevent my going to September Crown, alas, as even a small amount of walking in the house is causing pain. I have been applying ice, and topical NSAID, and doing good self care... Visit to local clinic yesterday yielded a tentative diagnosis of retrocalcaneal bursitis on the back heel. Was referred to PT and able to be seen this morning. PT had useful suggestions as to probable cause (relating to body compensating for prior injury last year) and an exercise protocol to add, but also let me know that limiting walking for the next month or more is necessary (though careful bike rides are okay, so at least I can still acquire groceries!) and that it will not be a quick recovery.

The confusion is not in me, but in my backyard apple tree. The tree has two different sorts of apples, and one side is much more productive than the other. The side with only about five apples this year has also decided that late August is the time to start blossoming again. Silly tree!

The terror arrived when I brought the empty chicken water dispenser into the house to refill it. When I unscrewed the top in the kitchen sink, and rinsed it with water, a live drenched yellowjacket ended up in the sink as well! Our plucky heroine managed to not panic, and cleverly trapped it underneath the overturned water jar, slid a flexible cutting board between the sink and the edge of the jar, and was able to remove said deadly insect from the house. Kudos for my quick thinking! (I have been refilling chicken waterers for years, and this was a first. If you don't let them get entirely empty, there is no way for insects to get inside the waterer if there is any water in it at all)

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In the process of decluttering, our plucky heroine found a few small metal stamps that had been forgotten and over time had developed a rusty surface... since simple wire brushing, or use of a green scrubby was insufficient to clean up the tiny bas relief surfaces, I turned to this online hint (using vinegar and salt). The soaking in that solution, which didn't require hours since the rust levels were not that extreme, really took care of the problem. I then tried it on another random crusty hardware oddment, which also cleaned up nicely, and will be turned into a "brush rest" to use when I am using the tiny paintbrushes for charters, illumination, and limoges enameling.

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Baronial paint night was last night - my intention is to host a once a month scribal arts evening here every month on the last Thursday evening. This was the second one, two more folks showed up, and this time we moved into the workroom, instead of the living room, for the sake of the better lighting. The LED shoplight is really proving to have been a worthwhile addition to Acorn Cottage!

I started painting charter #16, which appears to be inspired by some of my favorite 14thC Mamluk images. I love how it is possible, here on the website that shows the original 14thC illuminations, to zoom in to see the actual brushstrokes some artisan made centuries ago!

I decided to modify the blank border around the central medallion to resemble the period illumination. Have not yet finished applying the first layers of color, but will really enjoy elaborating on this design. Rather than finish the painting all in one go, I shall use it as a reward for completing other less fun tasks over the next week, which will still have it ready to be couriered to September Crown next weekend...

charter painting begun by me, original charter design by Tomyris,
Award scroll for the Order of the Sable Gauntlet
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August SMART goals

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	charter #14	rayon dress facing	Tundra flooring
2	charter #15	popover neckline filled	floor padding
3	Tullia painted banner	brush rest refurbished	bag to Goodwill
4	embroidered yoke	stamps refurbished	bag to Goodwill
5	-	-	bag to Goodwill
6	-	-	bag to Goodwill
7	-	-	bag to Goodwill
8	-	-	bag to Goodwill
9	-	-	paper recycling
10	-	-	wood scraps
11	-	-	shelf unit
12	-	-	yard waste bin
13	-	-	-
14	-	-	-

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