Engraving.... Eventually

I was working on enforced flexitime today thanks to a migraine. I walked out early with Bella the dog, posting a letter, buying a newspaper from the village shop and heading out down the drove. The visual interference started about as far as I was going to be from home. Bother and Blow! Migraines are a fairly regular part of my life and I cope well as long as I medicate early. Today, I wasn't carrying and, by the time I was back home, I couldn't see much at all with the wonderful - almost beautiful - swirling patterns. I closed the curtains and lay on the couch, waiting for the headache to hit.

Actually, it wasn't too bad and I was able to do some admin tasks this morning and I could start to engrave at around 3pm. I took a break for dinner and was back in the studio until 9pm when I just had to give up; a few hours after the headache I tend to feel like I went a few rounds against Tyson.

Still, the job is finished except for the proofing.

Here is my little corner of the world:

And again, a little closer:

The block is raised on two leather sandbags placed on a wooden platform with two handy draws. My most used tools are laid out ready and the magnifying glass is poised for those tricky details. The daylight bulb lets me work at any hour of night or day under exactly the same conditions. The eagled-eyed will make out my fave CD of the moment, "Ys" by Joanna Newsom, a Christmas present from A. The job is a bookplate. It will probably be posted soon in the bookplate gallery on my website.