Eve of Departure

We are almost ready and should be hitting the road by midday. Wish me luck! I really don't know what to expect but I think it would be fun to post some updates along the way. Despite my earlier consideration I will not be taking any painting stuff with me... it just doesn't seem worth the effort now that I've seen just how much other stuff I will be having to pack. I don't even know if I'm going to take my back-up book, the less I have to carry the better! Hmm... as a new dad, I suspect that will make an excellent motto for me over the next twenty or so years.

Time Away

It's been I think a week since I've done any significant painting, something about which I am now disappointed. I do feel however that there weren't many missed opportunities in which I could have been painting. As much as enjoy my hobby, spending time with my family and then sleep are both more important to me so I was reluctant to trade either for more time with the brush. Maybe I'll paint some tomorrow but I'm not sure as we are getting ready to leave on our trip and still have a lot to get done before we can actually depart. I have finally decided against taking any painting stuff with me as I had been considering for some time. I don't want to try to paint any of the HYW figures as I'm worried that the conditions might not be conducive to quality work. I had thought initially about taking some Andalusians with me to paint but now that I have this growing interest in them and the Dark Ages in general, I have thus grown reluctant to treat them as a side-project. Lacking anything else that I feel like painting right now, it seems I will just have to trust that such a long time away from painting will not too greatly atrophy my abilities.

Then again, maybe I'll just grab some of the Ancient Hawaiians and see what happens. We could be away for two weeks or more, I just don't know. Better safe than sorry, right?

So Many Cats

Good news! My cat's surgery went really well and she appears to be recovering nicely. She started hanging out with us late yesterday, previously having spent most of her time resting in the closet, and seems to have returned to her usual behavior and personality. I'm very relieved and know for sure that she will feel significantly better than she did before her operation. That should be the last of the immediate pet-related situations to be resolved, although the still remains the issue of what to do about the 9+ marsh kitties living on our property. We plan on trapping them and getting them all fixed but right now that seems like a logistical nightmare. It's really a ticking clock scenario as we certainly don't want to wait too long and then have another generation of marsh kitties with which to contend. Things already feel out of control as it is now!

And The Winner Is...

I believe I have finally settled on the book that I will take on my road trip. Rather than go with any of the ones I was considering earlier, I have instead chosen The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours (539AD-594AD). Tonight I started reading the Penguin Classics edition translated by Lewis Thorpe and right away knew that this would be the best pick. I had been really tempted to go with The Book of Contemplation but I didn't feel as if I had enough of a contextual understanding of the times to get as much out of the book as I would want. Nor am I planning on painting anything from the Crusades period for the foreseeable future so I therefore don't really feel like diving into that period just yet. I do like the idea though of reading some original source material though instead of one of my contemporary's analysis so that Gregory's work nicely fits that criterion.

After I move on from the Hundred Years War portion of the medieval period, I am pretty sure I want to next focus my attention on the so-called European Dark Ages and in particular the wars fought between the Franks and the Arabs for control of Spain. (Makes sense considering the number of Carolingians and Andalusians I purchased in the last couple of weeks.) As I said before, though, I am only very superficially familiar with not just this period but also much of the time preceding it as well. I believe therefore that Gregory's history should be a good reference for that transitional period from the end of effective Roman control to the later portion of Merovingian rule. Even though this is earlier than time in which I have expressed my main interest, it should nonetheless provide an excellent foundation for my understanding of the later Carolingian renaissance. Also it serves to keep the other books I have fresh for when I am actually ready to start painting the relevant armies.

So much thought and consideration has gone into the choice, I really hope the good Bishop does not let me down. But just in case I'm take Longitude as a back up.