18 months of remote learning came to an end last week, which also signals the conclusion of my week-long adventures. To be fair, the fossil season has been winding down for me since late July, and apart from some desultory local visits, the hammers have been fairly quiet. A health issue also threw a spanner in the works, so in all it is back to the off-season programming for the most part unless I can gin up some time and a great place to go. Off-season around the blog is not terribly idle, though -- at least in the last few years. This is a time of research, illustration, and preparation. The last two are generally featured here as they happen, sprinkled with a few purchased additions to the collection. I'm not calling the season over just as yet, however. Once I do officially, that will be the time to write up the end of season retrospective wrap-up. So, for now, why not a trilobite I picked up for dirt cheap? This lovely trinucleid is none other than Stapeleyella inconstans Whittard 1955, from the Lower Ordovician; Dariwillian, Hope Shales of Minsterley, Shropshire. I don't have many UK trilobites (in fact, I only have the pygidium of another, the famous "Dudley bug"). I am expecting two more in the post shortly. This illaenid was added to my package from my fantastic Russian digger comrade. It was my goal to apply some of my preparation skills and keep those from getting rusty. 2.5 hours later and Dysplanus babinoensis emerges from the limestone. This was almost entirely scribe work with minimal abrasion. I also spent a bit of effort on landscaping the matrix. Just three very minor errors, but otherwise a nice little plumper with virtually nothing missing.
Some trilobites in the mail are likely in the next while. Maybe even some prep, although time is a bit more limited given the demands of that whole teaching thing I tend to do. |
Kane Faucher
Archives
February 2024
|