‘So, what’s the latest on the experimental archaeology front?’ I hear you cry. I’ve still not grasped the nettle and tried making stinging nettle string (see what I did there?). Plenty more reading about boat archaeology though, plus trying not to dwell on the impending feedback on the first assignment. I had to miss one of my tutorials when I was away, so was watching the recording. The Irish accents play even more havoc than usual with the subtitling, which has an entertainment value all of its own. Who knew that Medieval Ireland had a camel based economy? ‘Smell fairies’, was an interesting response to a question about average iron smelting times.

Each week we get a ‘what’s on at the university this week’ email. This is frustrating because there is a plethora of fascinating sounding activities that I am too far away to access. A couple of weeks ago, we were exhorted to attend Sexual Health and Guidance week. This series of events is referred to by its acronym – I’ll give you a moment to think about that. You have to commend them for attention grabbing marketing. As the email said, “this is sure to be a fun-filled and informative week.”

I was chuffed to find a second-hand copy of a book I needed for £3.84, when most copies were £20+. The downside is that the estimated delivery date is the day before my assignment is due. In theory it has already been dispatched from within the UK, no idea why this means it will be a month before I get it. Are they perhaps sending it by a particularly circuitous route? Are they employing super-slow carrier pigeons? Time will tell. The book has 250 or so pages. I will have twenty four hours to read it – good job I can speed read. Whilst looking for a copy of this book I got one of those ‘you may be interested in this’, emails. I always give a wry smile when these recommendations are my own books. In this case it was a series of manuscript volumes, which did indeed sound interesting but were priced at £128,068.55. Might give that a miss.

I am desperately trying to work out how best to be in Ireland in March for a week of real life experimental archaeology fun. We had a month long trip to Ireland planned for May 2020. No prizes for guessing why that didn’t happen. I don’t have a whole month free in March and anyway I am not convinced that March is the best time of year to explore Ireland. Options are being considered. Do we go twice, taking the caravan, which will give me somewhere to stay, albeit a bit further from the university than is ideal? Do I fly out on my own in March just for the week? Not sure ‘on my own’ appeals. It may depend on whether or not caravan sites are going to be open that early in the year.

I also need to say that this wonderful course that I am doing is now accepting applications for the next academic year. It really is great fun and the assessment side is comparatively ‘gentle’. Although archaeology conjours up visions of ancient civilizations and there is an element of that, there are opportunities to look at more recent manifestations of material culture (that’s ‘things’ to you and me). All my family historian friends out there, do take a look. I’m enjoying this course so much. You can really begin to understand about the homes your ancestors lived in, the boats that they sailed, the clothes that they wore and the artefacts that they made or owned. It is all online and open to students across the world. Even better, if you are looking for a face-to-face university course, or know any young people who are keen on studying the past, there are in-person undergraduate and post-graduate opportunities available in the same department. If I had the wherewithal to spend a year in Ireland, I’d be up for that. Sadly, this wasn’t an option when I was looking for undergraduate university courses.