14 seconds

L came up with this fact for me today: in Britain, an ambulance is called to someone suffering the effects of alcohol every 14 seconds. Between my training and now the FME work, I think I've seen at least half of them. I realise that's not remotely possible, but trust me, it feels like it. 

Our allotment has tiny pumpkins. You could wear one as a very small hat, or perhaps carry one around in each hand if you wanted to look festive? I suppose you might, if you had very small hands, try to carve one, which is exactly what Sherlock wants to do, even though Reg has promised him one of his, which are a more reasonable size. (Obviously, he wants to carve that one, too. I think his end goal is to fill the flat with orange, staring faces so that one night, when one of us comes home late, there will be some sort of Pumpkin Incident.) 

Mycroft is on an overnight trip with his astronomy group and so will be a day late coming home for half term - but then we've got him all week, which we're all looking forward to. We might try some more museum roulette. Mycroft said his friend had improved the app and added a few more museums. Should be a good time. I have no idea how this year is going so fast though. Currently trying not to think about it. 

butterflies and helium

Today, we went to see butterflies. It seemed like they were everywhere. They landed on your hair, he landed on your arm, and one landed on L's nose. I wish I had a picture of that one. We do have pictures of a lot of them, although none with the boys in them can be posted here, of course. And I don't have them to post because I haven't got them off the camera and...I'm too lazy to do it right now.

Sherlock was desperate for more land on him, but he was his usual self, a little manic ball of energy, always moving. It didn't encourage anyone to get too close, including butterflies. He did get a few, but Mycroft got more simply by standing still. I think he had five on him at one point.

The whole experience was so incredibly strange. Something about interacting with wild things that aren't afraid of us. I had a bird land in my palm once, and it felt like that.

Also, here is this...thing. L found it. It's pretty amazing.

artistic and other sorts of doom

I talked to Mrs N today about the possible painting class. She said they might start it as soon as March, and that Lestrade was so very kind to have volunteered to help out... I told her I wasn't sure how often he'd actually be able to do it since he's usually at work at that time...and she said she was sure I could fill in for him when he couldn't make it. She's tricky. You've got to watch her all the time or, apparently, you end up covered in small painty fingerprints.

I skipped krav maga yesterday to go with L to visit his mum (which was good, I think, in that she seems more or less resigned to my existence now?) so I went today. The instructor likes to demonstrate on me because, he says, it's important not to rely too much on body mass. Which I think is perilously close to a short joke, though I won't call him on it, because he's a bit terrifying. So I'm once again lightly bruised in various places, but it feels good to work my body that hard. It's a good class.

There are two upcoming FME courses, one in Birmingham and one in Manchester. One's quite soon, starts the 11th I believe, and the other's in early March. Lestrade, any preferences? 

caput mortuum

Hi this is Sherlock and today I learned that there used to be a colour of paint that was made from ground up Egyptian mummies, it was called caput mortuum or mummy brown or some other things but those two make the most sense. We had a man come to our school today to talk to us about painting and they might do an extra class sometimes that people could sign up for and I think I'd like that but we didn't get to do any today because Mrs N said they didn't have all the things and it was too messy but I think I would take the class if they do it.

The painter's name was Mr Berns with an E, not like fire, and he also restores paintings for a museum but I don't remember which one, and he said there are paints no one uses anymore because they are poisonous or no one can get the things to make them now, and we said like what, and he told us a lot, but mummy brown was the best and when I got home I looked at it on the internet and I found a thing that gives a FAKE MUMMY RECIPE for if you couldn't get real mummies.

Take the carcase of a young man (some say red hair’d) not dying of a Disease but killed; let it lie 24 hours in clear water in the Air: cut the flesh in pieces, to which add Powder of Myrrh and a little Aloes, imbibe it 24 hours in the Spirit of Wine and Turpentine...

I don't see why he should have red hair though or even be young. And also this which is about what the mummies looked like before they were made into a colour.

“They gave noisome smell at all, like pitch, beinge broken; for I broke of all parts of the bodies to see howe the flesh was turned to drugge, and brought home divers heads, hands, arms, and feete for a shewe.”

And John said it sounded a bit disrespectful making dead people into paint but I don't think it's worse than putting them in museums and I think that if I could be a paint when I die that would be all right although only if I got used by a really good painter.