No Mistakes, Only Happy Accidents

Ragna worked her way south where there were a few trees that lined the southern border of the prairie. She'd been hard at work hunting, seeking to stock up on some of her crafting supplies. She'd been so focused on her work that she had realized she was getting burnt until later in the day when she was taking a break. The skin on her back was red and inflamed and she groaned at the aching pain. What a mess. She'd always been a bit lacking in pigment as was evident from her eyes. She really should have known better. At least her husband wasn't here to comment on the matter. She didn't really need his input.

Ragna gingerly extricated herself from her travois then got to work digging around in her bundles. What all had she brought with her? She pulled out a few ceramic bowls and her water skin before digging out a bundle of fresh marigolds. It would take awhile to make an ointment but that was her best idea right now. Marigold ointment was excellent for burns from fire so surely it would work for sun burns as well? She wished she had paid more attention when her mother had gone over how to tend to sun burns. As she'd gotten older she'd simply avoided too much sunlight and it hadn't been a problem. As such she hadn't retained nearly as much information as she wished she had.

Well, if she was going to make an ointment then she needed to get a fire going. Thankfully, she was near a few trees but it was definitely going to be a small fire. That was fine. She didn't need anything big for a little bit of ointment and as hot as the summer sun was she didn't really care to experience much more heat. Ragna first got started digging a fire ring. She worked quickly but also thoroughly, working to get down below the grass and an inch or more down into the dirt. The problem with a hot, dry summer day was the fire risk was greater. At least the day was calm, there was next to no wind to speak of for if she had to deal with heat and wind she probably wouldn't bother with an ointment.

Once the fire ring was dug, Ragna moved to find sticks and twigs to use. She lucked out and found a good sized cotton wood branch that had broken into a few pieces. Gathering everything she needed she soon had a good, little fire going. Now to start getting the ointment made. Ragna moved over to the marigold plants. Setting one of the plants between her front paws she started snipping the flowers off. The flowers were where the healing properties for burns were held. She planned to eventually experiment with the leaves as well but she much preferred to wait for Skæ's lemur to burn himself rather than experiment on her own body. Knowing how gutsy the lemur was it was bound to happen sooner rather than later.

Ragna dug around in her travois, peeking into bundles here and there until she found the one she was looking for. Pulling out a rabbit hide she set it down and unwrapped it to reveal a ceramic bowl. She took the bowl and set it aside. Taking the flowers she added them to the bowl and then she took her deer bone and mashed them until she was satisfied with the results. She then took the last of her lard and mixed it into the mashed up flowers, using the deer bone to stir them til they were well combined. Once that was done she scooted the mixture to the fire to heat up. With a sigh she flopped down to rest while the fire did its job. Every so often she'd get up and take a stick to stir the mixture, just to make sure it was getting mixed well.

A little while later the fat had melted and the healing properties of the marigolds had seeped into the fat. Ragna carefully pulled the concoction away from the fire and left it to cool. Thankfully, Skælingr wouldn't expect her back til evening so she had plenty of time to finish up the ointment and apply it. On top of that her hunting trip had been a great success. Once the ointment cooled Ragna carefully smeared it across her shoulders and her upper back with a fair bit of difficulty. It felt weird in her fur but good against the skin that was chaffing in the dry air. The fat would help form a bit of a seal to keep in moisture. In hind sight she wished she'd added something more to help with the pain but this would due til she got back to her husband.