Travelling Time and Space

Ready, packed - go !

Today we're leaving for our christmas trip. Time certainly has zapped by once again and now we're here, waiting for Tim to come home from work and for a Jacksonville freecycler to pick up some of our old babystuff and then we're off to the airport to catch a flight.

The hours between 9pm tonight and 5pm tomorrow are going to be some sort of pre-hell. We'll be stuck in small seats in a rather small airplain ... Yes ? So it sits more than 200 people. So what ? Ever tried sitting a rambunctious toddler for more than what it takes to eat dinner or lunch ? *G* Let alone 10h worth of flying ? Trust me, any kind of airplain is definitely too small for any toddler. More when we're back ;)

Oh, just in case you haven't heard of freecycling yet : basically it's a local mailinglist for people who like the concept of "One's trash is another's treasure". You have something you want to get rid of and since you are a nice person you are not thinking ebay or fleamarket or garage sale but are looking to giving it away for free without having to drive over to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. So you post an "offer" to the list and soon people interested in your stuff will email you, sometimes telling you why they want it. 24 hours later - to prevent the first come, first served habit for internet junkies - you pick somebody and let the list know it's "spoken for". Best case scenario is your stuff gets picked up on the arranged time and day and both you and the other freecycler are happy. That's when you let folks on the list know that the item was "taken". Sometimes, the pick-up gets delayed or emails start bouncing but in general it's a fun thing to do.

Anyways, if you like getting stuff for free and giving away things you don't use anymore for free then you should check it out - there might be a group for your area or town as well !

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !

Not that I'd have expected any; after all, if I'm going to the dentist I know for sure there's something that needs some serious fixing.

In this case it's some serious serious fixing and after hearing the first cost estimates I'll look into getting it fixed at home where I have a somewhat better dental insurance :) That'll save us some money even though it means some travelling. Sad, eh ?

Other than that not much else is new. One kitty is off to her new home and it seems that Holly is enjoying the new attention paid solely to her without her having to share it with her two brothers. Tomorrow, "Speck" is going to leave is to his new home and I'm really happy about finding D. and her daughter. And then there is Mr Whiskers ... Blob, the little tuxedo-kitty with the blck blob on his white nose, my favorite ... still needs a home. I might have one if she gets back to me but it's going to be difficult for me to give him away no matter how much I like his new home. He's just this sweet charming little fellow who loves to cozy up to you. He is curious in a matter-of-fact-ly kind of way, the first to leave the nest and the first to discover the joy of five-fingered hands scritching a soft furry belly.

Bah !

On the other hand, one cat is enough and I'd feel bad about kicking out Boots. Afterall, she choose us and we choose to let her into our life. She's a good cat, very patient with Finn and so gentle even when he is toddler-handling her. And she has learned to use the litterbox :) What more can you aks for ?

Hmm, well, it'd be cool if she took care of her own litterbox ... *wrinklenose* ... but that ain't gonna happen.

Off to the dentist *sigh* I'm a whimp, scared shitless [ for that it only takes me to enter a dentistry :( ] and prolly won't feel like writing anything later.

Wish me luck !

4 more days and we are leaving for germany. I cn't believe time is zapping by so fast again and there is still so much to do before we leave :)

Today we managed to get our family pictures taken. After the long wait and Finn's crankiness putting the photoshoot to a very abrupt end we decided to give it another try this morning with an awake and not-cranky Finn and - voila ! - family pictures ! Instant gratification too since we got to take them home right away. You've got to love digital photography :)

I managed to get the paperwork for our new apartmen dropped off nd discovered that our new landlady is a collector of precious gems of historical houses. Every single house she owns and has graciously invited us in is beautifully restored and a feast to eye and soul. She and her husband own the "Heritage Bed & Breakfast" in Springfield and it's just gorgeous !

Check it out here http://www.theheritagebb.com/...

After that Finn and I finished some shopping, returned books at the library and finally returned home to feed Finn and kittens. Right after Finn was tucked into bed Thalia and Boris stopped by to pick up their little kitty-girl to take her home. "Holly', our little blackfaced derwish, is now at her new home and we're one kitty closer to the maximum cat-level of 1. Two more to go !

Isn't it funny ? A little more than a month to go and now we're starting to meet our neighbours. Well, I do, that is :) Tim is a tad more reclusive.

I don't think I have met and talked to as many neighbours in our building all year like I did the past two days. Odd, eh ?

Tomorrow we're going to drop off the paperwork for the new apartment and then it's all about getting ready for christmas and our trip to germany ! I still have to finish christmas shopping and we still have to have family pictures taken.

Lots to do !

I couldn't resist :) I HAD to use a HGTV House Hunter quote.

Our soon-to-be landlady called back today to confirm that she wants us as tennants for this absolutely incredible apartment. Wheeee ! This is so wonderful ! We are going to have room, room, room, room !

Room to spread out.
Room to play.
Room to dream.
Room to laugh.
Room to love.
Room to share.
Room to host.
Room to learn.
Room to breathe.

So much room that having our parents and friends staying over at our place is going to be fun instead of stress :)

*G* And plenty of room because we don't have enough furniture *giggle*

We looked at the coolest place of all Jacksonville today, and I think we might end up renting it *L*

It's a leeeeettle more than we had budgeted for it but both Tim and I are sure we can nudge around some numbers and make ends meet -and- live at the coolest place *G* Of course, that might only be because we're still pretty hyped up about it after looking at it. It's the upstairs of a historic duplex in Springfield with a huge porch towards the front of the house. The small porch to the back is enclosed and holds the washer and dryer which is typical for houses in this area.
The apartment itself is just grand; a magnificent 1800 squarefeet with lots of windows to let in lots of light. It has wonderful hardwoodfloors and moulding details and 2 fireplaces with great mantles. The room I thought was the awesome livingroom turned out to be one of the bedrooms. Right - big, spacious and just mindblowingly pretty. All the bedrooms are big with spacious closets. The livingroom is just huge. Between it and the spcious kitchen is a Butler's pantry with a buffet and a built-in closet to store stuff, and, and, and ... Oh, I forgot the bathroom. Just one, but this one has a clawfoot-bathtub *G*

Tomorrow if the big day : the kick-off day for the norse garb workshop I'm going to run for my group here in Castlemere. It's going to start with an introductory class on norse fashion for men and women. We'll talk about layers, fabrics, colors and dress accessories and take a look at fabric swatches. After the intro-class and probably some shopping we are going to tackle layer after layer of clothing each A&S Night.

To give you an idea of the projects included in this workshop here's my
first draft of 'schedule' for it :

- introductory class "The Snappy Norse Fashion Show"
- workshop 1 "Underwear"
- workshop 2 "Overtunic"
- workshop 3 "Hosen and Hangerok"
- workshop 4 "Feeling fancy - dress decoration"
tabletwoven trim, fingerloopbraiding, embroidery for
overtunic and hangerok
- workshop 5 "Cold feet yet ?"
shoes for Jane Doe-sdottir and John Doe-sson
- workshop 6 "Helmethair"
headdress and hairstyle for men and women
- workshop 7 "cloak"
- workshop 8 "More cold feet"
socks and mittens
- workshop 9 "Looking really fancy"
viking jewelry : wireknitting, wirebraiding, metal
embossing, casting,
soapstone/bone/antler carving, beading
- workshop 10"Miscellanious" - unless we're already fed up with everything
norse *G*leatherpouch, leatherbelt, combs, etc.

Insane ? Me ? *eyes list* Yeah, kinda, I guess ;)

Stop telling God how big your storm is.
Instead tell your storm how big your GOD is.
In Phoenix, Arizona, a 26-year-old mother stared
down at her 6 year old son, who was dying of
terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled
with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of
determination. Like any parent, she wanted her
son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now
that was no longer possible.
The leukemia would see to that. But she still
wanted her son's dreams to come true. She took
her son's hand and asked, "Billy, did you ever
think about what you wanted to be once you grew
up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do
with your life?"
Mommy, "I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."
Mom smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can
make your wish come true."


Later that day she went to her local fire
department in Phoenix, Arizona, where she met
Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix.
She explained her son's final wish and asked if
it might be possible to give her six-year-old son
a ride around the block on a fire engine.



Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than
that. If you'll have your son ready at seven
o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an
honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come
down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on
all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if
you'll give us! his sizes, we'll get a real fire
uniform for him, with a real fire hat-not a toy
one-with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire
Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear
and rubber boots. They're all manufactured right
here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast."


Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy,
dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted him
from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and
ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the
truck and help steer it back to the fire station.
He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in
Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all
three calls. He rode in the different fire
engines, the paramedic's van, and even the fire chief's car.



He was also videotaped for the local news
program.. Having his dream come true, with all the
love and attention that was lavished upon him, so
deeply touched Billy that he lived three months
longer than any doctor thought possible.



One night all of his vital signs began to drop
dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in
the hospice concept that no one should die alone,
began to call the family members to the hospital.
Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a
fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked
if it would be possible to send a fireman in
uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he
made his transition. The chief replied, "We can
do better than that. We'll be there in five
minutes. Will you please do me a favor?


When you hear the sirens screaming and see the
lights flashing, will you announce over the PA
system that there is not a fire? It's just the
fire department coming to see one of its finest
members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?


About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck
arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder
up to Billy's third floor open window
16 firefighters climbed up the ladder into
Billy's room. With his mother's permission, they
hugged him and held him and told him how much
they loved him. With his dying breath, Billy
looked up at the fire chief and said, "Chief, am
I really a fireman now?" "Billy, you are, and the
Head Chief, God, is holding your hand," the
chief said.
With those words, Billy smiled and said, "I know,
He's been holding my hand all day, and the angels
have been singing.." He closed his eyes one last time.

So the scribal bug got me again for good. It usually comes and goes in waves and so there are times when I can't stand the sight of ink and paint and paper and then there are other times when I can whip out scroll after scroll, drawing after drawing and would love to bathe in paint :)

Anyhow, the result of the scribal bug bite last night was me finishing the line drawings for 9 Cutlasses and Corsair competition scrolls - yay me ! Tonight I'll sit down and start with the calligraphy and the inking and see how much I can get down before I have to crash because I'm too tired to see straight.

That's it for today. If you are into checking out a few fun links lookit here :

www.freecycle.org
in case you want to get rid of your clutter - "one's trash is another's treasure"

www.bookcrossing.com
let your books loose and see what they're up to when you're not looking ;)

Tata !

Jacksonville has a few 'old' quarters with beautiful traditional Floridahouse, some of which are a good 100 years old or even older. They have gorgeous porches that either wrap around the house or frame front and back. They have lots of interesting wood details, carvings and corbels, wainscoating and trim and molding and the spacious layout of houses that were built to host a bigger family than todays single-moms or single-dads and the odd couple with a single child.

After checking out the apartmenthouse that's undergoing serious renovation and might be ready to move in come february we came across an "Open House" painted a soft Florida yellow with white accents with a huge picturesque porch to the front. The inside held more wonders. What a house ! 5 bedrooms, a huge kitchen, a livingroom, a diningroom, a sunroom, a gigantic masterbedroom with its own sunroom, 3 full baths and a fully usable attic. Both dining and livingroom had wonderfully imposing stone fireplaces. Just our kind of place albeit a bit out of our pricerange :)

But oh so nice !

Anyhow, for now our moving plans are on hold since we don't want to tie ourselves down for 12 months fix by signing the lease for the house. We are considering the Springfield apartment depending on when it's ready to move in since we'd be able to sign a lease that's a lot shorter allowing for much greater flexibility :) I'll keep you uptodate.

The Springfield apartment is actually a sort of compromise between our current apartment and the house we'd like to rent. It's bigger, has 3 bedrooms and a slightly bigger kitchen than our current one, but the livingroom is a bit smaller. It has two big porches, one to the front and one to the back. AND it's on the second floor so there won't be elephants living upstairs. I think we could make it work nicely :) but so far we haven't decided on anything yet.

More tomorrow !

Good thing it's no longer the prohibition :)

For two A&S Nights Lady Tamara has been teaching how to make cordials and provided us with two very tasty recipes for a scotch-cream cordial called "Scottish Cream" and a vodka-cherry-rosewater cordial based on a recipe from Lady Giuseppina de'Materesi from the Kingdom of Atlantia.

That is by the way the Kingdom my Master hails from originally and - coincidence, coincidence - he was laurelled for his knowledge and skills in brewing.

Up until yesterday I enjoyed and was intrigued more by the tasting part of brewing and making cordials. Then I caught the 'bug'.

I cook, therefore I know kind of how to mess with the taste of things :) so tonight I made up two concoctions all by myself and with no further ado tossed together what I think tastes good, infused it with alcohol and - voila ! - cordial ! *G* Both have the acidy 'crispyness' of freshly brewed beverages to them but they are drinkable and actually tasty. I'll let them sit in the pantry for a while and hopefully their taste will mellow and mature :) That at least is the idea.

Anyhow, cordial no. 1 which so far is nameless I used 2 cans of cherries [canned since we're out of season], a small jar of cherry preserve, 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of water, 2 cinnamon sticks and a teaspoon of ginger and let the mixture simmer on the stove for about 5 minutes. Then I mixed the lukewarm fruits and spice brew with half a bottle of vodka and now it's waiting to cool down to be filled into bottles and to bestashed away. It's very yummy despite the 'sharp' taste of the vodka :)

Cordial no. 2 , without a name as well, was mixed together from a cup of honey, a piece of real vanilla, 1 1/2 cups of chocolate syrup, 1 cup of Sherry medium-dry and 1/2 cup of sugar and - after bringing the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes and some cooling down - I mixed the lukewarm chocolate-honey-soup with the other hald of the bottle of vodka :)

Yum !