Reading

That was loud...

...really loud. We already heard the noise during the daily TV crime thriller, but thought that our neighbour did celebrate with family and deceased father- son had taken the urn to his property and pours beer over the place he has buried it at each feast he throws. At ten it was quiet in neighbours garden, but the ruckus carried on, with neighbour's son, barely six but equipped with a voice that could shatter glass, howling from a street farther away. I went to bed at eleven- noise still on. I woke at one- still children out and about. Finally, at three in the morning, I had enough and got up. The noisy children were in bed then, but Beyoncee was still awake and roaring. I think it was a street party gone out of control. Drunk people were singing, so I poured me a glass of wine and watched the moon. Strange, but I cannot take no needle-sharp photos anymore with my mobile. Had been able to do so, but some setup must have (been) changed. No shooting stars to be seen, again too much light. At least the music got turned out at four in the morning, and after someone had smashed a lot of glasses the party was finally over. Needless to say that hubby and I slept a tad longer. Almost too long, because when hubby had a look at his mobile after breakfast, he realised that a friend had sent him a ticket for today's Mozart matinee at eleven. He was off in a hurry and I was back to bed, reading a bit and trying to find that reel which showed how to do a two-coloured ribbon. Had melon and ham for lunch and spent my time between darning in and swimming. The second sleeve of the cardigan is still not sewn on, but the summer sweater is finished- finally.
Weather was far from hot with too many clouds for my liking. I closed the outdoor curtains against the annoying wind- I am very good at feeling cold despite 28 degrees!
Hubby came back at seven, swiftly hurrying to the TV- he had almost missed the local news. Since then he is trying to organise the programme for the next days. Wants to bring Oscar and Xaver in for swimming (both hate it), Wednesday he will take them to the amusement park together with number four- I am off with daughter this day. Thursday family three will arrive. Early shift transport for me on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Don't like it! At the moment hubby is discussing menue plans- both boys and family number thtee are very picky concerning food. My guess is chicken thighs and palatschinken and chicken again...

Definitely no heat wave

Going to bed early to catch up on sleep meant that I was out of bed earlier than usual. Weather was fine but too cool for breakfast on the terrace. I finally got acquainted with hubby's plans for this week: get Oscar and Xaver for pool fun on Tuesday, pick number four up from the train station the same day, next day fun park (without me), Thursday fun with family number one sans Konrad and his mum, number three and family arriving in the evening. Friday is a church holiday here, so no big plans, because all shops will be closed and most attractions overrun with tourists. Besides, number three and spouse will dine outside while we will have to watch their offspring. Saturday DiL 3 and I will tour the shops for Elsa's school cone, since son has not yet decided upon which one his daughter might like. I am heavily tempted to book a holiday on a Greek island, beginning with tomorrow.
I was cleaning and darning in and cleaning again all morning. Daughter's godmother called and told me if she'd be allowed to come for a coffee and a talk. Of course, she is- I have seen her only twice the last weeks, talking to her when I passed by her house in the car, Cassian and Flavius on the back seat. We did not have much of a conversation, besides, I had probably run out of patience for that day, and godmother is a talker, beware! Only then hubby remembered that he was supposed to tell me that she had not been well, had been in hospital even for eye surgery. That was when I had been in London. What the hell- oh, that man! What he does not write up will be out of his brain in the blink of an eye! Godmother and I had a nice time with coffee and cake, talked a lot, and now I know all the gossip I missed, like that neighbour´s next cat got killed by a car and that her Australian shepherd had to be put down at the age of eight. Those overbred breeds cost a lot but are so very prone to cancer, had to experience it firsthand with our hovawart, who lived exactly ten years and not a day longer.
By early evening I accompanied hubby to number three´s house. First, we were chasing the cats in to feed them, take some pictures of them for Cassian and Flavius then lock them up. Second, we were harvesting elderberries and blackberries. More stewed elderberries, more jam. The pool did not get used much today- no cooling down needed when it´s 26 degrees only. Besides, the wind was so strong that the weight hubby attached to the outdoor curtain almost broke my teeth when it took off. Now the day is almost over and I am severely tempted to go to bed early again- there´s no better sleep than the one before midnight! I even missed hubby winding down the shutters, which is loud, very loud indeed!

Current Mood: blank

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crazy mom

[crazy mom freaking GOLDMINE]

For some reason I get this post on my Facebook.

Baby died after a home birth in a birthing pool-without a midwife.If you know me you know how I feel about this. The mom went to the doctor ONCE when she was pregnant(which tracks.)

It was preventable(no shit it was) but it gets more batshit.The mom went to bed after she had the baby before she had delivered the placenta(gross,I’m sorry but it’s part of the story.) if you know anything about having babies you know that’s important .

The baby died(from among other things) meconium aspiration and neonatal pneumonia. The water in the tub was only changed once.

However.. the comments were what I hoped to see.

Delivering the placenta is important
(Yes it is. Won’t get into the specifics but yes.)

Lack of medical common sense
(Yep. I get that people have had bad experiences but..are you REALLY willing to take that chance?With the life of yourself and your child? SMGDH)

Have at least one medically trained support person there during the birth.
(At the very least and I am not a fan of the idea of home birth.To each their own.)

Those who freebirth forego health care

And

New age hippy stuff.

(Can smell the patchouli from here.)

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daily: check in

WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 11 -- Monday

Hello on Monday! How's the day going so far for fic? (If you haven't gotten started on your day as yet, how did yesterday go for writing fic?)

- Excellent!
- Terrible
- Somewhere in between
- Nothing doing

How much time have you spent on writing fic today, roughly?

- None
- 30 minutes or less
- 30-60 minutes
- 60-90 minutes
- More than 90 minutes

In five words or less, how do you feel about that?

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music,
youtube

Billy and Alan (RIP)

Watch on YouTube

More music from my post-punk past.

One either likes Billy's voice or not. Dundee lad (Scotland, not Minnesota).

-

Current Mood: blank

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politics

[John Leguizamo got it just so]

Dea Cain is working for ICE apparently. Hmm. I did NOT know that he was a celebrity R*p*b*i*a*. There are more of them than you think(Kevin Sorbo comes right to mind.He is ridiculous).John Leguizamo said Dean Cain’s pronouns were has/been.I loled at that. Because it’s true.

Others are surprising-like In was surprised when I found out about Roseanne Barr.And Victoria Jackson(found out about her going over to the dark side(complaining that a movie she took her daughter to see was inappropriate . Well.. a) She should have done her due dilligence and b) I am getting a controlling her daughter vibe(nothing that would “corrupt” her.,you know. That’s a common thing for conservatie Christians(which she is..both.)

Speaking of SNL album Rob Scheinder is the male Victoria Jackson.He hes some *exteme* views. He was doing ads for a rent a center type place but then all of a sudden he was gone.

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daily: check in

WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 10 -- Sunday

Hello on Sunday! What kind of a writing day has it been so far today -- or if today hasn't gotten going yet, how did you fare yesterday?

- I thought about my fic once or twice
- I wrote
- I did some planning and/or outlining
- I did research and/or canon review
- I edited
- I've sent my fic off to my beta
- I posted today!
- I'm taking a break
- I did something else that I'll talk about in a comment

Sunday Discussion: It's a new writing week, and we're still less than half way through August. How are you doing so far with meeting writing goals for the month?

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fret

inching my way forward

Eek! I'm in one of my 'but what can my fingers do on this keyboard?' moods.

I woke at 1 a.m. and couldn't get to sleep for an hour. Why? I was fixated on a letter that I shuld hace written six months ago.

Finally finally finally today I wrote up notes for it. I think I can write it up pretty easily now -- if only I can figure out an opening paragraph! Perhaps "I am not going to start this letter by telling you how it is many months late -- oops!"

Yeah, that might do. :-)

-

Too late...

...for star gazing: I woke at four thirty and went down onto the terrace. Temperatures were acceptable- down to 17, we almost always make it under 20 here, no matter how hot the day is. Alas, it was already too light. Typical, now that all clouds were gone and the moon down. I think I will set an alarm for three thirty this night. I sat for a while then gave up and went inside for a tour de loo, where I had some traumatic experience. I thought I'd see something black on tje left, no, surely must have erred. Black back, off again. So I watched more intently- it was a spider wandering on the loo roll as if it were a hamster wheel. Spider did not survive the excursion. There's too many of those I found lately! Hate that!
I overslept a bit, got up at eight straight and took the breakfast hubby had prepared out onto the terrace. Saturday breakfasts on the terrace are the best: less traffic on the streets, but what´s most important- no idiot neighbours wreaking havoc, they are bracing their energy for tomorro, when most people will want to sleep in. Not much got done during morning. Hubby and I left after showering in search of a school cone for Elsa. Found none she would have liked. Took some photos we sent to number three. Until now no reaction, so the school cone must no be that important!
This day was also a nice day for making good use of the pool- 32 degrees, not a single cloud, enough wind to not even feel the so-called heatwave. I had an enounter with a dragonfly, which followed me around for a while. Dragonflies seem to love me! We had cold tuna noodles for lunch, which was once a favourite dish of our offspring. Back to simple food, just as we had when working, not those elaborate recipes husband mine is searching for! I took my knitting out and finished both sleeves, even attached one to the body. Two third of the darning in is done now. Tomorrow, when hubby is off, I will hopefully finish the cardigan. It did not turn out as pretty as I had wanted, but it cannot be helped. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are left for darning in the sweater and do last-minut preparations for the oncoming family invasion. When cleaning the kitchen my fingers hurt, I must have overdone it with knitting. Happens more often now that I am getting old. Really old. Another thing I hate...

Current Mood: chipper

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rtbtcki

[RTBTCKI:Beatles..Bowie..Batch cooking]

*Got a good report from the doctor! Diabetes is under control!

*As of today 12 days until we fly out to Amsterdam!

*South Park is going HARD and I love it.

*After Meals On Wheels the other day my mom,nephew, dad and I tried a new restaurant-the Taco Stand. Had to wait a while for our food but it was worth it.

*Been listening to a lot of Beatles and a lot of David Bowie.. Therefore the subject line !

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Helpful link for people new to exchanges

First, a PSA for people who keep letting things slide until the last minute/sometimes too late: you only have until Wednesday to sign up as a creator the sunflower_auction! I finally did it.

Secondly, the main point of this entry! I want to share sunsalute's post for people just starting out with exchanges, with is information that I sure could have used that when I trying to figure things out. Here's the table of content, because Sun is cool like that:

Contacting Mods

Signups and DNWs

Posting and Fulfilling Assignments

Chatter and Discord

Unintuitive Systems Everyone Seems To Know How To Use Already (AO3 & DW)

Further Reading & Thanks

There's a little bit on the technical aspects, but mainly the post focuses on etiquette and things that are not necessarily spelled out. It's a great post!

Link: Help I'm New To Fandom And Need To Get A Good Grade by sunsalute.

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dreams

dream

Last night I dreamed that I went back to 'the office' and poked around. There was no one in the office. The file drawers were gone, and the wooden bookcase, and there were only a few student files.

This isn't, in itself, an interesting dream, but I puzzled over it this morning. Where did I get that set-up? It didn't look any office I've worked in. Why did I note the absence of a wooden bookcase attached to the wall at eye-level? Where did that come from?

Suddenly I remembered: it was from the single room at "Mel's" I lived in for three years! A tiny single room. Wooden desk, wooden bookcase at eye-level. I have some black and white photos of this room --- I ran across them a few months ago.

I remember the first time I saw the room I burst into tears, it was so small. One I was set in it felt cozy.

This was when I was working full-time in Econ, taking three years to complete my 'senior year.' I took one class a quarter, paid for by Regents Scholarships.

-

I thought...

...that if I´d change my sleeping pattern by going to bed the moment I felt tired, getting up early would not involve being tired and lazy all day long. Only that I did not get tired in front of the TV last evening and went to bed at ten, as usual, knowing that I'd have to be out of bed at three. Once in bed I noticed that the roof of our house served as a dance floor for cats or martens again. The ruckus did not take long, and I fell asleep until one in the morning, when the noise started anew. I met daughter outside her room- it was even worse in there, sounded as if those creatures were trying to get into the house by digging through the roof. At two thirty I finally gave up and got out of bed- the newspaper deliverer had just shot a flower pot on the table outside the kitchen window. Hubby will complain on Monday, he said. But he did inspect the attic in the morning- blessedly no signs that the critters had made in into the house.
The rest of the day was uneventful. The house was clean, needed only a bit of vacuuming. Kitchen will get a cleansing tomorrow, today I did a tour to DM for shower gel and hand cream- it´s cheapest there, and their own brand has best reviews. Meanwhile hubby let the robot run another tour in the pool then took his bike and was off to the bakery for bread. No cooking, there were still burger patties left in the fridge. After a short after-lunch nap I took Elsa's cardigan to the terrace and continued darning the threads in. Oh dear, that work will never end! And that's only the cardigan, but there's also a summer top to darn in! Apropos summer: we were up to 32 degrees today- I was ecstatic, even made use of the pool. Into the water, to the other end and back out. 22 is not enough to be inviting. For a bladder infection, maybe, but who would want one of those!
Hubby did not bring out the sunbed, it's still in the attic of the garage, and I definitely did not intend to climb up the ladder to get it. I stacked the chairs and dragged off the outdoor table to make room for the sofa- another attempt at watching shooting stars. And marvel at the full moon, which will most likely outshine the shooting stars. And a glass of wine (or two) to get back into summer feeling, short as it will be. First time I will gaze through the glass paneels of the canopy, no spiders dangling up and down from the balcony above- they seem to hate the glass but are found almost everywhere now, a sure sign that autumn is on its way!

Current Mood: calm

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what do you meme?

[teh quirkiness]

1)What is one food/meal you used to hate but now love? Refried beans.

2)If you had to give up one of your favourite foods what would it be and why?Cheesebugers.

3)What food seems like it should be healthy and isn’t and do you eat it?why?

4)If you were an item of food personified what would you be and why?Marshmallows. I’m sweet and fluffy.

5)You’ve seen tomatoes and pies used for this purpose.Now think of a more inventive item of food one could throw at someone .What is it and why would it be hilarious?Fudging this one a bit but spray whipped cream. It would get REALLY messy really fast!

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daily: check in

WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 8 -- Friday

Hello on Friday! Looking back at the day today -- or yesterday, if today hasn't gotten going yet -- how did it go?

- I thought about my fic once or twice
- I wrote
- I did some planning and/or research
- I edited
- I've sent my fic off to my beta
- I posted today!
- I'm taking a break
- I did something else that I'll talk about in a comment

Looking forward, how are you planning to spend your weekend?

- I'm going to make up for not writing all week by having a writing marathon
- I'm going to keep writing at my current rate and see how it goes
- I have other plans, but I might have time to get some writing in
- I'm going to take a break from writing

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photos

ahh

Not too bad a day today ... perhaps due to a genealogical project taking up some of the
'at loose ends' time before dinner.

Here is one of my favorite photographs. I posted it once before but... again:

It's the East Tunnel on Going to the Sun Road, Glacier NP, in the 60s.

-

I love...

...Inspector Lewis. The series, of course. It´s on TV every Wednesday at the moment. Yesterday evening I put pretzelsticks and my daily vitamin cocktail on the coffee table, searched for my cosy blanket (it´s too cool inside the house, hopefully not for long) and started watching. I woke exactly ten minutes before the episode ended. Blimey! Of course, sleep did elude me when I went to bed. But I woke at six thirty once again. Five weeks of having to get up at that time have definitely conditioned me. Blimey again!
The pool got readied for use by husband this morning. Even the robot did his job. What´s lacking is the candidate who wants to risk a pissed bladder. At the moment the water is 20 degrees- on the surface. Deeper down it´s even colder. So we waited, and hoped, and waited some more, but temperatures outside went up very slowly, reaching 22 degrees at midday only. After we had had burgers for lunch, both hubby and I decided to do a nap. But at two exactly two of the neighbours packed out their lawn mower. Five minutes later hubby joined them. Now the smell of freshly cut grass is nice, but a nap would have been even nicer. Not a chance with all that noise!
Later in the afternoon our mobiles started buzzing- husband's darn sibling group I joined an aeon ago and have not left yet. Who will bring what for the meeting they wanted to know. Hubby will be off to meet his siblings and their wifes and husbands on Sunday. I won´t join him, those Jehova´s Witnesses have overstepped their mark, when they showed up at my mum´s house regularly to make her join their religious community- and I mean those relatives of hubby in person, not other emissaries! Mum did tell me too late, or I would have given them a piece of my mind earlier. So Sunday might be a perfect day for me- warm weather, pool useable, no cooking... now let´s see who feels the need for coming for a visit! There aren´t many candidates left! Oh, I forgot about family number one not going to South Tyrol for holiday- DiL1 cancelled, she thinks Konrad is too young for the altitude, the pediatrician told her so. First- it was she who did chose the vacation spot, second- the pediatricion knows nothing of it, so son says. If the family sans mum and Konrad will show up on Sunday it won't be a big affair. Son number one is uncomplicated, the boys placid. Then there´s number five. She hasn´t sent me the complete list of her early shifts yet. But that girl is fun and very useful- I can put her in front of the jigsaw of horror and she will find pieces, while I haven´t found any for days now.
She´ll be here this evening and tell me what´s up the next days. Maybe I will put the sunbed up on the terrace or sit on the couch, and we can watch shooting stars- usually we are up earlier than needed...

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dreamwidth: community thursdays

Community Thursday

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: creative

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cruise critic

[This could be interesting..Cruise Critic keeps giving ridiculous]

HAL is potentially buying a new ship. This brings out all of the people who have opinions on the matter.

Someone heard from a crew member that HAL is buying another ship.Not building.

IOW there is a chance that they could buy another cruise ship’s sloppy seconds(or thirds or..) One of the possibilities is already 21 years old, with all of the problems that come with it. HAL has also sold some of their ships and people who have sailed them had something to say about it and non of it was positive.

Really, rumours like this are just a game of telephone.Someone commented that they would believe it when they saw it.That totally tracks. There is a small but obnoxious sub set who want HAL to buy more small ships that can get to places other,larger ships can’t. I would never go on those smaller ships(which are all over 20 years old again, with all of the issues that come with that.)

So Queen Anne, Cunard’s newest ship has been getting mixed reviews .It is VERY remniniscent of when the newer ships(Rotterdam,Nieuw Statendam and Koningsdam) were in the planning stages .”too big” was the most common comment .) There were comments from people that HADN’T EVEN CRUISED ON THEM YET and when they did, they went into it with a negative opinion and they did not enjoy it. I am SMGDH when I see people saying that the 3 newer ships are “too big”.(or as Portly Princess put it, such a big ship that you need to pack a snack to get from one end of the ship to the other. That is such a loaded comment it’s not even funny.) I get so annoyed by the comments about “behemoths”. Is it because they’re so big or because they’re NOT a HAL ship(a bit of both IMO.) .To each her/his own.

Queen Anne has been called “not Cunard”. Well..OK. Yes, we know that Cunard is a whole other level..it is a TRUE luxury cruise line.With REAL formal nights. Which,if you like that sort of thing is great..but I see a lot(enough that it is concerning) people wishing that HAL was more like Cunard. Here’s the thing: HAL WAS like Cunard..years and years ago.HAL has moved on. Cunard hasn’t..they have loosened the dress codes onboard but not but much.

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daily: check in

WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 7 -- Thursday

Hello on Thursday! (Sorry for missing yesterday!) How are things going in the world of fic?

Did you write?

- Yes!
- No!
- Not yet!

If yes, what kind of writerly activity did you engage in? How do you feel about it?
If no, what were the obstacles/situations that affected your writerly pursuits? What will you do differently tomorrow to get more writing done?
If not yet, because the day hasn't gotten going yet, what kind of writing activity are you planning (or hoping) to accomplish?