It’s a little, a very tiny Aladdin’s lamp, and some silk, a small package from the Netherlands…and some customs agent had plastered a label right over the zip code. So it took time getting to Spokane. And then it lay there because the label also had messed up the address.
Two nights ago I had a call from the post office, 8 or 9 pm, asking if we were expecting a package from the Netherlands, and stating they had one that was about to be returned as undeliverable.
Well, it turns out one of our readers works in the post office, saw the names, and pulled the package, which is how I ended up getting the phone call to confirm an address, and how the Christmas package got here after Easter and Mother’s Day!
So we are both surprised and happy to have it!
I’m glad it arrived, after all. I thought Jane might be able to use some of the silk for doll clothes, and that little lamp just shouted at me that it was meant for Wiishu to have adventures with, or maybe just be useful as scene-dressing for M&V.
We were so thrilled—and puzzled — Apparently this package has had adventures!
Pics! We wanna see!
Oh dear, so not only did I delay in getting photos of the clothes she made for my BJD guys, from then and after, but a package to you two went missing for a while. … Poor Hanneke! She is a most patient soul. It is good to know it arrived safely.
Its arrival may be late for Christmas but it seems to me
that such a thoughtful gift from Hanneke has perfect timing for
this weekend’s festivities.
Well, it’s a bit late to be useful for wedding clothes for the resin kids, as I understand Jane was sewing the tux on Monday, but maybe some other time. And bits of plain fabric don’t make for interesting pictures, I expect, and might not be to Jane’s taste at all, which was why I thought that with the very busy lives the ladies lead any mention of it arriving was forgotten (on the lines of “if you can’t say something nice, better say nothing”). I didn’t expect it to get lost for four months!
At least if the wedding card I sent last week arrives for Thanksgiving, Jane and CJ will still have received something from me for their nuptials. 😉
Off Topic. It has been weeks since I have been able to access Shejidan -Commodo still has it completely blocked. I’d appreciate if if someone would let the Guild know.
Not a lot the Shejidan Guild can do. The problem is with Comodo. Find out what they think is wrong with the site, and tell them they’re wrong. Repeatedly. Or, dump Comodo and get a different antimalware solution.
Darn, Pence! Sorry to hear that! I just dropped a note there to tell them you’re still having issues. I can’t originate a topic there, but I can post!
Actually it’s Pence not Spence that’s having issues! (LOL)
At this point in the week, I’ll hesitate and think if you ask me what my own name is!
Mmmm. We have several we like. Hogue Chardonnay and Latah Creek Chardonnay (dry white) and Malbec (a dry red) or Merlot (another spicy red) are not easy come by in other regions. Arbor Crest is another local winery more widely distributed, and Columbia Crest is to the south and west of us.
Aha, thank you. I think it was the Latah Creek that people had talked about recently for the Shejicon. I’m copying this down for reference.
My tastes probably run to a red for general purpose, but if/when I do have wine, it’s usually with a meal rather than by itself or with hors d’Å“uvres. It’d be nice to have something nice on hand and try them.
Latah Creek’s Malbec is a very woody, spicy red. Normally we like Merlot, but this red is right down our alley…
LÃ merci! Malbec sera pour moi. Salut!
Hey, pour works as an English pun. Yeah, guess I’m easily amused.
One drinks wine rarely and one is unfortunately not well educated in wine selection.
There is, however, a bottle of Wild Horse Cabernet Sauvignon chilling in the refrigerator to be enjoyed upon the festive date of Marriage and Formal Association of two esteemed salads.
One shall toast at the appointed hour.
—–
As evidence that one’s linguistic brain has not altogether atrophied, I labelled a box, only to realize midway through that I was writing:
“Caballos y Vaqueros”
Instead of the English:
“Horses and Cowboys”
It has been quite a long time since my brain code-switched without me realizing it, and I haven’t reviewed or been thinking much in Spanish in a while. Maybe it was the Westeran, ah, Association? However, in college, I often found myself switching into French in note taking at random moments, even after both French Lit. semesters.
It was actually very heartening, but surprising. One does want fully conscious control of same. But still, it was nice to know my command of Spanish is still better than I’d thought.
I’ve promised myself to spend a few hours each week on review of French and Spanish, and on pursuit of the languages I’ve been so curious about lately.
Philistine! Whites are best served slightly chilled. Reds are served at room temperature!
If’n it’s just you, and you can’t finish an opened bottle, it’s permissible to store it for a short time in the fridge, but pour it the next day an hour before you intend to drink it and let it warm up. That’s what carafes are for.
Thank you, nand’ Paul, this advice is needed.
Wine is not just a fluid to sluice down food in the mouth. Wine, and different wines, has a variety of volatile aromatics that give it its “nose”. Most people think that’s an important part of the enjoyment of wine.
But for the most part wine ought not be chilled to the ~36-40° refrigerator temperature for another more consequential reason. Wine contains acidic components as well. The vinyard manager and vintner work to get the correct “balance” of the acids which creates a wine’s “mouth feel”. One of those acids is stereochemical tartaric acid, and its potassium salt will crystalize out of the wine at those temperatures, changing the wine markedly. (Sometimes vintners will do this, “cold stabilization”, deliberately; for example, if weather conditions did not allow the grapes to become perfectly ripe, and there are too many “green fruit” acids in the fermented wine.)
I can’t say that if you take the bottle out of the fridge and let it warm up to ambient, in time those crystalized acidic components will or won’t redissolve and the wine will fully recover.
In general, just don’t chill wine! Whites may be served “cooled”, but best not “chilled”. Chilled sparkling wines, like Champagnes, will extend the out-gassing of the carbon dioxide (which itself markedly changes the flavor of the wine), but, well, people aren’t drinking Champagne to enjoy the vintner’s arts. 😉
Apropos of code-switching brains… Since I was a young child, I have always loved Pig Latin and other mock language that play around with syllables and vowels. When I was deep into learning the basics of French in high school, there was a period of months when I could only do Pig Latin in French. I simply couldn’t get my brain to automatically do the consonant-vowel play in English. It never happened with other, “foreign” languages I have learnt, I think because I never got them so immersed in my brain to come to the tongue without conscious, reflective word and grammatical form selection.
What was the wine that CJ, Jane, and others here recommended? It begins with a T, I think, two words, and what variety? If it’s possible to order online, I’d like to put away a couple of bottles for future occasions.
(My local grocery store was remodeling. Next week, I intend to get some tequila and margarita mix. The cabernet sauvignon I got is the only bottle of anything currently in the house, in case I wanted to celebrate with any guests. One wishes to remedy to oversight, for future benefit of guests or oneself. Whatever I get is likely to have plenty of time to age.)
I really like Tempranillos, the typical variety grown in Rioja (Basque country), but it’s a smooth, silky red.
I like Muscotto in either white or rose. The taste of peaches or apricots, with a hint of lemon. I know, pedestrian. I also like a German grape that I can’t spell; Gerwertzteminer. To me it has a taste like that of a freshly cut melon. Don’t worry if you aren’t understanding or agreeing with my ideas, not many people do!
Nothin’ like a fine muskrat! *squeak*