My lawyer tells me I'll probably not recover a large sum of money that was embezzled from me by a relative. I just found out an old friend passed away this morning. I worked 14 hours today for a company that doesn't really appreciate what I do for them. Today is not my day. But it's ok.
Phew! Time does fly! One day you're starting a new month and next thing you know it's the end already! So yeah, I've been kinda busy. Mostly work, which is a good thing in itself and which (still?) is interesting and even fun. In the weekends either volunteering at the tram museum (replacing bad sleepers on a stretch of about a mile - luckily not by myself...) or concocting new bottles of stroopjenever (molasses gin - ask @richgem if it is as delicious as it sounds ). Since I have introduced the beverage at the museum last year, I have had four orders for a bottle. Boozers, boozers - all of them! I've found a Swedish steel handbow from the 1950's. No sight, or scope. Just a barebow with a handle. It can be parted in two pieces at the handle but it doesn't have a string to it. So I think I may order string material and make a custom Flemish string. Since the string hooks on the bow are quite small, I don't think a standard string will fit. The bow is a beginners bow made by Sanviken steel company, SEEFAB. They invented the steel bow in four different models during late 1940's, to replace, at that time, bad tournament wooden bows. Steel bows were available in shops to the late 1950's, then the glass fibres came to the market. The process of using heavy and not flexible steel was interesting. They made the bow in steel alloy in tube form and used a drawing process machine, draw the tubes fore and back many times. That process affected the orientations in the material itself, made it more flexible. The bow was simple to carry and not as sensitive compared with wooden bows. The bow is short and brace height should be approximately 18 cm, depending on the tuning with your arrows.
The blend smelled pretty good (better than you might expect.) But it turns out my husband is allergic to the lemon-eucalyptus.
January ends just as it began, with boundless optimism and a realization of the many blessings I have.
Ah yes, Stroopgenever the Dutch New Year's traditional drink (done in shots) that leads to a year-long hangover. For those not in the know, stroopgenver (literally: syrup gin) is Dutch-style gin concentrated, infused with cinamon, and loaded with added molasses that has sat in a cool, dark place for a couple of weeks. The result, as you might expect, is a super sweet molasses-ey alcoholic gin that will get you extremely drunk very fast due to the high sugar content and will lead to a mother of a hangover the next day. I made it once (two versions actually... one traditional and one with added chili oil) and one shot was more than enough to satisfy my curiosity and my sanity. But, I did save some for Limecat (his parents are Dutch) to try when he visited and he got about a sip of it down and called it a day. My advice, if you need to satisfy a Dutch stroop craving, stick with stroopwafels which are delightful thin wafer cookies with a thin spiced caramel filling which are traditionally warmed over een warm kopje (a hot cup of coffee or tea) before eating.
that's another idea for a new store to go up in place of the outgoing bookstore right near me-a Dollar Tree(and it better have lotsa Rise creams).
Got a few things done yesterday(1-30), then a good workout at the gym, especially to test my weak right arm. No pain, but I did go easier than usual. But it's what happened later that was most exciting-2 police cars(I may be old-school, but I can't see them as "cruisers", the way everyone here does), and 2 fire engines showed up right outside my window. The red lights were streaming right into my apartment. They were searching someone's car. Maybe a drug-bust??I'll read about it in the blog of the next town paper, I'm sure.
I've been fighting a cold the last couple of days, add spare the air days into the mix and I'm struggling to breathe. Yes. I have asthma. On a positive note.. my wife said "I need your drivers license" huh? I'm going to do our income taxes. Oh. Oh. Oh. I'm not sure how or why but we're getting a refund. Am I still dreaming?.....
@RaZorBurn123 I hope you are feeling better soon. I also have asthma, so I know it can conspire with a cold to make you feeel worse.
That's a bummer. Two things: 1. you/we forgot to mention the cinnamon which adds a spicy edge to the drink B. there is a reason why genever is nicknamed "Dutch Lunatic Juice"... Asthma can be really rotten. Luckily I've got good meds. And congratz on the tax refund! Now you can finally buy the Lamborghini picture you always wanted!
Aaaaaaannnnnddddd...... Time for a new HYD: http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/hows-your-day-february-2017.54433/
Thanks Sara and Paul. I've been sleeping with a humidifier at night and I like the results I've been having. The funny thing is it's a penguin and every i have every pill and inhaler known to humankind, but when the air you breathe is bad, it's just bad. No big plans with our refund, I like my money to make money.
