2010 2010 2010!!!!!
Doesn't time fly when you're having fun? It's already half-way thru January, and I keep meaning to update my blog. Well, I'm finally getting round to it.
Christmas: Went to Church for the first time EVER on a Christmas morning - nice, loved the singing (as I always do!), got home to find David's parents had arrived early - oops! 11 for Christmas lunch - both sets of parents, brother and his wife (almost need subtitles for the strong Californian accents of both of them), me, hubby and 3 kids. Lots and lots of yummy food, and lots of talking. Nice to have all the family together. I even managed to find presents for both Mothers - sets of bathsheets and flannels in salmon and aubergine - and they liked them!
Spent Boxing Day gardening - it's always so much more fun gardening in company. Grapevine and climbers got tidied, front garden bed got turned over, and a general tidy-up. Back to Church on the Sunday, with David's parents. Comment from FiL - grumble "not used to going to a church without a suit and tie" ... hmmm - how often do you go to church? Except for funerals? Retail therapy at Mitre 10 - got a couple of big terracotta planter pots, and plants - a climber for the patio, and flowers for the front. All but one flowering plant survived.
David rigged the hammock just before New Year - really nice lying in it out the back, in the breeze, swaying gently. He was working New Year's Eve, I was tired, and in bed and asleep by 2200. Slept thru till 1100, with the help of a sleeping pill. Then of course, couldn't sleep properly for the next couple of nights, sigh :(.
Avatar 3D - Awesome! Wanna see it again, and buy the DVD. Loved the animation, and the live action, and the scenery and .... and KFC for dinner! nom. Happy happy happy.
3 January 2010 - 14th Anniversary! Went for brunch at a cafe in Titirangi - big breakfasts and coffee, then to Lopdell House, to look at an exhibition of glassware - amazing what artists make, and how much they charge for them (and that people will pay for them!!!!)
David worked in the afternoon, and I played Space Cadets RPG - 6 gruelling hours. This is fun? Well, in hindsight, it was. At the time, I wasn't enjoying a lot of it. What would you do if someone threw a gas grenade into your room? Or you found yourself in command of a US Naval Destroyer going to the rescue of a Coast Guard cutter boarded by pirates? Short answer - not do it right.
The return to work was a culture shock - I'd got used to (relatively) late nights, and lazy mornings, and pottering during the day - oh, and of course, reading and reading and reading ...
Back to School: Signed up for a paper at Laidlaw College - "Ways of Knowing", essays, assignments and exam: 503.515 Ways of Knowing: This course spans how we know (epistemology), how we interpret (hermeneutics), how we think from the Gospel (theological method), and how ideas shape society (public discourse). The aim is to throw useful light on how people actually make sense of themselves, ideas, events and things – both when we think about thinking and when we don’t – and to suggest how we might engage and influence in the marketplace of ideas.
- adds 15 more credits to my NZQA collection. Starts 1 March - really looking forward to it.
Hello possum! Been catching possums in a trap over on the reserve - 1 mother + joey, 4 males. In trouble with Animal Welfare for cruelty to animals because I've been drowning them in the pond. Why am I trapping and drowing possums? They are noxious introduced pests, omnivorous, to the point of eating not only eggs and baby birds, but adult birds on the nest, and anything else they can catch (sounds a lot like humans!) They destroy trees with their voracious appetites - they eat 2-3 times their bodyweight daily. They also carry TB, which they pass on to livestock and hedgehogs, who then pass it on to humans.
Animal Welfare were talking about prosecuting me for it!!!!! It's cruel to drown them, and when I asked for more humane alternatives, suggested I shoot them - pointed out you can't discharge a firearm in a built-up area; or to chop their heads off with an axe! Get real - take a possum out of a cage, and wave an axe at it? I do not need lacerations thanks!
The Animal Welfare woman left a message on my voice mail tonight: "she may have a solution for me". So, I can keep on trapping? Can't wait till tomorrow to find out!
OUCH! I've managed to strain my left hip. How? lol - don't really know, but possibly from pushing my bike uphill after checking the stoat traps up at Waitakere dam. Hurts like hell - like a corkscrew is being driven into my hip joint. Walking makes it worse, resting better. Been to the osteopath - useless. Voltaren has stripped my stomach lining, so no painkillers. Acupuncturist tomorrow - we'll see how that goes. It was so bad today, when I left to go home, I forgot my book, and didn't have the energy to walk back over the carpark to get it.
Thursday morning - 0300 - Angelina caught a tiny field mouse. Sat on the fence chittering, with it in her mouth. Went out, she came over and released the mouse, while the dogs watched at the door. Caught her mouse, and went off to chitter again. Bark bark bark. Another long long night.
It's only 2120, and I'm thinking of bed.
Books read this month:
Lee Strobel; Case for Christ & Case for Faith - grr - once over lightly, but had its moments, and answered some questions.
Edited by Marcus Borg; Jesus at 2000 - some very interesting lectures, and some very dire ones, but all in all, an interesting read.
Chuck Swindoll; The Grace Awakening (argh - didn't need sleeping pills after this one!)
Robert Heinlein; Space Cadet - I'd forgotten how cool this book is - a rollicking good yarn (Starship Troopers is waiting at the Library)
James Ryle; Hippo in the Garden - quite funny
Books in Progress
Marcus Borg; Heart of Christianity - now this one rocks!
Larry Kreider; Building your Personal House of Prayer - interesting, but having a hard time finding the time to put it into practice. (gee, maybe I'm reading too much?)
David Ebershof; The 19th Wife - only about 20 pages in, it has another 20 pages, and if it doesn't grab me ... bye bye.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Catching up
Time has flown, as it so often does.
Depression has been biting hard the last two months, I've had two severe migraine's, on on the second one, kept working, instead of taking a couple of days off, because I had to train a colleague. To top it all off, I could no longer talk to someone I regard very highly, and the emotional overload took its toll.
Found out that if I quadruple the dose of happy pills (doctor's guidelines), I get dizzyness and nausea for 2 weeks! ugh. Plus a week of anti-anxiety/sleeping tablets, that took effect within 40 minutes of taking them, and knocked me out for the night. 7 hours sleep! Wow - that's a near record, I think.
Haven't had the energy or enthusiasm to do any creative fibre art, paint toy space wolves, play music, or much of anything.
What I have done tho is to start the process of converting to Christianity. Oh my gosh - Sue is becoming a 'born anew christian'. Found a church to join - the first one (Ranui Baptist) was a little too crowded, and too weird - the second one, Harvest Church, in Swanson, was "just right" as Goldilocks would say. (The third possible choice, West City Christian Centre is just TOOOOO large! A congregation in the 100's, if not over 1000!) Harvest is only about 100 people, half of those are kids! Been going, with David and Becca, for the last few weeks. Becca has been enjoying Sunday school, and appeared in the "Angel Dance" last Sunday.
Funniest comment from her: "It's a lot more fun being a Christian than a Druid!"
The path to this point has been interesting, with someone (!) bashing me over the head with a large book, smacking me back into line. I guess it started with me talking to two friends, on opposite sides of the Pacific, who were suffering a bit of a crisis in their respective faiths, and listening and responding with an open heart (and mind!). Meeting a woman who loved my dogs, that turned out to be the Pastor's wife, having one of my friends say - try that one, they sound good and solid (Harvest!), going to the local Christian bookshop to buy a bible-study guide, being pointed to Ranui, then making the decision to try Harvest. Going back to the bookshop, to meet the guy that turns out to be the assistant Pastor, who of course knows my name, because I'd ordered a book, and the other sales assistant had mentioned me ... and all sorts of other little "coincidences".
Sometime after Christmas, I'll be baptised - believe - repent - baptise - be saved. Oooh, weird and exciting.
Been reading lots of bible study booklets, and doing some stuff on line, reading the bible, listening to Christian music.
Still on an emotional roller-coaster, but not going as far down each time.
Depression has been biting hard the last two months, I've had two severe migraine's, on on the second one, kept working, instead of taking a couple of days off, because I had to train a colleague. To top it all off, I could no longer talk to someone I regard very highly, and the emotional overload took its toll.
Found out that if I quadruple the dose of happy pills (doctor's guidelines), I get dizzyness and nausea for 2 weeks! ugh. Plus a week of anti-anxiety/sleeping tablets, that took effect within 40 minutes of taking them, and knocked me out for the night. 7 hours sleep! Wow - that's a near record, I think.
Haven't had the energy or enthusiasm to do any creative fibre art, paint toy space wolves, play music, or much of anything.
What I have done tho is to start the process of converting to Christianity. Oh my gosh - Sue is becoming a 'born anew christian'. Found a church to join - the first one (Ranui Baptist) was a little too crowded, and too weird - the second one, Harvest Church, in Swanson, was "just right" as Goldilocks would say. (The third possible choice, West City Christian Centre is just TOOOOO large! A congregation in the 100's, if not over 1000!) Harvest is only about 100 people, half of those are kids! Been going, with David and Becca, for the last few weeks. Becca has been enjoying Sunday school, and appeared in the "Angel Dance" last Sunday.
Funniest comment from her: "It's a lot more fun being a Christian than a Druid!"
The path to this point has been interesting, with someone (!) bashing me over the head with a large book, smacking me back into line. I guess it started with me talking to two friends, on opposite sides of the Pacific, who were suffering a bit of a crisis in their respective faiths, and listening and responding with an open heart (and mind!). Meeting a woman who loved my dogs, that turned out to be the Pastor's wife, having one of my friends say - try that one, they sound good and solid (Harvest!), going to the local Christian bookshop to buy a bible-study guide, being pointed to Ranui, then making the decision to try Harvest. Going back to the bookshop, to meet the guy that turns out to be the assistant Pastor, who of course knows my name, because I'd ordered a book, and the other sales assistant had mentioned me ... and all sorts of other little "coincidences".
Sometime after Christmas, I'll be baptised - believe - repent - baptise - be saved. Oooh, weird and exciting.
Been reading lots of bible study booklets, and doing some stuff on line, reading the bible, listening to Christian music.
Still on an emotional roller-coaster, but not going as far down each time.
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Halloween 2009
We got dressed up for Halloween, and went Trick or Treating! Lots and lots of lollies, and people thought it great that David and I got dressed up too! David wore a pirates hat, frilly shirt and dark pants. I wore my "altered" wench dress, with a purple shirt. Dogs came too, and got to talk to LOTS of people!
Friday, 30 October 2009
Hello Possum
The council has recently cleared the creek wetlands of Wandering Jew - Tradescantia, and planted lots of little plants - hooray! Becca and her friend Noor, while exploring, found a possum trap, with a dead possum inside. I dealt to the rotting carcass, and reset the trap with an apple. Guess what we got! Unfortunately, someone keeps coming along and springing the trap, and now the council have taken it away. Sigh. Well, at least we got one possum!
An Oldie But a Goodie
Scrapbook page, made in March 2006, of our wedding in 2003. David and my costumes were made by me, while his friend John is wearing costume sourced from a drama group.
Saturday, 10 October 2009
ALICE
Alice made her way around the edges of the crowd gathered in front of the Emperor's Cathedral of the Feast of Altheria. The bells were ringing, calling the faithful to evening prayers. It wasn't a Festival day, so there were only a few hundred people in the plaza, but it was still a good-sized crowd to work. Alice pulled her shawl further up over her shoulder-length brown hair, feeling cold drops of water from the drizzle breaking through the weave and dripping on her head. The long-handled barrow was awkward to manoeuvre, the iron-bound wooden wheels jarring on the cobblestones, and the axle needed greasing again. The intermittent squeal it made was really irritating. She wondered if she could get some good-quality machine grease this time, instead of tallow.
She was glad she'd chosen to wear a long coat over her long-sleeved, ankle-length shirt-waister. The fabric of both garments was thin, and the cold and damp were seeping through to her skin. The soles of her boots were thin too, and she could feel the uneven plaza through them.
She called her wares, putting on her thickest accent, her voice piercing and strident.
"Luvverly `ot tucker, cum `n get it `ere! Sausage in a bun, hot grox pies – look at that luvverly suet crust m'dear! Hot meat `n veg stew, `n the special today ... caramelised crispy river rat on a stick! All hot, all fresh cooked, best quality meat! Cum `n get it `ere, laydies `n gennelmen!"
She ladled soup from the tureen into a bread coffin, passing it over to a punter. The charcoal burners under the tureens sat on heavy ceramic tiles, preventing the wooden barrow from catching alight. Effective, but it made the brightly painted barrow heavy to push. The words "Drunken Ork" were painted in fancy script on the barrow's awning, and damp pennants depicting the Saint hung from the support posts. Everything dripped moisture as the persistent drizzle continued.
"Fresh made this mornin', these pies, sur. Only a quarter throne, stuffed full `a best quality meat, they are, sur. Yes ma'am, the soup is very hot! This batch `as bin goin' for a couple a weeks now – threw in some good rich grox marrow bones only last night, and there's fresh greens on the top there. Ah, I see you've got a load `a one cent coins there, sur. Saints' `oly Flesh, sur, I'd be grateful for the change. That's it, put it on the counter there, `n I'll swap you for some quarter `n half thrones for your troubles.
"Ketchup with that sur? Lookin' forward to the service are ye? Good crowd for a weekday night, innit? Saint's Blessin's on ye, madam! Keepin' a poor girl in `onest employ! Nah, I dunno wot that fuss is up the front there, dearie! Some sorta' nun, eh? Somebody fainted, `ave they? Ain't this drizzle depressin', then? `alf a throne, thanks – there ye go, give you the balance back in change, eh?
"Fresh buns `n spicy grox sausage – sausage in a bun, there, sur? Fried onions too? By the Blessed Lady, thanks be to ye, sur. Oh look sur, the crowds movin' agin now – don't wanna be left behind, do ye now?
"That's a luvverly `at ye be wearin', for sure, ma'am – two pies? Aye, one for the little `un, that'll keep `im quiet during mass – at least till they hand out the host, eh duck?"
Alice kept up a constant stream of patter as she pushed the barrow around the edge of the crowd, swapping small coins for larger, palming a good fifty thrones in the process. The weight in her pocket had increased, with a couple of watches, two tie pins, a tobacco case and other bits and pieces she had lifted off the more well-off parishioners. She wouldn't bilk her own people, but the others were fair game.
It was a bit of a walk back home, but she continued to sell more hot food as she went – the caramelised river rat was particularly popular in the poorer areas.
"Grain fed for the last week, mister, I be tellin' ya. Look at that – 500 grams if they're a pound! And a bargain at half a throne! Cut me own throat if I be tellin' a lie."
She looked up from this sale to see two of her least favourite local law enforcers standing further down the dirty street. The tall, fat, dark haired one was just a brute and a bully. But the other one scared her. Average height, blond, wiry, with a nasty disposition, he had a reputation for being rough with the girls – whether they worked the street or not. She pulled her shawl further over her head, checking that the two halves were securely fastened over her chest, and making sure no flesh was showing. No point in asking for trouble from these two.
She could hear them bickering from here. Huh, stupid men – they'd tried that F-Omega con again on unwary travellers. As she drew closer she could see the grime on their ugly grey uniforms, and the smell of stale sweat and urine assaulted her senses. Ugh. An Adeptus Arbites stamp, eh? That was interesting – who might be interested in paying for that piece of information, she wondered.
"Officers. Blessin's of Our Holy Lady on ye, this grey and damp evenin'. What will ye be havin' this night, then? Got some fine suet crusted grox pies – `course it's grox meat! How could you be thinkin' otherwise! n' some luvverly soup. Special tho is the rat on a stick – crispy caramel. You gennelmen would like crispy rat on a stick, eh luv? No, no charge for our finest." Ducking blondie's grasping paws and greasy lips, she gave them a rat on a stick each, and pushed the barrow past them as quickly as she could, trying not to shudder too visibly.
As she went past the front of the Inn, she noticed a man who looked like a drunken vagrant walking in. Huh, she thought – what's he up to? Going round to the back door of the Inn, she opened the kitchen door.
"Ma, I'm back. You know that Arbites officer's back again? You can smell `em from halfway down the street! Is Mr Sneed 'ere? I made a good hundred thrones tonight. And look at this lot – maybe another hundred's worth of bits n bobs. I'll need to go see Mr Tharpe tonight, see what jobs he has for me. Right, well, I'll bring the pots in, `n quench the burners before I get changed. Then I'll help Da out front in the bar. Back in a mo! There should be enough left on the barrow for supper."
Alice put the armful of wood and bucket of coal down, took off her wet boots and put them on the rack beside the range to dry. Grabbing a towel from the drying rack above the range, and replacing it with her damp shawl, she gave her Ma a quick peck on the cheek, before heading upstairs to their rooms above the inn.
She took off her damp blouse, gave it a sniff, decided it would stand another wear, and hung it up carefully to dry. She slipped another, lower cut blouse of finer calico over her head, not bothering with the buttons. Looking in the drawer at her collection of shawls, she decided on a lovely, finely woven rose pink one, decorated with the blood-red flowers that were said to be the favourite of the Blessed Saint. Placing it over her shoulders, she tucked the ends back under her arms, and adjusted blouse and shawl to reveal a modest amount of cleavage. The idea was to encourage the purchase of food and alcohol by the punters, without being immodest – that would attract the back of her Da's hand.
She used the towel to dry the hem of her skirt, squeezing the excess moisture out. It was easier to wash a towel than the skirt, especially if this drizzle continued. Checking her look in the cracked and discoloured mirror, she adjusted the pendant of Saint Altheria that hung low on her chest, and fingered the devotional scar at the base of her neck, in the notch where the collarbones met.
That had been one of the proudest moments in her life. She had barely flinched when the white-hot brand had touched her, marking her as an adult member of the congregation with the capital "A" of the Blessed Saint Altheria. The Confirmation ceremony had been completed a couple of weeks later with red tattooing over the newly healed scar tissue. Blood and Body of our Blessed Lady, Saint be Praised!
Slipping wooden pattens over her stockinged feet, she snuggled her toes into the well-worn shoes, and smiled. Life was good. Time for work. She almost skipped back down the stairs, delighting in the sound of wood on wood. Picking up a tray, order pad and pencil, a stack of clean ashtrays, a cleaning cloth and a small bucket of warm soapy water on her way through the kitchen, she paused as she opened the door to the front rooms of the inn.
The smell of damp fabric and leather, sweating men, smoke from the fire burning in the corner, and the pall of cigarette smoke hanging just below the ceiling assaulted her senses. Closing the door behind her, she slipped over to the bar, giving her Da a peck on the cheek.
"I'll clean the tables first, Da, then get the supper orders goin'."
Moving through the fairly crowded room, she wiped tables clean, swapped dirty ashtrays for clean ones, picked up empty glasses, and generally worked the clientele.
"'ere, Mr Jones, let me clean that table for ye – don' want to `ave wet elbows, now do ye, lovey? The missus would be most put out if she had to wash that jacket!
"I'll take that empty glass away for ye, shall I, sir? Like another, would ye? Be back shortly with that, duck."
"Mr Sneed, so good of ye to join us on this rare, soft night. Let me clean this table for ye. The usual for ye, is it? I've some luvverly `ot grox pies, with a thick suet crust, an' full o' gravy. An' there's `ot soup. I was just telling a customer earlier today, Ma's `ad it simmerin' on the back of the range for the last week – threw in some new marra' bones last night, serve that all up with some nice fresh greens, an' fresh `ot bread. Ma's just finished the evenin' bakin', don' ye know?" Lowering her voice, she continued. "'an I've got some verra nice pieces I picked up today for ye, sur, that I'll show you at your convenience." Nodding to him, with a smile on her lips and in her bright blue eyes, she said in a normal voice, "Aye sur, on your tab as usual, sur."
Moving on, she approached the table where the "drunken vagrant" was seated.
"Evenin' Officer Lorith. Saint's Blessin's on ye. Watchin' Mr Sneed agin' tonight, are ye? Special o' the night is Caramelised Crispy-Skinned Rat on a Stick, served with fresh greens and fried taties. An' I'll be fetchin' ye another beer, shall I? Only the best for the finest of the Adeptus Arbites, eh luv? `An ye'll be passin' on Saint's Blessin's to Intelligencer Amas from me Da, won't ye sur? All our contributions are up to date with the AA. I'll just be addin' that to yer tab."
Turning away, she thought sourly,. She continued through the large room, cleaning tables, making small talk, taking orders, keeping up the non-stop patter that was expected from her.
When the room was worked over to her satisfaction, she took the tray of dirty glasses and ashtrays back to the kitchen, giving Da a smile in passing.
She was glad she'd chosen to wear a long coat over her long-sleeved, ankle-length shirt-waister. The fabric of both garments was thin, and the cold and damp were seeping through to her skin. The soles of her boots were thin too, and she could feel the uneven plaza through them.
She called her wares, putting on her thickest accent, her voice piercing and strident.
"Luvverly `ot tucker, cum `n get it `ere! Sausage in a bun, hot grox pies – look at that luvverly suet crust m'dear! Hot meat `n veg stew, `n the special today ... caramelised crispy river rat on a stick! All hot, all fresh cooked, best quality meat! Cum `n get it `ere, laydies `n gennelmen!"
She ladled soup from the tureen into a bread coffin, passing it over to a punter. The charcoal burners under the tureens sat on heavy ceramic tiles, preventing the wooden barrow from catching alight. Effective, but it made the brightly painted barrow heavy to push. The words "Drunken Ork" were painted in fancy script on the barrow's awning, and damp pennants depicting the Saint hung from the support posts. Everything dripped moisture as the persistent drizzle continued.
"Fresh made this mornin', these pies, sur. Only a quarter throne, stuffed full `a best quality meat, they are, sur. Yes ma'am, the soup is very hot! This batch `as bin goin' for a couple a weeks now – threw in some good rich grox marrow bones only last night, and there's fresh greens on the top there. Ah, I see you've got a load `a one cent coins there, sur. Saints' `oly Flesh, sur, I'd be grateful for the change. That's it, put it on the counter there, `n I'll swap you for some quarter `n half thrones for your troubles.
"Ketchup with that sur? Lookin' forward to the service are ye? Good crowd for a weekday night, innit? Saint's Blessin's on ye, madam! Keepin' a poor girl in `onest employ! Nah, I dunno wot that fuss is up the front there, dearie! Some sorta' nun, eh? Somebody fainted, `ave they? Ain't this drizzle depressin', then? `alf a throne, thanks – there ye go, give you the balance back in change, eh?
"Fresh buns `n spicy grox sausage – sausage in a bun, there, sur? Fried onions too? By the Blessed Lady, thanks be to ye, sur. Oh look sur, the crowds movin' agin now – don't wanna be left behind, do ye now?
"That's a luvverly `at ye be wearin', for sure, ma'am – two pies? Aye, one for the little `un, that'll keep `im quiet during mass – at least till they hand out the host, eh duck?"
Alice kept up a constant stream of patter as she pushed the barrow around the edge of the crowd, swapping small coins for larger, palming a good fifty thrones in the process. The weight in her pocket had increased, with a couple of watches, two tie pins, a tobacco case and other bits and pieces she had lifted off the more well-off parishioners. She wouldn't bilk her own people, but the others were fair game.
It was a bit of a walk back home, but she continued to sell more hot food as she went – the caramelised river rat was particularly popular in the poorer areas.
"Grain fed for the last week, mister, I be tellin' ya. Look at that – 500 grams if they're a pound! And a bargain at half a throne! Cut me own throat if I be tellin' a lie."
She looked up from this sale to see two of her least favourite local law enforcers standing further down the dirty street. The tall, fat, dark haired one was just a brute and a bully. But the other one scared her. Average height, blond, wiry, with a nasty disposition, he had a reputation for being rough with the girls – whether they worked the street or not. She pulled her shawl further over her head, checking that the two halves were securely fastened over her chest, and making sure no flesh was showing. No point in asking for trouble from these two.
She could hear them bickering from here. Huh, stupid men – they'd tried that F-Omega con again on unwary travellers. As she drew closer she could see the grime on their ugly grey uniforms, and the smell of stale sweat and urine assaulted her senses. Ugh. An Adeptus Arbites stamp, eh? That was interesting – who might be interested in paying for that piece of information, she wondered.
"Officers. Blessin's of Our Holy Lady on ye, this grey and damp evenin'. What will ye be havin' this night, then? Got some fine suet crusted grox pies – `course it's grox meat! How could you be thinkin' otherwise! n' some luvverly soup. Special tho is the rat on a stick – crispy caramel. You gennelmen would like crispy rat on a stick, eh luv? No, no charge for our finest." Ducking blondie's grasping paws and greasy lips, she gave them a rat on a stick each, and pushed the barrow past them as quickly as she could, trying not to shudder too visibly.
As she went past the front of the Inn, she noticed a man who looked like a drunken vagrant walking in. Huh, she thought – what's he up to? Going round to the back door of the Inn, she opened the kitchen door.
"Ma, I'm back. You know that Arbites officer's back again? You can smell `em from halfway down the street! Is Mr Sneed 'ere? I made a good hundred thrones tonight. And look at this lot – maybe another hundred's worth of bits n bobs. I'll need to go see Mr Tharpe tonight, see what jobs he has for me. Right, well, I'll bring the pots in, `n quench the burners before I get changed. Then I'll help Da out front in the bar. Back in a mo! There should be enough left on the barrow for supper."
Alice put the armful of wood and bucket of coal down, took off her wet boots and put them on the rack beside the range to dry. Grabbing a towel from the drying rack above the range, and replacing it with her damp shawl, she gave her Ma a quick peck on the cheek, before heading upstairs to their rooms above the inn.
She took off her damp blouse, gave it a sniff, decided it would stand another wear, and hung it up carefully to dry. She slipped another, lower cut blouse of finer calico over her head, not bothering with the buttons. Looking in the drawer at her collection of shawls, she decided on a lovely, finely woven rose pink one, decorated with the blood-red flowers that were said to be the favourite of the Blessed Saint. Placing it over her shoulders, she tucked the ends back under her arms, and adjusted blouse and shawl to reveal a modest amount of cleavage. The idea was to encourage the purchase of food and alcohol by the punters, without being immodest – that would attract the back of her Da's hand.
She used the towel to dry the hem of her skirt, squeezing the excess moisture out. It was easier to wash a towel than the skirt, especially if this drizzle continued. Checking her look in the cracked and discoloured mirror, she adjusted the pendant of Saint Altheria that hung low on her chest, and fingered the devotional scar at the base of her neck, in the notch where the collarbones met.
That had been one of the proudest moments in her life. She had barely flinched when the white-hot brand had touched her, marking her as an adult member of the congregation with the capital "A" of the Blessed Saint Altheria. The Confirmation ceremony had been completed a couple of weeks later with red tattooing over the newly healed scar tissue. Blood and Body of our Blessed Lady, Saint be Praised!
Slipping wooden pattens over her stockinged feet, she snuggled her toes into the well-worn shoes, and smiled. Life was good. Time for work. She almost skipped back down the stairs, delighting in the sound of wood on wood. Picking up a tray, order pad and pencil, a stack of clean ashtrays, a cleaning cloth and a small bucket of warm soapy water on her way through the kitchen, she paused as she opened the door to the front rooms of the inn.
The smell of damp fabric and leather, sweating men, smoke from the fire burning in the corner, and the pall of cigarette smoke hanging just below the ceiling assaulted her senses. Closing the door behind her, she slipped over to the bar, giving her Da a peck on the cheek.
"I'll clean the tables first, Da, then get the supper orders goin'."
Moving through the fairly crowded room, she wiped tables clean, swapped dirty ashtrays for clean ones, picked up empty glasses, and generally worked the clientele.
"'ere, Mr Jones, let me clean that table for ye – don' want to `ave wet elbows, now do ye, lovey? The missus would be most put out if she had to wash that jacket!
"I'll take that empty glass away for ye, shall I, sir? Like another, would ye? Be back shortly with that, duck."
"Mr Sneed, so good of ye to join us on this rare, soft night. Let me clean this table for ye. The usual for ye, is it? I've some luvverly `ot grox pies, with a thick suet crust, an' full o' gravy. An' there's `ot soup. I was just telling a customer earlier today, Ma's `ad it simmerin' on the back of the range for the last week – threw in some new marra' bones last night, serve that all up with some nice fresh greens, an' fresh `ot bread. Ma's just finished the evenin' bakin', don' ye know?" Lowering her voice, she continued. "'an I've got some verra nice pieces I picked up today for ye, sur, that I'll show you at your convenience." Nodding to him, with a smile on her lips and in her bright blue eyes, she said in a normal voice, "Aye sur, on your tab as usual, sur."
Moving on, she approached the table where the "drunken vagrant" was seated.
"Evenin' Officer Lorith. Saint's Blessin's on ye. Watchin' Mr Sneed agin' tonight, are ye? Special o' the night is Caramelised Crispy-Skinned Rat on a Stick, served with fresh greens and fried taties. An' I'll be fetchin' ye another beer, shall I? Only the best for the finest of the Adeptus Arbites, eh luv? `An ye'll be passin' on Saint's Blessin's to Intelligencer Amas from me Da, won't ye sur? All our contributions are up to date with the AA. I'll just be addin' that to yer tab."
Turning away, she thought sourly,
When the room was worked over to her satisfaction, she took the tray of dirty glasses and ashtrays back to the kitchen, giving Da a smile in passing.
Friday, 9 October 2009
Wench Fighting
Oooh, aaarr - I went to a pirate party one night, and got into a fight....
Rubber sword in one hand, green parrot in the other, blindfolded. Ok. Enough said already.
Oh, I won btw - a box of M&M's!
Rubber sword in one hand, green parrot in the other, blindfolded. Ok. Enough said already.
Oh, I won btw - a box of M&M's!
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