*Checks calendar* Well, what do you know? It's Friday and time for Fiesta!

Altaira

Altaira

Super User
Staff member
Greetings and welcome, everyone!

Friday is here once again. Did you have a good week? Do you have fun plans for the weekend? We're continuing the odyssey of renovating an older home (1956), and probably will be for the next 5-6 weeks. As we get further into summer and the weather gets hotter, we try to get there earlier and earlier. [laugh] However, things are moving along quite nicely and some things (like replacing all of the upstairs windows) are even ahead of schedule.

This week I have a bit of fun for everyone. Have you recently (or ever) visited the official site of the Tolkien Estate? If not, you're in for a treat. It's divided into four main sections: writing, learning, painting, and paths. Once you get past the home page, hover over the Elvish text at the top to see English (also available in French and Spanish, which you can select at the bottom of the home page). It's not the biggest or most in-depth Tolkien site, but it offers a unique perspective and some interesting links. Definitely good for a few hours of browsing and reading!

The pool is open, the barbie is hot, the drinks are cold, and the food is amazing, as always. So, have some Fiesta fun and let us know how life is treating you!

*kicks jukebox* "Summertime" by Ella Fitzgerald starts to play.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!! [cool][heart][:)]

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No idea why, but I love seltzer with grapefruit flavor - thanks, Altaira!

That sounds like a major renovating job, if you're replacing windows! How large is that house? Will you have to replace the kitchen appliances and re-finish the floors?

It's been fairly quiet at work this week, but next week is the final week of school, so I'm expecting to be inundated as students return books and laptops. Meanwhile, we've had some good rains, and the weeds have shot up and need to be tended to. [:P]

It's been ages since I last looked at the Estate's website, thank you for linking to it, I need to bookmark it! [:)]

Summertime...already? But I want more Springtime! [sorry]
 
I love grapefruit-flavored soda and seltzer too! it's so refreshing on a hot Summer (or Spring) day.

Pretty much everything major has to be remodeled, replaced, painted, or refinished if we want to be competitive with similar homes in the area, almost all of which have been remodeled. We briefly considered selling it 'as is,' but doing the math on what a 'flipper' would pay in order to fix it up *and* make a profit, it's WAY financially better to fix it up ourselves.

I'm glad you got to have a quiet week before the storm, Lol. Enjoy the weekend! [heart]
 
But there's a certain amount of pride that goes into knowing you're getting everything done properly! (A real-estate agent friend of mine considers "flippers" to be "bottom-feeders". [:P])

You folks have a great weekend, too!
 
I did a bit of gardening yesterday and this morning my body is telling me that it disapproves. I had to move a couple of freesia bushes to make way for a rainwater tank - which is bigger than I had imagined it to be - and I got some other gardening work done before the rain arrived, so I call that a win!

I also made some guava jelly yesterday - my first attempt at it, and OMG it's amazing. I reckon it'll go really well with a sharp blue cheese.

Tonight, rugby returns! With a live audience! There are two matches and they're both on target to be sell-outs. I'm so looking forward to this. [:)]

Happy end of the week, everyone!
 
OMG, guava jelly with a sharp blue cheese? Sounds heavenly! Wow. With all you got done I'd say yesterday was a win - win - WIN!
I'll let BG know rugby is starting again. He'll be so stoked. Not sure how many of the local games he can hunt down, but at least he'll be able to watch highlights. Any word on when games may start up again between NZ and Australia?
 
There have been various news reports, including potentially having the All Blacks based in Australia, but nothing's been confirmed.

This year's rugby season has been renamed 'Super Rugby Aotearoa', with NZ's five franchises just playing each other. One wit said the new programme is a boon for the Auckland Blues as for the first time in ages, "they're guaranteed to finish no lower than fifth". (Which is a bit mean as they had a huge start before Covid stopped Super Rugby back in March.)
 
the new programme is a boon for the Auckland Blues as for the first time in ages, "they're guaranteed to finish no lower than fifth"
Click to expand...

Love that Kiwi sense of humor (or should I say, humour). [laugh]
 
Things are loosening up a bit round here, more shops will be opening on Monday etc, but I still can't hug the grandsons. Grrr! One of them is keenly awaiting the resumption of football, as Liverpool was within a whisker of winning the League before lockdown and he wants them to get their hands on the silverware.

Interesting to hear about the Tolkien estate website - I've never visited that, will have a look. Thanks for the heads-up!

My house dates to 1950 and I've had workmen here today removing a redundant chimney stack from the front roof, to cure a leak and prevent any future ones. When the houses were built as married quarters, part of an RAF training camp, there was a small solid fuel heater in the kitchen with pipes running up to the hot water cylinder and back - very basic water heating. When I moved in, all that was left of it was a square of red tiles where it used to stand. That's now buried under the new floor - but I have photos. When in doubt take photos - that's my motto!
It's mild here, but blowy with showers, so doesn't feel that summery to be honest - and here we are, almost at the Solstice! The weather's been a bit wacky this year. No Solstice gatherings at Stonehenge or other sites either, due to the restrictions. Have the best weekend you can, folks - my raspberries are ripening, so that's the mornng cereal brightened up nicely. Cheers, all!
 
Now if only you could hug the grandsons. That must be frustrating all around.

How cool that you know the history of your house. During our cleaning and purging we found many old photos, some of which are of the house soon after it was built. At the time, there was nothing but fields and farms all the way to the mountains (about 6 miles to the west), which today are packed full of houses, schools, shops, etc. I thought it might be fun to scan a few of the old pictures and put them together for whomever buys the house as something they might enjoy.

Oooh! Raspberries? Do I sense a possible trifle in your future once you have enough ripe ones? [laugh]

Happy weekend!
 
Seeing how an area has changed is very interesting - if rather depressing when you see how the fields have been eaten up by development! It's a great idea, putting pictures together for a future purchaser - it would be a lovely surprise for them. I have an old family wedding group photo from 1913 taken at the front of a house (it still exists, I've checked on Google Earth) and have thought of scanning it and sending it to the address where it was taken, as a surprise. Only snag is, I'd have to take it out of the frame. Half of me doesn't want to disturb it, the other half is keen to see if there's anything interesting in there. You never know what you'll find! When my daughter took up the old floor covering in the first house she bought, she discovered lots of sheets of newspaper from 1953. I scanned them and made some of the adverts etc into collages for her. They looked rather good, though i say so myself.
 
Raspberries certainly liven up the healthy but unexciting Bran Flakes. I look forward to the first tomatoes, too (they're starting to flower just now) - so flavoursome compared to the shop-bought ones. It's the same with herbs, too. I have parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (what a cliche!) also chives and bay. haven't grown any basil this year; sometimes I buy a pot from the supermarket and see how long I can keep it going.
 
Oh, that must be sweet, no wonder you'd need the sharp blue cheese to complement it!

So was there an overflow crowd at the matches? [:)]
 
do much social-distance visiting with the grandsons? Sadly this will probably be the norm until we're sure the bug has been fully cleared out of an area.

Do you have ice-cream trucks making the rounds? I was just talking with my friend who operates one, he was delivering fresh eggs to me from his son's chickens, and he said he's having a hard time getting fully stocked, as the virus hit hard at a Midwest factory which makes a popular brand of ice cream treats.

What a fascinating history your house has! Are other houses from the old training camp still in existence and being used?
 
Katharine Lee Bates would be wondering where her "fruited plains" have gone. I love your idea of scanning the old pics for the new owners!
 
Good for them! I'm definitely going to have to spend some time there as soon as I get my yard straightened out. I've explained what's going on in my Walk to Rivendell post. The sound of birds is spattered with the sound of chainsaws! Thankfully, all is well and there were no injuries.

I'm on my way out there again, but I'd love to grab a hotdog and some PO-TA-TOE salad with PO-TA-TOE chips on my way out! *slaver, slurp* THANK YOU!

I'm so glad you're prep of the house is going well, Altaira. That's SUCH a huge job that must seem endless right now. I hope there's air conditioning available! You're really going to need it :)


*waves fondly to one and all* Stay Safe Everyone… and thanks for taking such great care of us, oh Fearless Leader!
 
Close that chapter SHUT! What a surreal semester/year it has been for you (and students/parents). Hopefully this fall will have some semblance of new-normalcy. Right? ;)
I hope you have a fantastic weekend pulling weeds with a thermos full of grapefruit seltzer within reach. This time next week is officially SUMMER! :D
 
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Oh man... I know you've been missing that! And you've been out in the cold weather moving plants around. I hope you're done with that and the moved ones love where they are and bounce back. I hope you have a fantastic guava-filled weekend! (put some on top of your ICE CREAM!)
 
Get thee to a home improvement store and get some plastic paint covers/sheeting (thin ply) and take a length a bit taller than yourself and then a bit taller than the g'son, drape it over your whole front and outstretched arms, move in and HUG AWAY! If I get a chance to see my Baltimore g'son on his way back to Iowa University for his last year of schooling, I'm taking a bunch of plastic covering to get my hugs on!

I take pics of everything, too. Mostly cuz I can't remember the dates of what was going on ;) I love the history of your home. A whole generation of stories in those walls/floors.

I hope you have a great weekend and enjoy some very comfy gardening weather!
 
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