Last week's escapades

Hey there, long time no post!

Well, these last weeks were eventful! So much so that I both forgot to and failed to post anything about it. So to make up for that, I'm going to place plenty of pictures for you, and then explain them afterwards. Sound good?

The Fruitland Museum, Harvard, MA. On of the many stops we had on our travels across Mass. This one was thrown into the mix, rather last second, as a suggestion from one of Tasha's co-workers. I'm glad we went, because there were some pretty cool people to talk to there, and some artifacts from all across America in there; some colonial, some shaker, and some Native. I will say that we didn't stay too long, but we did really enjoy ourselves there on our trip.

Memorial plaque in Gloucester/Rockport, MA. This was interesting enough for a picture, due to the fact that this was our final day (we were photo happy),  and that the rock itself is in a large park area, which at that time was crawling with people due to a farmer's market going on there. We didn't take pictures of the market because there was something much more interesting to us at that time--tidal pools. We probably stood over a couple of pools with shrimp and hermit crabs for a half hour or more, enjoying watching how their communities functioned, and watching some of them trade up for bigger shells. It sounds boring, but it was actually really cool to watch them go about their lives without them really noticing us or caring--It is really funny in context though, when you think of a couple of mountain dwellers going to the beach, what do they want to see? The shops? The beach? Nope. Give us a pool of sea critters, and we're good to go.

Though in truth, we did go and look at the shops in Rockport, and it was pretty cool too. Not as cool as the critters, but still cool. This shot is from the back docks and harbor in Rockport, where we sat for a couple of hours and watched fingerling fish, gulls, some kids learning to sail--which was great--and the tide rolling in. We had spent the morning this day walking around from shop to shop, enjoying our time and taking in the sites. I can't believe some of the roads that they have between the shops here, though. They're as wide as they were when they still rode horse and shay back in the late 1600's, but now, instead of horse and shay, there's a pair of delivery trucks backing down the road, and a bus trying to sneak by. Simply mind boggling. And a little nerve wracking

I feel that this little gargoyle or goblin
needed his own footnote here.
Seen everywhere, the gargoyle was
(as far as we know) a statue used
to scare off  evil spirits. This was
partly because of the frightening
visage of a gargoyle, and partly
because the stony beast was a
representation of the frightening
beast, Goji (also called Gargouille)
that was defeated by a Roman
Saint, St. Romanus. The beast
Goji was so terrifying, that evil
spirits didn't dare draw near.
After he was slain, the people
in churches started to make
statues and carvings of Goji,
to use as warding figures against
evil spirits. Seems quite backwards
to me, though. In either case, this

figure seems closer to a goblin then
a gargoyle, and a pretty dour looking
one at that.

These images (so scattered in placement) are of the outside of the main event. We first wanted to stop here, at Hammond castle, in Gloucester, and as you can see, we made it. With plenty of time to spare, and photo hungry.  We tried to limit ourselves to pictures of the outside of the building only, because as a tour guide to a history museum myself, I know what kind of a pain it can be when all you can hear behind you is "click, click". Plus it means that I'm giving a lecture to someone who isn't paying full attention to their tour.
A museum in and of itself, Mr. Hammond, the former owner of the building, had this castle built to house his inventions, his collections, and his family. He was eccentric, a little rude at times, and absolutely brilliant. Radiant heat through the walls, from water pipes under the stone and plaster, a glass room that he could change the humidity of and make it rain or mist inside, and his very own whisper room. If not for seeing the house of a brilliant man, it's at least worth seeing his collection of Medieval arts--ceilings from chapels, balconies from theaters, tapestries from other castles, and anything else that he felt like buying for himself.

Then to rest and relaxation. This image was of the inn that we stayed at. There was much excitement seeing as there was a back porch and all. Yes, though travel is fun, there comes a time where you just need to sit down on the back porch, kick back your feet, and watch the birds.


 I hope you guys enjoyed your time last week! I know that I did.


~Andrew

Short post, long week

For just being Wednesday, this week has just trudged on endlessly.

Let me tell you about it

I started the week on Sunday trying to be a good student, and purchase my college books.
Nope.
For whatever reason, whether it was my card or my account, no money was moved. Alright, I can handle this, just log on to my online banking account to check it all out.
Nope.
The bank site wanted to verify that this was really me, by sending an email to my gmail, but it never sent the email. So then the adventure took a side trip to a phone call with a gentleman from the bank. He was nice, but couldn't help me with my problems. So I dug around and figured out just how extensive my security is. Who knew?
Long story short on Sunday, there was much ado about nothing, but twas not the jovial ending hither. Monday and Tuesday were as vicious and grim as the former, with any piece of technology I touched failing in my hands. Today was the worst of it, with purchases coming back declined, and my bank account (with plenty of coffers to spare) laughing in my face. I threw a brief fit (because I don't know how to throw a proper fit), breathed a couple of times, called a nice lady from the bank, and though she said she had no idea how to solve my problems, my problems were suddenly--solved. Amazing! So, with me liberated from those ridiculous tasks, I moved on to simpler tasks, like paying my tuition, and dealing with wet and/or muddy cats. Super fun!

It's late, and it's tiring, but I want to ask; how was your Wednesday, people?

~Andrew

Quite times

Evening folks.

It's been a quiet one, tonight. Some weeks are long and packed with events, but this week has just been one short quiet one, like the calm before the storm. And a hectic storm it shall be; give my two week notice at work, take a day to help teach kids how to make panpipes out of fleeceflower (or Japanese knotweed), pay my 8k for semester one (yikes), gear up for college, plan a castles of New England trip, attend a family reunion, and track down my roommates and talk with them. Sounds like a fun one!

I should count myself lucky, though. I get a week of peace to drink my tea and play my music before the brunt of my responsibilities fall on me. The best part of this week is sitting around and researching bits and pieces of information to make my new persona's garb set. So far, it looks like the early 14th century would be nice to play off from, seeing as most of the pieces are from around that time,but the only thing that may be off would be the use of a citole.

A grandfather of the guitar, the citole is a four through six stringed, fretted instrument, played from the 11th century through to the 15th century (or so I am led to believe), with many different variations and materials used in the construction of the instrument. I'm hoping to get something with five strings, and a longer neck (as most are less than 12 frets); somewhere in the range of 16 to 20 frets, and a modest body size to match. Some might wonder why I wouldn't use a guitar instead, and call it close enough. For me, I want to have a citole either way, and in this case, it wouldn't hurt to try and make/search for one. The issue comes in with my preferences being closer to the 15th century model of the citole, rather than the 14th century (of which is still the short necked four stringed thing). This might go unnoticed by the average person, but to me, it means a lot to be as close as possible, without going overboard. I am not the glistening star of the SCA in attendance, but I try to make up for that with accuracy. I try not to be farce with my (poor) accenting and actions to depict the times, but I might do so from time to time. Either which way, I enjoy it, so whether it comes across as a farce or not, it really doesn't matter

What does right now is getting some sleep and plotting out my next few moves carefully. Next week will not be smooth, but I think if given enough time to process it, everything might work. Either that, or I push it off until the last minute and then let fate and luck take the wheel while I roll with it. That sounds like a plan, right?

Goodnight everybody. Enjoy the evening, and the stars (if you can see them where you are).

Put a story to the name

I had just realized while looking through other blogs that I don't think we have ever fully introduced ourselves or posted a picture of what we look like and who we are.

Andrew and I (technically) met in 2009 when I was a sophomore and he was a freshman in high school. I say technically because while we knew of each other we didn't really start becoming friends until later. Our school was very small, containing about 65 students, so everyone knew of everyone else. He was the quiet kid who played his guitar in the corner while I was the loud leader who was a key part of the school as a whole. We had our little talks but most of our interactions were that of fellow students in a tiny school.

Andrew then

Me then

Our friendship really started through a conversation we had where we both expressed a liking of the old retro game Monkey Island from the 90's. We had both played it as kids and he had a copy still playable. We installed it on my laptop and that was the first time he had ever been at my place and the first true sign of friendship. I was a junior, he was a sophomore at this point. Our friendship grew through mutual things we liked to do. We would meet with friends for Dungeons and Dragons meets, I started to visit his place frequently and his family began to know who I was, and at some point in there I had developed a crush on him.

While I had a little crush on him, we didn't start dating until later. I had things in my life I needed to work out and he had things in his so we never really sorted things out until my senior year, his junior. I mean I was only 16 or 17 at that point and you know how 16 and 17 year olds are. After a while it had gotten to the point where I was seeing him out of school nearly every weekend and we both had a study hall together where we hung out during school. We would talk at school constantly and text when we were out and around mid December I asked him out. I don't remember the exact date I asked him originally, but December 27th was when it was really labeled as official. I still remember his face as I drove away that night. Happiest I've ever seen him.

The rest of my senior year was fantastic and before I knew it I had graduated in 2012!

I was off to Fitchburg State University! I will say, this was our first hurtle but we got through it fine. Since we had gone to school together for the past 4 years, it was strange not to see him at school every day anymore but we had our ways of seeing each other and our relationship really grew. 

His brothers and I that summer.

I started to join in on family parties. 

He graduated the next year in 2013 but took a year off to earn money and figure out what he wanted to do.

It feels as if I have become part of his family and I find that really cool. I know his extended family really well and I am invited to nearly every family party. Plus his young cousins like me more than him but not that I'm bragging or anything. 

This up coming year, I am going to be a Junior at Fitchburg State and he is going to be a Freshman at Plymouth, even though we are only 4 months apart in age. I'm a pro at the college life at this point so I'm giving him tips and I know he'll do just fine. 

And I know we'll do just fine, too. 

Wicked Warm Wednesday

Wicked hot out!

Lord, it was profane over here! I may not be the best judge of temperatures, but I think it can be agreed by many that 93 degrees (Fahrenheit, thank goodness) in the shade with 90% humidity, is a might bit unpleasant. Especially in two layers, pants included.

Why you may ask, was I wearing two layers? Because I'm a wimp, and the uniform service my company has gives shirts and pants that leave me with amazing skin abrasions and rashes. So naturally instead of being logical and laundering the uniforms myself, I wear my own clothes under my uniforms. Makes sense in the wintertime, when the building is resting easily in the single digits (-5 to 5 on average), but during the summertime, it's stifling.

So now that I've complained about my self induced misery, let's get on with some lighter subjects. Despite this week being uncomfortable, this has been a fairly mild summer. Mild and interesting to watch, with pop up thunderstorms and torrential downpours. It's been a good time to wander in the woods, and check out plants that are around in a new light. Ever since I learned of Homeopathy and (entirely separate) Medieval uses of plants, I've been checking out everything I have here to see what it does.  Like yesterday, for example. You ever heard of Lycopodium? I hadn't heard of the thing before, but apparently it's in the family of clubmoss (or creeping cedars), and looks sort of like little tiny pine trees. It turns out that in the Middle ages, entertainers would harvest the spores of this moss and dry it out to be used in the strangest way. They'd blow it into a spark or flame, and the spores would erupt into a low heat, fairly explosive fire (if you want to see an example). The spore cloud only really works if it's airborne, otherwise it will burn slowly and surely where it rests (in large piles). It doesn't re-ignite, no flashbacks, and it pretty easy to harvest...Looks like it's time to learn to blow fire!

Which speaking of fire, have you ever held a fireball? I want to, and recently found a way to do so! Take nail polish remover (acetone), a lighter and a cotton ball. Rip the cotton ball in half, crumpling the halves up and soak them in the nail polish remover, rolling the things around a little to cover them completely in acetone. Then wash your hands and wet them a little with water (for safety). Then, hold and light. It's said you shouldn't hold the ball for more than a couple of seconds, so be sure to be careful with this. The thing that gets me is that this can't be healthy to breath in the fumes for this, or to burn this at all (I'm quarrelsome when it comes to the environment). So instead, I'm hunting for a more environmentally friendly fireball maker. Pine pitch burns well, and hot, but it might be too hot and powerful for controlled fire play. We'll see what comes of that. I'm thinking it could be possible, if I'm liberal with the water buckets, and sparing on the pitch, it might go well (maybe).

Wow. From hot day to fire. Interesting combination....

But that's not what I meant to talk about with lycopodium! It not only makes a good fireball, but it also make a good medicine, for Arthritis pain, muscle cramps, and food poising, and more. When mixed homeopathically (if that's a word), it can be used for ear aches, fear of crowds/ anxiety problems in general, gall stones, and again, more. It amazes me that something so small and simple can do so much, and come from a small plant, commonly overlooked. Spectacular!

Generally, that's all I have to share this week. A little heat, a little crazy fire, and a little home remedy work. Enjoy, and have a good evening, everybody.

Running about (Eventfully!)

Well this last week was a little underwhelming.

Actually that's not entirely true, there were plenty of exciting things, it's just that I didn't have a camera to take pictures, or the will to write about them at the time. Now that it's been a week, I think I've gathered everything up to share.

First Eventful thing to happen was last week Sunday. Tasha and I helped out at the NH Farm Museum (I'm there every Sunday either way) finding out what was in their raised beds. For the most part, it was a nightmare, fraught with weeds and chickens hiding in the soft dirt. That took a good two or so hours out of the day, and, as it turns out, gave Tasha a mild case of sun stroke.
Not fun.

Instead of trapping her at my house, it was decided that getting her home was priority. Driving her home in her car (with my brother close behind), we were pulled over. About two minutes after we started. Awesome!
It turns out that our rear tail lights were not lit, so we got a warning, and a tap on the shoulder from the universe. We went a couple of miles before we stopped and checked the lights, the caveman style. I smacked the tail lights a couple of times, and boom, lights are back! However nice it was to get the lights back up, we decided to camp out at my house again, because something felt off with that pull over.
That was the first event. The rest get better from here, I promise.

The next event was on Wednesday. I had invited a friend to go bowling with me, he picked the place. He chose Exeter Bowling Lanes, in Exeter NH. That was a little ways off the beating trail for me, but then again, most things are when you live in the backwoods. An hour and ten minutes after work, I got to the place, which was off on a residential side road, if you would believe it. No wonder I got lost!
It was great to see him again, and his wife (for the first time). we laughed and were most insensitive together while we played our four or five rounds (I didn't even keep track of that). He is the better of the three of us, running nothing lower than a seven on average. She's close behind with nothing lower than a six or five. Me? My average is three or four! I honorably took my place at dead last and let them duke it out for first. All and all, it was a great night, plus it was only about $38 for three people to bowl for an hour on a lane and get a pizza to share. A good time indeed!
The ride home is another story, though. I had to park under a highway overpass when the rain outside got to be too blinding for me to carry on (people going 15 to 20 mph on the highway). Immensely powerful storm, though thankfully short lived. After that passed by overhead I was racing back home in a timely manor, so I could get up in the morning(still got there around 11:45). I am not a nocturnal person in the least, so the drive home was rough, which made the getting up in the morning brutal. Fortunately, cats are great motivators...

The third event of the week was antique hunting in Northwoods with Tasha. We only made it through one of the antique places, but that was because it was huge. Three stories of the stuff, and more there than you could see in a week. We were having fun just cruising around, looking at all of the things that we played with as kids that were in the display cases and finally worth their weight. We aren't all that old, despite knowing and having used most of the things there; Tasha played with antique toys at her grandmother's house when she was a kid, and I work at a museum. Between the two of us, we knew plenty of the items, and were amazed that these things were still around.
I decided that it would also be worth my time to pick something small up, to show some patronage to the place, so I found a sort of letter opener. It's too short a blade to open letter, it's copper coated steel, and it's razor sharp (still). No idea what it was used for, but I took a fancy to it, and it was something that I knew I'd use. And like that, It was used the very next day.

On second though, this week was anything but underwhelming. It was pretty good. Really good, actually. I hope to have another one like it this week.

That's all I've got to share thus far. I hope you've all had an eventful week as well.

~Andrew

Wicked Wet Wednesday

Wicked. it's a New England thing. Wet is an everywhere thing, and awesome in the form of a downpour

So, this past week was nice, full of entertaining adventures and new discoveries.  For starters

Cats like to sit wherever they please, that includes boxes of miscellaneous and insignificant things. Why that is, I don't know, but it was funny to watch him try and maintain his dignity while cramming himself into a junk box. Like watching someone try to be composed and cool while napping--it can't be done. Regardless, he enjoyed his new spot for a couple of minutes,  then the phone ruined everything. He nor I knew the phone was in that box with him until the thing started ringing beneath him. His face went from happiness to horror as he sat there and looked at me. "FIX IT." .The whole ordeal must have be traumatic for him, because I haven't seen him climb into that box again.

Speaking of boxes, they aren't as easy to make as it once seemed to me. Plane the boards, joint, nail, hinge, and varnish. Simple, right? Nope.

It may not look like it, but that's 22" of  shavings from the boards. And this is just a 36"x 16"x 12" box. Three trips with the blue barrel in the foreground, stage left. That took two hours as is, and the heat of the day certainly didn't help anything. 89 degrees in the shades, with 92% humidity--it was like doing everything in a sauna. A miserable, godless, sauna. Actually, I shouldn't complain all that much about it, seeing as the work was light, and mostly just trimming, shaping, and jointing. In all truth, it was a great day.

The best of it was when the thunderstorm hit. Around three in the afternoon the storm rolled in, and man, it was violent and beautiful. I sat back by the screen door and played my guitar, basking in the wonderfulness of the downpour. I can't stress how fantastic that was. Highlight of the week right there. If I could divulge the secret of making personal storms, believe me when I say there would be a storm every third day from me to the world(can't be rainy all the time for you guys). Not much beats a good downpour after a humid day, or a moderate day, or even a nippy day. Actually, a good downpour seasons just about any day--like salt. If you didn't get a storm where you were, I'm sorry.

The best I can give you is the sound of a storm to work with. I hope you enjoy.

Goodnight people. Happy Wednesday.
~Andrew