#been testing out a new editing process for my cottage living posts

[a-froger-epic]

Get out your glitter leotards and pour some champagne in your cat mugs! 🥂 🍾 It’s time to celebrate Freddie! 🎉😸

🎊 Freddie Mercury Weekend 2021 🎊

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

ABOUT THE EVENT

This weekend is a content creation event in honour of the man himself, the legend we all love, Freddie Mercury! Once more, everyone who is inspired by Freddie is invited to share their creativity with the fandom. You can write, draw, edit, record, even cross-stitch 😉 content for absolutely anything related to Freddie, any ship, any genre, any way you like. This is an indiscriminately inclusive, positive event. Everyone is welcome, there is no wrong way to be a fan of Freddie! (Except convincing yourself you're dating his ghost maybe. That's pretty wrong. And weird. Don't do that.)

WHEN? On the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of May.

HOW? On the above dates (or after!), post your contributions to the AO3 collection or alternatively on Tumblr, tagged ‘#fmw2021’ or/and ‘#freddie mercury weekend 2021’. If you post on Tumblr, please also tag @a-froger-epic to make sure you get a reblog from me!

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

THE PROMPTS

You can be as free with the prompts as you like. They are here to inspire, there is no wrong way to write them! Change them around, mix them up, make them fem!Freddie, A/B/O, add your favourite ship. Anything goes! 😊

21st of May - 500-1000 word challenge!

We’re kicking off the event with ficlets and drabbles. First time writer just testing the waters? No need for an epic, just write a scene! No time to write but you want to participate? Surely you’ll find time for 500 words! 😉 Interpret these mini-prompts however you like (every one is a separate prompt, but you can combine them!):

Make-Up 💄   |   Pain/Pleasure 👀

Strip 👕   |   Ring 💍

Forbidden 🤫   |   Delilah 🐈

Piano 🎹   |   Dormitory 🛏 

Outrageous 🎉   |   Contentment 😌

Come Together 🎇   |   Ballet 🩰

Piece of Art 🎨   |   Leather 🧥

Cockring 🐔   |   Kimono 👘

Petals 🌸   |   Leotard 🕺🏻

Mustache 🧔   |   Last Time 😔

22nd of May - Is This The Real Life? 

A list of real event/canon timeline prompts from Freddie’s life. How real you want to keep them, however, is entirely up to you!

Down in flames

Freddie is 16 years old when he leaves boarding school. Does it have something to do with the school gardener, Sanjay? Did he flunk his exams or did he not even sit them? Is one thing connected to the other? Does he really find a boyfriend when he goes to stay with his aunt in Mumbai (then Bombay)? Either way, there’s the small matter of his parents finding out about all of it... (Sources: x x )

When Freddie met Kenny

Freddie is a guest on Kenny Everett's radio show in spring 1974. Freddie is living with Mary, Kenny is married. Two gay men, deep in the closet. To no one's surprise, they hit it off immediately. (Source: x )

But when did he? 

At some point during his relationship with Mary, prior to his relationship with David, Freddie had already begun sleeping with men. But how and when did that first happen? Cottaging in London? On tour somewhere in the world? Your guess is as good as ours… 

Flying High

Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll. Like all rock bands of their time, Queen doesn’t escape the copious amounts of cocaine in the entertainment industry for long. Somewhere on tour in America, perhaps, Freddie is first introduced to it. Where? How? 

Hide your tears

Jim said that he tried to be strong for Freddie and only cried in private, so as not to burden Freddie with his feelings. But this time, he is found. 

One-liners:

In 1969, Freddie doesn’t know how to cook an egg and neither does Roger (Source: x )

In 1977, Freddie meets Joe while on tour in Boston and starts dating him behind David's back

In 1990, Brian and Freddie work on 'The Show Must Go On' (Source: x )

In a year of your choice, Jim reminisces about his fondest moment(s) with Freddie

In 1976, Freddie and Mary end their relationship 

In 1984, Winnie gives Freddie a wedding ring (middle of the post: x )

In the late 60s, Freddie agrees to model for an Ealing Art School fashion show, but panics and flees the runway (Source: x )

In 1974, Freddie is strip-searched upon arrival in Australia (Source: x )

In 1982, Freddie and Roger go shopping in Amsterdam (Source: x )

In 1978, Freddie swings from a chandelier - naked (Source: x )

23rd of May - Is It Just Fantasy?

A list of AU prompts to spark your imagination. Take them and run with them or change them up, just have fun!

Make your dreams come true

Freddie hasn't been very fortunate in his life, until he finds a very special oil lamp, and rubs it just the right way. 

Beautiful stranger

Freddie meets an alluring stranger at a masquerade ball, who has more secrets than he can hide behind a mask. But Freddie has some of his own. 

Thicker than water 

Freddie agrees to a dreadful fate in order to save his little sister from the very same. Fortunately, he has friends who are more than willing to help him, but can they? Or are they, too, in danger?

Diamonds are a boy's best friend

Freddie is the prized jewel of the court, a skilled belly-dancer and entertainer, but he may also be plotting murder and getting away with it. 

Almost Real

In a distant future, humans have all but done away with face to face interaction. Humanity largely lives online. Children grow up isolated and live with only their families well into young adulthood. Cybersex is the new normal, although some families take a puritanical approach for fear of addiction. One day, impossibly, a real life young man falls through the containment field in Freddie’s back garden. 

One-liners:

This plane is going to crash (Freddie knew there was a reason he hated flying) 

Shipwrecked on an island (Freddie could never bear to be alone, but luckily/unfortunately for him…) 

Hunger Games AU (Freddie is so dead) 

A terrible road accident (Everyone is so dead, or are they?) 

Blind Date AU (Freddie's best friend is so dead for setting him up with this person… or are they…) 

Bank robbery (but who are the robbers and who are the hostages?) 

Magic AU ("Yer a wizard, Freddie!")

Film Noir AU (Secrets and cigarette holders) 

Interior Design AU (Does the carpet match the drapes?)

The Bodyguard AU (“And I will always love yooouuuu…”)

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

RULES & FAQ

⛔ Strictly No Hate ⛔

This is the NUMBER ONE RULE of the event, to ensure that everybody feels safe. No rudeness, provocations or hate aimed at creators or other commenters will be permitted, not on AO3 nor Tumblr.

Follow these steps if you receive a comment or ask that distresses you:

Do not engage. (You can take a screenshot as proof.)

Delete it. No ifs, no buts. Just delete it. (Don’t hesitate to block anon hate on Tumblr.)

Alert me ( @a-froger-epic ) or @aboutnothingness, who is lending me a hand to make sure all needs are attended, all questions are answered and everything runs smoothly. We are here to actively support you. We’ve got your back, and we will gladly talk to you and help you feel better.

If you choose to ignore this rule, your work may be removed from the event. We would hate to resort to that.

But what if one of the works has upset me?

Can the thing that upset you be tagged, but it wasn’t? Then please inform @a-froger-epic or @aboutnothingness, and we will bring it to the creator’s attention. (Remember to use the appropriate tags, everybody!)

Was the thing that upset you already tagged? Or is it perhaps simply the characterisation you find disagreeable? Then we suggest you click on the ‘back’ button, take a deep breath and remind yourself it's just fanfic.

Who can participate?

Anyone who is inspired by Freddie Mercury in any way shape or form. This event is open to all.

Can I combine prompts from different days?

By all means! We look forward to your futuristic Freddie-gets-kicked-out-of-boarding-school Maycury Film Noir AU. With leotards. Go crazy.

I'm not sure where my creation fits in, what day do I post it? 

The days, like the prompts, are only suggestions. We don't mind when you post it, as long as you post it! Even if it's two weeks late! 

Help, I've never posted fic before! 

Don't worry, we've got you! (And more importantly, we've got AO3 invites!) @aboutnothingness is more than happy to walk you through the process of setting up an account and is also offering her services as a beta.

I’m still too nervous to participate!

You can post anonymously to the collection. You can disable anon comments on your work. You can disable comments entirely and just collect the kudos. You can close anon asks on Tumblr temporarily. But most importantly, we are here for you and we want you here!

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

“I love the fact that I make people happy, in any form. Even if it’s just half an hour of their lives, in any way that I can make them feel lucky or make them feel good, or bring a smile to a sour face, that to me is worthwhile.”

- Freddie Mercury

#Freddie Mercury Weekend 2021 #FMW2021 #freddiemercuryweekend2021 #fandom event #Queen fandom #Freddie Mercury #it's here! #REBLOG REBLOG REBLO-

[brainfoodgp]

The Seeds for Wellness Journal is written by Brain Food Garden Project’s Founder/Executive Director Sean Brennan

The Seeds for Wellness Journal is edited by Kira Labinger

“Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance” ~Samuel Johnson~

The world has completely changed as we knew it in just a matter of a few short weeks. The once crowded New York City streets are empty, conveying a post apocalyptic feel, as if they were transported into the Will Smith movie Legend, albeit, before Fifth Avenue became overrun with weeds and shrubbery, and zoo animals escaping, reclaimed an abandoned cityscape as their wilderness. The few people out walking in my neighborhood to go to the market, for example, are wearing surgical face masks. This is all extremely reminiscent of the movies we used to pay good money to see at the cinema to have the shit scared out of us, like Contagion. Now, it’s just an everyday reality that we get to witness free of charge.

Not that I have been doing much walking around lately, because 11 days have now passed since I started demonstrating mild symptoms of the COVID-19 virus. Trust me when I say even “mild” symptoms have been no walk in the park. Soar throat, check. Aching body to the point of feeling like I’ve been hit by a bus, check. Low grade fever, check. Tightness in my chest and mild difficulties breathing, check and check.

Speaking with my doctor and finding out from her just how crazy it is out there right now, made the reality of what I’ve been viewing in our Governors televised daily briefings even more real to me. They still don’t have anywhere near enough tests. So, when she told me to stay put, drink plenty of liquids and to keep her posted if my symptoms got worse, I almost felt relieved. I can’t imagine using up a test that could help someone that might really need it. All I can say is that the guilt would have been more overwhelming for me than the virus; trust me.

And yet, through all of this, signs that a majority of the human race is still overwhelmingly kind, generous, compassionate and hopeful, shines forth all around us. And, while our authoritarian, fascist President and Senate majority and collaborating Governors and some other state officials continue to demonstrate their utter cluelessness and ignorance, others have stood out and stood up for ensuring that every life counts, no matter your political party or socioeconomic status. And have stood up for their belief in science, our researchers, medical professionals and first responders. Americans have even embraced our newest heroes: the men and women that stock our grocery stores and the cashiers who check us out. Millions of people who make minimum wage, and who most people look straight through when going about their day checking off their to-do lists, are now wearing masks and risking their own health every day to continue to go to work for us.

Yes, the world has changed. And, while we have no clear idea how long we will have to continue to self-quarantine, self-isolate, and self-distance, the one thing I know and believe to be true during this pandemic is that the Mental Health Peer Advocacy work force will go down as heroes too. We are on the frontlines of this crisis every day, doing what we have always done: providing resources, listening without judgment and using our own lived experience to assist people in putting their fears and anxieties into context and create their own understanding and path to move forward when this is all over. During this great world tragedy arises our moment to shine, like a bright search light cutting through the darkness and bringing hope. When this is all over, no one will ever again be able to doubt the power of our movement, the importance of peer support and the deep and endless well of empathy we supply to our communities all around the world. What I now know for sure is that no one will ever have the right to question our relevance and our place of importance within the psychiatric medical establishment again.

Below you will find the number for the New York State COVID-19 Helpline.

BFGP Feature:

During Difficult Times Finding A Silver Lining Makes The World Seem Less Dark

Living with manic depression is, at the best of times, like riding on a non-stop roller coaster. And, at its worst, like living through a perpetual highway collision. Yet hundreds of thousands of people like myself, all around the world, do live with it and do find paths to manage their symptoms everyday. As a matter of fact, I have written about many of the tools I use personally in quite a few of these Seeds for Wellness Journals.

Whenever my anxiety spikes, so too does the potential for me to tailspin into a depression. One of the wellness tools I’ve come to rely on is looking for a silver lining in whatever is happening in my life, especially those things my mind perceives to be bad or horrific. Applying my “silver lining” rule curtails the perceived threats before they have the chance to pull me down the rabbit hole.

When I started seeing more and more people wearing masks on the train as I traveled each day to meetings for BFGP or to the Baltic Street Community Resource and Wellness Center, I honestly didn’t think much of it. After all, I had lived with suicidal ideation, many suicide attempts, and two long stays in psychiatric hospitals. It wasn’t until more and more of my scheduled work meetings were cancelled and then the call came for me to close the Center until further notice and send all of the participants home, that I started to think, “Oh, this might actually be serious”. However, even then, I thought the world might be held up for a week, two at the most!

After a week in, I knew that I was about to be living in a much different world. My calendar—my lifeline to keeping my incredibly busy life organized—started to look like a blackened, crossed-out mess. It resembled the few attempts I’ve made at filling out the New York Times crossword puzzle in pen! More meetings were cancelled, then Board meetings, then conferences I was scheduled to speak, workshops I was scheduled to facilitate. I found myself staring at an empty calendar, that used to be filled with my well-planned life, and I began to sweat.

When it sunk in that the pilot volunteer garden program, Connect-Garden-Grow, that Brain Food Garden Project was planning to role out in the spring for mental health peers, was not going to come to fruition this spring, with no end in sight for “social distancing”, that nasty, gnarled footed rabbit with talon-like claws for nails and bloodshot red eyes began to stick its head menacingly out of its hole, beckoning me towards it. And I felt myself inching closer and closer.

And then I stopped, I took a deep breath, and asked myself: “What is the silver lining in all of this for me?”, There has to be one, I thought. While taking a long, hot bath, I found it...TIME!!

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve said: “I am behind on this project” or said to a friend: “Oh, I can’t meet you for drinks because I’m booked that evening for a committee meeting.”, I’d be a very well-off man. Add a dollar for every time I’ve heard a friend or work colleague say those same types of things to me. And I’d be able to retire now, move to Ireland and buy one of those quaint thatched roofed cottages by the ocean that I love looking at on Facebook!

TIME—we are all always complaining about not having enough of it. Maybe it’s to read that book you’ve been dying to read, or to cook a meal for your family, or to paint that masterpiece. And now, we have nothing but time. So, alright, I can’t meet a friend out for a drink right now. But, before I got sick, I had martinis over the phone with a friend I hadn’t seen in months. And we laughed and gossiped and had the best damned time. Another friend of mine and I, in a similar scenario, talked on the phone for over an hour. I hadn’t been able to dedicate that kind of time to our friendship since I took her out for her birthday in February!

As many of you know, because you’ve commented on it. I haven’t written a Seeds for Wellness Journal since Mental Health Awareness Month last May. I’ve also fallen behind on writing the BFGP cookbook, 33 Delicious Recipes for the Brain. Why? Because other work-related priorities got in the way and I had to employ a process of elimination. New things filled the top of the priorities list while others fell to the bottom and stayed there. And now, I’m catching up on that important work that I enjoyed doing just as well.

I’ve decided that I want to make the most out of this time I’ve been given right now. Because when the pandemic is over, and it will be over, I don’t want to look back on this moment, as the racing speedway we call life zooms back at full throttle, and feel like I squandered it. I refuse to feel like I’ve missed a golden opportunity. Call it being more mindful. Call it making the best out of a terrible situation happening to everyone right now. Or call it my silver lining—an opportunity to turn the sickness, isolation and death into something that makes me feel whole and that provides some sort of meaning to this strange time.

What silver lining have you found during the self- distancing and mandated isolation we are all living through with the COVID-19 outbreak?

Baltic Street Community Resource and Wellness Center: Creating A Virtual Eye In This COVID-19 Storm

As many of you know, that follow any of Brain Food Garden Project’s social media platforms, some time ago, I partnered with Baltic Street’s Community Resource and Wellness Center. Baltic Street AEH, inc. was the first of its kind—an agency, created and managed by peers, to serve peers. It was a shining beacon in the sense that mental health survivors were at the helm of steering the ship of their own recovery and destiny. Today, Baltic Street remains the largest, most respected peer-operated program in the country. Brain Food Garden Project aspires to be a peer run and operated program—for peers, by peers— as well. So, when Baltic Street AEH, Inc.’s CEO, Isaac Brown, and the Center’s Director, Sara Goodwin, and Manager, Laurie Vite, wanted to expand the Center’s nutritional programming and to create an indoor garden space, BFGP and I seemed a natural fit. I had already created a garden space for a housing program in Queens, NY. And I facilitate Feeding Our Mental Health workshops for schools and mental health programs and organizations as part of our programming.

I began to work out of the Center three days a week and, after several months, was invited to be the Center’s Senior Peer Resource Specialist. Having already fallen completely in love with the participants and the resources the Center provides for our community, I felt it was not only an honor but a joy to work side-by-side with Laurie to continue to expand my duties. It didn’t hurt that I would work only three days a week which would allow me to continue working with BFGP’s partners to build our first mental health peer rooftop garden, as well as working on other important programs and projects.

It has been an extraordinary experience! And just when we were starting to plant our indoor greenhouse for spring ( as well as having recently added a hydroponic tent) and preparing to celebrate the Center’s 10 year anniversary of serving NYC’s mental health community. The Coronavirus outbreak closed the Center, like many other organizations and businesses, until further notice.

One of the things I love most about the Center is that, at its core and heart and soul, it operates with a Peer Resource Team who work everyday in this incredibly creative space that inspires us to be at our best, “Always in SERVICE to our community.”

At the time of the “shelter in place” order, our Director, Sara had already been out on medical leave for several weeks, recovering from an arm injury. And Laurie, the Center’s Manager, would be returning from a three month family leave taking care of her 93 year old father. Her official first week back would be our second week working from home in quarantine. In several conference call meetings with Laurie, during that first week as she still took care of her father, I kept coming back to this theme in our conversations: “How can the Center still be of service to our community with our doors closed?”

First, I pitched a “warm line” where the Center’s Peer Resource Specialists could be available for anyone that needed to talk. Isolation, for many of us, can be activating. It can bring on depression and create a cycle of reliving past trauma. As I mentioned earlier, I was quarantined in my apartment for less than a week when I started heading toward falling down the rabbit hole, myself. Having been the first team member from the Center to receive my new work phone, I myself, tested out the idea for the warm line that Thursday and Friday. I realized that our Facebook page would need to become even more of a tool for providing our community resources, so I posted my work number on the Facebook page. I was super excited to hear the voices of several of the Center’s participants that first day that I tested out the idea!

Second, the Center thrives on the groups, clubs, workshops and field trips that we offer to our community. I decided to put together and pitch phone-in workshops and groups that would take place 4 days a week in the afternoons lead by our Peer Resource Team. Now, going on week three, we have expanded to two workshops a day, with both morning and afternoon sessions, starting on Monday April 6, 2020. The morning sessions, are from 11am to 12pm and our afternoon sessions continue to run from 3pm to 4pm.

Laurie loved the ideas, and after getting fast approval from Baltic Street’s Director of Operations and with the assistance of Baltic Streets incredible technical support engineer, we held our first teleconference group the Monday of the second week of the quarantine. The Center found a way to continue to be of service to our community— to literally became the “virtual” eye in the storm of the Coronavirus.

To join the Baltic Street Community Resource and Wellness Center’s Facebook page click here if you would like to donate to Baltic Street AEH, Inc. click here

The Feeding Our Mental Health Workshops are held every Tuesday from 3-4pm Call-in information is provided every Monday on the Brain Food Garden Project social media platforms as well as the morning of the scheduled groups on the Baltic Street Community Resource and Wellness Center Facebook page. And to receive a flyer of the full list of weekly group offerings by email: [email protected]

The Baltic Street Community Resource and Wellness Center Warm Line operates five days a week Monday-Friday from 10am-3pm

Warm Line Mon-Fri. From 10am-3pm

Mon. Call Peer Resource Specialist Robert Santiago at extension 917-653-5390

Tue. Call Peer Resource Specialist Christina Correa at extension 917-653-5632

Wed. Call Peer Resource Specialist Paul Wachtel at extension 917-686-9385

Thurs. Call Peer Resource Specialist Sean Brennan at extension 917-982-9747

Fri. Call Peer Resource Specialist Caitlin Haughney at extension 917-653-0408

Notes From the Resistance:

The Coronavirus pandemic has been a reminder to most Americans that our countries little experiment with Authoritarian Fascism has been an utter disaster and failure—destroying countless human lives in its wake. The resistance has been the only thing standing between even more human suffering. And with COVID-19 and the horrifying response of 45 and his collaborators, the resistance continues to be a necessary source to protect the people suffering at this time.

1 in 7 people living in the United States live with not knowing where their next meal is going to come from. Food insecurity is unfortunately a challenge that we have sadly, not been able to overcome. During the pandemic this national crisis will only expand getting worse for millions of Americans. If you have more than you need at this time. You may want to consider donating to God’s Love We Deliver by clicking here. Or another excellent organization doing incredible work is Chef José Andrés World Central Kitchen you can donate by clicking here.

Baltic Street Community Resource and Wellness Center in association with Brain Food Garden Project has created a NYC guide, Resources for Avoiding Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Crisis. To receive a copy of this resource tool email: [email protected]

It is so very important that during this unprecedented crisis we assist our neighbors, friends , and families to avoid unnecessarily experiencing food insecurity during this crisis. The resistance is the perfect organizational tool to move this vital work forward.

Delicious Recipes For the Brain:

I love this simple crockpot recipe! I make it all winter long. I happened to make a big batch right before I got sick and it restored my soul!! First, you can roast your own chicken for this recipe. However, it isn’t a prerequisite. I make a delicious roast chicken, which recipe I’ve posted in a back issue of the Seeds for Wellness Journal click here. However, this time I bought a pre-cooked roaster from the deli section of my local grocery store. This recipe can also be made completely vegetarian by subbing out organic, sodium free vegetable stock and replacing the chicken by adding a package of Shiitake and a package of Cremini mushrooms to the Button mushrooms.

Ingredients: (Cooking time 8 hours)

(1) Whole Roast Chicken

(1) Package large button mushrooms (or a selection of your favorite mushrooms)

(1) Package of Cellery

(2) Lemmons

(3) Red Bell Peppers

(6) Peeled Whole Garlic Cloves

(2) Packages of Zucchini “noodles” (if you have the proper tool and want to shred your own you will need 3 large whole zucchini’s)

(3) Medium red onions ( if you love the flavor of onions but not their texture you could sub out 3 tablespoons of onion powder)

(2) Large containers of sodium free chicken stock (I prefer organic but that is my preference)

(2) Cups of water

(5) Tablespoons of Cayenne pepper

Crushed sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

(1)Prepare your vegetables by chopping them to your liking.

(2) Pour both cartons of your chicken stock into the crockpot

(3) Add the two cups of water to the stockpot

(4) Crush and add the garlic cloves, salt and pepper, and cayenne pepper to the stock.

(5) Add your chopped vegetables and two packages of zucchini noodles to the stock.

(6) Add the roasted chicken to the center of the crockpot

Place lid on crockpot and set timer for 8 hrs. After the first 4 hours remove chicken carefully and place on a cutting board let the chicken “rest” for 30 minutes allowing your soup stock and vegetables to continue cooking.

Remove the chicken meat and skin from the carcass adding the chicken meat back into the soup. Allow to continue cooking for the remaing pre-set crockpot time.

Squeeze the juice of your two lemons into finished soup, serve and enjoy!

[bryonysimcox]

Four wheel driving, van repairing and living slowly: Week 6, Spain

It was a week mostly spent in a cottage in the hills, editing films, fixing the van and exploring Iberic villages. It was a week of taking things slow. Here’s my round-up of week six on the road.

By far, this has been the least ‘eventful’ week on the road. By that I mean we haven’t done loads and loads of travelling around, exploring or seeing lots of different stuff. But it has made me realise two things. Firstly, the reality of vanlife is that there will always be weeks like this one just past, where we knuckle down with work and van admin. And secondly, that time is the greatest asset of all.

Living slowly is a revelation.

I’ve always been the kind of person who tries to cram as many things as possible into a  day. Even if I’ve got a spare ten minutes, rather than just chill out I’ll look for any small job or activity I can do to ‘make the most of’ that time. The downside of this approach is that you’re always rushing around, you sometimes don’t give a task or activity the attention it deserves, and you’re often late because you never quite finish one thing before another pops up!

Life on the road feels like a therapeutic process which is deconditioning me from being so busy all the time. Rather than thinking about the next job I need to do or how I could make something even more time-efficient, I’m taking things one by one and really relishing activities which I might’ve previously avoided because they were ‘indulgent’ or slow. That has meant reading more books, cooking, and this week even playing my violin (which I promised myself I’d play, given that we’ve brought it all this way!). It has also meant reaching out to friends and family, and being there for others.

(image) ‘It’s okay, I’m right behind you’, my latest collage for Analogue Bryony which was made in the Barraca.

I think there’s something in the ‘slow movement’ that we should all consider. In the modern world, the idea that time is the most valuable resource we have and that we should indulge ourselves in it has been replaced by the idea that time is money and efficiency is king. It’s kind of scary that I’ve had to embark on a trip like this to see how wrong that is, and to unburden myself from being a slave to efficiency.

Spending solid days and long hours working on filmmaking and admin for Broaden makes day trips and adventures even sweeter when they come.

On Thursday, I insisted that we get out and about. Even though we have spent most of the week staying in the ‘Baraca’ (the small cottage in last week’s post), George transformed the van parked on the driveway into his own editing office and practically locked himself in there from 9am - 8pm most days. By Thursday, I was keen to explore the region around us, and George was keen to test Suzi’s 4x4 abilities, so we headed north, up towards the Iberic villages of Ullastret, Peratallada and Palau-Sator.

It was only thanks to recommendations from a family friend that we found the villages, as they were tiny settlements away from the coast. We took some pretty sketchy roads to get there, but were really impressed by how well the van can handle off-road situations, especially when put into four wheel drive. Suzi the HiAce has selectable 4WD, which means that she’s only in 4WD when you switch a button and go outside, twisting the locking hubs on the front two wheels. This manual 80s style approach may seem antequated, but so far seems pretty foolproof and means that we can cruise along in 2WD most of the time when it suits.

(images) A pretty fun morning of proving Suzi’s off-road abilities!

A series of fortified medieval towns with narrow streets and stone buildings, the Iberic villages were utterly charming.

Ullastret, Peratallada and Palau-Sator all had a similar urban structure, with an old town wall and circular street pattern. Churches, markets, towers and prisons were some of the key historic buildings, and Peratallada even had a castle situated in its core. Ullastret was perhaps my favourite, not least because so many of the modified buildings featured beautifully-designed and understated architectural interventions. It was definitely apparent that Catalunya is a wealthy region, because even civic elements like street lamps, bins, railings and paving stones are well-designed and well-made, carefully crafted to remain in-keeping with the impressive historic setting.

(images) The historic Iberic villages: peaceful and charming.

(images) Sophisticated architectural detailing characterised these towns.

From the villages, we headed east to find one of the famous beaches along the Costa Brava - a beach I’d been recommended called ‘Aigua Blava’. We’ve had so many great travel recommendations, and surprisingly many of them have been from Australian acquaintances (it really is true that you Aussies see a lot of Europe when you visit this part of the world!). Aigua Blava lived up to its name, with aquamarine water framed on both sides by fancy hilltop houses and a small sandy beach. Unspoilt by the tourists of summer season, we practically had the whole beach to ourselves. Of course, I had to go in for a swim too.

Wild swimming feels like another part of living ‘slowly’ and of being present. It’s my way of connecting with my surroundings, of celebrating the natural world and the incredible opportunity George and I have to explore these places.

(image) Another wild swim in the bag, still cold this time of year but the stunning setting of Aigua Blava made up for it.

On the note of celebrating the natural world, I’ve been determined to spend as much time as I can outside. That said, it can still be pretty chilly here in Spain even though it’s been really sunny. Whilst George spent most of the week putting the final touches into the running documentary in his van-office, I stubbornly insisted on working on my laptop outside, on the porch in front of the cottage and wrapped up in lots of layers! From my ‘outdoor office’ I wrapped up some graphic design for the running documentary (artwork to be released soon), researched film festivals to enter it into (any recommendations welcome), and pitched our videography services to countless potential clients.

(images, left to right) George editing in his van office, me wearing all the necessary gear to be working outside, and the grape vines which surrounded our cottage.

Launching a videography channel and company can feel like a bit of a daunting task, but I’m generally finding that George and I have a lot of complementary skills. It’s really nice having someone to bounce ideas off, and the more we produce, film and edit together, the more we can learn from each other and fill in the gaps of our knowledge. I know it feels like every week I say we have video content coming soon, but I really can’t wait to release some stuff to show you all. That said, filmmaking is a time-consuming process and in the name of living slowly, I’m going to embrace taking as long as we need to get the videos ready!

Sunday was our last day at the cottage and saw us dedicate our time and energy to Suzi the van.

There had been a growing ‘to do’ list for the van, and so we finally set about getting it done - cleaning her out and fixing her up. It’s hard to admit it after the painful van-building process, but George and I have realised we actually really miss having a building project on the go. We both love making things, and are already plotting future tiny-houses and electric campervan conversions (yep, just six weeks into this trip…!). So on Sunday, it was all hands on deck. I cleaned the floor and all the drawers and shelves, which collect dust and dirt so quickly. I also installed some latches on cupboard doors, which have been propelling themselves open when we drive around corners.

Meanwhile, George set about replacing the headlights and reversing lights with LED bulbs. A few had blown, so we decided that if we were going to try and take off the light clusters, we might as well upgrade all the bulbs for brighter ones at the same time. The light clusters are an absolute pain to take off, and involve removing the grill and other parts (confusing construction seems to be a trend for 90s Japanese car design). Unfortunately the bulbs we had ordered for the rear lights and the fog lights weren’t the right fit, so those two are a job for the future.

George also fitted an LED light bar below the rear bumper so that we can see more with the reversing camera, and it worked first time! It’s so cool how many different types of LEDs there are on the market these days and how affordable they are. With a little bit of electrical knowledge you can do a lot of lighting modifications.

(images, left to right) Replacing old (and dim) bulbs, removing the headlight units to get to the bulbs, and George working underneath the van to wire up our new reversing light.

Ready to hit the road again, we rounded the week off by heading south towards Valencia.

Valencia is our next destination, but we plan on splitting the journey over a few days. The first leg involved us skirting around Barcelona, naïvely taking the ‘no toll road’ option which involved a huge detour and some insane elevation. The price of the toll would’ve probably been less than the time (and fuel) spent slogging up towards Manresa at about 40MPH! Nonetheless, we battled the hills and some insane winds and finally made it back to the coastal road.

Late Monday afternoon we stopped at Torredembarra and wandered along the beach. Eerily quiet, it seems this area is popular with holidaymakers through peak season and almost abandoned off-peak. We only stayed for about an hour, walking against strong winds with a beer in hand and photographing repetitive apartment block designs. It is the curious places like this that make travelling by road so worth it, because you can stop by for a short stay and see the in-between places, places just as locals see them, and places in their off-peak state.

(images) Golden hour scenes from the empty beachfront of Torredembarra.

It feels great to be living in the van again. We had a marvellous stay at the cottage near Palamós, but Suzi is our home, wherever that may be. I’m going to carry on living slowly and take each day as it comes.

Next week, Valencia.

#traveldiaries #SuziTheVan #toyotahiace #overlandadventures #digitalnomads #vanlife #BryonyandGeorge #vanliving #hiacevan #lifethroughalens #consciouscommunity

[alegendarystudentwonderland-blog]

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"car insurance quotes longview tx

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car insurance quotes longview tx

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""My insurance is not responding to my calls, but the other party insurance does after the accident. What to do?""

I reported about an accident to my insurance. Waiting for the police report, weeks came by. Now, I have the police report but my insurance is not responding my calls, but the insurance of the responsible party is. Who is in charge of fixing my car?""

What does insurance salvage mean?

HURRY I AM TRYING TO GET A CAR BUT IT SAYS INSURANCE SALVAGE SO IDK

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car insurance quotes longview tx

What is the best place for an 18 year old to get health insurance?

My ex is dropping my daughter from his insurance because she is 18. To pick her up on my insurance would triple my premium, which is already outrageous. Is there a reasonable policy out there for a healthy 18 year old?""

Best girls' car insurance deal?

What's the cheapest car insurance available in the UK for a 25 year old woman with 6 points on her licence? Do any of them do shorter term contracts than 12 months?

Car insurance company sucks!?

our was mini-van was smashed at the back.. it took 4 days before the car insurance company rented us a car. then after 4 days, a came from the company took a look at our mini-van and told us it might be totaled. then after 2 days, the car insurance called and said they will pay for the totaled car $2,500!!! the cost to repair is $2,700. We just got that mini-van a month ago for $5,000. the market value of the mini-van is $4,100. I thought that car insurance company always pay more than the market value.. so my husband told them we are not going to accept the 2,500 and we want the car to be fixed but they have not called us back til now. I think its so unfair just to pay us 2,500 and we just got the car a month ago for 5000. anyone wants to react there? and what should we do?""

""Why do we call life insurance, life insurance?

when it pays you for dying. Annuities are really life insurance. They pay you in case you live.

Cheap car insurance for 17 year old?

very cheap car insurance like (up to 1500)

""If someone hits your car and you don't have insurance but you weren't driving it, will they still pay?""

If someone hits your car and you don't have insurance but you weren't driving it, will they still pay?""

Which company offers the cheapest car insurance for a 17 year old male?

im 17 and i need insurance and wanted to know the cheapest

Im 19 years and i need a car but im woried about the insurance?

Hi im 19 years old. I have a good job but no credit. i recently saw this 2000 dollars car. how much could i be paying for the insurance.

Car crash information to your own auto insurance.?

I was involved in a car crash. But, it wasn't my fault. A driver hit me from back. I called his insurance company to file a claim. Do i have to call my insurance company, just to inform them about what happened? Is there a downside on letting them know about crash? Thank you""

""How Much would Car Insurance cost for a 2002 or 2003 Subaru WRX, not the Sti. Anyone know? Thanks! =]?""

How Much would Car Insurance cost for a 2002 or 2003 Subaru WRX, not the Sti. Anyone know? Thanks! =]?""

Insurance for 17 year old?

i was just wondering the cost of insurance when i turn 17 next year. my parents are paying around 800 each car on there policy. so when i get added to there policy how much approximately will it cost me?

America - Are you legally required to get Car Insurance?

In the UK you can't go on the road without insurance, is this the same in america?""

How would a Universal health care public option put private health insurance out of business ?

How would a Universal health care public option put private health insurance out of business ?

What is the cheapest car to insure?

My Boyfriend has just passed his theory test today and has his practical test in a few weeks. He's 19 years old and we live in England. He wants a cheap car to insure but all are really expensive the cheapest insurance he can get is on a Romeo Mini for 2,500 a year. So i was wondering if anyone could tell me which is the cheapest car to insure and who with? Thank you for your help, Secret""

Yamaha dt 125 insurance?

hi, i have been looking on ebay and i have found that i may want to buy a yamaha dt 125. i have been riding a speedfight 50 for a year and a half however i did buy a ajs 125 which by the way was a terable bike. i was wondering what the insurance usually costs for a dt 125, i have already changed my insurance once in the past 12 months to swap back from the ajs to my scooter (i blew the gear box) so that may effect it. thank you so much for any responce i get (PS sorry about the bad english, it all looks the same to me being dyslexic)""

Is life insurance premium deductible?

I got a life insurance on my own. I would like to know if the premium I'm paying is deductible? If you don't know if there a way to find out if it is.

80's Monte Carlo Insurance cost?

Considering buying a Chevy Monte Carlo from the mid 80's, I know that early muscle cars have very high insurance cost, while an average cheap 80's car has a cheap insurance cost. The Monte Carlo is somewhere in between these two depending on how you view it, so should I expect 69 Camaro insurance prices or 88 Civic prices?""

Cheap health insurance?

anyone know of any cheaper health insurance (maybe like $ 50/mo) i am a single student.

Question about getting your own insurance?

A friend of mine recently just got his license and he tried to go on his mother insurance who doesn't have any insurance. Well, she tried to go on her own and they said that she had to put every single person who has insurance on, which will cost like 500 dollars per person!! Anyways, will it be possible for him to get his own, and will it be cheaper? Also, his father has his license suspended but that was at least 2yrs ago or so. Do they have to know about this or is they way to keep it from them. And, Do you have to put money down when getting insurence?""

Do all car insurances check your credit?

Is there anyway you can still get car insurance if you have bad or no credit? Which insurance agencies are more leanient?

What is the normal procedure for a car accident without insurance?

3 weeks ago I hit a womans car in Sydney with my friends 4WD. I did not have any insurance on my side and now the woman's insurance wants me to pay for the damage. They gave me a call saying the damage was AU$ 5760 but if I would pay AU$ 2900 in the next 4 weeks that would be it for me. Now Insurance companies are not known to be humanitarian organisations so why would they let me get away with less money? I also talked to an Australian friend today who said the woman's insurance would have to give me three quotes on how much the repair of the car would be before they start doing anythin. Being a traveller I feel like the Insurance company tries to take advantage of my minimum knowledge of Insurance issues. So could someone please explain me the usual procedure for something like this?

Firebird 2003 owners. How much do you pay for car insurance on your Firebird?

Firebird 2003 owners. How much do you pay for car insurance on your Firebird?

Insurance estimate for 99 mustang GT for 16 year old girl?

I'm looking at a 99 mustang GT and some other years (all the 4.6L engine years....99-04 mainly) I was wondering if anyone would know from experience a good estimate of the price of insurance on it. It's bone stock. I know that if you make decent grades you get discounts and I make A/B's in all AP so I don't know if that would help very much? and I have never had a wreck or ticket, & I am just turning 16. This would be my first car. I'm looking at one GT coupe and one convertible. If you have an idea of how much more it would go up with a convertible please tell me. Thank you!""

Why is insurance cheaper on american cars than asian cars?

I have a friend who was in accident a while back and the end result is his insurance doubled, and he can only afford to buy an american car rather than asian or german. Why is that in canada insurance cheaper on the american cars? Thank you""

Will buying a previously wrecked car drive up my insurance?

Im a new driver and my parents want to buy me an Acura TSX. I found one online and went to test drive it and found out it had been in a moderate car crash, but had been completely fixed and repaired. I went to the mechanic and he ok'd the car for me. We want to buy it, but is the fact that the previous owner crashed it going to drive up the cost to insure it?""

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https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/affordable-insurance-watertown-ma-jane-avery/"

[katiezstorey93]

This Cruise Ship Brewmaster Makes Beer Using Seawater

The Red Frog Pub & Brewery, aboard the Carnival Vista, is one of the first breweries in the world to operate on a cruise boat. The guy in control of the surgery is while he had been in school a Pennsylvania native who started home brewing, Colin Presby. Presby abandoned living to reside Carnival cruises permanently, after pursuing a career at the industry. He’s currently one of the many 1,400 workers who maintain the Carnival Vista working smoothly.

Since the Red Dice started filling up with guests one day, I sat down with Presby to talk about how to create beer on a moving vessel that was gigantic.

Extra Crispy: Just how did you learn about the Carnival brewmaster position? Colin Presby: I saw this job advertised on ProBrewer.com, and that’s where brewers start looking for work. It is a technical enough field where we are not looking at regular or Monster occupation websites. I sent a resume and cover letter. Basically it was trying to find a brewmaster at sea. I had been hired early in the flow of things. The brewery space was designed, we had branding and beer names, and descriptions, but not the liquid.  

I came on in late and instantly flew to the shipyard in Monfalcone and worked for a busy month at the shipyard and prepared, obtaining the brews in the tank. Technically we were an Italian brewery briefly before the boat set sail it had been shrouded in Italy and because it was not a boat that is commissioned.

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What were the challenges of establishing a brewery and creating beer on a ship? After we got things up and running, the main challenges were still logistical. It is an issue of getting things. As a brewer that is stateside, I am sort of spoiled by overnighting anything. You can order whatever you receive and want it there the following day, whether it is a live yeast culture or even a replacement component. There has been some adjustment for it.

This was a really different experience on many levels. First of all, it is the brewery I have worked in but it is also the most significant business I worked for by far. As the cruise line in the world, it is tough to compare to that. It’s the smallest and also the biggest and it is also in terms of where the beer is sold by us, and also we found it, it is sort of an interesting combination of a manufacturing brewery and a brew pub. It is like a brew bar in there’s that gratification and that I see people drinking the beer, and that I will chat about the beer with them and receive feedback. It is very personal and hands on and direct with the guests. Nevertheless, it’s also like a manufacturing brewery because we focus on our flagships with some seaonals because every eight or six times, it is 4,000 new visitors, so it is a completely new crowd every week. It will become a bit tricky.

In a straight home, I’d devote a great deal of time speaking about the beers that are currently coming. Because people are here for their eight times, I can’t really talk about this much shipboard. We do have a great deal of repeat visitors, but that’s months later on. It is not like, next week, come back and then try this.

Photo by natalie B. Compton

Where do you get the water from? In designing Vista, they left lots of good, forward steps with lots of our engineering. We’ve got a bunch of redundancy including electricity, in lots of our programs, propulsion, and lots of the systems, including our water manufacturing system. We’ve got a desalination and reverse osmosis plant complexes at which seawater is taken by us and produce the drinking water. We’ve got sufficient capacity in it to make our drinking water all. All of our water is created here on board. That gives a stable compound profile for my water to me. Some additional nutrient alterations can be made by me for the beers that helps, and that I want to brew but in general I’ve a starting point that is constant.

A lot of ships fill up and will go through a procedure where essentially they hook a hose up to the local water source at whatever port they’re at, called bunkering. This becomes their drinking water. That could be quite tough for me to deal with because it could be a different water every time. Now, I’ve a fairly consistent basis and that I will start there and brew.  

Can the motion of the boat matter when you’re brewing? If we have a circumstance where we have heavy sea warnings, and the captain comes on and makes the announcement, and I am scheduled to take up a batch, then I’ll reschedule and push it back a day.  

In the fermentation process, it will not affect things too much. My settling time slows a tiny bit as the yeast becomes roused back up. I just have to be cautious about purging the yeast in the floor. And then in my tanks that are working, because I do not filter, there will be some settling still from the serving tank. For the most part it’s a nonissue. But when the serving tank is low and we have heavy seas–it has gotta be both states–then we get a bit more cloudiness and a foamier pours. It happened twice that I have had to take something.  

So can you live on the ship? I dwell on deck zero in a tiny cottage. I have my own cottage, which is a great perk. It is little but it’s my own. No Woman, that is fine.  

How does your program work? Do you have off? I am a shipboard worker, which signifies a workweek. In fourteen days I’m working. 1 way is that if you’ve got your vacation, it will be six weeks to three months dwelling. You can sort of think of that as all of your weekends. I receive all of my weekends at once.

The forfeit is that I work through continuously. I am able to some degree control my hours I can get out to time and see some places that are really cool. I have had some chances, especially during our European season, see things and to find outside some time that I never would have had the chance to see differently. But I am also at the mercy of this brew cycle.  

How do you balance your personal life and this particular job? It is tough. It’s. I purchase the societal networking website bundle every day. Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp–it is tough, although they’re crucial to staying connected with people back home. I miss things. I miss people. I miss events in individuals’ lives. That part of it–boat life. It is a whole lot of fun. I meet folks. My crew members are excellent. We have got this always group of people. So it is not the very same folks, but new people movement in and fit in and it is this environment on board.  

PHOTO BY NATALIE B. COMPTON

Do you really feel as though time passes by very quickly and blurry in this eternal summer of boat life? Yeah. I can’t tell you exactly what day of the week it’s. It is home port, sea afternoon daytime. That’s it. It is some combination of those, which means you lose track of the times of this week. Time moves really quickly. It does. Months disappear. Lots of times you believe in terms of Oh, it’s two aisles from now and then the cruise is gone. It’s 1 cruise from now.  

Can you wind up saving more money because you are living on a boat? Oh yeah. For sure. Not discussing items in detail salary-wise, but the identical salary on boat ends up more savings because I am not paying for rent, I am not paying gas for my vehicle. In Pennsylvania we have to drive. I am not paying for food. It is a box of granola bars from Target every week if food is got by me. It is not a complete cart of groceries. So I am saving plenty of money that way. You are able to bank a great deal. This works out well financially. There are sacrifices, obviously. It is a lifestyle I would not have always seen myself doing before but there are many aspects of it that are just wonderfully rewarding and fulfilling.  

Just how long can you see yourself operating in the railroad world? Some time. As soon as I started, I did not understand. I didn’t have a great idea yet. To be fair I took the work and believed,  I’ll go see. Because I am craft beer, and a craft beer guy is a really inward focused area. In the craft beer universe people do not do outreach out there. We do more reaching across. We search for people who already drink craft beer at this time and rather than reaching out I am going to do something cool to entice them.

When I started because I did not understand what Carnival desired it was interesting. I didn’t understand what guests desired, or how this would relate to me personally. It was that my boss, from the start, our VP of beverages, and everybody on the Carnival team has been very supportive of moving in a beer management. Whether that has thoughts about food and beer pairing, or brew some seasonals. From the very beginning my boss said, “Hey, even if you wish to boil seasonal, experimental beers, then test batches, then go ahead. We want it for a brewpub.” Pretty early on I had been reassured with that. It has been both personally and career-wise very satisfying.  

You say you’re employing another worker soon. Are you looking for? We are looking for someone. But someone who is able to come do this, because not everybody is. You’ve got to be able to leave house for six months at one time, regardless of entanglements you’ve got, whatever that involves. In addition, you need to be able to work a shipboard environment, in this environment. In addition, we conduct drug tests, that may weed out some brewers. Brewers might not be got by us from Colorado, I guess.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.

Source

http://extracrispy.com/drinks/4421/this-cruise-ship-brewmaster-makes-beer-with-seawater

from network 8 http://www.cheap-discount-mexico-cruises.com/this-cruise-ship-brewmaster-makes-beer-using-seawater/

[topfenstrudel]

going home (1/2)

Surprise! A cow didn’t eat me! I’m here! With writing! The first of two parts. The end of this one will be re-edited a bit when I post the second, I got a bit tired today but it was a good place to finish off.

I’m going to dial back the updates to once every three weeks because uni this semester is going to be a little stressful. We’ll see how it goes.

(Background: Tempname Jamie is Ryan’s best friend, whom Edgar has had to put up with on his first day of school. It all went well and Edgar is feeling confident. Skip to the end for comments.)

The bell finally rang.

Edgar let himself blend in with the students shuffling out of their classrooms, letting gossip from Jamie be washed away underneath the chatter of his classmates eager to find respite at home, the wave of bodies carrying him towards Ryan’s locker.

Threading his way out of the crowd, he dragged out his bag – barely annoyed, at the moment, how heavy it was in his limp arms – and followed Jamie as he walked opposite to the way he had come in that morning, past the classrooms, out the building, out the gates, and out of school.

Jamie paused and turned back to look at him.

“You wanna come out to the chippy?”

He leaned against the wall nonchalantly. “No thank you. I’m fine.”

Jamie frowned, disappointed, but Edgar smirked and beckoned him over, pretending to look around for children listening in. When Jamie came up close, he leaned in with one shoulder. 

“I have to escort Ebony home,” he whispered. “You know how it is. Don’t tell a soul, remember?”

A look of understanding passed through Jamie’s eyes. He nodded. “Gotcha,” he whispered back, turning to leave.

“Alright then man, see you.”

As Edgar waved goodbye to Jamie, he felt his heart being filled with something approaching relief.

That was the end of his suffering for the day. No more excruciating hours spent sitting and listening to assorted drivel that he already knew. He had the feeling that there was more of school than this, but chose to ignore it. You had to take the little victories as they came.

Violet tiptoed up behind a tree and waved at him. He tipped his head, gesturing towards a gaggle of students, who were ambling towards the main street.

A metallic voice rang out in the air.

“You know, you can take the bus,” Titania said.

“I’d rather not,” he muttered into the air.

There was a rustle of fabric as he assumed she shrugged, the ringing fading away. “Well, if you’d rather.”

He pushed off the bricks and turned to leave for home, Violet following him.

Busy with the afterschool crowd (or what passed for busy in this little town), the main drag was lightly abuzz with students and their parents coming and going, cars parking and groceries and children being messily loaded in.

Violet lagged behind, surreptitiously, trying to pretend that it was trying to pretend it wasn’t following Ryan home, occasionally stopping & staring into a delicatessen display and trying to look interested in homemade jams.

A quaint village, to be sure, he thought, as they walked down the pavement. It had been a good decision to refuse Titania’s offer of taking the school bus. He really had felt like a stroll. But that wasn’t the only reason he’d had to walk home.

Some boys were loitering outside the second-hand bookshop ahead of him. He shrugged his backpack down off one shoulder as he passed, copying their mannerism.

Step one in any good evil plan was information. And if there was one thing he was lacking, that was what it had to be. Information on the path, the area, on blending in with the locals (he felt like he was doing a good job at that) – anything on his new locus operandi.

When he’d arrived here a few days ago to enact his previous evil plan, he hadn’t really bothered to look around. You couldn’t really blame him. His current situation hadn’t exactly been the expected outcome.

As he reached the corner and the end of the cute little shops, a few cars passed him by, a warm breeze blowing the straps of his bag. I could get used to watching peasants go about their business, he thought.

It was almost pleasant.

The shops were replaced by brick townhouses; the townhouses by sparsely placed cottages. As the red of brick was replaced by the green of the hedgerows and the pastels of the flowering fruit trees and faded stone of sparsely placed cottages, the people, too, petered out, until they were the only ones left walking the path. Violet jogged up to walk next to him.

They walked, Violet relaying the information it had gained. Edgar somewhat distractedly shared his misadventures in return (not much of a gift), more focused on trying to observe the winding of the lanes, obscured by the maze of hedgerows. They were trudging through the maze of hedgerows for the

Until the winding country lane suddenly turned and reached an old, towering hedge, behind which could just be seen a cute little cottage, that he recognised from last night as home.

Edgar arrived at the gap in the hedge, looked up at the house, and came to a stop.

Everything about it was old. Whoever had looked after it had obviously not enough time or money to replace any of the fittings, but it had been a grand enough house that a rusted gate or peeling white paint had trouble marring its splendour, and they had made up for it by putting a lot of effort and love into keeping it otherwise well-maintained. The windows were decked with baskets of flowers. Cosy.

Directly in front of them, between the gate and the house, lay a well-manicured garden, herbs, carrot tops and spring blooms poking out of the beds.  He didn’t think it wouldn’t be winning any awards, but he appreciated its serviceability.

Violet lingered behind him, arms crossed in thought, as he observed the house. He pushed his hand lightly against the top of the garden gate, testing its sturdiness, and it creaked.

“What do you think, Violet?”

He turned to look at it. It met his gaze, and nodded sagely.

“It looks cosy. I like it,” it said.

“Exactly,” he agreed proudly.

A bit quaint, but it would do. He could allow himself to appreciate the hard work of the peasantry, occasionally.

Edgar unhinged the gate and strolled inside.

“Hello dearie!”

He shrieked, dropping to the ground where he stood.

Ryan’s mother was standing, hidden behind the garden hedge, holding a rusted trowel. Her dark green overalls were coated, top to bottom, with dirt. An embroidered patch in the shape of a rabbit had been sewn across the chest. She waved a gloved hand at Ebony.

[TO BE CONTINUED]

Bonus Comments

Notes on this piece:

Jamie: Ryan's best friend. He's the sort of guy who walks around with his pants fallen half down and his undies hanging out (not particularly sophisticated, meant to be a lot of things that Edgar despises). Having said that, those sorts of guys tend to associate in packs, so it's kind of weird that someone like Ryan (wimpy and milquetoast-y) is friends with him. That's not some sort of foreshadowing by the way it's just a reflection

Names: Background characters are temporarily named after British TV personalities (I can’t keep them because they’re a little too on the nose). Nigel is in the running for Jamie’s actual name. I mean, it’s the same, but it’s a little less conspicuous so it makes me feel like I’m smart.

Edgar vs. Ryan: I’m not decided on when to refer to teenage-bodied Edgar & Violet by their actual names vs. their body names in the text (obviously speech/limited narration will be from that character’s POV & isn’t hard to decide).

CRITIQUE on this piece:

Jamie should show more character. I haven’t used very expressive language.

“Reached the corner”: Everything from here is “the end of the piece”, I sort of just wanted something that made sense. The event at the end of town here should be something that makes him feel “above” and separated from the townsfolk (”these quaint peasants, living out their quaint and simple little lives” - it’s a backhanded compliment that more serves to raise himself in relation to them), the breeze is more suited to “the wind of adventure” or a relaxing summer’s eve.

Edgar should be looking down on the house more; the point of this segment of the chapter is that he is confident and feels above the townspeople (including his new family).

The pre-home post-town segment was just the easiest way to condense my wanky walk montage rambling. It probably doesn't flow how I want it to because I didn't put much thought into the parts that I picked. In general, I haven’t put much thought into flow beyond what was immediately obvious in “feeling wrong”, I’ll make a separate post about my process.

I didn’t work in that Titania is meant to be giving directions -> breaking suspension of disbelief / plot inconsistency with Edgar not knowing much about the location.

The major joke doesn’t land well because the build-up isn’t strong enough; the timing and tone is wrong.

What is the narration style, even?! Did you know there are different types of 3rd-person narration?! I didn’t!?

#frida's words of wisdom #writings #i have another writing snippet that is probably more polished (having had another qualified person actually look at it) #but i'm waiting on circumstances....