Sapphire
Dreaming away

Well, we are booked up today with contractors and a guy who is suppose to clean up the yard - so far he has not shown. It is really cold out today and windy. I am not sure if he will make it here in this weather. He was going to rake leaves, cut lawn and trim bushes. I have been trying all fall to get these things done but now it's late and no one seems to want the work, which is odd - it's suppose to be a recession here.

I laughed at your "ain't" - good for you picking up bad American slang! hahaha

I love that song and only listened to some of their works - not sure I will like all but I would like the softer sounding stuff and I love bands from that era. One of my favorite alltime bands was from England, but played here quite often - Renaissance - ever hear of them? I went to see them 3 times. Those were the days!

Glad you holidays were so wonderful. I am not decorating this year - we will go up to my son's Christmas eve and Christmas day for dinner. I will enjoy their two trees and his train set, that he build last year - so cute. I will tell you more about it later and send photos. I forgot to mention to you that I had read part of your emails about the holiday traditions and found it so interesting; but I didn't get back to them yet. Give me time and please forgive my delay. I may print those out to read offline or if I can figure it out, put that on my new Ipod Touch. It has retina display and it's wonderful for reading, as well as anything else one wants to do. I don't have the wifi set up at home yet, but I did go to a bookstore which had it and my library, also. I could plan on reading it then. It's much easier on the eyes than my computer screen, believe it or not.

Oh wow, I love this group - Scorpions; I had never heard of them before...are they from your country? I copied some of their videos. Nice job and I like this type music - how did you know? They sound like the classic rock bands from the 70's and 80's. I am still stuck in that era.

Well, whatever works for you room-wise is fine. You probably have less stress than I do having too much stuff; especially for my age. I need to rid out and give some stuff away and sell others. It all takes time.

Happy Sinterklaas, Miss Blue Sapphire! haha...I just saw a Podcast on the Hope Diamond. You would have loved it....that diamond is so fascinating and soooo blue! It looks more like a Sapphire.

Yes, orchestrating this home improvement stuff is not my thing but I have to do it. I have to roll with the punches, too..as the say. I am so behind in straightening up and putting stuff away. I sort of wanted to talk to a contractor face to face to see just how much room they need in each space before I jam up my areas of use. I am trying today just to put away my summer clothes but I woke up with my back aching. I am trying to ignore that and at least get a few things put away so I can find some winter clothes.
Construction will not take place until after the New Year I am sure. Only 4 contractors have called to meet, which means 4 more have to do so by the 14th. I have a guy lined up tomorrow to do yard work - another thing left neglected unfortunately.

Two of the general contractors called and set up appointments. Two of the heating contractors set up appointments as well. Now I am waiting till the other ones to call. The deadline for estimates is the 14th. I am wondering where the rest of them are. I guess they will call last minute. I thought I had a guy lined up to do yard work but now he is unable to come due to a foot injury. It is so hard to find anyone to do work these days. I asked the one contractor today if we were looking at construction to begin after the new year and he said yes. I should start now ridding out and also packing away china and breakables. The biggest obstacle is getting to my little bathroom upstairs. It is situated in a bad place to do construction. I can't really plan too much until I talk to all the contractors. I am sure it will all work out ok as long as I am steady and focused on the projects. Changing is never an easy thing but it pays off in the end.

Oh wow, I would love that show. My last boyfriend (talking about 10 yrs ago, how time flies) took me to this evening at a designer showcase house. He had worked on the electrical. It was this incredible mansion, in which each designer designed a room - unique and amazing! I was really in my glory that evening. They had an outdoor buffet/cocktail party, with various chefs that was equally amazing. I love house decorating, even though I don't have enough space or money to do a good job. I used to paint some wall murals and do stenciling. I did my son's room with a big rainbow for headboard and clouds on the ceiling and sky/grass with animals, an apple tree, etc. My friend saw it and had me paint a kids play room and paid me; by then, my son was in his teens and helped out. That was really fun. I still can't part with my magazines with all the decorating ideas. My back won't allow me now to do such painting but it was fun and challenging while it lasted.

hahah...you and your colors...you really crack me up! I can't wait to find it and read it. I am going out again today; then a lot of contactors will be stopping by to work up estimates for the home improvement deal. I am getting nervous but then again I tend to be sometimes and very high stung. I will get through it all if I take one step at a time.

Going to see Brooke this evening after my dr appointment. Haven't checked email yet but doing so soon. Always a treat to hear from you and see these archives revived! ha....I must assign you as 'archive keeper' of the Lawrence thread.

I have lots of packing material, boxes and bubble wrap so I will deal with it when the time comes. I may have to jam up closets and cabinets until the work is done. No it won't be a pretty site at all...it will be mayhem, but I can live through the mess for a time. The outcome is worth it.

I found a collection of Lawence work....now he will be with me always! It does contain "England, My England" but not "Mr. Noon"...I was hoping. Perhaps I will get you to copy the book in PDF file. I wonder if I can read it on the Ipod if you do so. That would be really cool. Thank you so much for offering to do so. One can also make notes on the side with will come in handy when re-reading "England, My England"...I am sure I need to and I will tell you I still haven't given up on it. Virgil has since he is taking a extended leave of absense from Litnet. I hope it is not permanent since he has been so valued here.

Ahhh the antiques...eeeekkkk owww...not sure how to go about it all - the packing up. I will just have to rearrange and pack what I can and then put where I think we are not having construction done. It should not prove easy at all. I will try to put all my books back in the bookshelf and take out the antique collection....

Hi Sapphire, wow - time really got away with me. I am sorry for such a long delay. Hope is on the horizon; although I may be busier this coming month (holidays) and January as well. Finally our home improvements are going to come through...and I think that will be quite soon...just hope it's after Christmas. You must tell me what Christmas is like in the Netherlands. Most likely I won't be putting up a tree here since we are anticiapting the construction and I will have more than enough to put away.

I bought myself an early present - an Ipod Touch. I love it so far and I haven't even been online with it yet. I don't have wifi here so I am waiting for a router I ordered today. I can go to my library next week and try it out. It is wonderful and I love the new retina adjustment feature for reading ebooks....