Finally! One of the pet shippers I've reached out to replied. I might just be able to get my dogs before Christmas.

... Gonna go bury myself in books and exploring the new to me city seeing as this socmed place has gotten supremely depressing - with good reason - but I cannot doom scroll. Things don't get done when I do that.

Well, That's a thing to wake up to. I guess maybe I'll be able to ship my dogs now if the gov is opening back up but dang...it ended the same way it always does, with the Dems capitulating all over again. Who would have guessed? Not surprised.

K There comes a weird point in language acquisition where you aren't actively doing translation recall and it just turns into a weird 'feeling' of the word. I have that with Nederlandse taal atm and I never had it with 日本語 or 中文.

Found a neat tea cafe in Amsterdam that had some 300 different loose and brick teas to try. I thought it was just a shop, was delighted instead to sit and talk with Wren for an hour over a nice red.

Still trying to figure out how to get USDA certs for the dogs and get them on a plane... Saw a dog that looked exactly like Pen yesterday and I cried. I miss my dogs.

Ok, cursory cleaned the 100+ year old sewing machine that was kept by a very good prior owner. So some of the decals are worn off - there's practically no rust and the thing spins freely. She's beautiful and I name her Mina.

Acquired a 1918 Wilhelmina hand crank sewing machine. Now to figure out how to do maintenance...

Fingers are numb from the cold, but there is something to sitting outside at a cafe watching the cyclists go by.

So... Advent calendar with ebooks you say?

Suggest time: If you are able to get hold of oranges/lemons on a good sale - slice and dry them in a low oven, store in airtight container, and add to black tea.

The area I live and the zones I travel through and the destinations I reach daily and weekly are well maintained from the buildings to the roads. It feels very strange because where I came from in Oklahoma everything was falling apart and rotting. The contrast is stark. Culture shock is real today

So, weird dysphoria hack around I found that works for me is perfume (I didn't say cologne cause that stuff doesn't last long scent wise) When I really want to present as masc I've found it adds that last level touch. Perfume wardrobes were weird at first, but it's helped manage the dysphoria...

@muellershewrote.com , have you seen this piece on the troops dealing with the shutdown?

How you know I'm a pantster without reading my book: I was making an Amsterdam canal house advent calendar out of cardboard scrap and pivoted into...a doll house? Wtf is this brain?

Holy crap! The Netherlands has wild green parakeets. Just had 20 of them fly over the house. I saw one back in August and thought someone lost their pet. Nope... they're just wild here.

Hi, yes Good news to wake up to Exciting stuff Please keep it rolling. I need my dogs and the closer we are to ending the shutdown, the closer I am to being able to bring them home.

Tried the lace weight yarn and have discovered the tiny hook I bought is way too big... 😲

Right. All y'all who remember the 50s-80s in active working memory Handmade Christmas tree topper from that slice of time. Got that in your nostalgia mind? Good, can you give me a link or an image that I can back track to an instruction paper? Thanks so much💖

If slow sewing is hard because eyeballing 1/4" isn't your thing and drawing all the lines on is too much work - use the old school method of marking your seam allowance on your nail. Done this method for years.

Played yarn chicken and lost on my second pot holder, so have to wait until Friday to find another ball of yarn. Got the tree skirt cut out and the half-square triangles for the Christmas stockings all cut. Still don't know what to do about the tree topper...

Mystery pack of quilt fabric appears. (It is for me) Quick template for Dresden plate style tree skirt drawn up. Accepting my Make-Do approach to this Christmas will end in a very floral tree skirt.

First Vinyl record I bought was Billy Joel's The Stranger I found at a thrift shop for $1.50. First one I was given was CCR Pendulum and I ran both ragged on a thrifted Philips integrated speaker set up.

Bought a ball of fine lace weight yarn - first time seeing it sold that thin, and a hook to match. Now to dredge up 7 year old childhood memories on reading doily patterns to make some snow flakes. Both grandmas taught all their grandkids to crochet. Of 21 cousins, I'm the only 1 still crocheting.

Wait wait wait You mean to tell me you don't call it DING DONG DITCH Bu knock-a-door or some other rhyming thing??? It's the cookies and biscuits And Pick-A-Mix and Mixed Candy all over again...

I miss my dogs...

Anybody have experience with international pet shippers? I need recommendations. I also need info on if USDA certs are being issued in a timely enough manner to get 2 dogs from the US to the Netherlands. Please help.

Something I love about the canals around my house are all the ducks. I miss having poultry and fowl, so seeing the water birds around has been very pleasant. Also when you spot swans walking through goose ladden pastures, you get dinosaur impressions, which I also love.

Crocheting hot pads because dang it all, I found yarn, but haven't found good chunky hot pads. No idea where to look...so, taking the "easy" route.

Got the material to start making paper chains for Christmas. I'm hoping to do all the windows this year. I'm in need of some thrift childhood nostalgia about now.

Because of US govt shutdown I can't get the certs approved to ship my dogs. Can I scream yet?

Been once, would revisit every year if I could. I found out about stuffing your pockets with heated vending machine canned tea and how beautiful snow falling in the midst of blossoms could be. 10/10 would do again.

Using up the remaining yard from Wren's bag project to learn amigurumi. Now to figure out if it's going to be a witch, a goblin, a zombie, or the Grinch, seeing as it's that shade of green.

Got a little Rolife Christmas train tree built today. My folks sent it to me as a housewarming gift, which was very kind. Also got a shoulder pad for a bike strap crocheted up in striped thermal stitch. Now to figure out what to do with the extra cotton yarn.

Opened the app to a list of doom. Going to close the app, go to the Action (kinda like a Dollar General) and my local thrift shop to find a way to handmake Christmas. Paper chains, cinnamon dough men, felt ornaments. Could make dried citrus ornaments too. Need a bit of cheer.

Invested in a jacket/shell for the Dutch rain. It's waxable for waterproofing and it can be hot washed to unwax it, which I like the idea of. I've been putting off waterproofing and now I want to fix it, but this head cold is making it REALLY difficult...

Because they have a breeding fetish, not a grasp of ethics.

Building anki decks from scratch because I'm a masochist...I mean I'm a judgemental jerk...I mean it scratches the listing itch.

I was just over the last cold. WTF? Sigh. And Wren's saying I will eventually stop getting sick, it's just new germs on this side. Wren hasn't sniffled even once. 😒

I've encountered them with some frequency in Europe. And it is a terrible texture. I would rather just drink straight from the glass at that rate and often do.

I didn't know I could insert images into anki decks... Muhahaha...this is going to be several days of work

Played Cult of the Lamb for the first time yesterday and throughly enjoyed it. It reminded me of Hades. I rather liked the cardboard style decor as the overarching aesthetic in a "All the world's a stage and you are just an actor for the director's whims."

...deep sigh Thought I was being clever while building a little counter shelf. And ended up with a bunch of super glue on my fingers. Good thoughts for my day of sensory overload if you would please.

K. Gonna just go with it and start playing Christmas music, I guess. *Looks both ways at the Dutch neighbors who have Christmas trees in the windows already*

Christmas lights and decor are all over the Amsterdam area, and not just for sale, but in actual use by businesses. Has my training of being aghast at US big box stores having Christmas decor out for purchase in August been for not?

If the people who wash the dishes and stock the shelves have to drive to work where you live because they can't afford the housing - you don't live in a neighborhood, you live in a theme park.

Due to wrist surgeries, I cannot read physical books unless they are laid on a table, which isn't comfortable for long. I can literally only read comfortably with a Kobo because it doesn't torque my wrists. People claiming physical books are the only way are ableist jerks.

Let's go learn about the Dutch Golden Age of art today... And try to find a wax seal shop that has an epic sign out front. www.posthumuswinkel.nl

Still trying to cope with Halloween not being much of a thing in the Netherlands. I didn't decorate a lot for Samhain, but that's because all the neighbors had that covered. Here? I keep thinking it's September because no one has decor on the window or in the yards. Culture shock I guess.

Ever get grouchy at your brain because 'storyteller' has been asleep all day and now that you want to sleep, he's decided it is the perfect time to ruminate on the next scene of your book in vivid detail but if you write it, it comes out as "I mangled applesauce with a tarantula."