So, it is party time again, folks!

[wiseheart]

Each year this time, we launch my virtual birthday party, which starts on October 1 and ends on October 9 at midnight, sharp. The goals of the party are to post as many comments and collapse as many threads as possible, on as many new pages as we can. It is always great fun, as you can see if you check out the similar entries of the last few years.

This year, I'll also throw the real party at mid-time - and post the recipes of all the food that will be there for you, so that you can all participate if you want to. Virtual food has no calories.

Fandom-related discussions are as welcome as the ones about coffee or chocolate (just to name a few favourites from previous years), and, of course, pictures and recipes of birthday cakes. ;)

So, drop by, tell your story, post your pics or silly poems, ask questions you always wanted to ask and have a good time!

Soledad, in excited expectation




Oh, and by the way, to provide birthday gifts hobbit-style, I've got a revived story and a Kansas 2 update for you.

Enjoy!

Comments

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I am sorry to hear about your friend's bad luck! I bet she is extra annoyed because she missed your lovely party; it sounds like it was a great success, but that really doesn't surprise me. You put a lot of effort into making it so!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Ma'am!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I have learned to tolerate the existence of instant without complaint as long as no-one calls it 'coffee'. Mr EA drinks it a lot with milk (the man has to have some flaws...).

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Please don't stress yourself on our account; it sounded as if you were going to have quite a hectic day today, what with working in the morning before the party. I think you have deserved some time 'off' to enjoy your virtual party.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

And now we have thread-collapse on the third page! Woo-hoo!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

They look beautiful, and nothing like UK buildings! Is the one you live in wood-framed?

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

That sounds very convenient, and the second floor is good -- not too far to walk up stairs!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Well done! Does that mean you get tomorrow off?

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I am the same with the trains here; mostly I don't notice them. The occasional train does blow its whistle when it goes past -- there are some trains that don't stop at my little station, most notably the Belfast to Dublin trains -- and that I do usually hear no matter where in the house I am or if the windows/doors are open. The 'normal' trains, I usually have to keep an ear out for to notice. They have never disturbed me, especially at night. But then my bedroom window faces away from the train line, and when I lived in London my bedroom looked out across a busy main road towards a hospital with an Accidents and Emergency departments. So ambulances would come past with their sirens on, and even that didn't disturb my sleep. I could usually tune all the traffic noises out to the point where I didn't notice them, except on those days that were so warm that I opened the windows on both sides of the flat to try to cool it down.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Good friends, uproarious laughter, too much food to eat... sounds ideal! Trying to work out how cheesecake can be bombastic?

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Hello!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

It means I can take tomorrow off, because I have all of the stuff that is needed for next week sorted. On the other hand, I would like to get a little further with some of my teaching materials, so I might choose to do some more work tomorrow. It won't be anywhere near as long a day, though!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it is good to get ahead of oneself, but do take some time to relax!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I'm sure if we try we can get over 400 before we need to retire to bed!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

This ought to be at least the 390th comment -- shall we try to get over 400, at least, tonight?

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I agree with espresso_addict, your triple-deckers look lovely! I assume you like living in them, too, since I conclude from your comment that you have chosen to move to a new one when you had to move from the old ones.

One of my main gripes with flats in the UK is that they so very rarely have balconies; in Sweden, where I grew up, most flats will have a balcony, and it is practically unheard of that anything built this century doesn't have one. Out of the flats I have lived in and visited in the UK very few have balconies. It is actually one of the reasons I bought a house when I moved here rather than a flat; one of my must-haves for my new home was some outdoor space, either in the form of a balcony or a garden. I had never actually had a garden of my own before, so I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it. As it turns out, I love having a garden, so I am most pleased with going with a house, but I still feel sorry for the people living in flats and not getting any outdoor space of their own!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I should think so, especially as my browser tells me we are currently at 391 comments! We do seem to be racking them up, don't we?

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

We can do it!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Today we ended up going to a reclamation yard looking for a stone bird bath to put in the new part of our conifer bed. Sadly we saw nothing remotely suitable, though they did have paired stone dogs, lots of old-fashioned lampposts, huge whisky barrels, and numerous other peculiar objects.

We ended up instead looking at storage chests & kitchen tables, though sadly one of the local shops that we've bought good-value furniture at before now seems to be a tanning parlour. Urgh.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Well, I am having some time off right now, enjoying myself enormously! :-)

But yes, I agree it is important to take time off. I usually aim not to go into work on weekends, for normal situations to make sure I get a bit of distance and time for myself. However, I find when it comes to teaching, and especially teaching new (to me) courses as I am doing right now, there isn't quite enough time in the working week to get that week's teaching done, and prepare for the next week's as well as do the 'ordinary' work. I haven't actually had as late evenings this week, as I did for my teaching heavy period last semester; that is mostly because two out of my three lectures are at 9am. Late nights and early morning teaching just don't mix well!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

We're a chatty bunch!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

9 am lectures are bad enough when one is sitting through them, let alone having to give them!

What are you lecturing in?

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

We're doing so well -- this ought to be 398 or more!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

That sounds very idyllic, but I suppose also like it could get quite isolated. I love your description of your cottage; while my house from this century is definitely convenient (and crucially: in my price range!) it doesn't have much in the way of character. It is well planned, though and has a (relatively) large kitchen, with enough room for a decent sized dining table, so I am very happy with it. And given how much I hate moving, I am unlikely to do so again in the nearish future!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you have managed to get the best of both worlds: quite, but still with good transport links. It is very important, I think, to have the latter, so that one doesn't feel to cut-off from the world.