8 years later

[gerisullivan]

On Friday, May 14, 2004, I handed over a down-payment only a few thousand dollars less than the full purchase price of Toad Hall 21 years earlier and closed on the Zeppelin Hangar and Toad Woods.

Today, I spent the afternoon at Toscanini's enjoying conversation and ice cream with several likely suspects from Improbable Research as a French documentary crew filmed us both collectively and individually. I heartily recommend Gus Rancatore's Pear Chardonnay Sorbet. If you like pears, anyway. From past experience, you can't go wrong with any of the flavors, though I must say that I had Grape Nut ice cream once (at Richardson's) and don't see any reason to compare the experience with the offerings of this supposed regional favorite at any other ice cream parlor, even if it was invented in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. (Written with a wave to kaffyr.)

The Zeppelin Hangar is considerably more filled than it was the day I moved in. Susan and Gavi are here for another week (yay!), Tillie and Jinx have taken up residency, and word has spread among the items at Brimfield that the Cardis (my Matrix) will hold most anything, making it easy for all sorts of things to follow me home. Eight years ago, it was the Wicker Awesome. Last week, 14 elephants and the feet of another fit in with room to spare. Okay, okay, 12 of the elephants are more literally elephant's heads and in the form of drawer pulls. The awkward 2-tier mahogany table I've used as an end table ever since the sofa arrived from Minnesota along with the rest of my belongings has been supplanted by an elephant cabinet. Each of its 12 drawers has an elephant-head drawer pull, there's an elephant on each end, and, yes, elephant feet on the bottom. The drawers hold a goodly amount of yarn. Win.

And so life continues. Long may it do likewise.

Comments

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

The elephant cabinet sounds fab! Glad things are going well.

[cowfan.livejournal.com]

You have a great place there. And the elephant cabinet sounds like a real find.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard "Cardis" before. Love it!

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

jamesb earned the naming credit on that one. He was one with the most intense first-hand experience of the car's greatest achievement -- spikeiowa and I stuffed him into the back seat along with UK and Reno party supplies in Montreal. James knew of what he spoke when he annointed the car with the title after hearing how many donated books it held for the SF Outreach Project's presence at C2E2 this year.

[thinkum]

I think we need pictures of the elephant cabinet. Either that, or Fred and I need to come visit so I can see it in person. ;-)

[jennlk]

Love the elephant cabinet. (at least my idea of how it should look.) Pics, please?

Cardis is an inspired name. We had a car like that once, and we used to call it the Car of Holding.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Irishman jamesb was the inspired one on the car name and oh, so much else that is good in fandom. Car of Holding is inspired, too. Win.

I'll try to post pictures of the elephant cabinet before too much more time passes. I'm letting myself be stopped by the fact that it's not as super easy as it was just a few months ago. I don't know why my smartphone stopped posting and emailing pictures, nor have I yet managed to fix it by poking around (my usual solution to such problems).

[kaffy_r]

IT WAS CREATED IN WOLFVILLE? AND I DID NOT KNOW THIS? HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS?

Fitz, for oh, so many things - your encyclopedia-on-drugs knowledge informed by a scarily omnivorous curiosity, your ability to make me go 'wait, wut', and so much more - I love you.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Love you, too. Always, through everything.