KKChat -- 3 September 2006

[Bynw]

[16:57] * KK has joined #Deryni_Destinations
[16:57] * KK sets mode: +q KK
[16:57] <DeryniBot> The smell from Wrengl's kitchen draws KK into the
chat.
[16:57] <Mistyck> hi Katherine!
[16:58] <KK> Hello, folks.
[16:58] <RainbowDragon> Hi KK, you made it!
[16:58] <Shiral> hi kk
[16:58] <Bynw> you made it KK
[16:58] * Bynw gives kk a hug
[16:58] <jewahe> hello kk...
[16:58] <Samuel> hello kk
[16:58] <KK> Yep, though this will probably be the last time for a
while. The movers start packing us up in the AM.
[16:58] <KK> hey, sam!
[16:58] <Shiral> Busy times ahead
[16:58] <RainbowDragon> are you nervous? Excited?
[16:59] <Kelric> you will be missed around here for a while
[16:59] <KK> Yep. Yesterday we got all the stuff down from the attic
and up from the cellar. I was in the attic pushing and carrying boxes
to the mouth of the attic, a kid was on the ladder taking them down and
handing them to Scott at the bottom of the ladder. Hard on the back!
[16:59] <jewahe> Did I understand correctly that you're moving to
Vermont?
[16:59] <KK> Excited more than nervous.
[17:00] <KK> Not Vermont. Maybe Virginia. You got the V right. :-)
[17:00] <Shiral> East, state starts with a V... close enough
[17:00] <KK> Yep.
[17:00] <jewahe> Ah...never been to Virginia...But have been to
Vermont...
[17:00] <Samuel> I thought you had your eye on a lovely little "fixer
upper" not too far from you...
[17:00] <Kelric> hey, that's within driving distance of Darkover
[17:01] <Shiral> Will definitely shorten KK's Darkover commute
[17:01] <Bynw> we've driven to darkover before
[17:01] <Samuel> california is within driving distance of Darkover.
Just depends on how long you want to drive.
[17:01] <RainbowDragon> I believe that is temporary housing only
[17:01] <Kelric> rotfl
[17:01] <KK> We flew in to Scotland for the day on Friday and looked at
a charming little pocket-sized gentleman's lodge that looks a lot like
a castle. It's wee, but we could just about fit it. But we want to
look at half a dozen properties in Virginia before we make a final
decision.
[17:01] <Shiral> well... not for just a weekend, it isn't Sam
[17:01] <jewahe> I've thought about doing a drive up the East Coast on
one of my vacations...heading up to Washingon, D.C. to the tourist
thing.
[17:02] * Dov has joined #Deryni_Destinations
[17:02] <DeryniBot> Dov enters the chat as RainbowDragon passes around
a plate of cheese.
[17:02] <KK> The castle here in Ireland is out of the equation. The
owner just isn't ready to sell.
[17:02] <Kelric> my final decision on whether I end up going to
darkover will be made on the 11th after I get my syllabi for my 2
monday classes
[17:02] <Shiral> Little will require less upkeep
[17:02] <jewahe> okay..newbie here...darkover?
[17:02] <Samuel> Shiral: yea, the drive would be 3 or 4 times the time
you stayed at the hotel.... but, it could be done.
[17:02] <Shiral> yes
[17:03] <Shiral> But that's way more time than I want to spend in
transit
[17:03] <KK> Yes, but it's remote--though within about 1-1 1/2 hours of
Edinburgh airport.
[17:03] <Dov> but you will still be able to buy the house in scotland?
[17:03] <RainbowDragon> Darkover is a sci fi convention that KK attends
[17:03] <KK> If we decide it's the one we want, after we've looked at
the places in Virginia.
[17:04] <Shiral> Held in MD on Thanksgiving weekend
[17:04] <KK> My main concern about Virginia--besides leaving Europe
before we're really ready--is the heat of the summers.
[17:04] <jewahe> okay...
[17:04] <Dov> i can relate to that
[17:04] <Samuel> KK If you come back to
[17:05] <Bynw> thats why we invented AC :-)
[17:05] <jewahe> Boy...I can relate to that, too...after living in
Memphis for 4 years, no where feels quite so hot anymore
[17:05] <Samuel> America, would you have Adam Sinclaire come over for a
visit and meet up with a "Hunting Lodge" over here?
[17:05] <KK> We <are> going to take a short vacation before we actually
make any move, since the critters will already be in the boarding
kennel.
[17:06] <KK> Hoping to do a Rhine cruise for about a week to 10 days.
[17:06] <Bynw> ooooh a Rhein cruise :-)
[17:06] <Shiral> Look out for Rhinemaidens
[17:06] <Shiral> You wouldn't want to lose Scott overboard
[17:06] <Samuel> Rhine cruise..... all those castles to explore
[17:07] <KK> Yeah, you see things on one river bank on the way, and the
other side on the way back--and you get to get off along the way to see
neat stuff ashore.
[17:08] <Samuel> I'd end up missing the boat if I got off.
[17:08] <KK> Nah, you make sure to get back in time. We did it all the
time when we were lecturing on cruise ships.
[17:09] <Samuel> I can make a quick 20 minute trip into a meuseam last
at least 2 or 3 hours.
[17:09] <KK> Well, yes. And sometimes you do have to move along more
quickly than you want to. it was that way at Mont St. Michel.
[17:09] <Samuel> when I'm looking at history, time and reality rarely
co-inside.
[17:10] <KK> Yeah, but a too-short visit is better than never to have
seen anything....
[17:10] <Shiral> It will be a nice time of year to float down the
Rhine, though
[17:10] <KK> Should be.
[17:10] <Shiral> Kinda have to prioritize about what you really want to
see, knowing you can't see all of it
[17:11] <KK> And I guess Pat and Kathi are cruising off Alaska about
now.
[17:11] * Bynw moves the i and e around from the english spelling to
the proper german spelling of Rhein
[17:11] <Mistyck> yes they are
[17:11] <Shiral> Let us know if you glimpse any Rheingold
[17:12] <KK> Point for Bynw. Of course it's Rhein.
[17:12] <Shiral> Says Herr Rheinherren
[17:12] <Bynw> ja
[17:13] <KK> Labor Day ought to be a good day for that.
[17:13] <KK> BTW, how many of you have been drowning this past week?
[17:14] <KK> I understand there's been a <lot> of rain.
[17:14] <jewahe> Not me...I thought Ernesto was going to go right over
us, but we only got the most outer bands of rain, and only briefly...
[17:14] <Samuel> Maura came to visit Yesterday and the day before.....
was raining both days.
[17:14] <KK> Up to a foot in some parts of Virginia?!
[17:14] <Shiral> Fortunately, I'm well out of Ernesto's path
[17:14] <Bynw> we had a really great cooling rain yesterday afternoon
[17:14] <RainbowDragon> We got a few sprinkles today and thats all
[17:14] <Mistyck> I'm a bit worried about my house in New Mexico
[17:14] <Bynw> it was wonderful
[17:15] <jewahe> We've had a pretty wet summer here...but it has been
really dry and hot at my parents' house.
[17:15] <Mistyck> Hurricane John pieces/parts are hitting southern New
Mexico
[17:15] <KK> I know that fall is in the air over here. And yesterday
our second batch of swallows flew for the first time--all but one
little bird who just sat shivering in the nest all day yesterday and
today. I hope he/she isn't deformed or something.
[17:16] <Shiral> I hope he/she overcomes the fear of flying before the
whole family disappears
[17:16] <jewahe> We've got another month before there's a hint of
fall...
[17:16] <KK> I hope the parents don't just despair and leave it to
starve to death, when they're all ready to head off to Africa for the
winter.
[17:16] <jewahe> It'll go from 90 to 40 in a week, too...
[17:17] <jewahe> Maybe it's just a late bloomer and will be out of the
nest in a couple of weeks.
[17:17] <KK> At least we did get to see them fly; batch #2 all grown
up. I actually found halfes of their shells when they first hatched.
[17:17] <KK> halves
[17:17] <KK> About the size of a thimble.
[17:18] <Shiral> Such little birds!
[17:18] <KK> It's amazing how tiny they are when they first hatch.
[17:18] <Shiral> Newborn babies of almost any species are pretty tiny
[17:18] <Dov> "...But the African swallow is non-migratory! (Monty
Python and the Holy Grail)"
[17:18] <Shiral> Relative to their adult size, anyway
[17:18] <KK> Well, these go somewhere....
[17:19] <Bynw> lol dov
[17:19] <Bynw> i was thinking that too
[17:19] <KK> And they come back around the first of May.
[17:19] <Shiral> They'll be bewildered to find someone else living at
Holybrooke
[17:19] <KK> Always to the same roost, year after year. They've got a
duplex up in our front porch. (Actually, it isn't really <our> front
porch, as of last Wednesday, when the sale completed. Sigh.)
[17:20] <Shiral> Welll... you did live at Holybrooke for a long time,
so it's hard to break old habits.
[17:20] <KK> Ah, but we've reminded the new owners that they must look
out for the swallows, and try to keep them safe. It's local tradition
that swallows are the luck of a house, and you interfere with them at
your own peril.
[17:20] <RainbowDragon> How long were you at Holybrooke?
[17:21] <Shiral> I hope they'll remember to reassure the chimneys,
too. =o)
[17:21] <KK> It would have been 19 years in late October.
[17:21] <RainbowDragon> ah, okay
[17:21] <KK> We came to Ireland 20 years ago last June.
[17:21] <RainbowDragon> then this move must be terribly difficult to
make
[17:22] <Bynw> i have just found out why i havent been bothered by the
kittens in the last 20 minutes or so ...
[17:22] <KK> Yes and no. We're ready for the next adventure, and that
includes downsizing. Besides, Holybrooke needs a family--which it will
get.
[17:22] <KK> The actual packing up and moving, though, is a bitch.
[17:22] <Bynw> they have been captured by sunlight beams in the bedroom
[17:23] <Shiral> No matter where you move, Packing is always a pain
[17:23] <KK> And I'll miss my kitties while we're in transition.
[17:23] <Mistyck> yep...I swore I wouldn't move once I got this house
[17:23] <Shiral> I think of moving with such loathing that I've been in
this apartment for nearly 17 years
[17:23] <KK> My cats love to chase sunlight reflected off the crystal
of my watch. Nicholas goes absolutely crazy.
[17:24] <Shiral> Nina loves that game too, KK
[17:24] <KK> Good Lord, don't you own it by now, Shiral?
[17:24] <Shiral> At least, with MY watch she does <G>
[17:24] <Shiral> Nope
[17:24] <Bynw> they should let you own it by now after being there that
fraking long
[17:24] <jewahe> That's the problem with renting...you pay out
continuously and never get anything back.
[17:24] <Shiral> I'm getting sick of the place, very noisy these days
[17:25] <Mistyck> Mika likes to play "stair troll" and make people stop
and pay toll...Evaine just sits in the front window
[17:25] <Shiral> But the thought of packing up 17 years of gunk strikes
terror in my heart
[17:25] <jewahe> But it is the only solution for many people, with all
the restrictions and red tape involved in buying a place.
[17:25] <Mistyck> I can relate to that, Shiral...in 8 years I've
collected so much junk, I can understand how you feel
[17:25] <KK> We've been culling and throwing out and recycling for
about 2 years now, in anticipation of this day.
[17:25] <jewahe> Purge...purge...purge
[17:26] <Shiral> Yeah.. I know
[17:26] <Shiral> I should purge
[17:26] <Shiral> The task just seems enormous
[17:26] <KK> It's looking far less daunting tham we feared, now that
we've got everything pretty much in the corridor and down in the great
hall. Packing thebooks will be the big chore.
[17:26] <Mistyck> I guess we both need to do it "15 minutes at a time"
Shiral
[17:26] <jewahe> I'm not a pack rat, anyway...I tend to get rid of
things along the way if I find I don't use it...I rarely keep stuff
"just in case".
[17:26] <KK> Just do a little very day, and it adds up. See FlyLady.
[17:26] <jewahe> But still, it is amazing what you do accumulate over
time.
[17:27] <KK> Oh, yes. And the bigger the space you have, the more
<stuff> you accumulate.
[17:27] <Mistyck> yeppers
[17:27] <Shiral> It just feels a little like moving the Haldanes out of
Rhemuth Castle
[17:28] * Shiral makes a tiny move to sound topical. =o)
[17:28] <jewahe> That's going to be my next major purge...the only
thing I horde is books...and I'm working up the courage to purge it
all.
[17:28] <KK> Anyway, I'd better scoot. The movers will be here around
9 AM, and we've got stuff to do before they arrive--and need to get
some sleep, too.
[17:28] <jewahe> well, not all of it.
[17:28] <Shiral> sleep well, kk
[17:28] <Shiral> Contact us when possible
[17:28] <jewahe> have a good night...
[17:28] <KK> I've even been culling books. Just can't keep all the
fiction, especially stuff that I'm really not likely to read again.
[17:28] <Dov> thanks for coming by, KK
[17:29] <Mistyck> good night Katherine, sleep well and good luck in the
househunting and moving
[17:29] <Dov> stay well
[17:29] <Shiral> On the eve of the great MOving Adventure
[17:29] <KK> I'll keep you posted.
[17:29] <RainbowDragon> Please keep in touch in the coming weeks, KK
[17:29] <Bynw> see you when you are able to come back online :-)
[17:29] <Shiral> Enjoy your Rhein Cruise
[17:29] * KK steps onto her Portal, waves good night, and disappears in
a shower of green sparkles.
[17:29] <Shiral> She'll have to set up a new portal in the new place
[17:30] * KK Quit
[17:30] * KK has left IRC