Last weekend I went to Mesa for a workshop on Patinas. I spent most of it in the studio working but here are some photos of what else I saw; the metal vessels are by David, who taught the workshop. 

Bunny Bravehart came along, of course, but spent most of the time in his pocket so he would not get burned.

This is York, a micro elephant that Bunny Bravehart met when we were in New York City a few years ago. Turns out Bunny Bravehart was hiding York in my sewing closet among all the fabric.

So what's York story? 

It turns out that York was born when her parents were in NYC with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey circus. Because she was so tiny - peanut sized; she got lost in the straw and eventually found herself in the sewers of the city. The alligators and crocodiles who were there showed her the ways of the city and eventually she developed the ability to camouflage herself and blend in with the subway tiles in various stations.  Where she foraged for food along with venturing out into Central Park to feast on nuts and cotton candy sold by the vendors and dropped by the tourists. 

It was during our visit in November 2016 visit, that Bunny Bravehart met York and she hid in my messenger bag. Here is Bunny Bravehart surveying the park.

again?
Yes again! Between Christmas and New Years we went to Texas again. Much has been happening.

First - we bought a THIRD house but this IS (really it is) the one we will move to when "we" retire. The house is almost 3,000 square feet if you include the bonus room and then there is the 1200 square foot workshop at the back of the property.   The house needs a bit of renovation but we knew that going in and the price was very low because of it. 

Secondly - we will be selling the second house we bought for two reasons. The HOA is a PITA. We have a neighbor who is part of the issue. He reports the slightest noise or issue the renters, of our house, cause.  I will tell you that both of us are not fans of HOA's but we had heard this was an OK one but I guess not. It makes us not want to live there. The second reason is that selling this house will free up a lot of cash so we can do the renovations on the new house. 

We left on our road trip Christmas day and on the second day between Tucson, Arizona and Fort Stockton, Texas we experienced a high plains blizzard. It started on Saturday December 26th. First as we crossed into New Mexico we had some rain then it was sleet and then big snow flakes but nothing was sticking to the ground. When we crossed into Texas, it has stopped but it started again just outside of El Paso. By the time we got to Fort Stockton is was 28 degrees and the wind was blowing bad.

We woke up on Sunday the 27th to the actual blizzard, 27 degree weather, about an inch of snow on the ground and a cloak of ice on the car. I had to crawl into the car on the passenger side that had less ice and force the driver side door open. I got the car started and turned the defrosters on full blast since the ice on the window was probably a quarter of an inch thick. Almost an hour later with lots of scraping, the window was clear and we could hit the road and luckily we had an all wheel drive car. 

See that blue area? That's where we were. 

The roads were not closed but there were not a lot of cars driving and the I-10 was not being plowed but the trucks and cars that were moving had made a small track we could also follow. So it was 40 mph for most of the day with the snow/sleet/slush/rain and high winds battering us as we went. We saw several accidents along the way - mostly single cars or pickup trucks that had spun out. Along the way we would get in lines with other cars and big rigs and just stay together until the big rig would struggle to go up a hill dropping to as low as 30 mph and then we would speed up and gently pass them cause remember we did not have to get up to 60mph, we only had to be faster than them - so one car would pull out and eventually all would and we could get past the big rig. As we got closer to Texas Hill Country the storm became rain with thunder and lightening. What should have taken 4-5 hours was almost 8 hours.    

Monday was dry and we had no issues in New Braunfels. We went to the new, new, new house to start the walk through for the renovation changes.  We completed this on Tuesday with a very, very long list of lots of little things to do and fix plus pictures of the worst things in case we need them for reference. We also spent more time in both New Braunfels and San Marcos just wandering and looking in shops to familiarize ourselves for the future.  

On Wednesday we headed home - arriving in the afternoon, New Years Day. 

I now have a complete list of the work to be done - actually there are three list. One list for the house which we will renovate first. Then we will do some work outside the house which is the second list. The third list is the renovations on the workshop.  These are now with our contractor and we are awaiting estimates for cost and time which if all goes well, the work will begin at the end of the month.

Here are some pictures of the road trip, as usual.

Yup, another one. I went to see family and a workshop. Of course Bunny Braveheart came with me and we met a new friend Pi the Interplanetary Panda who came home with us. 

Here is a movie of their adventures together along with my cousin Amy. 

And I stayed at an AirBnB place in Dumbo not far from the workshop. Andrew has a cute cat, MAX, who is 15+ pounds and he was so cute. Like any cat, he wanted to be in the bathroom any time I was in there - washing up, using the loo, taking a shower. He would push his paw against the bathroom door to be let in so he can jump into the tub and lick water from the faucet; is this TMI? 
Anyway here is another small video of some photo's I took of him.

The bunny has been in NYC and making lots of friends. He has been to the MET, the Natural History Museum, and has ridden the subway and the ferry to DUMBO.

The week after the 4th of July holiday, Bunny Bravehart went to Texas, the "hill country" to be exact, to visit friends and to find a place to retire. Here are pictures from the trip. Click on an image to open it up in a viewer and to read the description.

Last week Bunny Bravehart was in Tucson, Az. 
I was there for a Chasing & Repousse class and the Tucson Gem & Mineral show and so BBH came along to keep me company and . Unfortunately, since I was in class for 5 days, there was no one to take pictures of BBH having fun during that time. 

BUT

After class we did go out and so here are some pictures.

My second week in Scotland was as fun as the first. 
Elisa and I finished sewing 2 pillows and a pair of sheep named Rogan and Josh, to go along with Tad and Pole; we watched all three of the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" movie series - the Swedish versions with English subtitles; we made soup; and had lots of lounging around and eating of chocolate and making of puns.

Overall a fantastic time was had by all. It was a hard choice but Claymore stayed behind in Scotland because the Laird indicated that there were sheep and cooo's to rustle before winter set in and he was needed to provide for his family.

The trip home was another event in of itself. On Thursday afternoon, Mike drove me back into Aberdeen and I popped into the Aberdeen Whisky Shop to get a nice bottle for our next door neighbor and after that we went back to the CLAN house for another fish & chips supper. We retired early as we had to be up at 5:30 am so I could get to the airport as 7:00 am to check-in for my flight home.   

The flight from Aberdeen to Frankfurt went off without a hitch and I had plenty of time to get through security (again) and to my gate for the flight to San Francisco.  Once I did get to the gate they made us queue to do a security screening which I felt was odd since I had done this in Aberdeen, you know those questions about who packed the bag, were you given anything to carry, blah, blah, blah... but I just took it in stride and then had a sticker put on the back of my passport. 

And then I had to go stand in ANOTHER LINE so they could get my passport and ICE information (In Case of Emergency). I thought this was a bit much but considering it was Germany who knows what rules had been put in place since my last trip through here but I had not seen this much scrutiny even at Heathrow. Once that was done, guess what - I got to go stand in another line so we could start boarding the plane. By now we were 20 minutes behind the posted schedule for boarding but still had plenty of time before the scheduled "departure time" and people were still in the other lines going through this process but finally I was on the plane and settled into my seat while the rest of the plane loaded. 

Eventually there was no one else boarding - and we waited, and we waited, and we waited, and soon another 30 minutes went by and we were over an hour past the take off time. 

Soon there was an announcement that two people had been removed via the back of the plane and that they were removing their luggage from the hold of the plane and oh, by the way - we were also waiting for sniffer dogs to be dispatched. When would they arrive, no one knew but those people in the back half of the plane were to "de-plane" so the dogs could move about freely. Finally the dogs did arrive, the people had to get off, leaving everything behind, and "please no pictures of the dogs or security personnel".  We were now 2 hours behind the departure time and the three plus hours I had given myself between planes in SFO was disappearing fast and I came to the conclusion that I was going to miss my connection and so I popped open my tablet and sent Eric an email quickly telling him we were delayed and NOT to go to the airport to pick me up until I knew what flight I was on from SFO. I had to turn on data roaming to do it and yes it will be an expensive email but it had to be done. 

FINALLY, those who had gotten off the plane (I being in the front of the plane did not have to) re-boarded, settled into their seats and the plane left the gate and moved into the queue for take-off where of course, we sat some more! So by the time we got into the air we were 3.5 hours behind schedule and missing my connection was fact.

[We later found out that two women from the middle east were arguing about sitting in the middle section, middle two seats and there being a man on either side of them - oh my! One man, so I was told, volunteered to change seats so they could have the aisle and next inside seat and only one would have to sit next to a man. Was that ok? - I guess not as they were still arguing and raising their voices and when a stewardess came along to tell them to sit down, she got pushed... and we all know what happened after that!]

I then settled in for the 11 hour flight. I finished reading my third book over the course of the trip [These being:The Virgin Queens Daughter, The Custom of the Army: An Outlander Novella, and The Boleyn Inheritance] and I decided to have a wee dram of Scotch with my dinner. I had been given a miniature bottle of an 18 year old Glendronach by Mike and I figured with the events of the day... The steward had come around and I had gotten a glass (if you can call a plastic cup, a glass) of water with some ice. Having drunken the water I then poured part of the bottle over the ice and I was sipping it when the steward came back with dinner. He saw the bottle and then looked at me and asked "where did you get that!?". I told him I brought it with me. He then said "It is illegal to bring your own alcohol on the plane, we can fine you." I found this quite strange as it was less than 3 ounces and I had put it trough security scanners TWICE and no one had said anything. So, I Looked at him, capped the bottle and put it away. Afther he moved down the aisle, I took it back out and finished the scotch - while my row mates just looked on a smiled at my actions. [I have since looked on line and there is conflicting information about this so if you do, just be careful].   I then watched 3 movies [Movies: The Avengers, What to Expect When You are..., and Mirror Mirror. On the way over I watched Brave and Snow White and the Huntsman] and caught a nap.

Eventually we did land in San Francisco, I made it through customs and got to the service counter at 8:00 pm where I was rebooked on a 10:30 pm flight down to San Diego. I then called Mr. Kern with my new arrival time and we chatted for a bit and after that I went into the bar, had a quick bite to eat with an Anchor Porter and waited, again.   

I was finally home and in bed at 1:30 am after having been awake and traveling for over 24 hours.

Enjoy the pictures...

I have now been on holiday for one week. It was 18+ hours of travel but on the calendar it was 24 hours for me to get to my destination. The fliight from San Diego to Chicago went well and then my flight from there to Frankfurt, Germany was was ok as there was quite a bit of turbulance. I landed in Frankfurt at 5:30 am and had no problems getting through the airport for my 7:30 am flight over the North Sea to Aberdeen, Scotland.  Mike was feeling well enough to pick me up at the airport and then we went to the CLAN Haven were he is staying during his cancer treatments. I took a long nap on Monday morning and we just relaxed for the rest of the day and we went out for a fish & chip dinner.

On Tuesday morning, Mike went for his 11th treament and I wandered into the city center to find the local whisky shop. The day was warm and clear so the walk was quite enjoyable. I returned to the haven by noon and then we set off in the car to Mike & Elisa's home where I have been ever since. Wenesday morning Mike returned to Aberdeen for his next treatment.

We have been having a wonderful time, Elisa and I - we have been sewing cushions and some creatures (I sew, she watches), taking pictures, taking naps, reading and watching movies; and of course eating chocolate.

There is one more week of my visit to go including another "24 hours of travel" to return home.

Here are pictures and video. A view around the village and what we have been upto with the bunnies.