so I actually used fabric to create fortune cookies.

I have just got to learn how to be creative. As long as I don't try to learn anything involving an iron though. I am not coordinated. I end up with wee little burn scars.

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Suela, that's great. Congratulations!

Susan, on your whiskey question, I'd only had wine and mixed drinks made with vodka, gin, and bourbon. My first taste of scctch, ever? And not even good scotch? Was "Why haven't I been drinking this all along?" I may have had an occasional marguerita, bloody mary or screwdriver since, but mainly, I've dedicated my drinking life to an exploration of single malts. And well, stout, and wine.

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My first taste of scctch, ever? And not even good scotch? Was "Why haven't I been drinking this all along?" I may have had an occasional marguerita, bloody mary or screwdriver since, but mainly, I've dedicated my drinking life to an exploration of single malts. And well, stout, and wine.

Heh. I guess I could write the story with Anna's One True Love being the single malt, but I don't know that St. Martin's, NAL, Kensington, et al. would be that interested....

Oh, and in the realm of "duh" questions, since it's been years since I last looked at the stuff, whiskey is a nice clear amber brown, right? If it's not, I've got some rewriting to do now before I make a public fool of myself. I mean, more public than here....

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It varies, from champagne pale to tea-dark, at least scotch does. It is mostly brownish, though.

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and if I was giving scotch to someone for the first time - a little splash of water - it take the edge off , so they don't choke.

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Timelies!

Susan, if we're talking 200 years ago, 'strong spirits' would have been a main component of just about any medicine, including those with various opium derivatives in it. So she might associate the new taste with medical usage.

Timelies to the rest of ya. I just got woken up for good by the barking of the little dog next door. Check the time stamp on this... I think it may be time for a word with the neighbor, alas.

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'suela, congrats! That is very cool.

Ugh, Theodosia, I feel your pain. Good luck with talking to the neighbor. Or pepper-gassing the dog, whichever.

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Susan, I don't believe having a distillery was ever illegal as such in the UK. It was the whole issue of whether or not you paid proper taxes on it that made distilling legal or not.

After the Union of the Parliaments in 1707, English revenue staff crossed the border to begin their lengthy attempts to bring whisky production under control. Ninety years later the excise laws were in such a hopeless state of confusion that no two distilleries were taxed at the same rate. Illicit distilling flourished, the smugglers seeing no good reason for paying for the privilege of making their native drink.

After a lengthy Royal Commission, the Act of 1823 sanctioned legal distilling at a duty of 2/3d (12p) per gallon for stills with a capacity of more than 40 gallons. There was a licence fee of £10 annually and no stills under the legal limit were allowed. The first distillery came into ‘official’ existence in the following year and thereafter many of the more far-sighted distillers came over on to the side of the law.

The above stuff is from the Scotch Whisky association website: http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/Scripts/search/searchfiles/qa-hist.htm

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(except of course in the sense that many of my dreams have taken place in it).

Okay, this made me teary.

You are so sweet. I actually meant it in another way. I meant that I often have dreams that take place in my house, which makes sense given the fact that it's been home for as long as I can remember.

Ooops. Seems I've imported schmoop where it wasn't intended, Burrell (but still, given Frances, and your expected baby, and all your dh and all...)

I'd still rather be cozy in 10 layers of clothes than sweating my ass off stark naked.

Cashmere, I keep telling myself this, over and over. I know it is true. I mind the cold, but not nearly as much as I mind the heat. Short of flaying, one can only get *so* naked.

Wheee! I just found out a piece I wrote about running in the Oakland hills got accepted into a local anthology sponsored by the city arts council. *bounce*

WhooooT for Consuela, who will probably never see this.

Timelies to the rest of ya. I just got woken up for good by the barking of the little dog next door. Check the time stamp on this... I think it may be time for a word with the neighbor, alas.

Oh, poor Theodosia. That's one of the lousiest neighbor conversations. Ugh.

Note to self: Never wake Raquel

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Heh. I missed Theo's original post, but I was just coming here to kvetch about oversleeping today, but thankfully the dog barked at something and woke me up.

Also, Victor et al....did anyone know that there's a Luchadores cartoon? Mucha Lucha! Tivo was watching it this morning.

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