Monday, March 14
Mar. 15th, 2022 12:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Lovely weather. Sunny and melting a bit.
Little Brownie seems to be doing okay wearing her jacket. Nicer weather makes it a little easier.
My Sweetie and I went to see our friend (the one who might help us with the house), firstly to look at a truck he is selling for his Mom. It's not a new truck, but a fair bit newer than ours, and a heavier truck that would be better for hauling heavy things. It is also a four wheel drive. It is in fair shape, but I want our mechanic to have a look at it first, to see if there are any red flags.
We mentioned that we would appreciate his paid help on the house, if he wants to do it. He didn't commit, but we'll see what he's willing to do.
His wife is the woman I've mentioned before, whom I fundamentally like as a person but she never seems to care about what I am doing, and doesn't give any one else time to talk unless they butt in, and even then they only get a moment. She seemed a lot older all of a sudden, and I wonder if maybe things have been hard on her lately. I know they have had a lot of work in the last year or so clearing out a parent's house and funerals, and this woman's Mom also moved into a care home. She also had a lot of dental issues.
I suppose with things letting up a bit now, maybe we can have a social visit with them.
From our friend's house, my Sweetie left for his work apartment and I went to the pottery studio.
I went to the dump on the way to town to talk to the woman who works there. She is kind of a collector, and I thought she might have a vintage wooden door we could use.
I don't know if any of you remember me talking about my friend who had her house burned down by some people who have a mysterious grudge against her, but that was less than a year ago.
She and her husband moved to a new place on 40 acres, and apparently that got burned down at the end of November. So, twice now, these people have burned down her home while she was at work.
They are renting a place now, but she literally worries every day if it will be still standing when she goes home, or if she is safe. The police apparently don't have enough evidence to charge anyone.
These people are thieves/drug dealers according to my friend, and the only reason she can think of that they are doing this is because they stole a bunch of antiques from her a few years ago, and she found them at another antique store and the owner of that store could tell the police who brought them in. So her best guess, is this is payback from these guys for getting them charged. They are local people.
She's considering moving away, and I can't blame her. I worry about her safety.
Pottery went well. Two more pieces are finished now, and they turned out great!
As usual, everyone else was leaving soon after I showed up, so I mostly worked alone. I did demonstrate a technique to another person.
I managed to trim a few things, and do some underglaze decorating on two items.
Today I learned that from 1808 to 1821, Rio De Janiero in BRAZIL was the official capital city of...Portugal. Yes, Rio on a whole other continent from Portugal.
This is because the Royal family of Portugal (Queen Maria, Prince Regent John, and other members of the Braganza family) and 420 members of the court took ships to Brazil (escorted by British naval ships, as Britain was an ally of Portugal), fleeing Napoleon and his army (fighting for France) who were days away from Lisbon, Portugal, the capital city.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal.
This move of the Capital meant a focus on modernizing Brazil, building roads, increasing trade, and things like centers for the arts and gardens in Rio. It also meant a lot more slaves to work on plantations granted to members of the Portuguese court that accompanied the Royal family, many of whom were granted lands and titles in Brazil.
After the Capital moved back to Portugal in 1821 (at the end of French occupation), Brazil won it's independence without a revolution, and was considered its own country, no longer a colony. Mostly this was done so peacefully because the heir of Prince Regent John, Pedro, refused to return to Portugal. He chose to remain in Brazil where he was raised, and was named the first Emperor of Brazil in 1822.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_of_the_Portuguese_court_to_Brazil
Lovely weather. Sunny and melting a bit.
Little Brownie seems to be doing okay wearing her jacket. Nicer weather makes it a little easier.
My Sweetie and I went to see our friend (the one who might help us with the house), firstly to look at a truck he is selling for his Mom. It's not a new truck, but a fair bit newer than ours, and a heavier truck that would be better for hauling heavy things. It is also a four wheel drive. It is in fair shape, but I want our mechanic to have a look at it first, to see if there are any red flags.
We mentioned that we would appreciate his paid help on the house, if he wants to do it. He didn't commit, but we'll see what he's willing to do.
His wife is the woman I've mentioned before, whom I fundamentally like as a person but she never seems to care about what I am doing, and doesn't give any one else time to talk unless they butt in, and even then they only get a moment. She seemed a lot older all of a sudden, and I wonder if maybe things have been hard on her lately. I know they have had a lot of work in the last year or so clearing out a parent's house and funerals, and this woman's Mom also moved into a care home. She also had a lot of dental issues.
I suppose with things letting up a bit now, maybe we can have a social visit with them.
From our friend's house, my Sweetie left for his work apartment and I went to the pottery studio.
I went to the dump on the way to town to talk to the woman who works there. She is kind of a collector, and I thought she might have a vintage wooden door we could use.
I don't know if any of you remember me talking about my friend who had her house burned down by some people who have a mysterious grudge against her, but that was less than a year ago.
She and her husband moved to a new place on 40 acres, and apparently that got burned down at the end of November. So, twice now, these people have burned down her home while she was at work.
They are renting a place now, but she literally worries every day if it will be still standing when she goes home, or if she is safe. The police apparently don't have enough evidence to charge anyone.
These people are thieves/drug dealers according to my friend, and the only reason she can think of that they are doing this is because they stole a bunch of antiques from her a few years ago, and she found them at another antique store and the owner of that store could tell the police who brought them in. So her best guess, is this is payback from these guys for getting them charged. They are local people.
She's considering moving away, and I can't blame her. I worry about her safety.
Pottery went well. Two more pieces are finished now, and they turned out great!
As usual, everyone else was leaving soon after I showed up, so I mostly worked alone. I did demonstrate a technique to another person.
I managed to trim a few things, and do some underglaze decorating on two items.
Today I learned that from 1808 to 1821, Rio De Janiero in BRAZIL was the official capital city of...Portugal. Yes, Rio on a whole other continent from Portugal.
This is because the Royal family of Portugal (Queen Maria, Prince Regent John, and other members of the Braganza family) and 420 members of the court took ships to Brazil (escorted by British naval ships, as Britain was an ally of Portugal), fleeing Napoleon and his army (fighting for France) who were days away from Lisbon, Portugal, the capital city.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal.
This move of the Capital meant a focus on modernizing Brazil, building roads, increasing trade, and things like centers for the arts and gardens in Rio. It also meant a lot more slaves to work on plantations granted to members of the Portuguese court that accompanied the Royal family, many of whom were granted lands and titles in Brazil.
After the Capital moved back to Portugal in 1821 (at the end of French occupation), Brazil won it's independence without a revolution, and was considered its own country, no longer a colony. Mostly this was done so peacefully because the heir of Prince Regent John, Pedro, refused to return to Portugal. He chose to remain in Brazil where he was raised, and was named the first Emperor of Brazil in 1822.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_of_the_Portuguese_court_to_Brazil
no subject
Date: 2022-03-15 05:23 pm (UTC)I hope things work out with your friend and his wife!
no subject
Date: 2022-03-16 08:34 am (UTC)<3
Date: 2022-03-15 09:47 pm (UTC)Re: <3
Date: 2022-03-16 08:32 am (UTC)Re: <3
Date: 2022-03-16 09:05 am (UTC)Re: <3
Date: 2022-03-16 11:26 am (UTC)Re: <3
Date: 2022-03-16 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-15 11:17 pm (UTC)Someone literally blew up our mailbox seven years ago, strong enough to turn the metal box inside out and a piece left a hole in the outer house wall (keep in mind the mailbox is over 50' from the house). We have strong suspicions as to who did it, but were never able to prove anything. Thankfully it never repeated.
I knew Brazil was a colony of Portugal, but that is really interesting that Rio de Janeiro was the capital for almost two decades!
no subject
Date: 2022-03-16 08:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-16 05:20 pm (UTC)Agreed. I wouldn't blame your friend one bit for moving far, far out of their range.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-16 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-17 03:07 am (UTC)That is not the same as having actual evidence that they set the fires.
She may have told the police about her suspicions, but without any evidence that could place those people at her home at the time of the fires, you can't charge them.