"They're real." Ara stood with her legs strongly shoulder length apart, arms folded and blond hair braided into two with her goggles neatly sitting on her head as the scraggly stubbled man in front of her turned the diamond over in grey gloved hands with dark spotted fingers that probably hadn't been washed in a year or two. Dominique stood patiently behind her.



"Where'd you hook it?" He asked.



"A ship that had just lifted away from a cutter's outside the mines." She… Continue

Rangoon 1852

 

The thunderous tumult of the cannonade shook the air as three ships of the line hurled volley after volley of 50 pound exploding shells at the stout hearted Burmese regiments defending the port of Rangoon. Blockhouse after blockhouse, formidable but ill equipped to stand up to such a furious barrage, fell. The second line ships and the sloops were already off loading scores of transports full of fiery Royal Marines.

Aboard the corvette…

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It had been over a week since the game of chess between Wilhelm and the Holmes brothers. He had been working diligently in his laboratory trying his own changes to the formulas. He was certain there was some factor he was missing. Some minor adjustment that was escaping his notice.

Nearly nine in the evening he was relaxing in his sitting room, with a cigar already lit, when Sherlocke came into the room. The glint in his eye was all Wil needed to know that his friend had found…

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Greetings, greetings.  Oh, do come in for tea and cookies!!!!  Welcome to the Orphanage of Fun and I am Granny Grunt.  I am the headmistress of the orphanage and am the scout leader for the little Orphan Scouts of Fun.  They are all rascals, but I do love them.  It is a matter of managing the mayhem.  They are an adventurous lot.



Watch your step.  There appears to be something that is being disassembled here in the doorway.  I believe it might be the neighbor's motorcycle.  Well,…

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Dearest Elvira,

My rendezous in Erythrai with Hafez, the Mohammedian arcanist I've told you about, and Herr Schimmelmann the archaelogist was a smashing success. 

Hafez is quite the genial host; I always look forward to the preliminaries at his grand Aegean villa, though my equilibrium and fortitude is always tested by his taste for inebriating consumables. The Bacchanalian nature of the festivities included innumerable decanters of rakai, a liquor with both heady and…

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Dearest Elvira,

My rendezous in Erythrai with Hafez, the Mohammedian arcanist I've told you about, and Herr Schimmelmann the archaelogist was a smashing success. 

Hafez is quite the genial host; I always look forward to the preliminaries at his grand Aegean villa, though my equilibrium and fortitude is always tested by his taste for inebriating consumables. The Bacchanalian nature of the festivities included innumerable decanters of rakai, a liquor with both heady and…

Continue

"J'ai la post." Said Dominique as she strolled up to the captain. We had struck gold (literally) in China's Szechuan province and had stopped to use some of it on good food and drink. Sitting back, enjoying a glass of water after her stomach full of spicy squid, Charlotte took the letter from the gunner's hand and exchanged a humorous look with Arabella. Ara, who sat on her right side, watched her opening it between glancing around when there was a loud noise or a funny joke. Charlotte's eyes… Continue

February 1^st 1864

I’ve been stranded here in Virginia since January sixth. Me and the North Carolina 28^th battalion are in the mud and dust, praying for light. I’ve just turned 22 and missing your famous blueberry cobbler you always make me on my birthday. Your tinplate keeps me hope as I hold it in my pocket. I will write back soon. I have begun to hear the cannon’s blaze across the fiery hills towards the north. I hear Sherman is coming

 

I love you…

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Soft foamy soap and warm water covered Ara's hands and dripped off her wrists as she washed up from dinner. When finishing the plates, she grabbed the first pot from Dominique's cooking when the was a slow double knock on the open door frame of the galley. She watched Thomas walk in casually and sit down.



"And what's the fallen sky captain up to tonight?" She asked, turning back to scrubbing the metal pot. She heard The wooden bench squeak behind her as Thomas adjusted himself and… Continue

"Lower my bounty," moonlight

streamed in through Buckingham palace, silently illuminating the metal barrel of Ara's revolver as she aimed it at the Queen's chest with a click. Queen Victoria sat up slowly and stared with patient dark eyes.

"Shoot me, wonderful idea." The woman said dryly, "killing me will help your cause,"

"I didn't come here to kill you, I came here to threaten you unless you don't do as I ask in which case then," Ara pressed the gun barrel into the Queen's… Continue

I've been slowly adding a couple of touches to the plan outline of my humidor project. I've had to modify things a bit, with the 50" interior height including the bottom drawer space. This leaves the main cavity with slightly less - but still ample - space, with an approximate 11.5 cubic inches of cigar storage. This will still allow for 3 shelves and the singles units along the bottom. 

After some slight discussion, I've narrowed the interior Spanish Cedar lining to 1/4" which should…

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After several years of - dare I say - complacency and more consuming than creating, I've decided that it's time to  pick up a new set of tools and begin a creative process once again.

This process will involve buying a new set of tools - hand saws, hand planes, files, hammers, etc - and constructing a new saw bench and table.  The goal is to build a tall cabinet humidor, using only hand tools with the exception of possibly a power drill for setting the hinges.

The humidor will…

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