Safe And Sound

Okay, I know I Know all 9 of you have just been lost without me. I feel very bad about getting behind on the blog and letting you all down, as I know you wait anxiously by the computer daily to see what I have been up to. Don't worry I have not been slacking on my gingerbread duties but I did just move down to Oklahoma city from Pa so I have been slightly busy. It was a long 18 hour drive that me, my dad, and sophia(cat) did in two days. My father wanted to spend the night in St Louis MO so that left one very pressing question on my mind "what restaurant from diners drive ins and dives will we go to!!" Well we picked a good one; The Iron Barley. I got a veggie Ruben and it was to die for. The meat was replaced with tomato's that were no doubt sauteed in lots and lots of butter, and it came with a nice side of a vinegar coleslaw. My dad got some huge prime rib with a side of polenta barley that he somehow did not manage to finish, very unlike him. I opted to not get a slice of their famous pie, due to the fact that in less then two weeks I will have to be seen in tights again. The next morning we stopped at a coffee shoppe and made our way to the big arch. I didn't want to go but my dad was so excited that I could not hold him back and let me tell you I am very glad I went. It is something to see for sure and quite impressive. After a quick visit to the arch we left for OKC and made it there a quick 7 hours later. "what dose any of this have to do with the damn gingerbread house" I know that's what your thinking and to tell you the truth A LOT. Everything that I made thus far, only small pieces that can be assembled later had to be hulled across country. This is only a taste of what was to come when the house would be completed and taken to Asheville. I got lots of small boxes and lined them with a kind of fiber bad ding. Each piece was placed in and layered with more of the bad ding before being tapped shut. A prayer was said and then loaded into the trunk away from anything that could slam into them. I tried not to think about what was happening to them during the trip, at that point there was nothing I could do and if it all broke well. . . . I would have just killed myself. Easy Fix. Needless to say when I opened to check to see what damage had been done during transit not one thing had broken. The gingerbread gods were with me the two days we traveled and I forever will be grateful. I have gotten a lot of work done since we last talked that I have not shared with you yet but. . . well I kinda don't want to share because I dont want any copycats. Although I will give you a taste of what to expect to see in the next few posts so stay tuned.

Plan Of Attack l

Okay, so it has only been a few short posts and hours upon hours of work have been covered. We are all caught up and almost ready to work together in real time. However there is one very important topic I have not covered yet; Plan Of Attack. This is probably the most important weapon needed when entering gingerbread warfare. I have plenty of guns, knives, and flame throwers ( that may be a bit dramatic, how about piping bags, icing colors , and a great cookie recipe) but anyone can get those things with a few clicks of a mouse or by running down to the local craft store. A strategic timeline of events on the other hand can not be bought. When up against such a sophisticated enemy a simple 1 make cookie, 2 slap on some royal icing, 3 throw on some sale Christmas candy is not enough.
The first step in my plan was to send in the spies, observing your opponents strenghts and weaknesses you can see what they do that you like and also what was not so successful. One must be very careful when doing this step, it is very easy to get bogged down when seeing what great talent is out there. This took me directly into phase to "intelligence", DO YOUR RESEARCH !!!! In step one after finding beautiful poured sugar work on a GB home I did not give up thinking I could never do what they had done. I got books, went on the Internet, and asked people until I found out the best way to get a similar or better effect. Having knowledge is a great thing but like a beautiful meadow scattered with land mines, things are not always as they seem. That is why before I do anything directly with the house experimenting on the side is a must.
Once the spies are in and intelligence has been obtained I felt it was time to begin the march into war. This included Finding the house to model and making the model.(Both covered in previous posts)
War never goes as planned and one must always be ready and willing for changes, If the front door is barricaded find another way in. If there is no apparent entrance dig a tunnel and crawl in. Always put up a good fight don't just hold up the white flag and surrender. If movies can tell us anything its that the person with the white flag gets killed anyway. Its better to die with dignity.
So we are all caught up and ready to go into battle together as a team. The rest of my master plan will unveil itself as we continue because it is an ever changing being. Keep in mind I am not a violent person but gingerbread is a serious situation and can not be handled lightly, although it must be handled lightly !!!!!

Over and out