straight from amazon itself: "the lives of England's medieval queens were packed with incident—love, intrigue, betrayal, adultery, and warfare—but their stories have been largely obscured by centuries of myth and omission..." this book, i hope, appeals to your love of history and royalty, starting from the norman quest in 1066 to henry ii's time. you get chapters on Matilda of Flanders, Matilda of Scotland, and Empress Maud, England's first female ruler. in a time where the world desperately needs more feminism and female rulers, i hope this inspires you and strikes that ferocity in you, that fire you possess.

my apologies to the current queen elizabeth and all other queens past and present, but we all know for a fact that queen victoria (with the exception of elizabeth i) was the queen. badass, fierce, a bit dark, and a hell of a woman. i thought you'd appreciate this book about her relationships with her granddaughters and who they became. from queens of spain and denmark to an empress of russia, this book goes into depth about their lives, when they became enemies and downfalls and such. you're a history buff, especially with queens so i hope you enjoy it. if not, it makes for a wonderful doorstop/paperweight.

(right-click to open in a new tab to enlargen the picture!) as you know, i've been exploring glassblowing, separate from woodworking. i love making wooden flowers, but thought i'd switch it up for you with glass flowers this time. there were some cuts and blood shed during the process, but i promise you it's all been wiped away, hah. these should last longer than your previous wooden ones and i hope brighten your wintry days when flowers are dormant.

i bought these open date tickets to rio de janiero prior to what happened, but you don't have to go with me. take these and enjoy them. i'm not taking them back. i know your ancestry through your mum lies in brasil, so please enjoy this trip with someone and explore your roots. come back with history and a story to tell me.