Valentines Day: a mysterious package

I made this for Tom. Since I always joke about being in love with Alan Rickman, and writing a song about it. (of course I really do love him)

Too bad he didn't give me anything.. I mean.. I even got an email from Benedict Freeman wishing me a happy valentines day and telling me to look underneath the couch.. where I found this:

AWESOME!!! Thank you so much Benedict and the Sugar skull mysteries team! Tom could learn some things from you guys..

;-)

It's not that we're super into V-day or anything, but we also had our 1,5 year anniversary the 4th, and we didn't really do anything to celebrate it, so we decided to cook some nice foodz and have our (traditional) floor dinner! We made fried tofu with a soy/sesame dip, courgette/tomate/mozzi rolls, lentil/beet/spinach salad and portobello pizza's. IT WAS SO GOOD.
For desert I wanted to make the vegan chocolate mousse I read so much about. I've been wanting to make it for a while now. It's avocado/banana/soy milk/agave/cacao, and here it is:

It was God in liquid eatable form. I swear.

Okay, well, have to go!

Have a nice day.

Love,

Fleur

Sugarskull mysteries: Ice ice baby

Yesterday I got a text from that crook himself: Bobby Currantbaker. Well, actually, it was sent with Tom's phone.. I guess he'd hacked it. Didn't know that was even possible!

He sent me this:
I was born from water, but when I return to water, I die. What am I? Find the answer find the third skull. You have one hour. Tick tack, miss Kan, tick tack. B. Currantbaker

So I went to the freezer. But I couldn't see anything.
I stuck my hand in it and when I felt around for a while (I'm making it sound like we have a huge freezer, but it's just one of those built in with the fridge, I just had to reach all the way back around some stuff) bingoooo.

I put it in the sink and turned on the hot tap. In only a few second I was holding the 3th sugarskull in my hand. Next one will be the last one. I have the feeling it will be the most difficult. But of course I have no idea.

Oh, also, I was a guest at Enschede FM yesterday, in a program called Eneergy, run by 2 young DJ's. I played Hands, and Lady by the River. If you want to listen to it: Click

Love,
Fleur

ps. okay sorry about that, for realsies now

The Key to Succes: another strange email

I miss cats. Oh you silly cats you.

Tuesday I got another weird email from that Benedict guy: another message from Currentbaker had been delivered on a USB. With only an audio file, and the message that I had til 23:00h.

Well, I don't know what the matter is, but I've been really tired this whole week. No really: going to bed around 22:30-tired. Which is rare for me, but it did it like 3 or 4 times this week. Poor Tom, living together with Hollands next best Granny.

But still, I needed to solve this. So I downloaded the file, and while listening to it I immediately heard it was reversed (which I make it now seem as if it's super impressive, but even a monkey would hear this of course). So did my ninja CLICK and opened up my illega... my version of Logic (music editing program) and reversed it's sorry ass back to normal. It said: Sherlock Holmes.

AHA!!! SHERLOCK HOLMES!!

I knew nothing. What does this mean? Is the next skull hidden in a long grey coat? In a dorky hat? WHY ARE YOU TORMENTING ME LIKE THIS I WANT TO SLEEP.

But then I thought it was probably a good idea to check the sugarskullmysteries site, and aha yes yes; the password was changed. So I entered "sherlockholmes" and SCORE!

Now it showed this image:

[again: WHAT IS THIS? I NEED MY SLEEP! sob sob sob]

(I wasn't really sobbing)

Damnyou Currantbaker, what does it mean? The fifth of something? A closet, a cupboard, an episode of SH..? I tried googling: dotted fifth, five with dot, five with dot above it, five (It is possible I only tried this one because I wanted to see Robbie Williams)(who wasn't even in Five, but in Take That)(Shit happens)

I did all this researching only when Tom was away, since we were watching episode 2 of season 3 of Sherlock Holmes, and of course he shouldn't see any of this, way too dangerous for him.
But then, when Tom came back from the kitchen (or something) and I sighed and dramatically let my head rest upon his shoulders.. I saw something:

DO YOU SEE? 

I waited for Tom to go out of the room again, then I ripped the little piano off the wall and looked at the back. In a little hole was a little white sugarskull. Which, of course, filled my old granny body with a surge of adrenalin.

So all's well that ends well, but still, I wonder.. who is this strange and, somehow, charming mister Freeman? And who is this Bobby Currantbaker.. how is he such a genius in hiding stuff and making up these clues? And what happened in his childhood that made him so... bitter....?

- I can only hope that, one day, I'll find out.

Love,

Fleur

How my heart behaves

Sometimes I have days with rain clouds and storm inside my head. There are days in which I can shake them away -out through the left ear or the right- and days in which I can't seem to get the sun to come out. These days are so tiring and so frustrating. They feel so cold and dark. And even though I know the day will end and the morrow will provide me with a clean slate, these days feels endless.

Is this recognizable? I know I can't be the only one since we have a world with billions and gazillions, you're never alone in something (PostSecret proves me time in time again, still, sometimes it's nice to really hear it from someone.

These days come out of nowhere and aren't really based on anything, just like the weather; it's just the way it is.

Anyway, if I wouldn't have had such a shitty day, I would have the most awesome day ever since something very peculiar happened to me..


I got an email from a stranger.


A message from one Benedict Freeman, the subject being 'consulting detective':

International super villain Bobby Currantbaker striked again. This time he has stolen four precious artifacts known as 'sugar skulls' or 'calaveras' from the Aztec museum in Mexico.

The artifacts are worth a vast amount of money and we have reasons to believe Mr Currantbaker has hidden them separately. Now we rely on you, the consulting detective with the best reputation, to retrieve them. They could be hidden anywhere. Even within your own home...

Miss Kan, you are our only hope to stop this criminal mastermind and retrieve the valuable sugar skulls.

If you accept this mission, please respond with the word: yes.

I will then send you further details to get you on your way.

Naturally, I replied.

Yes.

And an email with further information made it's way to me through the wide open interwebz.

2 hints: a photograph of a book which happened to be in our bedroom

and a link to a website; password protected.
And this: 

We think Currantbaker might be moving the skulls, so time is a factor. You have until aprox 18:00 to find the skull. After that, it might be moved.

In the book I found a napkin containing the numbers 46 and 4. (The Chinese Banker anyone?)
So I checked the book immediately but nothing got me through the protection. I tried page 46, word 4. Sentence 4. The 4th word from the bottom. The 4th page going from the 46th page.. I even tried 1984 by George Orwell since it was on the same photograph that was sent so me.. all blanks.

Due to my shitty day I then moped around in bed playing Candycrush, and slept. 

When I woke up it was 18:04.
I spoke Tom and he very cryptically referred to a conversation we had a while back (the previous sentence was a bit sarcastic, he actually said something like: when we spoke of this a few days ago we talked about if we would do this we'd take a book we both have.. so there goes my reputation as a consulting detective). So then I tried the books we both have. 

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood: page 46, word 4. Nope.
Olivia by Tom Hofland: page 46, word 4. Nein.
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami: page 46, word 4. Bingo.

Alarmingly [enter] --> password correct.

Which showed me a photo of a shelf in our bedroom. I took a chair, positioned it, and stood on it.

Behind the vinyl.. I don't think so.. is something weird going on with the toy robot?.. guess not. Maybe the cat teapot?

Shake it --> something's inside.

Jackpot.

I found 1 little red sugarskull. 4 to go I guess.

Even though today wasn't on of by best days, and I still don't feel my easy breezy cover girl cosmetics-self, THIS WAS AWESOME. And Tom is so fucking cool. I mean, not that he's got anything to do with this of course.

Who is this mysterious Benedict Freeman? Why does he come to me for help? I'm just a girl (having a bad day).

I will get you Bobby Currantbaker. 

The game is on.

Love,

Fleur