E:\LETTERS\DecBan09.txt This file is posted at http://davebeeson.home.comcast.net/LETTERS/DECBAN09.TXT 3 December 2009 I've been adding items to my to-do list a lot faster than I've been taking them off, but I got two off today, and didn't add any. (Of course, it's only noon.) In addition, I planted the squill and puschkinia bulbs that I bought the last time I went to Marsh. I thought twenty bulbs would cover more territory, but Wikipedia says that both plants spread from seed. One chore was to replace the clamp steadying a wire pannier on my bike. I heard the pannier rattling when I was out, stopped and found that the clamp had lost its nut and bolt and was dangling loose; having no spare bolts with me (I think: it's been a long time since I sorted my emergency kit) I put the clamp -- a bent, perforated piece of sheet metal -- Someplace Safe. Couldn't remember where Someplace Safe is, decided a couple of cable ties would hold until I remembered, discovered that cable ties work a lot better, as they don't leave a bolt sticking into the pannier: I can stick maps and magazines down either side of the pannier instead of having to mind the bolt. Of course, I'm going to have to keep an eye on the cable ties; all plastics degrade in sunlight. The other chore was replacing a missing hook on my herringbone pants, which came in handy when I decided to plant bulbs later on -- my other pair of jeans is white. 7 December 2009 Last Friday was the first winter day. It's been cold ever since, and we got a visible amount of snow last night. Woke up knowing there was something I wanted to do before starting the wash. About nap time, I remembered that it was walking out to the canal to watch the digging. They are going to finish that job before I get around to going out to look! Coming back from Owen's last Saturday, I noticed a sign saying that there would be a winter festival in Winona Lake the first weekend in December. Ah, do I go to that one, the one in Pierceton, or try for both? Oops. Today I pressed in creases for hems and flat-felled seams on the baby gown that I unpicked last Tuesday, pieced the single-fold tape for the second baby gown and pressed it into double fold, and pressed the creases out of the scrap of quilt binding that I'm going to split into one-inch tape for the neck of the first baby gown. Also planned repairs on my silk shell. Earlier in the week, I'd spread the unpicked baby gown out on the kitchen counter and got it good and wet in the hope that it won't shrink when washed. The crease down the back didn't come out, but I haven't given any special attention to it. The folding creases did come out of the two lengths of flannel that I washed. And I ran three loads of wash, including the black raw silk for my new blouse. Didn't think of the five yards of cotton jersey, but I don't plan to use it soon. Wore my new silk long johns on this afternoon's pre- supper walk. (I chickened out of the after-supper walk, but Dave went.) I don't think they are quite as uncomfortable as they were before I thought of storing them with the waistband stretched over the ends of a hanger. 8 December 2009 Looked out the window at the cold and dark and wet and said "I'm sure glad I had a walk this morning!" And then I remembered that it was Tuesday. Wore my silk longjohns on my morning walk & didn't notice the tight waistband at all -- while standing up. It would still be a dangerous distraction while driving. Shortly after I got to the canal the bobcat started re- arranging the railroad ties & sheets of steel & I thought "What luck! I've arrived just in time to see them move the backhoe/cherrypicker." (I've really got to find out what the right name of that gadget is.) [AKICIF says that it's an "excavator". But they are *all* excavators!] But after the bobcat had made two new places for the backhoe to sit, the backhoe resumed loading trucks & I wandered off to the Trailhouse, where I found that a Women's Large pair of cycling tights is so small that I could see at a glance that I needn't try it on, then I went back to watch the work. The dump trucks did a rather dizzying dance, then everybody got out and gathered beside the backhoe to discuss something. After a while I walked on to the crossbar of the bricks & walked back between the shops, glanced back to see the discussion still going on, and headed for home. When I was nearly past the Billy Sunday Museum, I heard beeping and engine noises, and dashed back just in time to see the backhoe settling into its new spot. It was 33 F when I set out for Handwork Circle, so I put the umbrella into my case, but the snow remained snow -- sorta -- all the way to the church, and the trip back was quite pleasant once I'd got past the church parking lot, where the east wind was unimpeded. By then the snow was thick enough to provide firm footing. I pinned quilt binding to the second baby gown & slip- stitched the miters. It looks as though there is just enough quilt binding to do the neck, so I'll have to hem the sleeves or find a harmonizing tape. I was all alone in the church, but met another snow- coated pedestrian on my way down Chestnut. I backtracked his footprints all the way to Park Avenue, then went left while the back-trail went right. 9 December 2009 The storm didn't amount to much here, though Dave says that his new wind alarm went off in the night, and I'm not sure that the sycamore branch on the patio was there yesterday. Dave got a "weather station" for Christmas. He's been wanting one all his life, and they don't cost much nowadays. So when he saw predictions of high wind, he decided to test the alarm feature. Walking to church and back for Handwork Circle (I made a little progress on the baby gown project) wasn't bad; I stuck an umbrella in my bag, and worried about the footing a little on the way out, but on the way back there was a nice thick layer of non-skid snow, and the snow coming down was firmly frozen. Brisk wind out of the east, but I was sheltered from that after I got out of the church parking lot. All evening I was glad I wasn't out there in a car -- I heard a cop call for a wrecker to pull out a wrecker. It was raining when I got up & I checked the car: clean of snow, I can go to Aldi's. But it's snowing again now. Maybe we don't really need sweet peppers! Way past time I went to Big R & looked for long johns, though. 11 December 2009 It was quite nice here today. I went to Big R and bought a pair of flannel pants and a pair of sweat pants. Pain to try them on, as I was wearing three pairs of pants, one held on with a safety pin. And I had to take my shoes off to get out of the Capilene pair. Then to Aldi's, where I remembered, after loading my groceries, that I'd forgotten to look at the long johns the ad said were in the special-purchase aisle. So I went back inside, and rejected them without even checking to see whether they had my size, but on the way I picked up two boxes of dark-chocolate truffles and a box of chocolate squares. I like Moser-Roth's chocolate squares better than Ghiradeli's. Partly because Moser-Roth's are 70% chocolate & Ghiradeli's are only 60%, partly because I like a small square in a tight wrapper better than a big square in a loose bag. Then a stop at Aunt Millie's for two bags of bread and bagels. The expedition wiped me out until ten minutes after I should have put our dinner into our new toaster oven. It works great, by the way, and doesn't over-brown the veggies like the old one did. (I dropped the old one into the recycling last week because it had stopped baking, and it had started sparking when it toasted.) 13 December 2009 Helped set up, serve, and clean up the Christmas Dinner at the church yesterday. I was in bed before midnight last night. 14 December 2009 Ah, that's more like it. I woke up early; since I was dark-adapted, this monitor was *way* too bright to look at. So I fetched the flashlight -- the controls are marked black-on-black, so they can be seen only by sharply-raking sidelight. The markings don't mean anything once visible, but I finally figured out how to bring up the brightness control, only to discover that the brightness was already on zero and wouldn't go any lower. But the old DOS program I'm writing this with paints the characters instead of painting the background, so I'm no longer squinting. I also no longer remember what I had to say. I still haven't read the Saturday paper. I've been asked whether the new silk tights I've been chirping and twittering about are warm. Well, they're warmer than anything else that sheer. And they are lovely to put on; I'm beginning to wish for silk stockings! But the silk socks I once had weren't very comfortable in the foot, because silk isn't as elastic as wool. 15 December 2009 As winter settles in, I notice that Dave sees the weather as colder than I do -- because he minds spending twenty minutes suiting up more than I do. I've worn as many as three pairs of long johns already this winter; his have yet to come out of the drawer. I realized this morning that my optical mouse can be used as a flashlight. And the light is red, so it won't mess up my night vision. 17 December 2009 Mouse-o-vision *works*! I can push "x" and never hit "z" or "c". The January banners are finally wrapped up. The theme is "Where do we go from here?" Lovely day for a bike ride today, so I went to Marsh by Buick. Filled all my grocery bags and had three gallon jugs that weren't bagged, so it's just as well that I didn't feel like suiting up. We're having bean soup tonight. I'll make corn bread if I wake up early enough -- and if I can find the corn meal in the freezer. I distinctly remember seeing a canister marked "bread corn" when I was hunting for something else quite recently. I hope #1 black snaps were what I *wanted* to get when I stopped at Lowery's. Still need to go to the health-food store; if I don't buy pine nuts and pistachios soon, I'll be offering Dave english walnuts for his salad. 20 December 2009 Slept late, decided I didn't want to wade through the snow for half a service. Closer inspection shows that it's a lovely day out there; nonetheless, I'm in here. That leaves the pint of casserole that I forgot on Wednesday still stranded in the church refrigerator. I meant to stop for it when I ran out for corn oil on Friday, but by the time I was in the car, I'd forgotten about it. We forgot to take the souvenirs we want to get rid of to Linda's party last night: A fish-shaped bowl with lid carved from wood, the silver-plated plate that Light and Life gave to Evelyn when she retired, and a plastic plaque with a "Beeson coat of arms" on it. (The Beesons don't have a coat of arms, but it's a pretty design.) I think I'll take my nap early. 23 December 2009 Picked up the noodles on my way back from validating my 2010 debit card on Monday. Made macaroni and cheese for supper last night, with Berrillo mixed-grain elbow mac and a little ham. Didn't notice any difference in the macaroni, except that the shape of the pieces was more complicated than ordinary elbow mac. But I think that I'll resume slicing the cheese next time; grating was much easier, but I don't like the results as well. Grated cheese would probably be good in a rice-based casserole. Dave just read me a cartoon about a "hot pepper and pork fruitcake". Hot peppers, pork, and dried apples stuck together with biscuit batter sounds pretty good to me. 27 December 2009 I've lost my taste for sweets. Dave has decided that he needs to go on a low-calorie, low glycemic diet. 28 December 2009 I mailed the Christmas cards today. On the other hand, I've also started writing the letter for 2010. Only an empty file, of course, since nothing has happened in 2010. I got hungry on the way home from the Christmas party, and Dave and I put a pretty good dent in the crackerjack Sara Lee gave us. I'm working through the nut bread pretty fast. Dave has been cleaning house. We've found several knick-knacks that ought to be passed on to the Beeson children. I'm not making much progress in sorting the books he piled up on the coffee table for me to take care of. But it's not as big a pile as I had thought when it was behind the love seat. I've taken my wool overjersey out of the mending closet and looked at it. We're covered in snow again. Tomorrow looks like a good day for an evening walk, but I'd already decided not to go, since all the other evening activities have been cancelled for the holidays. Still, I'd better dig out my snow boots. 31 December 2009 The boots were easy to find. Dried fruit isn't, and all too often what's labeled "dried" is actually candied or sweetened. I made two batches of fruitcake yesterday, one light (apricots, pineapple, orange peel, white-wheat flour, no spices) one dark (red-wheat flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and every fruit in sight). Every fruit except the other half of the orange peel, which I noticed just as I was shoving the cakes into the oven. What am I going to do with half a package of candied orange peel? The season of sweets is over. And the dried blueberries were not in sight, but it's probably just as well that I left them out. I went to bed about ten last night, with the result that I woke up at two. But I actually woke all the way up, for the first time in two days. Maybe I'll get something done today. After taking a morning nap. I wasn't the least bit groggy when preparing breakfast the day before yesterday. I wanted some cheese gravy on toast, so I sliced some cheese, then put flour, milk, and seasonings into a can-or- freeze jar, cranked down the lid, shook well, started to remove the lid, decided to turn the fire higher before pouring the gravy into the skillet, and then, because the jar had sat long enough for the flour to start settling out, gave it one last shake . . . I hadn't been intending to put my pajamas into the wash I did that day, and I still haven't got all the gravy off the stove. It come daylight and me finish my nap: Yesterday we woke up to find a thin skim of ice on the lake -- one of the last lakes to freeze, according to the previous day's paper. Today we woke up to find snow all over the ice. It's just at freezing, so I took the push broom out and cleaned off the Buick so the sagging snow wouldn't freeze onto it tonight. Al's Christmas stocking went over like a lead balloon. When we got home Christmas night and I unpacked our presents, I threw one of the bouncy-balls into the living room. Al, ever alert, bounded out to meet it -- right on his little pink nose. Now he won't have anything to do with either ball. I did find his spiky ball stuck in the patio door track a few days later, and he still likes that one. And I gave him a sheet of tissue paper, which he is still getting a lot of good from. Knick-Knack Count so far: One pair of storks, one pair of Haitian people, one alabaster donkey, a smaller pair of wooden donkeys, and a camel carrying a salt-and-pepper set. And a green mini totem pole that I suspect that I picked up somewhere. Still not much progress on the books. 1 January 2010 I jammed said books randomly into the shelves. This makes three New Year resolutions: 1. Label the shelves and move books to appropriate shelves. 2. Sometime this year, get into my little Toyota and drive to Fort Wayne.  3. Get this file into the e-mail tonight, or at least early tomorrow. I said "I ate too much" at intervals all the way home. This did not stop us from diving into Dave's cookies as soon as we got here. It was snowing when we left and snowing when we got back, but things looked pretty much the way we left them. Very light snow, and cold enough that it didn't stick to anything bare. A sheet of the tissue that my chocolate tree was packed in went over bigger than the bouncy ball. Al dodged when I tried to drop it on him, but immediately came back to crumple it. I'm glad that I didn't try to disassemble my gift before I got it home. Dave says he wants the enormous coffee cup! I was thinking of using it to heat soup in the microwave for lunch tomorrow. Bowls bubble around the edges while most of the soup is still chilled, but this has straight sides. I think I'm going to have to give up and pick the waistband out of my silk tights.