E:\LETTERS\JlyBan10.txt 5 July 2010 Kinder overdid the chips this year -- can't get all the left-overs into the freezer. Would help if I took everything out and put it back neatly. Might even find that bag of noodles. I make a good yogurt dip, but I like plain yogurt straight from the carton better. I think I'll chop more fresh herbs and stir them into the left-over dip. Just realized that "leftover" as a noun can't be singular. Some of the people who were invited to my open back yard didn't know the event was on. I got the mailing list for the notices from the Banner, but not everybody subscribes. I went to the church picnic three times. When I saw that I couldn't carry a box with a gallon of lemonade and a lot of other stuff in it, I drove the Buick -- then I saw that I couldn't park, so I put the box on a park bench and came home. Walked back to the picnic, then when it was well past nap time, I boxed my stuff up -- much lighter because my left-over lemonade was the only beverage other than water -- walked home, put molten gelatin in the fridge, realized that I didn't have my pitcher of sliced lemon, walked back, ate some more, came home again. (I went on the after-supper point seven, and also walked home from church, so I got plenty of walking in yesterday.) I absent-mindedly took the pitcher of ice water that I forgot to put on the table Saturday night, and that was a good thing -- after emptying it into one of the five-gallon ice-water dispensers, I had something leak-proof to bring the jello mold home in. Folks were still nibbling, so I left the pork rinds and "onion rings" on the table. Ended up with no overnight guests -- Alice and Nancy stayed at a hotel, and Don had to get home to a sick cat. I forgot entirely that I'd planned to have Don taste my oregano and dig up one with some flavor to it. There are at least two strains out there, because some plants have pink flowers and some have white. The flavorless plants seem to be the ones growing in the garden, and of course those were the ones I dug up to take to a gathering of the clan. (I've forgotten which gathering.) Somewhat to my surprise, I wasn't late for church. The pews were pretty much occupied, but the narthex was still buzzing when I got there. I didn't see that there was a vacant space in the second row of Beesons and sat in the back, which turned out to be just as well; with only one other person in the pew, I could put my feet up whenever my hamstring started to complain, so it never got stressed out. Didn't notice the hamstring at all at the picnic. I suspect the heat was a factor. And it's always better when I've been moving around. Wish I'd asked for a more-specific estimate than "a long time", but I suspect that that's about as accurate as prognostication gets. At least the sore hamstring hasn't been interfering with my activities, and it *likes* peddling a bike. Losing balance while getting on or off, on the other hand . . . Mexico and the Middle East get on just fine. In other words, real tortilla chips dipped in hummis are yummy. --------------------------------------------------------- Got the chips stashed away when I realized that there was space in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. I was dithering over whether to go for a ride tomorrow or stay home and sew. When I realized that I had nowhere to go, I put a load of bleachables in the washer to soak overnight. Had to wash today because I was out of clean bras. All three piles barely added up to a load, so I reflected that it was all colorfast and put it all in together -- and got lint all over my blacks. Fortunately, the black stuff is all underwear except for two pairs of black socks. The wash included an even dozen newly-made spectacle- cleaning rags. (I cut up an old linen shirt.) While pinning them to the line, I wished that I'd washed them a few at a time! This evening, I hemmed the scarf that matches my new jersey, but the jersey itself is still just a pile of pieces -- more disorganized each time the pile gets in my way and is moved elsewhere. I hope I can find them all when I resume work tomorrow. Since it was sunny, I left the white stuff on the line when I took down the wash, and went out for it after dark. I noticed that the lake was perfectly smooth and thought that it was just perfect for reflecting fireworks -- just then someone set off a left-over rocket. Strange to see the lake completely empty when it was so crowded Saturday night. 7 July 2010 We have very large squirrels on the roof again. Yesterday Pete Gross took all the shingles off the smaller roof -- which is over the bedroom -- and put on new shingles; this morning, they are chipping away at the larger half. To my untutored eye, the sheathing, when exposed, appeared to be in perfect condition. Dave congratulated himself on replacing the roof before it started to leak. Dave saw Pete himself on the roof. His son is supposed to prevent him from climbing ladders. (Not easy, I imagine, but I hope Pete's given up walking up ladders with both hands full.) I got some actual stitches in the jersey yesterday -- mostly hems on pockets. I added extra bleach to the load of bleachables and decided to let them soak a whole half hour. Then I got to editing, and remembered them more than an hour and a half later. The stains didn't budge. I hope I remember, the next time I have a load of tablecloths and pillowcases, to soak them overnight in OxyClean instead of detergent. 9 July 2010 Cold gravy on a cold toasted english muffin for breakfast. I had the "You're hungry because you haven't eaten breakfast" revelation *twice* this morning. I made gravy for breakfast, and Dave put his muffin into the toaster. It's a slow toaster, so I went to the sewing room to do a little editing while I waited for my turn. After a while I noticed the hunger pangs, so I went to the kitchen and put a muffin in the toaster, and it's a slow toaster . . . Grump. The whole morning went that way. After breakfast, for some reason I clicked on the icon for a story that I gave up writing a few years ago, but not suddenly enough that I took the icon off the "Frequently Used Icon" folder. If everybody liked my stories as much as I do, I'd be J.K. Rowling. Did iron two shirts, and press a few pieces of my new jersey just before naptime. I got up before three this afternoon, and supper is already made -- I'm crock-potting some chicken thighs in my rice cooker on "keep warm" because cooking all day at a low temperature makes meat nice and tender -- so I might yet get some work done. 10 July 2010 No squirrels on our roof Thursday. I went out to buy elastic and got rained on. I could have ridden around the lake if I hadn't frittered with the computer most of the morning. They finished the roof yesterday, but plan to inspect it on Monday. We've got to get the left-over shingles up into the attic before I wear them out walking on them. Rode to Owens for milk Friday, and took the Tour d'Warsaw after the Farmer's Market today, so I've been getting my exercise. No progress on my sewing, except for ironing a few creases in. 12 July 2010 Actually put some stitches in today. Dave is gallivanting in the general neighborhood of Indianapolis from now until Wednesday, so I have shirt parts all over the house. Yesterday I counted my bras and decided I didn't need to wash underwear today. This morning, I counted my briefs! Put everything on hangers and one of the racks, since thunderstorms had been predicted, but it did not rain. Well, I didn't see any, but I just ran out and found 0.04" in the rain gauge. I did hear a clap of thunder last night. I dumped it, so I'll know if it rains again tonight. We put the shingles up in the attic yesterday. Had to hand them up two at a time; those things are *heavy*! I can see the lights of midway across the lake. I'm considering going to the fair tomorrow afternoon. 20% chance of rain, but at 83 degrees, I come home dryer when I've been rained on. 13 July 2010 It was more fun to stay home and sew. Then go to the church and sew -- I checked the ice cubes (we don't appear to have been using any), wiped the refrigerators, tightened two loose hooks on my newer pair of white hemp slacks, and sewed twill tape to the ends of the elastic that I'm going to put in the back pockets of my jersey. Seems to be a theme here that things under heavy strain hold better if attached to the stitches that restrain them indirectly. The bottoms of the pockets hang below the stitches that secure them, and the elastic is sewn to twill tape which is then sewn into the side seams. Elastic in a seam makes a thick spot, and also works back and forth to break the stitches. Al is suffering from severe lap deprivation, and a few swipes with the comb don't cut it. His daddy will be back tomorrow -- so I'd better put away the clothes I washed yesterday, wash the dishes, and get my sewing out of the kitchen and parlor. I did remember to take the trash out last night -- but the trash haulers forgot to empty the recycling bin. 15 July 2010 Went to the fair today. How hot was it? I drank at least three half-liter bottles of water in a couple of hours -- and when I was almost home, one of the cans of seltzer I'd bought at Sherman & Lin's exploded. In fairness, inspection showed a small dent, so the can must have been weakened. It happened to be the one I'd set upright in the pannier, so half the seltzer was still in it. I poured it over ice. I had a "milkshake" -- softserve in a cup -- and an order of french fries for lunch. Dave says he had fun, and may go to Indianapolis again. 18 July 2010 My new jersey is starting to look like something I might actually finish making. One reason I'm looking forward to it is that my old jersey has pink-bacteria stains on the white hook-and-eye tape, and I don't dare to bleach it as long as I have nothing else to wear. Of course, I won't be wearing it after it's bleached -- it's so worn that every trip through the washer might be its last -- but I'm curious as to what the color will do. I'm rather surprised that the front pockets show no signs of wear -- and neither does the drawstring casing. But the marks where I unpicked the front pockets so I could sew them back on an inch lower have become quite conspicuous. Makes me rather nervous about poking un- necessary pinholes in the new one! 18 July 2010 The tiger lilies were a haze of orange when I was still well up the road on my way home from church this morning. They have been going strong ever since shortly after the Fourth -- the first blossom opened on Sunday or the next day -- but now not one stalk has more than one green or partly- green bud, and few stalks have any at all, so the show will start winding down Real Soon Now. I hope I remember to dig them up when they've gone dormant. And that the temperature drops below ninety by then! The garden is all grown up in weeds, but the onions and potatoes appear to have done their thing before getting choked, and I didn't plant anything else. Well, garlic too. I'd better start digging them pretty soon. I tasted all the oregano plants, and not one has any flavor. I hadn't noticed because I walk that far only when putting every herb in sight into something. I think I'll cut them all to the ground when they finish blooming. I bought a marjoram plant, and that fills in for oregano quite well. And it's with the other herbs close to the kitchen door, so I use it more often. But that bed, too, is exceedingly weedy. Even the little raised beds need plucking. I'm glad the tiger lilies can fend for themselves. On the other hand, they are smothering the iris. There are at least three varieties of mint flourishing along the creek bank, but the one farthest upstream has no flavor. The bed nearest the lake is quite tasty. 19 July 2010 While reading my morning e-mail, I came across this statement in a mailing list: "There are those who are not necessarily being rude, they just are not thinking about what they are doing, and how it affects those around them." I thought about what I was doing in time to refrain from posting "Lady, that's what "rude" *means*!" Terry Austin notwithstanding, there aren't a lot of people who are rude on purpose. There are, unfortunately, also people who will say "Nonsense, your toe can't possibly be sore" and stomp it again. Church makes a handy yardstick. My hamstring doesn't *seem* to be making any progress, but it started hurting later in the hymns yesterday than it did last week, didn't hurt as much, and was easier to relieve of stress. Oddly, sitting on the church pew doesn't hurt, but sitting in the typing chair does. Perhaps I should bring a kitchen chair in here. Same chair doesn't hurt when I sit at the treadle sewing machine. I haven't used the electric lately, as the jersey is all straight stitch. One load of whites, half a load of colors. There's enough for a load of bleachables too, but I didn't think to put them in to soak yesterday. I rubbed Ivory soap on the shoe-polish stains around the hems of my white jeans. That worked miracles on the other pair of white jeans last week. 20 July 2010 Lightened the stains, but no miracles. I spent today in a state of consternation. Before breakfast, I re-filled my pill stick. Put in the last Tricor out of the old bottle, reached for the new bottle that Dave picked up for me yesterday -- it wasn't there. It wasn't anywhere. I finally concluded that I must have thrown the bag away without taking the pills out first, and the trash had been picked up shortly before I started counting my pills. I spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out what to do about it. After my nap, I reflected that I'd looked on the shelf where they belong dozens of times, so that must be where the pills are. So I took everything off the shelf and put it on the table: Canned fruit, chocolate, two cans of vegetables I moved to the shelf below, canned cat food, a canister of dry cat food, Al's medications, my medications. As I already knew, no Tricor. So I washed the shelf and started putting stuff back. When I picked up the old bottle of Simvastatin, I reflected that it was silly to put that back on the shelf; I should put it on the bike so I'd remember to take it to the recycling center for proper disposal. Is the use-by date still in the future? I looked at the label -- AND IT WASN'T SIMVASTATIN. The pharmacy had faked me out by putting the pills in a different bottle. Which turned out, on closer inspection, to be because I'd been given only one month's supply instead of the usual three months. I'd have been one-third as consternated had I known that. I sewed pockets and hook-and-eye tape to the front yoke of my new jersey today. It's finally starting to look as though I were making something. But I got stupid about halfway through writing it up for the blog, and quit. And I need to go shopping tomorrow, so there will probably be no progress on the jersey. I forgot to go to Handwork Circle tonight. Remembered it when I thought that the hand work on the front yoke would be a good Tuesday night project. Didn't pick it up and go, because it was after time to come back. 23 July 2010 The Necchi stopped working Wednesday. I thought I'd burned out the motor, but it appears that I've worn out the foot control. I described the symptoms to Dave yesterday & he said that it sounded like a broken switch, took the foot control apart, and found a broken piece of spring steel. Motors are expensive and quite possibly not available. Foot controls are cheap and all over the Web. I'm planning to take the old control and my owner's manual to Lowery's tomorrow, in the hope that that is enough information to order a new one. I'm also planning to wear my new jersey. I just added "frittered" to my spelling dictionary, but I refuse to add "frantically". 24 July 2010 The tiger-lily show is definitely in decline. Tom-fool projection clock said 7 when it was really after nine. Got a late start and it was threatening rain, so I thought I'd come straight back from the Farmer's Market and didn't take the stuff to order a new foot-control with. When I did get started I was in such a hurry to beat the thunderstorm that forgot my wallet, So I turned around and came back to get it. Then when I got to the village a second time, it commenced to rain and I thought that the thunderstorm had gotten here, so I went home again. Before I'd figured out how to call up the radar on the living-room computer, the rain had stopped, so I went out again and got all the way to the fairgrounds. By this time there wasn't even any evidence that there had been tomatoes -- last Saturday there had been some green and knotty tomatoes, which I didn't even look at. But I did get half a dozen ears of corn and a quart of apricots -- much better apricots than I bought last Saturday. All clear in the west at this time -- it remained clear until late afternoon -- so I went to Chimps Comic Books, where I bought ten Tarzan comics from one of the fifty-cent boxes. Some were marked twenty cents and some were marked thirty-five; I hope that was from before comix drove out funnybooks. On to Lowery's, where I bought a half-inch D ring and inquired about foot controls and zipper feet. Pretty Pillow has finally sold the Singer treadle I've been looking at so long. I was pretty close to Marsh, but the things on my list couldn't be added to my panniers without squashing the apricots -- I'd also picked up five wooden suit hangers at a garage sale -- so I crossed over to Smith Street and came home, with a stop at Sherman & Lin's. There were nine cans of plain seltzer in the dime-each-twelve-for-a-dollar bin, so I bought them and put them under the corn. Also took a quick tour of the pawn shop. We split a Tilapia filet for supper, with left-over baked beans and fresh corn. I'm really going to have to get around to some *shopping*! But Tomorrow is Sunday, and I need to run a load of wash Monday. Oh yeah, I wore the ragged old jersey. Two casings, two fells, and one hem to go on the new one. Had time to finish this evening, but didn't feel bright enough to tackle the fells. They run inside long sleeves, so stitching them takes heavy concentration. Having already done one row of the required two rows of topstitching, I know that it's possible. But it's not easy. And I've got to make a strap out of some of the selvage I saved and sew on a D ring to clip my watch to. 25 July 2010 And one hem on the hook side of the hook-and-eye tape was only basted. Everything but the D-ring is finished, and I've put my mints and handkerchiefs etc. into the new jersey and thrown the old one into the wash. Which I'll wash Tuesday. Tomorrow, I want to buy a chef's hat. Once the tiger lilies start declining, they don't mess around. About half a dozen blossoms left in the patch. It's about time I poked the pastor to find out when he'll want a new set of banners. 29 July 2010 Martha says that the next theme is "doldrums". I said we should un-pin the paper banners that are up now and just leave the black-broadcloth backgrounds. Cain't think of any other way to express "doldrums", but Martha has surprised me before. The restaurant-supply place didn't have any hats. There were aprons all over the place, and I gave serious consideration to buying one. Last Monday, I meant to go out Wooster Road in order to hit the restaurant-supply and Aunt Millies before picking up frozen food, but absent-mindedly went up Argonne instead. So I hit Goodwill and a bunch of places in Sprawlmart, but Quicken says that I didn't buy anything. Then I rode past Aldi to the restaurant store, was disappointed, bought a loaf of bread, hotdog buns, and slimwiches at Aunt Millies, and returned to Aldi. Walking along Route 30 back to Aldi was as miserable as I remembered it, but marginally better than crossing the highway twice. I looked at Google's aerial photos later on, and you just can't get here from there. Had fun packing the panniers, because I forgot that one of them was full of bread when I was buying stuff. I did better at Marsh today, partly because they have a special small cart, partly because I didn't want much besides milk that I could buy there, but mainly because the stuff pre- filling one pannier was un-squashable nuts and dried fruit. I went to Marsh for milk because I wanted to leave off my foot control for replacement. Much to my surprise, he had a suitable foot control in stock, and attached it to my old wires on the spot. No zipper feet to fit the Family Rotary, which was no surprise at all. He said one might find a used one somewhere, but I doubt that any were ever made. Anyhow, the bill was $16, tax included, which I consider very cheap. I put my old bottle of Simvastatin in my pocket, meaning to stop by the recycling center to drop it off for proper disposal, but forgot all about it until I undressed on getting back. Complained of it, and Dave said that he was on Simvastatin, checked, it was the correct dosage, still hasn't expired, so he took it. I guess I haven't been complaining about having that bottle in the cupboard as annoyingly as I thought. Tuesday I washed clothes and went to Handwork Circle. Swiped the fridges with a damp cloth, read a couple of articles in a Reason magazine that I've been carrying around for months, tipped out early -- and found Martha and the flyer-distribution committee on the steps. They thought I'd come to help, so I did. Martha and I toured Stone Camp together. I don't know what I did with Wednesday. I meant to start work on my new white linen shirt, but didn't get around to taking the fabric off the hanger until tonight -- and it's still all over the sofa, but I have drawn a thread to cut out the rectangle the shirt is based on. I ran my new jersey through a rinse-and-wring when I got home Monday, and when re-loading the pockets today, I forgot to put a pencil in the pencil pocket, which I didn't notice until I wanted to jot down how much I paid for lunch at the new hot-dog stand on Winona not too far from the tracks. Also forgot to get my bike key out of my purse -- I did remember my wallet! I didn't need the key, but I did need the nail clippers and the Marsh card that are on that ring. Managed to smooth the corners of the broken nail a little with my very dull pocket knife, and everything rang up at the "with card" price anyway. I'm still punching away at "The First Arrangement"; I'm on page 49 of 57. There's an excellent chance that it won't be accepted for the chapbook -- I don't think Heath understood how much there is to making a chapbook, so I won't be astonished if the whole project peters out -- but I've been meaning to Web this story for some time, and I'm rather enjoying the typing. I keep reading ahead to see what's going to happen! 30 July 2010 Unless it's buried inside -- and there's *never* any news inside that isn't continued from the front page -- there isn't a word in the paper about the town getting chopped into quarters yesterday. There was some sort of problem with the signals, so there was an east-west train stuck so that nobody could go north or south, and also a north-south train stuck so that nobody could go east or west. Well, one or the other of those trains had to go only halfway through the town. I was kinder hoping for some details. Got started on my new white linen shirt, found lines on the fabric that I wasn't sure would wash out, and ran it through a rinse cycle in the washing machine. The mystery- marker lines vanished, but I found a small spot when I was hanging the fabric out to dry. It might come out when washed, and in any case I can camouflage it with chalk, so I'm ignoring it. I must be careful not to iron the stain, though. I also shrank the ribbon I plan to trim the shirt with. There are almost ninety inches, and I figure four feet will be plenty -- maybe I'll make a matching hat. I need a white linen hat in any case. But I wash my hats too often to want fragile ribbon on my hatband. Examining the complexity of the ribbon, I greatly fear that I'll end up sewing it on by hand. Dave smoked a chicken today, which he flavored with most of the herbs and spices in the freezer yesterday. It was delicious. It was way past time I got on with burning up the supply of fireplace fuel the winds have provided us with, but I didn't think of it until it was too late to start yeast bread, so I stirred up a batch of corn bread. I put a rack in the bottom of the kettle, and snitched the round cake pan out of Grandmother's stove-top oven. It still works fine, by the way, or did the last time I tried it. Since our current stove doesn't require electricity to run the gas oven, I may never use it again. I put live coals, rather than hot ashes, on my kettle hearth, put a few sticks around the edges of the hearth, piled coals on the lid of the kettle, then picked up the kettle with the poker, swept the coals into the ring of sticks, and put the kettle back. The bread baked nicely, but didn't brown. Which is much better than browning too much! I think I'll run out to the kitchen and mix up some yeast dough to bake Sunday night. Alton Brown says that chilling the dough a couple of days improves the product, and it definitely makes the timing easier. Oops. That was yesterday's paper. But there was nothing about the trains in today's paper either. Yeast dough in fridge. I'm going to Farmer's Market in the morning, the Duck Race at 11, and a block party at four. Seems to me that something else was going on tomorrow too. Whatever it is, I'm going to miss it. 31 July 2010 Strike "buy tomatoes" off my list of things to do today. I hope the rain lets up before the duck race. I've forgotten to go nine years in a row -- pity to be rained out when I finally remember on the proper day. I showed up -- the ducks didn't. No explanation, but it seems reasonable to suppose that it was raining cats and dogs when it was time to set up. I hope nothing happens to the block party -- a lot of people have worked very hard setting this up. The block party went very well, and everyone had lots of fun.