3 July 2007 If I'm doing wash, it must be Monday. Hope I don't become so convinced that I forget to go to Handwork Circle tonight. Yesterday was a lovely day for riding around the lake. I read a couple of short stories at the library after my appointment, and found the farmer's market in session on my way home, but if anyone had corn or tomatoes, he sold them before I got there. Teeth are in good shape, but there's a filling they intend to keep an eye on. Dr. Hollar emphasized that *he* hadn't put that one in! Checked my knickers after the ride to see how they were holding up, and found a hole the size of a silver dollar in the seat. My new knickers are down to the finishing; I'd better get at it between loads of wash. [I got one row of topstitching done. One more, and three hems will finish it.] I'm still a little tired from missing my nap yesterday. 4 July 2007 -- just after midnight. I felt better in the afternoon, and did remember Handwork Circle -- just in time to swap frozen egg rolls for the fridge-cleaning concoction I had planned. Got a late start by hanging the last load of wash at cooking time. Dave is thinking of grilling hamburgers tomorrow -- uh, today. Perhaps I can serve the creamed leftovers for lunch. 5 July 2007 We had creamed leftovers (with fresh-pulled multipliers) over instant mashed potatoes for supper. I fried hamburgers today. Poor Al E Cat is moping around -- the trip to the vet took a lot out of him, and he also got a round of immunizations that might be making him feel sick. And a steroid shot for his rash. 6 July 2007 It didn't help Al any that we stopped on the way home from the vet to pick up a grinder, and I didn't think to lock him into the bedroom until after the noise began. He remained under the bed for a while after the noise stopped. Dave patched the crack in the kitchen floor with epoxy concrete a while back, and had been trying to smooth it off with his belt sander ever since. He rented the proper tool for the job and had it done in minutes. Came out a lot smoother than the belt sander could manage too; I looked at a spot where the patch was wide enough to give you an idea of the texture, and said that I wouldn't mind having the whole floor done that way. I'm pretty sure that I *have* seen floors that had halves of sand grains embedded in the surface. And now Dave owns a practically-new grinding disk. He had to have the clerk show him how to get it off the grinder. Part of the problem was that it isn't intuitive, and part that it takes more force than one is willing to apply at random -- grinding tightens the disk onto the spindle. 7 July 2007 Robert A. Heinlein would have been one hundred years old today. I hear that the BBC read _The Green Hills of Earth_ over the air in his honor. I struck out at the farmer's market, so Dave bought corn and a tomato at Sweet Corn Charley's. I forgot to steam the corn to have with our chorizo, so we ate it for dessert. I'm planning to serve hamburgers tomorrow night in honor of the tomato. We could really use about two days of rain. I'll have to ask Dave to hook the pump up to the hose again. 8 July 2007 Dave hooked up the pump, filled my tank, and watered everything in hose-reach. I hauled a bucket to the redbud tree. We had a party after church to send off the Riggs. I was surprised, after my nap, at how tired I was. Didn't think I'd been standing that much, but my feet are sore. Candy remembered to give me the key, but forgot where she put it. I went off without it -- probably already too tired to fuss, though I was still feeling good at the time. Linelle nearly always has the church open when I get there, and I can get the key next Sunday. (If I remember to send Candy an e-mail so she'll remember!) I did fry hamburgers. I nearly forgot to steam the corn, then forgot to serve it. I ate mine without salt or butter. It's one of those new "super sweet" varieties. I don't think I'll buy butter this year, as I consider it optional, and Dave is satisfied with Smart Balance. 9 July 2007 Grump. Just as I was thinking "Only two loads! Everything outside at ten-thirty!" I noticed that I'd dropped one of Dave's shirts. He's short of shirts, and this is one of those he wears most often, so leaving it until next week wasn't an option. So I decided to change the cases on the fat, hard pillows after all. I usually change them every other week, since we don't put our faces on them. Hot whites don't come up very often now that I'm not using cloths on the table. I stopped when Dave was tearing up the tile and putting his tools on the table; figure I won't bother again until the kitchen is back together. (For one thing, the table where I put salt shakers etc. when changing the cloth is out in the garage.) The washer is sitting on a dolly today, and the drier is in the parlor. We never entertain guests in the parlor, but it's been a handy room to have! Only two shirts in today's wash -- including the one I dropped -- that I'd have needed the drier for; told Dave shaking them by hand would be easier than re-connecting the drier. I use a dryer only for "ironing" knits and shaking dust out of blankets, so doing without it until the floor coverings are laid is no problem. ------------ One thing to be said for the dry weather: when I took that third load out, the first two were ready to come in. Except for the king-size sheet, which I'd already taken in and put back on the bed. 13 July 2007 They tore out the foundations where the house was today, and appear to be preparing to pour foundations for a new one. 14 July 2007 We had an adventure on our walk one day: when passing the third house clockwise from ours, we noticed that the garage had been ripped off and the house was up on cribbing. We walked on, speculating on whether they were putting in a new foundation or moving it. Two corners later, there was the missing garage, next to newly-poured footings! At first glance, it appeared to still be on the truck that had moved it, but instead, it was a truck with as much of itself as would fit parked in the garage. Keeping track of progress has added interest to our walks ever since. One day the garage was in a new position, but the truck was still in it. I think the truck is outside it today, but I didn't go down Cherry any farther than it took to see that the noise was a mortar mixer -- they are building concrete block foundations under the house this morning. It rained enough last night that I hesitated before crossing the lawn in sandals when I went out to count the houses between us and the missing one, but not enough that I got my socks wet. A third of an inch, I think Dave said. Probably very spotty, but any corn fields that got both storms are all right for a while. We co-operated on this: Dave watered his new grass yesterday evening, and I left the cat litter that I sifted yesterday out in the garden. Unfortunately, I think the cat litter will be just fine after it's been in the sun for a while. I've learned from alt.sewing that Barkeeper's Friend is still being made, so I've added it to my shopping list. There are at least four places I can look -- though I don't think Aldi has scouring powder at all. 16 July 2007 Looked for scouring powder at Aldi's today; didn't see any. Stopped on the way to get a few cans of Science Diet at Big R -- lucky I did, as the only non-fish flavor of cat food at Aldi was "sliced beef", and when I serve Al lumps in gravy, he licks off the gravy and leaves the lumps. Didn't think to stop at the teller machine on the way, so I used up most of my cash. After church yesterday, Dave asked me whether the tomato cage was supposed to be out on the lawn. I said, "No it's supposed to be over there where the tomato used to be." -- but the tomato plant was still there, and there was no damage to the garden at all. Not to mention that a deer couldn't have kicked it that *far*. So we thought there must have been a strong wind in the night, but I looked around and there weren't any branches down. We have two sycamores and three cottonwoods -- when it blows, we have branches on the lawn! And this morning, I noticed that the soil screen is still leaning against the fence where I left it after the last time I sifted cat litter. Do microbursts come *that* micro? It's about time I started pulling the onions. Yesterday's pizza looks more like a quiche. One of these days I'll try making a kettle-baked quiche in a yeast-bread crust. 20 July 2007 Carpet and whatever we're using instead of linoleum this year are going into the living room and kitchen at the moment. Al, locked in the bedroom, is getting very grumpy at not being allowed to go out and watch. So I locked him into the sewing room for a change of pace. Must put him back before he needs the sandbox! A thread on Lace Chat turned up an interesting datum: Altoids were made in Great Britain, but not sold there. So the company moved to Chattanooga to be nearer its customers. I don't think much of the candy, but I *love* the tins. There are flags suggesting a plan to pour footings where the house was hauled out. Work proceeds on concrete-block foundations at the new location. They've filled up the garage foundation with gravel, and appear to plan to pile dirt around it. The garage is lined up with its foundation, and the truck is still parked in it. Forgot to e-mail Candy to bring the key to church. Because there was a sign up saying no Musikgarten the following Tuesday, Candy drove out here with it Monday. Then the church was all unlocked for a wedding rehearsal. But I didn't see the sign -- which was on the door I went out by, but not on the one where I came in -- until I'd gone around the church turning out all the lights. I went back and turned on those by the doors, but had no clue as to which others I'd turned off. Nearly Noon: new linoleum in, old carpet out, and the sound of power tools is loud in the land. Then they stopped and someone said "Uh oh. Oh boy." I'm afraid to go look -- but it sure beats hearing your *surgeon* say "Oh, shit!"! (That incident led to going to Indiana by train because I couldn't fly.) The new, light linoleum makes the room much brighter than the dark brown flooring we had in there -- especially when you compare it to the black glue we've been living with for a while. Removing the carpet revealed a crack in the concrete, but not half as bad as the one in the kitchen. ------------ Thought I'd bake bread today, and do all sorts of other outdoor work, but I didn't count on how *distracting* carpet layers can be. I spent the whole day reading usenet and on-line comic strips. 21 July 2007 Plan for today was to hit both farmer's markets and the library, then have lunch at the wine-tasting on the way home. Bought a hot pepper -- which is still in my windbreaker pocket -- at the real farmer's market, couldn't find the Development Corporation's farmer's market -- I suspect that it's vaporware -- ran into Linda and the boys at the library, returned _Secret Garden_, _Little Lord Fauntleroy_, and _Iron Ring_, checked out _Dragon Slippers_ and _Wizard Lord_ -- both of which miraculously appeared after having been sought in vain on previous visits. Then I didn't feel like dining out, so instead of buying a bracelet when passing through Village at Winona, I came home and ate duck soup. I have to count the library visit as very satisfactory. Just when it was too late to go back for it, I realized that I'd forgotten to put my shopping list into my pocket. It is also my book list, and all I could remember was Wrede and Watt-Evans, and I've pretty much picked over their works. But I happened to remember all the fuss the book-reading newsgroups are making over _Dragon Slippers_, and it was not only checked in, but on the shelf. The author has been described as a cross between Watt-Evans and Wrede, and someone called _Dragon Slippers_ "the best Enchanted Forest novel not written by Patricia Wrede", so I've got to have a look. I've hunted _Wizard Lord_ several times before, but it's never in the reference area where the cardless file says it is. There *are* several shelves of fiction there, but they only go halfway through the alphabet, and the filing code on _Wizard Lord_ is "WAT". Someday I'll have to ask the reference librarian what that is all about. Some of the books are large type, but not all, and there's also a large-type section. Nor does there seem to be anything the least bit referency about them -- no great works that everybody quotes from or anything else the least bit unusual. But today the dime dropped and I decided to look for "WAT" in *every* fiction section. General fiction ends abruptly at "T" and I couldn't find any continuation; indeed the sign states firmly that U,V,W,X,Y,and Z are right there where I was looking, but I can't see a collection that covers two ranges of shelves missing six letters entirely, even when one of them is X. But Wizard Lord was right where it belonged in the SF & Fantasy section. I do wish they'd use spine stickers instead of segregating the fiction. I like for all of an author's works to be shelved together. Not to mention that you can put *two* stickers on a spine, but you can't put a book in two places. I'd hate for SF readers to miss out on _Caves of Steel_ just because it's a whodunit. Well, well. I've been snickering at one of the mansions at the south end of the lake because it looks like a hotel. I didn't want to go to bed just yet, poked around the Web, found the Kosciusko Visitor's Bureau site -- the huge home is the Blue Heron Guest House. 21 July 2007 I've been getting itchy little sub-dermal blisters on the palms of my hands off and on, and I've been pulling up Jimson Weed whenever I see it growing alongside the Heritage Trail. It wasn't until today that I connected these two events. I'll use a paper towel if I see another -- I *think* that I've got them all. When I got back from yesterday's bike ride, Dave had moved the refrigerator back into the kitchen. This upset me because he's been having back trouble and wrestling the fridge out of the kitchen had aggravated it considerably, but he said that he was very careful, and used a pry bar to move it inch by inch. It *was* necessary, because nothing else could come out of the parlor before it, and I have to use the washer tomorrow or the next day. He had also moved the washing machine back into the laundry room, but that didn't worry me, because we never took it off the dolly. 23 July 2007 This evening, when we walked past the lot where the moved house used to be, a bobcat-size forklift was unloading stout pipes that look as though they are intended to fit together end-to-end, and there was a pile of pipes with screws on the ends that looked like pier posts. Dave speculated that those were anchors. I forgot to look at the spot where the house now is; Dave said that nothing had changed when he walked by there earlier. Got the wash done today -- last load came in a trifle damp -- and gathered the onions I'd pulled last week. It's about time to pull the rest of them. Though "pull" is a misnomer for the multipliers; their necks are weak, but the soil is so sandy that I can push a finger under them and pop them up. Yesterday, instead of pizza, I baked a loaf of bread using about half the remaining white-wheat flour. It came out yummy -- and burnt black over half the bottom. I'd wanted to shovel coals onto the concrete to get better control of them, not to mention making it *much* easier to pick the kettle up with the poker, and making it possible to set it onto the coals *before* piling coals on the lid, but I'd been afraid of spalling the concrete. Hours later, I realized that I should have shoveled some cold ashes onto the concrete before laying the fire. Duh. Between loads of wash today, I waded into the creek and broke loose a log that has been annoying me for some time, stuck in the sand on the other bank and unable to finish floating down the creek into the lake. Judging by the shape it's in, it took it a while to float this far! On the other hand, it isn't waterlogged; it must have weathered on land before falling -- or being disposed of -- into the creek. But it was too heavy to haul out of the water, so I left it floating in a current that wasn't able to overcome wind that I couldn't even feel; if the log was moving at all, it was going upstream. Last time I checked, it was stuck on a bank again, but this time on our side, so I can't see it without making a special effort. 25 July 2007 Rode my bike around the lake this morning -- a surprisingly short ride -- to go to Blue Moon shoes; not surprising that they didn't have any shoes my size, but they also didn't have any suitable socks. There was a rack of "smartwool", but everything decent came only in men's large and bigger. I settled for a yucky-gray pair of anklets with cutesy decorations. What I *need* is slack-length socks. They might have some this fall. Dave went to Sweet Corn Charlie's yesterday, so I baked four red-wheat hamburger buns -- in the oven -- today. Used my regular recipe of one cup water and two and a bit of flour, but I should have reduced it to 3/4. We each ate a whole bun anyway. I left one bun out for breakfast and froze the other. Swung past the construction sites on my way out of town; the pile of anchors is gone and pipes stick out where I'd thought they planned to pour footings, the garage has been re-attached, and the house was sitting on its completed foundation. A bobcat was bustling around, and when we walked by this evening, the dirt had been arranged around the foundation. Electricity hasn't been hooked up, and the garage floor is still gravel. The truck was gone, and the bobcat was in the garage. *All* of the bobcat. [Almost. Later, when they closed the door, they had to leave it open a few inches for the end of the scoop.] Spotted two new sites to watch on my way home from Handwork Circle yesterday, but didn't go by them today. One of the houses between Columbia and Sunday Lane is putting on an addition, and there is a small hole dug between Union and the creek, presumably for one of the "artworks" planned for the Greenway. The odd angle of the bench is now explained: it faces the hole. I did try to see the Blue Heron Guesthouse at the south end of the lake, but you can't see anything from the blacktop, and I strongly suspected that the road was a private drive after it changed to gravel. Did see some parking spots. Whether it was the steroid shot or cutting out fish, Al's rash is much better. He nags to have his toys thrown more often, too. 27 July 2007 Baked hamburger buns again. The first batch were too big & I don't have a pan that I can bake six buns in, so I was thinking of making three-fourths of a recipe, but the dime dropped and I made a recipe and a half instead -- I have *two* eight-inch square cake pans. Couldn't find my nine by thirteen cake pan anywhere. Hope I haven't lost it. Ate two buns, put five in the freezer, left one out for breakfast. Took a quick loop at midnight -- there's a U-haul parked in front of the moved house. Too soon to be moving in, and the trailer is too small. _Dragon Slippers_ is due tomorrow, so I think I'll go to the library after the farmer's market tomorrow. I'll swing by the location of the vaporware market just for practice, though this isn't a first or third Saturday. Lessee . . . I want to cross Detroit before I cross Winona Avenue, but I don't want to get onto Buffalo on this side of Winona Avenue. No matter how you slice it, I cross Route 15. Might go past the hospital too, even though all I have is three funny books. 28 July 2007 Noticing that "lecithin" was on my shopping list messed up my Detroit-avoidance plan. So I hit the Farmer's Market -- snapping up the last three ears of corn and three peppers, but ignoring the under-ripe tomatoes -- the health-food store, the vaporware-market site, the library, and the emergency room. One bell pepper is a very pale yellow or green, and tastes like a banana pepper. I put some in Dave's salad, then we had steak with steamed corn and freshly-dug potatoes. Never touched the dress I hope to wear next Friday. Took a quick point eight just before midnight. This may get to be a habit. Met two joggers just where they stopped for calisthenics. 30 July 2007 Chickened out of the midnight stroll, and went to bed at eleven. Al is sleeping late, so I washed the shirts instead of the sheet. If he isn't up by the time the blacks-and-reds come out of the washer, he's going to have to move. Or maybe I can get the sheet out from under the wad of blankets he's curled up in. I just decided to be a good mommy, and went in to close the drapes. We have the air-conditioner turned up too high. I'm wearing the raggedy shorts that used to be knee pants because I might do some work in the lake, and my knees are cold! After taking a week off for a sore back, Dave is resuming golf this morning -- at Little Big Horn, as they are having free greens fees today. I bake a three-cups-of-water loaf in the kettle yesterday, since I felt like baking and Dave feels that pizza is too carby. It worked, but just barely, and I don't think I'll bake more than a double recipe again. Still have five hamburger buns and a piece of the previous loaf, so I probably won't bake at all this week. Al got up before the blacks went in. Found vomit in his food dish; hope that has nothing to do with his sleeping late. He escaped when I went out to dump a coffee filter, so he's not feeling bad. Heard noise from the construction site, so I put on pants and went over to watch them drive an anchor. The pitch on the screws must be shallower than I thought, as it took a while to go in. They appear to be driving anchors instead of pouring footings, but I suppose the anchors could be to support footings. We will keep an eye on them. At the moved house, nothing remains that we can watch except landscaping. -- Joy Beeson http://joybeeson.home.comcast.net/ http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/ http://n3f.home.comcast.net/ -- Writers' Exchange http://www.timeswrsw.com/craig/cam/ (local weather)