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 counter-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 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.  They resumed jogging before I'd gone around
the corner.


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 baked 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.


31 July 2007

There are now piles of re-bar, and a third sign advertising
a concrete company.

All threw up again.  Seems to be napping more, but how do
you tell when  cat is lethargic?  He seems perfectly normal
when he's awake, and I caught him grooming his belly -- and
*haven't* caught him licking his bald spot.  Which has
almost grown back; you have to know where it is to see it.

Apparently golfing yesterday didn't hurt Dave, as he went
again today.

I gathered up the rest of the onions and put them in two
boxes in the garage today, then plowed with the five-tine
cultivator and found a handful more.  Then I plowed the
beach.  To think that I thought I might not need my
Culta-Eze to garden in raised beds!

About nine o'clock, I remembered that it's Tuesday.  That's
*one* way to get someone to show up!  (And I'd been fussing
over the key in my pocket earlier, afraid I'd forget it in
my other pants.)

Half an hour later Al complained that I'd forgotten to give
him his nine-o'clock treat.

Well, I did remember to change his box.

And I might have my new white dress to wear next Sunday.
All the pieces are attached now -- partly because I decided
not to bother with pocket slits.  I may make a matching
purse sometime.  Or I may add a patch pocket; I get
disoriented after the service when I put my bulletin in a
pocket that isn't there.

I moved the hooked rug from the bedroom to the parlor, and
wondered why I hadn't done this when we first moved in.  It
was just clutter in the bedroom, but brightens the parlor
considerably.

-- 
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)