E:\LETTERS\NovBan09.txt This file is posted at http://davebeeson.home.comcast.net/LETTERS/NOVBAN09.TXT 2 November 2009 Eagle! I woke up alone, walked into the living room to find Dave playing a computer game while he waited for his breakfast to microwave, glanced out the kitchen window on my way back to the bedroom, and yelled "big bird!" It was acting really weird, swooping like a swallow and hovering like a hummingbird -- neither of us knew that eagles *could* hover. The many angles of view made it definite that it had both a white tail and a white head, though the possibility that it was a hawk struggling with a seagull was open for a few swoops. I thought it was fishing at first, then I noticed that a dark speck vanished each time the eagle skimmed the water: it was after a lone coot that was diving each time it saw the eagle coming. The coot dived north each time; the action was near the boundary between us and the Wildmans and proceeded toward the canal. The coot's dives gradually got shorter, and I thought the eagle was going to win. When they were in front of the park and we had to stand close to the patio door to see them, Dave pointed out that there were workmen in the Wildmans' yard, so I dashed into the bedroom for my flannel nightgown, realized we'd have to go outside and went back for my sheepskin slippers, and joined Dave out by the beach. Near the canal, the eagle hit the water and stayed there for a while, and we thought it had caught the coot, but after a bit it took off and resumed swooping. It hadn't gone far into the canal before it gave up and flew to a tree in front of the Lodge to rest. Since the lake is already going down (the dam was opened today) and the canal is overdue for a dredging, I'd have thought odds favored the eagle in the shallow water. Perhaps it is too narrow for efficient swooping. Whereupon I ate a bowl of cereal and then came in here to write this. A couple of paragraphs ago, Dave came in to say that another eagle had joined it in the tree. Just as I reached the glass door on my way out and Dave, having remembered the name of the photographer, was reaching for the phone, the eagle flew over our lawn headed south. Presently it was followed by another large bird that we couldn't identify, presumably the second bird that is no longer in the tree in front of the Lodge. We couldn't see it clearly, but figure it has to be a juvenile eagle -- what else would let an eagle see it? 13 November 2009 I've been saying for a long time that those silly decorations that look as though someone had given up halfway through building a porch would look fairly reasonable if they had vines trained over them. Yesterday, we got an ad that said those things are called "pergolas", today I looked up "pergola", and the O.E.D. agrees with me: it says that a pergola is a structure made of living plants trained over trellis work. I drove to Maple Leaf Farms last Friday, and bought a case each of fully cooked duck drummettes, raw chicken- breast entrees stuffed with pepperoni pizza sauce, and raw marinated duck breasts packed four to a bag. Also bought a bag of fully-cooked chicken-breast entrees with cheeseburger sauce stuffing. I'd have gotten a case if I'd realized the posted price was the price of a case -- I was much surprised, upon looking at the receipt, to see that a bag of nearly a dozen entrees was only a dollar. The cheeseburger sauce is nothing special, but the pre-cooked entree makes a nice lunch if you doctor it up with vegetables. (Dave says that ketchup is quite enough.) I thawed one bag of four duck breasts and cooked them by a recipe Dave found on the Web for marinated chicken. I skipped the part about sticking all the fresh herbs I can find under the skin and leaving it in the fridge for two days, since Maple Leaf had already done that part. You pre- heat an oven containing an iron skillet to 475F, blap the meat into the sizzling skillet, and turn it over when it's half done. Then turn it over again when it's almost finished. Takes less than forty-five minutes for a chicken, even less for duck breast. Yummy, but so rich and flavorful that I'm not going to be able to serve it very often. We ate a breast and a half at the first meal, and I've served it for supper again, and we've gotten many snacks and lunches out of it, and there is still practically all of the fourth breast in the fridge. We've had drummettes in left-over chicken soup twice. Since they are naked in the bag, and aren't breaded, I'll have to serve them often. 14 November 2009 The Farmer's Market is over for the season, but I'm trying to keep up the habit of riding my bike every Saturday, so today I went to Pierceton. Upon arriving at Route 13, I figured I'd begin my tour with a side-trip to Route Thirty, checking out the stores on the east side of Thirteen on the way out and those on the west side on the way back, then explore Pierceton proper. But while crossing the road, I noticed what I took for a drug store, and I need a new lipstick, so I began by walking the other way -- to find a doctor's office. (Re-read the sign & said "well, duh!") So I started toward Thirty from where I was, toured a not very interesting crafted-jewelry store, then entered a wonderfully-crowded antique shop that went back and back and back and thought "I'll spend a lot of time here!" There was a chicken-shaped ceramic pitcher near the door, forty dollars. I wanted to buttonhole someone and say "Lovely pitcher, but if you buy it, *don't* use it to serve tomato juice!" I wonder what became of Mom's rooster pitcher. I don't recall seeing it after we started going to Florida. But I'd hardly started looking around when I realized that it was very urgent that I visit the library. Got there, they were open, a mostly-white cat was relaxing in the hallway near the restroom, half of him in the sun. I told him he was going to have to move pretty soon; he ignored me. After washing up, I started to peel off my long-sleeved shirt and realized that I'd been in such a rush that I'd left my short-sleeved shirt in my pannier. So I went outside and got it, and when I returned the cat was relaxing in the same spot, but now only a quarter of him was in the sun. He hadn't moved when I passed him again after changing shirts, but when I came out of the non-fiction room, I found him sitting up and washing; it would appear that when the sun got off him completely, he decided that it was time to get up. Before I'd finished inspecting the fiction section (with a side trip into the children's departments), they threw me out, by which I deduced that it was one o'clock. (I'd forgotten to get my watch out of the shirt I wore yesterday.) I poked my nose into a few stores, but was no longer in the mood for antiquing, so I mounted up and headed for the Farmer's Cafe, reflecting that I was so late that the place wouldn't be crowded. Very not crowded -- there wasn't a soul in the place save for two employees who were sitting down and not at all expecting customers; combined with a sign on the door saying that they aren't open for supper today on account of a private party, that set off my agoraphobia -- and I wasn't actually hungry -- so I headed for home. Forgot that I'd meant to change shoes at the cafe until my feet started hurting a few miles later, and changed beside the road without much to lean on for balance. Had a bagel with sour cream, marinated artichokes, and the last of the duck breast when I got home. There were signs up in Pierceton saying that there would be a festival the first weekend in December; if I don't have something else going on, (and if I remember that it's happening) I think I'll go. 15 November 2009 The last time I was in Owen's, I looked at the Nabisco Wheat Thins, said "No, I like Fit and Active crackers better", then said "How do I know? -- I can't remember the last time I ate Wheat Thins." So I bought a box, then the next time I was in Aldi's I bought a box each of Fit and Active and Cambridge thin wheat crackers. (Fit and Active is Cambridge with less fat.) Then we held a cracker tasting. The Wheat Thins are significantly thicker than the Aldi crackers; Dave pronounced them "tough". Neither of us could distinguish between the high- and low-fat versions of the Aldi crackers, so I'll go on getting Fit and Active. (Not that it matters much when we usually eat them dipped in fat!) Sometimes I dip them in Priano Bruschetta, but I'm not going to buy any more of that. Though it's all sorts of flavorful things ground up together, all I can taste is sunflower-seed oil. If I eat enough of it, there's an unpleasant aftertaste of capsaicin. I just now stirred in a pinch of ascorbic acid, and that improved it some. I also bought some Priano Italian-style tomatoes without reading the ingredients, blithely assuming that it meant that they'd added basil and oregano. Turns out that "Italian Style" means "with a disgusting amount of sugar". Dave loved the chili I made with it, and most of the sugar stayed in the broth, so I was able to eat it too. I think maybe I'll take the other can to Our Father's House. I forgot entirely to buy Mexican-style diced tomatoes -- but we are out of the canned beef I planned to put them in anyway. My silk undershirt has had it, so I meant to have Dave fetch me a disposable credit-card number and buy two shirts and a pair of leggings from Dharma, but upon poking around in the catalog, I realized that their black raw silk would be perfect for making a replacement for the red shirt that recently wore out. so first I've got to calculate how much it would take to make the shirt, and that means finding the pattern. And then I got to thinking that black raw silk would be a good choice for the gored-circle skirt I've been wanting to make for many years, and I *could* use a plain black skirt. But I need a long skirt, so circular fullness that would be enough at the hips would be too full at the hem -- I could draft a pattern that changes from straight to circular at the hip line, but that isn't the elegantly-crude design I had in mind. 16 November 2009 Yesterday, just for practice, I made a gelatin mold out of one envelope of gelatin, one can of condensed apple juice, and some blueberries. Good thing I did, as I think two envelopes of gelatin will make the gelatin mold I intend to make for Thanksgiving easier to carry. particularly since there will be more fruit in it. The practice mold came out nearly black, and very good -- we've already eaten more than half. Eternal September is down again tonight. Dave said he didn't have any trouble this morning, maybe it's on my end. But I've gotten a few headers in some newsgroups, and when I do get a header I can always download the body. If my password had gone bad, I wouldn't get anything at all. Still no news on the eternal-september.org website, but the "status" page takes forever to load -- aha! The graphs *have* changed this time, and they show a couple of flat lines, one of them presumably along about now. Looks like the server overloads in the evening when everybody sits down to read a little Usenet before bedtime. Yesterday's flatline ended at 6:00 GMT -- I *think* it's GMT -- and it's now 4:30 GMT, so I should try again in a couple of hours. On the other hand, yesterday's flatline started at midnight GMT & today's started about an hour and a half sooner than that, so it might stay down longer. I accidentally struck something off my ever-growing list of things to do. I've been annoyed of late that there is all sorts of sewing I want to do, but I've been frittering away the time I had to do it. So I started a literal list by writing "retrofit pencil pockets, make pants protector, repair jacket-style jersey" on one page of my shopping list. (I was out on the bike when this list of things that needed doing came to mind.) (I'll rush to the kitchen right now and write "gown" on the list, to remind me to finish putting elastic in the sleeves of my silk dress.) Washdays are particularly disorganized, so after putting a sheet into the washer, I looked for a little token sewing on the list, and chose putting a pencil pocket into my hand- made wool jersey. It would only be four inches of backstitch, surely I could get *that* done today. So I went to the closet for it, but found only the Jones Cyclewear jersey I'd changed into -- the hand-made jersey was still on the bike. (And still wrapped around two grain-and-fruit bars; I *told* you I wasn't hungry when I didn't stop at the cafe'. I did eat a couple of my starlight mints during the ride.) So I decided that I'd do the Jones shirt first for practice. Laid it on the bed of the sewing machine to mark where to stitch and realized "well, duh, I can sew it by machine; I even have a knit needle already in." I've no yellow sewing silk, and only size 100 in white, so I looked all my spools over and decided that light green was close enough for such a ratty old jersey. Light green size A silk proved to be quite invisible on safety-yellow wool, so I retrofitted the pocket on my other Jones jersey, which was item #2 on above-mentioned list, and made a note of the thread for when I get around to sewing in the new zipper. Then I changed the thread again and did all my cotton jerseys except one that needed a piece of twill tape applique'd to the back first, at which point I remembered that I had one more wool jersey out on the bike. After my nap, I retrofitted the last cotton jersey -- and hemmed down the pieces of tape that were already on the back, because their free edges had gone all rumpled and lumpy in the wash. And discovered that I didn't have to change the thread in the machine again, because the pockets on the last wool jersey had been sewn on by hand. After supper, Dave put a Buster Keaton movie in the DVD player and I fetched my tools and retrofitted the remaining wool jersey. I used buttonhole silk, because of the aforementioned shortage of white size A. I should have machine-stitched it with green, or hand-stitched a double strand of the #100 white silk. I hate sewing with #100 because it's invisible, but this was white (I'd used black the last time) and I was wearing my magnifiers anyway. I got the skirt that needed hook eyes off the list before I started keeping one, and wore it to church yesterday. Haven't dug out the pattern I mean to use with the black raw silk, though. Or called the hospital to make an appointment for my mammogram, either. I've forgotten about it so many times that I'm going to end up with an appointment in December. 18 November 2009 Or the day before Thanksgiving. Half past eleven, so I can ride my bike if the weather is fit. I have to go shopping today, and that never leaves any sewing time. I spent all morning yesterday buying four yards of black raw silk. But I did get a significantly neater sewing room as a side effect. I wanted to find the pattern that I'd used to make the raw-silk shirt I'm replacing, to see how much fabric to buy, but it appears that I hadn't started marking my patterns when I made it -- I found pieces that I *thought* I'd used, but can't be sure. But I'm pretty sure that my brown wool shirt was made by moving the silk-shirt's shoulder seam forward, the fit of the brown shirt is satisfactory, and the raw silk should sew up about the same, so I sorted out those pieces. Then instead of putting a yardstick on them -- other than verifying that two half-fronts will fit on 45" fabric side-by-side -- I shrugged and said "one yard for the front, one for the back, one for the sleeves, one to make sure" and ordered four yards. Also ordered five yards of white cotton jersey, and a silk longjohn suit with two shirts. All this from Dharma, which is a pretty nifty company even though I have no intention of buying any of the dyes that are their main stock in trade. I did eye a bag of bleach-stop (sodium thiosulfate). But vinegar does the job, and you don't have to wear a dust mask while handling it. Just before nap time, I put on shoes, selected an umbrella, and walked over to see what the dredgers are doing. They are between sea walls, but still in the part where the walls are converging. At the rate they are going, they'll take a week to get into the main part of the canal. No wonder the job is so expensive. I wanted to ask where they are taking the dirt, but nobody was close enough to the caution tape to speak to. Looks like good black dirt, but suspiciously dry -- probably mainly sand. And at handwork circle, I pressed turn-backs for flat- felled seams and pinned two baby gowns together. I'd meant to do that last week, but upon noticing that I'd forgotten to bring my pins, I decided to read Science News instead (I have an *enormous* backlog of Science News). It was just as well, as there was a meeting in the parlor, and I couldn't have returned the iron and ironing board without barging in on it. Grump. I remember thinking of a good place to go when I'm riding for exercise next Saturday -- but I can't remember where. I could (yawn) return the _Vampires_ book by riding clockwise around the lake. 20 November 2009 I've more-or-less settled on going to Wings for a tenderloin. Pointless journey. Dave took a walk during my nap, and reports that the dredgers are about to the footbridge. They are, he says, definitely going to have to dredge from the other side too. Probably won't take as long as the first side, as that thing -- looks like a cross between a back hoe and a cherry picker -- can reach nearly all the way across. They were better than halfway to the bridge when my umbrella and I walked out that way yesterday. I watched from the footbridge while they loaded two trucks, then walked to the next bridge and back, and the first truck to leave still hadn't come back. I wonder where they are dumping that stuff? A dump truck full of wet muck isn't very fast, but it isn't very far to the brush dump either. Busy day scheduled next Wednesday: mammogram in the morning and the last (we hope) banner meeting of the year in the evening. Perhaps I should make the gelatin mold on Tuesday. Got around to the baby gowns today: sewed shoulder seams on both, and side seams on one. It was really tough to do the last inch of top-stitching inside those tiny sleeves. I ended up picking out the last bit of one sleeve and re-doing it by hand. Gone have to work that out before I announce that first Tuesdays are Baby Gown Night. Not flat-felling isn't an option; if we wanted to send overlocked baby gowns, we could buy them cheaper at Dharma. The drummettes *are* breaded, sorta, and improve considerably when heated in an oven. Next time I serve them I'll use a skillet instead of the little pan I use for the entrees -- bony pieces take up more room. Couldn't find frozen roasted vegetables at Aldi (I checked before throwing the bag away; they did come from Aldi) so I bought a package of three raw zucchini instead. Not too successful; I'll par-fry it before baking next time. Next time won't be soon; Dave is taking me to the Great Wall tomorrow night, and I've already made a meatloaf for Sunday. I put in cracked wheat instead of bread, so chilling two days should improve it, and I plan to bake it slowly, like porcupine loaf. 21 November 2009 Those of you who grasp eagerly at my every word may recall that last winter I complained that the thick wool socks I bought at Big R were wearing out too fast and wouldn't last until spring. Much to my surprise, here it is fall again and only one pair has developed holes and been retired. Ever since late summer, when I wore out the last pair of shoes loose enough to wear with thick socks, I've been wondering what to do with them. Ever since the weather turned cold, I've been wanting something to keep my feet warm when I'm not wearing shoes. Yesterday, these two thoughts finally got together. My keyboard started intermittently failing to notice that I'd pressed the J, so we swapped it for the one on Optiplex, which is seldom used. May take a while to get used to it. The first thing I noticed is that it's black, and my former keyboard is white. The light in here is designed for sewing, so I rarely turn it on while typing. I've put a spot of white tape on W, which I use a lot for closing tabs. Next, I notice that the F and J bumps are in a different place, and more subtle. Have to feel around a little to get my hands on the home row. I was out four hours on the bike. Wandered around Walmart a bit before going to Wings, since I'd left right after breakfast. Also bought some almonds and real oatmeal at Warsaw Health Foods on the way out. Last time I was in Owen's, I saw a box labeled "Irish Oatmeal", jumped frothing to the conclusion that it was oatmeal Irish style, and bought it. Upon opening the box, I discovered that it was not only rolled oats, it was instant rolled oats. It was *imported* from Ireland. Why, I've no idea; I've never heard that the Irish were renowned for instant oats. On the way back, I tried to look around the nursery on Lake Street -- I've determined to check all the local nurseries before mail-ordering spicy globe basil for my hanging basket -- but I managed to arrive just as he locked up and left for the day. So I sat on a pile of landscape blocks and changed back into my city shoes -- I'd put on cleats after leaving Wings, since the next few miles were out in the country. A week or few back, I cut three twigs of german thyme, dipped them in Rootone, and put them into a peat pot of sand. I think one of them is showing new growth, and none are definitely dead. I could try the same thing with oregano, but oregano would require a whole basket to itself. I also looked around the dollar store on Market street, and swung by the canal to see how the digging was going. The dredgers have knocked off for the weekend. At the Great Wall, we had roast pork with vegetables and kung pao chicken. Quite good, as usual, but I thought the hot tea slightly bitter. Dave said he liked it that way. 23 November 2009 When I was at the dollar store on Market Street, I bought a package of Oxyclean, thinking that if I alternated perborate and hypochlorite, what one bleach missed, the other would take out. Hung out my first Oxyclean load a while ago, and it seems to have *brightened* the stains on my dishtowels and tablecloths. Oops. I think that next week, I'll soak Dave's socks in Oxyclean before washing them. Did three loads of wash today, finished the flat-felled seams in the two baby gowns, and sewed quilt binding around the hem and front opening of one. I'm getting the hang of flat-felling those teeny sleeves, but not well enough to teach it yet. I'm also going to have to figure out how to do it on an electric machine, since I've no intention of hauling the treadle to church and back once a month. Also learned a bit about applying binding & how to make double-fold go around a square corner. It's the first time I recall ever using double fold the way it's designed to be used. I probably have acquired some now and again over the years -- I'm pretty sure there was always double-fold tape in the "doll clothes" packets of scraps that Wright used to give you for three wrappers. The quilt-binding lesson is of no gown-production use, of course, since I wouldn't be so extravagant as to bind edges that can easily be hemmed -- not to mention that all- cotton ready-made bias is not to be had. And mitering the corners calls for hand sewing; I'll take the bound baby gown to Handwork Circle tomorrow to slip-stitch the miters and pin on the binding for the sleeves. Then I'll split the remaining quilt binding to make tape narrow enough to bind the neck, and one gown will be done. Well, it has to be washed. It's coming out beautiful, and I hope that washing doesn't spoil it; I suspect that the fabric wasn't pre-shrunk before cutting. I intend to wet the other cut-out gowns and dry them flattened on the countertop. Lay them out first, then spray them with water, perhaps. I do believe that this keyboard is skipping letters too, and more of them than the one I rejected, though not as often -- time to try the one in Dave's closet, I guess. 24 November 2009 Also happened yesterday: my yard goods and long underwear arrived from Dharma, and they put what appears to be the final layer of asphalt on Park Avenue from Cherry to Stone Camp. (If you have a plat map, the official name of the street changes twice along the way.) I appear to have guessed correctly as to the size to order. The waist of the pants is a bit tight, but I wouldn't want the rest of it any looser. I heard heavy-machinery noises when I first got up, and presume that they have been back to touch up the edges of the street. I haven't yet sorted out which of the many scroll feet in the White's attachment box is for attaching one-inch bias tape. There is no scroll foot in the Necchi's attachment box, save for a narrow hemmer. If I find the White's binder reasonably efficient on the sharp curve of a baby-gown neck, I'm sure Lowery's could find me one to fit the Necchi. Got a Christmas card from Outland Renewable Energy, the folks who bought my wind-farm easement. They say they have made a contribution to Canby Area Ministerial Association in my name. I haven't been able to find enough information about them on the Web to know whether I'm happy about that. 25 November 2009 Oof! The guy who designed the elastic waist on my sheer silk tights thought it had to hold up a pair of Carharts with a hand sledge in the hammer loop. That waistband is *tight*! Radar suggests that there is a window of not-raining big enough to get the mammogram and return my book. No dallying along the way, but at least I don't have to worry about both of the roads to the hospital being blocked. I'm not fond of the idea of meandering down 30 looking for the back door. Particularly since I'm not 100% certain that the hospital campus *has* a back door. I've got to get around to repairing my wool clothes so I won't have to be so afraid of getting wet. I'd better give up hunting and order a new batch of black Persian wool. If that makes the old Persian pop up, I'll at long last have my #2 needles. Yesterday afternoon, Dave and I walked down to watch the dredging. They are making progress, but have a long way to go -- a bucket nearly as wide as a dump truck looks like a teaspoon when they are dipping it in the canal. They appear to be digging deep to make it a long time before the job has to be done again. The last dredging lasted twenty years, if I recall correctly. It was done soon after they tore down the buildings where the Village at Winona now stands and with that convenient torn-up ground in need of fill, they were able, I am told, to use one of those slurry-pipe dredging machines. When they dredged Wyland Ditch (aka Cherry Creek) back in the nineteenth century, they piled the dirt on the banks. Which has made a convenient well-drained spot to put some of the bike trails. Dave came back from getting blood drawn to report that Harrison is open, so I'm going by Buick. At Handwork Circle, I slip-stitched the miters on the baby gown, made two circles of quilt binding, and basted one to its sleeve. Not much to get done during an entire hour! Harrison has some patches of new blacktop on it. With their usual efficiency, Women's Imaging finished my mammogram and sent me out five minutes before I was supposed to begin. Never waited long enough to take a copy of Science News out of my attache' case. Never got any more rain on my windshield than I'd have minded being out in. Predictions are that I won't be so lucky this evening, but when I'm walking, I can carry an umbrella. I checked out a historical novel after turning in the Vampire book. The catalog said that they had one book by Penman in the Fiction section -- when I went to get it, I found no fewer than five. So I bipped around to Fic W to see whether they had some undocumented Watt-Evans. 26 November 2009 Hoo boy -- after I pack Dave's spare trousers and my spare trousers, there isn't a lot of room left in my little gray suitcase. We're taking our spare shirts on hangers. I packed my flannel nightgown -- had to close the lid three times before there was no yellow flannel sticking out. 27 November 2009 And I suddenly realize that tomorrow is Saturday, the weather has cleared, and I have no destination. Had a wonderful time, met everybody, got stuffed. Dave's laptop travelled in vain. The Holiday Inn log-in server was down, so Dave couldn't connect to the Net, and while he was out I called up Notepad thinking that I'd type something to paste into this file, but it was so difficult to type the date that I couldn't think of anything to say, so I exited without saving. Laptops *still* don't got keyboards. I could sorta halfway type if I stood up, but you can't read an LCD monitor unless you look at it square. Hence, no details of the party. There was a computer for the use of guests in the lobby, but though the sign said "internet access", all it offered was the Web, which is no use to me without my bookmarks and passwords. I should put links to some of my favorite sites on one of my own sites, which I can easily turn up with Google. Dave said he really liked Holiday Inn Express; I'd have enjoyed it more if I'd read the labels on the pillows the night before instead of the morning after. (The pillowcases are embroidered "soft" and "firm". I didn't compare them directly, just thought that two identical pillows were too hard for my head and too soft for my shoulder.) Alice, Sara Lee, and I went to K-Mart, the Op Shop, and Ruby Tuesday's this morning. 28 November 2009 Gorgeous day, and I spent all of it staring at the computer. Except for assembling a zucchini casserole in the afternoon. We shared a single-serve frozen "eggplant parmesan" for supper last night. Noting that it was one slice of eggplant, a layer of breadcrumbs, a layer of cheese, another slice of eggplant, and a dollop of tomato sauce, it gave me an idea for the last zucchini. I put in a cup of bread and, well after it was too late, realized that half a cup would have been plenty. Topped the bread with basil, oregano, Knorr chicken boullion, and a layer of sharp cheddar, covered that with the other half of the zucchini, and spooned crushed tomatoes with a little more chicken- flavored salt stirred in over the top. After putting it in the oven, I remembered that I'd meant to garnish it with slices of Spam, so I had to take it out again. When I told Dave what I was planning for supper, his reaction suggested to me that all he'd heard was "with Spam". Turned out, when it was served, that he'd heard "...ini and cheese", and thought I was talking about pasta. Needed more herbs, less bread crumb, more zucchini, and less tomato sauce. 2 December 2009 This morning Dave discovered that Appleton pre-cooked sausage patties make a good substitute for lox when one is having a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast. I had mine on a Thinwich. A hundred calories of bread wasn't enough, of course, so I had another -- after opening the bag of un-sweetened sausage. When there's nothing with it but bread, and not very much of that, the sugar in the maple-flavored sausage is obtrusive. I haven't seen my white hat since I wore it to the Great Wall. I'm beginning to think that I lost it. Managed to fritter away half an hour before sitting down to work at the church yesterday evening. I didn't spend more than five minutes of it cleaning the refrigerators. So, after basting the remaining sleeve binding onto the first baby gown, I unpicked the seams in a third instead of pressing and pinning binding for the second. The quilt binding for the second is single fold; after thinking and thinking about how to miter the corner, I realized that I can fold it in half, press the crease, and do it the way I've already figured out. I can make the offset a bit subtler than it is in the ready-made double fold. I presume that it has excessive allowance because quilts are thicker than this very thin flannel. Going to Marsh for milk used up all of yesterday morning. We walked out to look at the dredging after my nap. They had gone home for the day, but had been working on the other side of the canal. While I was shopping, Dave helped a friend move into a new apartment, and we got rid of a chair, ottoman, television, and coffee table. Monday was wash day, and not much was done, but I did trace one of the baby gowns to make a paper pattern. It didn't fit on the desk-pad paper, and (to my surprise) the tracing paper wasn't wide enough. But one wants to trace half and duplicate it for the other side anyway, to assure symmetry. (Said the fox.) After truing up the edges with a ruler, I drew lines to make the hem and neckline cross seams at right angles. The hems of the gowns as cut have peaks at the side seams, and the necks have sharp corners at the shoulder seams. I may trim them a bit before attempting to bind them. And I do need to re-read the chapter on gowns in _Make it for Baby_.