E:/LETTERS/NOVBAN10.TXT 4 November 2010 On the way up Sunday Lane yesterday, I saw an oak leaf as big as a sycamore leaf -- longer, and almost as wide. Probably about the same area. I looked all around and didn't see the tree it came from. Perhaps it blew over from Chestnut Avenue. Banners completed and beautiful, but I feel the urge to take them down and re-iron them. 5 November 2010 Went to Aunt Millies today. About all I did. Except make hamburger-helper stroganoff (Aldi's brand) for supper. Yesterday morning, instead of going to check out Martin's as I'd intended, I bipped straight home after seeing the doctor when I got a drop of rain on my specs. I don't mind a misting rain when it's warm, and I like getting rained on when it's hot, but I don't want to risk getting wet when the temperature is "I wish I'd worn my mittens". In the afternoon, I checked the weather report and thought today would be a good day for a bike ride -- the prediction said that there was a reduced chance of precipitation Friday morning, and if it did precipitate, it would be snow -- which doesn't get me wet. But during our evening walk, when we turned into the wind off the lake, I decided that I'd drive the car so I could stop at Big R and buy socks. Turned out to be a lovely morning, and it didn't start snowing until after noon. But I don't have my cold-weather clothes on line yet. Hit both the shoe stores in Sprawl One. No shoes to try on, but I bought a pair of black cotton-blend tights and a pair of knee hose at Payless. Bought a can of cat food at Pets Plus. Skipped both dollar stores. Big R didn't have the socks I like, or at least I couldn't find them. I did find a pair of slopping-around- the-house pants that fit tight enough that I can put my jeans on over them when I go out. The fit is atrocious, but they are underwear. I amused myself a bit by thinking about posting a picture to the pattern-making mailing list to ask what the designers did wrong. For starters, there are no side seams; the pants are only two pieces sewn together, so all shaping has to run down the center. And I think they skimped on the pointed sticky-out part that makes pants hard to lay out economically. I bought a can of cat food there, too. Skipped Aldi -- there *is* such a thing as a blank shopping list! And finally got to Aunt Millie, and restocked the freezer with bread and buns. Had to get white english muffins; the woman ahead of me picked out all the brown ones. Which I found out about because her cart was piled so high that a package of muffins fell out. I wonder whether she has a big family or a big freezer. And I got my bread in a Martin's bag. It amused me that the bags have migrated to Aunt Millie's so soon. (Aunt Millie uses bags that customers bring in.) Oh, on Wednesday I got ready to go to the church fifteen minutes early, so I sat down and finished hemming the silk shirt that I've been procrastinating so long. I still have to put elastic in the casings. We skipped our after-supper walk. Pretty good flurry of the kind of snow that doesn't bounce off coming down. 7 November 2010 My shopping list is regenerating. Sunset has been at half-past six of late, and there hasn't been enough daylight left to read the paper after we get back from our after-supper walk. Of *course* this is the perfect time to start doing everything an hour later! While getting ready to ride to the library and return my books yesterday, I checked my e-mail and found a notice that it was time to return my books. I checked out _Bleak House_, but I'm reading the copy of _The Hallowed Hunt_ that I bought at the used-book store on the way home. Also stopped at Sherman & Lin's, but they didn't have any single-serve cans of fizzwater. Having cleaned out the junk papers and baled them for recycling, I had several magazines to drop off at the hospital on my way in. Brrrrly shiver! I looked out the window and saw two of Brent's grandbabies wading in the lake. Next time I looked out, they were running for the house. Bing dust. Forgot I wasn't using a Windows program, hit ^S, and PC-write signed this letter. I'd entirely forgotten putting that in there. Since I use Open Office for letters these days -- the last printer that I have a driver for wore out so I couldn't write a letter with PC-Write if I wanted to -- perhaps I should go into ED.DEF and make ^S into "save". I've gotten very tentative about touching metal surfaces of late. I was thinking that it must be getting on toward time to take the humidifier out of storage, but I also get shocked outdoors, where the humidity must be reasonably high. Wore the cotton blend pantyhose I bought at Payless to church today. Not knitted to shape -- I don't think that will ever happen again -- and no distinction between front and back, but they do have a gusset to make the hips bigger than the ankles, they are opaque, *and* they have elastic in the waistband. I'm reasonably satisfied, and they were very cheap. I suspect that when you want opaque hosiery, cheap is the way to go. 8 November 2010 We've reset all the clocks, but we can't reset the cat. I think I'll feed him half an hour early. Gorgeous day, I stayed home to do the laundry -- and never gave washing clothes a single thought until sunset. Grmmph. 9 November 2010 Got two half loads of wash done. Lovely day to hang out clothes; didn't need to put on anything but my hat. Sorted out my wool bicycle tights yesterday, put the store-bought tights and the patching cloth into a box, and put the fingering-wool tights in my bag, planning to start darning those at Handwork Circle tonight and then darn the nice alpaca tights after I'd remembered how to darn. Today I started to put the darning eggs and persian wool into the bag -- oh, yes, that's why these tights haven't already been darned. When I sent off for replacement 000 knitting needles, I should have also sent off for replacement persian yarn. Patternworks sent me an e-mail last Friday saying the needles had been entrusted to the post office, so I should be getting them fairly soon. Yesterday I clicked on the "check on the status of your order" link, but it didn't say anything that wasn't in the e-mail. Duh, they don't know what happens after they hand it to the post office; I've been spoiled by shippers who send me a U.P.S. tracking number. I was going to say that I didn't know where the darning eggs were either, but I turned around and there they are on the shelf, peeking out between the box of buckles and a box of papers. Gone have to clean up this room pretty soon. I couldn't get at the shelves *before* Dave cleaned up the garage and I had to bring in my box of books I haven't read. Finished re-reading "The Hallowed Hunt" yesterday. Must have been a while since I read it the first time, because all I remembered was the Learned Hallana, shedding chaos and hairpins. Well, I also remembered that she convinced a rude assailant that he was a pig, and her mercy for the mice. I didn't remember that the pig's superior officer, when the pig's companions asked what they should do, said "Give him some bran mash." I also had a very fuzzy memory of the climactic scene with the funeral animals. Quite a good book. Stands on its own, but would spoil the gradual reveal of the world-building in "The Curse of Chalion". Reading in internal chronological order isn't always a good idea! Speaking of reading order, I checked "The Horse and his Boy" out of the library a while back. Tolkien himself may have endorsed the internal chronological order, but I'm a firm believer in publication order for the Narnia books. But I read them in the order in which I got ahold of them. I think I have one more to go. 11 November 2010 Dave and I checked out the new Martin's store after getting our flu shots yesterday. The place is huge, but I don't think they have much that I can't get elsewhere. I will be going back on my own sometime. The gossip at the church yesterday said they are high priced, and I go almost *through* Owen's to get there, so I don't think it will become a regular stop. It wasn't easy to get to Martin's from the doctors' office because of the boondoggle on DuBois street; we had to follow Providence to the back door of the medical sprawl, then come back on 30. I saw some men-at-work signs, so perhaps they have decided to address the complaints of the businesses that have been cut off from their customers. Still won't be easy to get to Husky Trail from the medical complex, because that was the whole purpose of the boondoggle. It doesn't affect me on my bike, because I can by-pass the one-way section by riding through the parking lots, then get off and cross Dubois to the gas station, go out their other entrance, and get to Parker and 30 on Parker. I wonder why Menard's didn't build their shopping center on 15 like everybody else? 13 November 2010 I'm tired today. Commenced vomiting on Thursday, kept it up all night and half of Friday. No fever until after the vomiting stopped; no idea what I had. After sleeping all day yesterday I thought I'd have trouble sleeping at night, but I kept on snoozing. I did get up a couple of hours early this morning, though. Faithful Al slept on the bed with me through all this. He's in there now, waiting for me to come back -- which I may do pretty soon. Well, it's normal nap time. Never mind that I've already had two naps. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, but I think I'll skip lunch. 14 November 2010 Also slept most of Saturday and nearly all of last night, but I'm satisfied with my first day out and about today. I had intervals of thinking that eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast had been rather rash -- one of our huge apples and a little peanut butter would have been just as satisfying -- but it was never in any danger of coming back up. And there were a few minutes that I'd have rather spent on the sofa in the narthex, but that passed off and I was chipper again for the walk home. Spent the afternoon and evening playing with the computer and reading _Bleak House_. For some reason, did not fall asleep at nap time ;-) Dave offered me a walk twice and I said "I've had my walk" both times, but that was mostly because I didn't want to change clothes. 15 November 2010 I'm taking Friday's pills today. It seemed wasteful to take them on Friday. Lovely day out, but I don't want to ride, and I don't think I need to wash clothes. Could finally pull the weeds out of the garden. And I should bail the rain barrels into the flower beds again. I think that my ginger mint died because I never thought of the herb bed when watering. This time of year, it's hard to tell, particularly when you don't know what the plant looks like when dormant. The drought didn't get bad until the crops were in, near as I can tell. I don't go through the country as much as I used to -- even when I ride around Winona Lake, it's all in suburb. Some building sites are still under crops on the Center Lake loop. I haven't done the Pike Lake loop yet, and it's getting less attractive all the time. Dave bought two two-pound blocks of cheese at Walmart a while back. A week or so ago I noticed that both were getting moldy. I made the cheddar into macaroni and cheese that night, then scraped the colby and washed it with vinegar. I've been spreading malt vinegar (because that flavor is in the most-convenient bottle) on the freshly-cut surface every time we ate a slice ever since, and it seems to be preserving it perfectly -- and neither of us has detected the slightest hint of vinegar taste in the cheese. I've declared a moratorium on buying cheese for a while. Lookie what Dave found in Wikipedia: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Beeson_Covered_Bridge_%28Billie_Creek_Village%29.JPG But there was no clue in to the article as to how it got "Beeson" attached to it. The builder was Frankfurt Construction Company, which I thought another link until I noticed the spelling. I presume that "Frankfurt" was somebody's last name. Poking around, I found Wiki's source for the picture, on a site that also had a picture taken when the bridge was being built, but I found no clues as to why it's the "Beeson Bridge". In the process I discovered that there's a "Beeson Mansion" in Niles, Michigan, that's a famous haunted house. Disappointing addition to the family folklore; there are two stories associated with the mansion; one is an obvious lie and the other hasn't enough to it to be either true or false. But there *is* a baby buried in the crypt, and they *did* pipe gas in, *possibly* so the baby wouldn't have to sleep in the dark. Much later, when the house itself got gas lights. I think -- didn't check dates carefully -- that his mother was lying beside him by then. It rained a bit today, but doesn't seem to have dampened anything but the patio. 16 November 2010 The last time I looked at umbrellas at the dollar store, the only light color they had was pink. Between Barbie and Pink-Out Month, I'm fairly sick of the mere thought of anything pink. Walking home under a black umbrella tonight, I thought that the next time I get to a dollar store, I'd better swallow my gorge and buy the lightest-color umbrella they've got; umbrellas are cheap, and I can give the revolting one to Goodwill when I find a good one. I ended up running a few things through the washing machine yesterday after all --- the stomach flu hit Dave a lot harder than it hit me, and I didn't get the bucket to him quite soon enough. By good luck, the top layer on the bed was a wool blanket that kept the rest of the bed clean, so he could lie down right away. And it was one of my home- made blankets that's thin enough to fit into the washing machine. His flu hit harder, but passed faster. He's eating lightly today, but he's eating. Found some Clementines when I stopped at Owen's on the way home from the doctor's office, and Dave and I have both been hitting them pretty hard. Good thing I'd just had my labs -- Snider, like all GPs, took the opportunity to check a bunch of stuff I hadn't come in for, but I didn't get signed up for tests. Except for leaving a urine sample on my way out. His diagnosis agreed with mine: the skin tags are harmless skin tags, but Dr. Gilbert should have a look at the bump on my forehead. They gave me Dr. Gilbert's number on the way out, but I when I'd returned the call about the urine test -- everything is fine -- and put away the groceries, I was hungry and tired, so I made a sandwich out of a piece of fish filet Dave didn't eat yesterday, a toasted bun, and the left-over tartar sauce, and went to bed. Too late in the day to call after my nap. But there is no hurry. Of course, a day's delay in making the appointment could mean a much longer delay in keeping it. Next Tuesday I get my annual mammogram. What is this, medicine month? No banner meeting tomorrow, because Pastor Henry still doesn't have a theme for January. I think I'll go anyway, for the walk. Oh, Dr. Snider asked whether anyone in my family had had cancer. I said "no" -- was I lying? By the way, if they ask any of you Lovelesses -- it's yes -- I had a basal-cell cancer taken off my nose. Just before Halloween, but I didn't have a chance to say "I had the wart taken off" while I was wearing my witch costume. Didn't get to wear my wizard suit at all this year. No Trunk or Treat, and it was too early in the evening to wear it on our walk. It's supposed to be getting cold in here, because our old furnace is out and the new one, so far, is a brick foundation and a pile of parts. Dave's been keeping the electric heater near, but I'm happy back here in a room that is cold when the furnace is running. Of course, I didn't take off my long-sleeved shirt and two pairs of pants after walking back from the church. Even in the garage, it seems quite warm to me. Also saw a package of "gourmet meatloaf" at Owen's, and bought some to fry for supper. (A very small patty for Dave.) Not bad, but they used cracker crumbs instead of bread crumbs, which made the texture rather sticky. But fresh bread crumbs would also have been sticky and you can't get stale bread on an industrial scale. My mixed hamburger is much better -- but I haven't bothered to make it in *decades*. 19 November 2010 Mr. Howie should finish installing our furnace today. It's rather odd: ordinarily, I put an extra blanket, folded double, on my side of the bed and still shiver while Dave sweats. But I've been as happy as a clam at high tide with the house at 65F -- I haven't even worn my typing mitts -- and Dave has been keeping the electric heater by him. Ahead of time I thought "baking binge!" then "but the gas will be out!". The stove and the furnace are on separate gas lines, but the top of the freezer proved to be a very convenient work bench -- that inhibits my cooking a lot. Last night I took the macaroni out of the freezer and put it in the fridge with the cheese, but by the time it's time to boil macaroni, he should be done and out of here. Particularly since the timing of my appointment with the dermatologist this afternoon means that I won't get any nap, and will probably want to make something that I can cook without engaging the brain. I think I'll drive the Buick, since it's such a lot of trouble to suit up, peel off layers when I get there, and put it all back on again. Been a very medical month. I saw Snider last Tuesday, got my flu shot the Wednesday before that, and have a mammogram next Tuesday. And my current crochet project won't fit into my attaché case. 20 November 2010 Oops. The assistant said I could wash my forehead this morning, but she also said to keep the biopsy site dry until then. I forgot to take the band-aid off after two hours, and the site was quite soggy when I uncovered it this morning. So I snitched one of Al's cotton balls and cleaned the spot with peroxide instead of using a washrag. The red spot is perfectly round and neatly centered -- it's a pity I don't know how to wear a sari. The band-aid was oval; if I had had an eyebrow pencil, I would *so* have drawn a pupil and some eyelashes on it. By the way, I *made* the ball of crochet cotton fit. But I didn't need it. 21 November 2010 There's a downside to making your own cosmetics. This morning I dusted my underarms with tooth powder. There is a tangible difference between soda with cornstarch and soda with salt. It's amazing how often one brushes one's hand across one's forehead. Which doesn't exactly make the wound itch, but it makes me *aware* of it, which has pretty much the same effect. I have, chirp twitter, gotten a complaint about one of my Web pages! An Arachnerd wants the missing illustrations in my version of Mom's baby-bootie pattern. I found a stash of booties under the bed, so I need only a good light and a working camera. Does anyone remember which great aunt taught it to her, and was it her great-aunt or mine? 23 November 2010 Except for two phone calls and a letter, my doctoring is all done for the year. Once again, they turned me out about the time they were supposed to begin. Almost *too* efficient; I didn't have time to get all my wraps off and stuffed into my helmet. I came straight back after the mammogram. Suited up, unlocked the bike, thought "now to ride around the building to the emergency entrance" -- I'd forgotten to bring the old magazines. And stopping at Owen's for the stuff I couldn't get at Aldi on Monday was a complete non-starter without my shopping list. Just found the list in a pocket of the shirt I wore to Aldi -- not much on it was for Kroger anyway. Moser-Roth truffles are back at Aldi. I bought two boxes -- and Dave noticed right away. I haven't had any yet, because of the cheesecake. Last Sunday was my first time at the chili cook-off. I was delighted to see that there was cornbread, disappointed that it was the sweet cake type that I detest. I should have snitched a few pieces to bring home to Dave, who never gets sweet, cake-like cornbread when I'm cooking. I did bring home a quarter of Martha's chocolate cheesecake. We've eaten half of it already. On the way to Aldi, I stopped at Big R and bought some cheap sweatpants and expensive socks. Paid nearly as much for the socks as the pants. By good luck, they still had a selection of the ladies' sweatpants I'd bought there last time. I'd planned to go back right after washing the first pair, but that was the week I got sick. And I found the wool socks I didn't find last trip, and bought a pair. Also picked up twenty 7" paper plates for a dollar. Then I went to Dollar Tree for recreational shopping, found that their 7" plates were twenty-four for a dollar and bought a package. Then at Aldi I found that 8.5" plates of a better quality were 4.2 cents each, and bought a package of those. Then came home and discovered that it was 6" typing- paper plates that we were low on. Grump. I could have gotten a bag of potatoes at Owen's. We have two little steaks for supper tonight. 24 November 2010 The trip before last, I noticed that the "men at work" signs had been shielding the construction of a curb-island to make sure that emergency vehicles can't get to the blocked-off businesses either, and to make it a tad more awkward to get in and out of the driveway of the business they didn't block. And, of course, to make it more expensive to come up with an option that keeps people away from Route 30 without keeping them away from the drugstore. When you do things wrong, you want them to *stay* wrong. Had my first truffle this morning. I'm not as impressed as in previous years -- perhaps because of the cheesecake (which isn't quite all gone yet), perhaps the taste improved in memory. Dave's off doctoring -- blood drawn, fasting. I liked those trips better when we were in New York -- the blood lab was close to Bruger's Bagel Bakery. The hospital cafeteria does not tempt me! On the other hand, we can come home from this blood lab as easily as one could walk to the bakery from the other. ----------------------------------------------------------- Hey! I remembered to pack my pajamas! Things are going to rattle around in the hanger case some, but when we set it down and open it, instant dresser. 27 November 2010 And I unpacked the suitcase last night, and it's now back in the attic! Still going to my purse and Trafalgar bag for various small things; no need to re-arrange them until Tuesday. Saw everybody, ate too much, went to Costco and the International Market with Alice, Debby, Nick, Amanda, and Sara Lee. Finally found some yellow spit peas -- called "dal" -- at the International Market. Bought the large economy size, and I *do* still have the recipe for cooking them. I don't remember whether I made any additions, though. And these probably aren't the same variety of yellow split peas. Also bought half of a quart jar of kim chee, a bag of pistachios, and a thirty-four ounce jar of giardiniera (mixed pickled vegetables). The weight is repeated four times, and not one of the numbers is round. The label being all English, I don't think it's some traditional Italian measure -- perhaps it's a quart jar and salt makes up the extra two ounces. If the weight were slightly under two pounds instead of slightly over, I'd cynically think I knew exactly what was going on. The church decorating party is going on right now, and the walk would do me good, and I could get there before it's all over, and no spot in the church is very far from a restroom -- but I'm a lot more comfortable dashing to my own bathroom. Changed my mind about where I was going when I got up to check the weight on the giardiniera. (But I came straight back when I checked the spelling just now. I had the third "i" in the wrong place.) Still looks better to me as "giardinaria". Better yet as "gardinaria". 29 November 2010 Just Googled myself. It appears that I died last Wednesday at the age of seventy-nine. Lovely warm day, and I didn't go out except to hang the clothes and bring them in. We also dumped the rain barrels out so they won't freeze and burst -- had to use a hammer to break the ice on one so that we could bail it out. And I had several short runs in pursuit of Al. We ate the last of the cheesecake Saturday, and I took the plate back yesterday. I was rather dressed up for slopping around today. The only clean bra in the closet was the black linen bra I usually save for Sunday, then all three of my ragged T- shirts were in the wash, which led me to search through the closet and find the twinkle-twinkle shirts I shoved to the back last spring. The shirt I pulled out fits quite well, and looks downright elegant with my black slopping-around pants. In addition, I'm wearing my new ragg-wool socks. When the clothes came out of the washer, I could find only three bras -- then I remembered that when I packed, I'd put the spare bra in the Trafalgar bag. Solved the mystery of the blank Cookbook -- I'd failed to close the title tag. So the problem was in the header after all. We're having the ducts cleaned Friday. If he's going to be able to get at the vent in the sewing room, I'm going to have to bring order to the entire room. This will not be easy. I shall start by giving up on organizing my Analog collection, and just shovel it back onto the shelves willy- nilly. 30 November 2010 Analogs organized, and I gained an empty shelf in the process -- or I would have if the magazines hadn't gotten a silly millimeter longer in 1999, so that they wouldn't fit on the bottom shelf with the older ones. There was another pointless change in size in 2009. And now I can close the door instead of turning off the light when Dave goes to bed. I have to go back to Dr. Gilbert the Friday after next. I hope this works out as well as the cancer he took off my nose. 1 December 2010 It's been snowing all day, but the grass in the lawn is still poking out. I had a living-in-the-future moment: I've been diagnosed with cancer -- and it's a minor annoyance. I read an SF novella with that as a theme not too long ago. (But in the novella, it wasn't *skin* cancer.) 2 December 2010 Heard a rumor yesterday that some of our southern relatives are coming to visit. You'll want to dress warmer than folks who are used to cold, but you don't need a heavy coat -- you want a lightweight coat that's loose enough that you can wear two or three sweaters underneath it. And remember that it's inches, not pounds, that provide insulation. The banner design looks finished to me -- but not to Martha. We traced the letters onto Wonderbond, and selected colors for most of the components. Read a suggestion on rec.bikes.tech that newspaper bags are good for protecting your feet. Yesterday, there was snow on the ground and I was afraid of getting my feet wet -- but still didn't want to wear my shoes; aside from the corns, they won't allow one pair of thick socks, let alone two. So before going to the grocery yesterday morning, I pulled two newspaper bags I'd neglected to throw out -- one safety yellow and the other international orange -- over my socks, then put on a cheap, flimsy pair of knee hose to hold them in place. I figured that between being nylon and being thin, the hose wouldn't hold water. Worked a treat, though I rustled until things settled down. But I hadn't been home long before my feet started to sweat. Gave them a proper trial going to banner-making; the snow was thicker, and I couldn't watch my step. Took the bags off the instant I got inside, but my feet got sweaty anyway -- I should have taken off one pair of ragg socks too. Arrived home with dry feet, but I'm not sure I stepped in anything. I was slightly surprised when all the soda I'd bought went into the garage fridge. I'd bought a twelve-pack of everything Dave likes, except for a twenty-four pack of Dr. Pepper, and then I noticed that I'd bought caffeine-free Mountain Dew, so I went back and bought a twelve-pack of regular. Remembered to sort my coupons -- had two month's worth of expired coupons -- but I forgot to read the flyer before leaving. Probably time for another Aunt Millie's run. Only a few slices left in each of the three loaves I bought last time. Dave says he detected vinegar flavor in one slice of Colby. That was after I ran out of malt vinegar and started using rice vinegar. Harder to pour just one drop out of that bottle. I saved the malt-vinegar bottle and put "rosemary basalmic" (cheap wine vinegar with lots of caramel color) in it. We are running out of cheese; nothing but swiss left, and not much of that. Terry installed the water heater today. I think he still has some work to do on the air conditioner. I wonder when my Persian wool will ship? We haven't deposited the refund check from the knitting needles yet. (They were out of bamboo. Since I only ordered them on a whim, it doesn't matter.) I put the steel needles into my needle file today, while cleaning up the sewing room for the duct-cleaners tomorrow. Haven't made much of a dent. But I've got to the place where I can fold up the ironing board and make some room to work. All I really need is a clear path through the middle, but I'd like to fix it so *I* can work in here.