Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Cold and cold

I still have my cold, and outside, it is cold, and will be getting really frigid. So I'm staying in. I didn't go to a Hallowell event yesterday evening, nor to a church meeting today, and will skip a Brahms rehearsal tonight. I can hardly croak anyway. Poor Ellen has to do things I usually do - e.g., feeding the stove, running errands, shoveling the deck - but she is quite cheery about it. And she is keeping me well fed and hydrated. Lucky me! I'm just staying cozy by the fireplace, with tissues handy.



I've been able to use this time to work on Christmas projects that involve the computer, so that's good. But this afternoon, the iPhone inexplicably stopped charging. After buying a new charge cord, which didn't solve the problem (even though the old one is sort of frayed) we figured out that the weak link in the chain was not the cord but the plug - the little cube that has a USB port and plugs into the outlet. Now why would that suddenly fail? It's charging fine now with a new plug. 

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Rats!

Today is our River Singers concert and I'm in bed with a cold. Phooey! My nose started to run yesterday afternoon. By evening I started sneezing. I took ecchinacia and managed to get some sleep but I'm pretty miserable today. So no concert for me. It isn't too bad as long as I am warm in bed, but when I get up I start running and sneezing again. I'm supposed to be in church tomorrow and at a second concert in the afternoon but I'm dubious. We'll see.


Saturday, December 3, 2016

Cookies, cookies, cookies!

We've finished making cookie platters! I say "we" - Ellen made all the cookies, which is 95% of the job. I helped clean up during the baking process and did some schlepping; then tonight the two of us distributed the cookies on to 3 sizes of platter - small, medium and large, wrapped the platters in shrink-wrap, and tied them with a ribbon. 38 platters in all. (16 s, 10 m, 12 l). All together they will fetch about $400 for the church. They fly out the door.  It took about 3 hours to do the job this evening. We're tired! Ellen is amazing!

Getting ready to tie ribbons on the small platters 

        Wrapping the medium platters

    A large platter, wrapped, no ribbon

             Ready for tomorrow  

Ellen made apple butter and jams too, plus tea cakes. Quite a spread ! 

The big picture  - but there is a lot not in the picture! There is a huge white elephant table off to the left, and also a raffle table with 8-10 items. Cookies are off to the right. Tables are for a lunch. 






Hilltown School Winter Fair

We are in Northhampton at Tamar's school. She just sang in a couple of choruses and played in a ukulele ensemble. Julie and Mimi are here too. 

Tamar in a chorus singing "Shut de door, keep out de devil." 

            Ukulele band

       Singing "Lean on me"





Thursday, December 1, 2016

The spring is UP!

Went to check the water level in our spring today and it had come up to the 12 foot mark! Wow! That's almost 8 feet higher than yesterday! We did get a lot of rain last night. So, no more hauling of water. It feels sort of weird taking water out of the faucet and flushing the toilet by pushing a handle instead of pouring in a pan of dirty dishwater. I had my first shower today at home in aImost three months. I guess we'll just have to get used to it.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Madlibs

On Thanksgiving Day at Katie and Savanna's, I wrote a Madlibs for the occasion. Here is the original:

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A Thanksgiving Visitor

On Thanksgiving Day, 2016, a knock came at the front door of 205 West Pelham Road. "Who could that be?" said Brendon, looking up from his game of  ___name of a game____. "No one ever comes to the front door." Savanna opened the door, and standing there was man with ___ a color____ hair. "Hello," he said, my name is Donald ____a last name____. "May I come in?" Savanna wasn't sure. She took a moment to scratch her ____a body part___ and collect her thoughts.  "What do you want?" Donald ___a verb for making an offensive sound___  and stuck out his ___a body part___,  "I'm reaching out to people who didn't vote for me. I want to unify our ___a political unit___. "Oh, well, come in then," said, Savanna, as she pushed aside the __a piece of furniture___ so that Donald could come in. "Katie," she said, "we have company. It's Donald __last name from above___."   "Tell him to pull up a ___piece of furniture___ and sit down," said Katie, calling from the ___a room in the house___.  "Would you like a drink?" asked Savanna. "Yes," said Donald, "I'll have a ___name of a drink___. Donald settled in and asked, "Have you heard that I want to build a ___name of a large structure___  to keep out  ____name of a group of people___?  What do you think of that idea?" Tye piped up. "I think that idea ___a pejorative expression___!  Savanna spoke up. "Donald, you should know that we think you are a  ____a mental illness___.  "You may be right," said Donald. But remember, I'm your ___same mental illness___. What can I do to win you over?  Katie joined the conversation. "You could appoint ____name of a well-known person___ to the Supreme Court." "I love ___same name___ exclaimed Donald.  Consider it done. What else? Brendon spoke up again,  "How about ___a participle for a violent action___ your ____a body part___  into your ___a body oriface___  and ___a participle for making a loud noise____  like a ___an animal___.  "Brendon," said Savanna, suppressing a ___a bodily noise expressing disapproval___. Don't be rude to our guest." "Not to worry," said Donald. "I like the boy's honesty. Brendon, what is your favorite dish for Thanksgiving dinner?" "___an unusual food___, said Brendon. "I love __same food___, said Donald. I eat it every day. Well, I have to go. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!" "And a Happy  ___a holiday___  to you," said Katie. "Try not to trip over the ____a piece of furniture___  on your way out! After Donald left, Tye exclaimed, "That man is a ___a well-known villain___.  "Amen," said B. "Let's eat ___another unusual food____

And here is the way it came out with the responses I got from people (which, admittedly, were a bit unusual at times).

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A Thanksgiving Visitor

On Thanksgiving Day, 2016, a knock came at the front door of 205 West Pelham Road. "Who could that be?" said Brendon, looking up from his game of Scrabble. "No one ever comes to the front door." Savanna opened the door, and standing there was man with purple hair. "Hello," he said, my name is Donald Pinchass. "May I come in?" Savanna wasn't sure. She took a moment to scratch her earlobe and collect her thoughts.  "What do you want?" Donald muttered and stuck out his uvula,  "I'm reaching out to people who didn't vote for me. I want to unify our state. "Oh, well, come in then," said, Savanna, as she pushed aside the futon so that Donald could come in. "Katie," she said, "we have company. It's Donald Pinchass."   "Tell him to pull up a hassock and sit down," said Katie, calling from the mudroom.  "Would you like a drink?" asked Savanna. "Yes," said Donald, "I'll have a pineapple juice. Donald settled in and asked, "Have you heard that I want to build a mosque   to keep out a quilt club?  What do you think of that idea?" Tye piped up. "I think that idea sucks!  Savanna spoke up. "Donald, you should know that we think you are a  trichotillomaniac.  "You may be right," said Donald. But remember, I'm your trichotillomanic. What can I do to win you over?  Katie joined the conversation. "You could appoint Sarah Palin to the Supreme Court." "I love Sarah Palin exclaimed Donald.  Consider it done. What else? Brendon spoke up again,  "How about throttling your hip bone into your nostril and crashing like an ardvaark.  "Brendon," said Savanna, suppressing a boom. Don't be rude to our guest." "Not to worry," said Donald. "I like the boy's honesty. Brendon, what is your favorite dish for Thanksgiving dinner?" "Pigsfeet, said Brendon. "I love Pigsfeet, said Donald. I eat them every day. Well, I have to go. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!" "And a Happy  Patriot Day to you," said Katie. "Try not to trip over the commode on your way out! After Donald left, Tye exclaimed, "That man is a Billy the Kid. "Amen," said B. "Let's eat octopus!

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

More Putney Craft Tour

Here are some photos from the Putney Craft Tour that were not available when I made the previous post:


Gail showing Brendon the scouring apparatus
The "picking" operation
Part of the "carding" machinery
The spinning machine
Bobbins in the spinning operation
An old photo showing children operating the machines - common in the early 20th century
I forget the exact name for this machine but it is part of the final process

When the wool comes from! And also the source of some sheep cheese we got
Joshua Letourneau working on creating a marble
Bob Burch heating a bowl
Bob Burch shaping a molten bowl
The potters wheel at the glass blowers studio. Brendon made this photo