Insert CD 4

That got your attention, didn't it? Mine too. There I was immersed in listening to Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (thanks, trek!) that I'd downloaded from my CDs to my iPod so I can drag it around with me and the voice changed from James Marsters quiet honey voice and hollered "Insert CD 4" in my ear, jerking me out of Harry Dresden-land and back to my desk. Not funny. Today's Mom's birthday. She's off playing bridge, as usual, so we're doing our annual HuHot birthday lunch on Friday. That gives me time to get to the nail salon to get my nails done and get a gift certificate for her to get a mani/pedi, since Tom got her a hairdo one. If Andy gets her a gas one that'd be a trifecta of greatness. Maybe I'll mention it when he stops over soon to drop off the family canning gear which I now get to house. Mom was wondering where all those pressure cookers, etc. had gotten to, turns out it was in Andy's basement in Sheboygan. I got the sauerkraut crock, bag, and cabbage cutter from him a few years ago so now I've got it all. Good thing too since I promised to make kraut for the family this year. I suppose it's time to start seeking out organic cabbage and thinking about putting a batch together. It really stinks but it's worth it for the quality of homemade kraut far surpasses the way-too-sour stuff you can buy. Ick.

August 29--Patty Coggeshall, Sampler. It was too hot in the classroom. The sun beat on the windowpanes and so Mrs. Lowell pulled the shades. That helped some but it also cut the breeze and the light. Patty's hands were so sweaty that the silk she was embroidering her sampler with had darkened and picked up some of the dye from the background linen. The bench she sat on was hard wood and it felt like her bones were grinding through the skin on her backside. She was temped to lean forward and rest her forearms on the table in front of her but Mrs. Lowell would never permit such laxity. "A lady must retain erect posture at all times," she said. The middle-aged widow had a thick yardstick that she used to emphasize the rule. Patty had the marks on her shoulder blades to prove it.

All-righty then, I'm off to eat my lunch and then go to the nail salon to get gorgeoused up. Ta-ta.
--Barbara