What I Did Yesterday...

... was mostly nothing.  Oh, I blogged, ate breakfast, got dressed after I folded the last 2 weeks' worth of laundry (there's an accomplishment for you)... then what?  Did the crossword puzzles.  We were supposed to go to DS & DIL1's around 2 PM to give her her birthday gifts but Durwood's allergies were raging so badly he could hardly breathe so they came here.  She loved her gifts, the main one, a backpack picnic/hike bag with a bazillion pockets, she liked fine but the extra one, a jar of cherry salsa, she was thrilled by.  I bought a jar of it on my way home from The Clearing last month because they were coming over for supper that night and we needed an appetizer.  DIL1 loved it.  She kept putting a dab on her plate with 3 chips.  She did it over and over and over, unable to stop.  Hey, what's not to love?  It's salsa with tart cherries in it, very mild and very tasty.  It's gotta be good for you, right?  They keep telling us to eat fruits and veggies, nobody says you can't use a tortilla chip to convey it to your mouth.

Like I said, Durwood's allergies were on a roll so he dozed around all day, I kept quiet.  I putzed around on the computer while listening to audiobooks.  My library needs to get all the books on audiobook so I can check them out one at a time.  ALL.  Just sayin'.  Hours can melt away with me sitting here playing hidden object games and listening to someone tell me a story.

at Compagno's in Monterey, CA

DS went on a team-building overnight with his new boss and workmates.  I thought it was a fishing trip with beer, turns out it was a beering trip with fish.  All they did was drink Miller Lite (not DS's favorite quaff by a long shot), eat, and drown worms from the boss' pontoon boat at his family's camp near Mercer.  Since DS is figuring out what his job is as he goes along he seems a bit unsettled by it but he says after today he hopes to ride along with the salesmen to get to know them and their accounts and see even more how he can help and educate them in the joys of craft beer.  He looks so much less stressed since he's changed jobs, like a real human.

June 10--E. Gillieron, Reproduction of the Gold Cups from Vapheio.  Hot.  It's so hot near the smelter.  Liquid gold on fire as it melts and pours into the mold.  It takes a day to cool so that Job can take out the cup and begin to carve.  He could leave it as it comes out, only remove the mold marks and smooth the spot, but his pride won't let him.  He uses small handmade tools to scribe the lines deeper.  He puts a curve to muscles and gives the forms life.  The boss shakes his head and tells Job that he can't charge more so he, Job, is working for nothing.  "Not for nothing," says Job, "for beauty," and he turns back to his workbench.  Maybe one of the people who drinks from his cups will notice his careful work and smile.


I made fresh coffee this morning so the aroma has permeated the house.  Mmm, smells like morning.  It's a work day.  It's payday.  I need to get a move on.  Busta move?  Nah, just toddle off to the dive shop for 8 hours or so to keep the world safe from SCUBA diving.
--Barbara