Mid-January, Rain - January 13, 2012 |
October 17, 2008 Listening to Jesse What a beautiful, sunny morning it's been. So bright I've had to lower the shade here, in the kitchen, a little. My jasmine looks as naked as a wet cat. All the leaves crisped, so I took them all off yesterday and found half a dozen new shoots determinedly poking out, resolute, tenacious. It's a bouquet of sticks now, but there is much green life still to come. I got a haircut yesterday, and though I wasn't going to have her do any color yet (I am secretly planning to revert to coloring it myself, down the road), she did bring the color down a bit, a darker blond, a soft light brown, closer to my roots and covering that brassy yellow blond which is all that's left after the red fades out. The cut looks a bit juvenile, a little Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird, but a couple inches of growth will restore its dignity. I'm happy enough, and it's very soft now. Rose needed to fetch a very long ladder from their old house to do some hole repairs on the barn (squirrels!), so I met her after her work and helped her lug it into the back of the pickup. We re-met at the homestead, and by then it was too late to do outside work so we just got on with dinner. Pearl is making an elaborate colonial hallowe'en costume to wear to work on the 31st, and she has no sewing experience at all, so she had requested some help from Rose. It turned out she was sewing all the seams 1/4" instead of 5/8", had cut all the notches off while cutting out the pattern, and basically had some ripping out of seams and re-marking to do. It's going to be a beautiful dress, and they told me about a discount fabric shop down on 91 where every single fabric is $2 a yard. They're good fabrics, too, including upholstery and curtain type fabrics. It's a bit far from me but I think I'll go down one day and check it out. Dinner was sublime. Grilled shrimp with lime and garlic, roasted potatoes with more garlic, salt and pepper, butternut squash, homemade cocktail sauce courtesy of Pearl. Wine, naturally, and much discourse about the house and the wires hanging out of the ceiling and the gutting of the kitchen and the re-lining of the chimneys. Dreams of the chickens and goats to come. And playing with the cats. Linus is so mellow that Pearl can pick him up suddenly, upside down, and cart him somewhere, and he doesn't protest. Just looks around a bit, all hanging down, knowing that these people are bizarre and liable to do strange but harmless things. I have finished the gift basket for Rose and Marc, whose anniversary, as it turns out, is this very day. She was thinking it was the 21st, and Marc was thinking it was the 19th. You can see they've been a little preoccupied. Anyway their "vacation at home" celebration begins after work tonight -- perfect, as I have the chance to install their amenities while they're out of the house. Here is what's in the basket: Cool apple-themed fabric (lining basket) There may be a couple other things in there for all I know. Anyway all I have to do is make the card that says, "Welcome to the Appleseed B&B! Luxury on the Chepe! This last statement came from part of our conversation last night; Marc is always looking for bargains on eBay or at the household salvage place, and he's very good at getting things inexpensively. Rose was telling me about some of his newest quests, and I remarked that he probably was reincarnated from the Middle Ages, where he was known as "Marc the Chepe." Now I see it's well past noon and I have much to do. Must braise the lamb and assemble the stew in the new slow cooker. Must make card and covertly transport goodies six miles to the homestead. Must, must, clean off this cluttered kitchen table and begin, at least, to feel there is some order in my life, not just a pause. |
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