Book Club - The Frozen River

 Today was our book club. I was the moderator. The book that had been selected was The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon. 

I am in awe of how the author constructed a complex historical fiction novel with many webs around life in Maine in the 18th century, midwifery, women's roles, a murder! The novel uses the diary of Martha Ballard, a midwife who chronicled her daily doings from 1784-1812 as the basis for much of her story. 

What intrigued me the most was that Martha's diary survived. It was transcribed by Robert & Cynthia McCausland, beginning in 1982. The process took over 10 years, and is comprised of 1400 pages.

Images of each page of the diary, and the transcription may be explored at https://dohistory.org.  

Ariel Lawhon includes relevant excerpts from the diary, but has conventionalized spelling and capitalization to make the entries easier to read.

I found a fascinating interview with Ariel Lawhon:

Another book about Martha Ballard was written by Laurel Thatcher. She wrote A Midwife’s Tale, The Life of Martha Ballard Based on her Diary 1785-1812. This is not a work of fiction, but Laurel shares pertinent parts of the diary and then discusses different aspects of life in Maine including health issues, social networks, economic roles and women's work. I found it rather challenging to read, but it considered to be a masterpiece. 

PBS aired a
film in their American Experience series about A Midwife's Tale. I found it to be excellent, and a good tie in to 

with The Frozen River.  

This is all probably more information than you want to know...but since I found these resources for the book club, I figured I might as well share them again! 

After the book club I worked on making a bag for our Dialysis patient friend. The quilt I made will fit in it, and he can carry a book, his phone, a pen, etc. I will pick up the straps tomorrow. There is a shop nearby that specializes in bag making. They have great nylon straps that are more durable than anything I can make out of fabric. 

We had rain! Four days in a row! This morning it poured-almost 2"! Even in our sandy area we had some standing water on the roads- for a short period of time. We had more rain late this afternoon. Maybe we are finally in the rainy season...aka the monsoon season! 

Is hamburger $8-$9.99 a pound in your area? No wonder hamburgers at some restaurants are $22!!! For dinner we had a meatloaf made with 50/50 beef and pork. It's the way my mom used to make meatloaf...and it was great. 

Silly (stupid?) Tools

 Several years ago, for some reason that I can no longer recall, I bought this silly "vacuum".... most likely from Amazon. It's a desk vacuum, or a crumb vacuum... or something like that. 

Needless to say, I rarely use it. It lives on my desk....somewhere. Today I found it, covered in dust. I pulled it out because I cut some "Minkie". Minkie is a synthetic, incredibly plush polyester knit. I use it as backings for baby quilts, and for quilted "blankets".  Today I finished quilting the blanket for the Mister's friend's husband (Tim). He's undergoing dialysis and the facility is always cold. We decided that I could make him a 'blanket'. I wrote about it on Sunday. 

I finished the quilted blanket and needed to trim it before putting on the binding. One icky thing about Minkie is that when you cut it, you are inundated with little fluffies. I had pieces of brown fluff all over the cutting board...and window sills..... and on the floor...oh, and stuck to my shirt!

I remembered the desk vac, grabbed it, dusted it off, and remarkably it still had a charge. Not only did it suck up all of the little fluffies...but it has broom-like bristles on the bottom that scrubbed the imbedded fluffies enmeshed in my cutting mat. It's a winner!

Oh, and the finished blanket? Here it is:

I've put some coordinating fabric on the long arm and will make a bag. Tim can carry the quilt, books, a phone, whatever, to keep him occupied during dialysis. 

The quilt consumed most of my day....after my 7:30 AM dental cleaning appointment 😳

My cleaning appointment may have been worth its weight in gold. I have not been really comfortable at this particular dentist's office. It's the second I've tried in the area. The first was very 'corporate' and always presented me with a detailed dental plan, prices, and payment options. This second office turns out to also be a corporate office. It seems to thrive on numbers, pushing lots of patients in, and out. Today my usual hygienist had called out. The office had called in a temp. She works, part time, at a dentist in a nearby town...a dentist with a private practice. A dentist who, after a bit of investigation, I learned had a 5.0 rating with over 425 ratings on Google, and very positive ratings on other sites. It sounds like this may be the dentist I am seeking. What a great find. Serendipity! 

Rainbow of Colors

Who doesn't like a new box of crayons? 

Those prefect, shiny points;

That distinct, memorable crayon smell!

A side note: schools, teachers and kids often need crayons. Sometimes as the new school year approaches, there are great prices on crayons. If you have the opportunity, adopt a class or school and bring in some school supplies that can be shared with needful students. 

One thing that may be even better than a new box of crayons....

A new, HUGE, box of colored pencils!

I have a handful of Prismacolor pencils that I acquired many years ago. Many of my pencils have been reduced to nubs. My palette of colors is limited. I decided that I would expand my collection and fill in holes in different hues by purchasing individual colors. I stopped by the art section of Hobby Lobby and found that Prsimacolor pencils were $1.25 each! Seriously? While I was in California I thought I'd swing by the Dick Blick art store...it's a bit of a haul on my bike so I looked online and found out that individual pencils were $1.23 each, not a price I was willing to expend that much energy on! I thought that I'd look at sets. The price per pencil in sets was better....the 150 color set was $135....that's only $ .90 per pencil. I decided it was a good price....but, maybe not now.  Then, because I had put it in my cart at Dick Blick, online, I received a notice that there had been a price drop....now the 150 colored pencil set was only $120....or $.80 per pencil! 

SOLD!

My pencils arrived today. I can't wait to dig in and play with color...

I have lots of choices! 

This morning I began quilting the blanket for Tim. I'm getting better at communicating with the quilting computer...but on the last two passes we had some disagreements. The computer decided that the quilt was shorter than what I tried to convey to it. I tried to change it up for the last pass, and again, we had a disagreement about the location of the bottom of the quilt. Certainly it is all my fault. I'm failing to communicate with the computer. No problem. I finished the last little bit guiding the machine by hand. I have some clean-up to complete, but that part of the quilt is finished. 

After lunch I played Hand and Foot with some of my new friends. We had a lot of fun, but alas, I did not win! 

We had more rain this morning. The thunder rattled things in the house. Several of my friends commented that they were tired as they couldn't sleep with all of that noise going on. In the last two days we have had over 2.25 inches! 

'Maters, Mozzerella, Meatballs & Mushrooms....Mmmmm

 After my appointments with the Gastroenterologist and the Orthopedic guy, I returned home to debate, "What's for lunch".  I am not one of those folks who has a menu for the week mapped out. As mealtime approaches, I make my way to the fridge and peruse the contents. 

Based on what I saw, especially the Burrata cheese - one my new favorites in cooking - I decided it had to be a Naan bread pizza. 

Super simple:

• Grab the Naan bread out of the freezer to let it defrost for a few minutes.
• Turn the toaster oven on "Air fry" at 400°.
• Spread some bottled sauce on the bread.
• Cut up a large mushroom, two small tomatoes, and a few meatballs.
• Run outside to snip off some Basil leaves - wash and cut up.
• Sprinkle the food on top of the sauce.
• Put some chunks of Burrata cheese over the other stuff.
• Sprinkle a shredded Italian cheese mix over all.
• Bake for about 10 minutes...

Ta da.....

My orthopedic appointment went...as I expected. The MRI didn't have anything good to say, but it wasn't the worst. Besides some disc bulging, severe stenosis at points in my lower back and impingement of nerves in various locations, I'm doing OK. I wanted a magic pill, but kinda knew that was not to be had. He suggested PT....I do most of the exercises prescribed previously at PT...so he offered to leave it in my records and if/when I'd like to start again, or start with a different therapy center, all I need to do is call. He said I could get an injection, although he thought "the nickel counters" may require a stint of PT to show it is not effective before they'd pay. I asked about the hip pain I experience that makes it difficult/uncomfortable to walk, he just gave me that look and said, "Yeah, that's your back talking to you." Life will go on, and I am truly blessed that I am not in excruciating pain. 

The best news of the day? Rain! Lots and lots of rain! (We seem to be in a feast or famine cycle). Thunder and lightning began around 4 AM and the rain poured down. I love sleeping with a rainstorm going on...but then again, if I know it's a storm, am I sleeping?!! The day cleared, and a succession of new storms came over us beginning around 3 PM, bringing more lovely rain. 

Dinner time looms. Opening the fridge tells me we are going to have a stuffed salmon I picked up at ALDI, some leftover quiche as a starch and caprese salad (more Burrata cheese and basil - yum!)

Tonight I will indulge in a glass of Chardonnay - a huge improvement over the Magnesium Citrate cocktail I had last night! 

Sunday Doings

 I didn't go outside to work in the garden today...at all! I stayed inside as I wanted to make a quilted 'blanket' for a friend of one of the Mister's classmate. Her husband has to have dialysis twice a week. She commented about how cold it is in the center when he is held prisoner by the machine. So....the Mister and I went to the local quilt shop to pick out some manly fabric. 

The gal at the shop suggested a panel. That wasn't really what I had in mind, but we looked and found something that the Mister liked, and I figured I could work into a quilted blanket. Last night I cut the images out of the panel and this morning I was ready to get to work:

8:00 AM Sorted the blocks and cut pieces for sashing

Apologies about the quality of the pictures...the sun played havoc with my camera.

9:00 AM  Sashing sewn on most of the squares

10:00 AM Panel borders, with sashing are laid out to help me decide whether to put sashing between the boarder and the central green blanket. Vickie tests it out. She liked how she blended in with the green!

11:00 AM Sewing the borders onto the green batik fabric

12:00 PM Blanket loaded on long arm. It has a brown 'Minkie' backing that will be soft and cuddly.

Lunch for me was the same as breakfast....pineapple jello. I have one of 'those' tests tomorrow, requiring a clear liquid diet and later, prep to clean out my system. Oh, joy.

We went to the local theater production of Mary Poppins.  The cast and crew, 50 folks were involved, did an excellent job. 

Upon our return I prepared my evening cocktail of Magnesium Citrate - ick! I will be happy tomorrow when this is all behind me 🤣...and when I can eat real food! 

E.B. White on Corgis, and my Saturday

Who amongst us has not been touched by E.B. White? I would still find it enjoyable to curl up and read Charlotte's Web, or Stuart Little once again, having read these childhood favorites how many times? White's Elements of Style was my bible in high school; I poured over it looking for answers as to why my English teacher kept awarding me Ds for my papers. (When I met with him out of frustration to inquire as to how I could improve my writing, that &$%^* arrogantly declared that my writing would improve when I became more mature. 😠 But, I digress!)

For those of you perhaps more erudite than me, you probably read White's writings in the New Yorker or Harper's Magazine. 

I recently stumbled on this piece about Corgis, attributed to E.B. White. This made me laugh, as there is so much truth to be found in his reflections on the nature of Corgis. If you own, or have owned, or know someone who owns, or has owned Corgis, you will smile as well! 

In the event the writing is too small, here is the text:

Being the owner of Corgis, to me a book on dog discipline becomes a volume of inspired humor. Every sentence is a riot. Some day, if I ever get a chance, I shall write a book, or warning., on the character and temperament of the Corgi and why he can't be trained and shouldn't be. I would rather train a striped zebra to balance an Indian club than induce a Corgi to heed my slightest command. When I address Fred I never have to raise either my voice or my hopes. He even disobeys me when I instruct him in something he wants to do.

     E.B. WHITE

I began my day as before, getting outside before 7:15 AM. I did nothing huge, just some small yard/building tasks to tidy things up.  We had a delta of sand crossing one area of the driveway from a heavy rainfall last week. I moved the sand back to its area of origin.  A few weeds that had found a toehold in crevices of the driveway were sprayed with Spruce weed killer, a possibly safer alternative to other available sprays. I moved some items from the garage to the RV garage and storage area, and took clean linens and towels back to the RV,  ready for our next trip. 

The Mister brought two bucket loads of mulch over to the front garden.....

Which I spread as best I could.  I have a soaker hose under the mulch.  The plants may be able to hold onto the moisture a bit better now.

After lunch, leftover Shepards pie, and a brief nap (so tired, again...not sure if it is the heat and activity, or something going on) both the Mister and I ran to the local fabric shop to pick up something to make a quick quilted blanket for a friend undergoing dialysis. His wife was saying how cold he gets, as they keep the temperatures low to stem the growth of bacteria. Hopefully I can get this knocked out in a few days and get it on its way. 

We stoped at ALDI and Publix. The ALDI 'surprise product of the day' was a set of 4 large ice cubes. Seriously?? Have you ever?

Maybe this is the thing of the future. 

Remember the reactions when bottled water was first marketed?

But seriously, I will not spend $2.49 for 4 ice cubes, 

no matter how clear and slow melting they are!

A Little Bit of This....a Little Bit of That

Today was a "This. That, and a little bit of Everything" sort of day. I managed to get out before 7:15 again, trying to beat the heat a bit. My first chore was to reseat one of the stepping stones. 

You may recall that back in June the Mister used his tiny excavator to remove our perished Pygmy palm. In the process, the machine broke one of the round stepping stones you see in front of the excavator in this picture, and unseated the other. One end was considerably higher than the other and I kept tripping on in. I knew it was a disaster waiting to happen. 

This morning I dug out some of the sand, and removed some of the weed cloth, which after many years was not really keeping the weeds at bay as so much sand and dirt had been deposited on top of it, the weeds are fine with growing on top of the disintegrating weed cloth. I replaced the stone and filled in sand around it. I finished my task by raking all of the surrounding area and seating everything with some water. I haven't decided if I really need to add another stepping stone closer to the gate, and I need to get some more pea gravel to bring the entire path back up level with the stones. 

If I get really energetic I could clean the timbers on either side of the path and stain them. 

And, if I get really, really energetic I could dig up the gravel and sand over the entire length of the garden path, cut a few roots that are intruding, level the sand base and reinstall weed cloth, stepping stones and gravel. I'm not certain I'll ever have that much energy - 😂

After I finished this task I did some weeding. I have a new crop of palm seedlings emerging. 

I planted an elephant ear plant of some sort that I bought a while back. I first planted it in an area of the garden that was too sunny. I put it back in the pot and moved it into a shadier area. It has been growing beautifully. It now has a permanent home (on the left in the picture), next door to the Caladiums. I just learned a few things about Caladiums; the plants from successive years will be smaller, and not as full, and using fertilizer with too much nitrogen will effect the color of the leaves...which makes sense since the nitrogen component of fertilizer is what makes plants have healthy, green tops. 

I trimmed a few things,

I blew leaves and grass off the driveway on my way to retrieve the garbage bin,

and finally retreated to the air conditioning for a shower. 

A friend was coming over and I realized that I had spider webs on the glass panes of my front door. Perhaps not the nicest welcome. I cleaned the panes of glass, inside and out, and then went on to clean a large window in our kitchen. The view is ever so much better now! 

The morning continued in this fashion, seeing something out of place, moving it where it belongs,

seeing something there that needed cleaning, taking care of that....

Before I knew it, it was lunch time....

left over salads.

Then I was off to play Mahjong. 

I won a few.

I lost a few.

I came out a bit ahead of the game, bringing back about $ .85 above and beyond my starting pot of $3.00!

We are heavy bettors!

I mentioned to the Mister that I didn't know what to cook for dinner.

He suggested we go out...and so we did!

We ate at Seagrass Waterfront in Homosassa.

We do not eat out a lot, and we are still exploring restaurants in our town and surrounding towns.  

Seagrass Waterfront has a covered porch next to a dock, as well as inside seating. While we were there a boat came in and the folks on the boat joined friends for dinner. 

There seemed to be a number of locals as several of the diners were on first named basis with the waitress and the manager, who did come over to see if our meal met our expectations. 

I decided the day, with temps near (exceeding?) 100°,

deserved a "Pain Killer".

It worked!

I loved the tipsy glass! 

I chose to have Shepherd's Pie, one of my favorites. 

It didn't disappoint!

We arrived home, and I watered some areas of our newly sodded yard that were showing the effects of a hard day, and I called it a day!