a $20 day

Our bargains on Saturday usually come in for under $5, often lots less than that, but Saturday we went all out. Maybe celebrating Bridget's 29th birthday? This is the first bargain—great lines, sturdy, and fills the need for a bedside table in Bridget's room.

I guess you could say that the dishes weren't actually "needed." But then again, 12 dessert plates, all the way from England, at a price that beats plastic—not a bargain that I could pass up.

Lots of good eating this weekend. Tom did a pork loin roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, and white asparagus (weird looking) for dinner with Cullen last night. Tonight was pot luck with the church folks. Lots of good carbs: a potato casserole, spinach ravioli, deviled eggs (with horseradish), sloppy joes, lemon pound cake, chocolate chip cookies, vegetables and dip and some kind of tiramisu-type concoction.

All that after a few hours this morning helping give out 17 dozen donuts at church, with way too many opportunities to do some sampling. (Most popular donut, across all age brackets: chocolate glazed.) It's a wonder either of us is still awake.

line up the snow plows

Well, maybe not. Yes, there is snow, but compared to Little Valley standards, this is a dusting. Tom just returned from doing some community organizing in an apartment complex that is scheduled to be demolished in the older part of Gaithersburg. Evil landlords are kicking low-income residents out. The main roads are still good.

We'll probably put the snow tires on the car this week. That should guarantee no more snow storms.

It's been a quiet week, so here's a cat picture—Henry curled up in a wastepaper basket, completely unaware of any climate issues.

Hope you all are as warm and comfortable.

arts and crafts and a "borrowed" photo

For the first time in years I actually opened up the sewing machine, cut out some fabric and ended up something: a denim apron that has 5 pockets, red ties, and a lining. It's now on a hook in the kitchen, hanging with the denim apron with red ties that mother made years ago. (Maybe you should all be worried about next year's Christmas presents.)

We had some luck at Tina's on Saturday, but until Tom hung the two quilt prints ($4 each, matted and framed) we hadn't noticed the top center square on this one. If you can enlarge it, maybe you can see the cat, with a mouse dangling from its mouth.

Another big project. One bottle of Ritz dye (color: wine) and 12 of our old white napkins. Hot water, the full bottle of dye, lots of agitation, and this is the result. I'm hoping the steps I went through to clear the machine of dye, worked. One load of white underwear ought to answer that question. In light of the Golden Globe excitement (I think we had actually seen one of the movies that ended up with an award), here's my nominee for best costume. It seems to me that Lily shows signs of appropriate skepticism, and great aplomb. Eat your heart out, Helen Mirren.

another lineup

The date on this is 1941, and that is Bert, Frank, Bea, Florence, Art (Dad), Jim, and their mother (Martha Newton). I am impressed by the girth of Uncle Bert and the trimmness of all the other brothers. I can't see Uncle Frank without smelling a cold beer on a hot day, which was pretty exotic in our house when I was young. When he came to visit, which wasn't that often, he and Dad would sit in the living room and have a beer, and that is about the only time I can remember Dad having a beer while I was growing up.

On the weather front, it was 72 degrees here yesterday. We now have a line of tulips about 3 inches tall in the garden, and the koi that were hibernating at the bottom of the fish pond have risen to the top to be fed.

It was our turn to host the biweekly potluck dinner tonight. The only mistake I made was to triple the tuna noodle casserole recipe I used. This one skips the mushroom soup and potato chips for a white sauce, peas, and some roasted red pepper. It worked, but there were only 8 of us here tonight, and 4 other casseroles, Tom's horseradish pot roast, and a crock pot of sauerkraut and sausage. Ed, we needed you.