The Mysterious Case of the Missing Knife

We’ll get to the mystery later. First I need to tell you about yesterday. We went to church and Sunday school, and then there was a flurry of activity as I cooked and preheated my two awesome big insulated food containers so we could take hot corned beef and cabbage with us to Nacogdoches. Unfortunately, Jasper was unable to go with us as the rain had kept him from mowing a friend’s yard on Saturday, and it had to be done before Monday.

We arrived at the church in Nacogdoches in good time and I was thrilled to see the parking lot filled. Some of Lina’s earlier choir concerts were not terribly well attended, but word is getting out! This choir is amazing!

The program was all Mozart—three special numbers followed by the requiem. Lina has sung it before—as a soprano—but this was her first time to sing it as an alto. It was so excellent. The program had the Latin words along with English translations, which made it very easy to follow along. And you can see and hear it too, if you like—they recorded it for YouTube!

I don’t know what quality the recording is, but it will give you some idea. You can fast forward through the first part where people are just coming in and sitting down.

After the concert, I got a photo of my beautiful girl:

And then we drove over to her cozy apartment and had tea while her cat hid in the bedroom. He is not used to company. Lina had made some colcannon and apple cake to go with the corned beef and cabbage, so we had a good hearty St. Patrick’s Day dinner. Then she offered to show us the first episode of Strange New Worlds, which I have been wanting to see but don’t want to pay for streaming. She borrowed it from the library—what a concept!

She is now working full time at the library and her life is already less stressful than it was before. We are so happy for her.

So now to the knife story. I keep a glass full of pens, a pair of scissors, and a knife on my dining table most of the time, because we open most of our mail there and I do a lot of my paperwork and grading there. The little paring knife was the perfect size for opening letters, breaking the seal on pill bottles, and all sorts of other things. Lucy called it the “floor knife” because once someone dropped it and it fell point down and stuck into the wooden floorboards.

Anyway, the floor knife disappeared a few days ago—simply vanished. I looked everywhere for that knife, because I needed it. And none of my many kitchen knives were quite right for the job. Walter was apparently the last to use it, but he didn’t move it. He couldn’t find it either. Jasper had no idea what I was even talking about.

I have wasted at least a couple of hours over the last few days searching for that cheap little knife. This morning I had had enough. I count on having a knife in the dining room. It doesn’t have to be fancy—just sharp enough to cut through paper and packing tape. So I drove to Dollar General, only to find to my dismay that it didn’t seem to be open. The lights were on, but the doors wouldn’t open. There were some rather disgruntled customers standing around trying to figure out what was going on, but I didn’t want to wait.

Now I was on a mission, so I drove to Dollar Tree, which was a lot farther away, to buy a $1 knife. It’s twice the size of the old one, but I figure now that I’ve bought it, the old one will soon magically appear in a super obvious place.

This afternoon I brought in my “porch plants” as it is going down to the thirties tonight! Probably for the last time before November. And since I had brought it in anyway, I gave my kalanchoe a pretty drastic haircut. I did this last year when it got too “leggy” and it ended up being really gorgeous. I don’t know if you’re supposed to prune kalanchoes, but it worked for me.

I also worked on putting together materials for a friend whose daughter is struggling with writing a research paper. I’m hoping we can set up a Zoom so I can talk her through it.

I saw on the news that Jo-Ann Fabrics has filed for bankruptcy! This is a tragedy for crafters everywhere. I hope they figure something out.

Finally, I have some good news to share. Thanks to the incredible kindness and generosity of friends, I will be able to go to my aunt’s memorial service after all. One friend offered to pay for my plane tickets, and today I went ahead and reserved my flights. (The service isn’t until May.)

Another friend, who lives in the same town where my aunt lived in Oregon, and also knew her, has offered to pick me up at the airport and host me at her house. I can’t tell you what a blessing this is to me—to get to be with my family as we celebrate the life of a remarkable woman. And to finally meet a friend I’ve only known online for quite a few years now!

Parting Shot:

We’re in the peak azalea season now.

Hallelujah!

Today got off to a really great start. I mean, leaving the house before 8:00 isn’t my favorite, but that meant I got a prime parking space at the medical building and also that I didn’t have to wait too long to see my cardiologist. This particular doctor is my favorite of all the medical professionals I see in the course of a year.

I explained my situation to him and he understood immediately how dire it was, since I was on my very last day of having the prescription I need. He was also very surprised that I’ve been able to get it so cheaply for the last three years.

I thought he’d have to prescribe a less-ideal generic drug, but as it turns out, he has a plan in place for patients like me who can’t afford a prescription and don’t have insurance. First, he gave me two weeks’ worth of free samples to tide me over. Then he gave me a page of instructions so that I could register for an online mail-order pharmacy where I will be able to get the same meds I’ve been taking for about the same price. So I have already registered and as soon as the doctor’s office sends in the prescription I’ll be back in business.

This is a much better outcome than I expected! Thank you so much to everyone who prayed!

Before returning home, I zoomed up to Hobby Lobby to get a couple of items, then came home and finished putting together a menu for later this month. Then I drove to Tyler, where I demonstrated superhuman willpower by just getting what I needed at Jo-Ann’s and World Market, and didn’t go into Half Price Books at all.

While I was out, I received a text message that a package I’d been waiting for had been delivered. It happened to be during Walter’s lunch hour, so I texted him and asked him to bring in the package. He said there was no sign of it.

After I returned home from my excursion, I saw I had an email, again telling me the package had been delivered. As proof, FedEx sent a photo of the package on the doorstep. The only problem was, it was not my doorstep! Fortunately, I recognized whose front door it actually was—my neighbor Kim, who lives across the street. So she had her daughter bring the package over this afternoon and there was no harm done. Still, both of our houses have very visible house numbers, so I’m not sure how the mistake was made.

Also this afternoon, we learned that Jasper will be moving back in with us this weekend, as he still has not found a job and has been unable to make ends meet. This is discouraging for sure, but I’m glad he has a place to go—and we will enjoy his company.

I made supper for Jasper and Walter before heading out for my ladies’ night out. I did a terrible job of picking a date—almost everyone I know was either at our town’s Christmas parade or at the Mannheim Steamroller concert on the university campus. So there were only three of us at the restaurant, but one of them was my friend Desiree who moved away some time ago, so I was very glad to see her.

Parting Shot

See those bright blue flowers? Those lobelia have been blooming continuously since spring!

Shopping & Socializing

Today was a two-event day, but they were good events. This morning I got up and had tea and did some paperwork before leaving to drive to Tyler (about an hour’s drive away).

I went to the big shopping center that has my three favorite stores, and made a beeline for Jo-Ann’s, because there were a few items I needed from there. Although, I gotta say, I hadn’t bought a sewing pattern in a while and even the discount price I paid gave me palpitations!

By the time I finished there, I just had time to drive over to a restaurant in the same shopping center, where I had arranged to meet up with my friend Rhea. We pulled up at the same time so that was perfect.

Rhea was a high school classmate of mine. I actually attended four different high schools, but the only one I really count is the one in Kenya, and that’s where I know Rhea from. She and her husband moved to the Tyler area several months ago. This is the first time in many years that I’ve had an old classmate living that close. There used to be one who lived here in town, and whom I often saw, but he moved away a long time ago.

So anyway, we had a long visit over lunch and caught up on each other’s families. Rhea has some particular insight into a situation that I’m struggling with, so I valued her input. Eventually we said our goodbyes and I headed across the parking lot to World Market and Half Price Books. I resisted a lot of temptation before starting the drive home.

Now, I know I sometimes really lag behind in getting stuff done around the house. I’m sure you’ve noticed, and thanks for not bringing it up. But I felt a little better on my way home when I drove past a big fancy house—with a Christmas tree still prominently displayed in the big bay window.

I was very ready for tea when I got home, and might have dozed off for a few minutes while the kettle was heating. A little later, my neighbor Sylvia came to pick me up and we went together to the retired homeschool moms’ ladies’ night out. This time we were joined by only one other, our friend Sharon. The three of us are the three MKs in our group—all from different countries. So all my socializing today was done with other MKs.

We had a good dinner and good fellowship. I do enjoy these monthly get-togethers. Once I returned home it was time for more tea, a video, and knitting. Only four more rows to knit before I have to endure some three-needle binding off—after which I’ll be working on sleeves.

Errand Day

I managed to stay hunkered down at home for several days in a row, except for going to church on Christmas Day. But today I really had to get out and run some errands. This morning I headed up to Hobby Lobby, and found what I needed plus a couple of Christmas items for 75% off. They need to make room for all the Valentine’s stuff, I guess.

Then I headed down the road to FedEx to get a package sent (returning some shoes that didn’t fit) and on to Walmart to get some milk and a couple other items.

When I returned home, I stayed long enough to make tea in my travel mug before heading out to Tyler. I didn’t make it over there before Christmas, and I’m kind of glad because the crowds would have been horrific. As it was, the severity of the traffic situation in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon seemed uncalled for.

My first stop was World Market, where I scored several great deals in the half-off after-Christmas sale. Including this:

Both my husband and I had these in our home when we were growing up. And at one point we had one ourselves, but it disappeared decades ago. So I was willing to pay half price for it. I took a video of it in action, but it’s sideways. Those candles burn down so quickly—in about the time it takes to eat a meal.

From there I walked down to Half Price Books, where I allowed myself to look only at calendars. I picked out two. We have at least one calendar in almost every room. Cheap art! Plus they make great envelopes afterward.

Jo-Ann Fabrics is in that same shopping center, but they have moved to a new location, so I though I’d go check out the new store. I knew in the back of my mind that there was something I wanted to look for there, but I couldn’t think what it was.

I walked in and felt right at home—the store is laid out very similarly to their previous location. And I also remembered why I’d come—I needed to find a particular kind of fleece to make cuffs for a hoodie I bought that has ridiculously short sleeves.

It took some doing, but I finally did find some fleece that’s a pretty close match. When I went to get it cut, I asked the fabric-cutting lady why the store had moved, since it seemed so like the old place. I asked if it was any bigger. Three times bigger, she said. Well. I had no idea. Since the layout was so similar, I hadn’t noticed the change in scale.

Triumphant, I returned to Quicksilver and began the drive home on a stunningly beautiful and sunny winter afternoon. The tea in my travel mug was the perfect temperature for sipping as I drove. I stopped to buy gas before leaving Tyler, as it is always cheaper there than in our town. It was worth waiting in line.

Sammy joined us for supper and then stayed to watch a movie afterward. He is working this week but not going to school, so he doesn’t have homework to keep him busy in the evenings.

Tomorrow I will be returning to my sewing machine.

New Togs

You might want to skip today’s entry if you’re not interested in clothes or sewing. Today my friend Robin took me to a nearby town for a belated birthday lunch, followed by a trip to the shopping center containing my three most dangerous stores: Jo-Ann’s, Half Price Books, and World Market. I got a start on my Christmas shopping! It was a wonderful break from all the work I’ve been doing.

I wore my new denim dress for the occasion, wanting to see how I’d feel about it after wearing it for several hours. I am now in love with this dress. I have been designing it in my head since May, when a little girl’s tunic gave me an idea I thought I could incorporate into a dress.

Maybe I should first explain that my first two priorities for clothing are comfort and modesty. I do not care about fashion at all. If something I like is in fashion, I’ll wear it, but in reality I wear what I like whether it’s in fashion or not. I simply do not have any interest in being fashionable.

So, as I thought about my trip, I thought I would really like to have a plain, serviceable denim dress to wear—what used to be referred to as an “everyday” dress. I searched and searched online and did not find anything even remotely similar to what I had in mind. I bought the denim and continued working on the design in my head.

I have learned a lot about what is and isn’t flattering on me during my weight-loss process, so although I don’t care about fashion, I am interested in wearing clothes that are at least not unflattering! Given my size and my shape and my stage of senectitude, I have finally figured out what works for me.

As I’ve already mentioned, I worked this week to draft the pattern, using a ready-made pattern as my starting point but altering it almost beyond recognition—14 pattern pieces! In my head I knew what I wanted the dress to look like—but knowing what I want and having it work out are two different things. So you can imagine my delight last night when I finished the dress and tried it on, and it was pretty much exactly what I had wanted. Comfortable, modest, and very wearable. One of the things I incorporated was deep pleats on the sides to give me room to walk. The original pattern was very narrow and I have no interest in mincing about like a Japanese geisha in a kimono! The pleats enable me to stride unhampered, as nature intended.

No doubt some of you have already scrolled down to see the photo, and are asking yourselves, “That’s it? It’s nothing special!”  And it’s not—what’s special about it is that this plain dress is exactly what I wanted, and I succeeded in designing and making it look like the picture in my head. I will definitely make this pattern again!

Catching My Breath

I was up a little earlier than normal this morning because I had to be dressed and ready to drive Jasper to the donut shop shortly after 6:30. Flynn and Tiffany were already there waiting for him. I drove home and before too long Flynn’s car drove up to drop Jasper off, and I had my chance to say goodbye to Flynn and Tiffany. They had a very long drive ahead of them, but they arrived safely this evening.

I may have taken a little morning nap before heading out to Tyler to look for some fabric at Jo-Ann’s. I found what I needed, but now I’m thinking I may not have time to sew what I wanted to make before this weekend. The last few weeks have been very busy and I don’t see things slowing down in the near future.

But today, I did have some much-needed downtime. Lina and Jasper went to a movie this afternoon, so I took another nap before getting on with other things. The house seemed so quiet and empty!

The rest of the day was taken up with taking Jasper to youth group, shopping, and going to the gym for my walk. Tomorrow is another birthday!

Parting Shot

My “Brigadoon” roses are so pretty!

Galloping Off in All Directions

Today I wanted to do two things. The two things were in two different places. One place was a 45-minute drive east of us, and the other place was a 45-minute drive west of us.  Meanwhile, Jasper was on his way back from El Paso, and my husband was preparing to spend the day working out at the lake properties he does landscape maintenance for.

But first, I got up relatively early for a Saturday and went to work making my first birthday breakfast in bed for this year. I had everything ready right on time and carried the tray up to Lucy’s room. Lina opened the door for me and helped me sing Happy Birthday. I think Lucy enjoyed her special meal!

Shortly afterward, Lina and set off on our adventure in the glorious spring sunshine. First, we stopped by the pottery place to pick up the pieces we painted last week. They turned out very well. We continued on to the little town of Jefferson, where I wanted to check out an “artisan fair.” The fair was hosted by a boutique that I’d never been to, so we checked that out first:

?

Not sure that was a smart idea. I wanted many, many things in that store! And I did not leave empty handed.

The artisan fair was disappointing as there weren’t many booths, but we did enjoy looking through them. Then I took Lina to another recently-discovered place for lunch, and afterward we browsed through a couple more shops. There were large crowds in town for the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. (Well, large crowds for a small town like that.) There were many green beverages on offer at various businesses.

We headed home mid-afternoon, but only stayed long enough to drop off our purchases before heading out in the opposite direction. Jo-Ann’s had a big sale on and I wanted to buy some denim fabric while it was half price. I have wanted for several years to make myself a denim dress because I have fond memories of one I had in my youth. I spent most of my time in the store looking through patterns and not finding what I wanted. I may have to wing it. And I got the fabric I wanted.

Lina, meanwhile, was browsing in Half Price Books, and she also found something she wanted. We drove home with the late afternoon sun still gleaming and arrived at about 6:00. To our surprise, Walter had not returned home yet. I received word that Jasper’s group would be arriving at the church at about 8:15, so I went ahead and ate my supper and took off to wait for him at 8:00. My husband still had not arrived.

I got to the church just a few minutes before the van pulled in. Poor Jasper is still very sick. He sounds terrible. I brought him home, and he just took a shower and went straight to bed. I hope he feels better soon—and I REALLY hope he does not give whatever it is to the rest of us!

Walter finally got home while I was off getting Jasper. He had a lot of work to do cleaning up two properties after winter and a big storm we had a few days ago. It was a long and tiring day for him.

Lucy was hanging out with friends all day but has now returned again. And Mercy and Daniel have come in for the rest of the weekend, so we have seven people in the house tonight!

Parting Shot:

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This far-out vehicle was parked in Jefferson today.

A Cleaning Dilemma

One of the challenges I had with Flynn and Tiffany’s wedding cake was finding a suitable platter to put it on. I eventually found the perfect large white round platter, and was able to get it on sale. My idea was that after the wedding, I would give the platter to Flynn and Tiffany so they would have it as a memento.

However, when we got the platter back to the purple house and washed it, we had an unwelcome surprise. You might remember that the bottom tier of the cake was covered with red rosettes. Well, that red food coloring is apparently mighty powerful stuff. There were several bright pink stains on the platter.

So, we brought the platter back with us to Texas and yesterday I went to work on getting the stains off. Scrubbing with dish soap did nothing, so I filled the sink with piping hot water, added plenty of soap and a liberal helping of bleach, and left it to soak. Since it was too big to be fully submerged, I rotated it every so often. Not that it helped. After hours in the bleach solution, there were still several pink stains on the plate.

That left only the “nuclear” option. I set the platter on the counter, covered it in paper towels, and poured undiluted bleach onto it. The stains were gone in a few minutes. So when we give the plate to Flynn and Tiffany, it will come with a warning about the dangers of using bright red food coloring in anything destined to repose on that platter!

This morning I spent some time visiting with a friend who is in town for a few days. She is going through a very difficult time and I just wish there was something I could do to fix it—but there isn’t. Now that I know more of what is going on, I can certainly pray for her more intelligently, though.

This afternoon Lina and I went to Tyler to visit the trifecta of temptations: Jo-Ann’s, Half-Price Books, and World Market. I got most of what I needed and in fact I think I may be done with my Christmas shopping.

This evening we went to Books-a-Million, Michael’s, and Hobby Lobby. I really hope I don’t have to go out and buy any more stuff except food! Meanwhile, I have some heavy-duty crafting to do if I am to finish certain things before Christmas. I got at least a start on it tonight.

So It Begins

Since I was still in Dallas yesterday morning, I didn’t do my weekly grocery shopping, which meant I had to do it today. It was just like old times, getting up on Saturday morning and heading to Walmart (Aldi wasn’t open yet).

I helped Jasper with some homework later this morning, and then at lunchtime I headed out to Tyler (nearly an hour’s drive away) because I needed something at JoAnn’s. I was in for a bit of a shock when I got there. Traffic was very heavy—more or less bumper to bumper all the way to the far side of town where I had to go. It felt like the week before Christmas, not the week after Halloween!

Things only got worse when I arrived at JoAnn’s. The parking lot was full and the store was a madhouse. My heart sank when I saw the long line of people waiting to get fabric cut. Even with four people cutting, I had to wait a long time to get my two little pieces of fabric cut. Then I endured another long wait in the checkout line. How can it be this bad already? If it was like this today, what’s it going to be like a month from now? Yikes!

So there went half my afternoon. I had plenty of class-related stuff to do, but this evening I switched gears and did some cooking. It’s my turn to provide the class snacks on Monday, and since it happens to be Guy Fawkes Day, I wanted to make some traditional treats. I planned this way ahead of time and procured authentic treacle and golden syrup to make treacle toffee and parkin (a type of gingerbread).

Bad news on the toffee. I used my candy thermometer to track the temperature, and after nearly an hour it still hadn’t reached the correct temperature, yet it definitely smelled burnt. So I pulled out my digital thermometer to double check, only to find that I had cooked it too long and it smelled burnt for a reason! So I don’t even know if it’s edible. I’ll make the family taste test it tomorrow before I inflict it on my students. And now I know my candy/deep frying thermometer is a piece of junk.

All I’ve got to show for all that effort is a burned finger and a full dishwasher!

 

Two Shopping Trips

This morning I embarked on my regular excursion to Aldi to go grocery shopping. The sky was overcast and the temperature was unseasonably cool (only in the 80s!). It really looked like we were going to get some rain. I wouldn’t have minded getting wet.

What really happened was that a few stray drops fell, but nothing significant. And for tomorrow, the chance of rain has already been reduced from 80 percent to 40 percent. Our whole area is under a strict burn ban, which of course means that Jasper’s forge must remain idle until the ban is lifted.

This afternoon Lina and I set off for the town of Tyler, which made the questionable decision to locate three very dangerous stores in the same shopping center—Jo-Ann’s, Half Price Books, and World Market. I don’t think either of us left any of those places empty handed. In my defense, I did actually need some things. And also, I officially started my Christmas shopping.

I let Lina stop to get coffee before we headed home (it’s about an hour’s drive). I was willing to wait and make myself a free cup of tea after I got home.

I had to walk in Walmart again tonight due to the gym being closed for some unknown reason. On Monday I may going back to the gym, in hopes that the fumes have dissipated.