Laura (lauralkeet)'s 75 in 2022 - Part 2

Alys: those ears!


Sweet Woody boy
22 Nov 2007 - 1 Feb 2022

Welcome to my thread! I'm Laura, late 50s, retired. My husband Chris and I live in an 18th century farmhouse in northern Virginia, and keep ourselves busy with gardening, re-wildling our pasture to attract wildlife, and the occasional interior renovation. We’re documenting this journey through a newsletter (free!) on Substack: Willow Greens Farm -- check it out!

This is my fourteenth year in the 75 Book Challenge Group. Where has the time gone?! I read mostly contemporary fiction, with the odd classic or memoir thrown in. I am increasingly relying on our fabulous local library system to meet my reading needs, and that makes me happy. This year I’ll read where my mood takes me, keep plugging away at various series, and stay current with new series releases.

Besides reading, I spend a lot of time knitting and weaving. I have a thread in the Needlearts group; stop in and say hi sometime!

My 2022 threads can be found here:
Part 1 |



Books completed
January
1. The Fell - comments here
2. The Getting of Wisdom - comments here
3. Mistress of the Art of Death - comments here
4. Uncle Fred in the Springtime - comments here
5. Magpie Lane - comments here

Series Progress

Active series as of January 1 (updated quarterly):


A snapshot of my active series sorted on the "progress" column.

Series completed/current in 2022:
* tbd

Series started in 2022:
* Mistress of the Art of Death

Series abandoned in 2022:
* tbd

Currently Reading


The High House | Edith Wharton

The Wharton bio has been on my shelves forever, and it's a real chunkster. So I'll be reading it as a long-term project over several months.

On Deck



Signs for Lost Children | Matrix

oops -- this is extra!

Dulles Greenway Eagles

I've joined a team of volunteer remote camera operators and chat moderators for the Dulles Greenway Eagle Cam. A pair of American bald eagles have lived in the Dulles Greenway Wetlands in Leesburg, VA for about 15 years. Through a partnership between the Greenway, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and the American Eagle Foundation, an Eagle Cam has been established to monitor the nest with live video and audio streaming. The camera installation was done at night, which reduces stress on the eagles. They returned to the nest 5 days later. A local homeowner has made his home internet available for the cameras, since there is no service available anywhere near the nest.

We’ll be working from now through the nesting season (June-ish) to share these fabulous birds with the public. Click on the link below to watch. The eagles are most active in the early morning and late afternoon (US EST).

How to follow the eagles
There are two cameras, one fixed and one that can be controlled remotely. The latter is solar powered and availability is subject to weather. It will go down once a week regardless to recharge, and its return depends on an extended sunny period.

Ways to watch:
* Dulles Greenway Eagles on Facebook: photos and videos posted, and they're currently experimenting with FB live video in the early evening.
* Dulles Greenway Eagle Cam Website: You can toggle between cameras (side view and overhead view).
* Dulles Greenway Eagle Cam YouTube Channel: There are separate livestreams for each camera. Unlike the website, you can rewind these to see specific points in time.

News
Jan 12: A "name the eagles" contest is now underway in the local public school system. The winning names will be announced Feb 11.

Feb 1: Mom Eagle laid the first egg, now known as DG1, at 3:38pm EST.

Open for business! I'm working an Eagle Cam shift right now, but the birds have yet to make their morning appearance.

We had a winter storm yesterday/last night and there's a few inches of snow on the ground. It's frozen into something more like crunchy ice. Temperatures are actually higher this morning than anytime yesterday, so it may melt quickly; we'll see. I was supposed to get my hair cut this afternoon, but my stylist reached out yesterday to reschedule to tomorrow, which is fine with me.

Last night we watched Ep 2 of All Creatures, which was wonderful as usual. Not much planned for today, to be honest. The weather calls for comfort food, so I'm going to make a chicken stew for dinner, using this recipe from the latest issue of Bon Appétit: Nana's Chicken & Rice Stew. The reviews are mostly positive, except for the quantity of rice which also struck me as a bit much, so I think I'll cut that way back or make it separately.

Happy new one!

>5 lauralkeet: Excellent picture!

Happy new thread, Laura!

>5 lauralkeet: I love how wild cams bring wildlife close to anyone. These eagles look majestic.

Morning, Laura. Happy New Thread! Love the doggy toppers. I just checked the cam too. Dark, empty and foreboding.

Happy new one, Laura. I love the photos of both Alys and Woody.

I hope your chicken stew turns out well!

>7 figsfromthistle:, >8 FAMeulstee: thanks! I just updated the photo to a new one I snapped this morning.

>9 msf59: Mark, for some reason the website isn't getting the live feed (it's still showing a nighttime view). The YouTube channel is working fine though.

>10 katiekrug: Hi Katie! I'll report back on the stew.

My dog Gracie used to rest her "elbows" on a hassock under our front window and look out just like Alys. I miss her.

Happy new-week's reads, Laura, and new thread orisons.

Happy new one! I’ve been enjoying your blog - the history you’ve found has been interesting.

Hi Laura - love those pups up top! Great photos. I finished Mistress of the Art of Death last week and loved it - hope it continues to go well for you.

Happy new thread Laura

Happy new thread, Laura! I love the pup photos up top!

Oh, Alys, you're just so alert!

Happy new thread, Laura. I love the photos of your dogs. I'm happy that you are enjoying Mistress of the Art of Death. I just finished The Fell, hard to put down, and loved it! I guess it's only fair that something good should come from the pandemic, right?

Lovely photos of Alys and Woody!

Helllooooo to Betty, Richard, Jim, Vivian, Adrienne, Amber, Linda, Beth, and Claire! My goodness this has been a hopping place this morning.

I'm glad you all like the photo of Alys. I mean, what's not to like, right? But the day I took it (a couple weeks ago) my next thought after sending it to Kate and Julia was that I would use it on my next thread. She's a pistol, that dog.

>14 drneutron: Jim, I'm so glad you're enjoying our weekly missives. We are having fun doing it, and so far have had no difficulty coming up with things to write about.

>15 vivians: Vivian, I've reached a point in Mistress of the Art of Death where I might just have to set aside the Edith Wharton bio until I finish. Things are starting to come together, it seems.

>19 BLBera: Beth, I noted your guarded recommendation for The Fell, which makes sense. I find it interesting, the ways in which authors address this period in history. Moss really latched onto the "isolation" element more than the virus itself, which I could relate to although my personal isolation experience wasn't as suffocating as it was for her characters.

Hi Laura. New thread and it's only mid-January. I'll have to trot to keep up.

I've been putting my mystery series into a copy of your spreadsheet. Oy. I've recorded a lot of mysteries over the years, and finished very few. Not sure why I'm doing this, except that I started the spreadsheet and now feel I need to finish it! What do you do with the series you have either abandoned or finished?

Happy new thread, Laura.

Great to see your threads buzzing this year.

Those eagles are magnificent creatures aren't they?

Happy new thread!

>22 ffortsa: Hi Judy! I had to laugh at your motivation for populating the spreadsheet. Maybe it will be useful once it's done? Anyway, in answer to your question about abandoned series: I put an X in the cell after the last book I read (e.g., if I read two books and decide to call it quits, the X goes in the third cell). Then I type "N/A" in the progress column. That way, when I sort the spreadsheet on that column, abandoned series move to the bottom.

>23 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. Yes, I'm a big fan of the eagles. When I was a child they were nearly extinct, so it's wonderful to see their population growing.

>24 quondame: Hi Susan!

>21 lauralkeet: I know Laura, that since I have continued to work throughout the pandemic, I didn't feel as isolated as her characters either. But I wanted to put the disclaimer because some people have mentioned that they are not ready to read about COVID in fiction quite yet.

>21 lauralkeet: I really enjoyed your barn episode today. Especially Rule #1 - our rule too!

>26 BLBera: I think the disclaimer is a good idea, Beth -- wish I'd thought of it.

>27 drneutron: I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Jim! We inherited many things in this house that were not governed by Rule #1, so we are committed to doing better!

Well, we didn't get any more snow yesterday but it also didn't melt as hoped. Instead we have a few inches of crusty snow that is frozen and slippery. When I take Woody outside I have to hold onto his harness to keep him from falling over. Poor sweet boy.

On the plus side, we kept the wood stove going all day and I was able to work on my weaving and get some reading time in. So all in all, a pretty good day.

Last night's chicken stew (see >6 lauralkeet:) was tasty, and perfect for a cold winter day. My main concern with the recipe was achieving the right ratio of chicken, rice, and broth. The recipe is supposed to make 6 servings, yet calls for 2c of dry rice (8 servings) and 1 lb of chicken (4 servings). I followed the recipe as written up to adding the rice. I used only 1c of rice and did not add any more liquid at first. I checked it every 10 minutes for 30 minutes so I could adjust liquid as needed. I ended up adding the 1.5c of liquid specified, and I probably should have turned off the heat after 20 min as the rice was done and I lost a bit of liquid in those last 10 minutes while I was busy cooking green beans. But anyway ... it's a keeper and we have leftovers for lunch today!

I'm supposed to get my hair cut this afternoon. I'm sure the roads are fine, but we'll have to see if we can clear the driveway.

Morning, Laura! I've saved the stew recipe and might give it a try this weekend.

Poor Woody and the ice :( When I take Nuala out, I am the one who needs some stabilizing, as she likes to rush down the front steps while I'm clinging to the hand rail when it's slippery.

>30 katiekrug: I know that drill! Our last family dog was half-lab, and would hit the end of the leash like an express train in his youth. Good thing we outweighed him.

Happy New Thread, Laura! I love the Alys and Woody photos.

No one, including birds and squirrels, is going to sneak into your house with Alys around.

>30 katiekrug:, >31 ffortsa: Woody was that way once upon a time. Not at 14 though ...

>32 jnwelch: Hi Joe! You are right about Alys, that photo is so "her". Our dog trainer put it this way: Alys has been successful in thwarting all manner of threats (UPS man, anything on wheels, other dogs, strangers ...), which has kept herself and the rest of us from being killed. It's going to take some work to change her beliefs, not to mention her behavior. Ha.

---

I rescheduled my haircut to Thursday. The layer of ice on the driveway is pretty thick, and even worse are the small glaciers where driveway meets road, created by the snowplow. Chris made some headway on the driveway and we're hoping afternoon sun helps too. The effort required to thoroughly clear things wasn't worth it just for a haircut.

It seems that you might be getting more snow there than we are along the south shore of Massachusetts this winter. Crazy.

>33 lauralkeet: Ice! I can't even tell it precipitated out there today. Sunshine FTW, but it's still too cold to go out for my delicate fleur of a body.

We interrupt this thread for an important PSA for US residents

Place Your Order for Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests

Residential households in the U.S. can order one set of 4 free at-home tests from USPS.com. Here’s what you need to know about your order:
Limit of one order per residential address
One order includes 4 individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests
Orders will ship free starting in late January

https://special.usps.com/testkits

>36 lauralkeet: - Done. I thought it wasn't going "live" until tomorrow, so I appreciate the heads-up!

>37 katiekrug: No problem, Katie. I heard about it from Kate and pounced on it.

Apologies to Colleen & Richard--I didn't intend to ignore your posts!
>34 NanaCC: I get the impression this is more than the usual amount of snow for these parts, Colleen. Maybe we're done now. Heh.

>35 richardderus: I just took the trash and recycling out, Richard, and decided it's too cold for me out there, too.

I'm not surprised you blatantly ignored me, as cold as it is there! Must've taken a good while for your brain to unfreeze.

*smooch*

>36 lauralkeet: Thank you, our order has been placed.

Uh how much snow are we talking about here Laura because if it's less than the 20" I'm now looking at out my window I'm afraid you're not going to get a ton of sympathy from me. Lol. And for the first time the plow service I use was forced to plow the snow up onto my front lawn and the sidewalk because they had nowhere else to put it. ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

>39 richardderus: I'm so glad you understand, Richard.

>40 quondame: You're welcome!!

>41 brenzi: Oh Bonnie, don't you start. Chris grew up in Syracuse and is constantly regaling me with "in my day ..." stories. Also, despite (or because of?) his history he hates snow removal. His usual approach is to offer repeated assurances that any minute now the sun will come out and melt it all away. After 35+ years, I know I cannot convince him otherwise. And to be fair, back when I was working he always made sure I could get out.

Playing catch-up on your threads. I ordered my home COVID tests today too.

Happy Wednesday, Laura. I just checked the nest. I think there is an adult hunkered down in there. Do you know if there are eggs?

My feeders have been eerily quiet the past few days.

3. Mistress of the Art of Death ()
Thanks to Beth and Vivian for getting me hooked on a. new series!

After the deaths of four Cambridge children and subsequent accusations against the town’s Jewish community, King Henry II requests help from the King of Sicily, and a team is sent to investigate. One member of that team is a doctor with expertise in “the art of death.” That doctor also happens to be a woman, a fact that must be kept a closely guarded secret since women were not allowed to practice medicine in medieval England. Her name is Adelia, and along with comrades Simon and Mansur, they pull of the deception and, ultimately, get to the bottom of the murders. But not without plenty of drama and surprising plot twists.

I enjoyed the historic setting, which was rich with period detail. I also loved Adelia’s character, a strong woman facing staggering male opposition, but also vulnerable in ways that make her even more appealing. The strong supporting cast sets the stage for the rest of the series, and I know it won’t belong before I read the next book.

>43 thornton37814: Hi Lori!

>44 msf59: Good morning Mark. I just took a peek at the YouTube channel to see the chat on the livestream camera. The nest was empty but from the chat it looks like they made a stop around 7am, flew off, and returned shortly after 8. If you rewind the Youtube livestream to 8:23 or so (time stamp is in upper right corner), you'll see Mom on the nest. She calls out and Dad flies in at 8:24. There are no eggs yet; typical timing is late Jan/early Feb so we should be getting close.

>45 lauralkeet: That sends me scurrying off to look for a new series too, Laura!

>47 PaulCranswick: Great idea, Paul.

Nothing much on the agenda today. We're trying to choose a lime wash paint color for the upstairs bedrooms and yesterday Chris put a couple of sample colors on the wall. We liked one of the colors but he had issues with the paint quality. He's requested a few samples from another company, but this time they come in the form of cards that have been painted, vs. little pots of paint. Well, we can still compare them to the first paint samples and forthcoming drapery fabric samples.

Later this morning I'm going to make a pot of African Inspired Peanut & Sweet Potato Soup, which we'll have for lunch. This recipe made the rounds in this group some time ago; I bookmarked it and promptly forgot about it.

Inspired by Kim and Rhian, as a next step in reducing our plastic consumption I've been looking into zero waste options for shampoo and other personal care and cleaning products. There are quite a lot of companies out there; sifting through all of the options is fun but I'm also easily overwhelmed. Fortunately I have an adequate supply of my current products so I have time.

>45 lauralkeet: You’ve added another to my list, Laura.

I'm so happy you loved Mistress of the Art of Death. It is the best one, I think, although I did read all of the books in the series.

>49 NanaCC: It's Beth and Vivian's fault, Colleen!

>50 BLBera: Sometimes I feel a little nervous when I recommend something highly. What if everyone else hates it? So if you had any of those feelings Beth, you can now banish them.

Currently Reading


Uncle Fred in the Springtime | Edith Wharton

I decided to pull the next Blandings novel off the shelf while waiting for some library holds. I've been slowly working my way through the Wharton bio, keeping it on my nightstand for bedtime reading. But I'm going to change it up for a bit, focusing a little more on Wharton and reading Wodehouse at bedtime.

What an exciting life I lead ..

>52 lauralkeet: That's a world-bending change! Wharton's life was very much the stuff of dreams, if sometimes the dreams were nightmares...Ethan Frome was probably partly autobiographical...and then to switch that for the frothy Wodehouse, well, I expect your sleep's about to change character entirely.

The best part of Mistress of the Art of Death series is it isn’t too long. Enough to be a series but not so much that it feels overwhelming to start it. I quite enjoyed it a few years ago. (It could be ten, my concept of time is wonky, lol). Did I see there is another new book though?

>52 lauralkeet: We’ll, a little Wodehouse before bed is never wrong. I should read some Blandings - I’ve read most of the Jeeves books and a couple of Psmith ones but somehow never got around to Blandings.

>45 lauralkeet: I really thought this was an excellent novel, too.
I gave it 4* as well. While aspects were, shall we say, "had an edge of thriller/horror" in Franklin's stories, I thought the author was careful not to overdo the details and the plot stayed true to a theme of solving the mysterious deaths. I read Grave Goods first and it was what hooked me.

Edited to confess, I was rather 'meh' about book 2 (The Serpent's Tale). The plot felt more contrived compared to books 1 and 3, with an overload of backstory. I abandoned book 4 about halfway through, 'cause the writing did not live up to Diana Norman's original storytelling (she wrote using Ariana Franklin as a pseudonym, I discovered later). A Murderous Procession was co-authored with one of Ariana's daughters before she (Ariana) passed away.

>53 richardderus: An excellent summing-up, Richard. Wharton was good bedtime reading when my other book was a murder mystery. Wodehouse is generally a good bedtime reading choice. And the bio has held my interest; in fact, I got rather immersed in the last 50 pages or so of Part I, in which Henry James features prominently. At some point my interest will flag, and Edith will return to the nightstand.

>54 raidergirl3: Elizabeth, that's a great point about the length of the series. But I doubt there's a new book since the author passed away in 2011. However, LT shows a fifth entry in the series, written by her daughter and published in 2020.

>55 PawsforThought: Hi Paws, Chris has been a Wodehouse fan for a very long time, so we have a bit of a collection. I'm not sure why, but I started with Leave it to Psmith. It is considered one of the Blandings novels as well as being part of the Psmith series. I wanted to read more about Lord Emsworth, his pig, and related shenanigans.

>56 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy, I like your assessment of the Mistress of the Art of Death series. I guess some unevenness is inevitable, but I'll keep your thoughts in mind and try not to be put off if book 2 doesn't quite measure up.

I've been tempted to read The Mistress of the Art of Death for years Laura, but do I want to start another series, especially one where the second book doesn't measure up? No. I do not.

Also, I've never heard of the sun coming out in Syracuse and actually melting snow. Hahahahahahaha

A belated "Happy New Thread" from me, Laura.

>45 lauralkeet: Glad to see you enjoyed it!

Morning, Laura!

>45 lauralkeet: Ope, I need to add that one to my list. It sounds really good!

>58 brenzi: I totally understand not wanting to start a new series, Bonnie. I was in the mood for a new one, and this one worked. If the others don't, well, I still had a very enjoyable reading experience. Your Syracuse comment made me laugh.

>59 alcottacre: Hi Stasia!

>60 scaifea: Good morning Amber, I was just posting over at your place.

We were under a winter storm warning last night but thankfully temperatures didn't get low enough so we just had rain. It's slushy out there but not treacherous.

At the moment I'm working an Eagle Cam shift, but no action yet. I check the camera on and off most days, and they are definitely spending more time at the nest together. Eggs soon? I hope so!

Yesterday's African-Inspired Peanut and Sweet Potato Soup was yummy. I made cornbread to go with it, which made for quite a nice lunch. And we have 4 servings left over, so yay. I love having soup for lunch and it's nice to have a rota of good homemade soups. I'm trying to make one batch of soup a week through the winter.

Reading-wise, I made some good progress on the Wharton bio and Wodehouse proved to be perfect bedtime reading.

Today's agenda includes a haircut this afternoon and later on I will pick up our winter meat CSA subscription. We subscribed to an excellent veggie CSA last summer/fall which I'll repeat this year, and decided we wanted to try sourcing more of our meat from local farms. I subscribed to the smallest share, which is 3-4lb of meats every 2 weeks.

Sweet Thursday, Laura! African-Inspired Peanut and Sweet Potato Soup? That does sound good and with cornbread too? Yum. I will have to swing back later. Empty nest.

ETA- My feeders were hopping yesterday, (9 species) and I had a surprise visit from a Cooper's Hawk. I had not seen one back there in a couple of years. Couldn't snap a photo though.

Morning, Laura!

I got my hair cut yesterday and almost fell asleep in the chair while Jill was drying it. Despite the noise of the hair dryer, the scalp massage had me soooo relaxed. I sometimes contemplate cutting my hair short so that I have to get it cut more often. Heh.

That's great that your CSA has a meat option, too. The farmers market that we like (and which goes through the winter, which is awesome) has a meat vendor, and the difference in quality and taste from what we get at the supermarket is quite noticeable. Also, obviously, it's better for the environment to source locally.

Anyway, I guess I'm feeling extra chatty this morning :-P

>63 msf59: a Cooper's Hawk? Lucky you, Mark. We have a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks hanging around here (the subject of next Monday's newsletter, in fact). I don't think I've seen any other hawk species yet.

>64 katiekrug: Chattiness is fine with me, Katie! The meat CSA is a different supplier from the veg, actually. The best part of the veg CSA is that you choose your own produce instead of a pre-packed box. If I want 9 heads of lettuce, I can do that. But I don't; I just avoid the stuff I know for sure I don't like, and still make myself try new things. It's a great way to bring variety to our meals, and I've noticed during the off season I'm back to my usual veg buying habits (read: boring). For meats, there's a farm shop nearby that delivers, which is amazing. We like their breakfast sausages, and all of their meats are excellent, but I find I only order what I want/need/like. I thought I'd try the "surprise me" element of a pre-packaged CSA and plan some of our meals around that as I do with the veg.

>62 lauralkeet: Glad to hear you didn't have to go through a snowstorm. Although I think I might personally have preferred snow to the rain and slush...

Soups are the best, I could eat soup almost every day and not tire of it.

And gee, I really need to get a haircut soon. Last time was, well, pre-pandemic. Sigh.

>65 lauralkeet: - It's great to have so many options!

>66 PawsforThought: Paws, fortunately the rain was short-lived. It's now just gray and a bit cold. I've been getting my hair cut regularly again for a while now, and am looking forward to this one since I'm about a week overdue. And yet somehow I managed without one for MONTHS in 2020. Hmm.

>67 katiekrug: It sure is Katie! But I still envy your local cheese shop. I haven't found one close enough for regular shopping, although there's one a bit further way that I want to visit at some point.

>52 lauralkeet: You wild and crazy thing you!

Which CSAs are you doing, Laura? We've done Lancaster Farms for many years, but they do the pre-packaged box and I sometimes think about switching to one that lets you customize. We love the quality, though, and they do a pretty good job of giving a good mix of veggies. We've never tried a meat CSA because they never seem like the right mix or amounts for a family.

>69 RebaRelishesReading: You got it, Reba. That's how I roll.

>70 japaul22: Hi Jennifer! Our veg CSA is Potomac Vegetable Farms. They use both the "market basket" model that I described, and pre-packed boxes, depending on location. In the autumn they switch to all pre-packed, I guess because there's not enough business to keep a "shop" staffed? I'm not clear on that. But even so, they have a system where you can do a little bit of customization each week. The meat CSA is from Spring House Farm. The farm is in Hamilton but they have drop-off locations around the area.

I picked up our meat share this afternoon:
* Ground Pork (1lb)
* Chuck Roast (1.5 lb)
* Chicken Leg Quarter (1 lb)

These are all things I can use. The chicken is the "odd one out": it's a thigh+drumstick, which would not serve two easily. But I could cook the chicken and use it in another dish, or keep it in the freezer until I get more chicken.

Happy Friday!

Last night we had a nice FaceTime catch-up with Julia (we talked to Kate last weekend), and watched an episode of the original All Creatures Great and Small. That series seems to be our go-to these days, when we aren't up for a mystery/crime drama or anything that makes us think.

Today's agenda includes menu planning followed by grocery shopping, hopefully a bit of exercise, and making some phone calls to potential bathroom contractors. I had a promising initial discussion with one a little over a week ago, but after some back-and-forth to schedule a visit to the house, he admitted his schedule was backed up and he couldn't take on new projects for at least a couple of months. Okay. Moving on.

I'm going to do a bit of baking either this afternoon or tomorrow. Last weekend I made Brookies (brownie/cookie hybrid), planning to take some of them to a new neighbor down the road. He ended up postponing his move a few days so ... we ate the Brookies ourselves. I mean, we wouldn't want them to go stale now would we? But he's all moved in now, and none the wiser, so we can bring him a freshly-baked welcome gift. I found a NYTimes Cooking recipe for S'mores Blondies that I want to try: graham cracker & chocolate cookie base, mini marshmallows, and chocolate drizzle. We have a bag of mini-marshmallows bought at Christmas but not used, so this will make sure they don't go to waste (waist? ha).

All the contractors here are really backed up, too, apparently. We've put our bathroom reno on hold because of all the costs related to the flood, but I was saying to TW the other day that maybe we should at least explore our options and try to get on someone's schedule for early 2023!

>71 lauralkeet: Thanks for that info, Laura. I've heard of Spring House farm, but haven't ever looked at Potomac Vegetable Farms. Always fun to look at something new.

Yeah, it was a couple of months between signing the contract for our bathroom reno and the start date. Same everywhere, I suspect.

>73 katiekrug: It's a process, for sure, Katie. And you might not be able to get on someone's schedule until you have developed a design and signed a contract for the work. At least that's what seems to be happening here.

>74 japaul22: Sure thing, Jennifer.

>75 drneutron: Hi Jim! I, too, expect there will be some time between contract signing and start of work. But first we need to find someone to work with us to get to the point of contract signing! We have some design ideas that we can discuss in vague terms, but our arm-waving is not enough for someone to quote on and build from. 😀

So ... today I reached out to an independent contractor, recommended by the guy who just turned us down, and a full-service kitchen & bath firm. Had a chat with someone from the latter and hope to schedule a visit for next week.

It's really cold outside, 15F as I write this which is a few degrees higher than when I got up this morning. I donned my warmest butt-covering coat for the morning dog walk and had to force the dogs into their coats as well (something Woody especially hates). We're keeping the bird feeders well stocked and Chris just topped up the heated birdbath/drinker. Today's high is only 30F so it's a perfect day to stay indoors as much as possible.

S'mores Blondies were made and taste tested yesterday, and some of them are now packaged up for delivery to the new neighbor later on. The rest will be consumed by us far too quickly, because we can't resist the temptation. As much as I love baking, I need to moderate how often I do it.

After the dog walk I warmed myself up with oatmeal (with apples & cinnamon) for breakfast, and of course a continuous flow of coffee. The Saturday crossword is done. At some point I need to consider more productive/meaningful activities ... I hope to spend a bit of time weaving, and I have a knitting-related Zoom meeting this afternoon. Tonight's dinner will be cold-weather comfort food: Shepherd's Pie (or, more accurately, cottage pie since I'm making it with beef not lamb).

I have a slew (well, 3) holds waiting for me at the library, which I'll pick up when I'm volunteering on Monday. I suspended another hold that looked like it might come through soon, and I'll set aside the Wharton bio for a bit to finish the Wodehouse. I've made a nice dent in Wharton (308pp out of 760ish), further than I expected to be at this point. And the Wodehouse is just plain fun.

Time to make another pot of coffee.

>77 lauralkeet: - I realized yesterday that I keep looking for reasons to bake and should probably stop doing that :-P I thought today's crossword was relatively easy for a Saturday one. And I only just managed to solve Wordle. Now working on the Spelling Bee which is a "big" one today.

I appreciate you differentiating between shepherd's pie and cottage pie. It's a pet peeve of mine :)

Yeah, I zipped through today’s crossword in record time for a Saturday.

Hooray! I got an eagle on the nest!

Happy Saturday, Laura. Keep warm and I am glad you are tending to those feeders. Mine have been busy too.

Hi Laura, and happy new thread!

>1 lauralkeet: Sweet pup pictures, and I, too, love those ears.

>3 lauralkeet: I love that title – Uncle Fred in the Springtime.

>28 lauralkeet: Interesting comments about 8 servings of rice and 4 servings of chicken. I've never thought about looking at recipes in terms of ingredient ratios. I have everything in the house for this recipe except for celery – every time I buy it I end up not using it and it goes bad. I can replump it, but I’m talking about going bad. Sigh.

>36 lauralkeet: Bill had already ordered our test kits, but thank you for the PSA!

>71 lauralkeet: The last time we ordered meat was about 10 years ago, and we ordered one beef quarter. I seem to think it was about 250 lbs dressed out. We buy meat at the local grocery store now, good for the budget, but the quality isn’t quite as good.

>77 lauralkeet: We're keeping the bird feeders well stocked and Chris just topped up the heated birdbath/drinker. That’s my responsibility, and everything’s filled up or topped off.

Hmmm. I haven’t eaten breakfast yet, and oatmeal may just do the trick.

>78 katiekrug: Date I brag and say it took me about 10 seconds to come up with a panagram?

Your blog is so enjoyable -- kudos!

And, love the eagles! Thank you!

I think perhaps we've swapped weather, Laura. It's weirdly warm for January here again today (9°C (48°F) is the forecasted high). Wishing you a cozy day inside!

>81 karenmarie: - Of course you can brag :) I found the pangram pretty fast, too. It's just the number of points needed to get to Genius that I was complaining about. I like the short and sweet ones.

>78 katiekrug:, >79 drneutron: Today's crossword was indeed pretty easy. I solved it on paper so it wasn't timed, but it was smooth sailing. Chris solves in the app Thursday-Saturday, and he commented on his solve time being better than average but I guess it wasn't a personal best because I would have heard about it.

>80 msf59: Yay for eagles on the nest! I heard this morning that the second camera is finally back up again, having had enough sun to recharge. So for a while at least you can visit the livestream and get both the side and overhead views.

>81 karenmarie: Hey there Karen, nice catch-up! I don't normally notice ratios either. This time when I scanned the ingredients, mention of "2 c rice" really stood out. I couldn't think of a single other recipe I've made that required that much dry rice, so then I started looking at the recipe more closely.

Re: bird feeders: I keep them stocked, and Chris handles the bird bath. He also goes out each morning and scatters seed directly on the terrace for ground feeders like the mourning doves.

Re: the Spelling Bee: today's was one of those where the pangram literally jumped out of the screen at me. Not surprising, considering what the word was ... 😀

>82 sibylline: Thank you so much Lucy! I really appreciate it.

>83 MickyFine: My goodness, Micky, that's some very mild weather for your parts. It does feel like we've swapped. I'm just glad I don't have anywhere to go, because then the weather has no effect on me whatsoever.

>84 katiekrug: we cross-posted, Katie. We haven't hit Genius yet either. Chris always starts the Bee, and sometimes calls me in for help. I helped a bit but it's annoying when he's already found every word I can think of. Also: I loved your comment about cottage pie.

>77 lauralkeet: >78 katiekrug: I never knew there was a difference. I've always made it with leftover beef and called it shepherds pie ... sorry Mamie ... *tip toes quietly away to try the crossword*

>77 lauralkeet: >78 katiekrug:

And my son made us hunters pie with (commercial) venison. Same idea as shepherds/ cottage pie.

Hi Laura,
I've been lurking, with tricky footwork managed to duck yet more BBs, updated the reading list on my profile. I didn't avoid the word game bait, though.

Tried out that NY Times Spelling Bee ~ FUN! ~ until I reached a certain point I got booted out because I wasn't subscribed! I think I had 48 or something, but the page disappeared saying I was two words away and to log in.
Oh well, add it to Wordle, and I'm all set for my game-fix at breakfast time.

>86 RebaRelishesReading:, >87 Helenoel: Shepherd's Pie, Cottage Pie, Hunter's Pie: variations on a theme of meat and mashed potatoes. See how LT has enriched all of our lives? We learn something new every day around here!

>88 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy! Did you know the NYTimes offers a Games subscription? Just sayin' ... 😀

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Last night's Cottage Pie was very good, although it does take a bit of time to make (peel & cook potatoes, mash them, prepare the meat filling, put it all together, bake for 30 min and let rest for 15). Worth it on a cold winter day.

I spent a lot of time yesterday puttering around doing little odds and ends, leaving me very little reading time. The one time I tried to settle into my book, Chris kept popping in with bathroom decor photos (what do you think of this tub? this shower?). I had to nicely ask him to table that conversation for a bit. We're still married, so I guess it worked out okay.

I'm fretting over USPS package deliveries gone awry. Yesterday I had four packages out for delivery. The mail was delivered around noon as usual, no packages. That's okay, sometimes they have a separate truck just for packages. At 4:15pm I received three delivery notices, but nothing had been delivered. The fourth package is unaccounted for, other than a "delivery exception" notice received overnight, indicating it "might be delayed." I've looked around outside the house and snuck a peek in the two closest neighbors' mailboxes, to no avail. I'm hoping the three packages were just scanned by mistake and will make an appearance by tomorrow. None of them are valuable and all can be replaced but my god, FOUR packages?!

So today I think I need to calm myself with some dedicated reading time. There are a few other things I *want* to get done, but no must-do's, so fingers crossed.

>89 lauralkeet: Re: NYTimes Games subscription... I did know that, thanks.
But I waste enough (too much some days) time on free games, that I decided a paid thingy would unduly 'compel' me to play... and I have an editing life, as well as art quilting. Which I really feel stressed if I don't attend to keeping up.

That said, I'm also spending more time than I "should" cruising threads. I do lurk on way more than I post, so I tell myself its all good. Except Mt. TBR has grown to Mt. Everest heights!

>90 SandyAMcPherson: Except Mt. TBR has grown to Mt. Everest heights!
A nice problem to have, and shared by most of us I suspect.

I completely understand your choice not to subscribe to the games. Just wanted to make sure you understood your options! Have a great day, Sandy.

Morning, Laura!

I get the Informed Delivery Notifications from the USPS so I know what to expect, and sometimes what's on them doesn't arrive for another day or two. It gets out of synch, I think. And at least up here, they are short-staffed due to COVID, so I think sometimes things get scanned but then there's a delay in delivery because of backlog. Anyway, I hope your stuff shows up soon!

IS your cottage pie recipe easily shareable? No worries, if not - I can find a recipe online. I've never attempted to make one and would like to try.

>92 katiekrug: Hi Katie! I'm also an Informed Delivery subscriber. I receive a daily "dashboard" email as well as status updates for all packages. The dashboard's estimated delivery date is not always accurate, but I don't mind that. The package notifications keep me posted as it moves through the process. You're probably right that it's out of sync somehow, and our PO is also short-staffed. It seems possible the packages were just missed when our mail was delivered and then for some unknown reason, scanned when the truck returned at the end of the day. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

As for the cottage pie recipe, the majority of my cooking is courtesy of the NYT, and this one is no exception: Shepherd's Pie

The recipe calls for half beef, half lamb but the notes acknowledge it can be made with either one of these alone. No mention is made of the proper names for this dish. I didn't read the comments but wouldn't be surprised to find a fellow pedant kindred spirit there.

We've decided to have the leftovers for dinner today. Chris normally shies away from leftovers for dinner, so I'm taking this as a sure sign of a good recipe.

The mail is so crazy right now. I just saw on Facebook that the post office in my little hometown in NE PA will be closed for EIGHT WEEKS. It was already only open 2 hours a day, because the post mistress had to drive one of the rural routes...nobody else available. Now, the mail will be sorted into the lock boxes, and people can access them, but there will be no window service at all for two months. Our rural delivery in another part of the state has been very erratic due to COVID-related absences (the official word from the PO that serves us), and we are advised not to expect delivery more than once or twice a week! However, I just saw a mail truck go through our neighborhood....on Sunday afternoon. I think some package delivery contracts with USPS are taking precedence over first class mail handling, and I'm not sure that's a good thing.

>94 laytonwoman3rd: oh wow, Linda. That's really a shame. I'd like to blame T****'s Postmaster General appointee, but I suspect there's little he could do about Omicron's impact.

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In more fun news, I just learned over on Peggy (@LizzieD)'s thread that Wordle's "share" feature can be pasted into LT Talk threads. It's just text! No HTML required! My results are wildly skewed towards 4, so I was especially pleased today:

Wordle 218 3/6

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Your cottage pie sounds like a great winter dish. I tend towards a lot of soups during cold weather. I hope you get your packages.

Thought I'd check the shepherd's pie link and learned that my subscription doesn't include the full recipe access. Huh. The recipe I will use when next I muster the energy to make cottage pie is this here: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/775643/cottage-pie

>95 lauralkeet: WOOT! Did you know there's an archive of old puzzles, so you can do the ones you missed? Katie shared the link, so maybe you've already snagged it.

Happy Sunday, Laura! I've had a few times recently when a package was marked as delivered when it wasn't. I've fretted but then they were delivered in a day or two. Not sure why the confusion, but sometimes there's been bad weather and poor road conditions and I think the postal carrier called it a day at some point.

I love your pups up top. Happy new (to me) thread!

>96 BLBera: I love a good soup too, Beth. I've been trying some new recipes, making a batch when we find ourselves running low on our lunch options.

>97 weird_O: Mmm Bill, that's the real deal, that recipe (because: British). It's very similar to the NYT one, and I really like the addition of red wine. That would be lovely.

>98 laytonwoman3rd: I saw Katie's post about that, Linda, but have not allowed myself to succumb. On Facebook, some former choir friends were posting about another game, Byrdle, which is a riff on Wordle in which all the words pertain to choral music. I tried it once but kept blanking on possible words and decided it required more thinking than I could muster.

>99 AMQS: Thanks Anne. Stories like yours are helping to tamp down my fretting. Hopefully they will arrive tomorrow. I'm expecting both yarn and a book, so it's IMPORTANT.

Glad you like the pups but then, what's not to like where dogs are concerned?

>90 SandyAMcPherson: >91 lauralkeet: You can check how many books it takes to reach various monumental heights on the Charts & Graphs portion of your profile!

>94 laytonwoman3rd: I've been getting my packages through USPS pretty promptly especially after Christmas, though it wasn't bad before. I've had more trouble with sellers not getting packages to the PO for 4-8 days after the sale is final. But the big city has a lot more resources to spread out and I suspect our proportion of vaccinated postal workers is higher too.

We've had a constant message from USPS Laura: Your delivery will be delayed because of bad weather.

That may continue for the rest of the winter lol.

Thanks for the link to the NYT recipe, Laura.

I recently learned about LEWDLE, which is WORDLE but with only dirty words. I have not checked it out (shocking, I know).

My local newspaper has a NYT crossword puzzle in it every Saturday. My husband and I started doing these during March 2020. It takes both of us passing it back and forth to solve. Was the Saturday one you did this week about apples? I’m wondering if we get the same Saturday NYT puzzle.

>101 quondame: I'd forgotten about that Susan. What a fun feature. I'll have to check it out again.

>102 quondame: You may be right.

>103 brenzi: That's kinda funny, Bonnie. I mean it's winter, of course there will be bad weather! I do feel badly for postal workers though, and anyone whose job has been turned tipsy-turvy because of covid.

>104 katiekrug: OMG that's funny Katie. I think you'd excel at that game!

>105 raidergirl3: I remember that apples puzzle, Elizabeth. It wasn't this weekend's puzzle though, so you must get them on a slight delay. Chris and I have been doing the NYT puzzle for years now. Practice and experience really help. It was a big deal when we no longer needed Google to help us solve Saturday and Sunday puzzles (the most difficult days of the week).

>104 katiekrug: Bahaha! I need to check that out - if nothing else it should make for great stress-relief when work is tough.

>105 raidergirl3: I'm impressed that you can do the Saturday and Sunday crosswords without googling. As I don't subscribe to the NYT I only get the free ones, but there are at least a couple of full-size older one available every week. I don't always remember to do them, but when I do I usually need a bit of extra help (Google). I at least partially blame cultural differences for my shortcomings - some things referred to I simply don't recognise because I'm not American, and there's also the fact that crosswords over here work somewhat differently (more wordplay, and the clues are written into the crossword lattice rather than in a list next to it).

>106 lauralkeet: I figured we weren’t doing the live one. We try not to look anything up (Ron wouldn’t ‘cheat’) and at the end I might ‘check’ a proper noun that we have no clue about (Venice composer?). It’s a weekend one because it is huge.

>107 PawsforThought: it takes two of us to work it out and sometimes all day, passing it back and forth. The weekend ones have some word play, with the theme, which can be so hard, esp when clues will right turn and go up, or down. Until we get the ‘clue’ to the whole puzzle, we struggle, lol.

>107 PawsforThought: Paws, I understand having trouble with the cultural references. Several years ago I tried to solve the English cryptic crosswords and despite buying a "how to" book I just couldn't. It wasn't the structure, but the cultural references and the things "everyone" learned in school that tripped me up. Also, at least in American puzzles, some of the crosswordese can be quite dated, making it difficult for anyone under 80 (I exaggerate slightly).

>108 raidergirl3: Elizabeth, I think the secret is practice. The more you do the puzzle, the more you recognize certain clues and the various wordplay techniques. You can also become more proficient overall by solving lots of easier puzzles. In the NYTimes the puzzles start out easy on Mondays and get progressively more difficult. I've seen books that are compilations of puzzles from just one day of the week.

Happy Monday.

We had a dusting of snow overnight but nothing to be concerned about. Temperatures have warmed up slightly with today's high expected to be about 35F instead of the teens and 20s we had last week.

Today started off on the right foot. This is far and away my most common score, so I consider anything better amazing and anything worse, an utter failure. Ha.

Wordle 219 4/6

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This morning I'm working a library shift, which I'm looking forward to since the library was closed last Monday (MLK Day, and also a ton of snow which would have kept me home anyway). I have three holds to pick up:


I'm really excited about all of these. I hope to finish the Wodehouse soon so I can dive in.

Yesterday was just the relaxing, "do whatever I want" day I was hoping for. I finished knitting a hat and read a bunch. Leftovers for dinner meant no cooking. After dinner we watched ep 3 of All Creatures. It was an emotional episode, what with the main veterinary storyline and some developments between the principal characters. We also watched an episode of the BBC's Winterwatch, which isn't streaming here but we've been able to find on YouTube.

It took me to the bitter end to get today's Wordle. I blame the lack of coffee :-P

Morning, Laura. Empty nest. Blue sky there. It is snowing here again. Glad I get to stay home. Backyard feeder day. I like the cover of The High House.

>111 katiekrug: It was a tough one, Katie!

>112 msf59: Hurray for staying home on a snowy day, Mark! Sorry the nest was empty this time. But they'll be back ... 😀

I am on Wordle’s line three before I realized this is going to take more time and attention than I have right now, eating breakfast before I go to work. I’ll revisit at lunch or after school with a pencil and paper!

>110 lauralkeet: - I failed today. The double letters get me.

>114 AMQS: Good call, Anne. It took me a few days to realize there's no timer, which takes a lot of the pressure off. I use pencil & paper fairly often to play around with letter combinations. And I'm not sure why, but sometimes it's easier for me to write out the alphabet in order instead of the QWERTY presentation in the app.

>115 dudes22: Aw, that's too bad Betty! But I know what you mean. Today we had double letters, and a two-letter combo that is quite common but I just didn't think of it until my usual options had run out.

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NEWS FLASH: All of my packages were delivered today!
USPS came through, as you all said they would.

Good news about the packages. I think the post office has a shortage of employees. At least once a month, I get a postcard encouraging me to apply. :)

Your Sunday sounds great. I was wondering which books you were going to pick up. I'm waiting for my turn with The High House, loved Magpie Lane, and have the Moss on my shelves, for some later date.

Which one will you read first?

Hooray for the delivered packages!

>117 BLBera: Beth, I'm pretty sure you're the reason that Magpie Lane was on my "read soon" list. I think I'll start with that, then the Sarah Moss, and then The High House.

>118 katiekrug: I'm a happy camper, Katie!

Love your dogs, Laura. Give them an extra under-arm rub for me. They remind me of how much we miss our May. We can't have another dog right now, but after a year without, we're both wishing for one.

Glad your packages came! I'll be excited to know what you think of *High House*. I have a copy, and I need an extra boost to pick it up. You may have talked me into trying *Mistress*. I think I've never tried her because I confuse her with Sister Fidelma, whom I just couldn't read although I tried womanfully.

Whew! I thought I had lost this trying to send you a way into *Wodehouse Playhouse* from the late 70s with John Alderton and Pauline Collins. Sir Plum introduced the first year himself. Try A Voice from the Past.

AND I am thrilled to know about the eagle camera, especially since I've just had a second miss at observing what is probably an adolescent eagle in our neighborhood. Big Bird!

Mmmday orisons, Laura.

>110 lauralkeet: I enjoyed Magpie Lane Laura.

Glad all your parcels came into land.

>120 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Woody and Alys are grateful for your affection. I think you'd enjoy *Mistress*. It's well crafted but won't tax your brain. Plus a strong female protagonist. Thanks for the link to the video, this looks like the sort of thing we'd stumble upon on YouTube but somehow haven't yet. And with Pauline Collins aka Sarah from the original Upstairs, Downstairs -- how fun.

>121 richardderus: Hello there Richard, thanks for the greetings.

>122 Caroline_McElwee: I'm glad to see another fan of Magpie Lane, Caro. It's been on my library list for some time and I finally decided it was time to start requesting books that have lingered there for a while. You and Beth wouldn't steer me wrong, so I'm looking forward to it.

>109 lauralkeet: oh we’ve definitely improved, but we only get the weekend version. It’s a nice Saturday routine. Ron did get me a NYT book of puzzles with easy, med and hard.
I thought that Wordle was tough today, got it in 5, but it took 1/2 hour.

Loved your newsletter today. I was already to get the bird ID app, but my phone is too old to have the iOS you need. I’ll tell my hiking girls so one of them can download it. We’ve used a plant/fungus identifier app many times. My biology major friends are fun to hike with!

Hi, Laura!

My usual Wordle score is four tries, too, but occasionally I'll manage a three. Love that game.

>124 raidergirl3: I'm sorry you can't use the Merlin app, Elizabeth. It's great you have some hiking buddies who can use it though.

>125 scaifea: I've had a few threes also, Amber. No twos yet. That would be sheer luck, I think.

>126 lauralkeet:.
I claim a two one time. Usually get it in four. Only once so far not in six.

>127 Helenoel: Five for me today, and it helped that someone mentioned a double letter.

Yay, I'm glad your packages arrived!

I sat on the Wordle all day - no time at lunch. But I did see somewhere that there was a double letter, so it only took me one more try to get it:)

Laura, I'm depressed. YouTube seems to have pulled all the good Wodehouse Playhouse episodes but that one. It's a good one, but they used to have a pretty decent collection.

>127 Helenoel:, >128 ffortsa:, >129 AMQS: Those pesky double letters! I can't believe how much fun this uncomplicated little word game is.

>130 LizzieD: Oh Peggy, that's too bad. Don't worry about it! We ended up watching a Jeeves & Wooster episode last night -- there are plenty of those still on YouTube.

>126 lauralkeet: I agree. I feel like getting it in two would have to be more luck than skill. Three seems to me to be the most impressive.

>132 scaifea: - I feel the same.

Wordle 220 4/6

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Morning, Laura!

Morning, Laura. Empty nest. I should start checking back later in the day too. Around zero out there at the moment, so no hitting the icy trails today.

>132 scaifea:, >133 katiekrug: Damn, it took me six tries today. And double damn, Chris got it in 2.

>134 msf59: I was lucky this morning, Mark. I'm working a shift right now (from 7-9 EST) and at 6:58 both eagles swooped in and landed on the nest. Dad left, came back, and both left again but there was at least one eagle there until 7:41. Lots of YouTube chat during that time.

Today will be busier than usual, which I resent even though everything on the calendar is my own doing.

I'm working an Eagle Cam shift right now. The eagles have been active today, spending about 40 min on the nest, leaving, and then returning just a couple of minutes ago while I was writing this.

When I finish at 9am I need to hop in the shower, because I have a Fiber Guild committee meeting at 10, to plan some of our upcoming programs. This afternoon we have a short conference call with an estate planning attorney, because apparently when you move to another state these plans should be reviewed & revised as needed based on state laws. Later this afternoon, and more fun, will be a FaceTime catchup with our friends Jon & Mel who own the B&B in southern France, where we've stayed several times.

All good, but also a lot for this retired person who likes to take things slowly.

>136 lauralkeet: Ooh, busy day indeed. Hope you get to unwind after all that.

Whereabouts in southern France is your friends' b&b? I've been having daydreams about that area for a few weeks - not quite sure what brought it on.

>137 PawsforThought: Paws, it's in the Occitanie (Languedoc) region, in the village of Mirepeisset on the Canal du Midi not far from Narbonne. We met Jon & Mel when we lived in England and our kids went to the same school. They moved to France and began running the B&B around 2013. It's a lovely place to stay and they are wonderful hosts -- I highly recommend it to anyone considering a visit to that region: La Souqueto B&B

>136 lauralkeet: - Too much! Too much!

What is the Fiber Guild?

>135 lauralkeet: Two tries? Well we all know it wasn't skill, then...

>139 katiekrug: I don't know for certain, but I'm pretty sure they have uniforms:

>140 scaifea: - I snarfed my coffee. Luckily, it was only lukewarm.

These shenanigans are keeping me from my much-needed shower!

>139 katiekrug: Katie, the Fiber Guild of the Blue Ridge is a group focused on various fiber arts: knitting, weaving, spinning, felting. Several members have their own sheep, a few are partners in a yarn company, Solitude Wool. One owns the local yarn shop. Mostly we all like to make stuff.

>140 scaifea: Amber, I nearly spewed my coffee because Chris constantly refers to the Fiber Guild as the Lollipop Guild, and his references are usually accompanied by a rendition of the song.

A guild is generally focused on education of its members and the public, be it about fiber arts, other crafts, or lollipops. 😉

>142 lauralkeet: - I think it's great how you've gotten involved in stuff so quickly after your move. I'm still trying :-P

>138 lauralkeet: Oh, Occitanie! Now I'll be daydreaming even more! And your friends' place looks just like how I imagine a French B&B - so lovely.

>143 katiekrug: Katie, in a weird synergy it was actually the library that pointed me to the Fiber Guild. Back in April, the library hosted a program on traditional knitting techniques. We'd only been here about three weeks, but I was interested in the topic and it was on Zoom so it was easy to lurk anonymously. The speaker was a woman from the Fiber Guild and she provided her email address in case people had further questions. I reached out to her to find out more about the Guild, and learned that their next meeting was coming up soon, outdoors at a local park. It was their first F2F meeting in a year, so it seemed like a good time to join. And that was that.

But yeah, it's really difficult, as an adult, to assimilate into a new community and make friends. Even now, while I am active in the Guild in a few different ways and very friendly with some of the members, I haven't progressed to the next step of doing something non-Guild related with someone.

>144 PawsforThought: They've done a great job with the B&B, Paws. They brought the boat they used to use on the Norfolk Broads with them, and now run canal cruises for guests. It's lovely floating down the canal on a sunny day with a glass of wine or several.

Well today's busy-ness turned out quite well actually. My Fiber Guild meeting was lively, fun, and productive. The call with the estate planning attorney was fruitful. She suggested only the most minor review of our existing documents, with more substantive revisions in a couple of years. I was impressed with that, because she certainly could have buffaloed us into a more expensive engagement. And the catch-up with our friends in France was absolutely delightful and energizing.

I'm still looking forward to just chilling this evening, but today was a good day.

>146 lauralkeet: I have to say that you are my retirement inspiration! You do stuff that you want, but enjoy your down time, you make a plan, but not too much. I have 7 semesters til I most likely retire, and getting my head into a retirement state is my task for the next 3 years. I'm not too worried, because I really adapted well to the early lock-down days, and I've always kept myself amused in the summer break. I enjoy hearing about your days!

All caught up again. The eagles aren't there right now, but I know I'll catch them one of these days. And, no, you don't sound retired and bored at all! LOL

>147 raidergirl3: Awww, Elizabeth, that's such a nice thing to say. Thank you SOOO much! It dawned on me yesterday that May will mark 5 years since I retired. I was shocked, how could it have been that lon already? But I think it's fair to say I've routinely refinied how I spend my time, sometimes by choice and sometimes not (thank you covid). I think it's important to view "life after work" as an iterative process.

>148 Berly: Hey there Kim! I hope you catch an eagle sighting soon. They were on the nest a lot today.

I've left the tab open and between thread responses I'll check it out. : )

>145 lauralkeet: I have one word for you Laura....pickleball

Well, I'd say "what did I miss being gone all day?" got a pretty exhaustive answer...not to mention exhausting.

I can go to sleep sooner now for reading all about your activities.

Both parents on nest! Yah! Happy Wednesday. Can you tell the difference between the sexes? It sure seems difficult.

>150 Berly: good luck, Kim!

>151 brenzi: Hmm ... maybe! I am not sure what facilities exist in our area but there's no doubt it would be a way to meet people and have fun. I'll keep my eyes and ears open. Thanks Bonnie.

>152 richardderus: LOL Richard, I hope you slept well last night.

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Thankfully, I have a lighter schedule today. The fiber guild has its monthly general meeting later this morning (yesterday was a committee meeting). And yes, Chris has already done his Lollipop Guild rendition, right on cue. It never gets old ... (well, yes it does, but I humor him). Someday soon I want to visit the Historic Records Office in Leesburg (20-min drive), because I want to fill in some dates and other information about the ownership of our property over time. I thought we might do that this afternoon, but Chris and I both decided to bump it to next week so we can have our usual quiet-old-person day today.

In other exciting developments, we are changing trash/recycling collection providers. Today was the last day for the old company, a large firm that serves the town nearby and several HOAs, and served this property without incident for years (previous owners included). For some reason back in October they started skipping our house on a routine basis, and after several calls to correct that they would empty our bins and leave them about 50 yards down the road, on a busy street corner and often posing a danger to traffic. Their customer service reps were friendly and seemed helpful, but only on the surface as nothing ever changed. Our final collection happened early this morning, and they will be coming by later to take the bins away. The bins were left in a hazardous spot as usual, so I had to move them off the road. I'm also expecting to receive bins from the new company. They are a smaller, more local firm that comes highly recommended. I've been ridiculously stressed about trash collection so I hope this works out!

OH: remember my package delivery concerns over the weekend? Now I have a mail delivery issue. On Monday, my Informed Delivery dashboard showed 11 pieces of mail. NONE were delivered. Several look like they could be tax-related. I checked the box for each piece saying I did not receive it. I'm okay to wait a bit and see what happens next, but honestly have no idea and am wondering how long to wait before visiting the PO to have a chat. Any suggestions?

4. Uncle Fred in the Springtime ()

This was a classic Blandings caper, with all the set pieces Wodehouse is known for: young men with money troubles, young couples with romantic problems, imposters who show up at Blandings Castle and seemingly fool everyone, and attempts to steal Lord Emsworth’s pig. The plot, while both well-crafted and convoluted, doesn’t really matter. It’s Wodehouse’s humor and turns of phrase that make these books such fun reading. I can’t read them back-to-back, but they are a delightful antidote to more serious stuff.

Morning, Laura. I am also missing a piece of mail that was supposed to be delivered on Monday - also financial related. Ugh. If you do have a chat with the PO, I hope they can help. Ours is useless. People have also reported putting checks in the mail boxes (the big blue ones on corners or other places about town) and having them stolen, altered, and cashed for large sums of money. Double ugh. I pay everything online but still...

That cover in >155 lauralkeet: is, um, interesting. Not sure it would pass muster today!

>156 katiekrug: Oh god yes Katie. I forgot about that cover even though the book is sitting right here next to me. Even more egregious is that the illustration is about a teensy moment in the book which has little bearing on anything else. Most of these editions are lovely. This one is not.

---

NEWS FLASH: I scored a "personal best" time on today's Crossword! 4 minutes, 51 seconds (my average is 11 min 22 sec).

>157 lauralkeet: - Nicely done on the xword! I went and looked up my time - 5:56. Not bad for a Wednesday :)

I only got Wordle in 5 though. Sad face.

The funny thing is that the Blandings illustration is from this century! It's one of the Overlook Press uniform editions. How that passed muster I do not know.

Happy Humpday, Laura, filled with properly delivered letters full of excellent news.

>158 katiekrug: Katie, I'm always happy when I break my own record, but it's usually because the puzzle is easier than usual for the day. I felt that way about today's puzzle.

>159 richardderus: It's such a shame, Richard, because the editions are really nice. We stumbled upon them in a used bookshop a few years ago; they had a ton of them on the shelves and Chris was like a kid in a candy store. We bought ... um ... several. They look great on the bookshelves and the cover art isn't normally so offensive.

>154 lauralkeet: I would get after the PO as quickly as possible. I know they have staffing issues, but they need to know we MIND not getting our mail, or getting told we got it when we didn't. My daughter sent us a Christmas card on 12-15. We never got it. A day or so ago, it was returned to her with yellow stickers from the PO indicating it "could not be delivered as addressed". There was not one thing wrong with the address (she LIVED here most of her life until she got married, and she's been mailing things to us ever since--she KNOWS the address). We've both filled out a complaint form on line. With regard to the general lack of delivery, I sent an e-mail to our Congressman, expressing concern and asking whether anything was being done at that level to alleviate the problem. I got a nice letter in response, telling me all the things he's done, bills co-sponsored, etc. with regard to USPS, but most of it was last year. In any case, you know, the squeaky wheel, and all that.

>146 lauralkeet: That does sound like a very pleasant day Laura.

>161 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for the nudge, Linda. I thought I'd give it a day or two, in case all of the mail was delivered to a neighbor up the road by mistake (our house numbers are easily confused, and we get their mail sometimes). But unless it all magically appears today, I plan to stop by the PO tomorrow.

>162 Caroline_McElwee: Surprisingly, it was, Caro. But today's return to our usual laziness hasn't been too bad, either.

>154 lauralkeet: %we are changing trash/recycling collection providers. Is that normal to have a choice of rubbish collection? That idea had honestly never occurred to me. We have lots of choice over utility and internet provision but I've never heard of any private refuse collection services!

>164 SandDune: - The town I live in now has neither trash nor recycling pickup. It's all private or you have to take it to the transfer station yourself. The town I just moved from had recycling pickup but not trash. You had to do private or buy tags to go on your garbage bags and take it yourself.

>164 SandDune: - My town has trash and recycling pick-up. Everywhere I have lived as an adult (I'm in town/city #7 since college) has had it.

I grew up in a very rural area, and we had to take our trash and recycling to a transfer station - there may have been pick-up in the central part of the town/village, but we were about 5 miles outside of it.

>164 SandDune: We've lived both in places where we had to contract for trash pick-up ourselves, and--as now--in a place where the township has a contract and we're required to accept the company they've chosen. Both have advantages and draw-backs. I think we get better rates, and there is not much limit on what will be hauled away. In the larger communities (cities) around here, there is municipal pick-up, and that's the worst.

Over here, the municipality picks up the trash and the food waste (a bin for each). There are small recycling centres a little here and there and five big ones spread out over town and the outer villages. You have to take your recycles there yourself. That’s standard for towns here.

>164 SandDune: it looks like you have answers to your question, Rhian (thanks everyone).

We live just outside the town limits, so their municipal contract doesn't cover us. Some of the housing developments have contracts for their residents, paid for through homeowners' association dues. We are not in a housing development either, so we are on our own. Our now-former provider collected both trash and recycling once a week, and our new one does the same. There are several other providers with varying services (for example, some don't handle recycling), and there are places where residents can drop off their own trash and recycling but I absolutely do not want to go down that route.

Interesting. I think here the local authority is legally obliged to collect rubbish. The only exceptions might be if you live on a VERY small island and I’m not sure what happens then. We alternate between recyclables (cardboard, paper, plastic, tetrapaks, glass) together with compostable collections, and general waste collection. Each happens alternate fortnights.

Sweet Thursday, Laura. Empty nest. I think you missed me up there yesterday, when I did have success. We may have cross-posted. My feeders have sure been hopping with the usual suspects, although a red-tailed hawk dropped by briefly and broke up the party. That is two raptor visitors in one week.

>170 SandDune: Apparently US rubbish collection is similar to healthcare -- total chaos!

>171 msf59: Oops Mark you're right, I did miss you. I'm sorry! I'm glad you saw the eagles. They were on the nest a lot yesterday. I've been watching since 7am today and other than a brief touchdown, they've been away from the nest. Still, we're hoping for eggs soon. Are your raptors actually visiting the feeders or just harassing the feeder birds?

The Cooper's Hawk and Red-tail were just briefly perched nearby, taking a look at things and then took off.

>173 msf59: That makes sense, Mark.

-----

Brrr! It's super cold this morning: 10F. I made the dogs wear coats for their early walk. Woody is not a fan. I worked an Eagle Cam shift from 7-9, but there wasn't much going on. The birds were arrived around 7 but only stayed a few minutes, and then didn't return until just when I was signing off. The YouTube chat has been active though, even when there are no birds.

Not much planned today. We had an appointment scheduled with a rep from a bathroom remodeling firm, but she was exposed to covid so asked to reschedule for next week which makes sense. So a bit later this morning I'll probably pop over to the post office to discuss our missing mail. I don't expect much from that and will just have to see what I can do about the pieces that were tax-related. Most of our tax statements are available online but as luck would have it these are two sources that aren't.

Other than that? I got nothin'.

You can have some of my To Do list if you want...

Enjoy the quiet day!

Hi Laura ~ dropping by to see what's new around here.
I had an amazing time on Wordle (my morning addiction every day, thanks to you).
Got it on the second guess. Having developed a strategy ( to pick 5-letter words that encompass all the vowels in the first two guesses), it might perhaps be ascribed to plain luck.

I wish I had a third person in our social to play scrabble with The Hubs and I. Two-person games are not fun so we don't play anymore. I love word games...

I'm reading up a storm these days (lots of BB's caught me in December and January), so I need to add new titles to my profile list. I was trying to keep 3 mysteries in progress (plus a non-fiction) but that didn't pan out so well. I've discovered that I can enjoy only one mystery at a time, but I can have 2 non-fictions in progress as long as they're quite different topics. Isn't that strange? Must be the way my brain is wired.

>176 SandyAMcPherson: I tried that same strategy today, Sandy, and I also got the word on the second try. It doesn't always work quite that well, though. Yesterday I had 3 correct letters in the right slots on my second try, and it still took me 5 to get the whole word.

>174 lauralkeet: I watched the cam for quite a while yesterday afternoon, and one eagle was sitting on the nest for a long time---I thought there might be an egg when she got up, but no.
ETA: Both eagles are being very ....eagley...on the nest right now.

>177 laytonwoman3rd: Hi Linda (I'm hijacking Laura's thread for a mo'), I took 4 tries yesterday having also got the last 3 letters on try 2.
I only got the answer because I was trying out consonant combos. I thought I was being silly with what I tried for 4th guess as it seemed kind of a slang word, but nope, it was just what I stumbled across to get right. I seem to have an addictive personality with word games on the computer...

>175 katiekrug: no thank you Katie! Quiet days are the best.

>176 SandyAMcPherson: I have a similar strategy, Sandy. I tend to use the same few words as starters, using common consonants and 2-3 vowels. And then, depending on how that goes I try out more vowels.

>177 laytonwoman3rd: I agree Linda, they have been super eagley. The YouTube chatters (who seem to hang out on several of these type of cams) are all saying any day now and certainly by end of next week. Take that for what it's worth LOL.

>178 SandyAMcPherson: No problem with the hijack, Sandy! We love our word games around here.

>179 lauralkeet: Thanks for the tips! I got it on my third try today.

I can see the eagle!!

>180 Berly: Yay!
>181 Berly: WOO HOO!!

Happy Friday!

Yesterday's visit to the post office was fine, but inconclusive. About what I expected, to be honest. The person I spoke with took my details and said she'd speak with the carrier when they returned from their route, to see if they had any insight. This is how I imagine that will go:

USPS agent: "Mary, remember when you delivered 2 packages to {insert our address here} on Monday? Any idea what happened to the 11 pieces of mail they were expecting that day?"
Mary:

This is not a knock on USPS, they are overwhelmed and understaffed and have historically done a great job with our mail. It's just silly to think this course of action will have any result. It's still possible that the mail was mis-delivered, the recipient sent them back into the system, and they'll show up here at some point. Fortunately, thanks to Informed Delivery I know what's missing and for the important stuff I can contact the senders. I don't usually pay that much attention to my Informed Delivery dashboard, but I now see how valuable it can be. So that's the silver lining on this boring story.

Last night I intended to make a curry for dinner and realized I didn't have enough of a key ingredient. Thank goodness we had a frozen pizza buried in the freezer. Side note: it was a California Pizza Kitchen Cauliflower Crust pizza, recommended ages ago I think on Katie's thread, and it was delicious. I'm doing the weekly shopping today so we'll have the curry tonight.

Also last night we finally started watching The Beatles Get Back. We're enjoying it so far. In reading news, I started Magpie Lane a few days ago and it's very good (thanks Beth!). If you're a fan of Tana French's work, you'd like this book.

Today besides the grocery shopping I hope to sort out a pharmacy mixup with some dog medication refills, and I have a Zoom meeting with some knitting folks this afternoon. And, of course, making Coconut Beef Curry, which will use up the beef from my meat CSA.

>183 lauralkeet: - That's about how I expect things would go with the PO here, which is why I didn't bother. Good for you for following through.

I now keep my Informed Delivery email until the mail comes and I can check that things arrived. The thing I'm missing was, I believe, a check for a small amount - part of some class action settlement against Bank of America for some nefarious deed they did. Not a big deal not to get it, but ohmigod what if it was for, like, a million dollars?!?! These things keep me up at night :)

Happy Friday, Laura. Empty nest. Sorry to hear about your mail issues. I know this can be super frustrating. I know our local postal delivery has been highly stressed with carries out with Covid and various other maladies.

I loved Get Back but it seems to be truly targeted for die-hard fans, so it takes some patience to get through those 8-plus hours. So many great moments throughout, though. Enjoy.

>184 katiekrug: I now keep Informed Delivery email until the mail comes ...

Once upon a time I didn't even "opt in" to the dashboard emails except for package notifications. I chose to receive the dashboard when we moved, just to make sure the mail was forwarding etc., and now I pretty much do as you do. Unless it looks like a junk mail only sort of day. I hope your massive check turns up!

>185 msf59: Hey Mark, our local PO is dealing with the same issues as yours. Even though I'm frustrated with my missing mail, I made a point of being super nice to the agent yesterday and letting them know how unusual this case is. They are working their butts off and don't deserve to be yelled at.

I agree with you about Get Back. I wouldn't say we are die hardship, but we will keep watching. Just maybe not on consecutive nights. We watched 2 hours last night where it's more typical for us to watch a one-hour show followed by a lot of YouTube surfing or a short comedy.

ETA: the Bidens have a cat! Could she be the reincarnation of our very first cat (back in the mid-80s to early 90s), also a gray and white tabby named Willow?!

Hmm. I've never bothered with Informed Delivery but sounds like you all would recommend it...or is it just one more thing to worry about?

I'm glad you are enjoying Magpie Lane; I'll be interested to see what you make of the ending. I thought about it quite a lot.

>186 lauralkeet: I had no idea this was even A Thing. I wonder if my local P.O. has it. Off to investigate.

I spent most of yesterday and this all of this morning offline, and I still managed to write and post two book reviews to my blog from my phone.

I shall graciously accept your effusions of impressed congratulation.

>187 RebaRelishesReading: I see your point, Reba. Fortunately there are settings to customize your notifications. You can choose whether or not to receive the daily dashboard, and what type of notifications you want for packages (if any). We had serious issues with package theft in Philly (ultimately ended up buying a parcel locker), so it was important to know when to expect packages. Anyway ... even if you choose not to receive notifications you can still view the dashboard online.

>188 BLBera: ooh Beth, now I am really curious. I will report back!

>189 richardderus: Richard, I must say I'm not sure how/whether Informed Delivery works when you don't live in a single family residence. I am glad to see internet has been restored chez toi, and am impressed with your rad phone skilz (does that qualify as an "effusion"?)

>190 lauralkeet: does that qualify as an "effusion"?

It does indeed. *preens peacockily*

I don't think it does...they asked for some business thing, so I'm guessing they don't do it for mere inmates.

>191 richardderus: Alas.

---

Eagle News: there was drama when Dad brought Mom breakfast.
Go to the YouTube channel and find today's livestream overhead view. Rewind to 10am. Mom is screeching like crazy, and then Dad flies in with breakfast, which almost got away but Mom was quick on her feet ... er, talons.

Good morning. We had about 1" of snow overnight, and it appears to have moved on. It's cold outside though. Brrr!

Last night's Coconut Beef Curry was ... meh. Not enough spice, too much potato. Chris liked it but for me it wasn't worth the effort. Oh well, they can't all be winners.

Today I have a bunch of small tasks to do, nothing particularly noteworthy or interesting. I'm still sorting out dog prescriptions, which included learning late yesterday that I needed to bring Woody to the vet for a quick "re-check" in order for them to prescribe more Gabapentin (something to do with this being a controlled substance blah blah blah). I was annoyed that this hadn't been mentioned in the course of trying to get a refill, but we went in around 3:30 yesterday and I left with new Rx in hand. So today I need to run out and pick up Alys' meds which have already been filled, and drop off Woody's new Rx. I'm taking the new one to a different pharmacy because the one I've been using has been difficult to work with. Both of their meds need to be filled at a people pharmacy, not at the vet's, which complicates things.

Morning, Laura!

I use the USPS dashboard service, too. I haven't had an issue yet, but I like knowing I have the record of what's supposed to get delivered in case there *is* one.

>193 lauralkeet: - Morning, Laura! That's annoying about the meds, but glad you are getting it sorted. Poor Woody having to endure a car ride and vet's visit. I'm sure he was a Very Good Boy!

Was the base of the curry worth trying to save by just adding more spice next time and cutting down on the amount of potatoes? PRobably not, since there are plenty of other beef curry recipes one could try... As I'm thinking about it, I don't think I've ever had a beef curry. I usually get chicken, occasionally shrimp. Must expand my horizons!

Hi Laura! Happy Saturday to you.

Skippety-skip skip.

>85 lauralkeet: If I scattered seed out on the ground it would attract the squirrels. I think enough seed falls out of my hanging feeders for the ground feeders. 🤞

I’ve had interesting problems getting media mail boxes from Montana – last year apparently the postage label fell off and the carrier didn’t notice until she’d actually put it down for me to pick up. She took it back! Fortunately my friend took a photo of her receipt, I went to the PO and explained the situation/showed them the receipt, and they were able to get to the carrier to deliver it later that day. The second time was last week when the box left Greensboro TWICE, returning to Greensboro before getting sent to my local PO. Other than having fourth class getting delivered in clumps once or twice a week, we haven’t had too many other problems. I'm ashamed that the Postmaster DeJoy idiot is from NC. I read that Biden is changing the composition of the Board of Governors since he can't oust DeJoy directly. It's to be hoped THEY can oust him.

>193 lauralkeet: *eyeroll* at the silly inefficiency of just...not telling you something so simple. Still, it ended well.

Enjoy your weekend's reads!

>193 lauralkeet: in order for them to prescribe more Gabapentin Daisy is on Gabapentin too. We have to sign a disclaimer each time we have it that we understand that it's not licensed for dogs, and that it is a human medicine. They can provide the medication at the vets though. I don't think vets can write prescriptions for a human pharmacy here, at least I've never come across it.

>193 lauralkeet: Can you (or someone else) explain something for a poor confused foreigner? Rx is short for prescription, correct? You say you left with is in your hand, so you still have take have a paper copy of your prescription with you to your pharmacy to get your medication? Is that just for pets or is it for humans too?

>194 scaifea: I find the dashboard useful for that reason too, Amber.

>195 katiekrug: Katie, I don't think it's worth rethinking the recipe, I didn't like it enough to do that. It required a s**t-ton of both coconut milk and potatoes, leading me to wonder about its nutritional value or lack thereof. Also, I think it could have been improved with a different cut of meat. I was trying to get creative with my CSA share, and not make the same old-same old pot roast. I should have gone in that direction.

>196 karenmarie: I wasn't aware of what Biden was up to in this area, Karen, nor did I understand he couldn't oust DeJoy (but 45 appointed him, so why not?). Anyway, there are far more pressing world problems that Biden has to deal with right now but it would be nice if he were able to empower others to deal with DeJoy.

>197 richardderus: Yes, I know Richard. I was told the vet's receptionists don't always know these things. So they just put my prescription request into their system. I could forgive that if, at the next step when a vet has to approve it, they spotted the issue and contacted me rather than me contacting them after going some time without an update.

>198 SandDune: I'm sure this is all tied up in each country's pharmaceutical laws. Our vet can prescribe a lot of meds, and we got our first batch of Gabapentin from them, but subsequent fills had to be handled by a pharmacy.

>199 PawsforThought: Sorry Paws, we have lapsed into American drug-speak here. Yes, Rx is shorthand for prescription. I left with a paper copy of the prescription, at my request. The vet can call it into a pharmacy for me. I decided to take it into my own hands because I was planning to use a new-to-me pharmacy, and this process had been so fraught already that I wanted to feel more in control.

Initial impression of the new pharmacy was favorable. They actually asked me how soon I needed it vs. acting like they were doing me a favor to fill it at all.

>200 lauralkeet: Ah, thanks for explaining. Here the doctor enters the prescription (same goes for vets) into a database and you can then go to any pharmacy anywhere in the country and pick it up. They scan your ID and there’s all the information the pharmacist needs. Or you can use an online pharmacy and have it delivered - that’s what I usually do. You use an e-ID to log in for that (you do that for paying online and doing all sorts of thing online too, so it’s not an extra thing needed for prescriptions).

>201 PawsforThought: I would love it if things worked that way here. Our healthcare system is VERY fragmented.

>202 lauralkeet: So I’ve gathered. It all makes absolutely no sense to me.
Glad to hear things worked out well with the prescription and the new pharmacy, at least.

>202 lauralkeet: in Canada our prescriptions work the same was as yours. Doctor gives script(piece of paper) and you take it to the pharmacy you want. I can’t get over how fragmented you waste collection is. That’s 2 different companies driving trucks over the same routes; so much exhaust. I guess some people don’t like a monopoly like our waste collection.
It’s fascinating seeing our different areas deal with stuff. You always think your ways are the only ways.

My prescriptions get sent electronically to whatever pharmacy I've indicated in my health record, and I get a text when they are ready to be picked up. I think a lot of how it works here (in the US) is dependent on where you live, if your doctor is part of a large health "system," if you are using a large pharmacy/chain vs a mom-and-pop one, etc. So yes, fragmented, but it's not always complicated or old-fashioned.

>205 katiekrug: That’s good to hear. I was mostly surprised by the actual paper copy, since it’s been a long time since those were used here (I think not in my adult life, which is around 20 years). I believe check are still fairly common “over at yours”, correct? At least I’ve heard and read quite a bit about people using checks, and it surprises me every time. I haven’t seen anyone use a check in over 25 years, and I don’t think you can even get hold of them here anymore.

Again, it depends. I rarely write checks, though some local tradespeople (landscapers, handymen, etc) only take cash or checks. I pay my mortgage, insurance, bills, and all such things online.

>207 katiekrug: The US is such a huge country it’s difficult to imagine for an outsider.
No handyman here would ever take anything other than an invoice unless they’re trying to get paid under the table. It’s actually gone so far that it’s difficult to use cash here now, lots of places only take cards or mobile payments. Which is crap because a lot of especially older people prefer cash.

This is such an interesting discussion! I'm enjoying these comparisons of how things work in the countries (and sometimes states) we all live in.

I’m glad you find it interesting, Laura. I was about to apologise for hijacking your thread!

Speaking of comparisons, this has reminded my of the documentary Michael Moore did about healthcare which I liked and would like to re-watch.

Well as regards prescriptions here the G.P. sends it electronically to the pharmacy that I have indicated, and then they text me when it is ready for collection.

And as regards cheques - I have absolutely no idea where my cheque book might be. The last person I used to pay by cheque was the window cleaner but we have changed to a new one who takes direct transfers. Any sort of tradesman will take a direct bank transfer or credit card payment. I haven’t come across a tradesman who wants a cheque in a long time.

>211 SandDune: Funny I was only thinking yesterday how long ago it was since I last used a cheque/check. I did receive one last year, which was a faff to put in the bank as you have to put in your own, you can't use any ATM, which meant going to the next town as there are far fewer branches now.

New York State made it a law that prescriptions could only be electronic after a date in 2016.

All, every single one, of my prescriptions are paper.

Because apparently gawd doesn't like computers and the facility's owners claimed religious exemption.

::eyeroll::

>205 katiekrug: And don't forget what sort of insurance you have...

>213 richardderus: I didn't know that... Ours are always electronically submitted to our on-line pharmacy EXCEPT if it's a new short-term script, which the doctor will print out and give you if you ask. They will also e-send it to the pharmacy of your choice.

The whole check discussion amazes me. I think of my mother-in-law and her doomsday outlook that one day she won't "be able to do anything" because she doesn't have a computer. She would be in trouble if everything had to be done on-line, for sure. There's no way she could have figured out that sort of switch, even 20 years ago. Surely the UK must have huge numbers of older, less tech-y people for whom this is problematic?

>214 laytonwoman3rd: In Sweden, people who don’t use auto-payment or online banking for bills use giro/account transfer. That’s what my parents did until I forced them to switch, and how I learnt to pay bills initially. So those who can’t use computers use that for paying, and you can also receive some money that way (if you don’t want direct transfer to your account) but there’s a charge for cashing it in.

>214 laytonwoman3rd: I think that you are right, Linda, and though I am not exactly a Luddite I do think that the banks should accommodate more those customers who want to maintain a more traditional or physical relationship with their money!
My dear late mother for example had no mobile phone or computer and was not 'on line'. My brother in law collected her pension money every week from the post office.
In Malaysia - which is technologically very advanced, I still use cheques to take money from my company account into my private account/Hani's account (more so the latter!) but I don't have a cheque book any longer for the personal accounts.

Great to see your threads so buzzing this year, Laura. xx

It's not possible here to get anything but an electronic Rx. Anywhere.
And since I rarely get any kind of mail but junk mail I probably don't need any postal service that makes me pull my hair out Laura. Packages can be traced through sender via whatever service is delivering them. But I know my daughter has the USPS service you use and she hasn't complained about it.

>208 PawsforThought: Since Covid it has become unusual to use cash (where I've lived anyway so So. Cal and the NorthWest) and for several years I've very rarely written a check. I mostly use a credit card (often via ApplePay) but also use Venmo sometimes (at the hairdresser and farmer's market for example). My prescriptions are on file at the pharmacy and I order refills on-line and they're mailed to me.

Good morning everyone. It should be another quiet, uneventful day here. Breakfast, a bit of exercise, and, later, a trip to the pharmacy for Woody's meds and another store to get salt for the water softener. I need to finish up some measurements for our drapery person. We sent her some in email but it wasn't everything she needed, and then I decided it would be useful to put it all together in a couple of drawings. I have a few other little things to get done today, too, and then it will be All Creatures Ep 4 tonight.

On the reading front, I am still really enjoying Magpie Lane, I just haven't been able to find as much reading time as I'd like the past few days. The Wharton bio is still on hold, and may be so for a few weeks because of library holds. I picked up three last week, one of which was Magpie Lane, but I'll be back to three when I pick up Matrix tomorrow. I'm confident I'll be able to finish them all within their lending periods, but I still feel a bit of time pressure so I'll return to Wharton when I've finished a few of these.

Happy Sunday, Laura. Empty nest again. The adults must be busy hunting during the AM. How bad did you get hit with the snow? And I hope you enjoy Matrix as much as I did,

Morning, Laura! Enjoy your quiet day. We'll have much the same here.

>214 laytonwoman3rd: Surely the UK must have huge numbers of older, less tech-y people for whom this is problematic?We have that problem with my mother, who operates in a very cheque based world. It's not that tradesmen won't take cheques, it's just that they'd usually prefer some other means of payment. And any sort of regular bill payment is almost always cheaper by direct debit. But retail shops will not take cheques at all, and haven't for quite some time. In fact I know a couple who are giving up on cash now as well.

>220 msf59: Well Mark, if you happen to visit the eagle cam right now you'll see it zoomed in on one of the eagles consuming prey, possibly a squirrel. It's a great shot but not for the faint of heart.

>221 katiekrug: Thanks Katie!

>222 SandDune: I wish our tradespeople were better equipped for payment by card or venmo. That's pretty much the only thing I write checks for anymore.

Cashlessness worries me. It means your movements are 100% traceable 100% of the time...mine don't make for interesting spying, but that was not always the case. Insurors being able to collect incredible piles of data from which they profit, for example, makes my blood boil...and the idea of the government having that extra pile of stuff, with which to exert political control...well.

Cash, please. Get vaxxed and wear a mask.

>224 richardderus: I'm not terribly paranoid, but I do agree that a cashless society is not ideal. And I think there is a minor backlash in some places. I have seen stories about shops (can't recall just where, now) that have gone to "cash only" because of fees the credit card companies charge THEM to process transactions. Our favorite pizzeria adds a surcharge to your total if you use a credit card.

>225 laytonwoman3rd: - I know of several places near me that will give you a "discount" if you pay in cash (I assume it's not so much a discount as the "normal" price is higher to account for the cc processing fees).

>226 katiekrug: Right. It's all semantics, I'm sure. A lot of gas stations around here still offer a few cents a gallon off for paying with cash.

>227 laytonwoman3rd: Since we get gas at CostCo and use their CC to pay we get a rebate for on what we pay for with that card.

>228 quondame: Sam's Club's membership works similarly.

I’m not happy about places going cashless, even though I have a hard time remembering the last time I used cash. I pretty much always pay by debit card, and at markets or with non-companies (like buying a bike off someone, or whatever) I use Swish, which is an app for mobile payment.

Shops here are not allowed to charge extra for using cards to pay, they’ll get into big trouble if they do. When that was first introduced a lot of places had a threshold for the smallest amount you could pay for with card, but I never see that anymore. Card mean less work for them so they prefer that (and there’s a lower risk for robberies).

Well here we are, another Monday. Even though I've been retired for nearly 5 years, weekends and Mondays still feel significant. Old habits die hard, I guess. There's nothing to fear about today. I have my weekly library shift at 9:30, and a couple of holds to pick up while I'm there. This afternoon we're meeting with someone from a kitchen & bath remodeling firm to talk about our project. She'll look at the space and take some measurements, we'll talk about possibilities, and she'll give us her sales pitch I suppose. We'll see how it goes.

Last night we watched episode 4 of All Creatures, which was just sooo good. Made me a bit teary-eyed, I must say. I love that show. We also watched a bit more of Get Back (ep 2), which at this stage of their story is like watching paint dry. But we'll continue. Yesterday I also came very close to finishing Magpie Lane, and read the final pages this morning before Chris got up. I love unreliable narrators, and boy does this book have one. And as Beth said upthread, the ending leaves the reader with much to think about. I'm left wondering what happened next ...

Finally, as further evidence that there's nothing inherently bad about Mondays, I present a new Wordle personal best:

Wordle 226 2/6

🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Woo hoo!

>231 lauralkeet: Ah, stop teasing me with All Creatures Great and Small. TV here still haven't announced when they'll be airing the new series (argh!).
Edit: I just check and they've released the information! It's starting tonight!

Well done on Wordle - it took me one more try because I got zero the first round.

Wordle continues to be fun. I took 5 tries, after getting the first guess with all but the first letter correct! Surprising how many options there were for that first letter!

In reading, I am using the Bruno Courrèges series (Martin Walker) to soothe my pandemic brain with comfort reading. I'm on book 3 now.

>231 lauralkeet: - I also solved Wordle today in 2 tries. I think I'm getting over it now and may retire on that high...

Good luck with the bathroom remodel person. I'll be interested to hear how it goes...

I'm conflicted - I hope your bathroom remodel goes well, but I imagine if it goes well, Chris won't be able to write a hilarious 'dealing with tradespersons' newsletter. I just sat here and laughed and laughed over his most recent update. (I can see the British influence on his style.)

>232 PawsforThought: I'm so glad you'll be able to watch All Creatures now, Paws. Enjoy!

>233 SandyAMcPherson: That's funny about your Wordle solving, Sandy. I was lucky with my first word because I couldn't think of too many words that started and ended with those letters.

>234 katiekrug: Hey Katie, stop harshing my Wordle mellow!
(just kidding ... )

>235 raidergirl3: Ha! I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Elizabeth. I envy his knack for writing humor.

We watched Episode 4 of All Creatures over the weekend as well. We are really enjoying it, and I like the fuller character of Mrs. Hall so much. Craig insists "there's something going on between her and Seigfried" and I just can't make up my mind if I believe that or not.

>233 SandyAMcPherson: I'm going to start No. 3 of that series soon myself! It's been quite a while since I left off.

>237 laytonwoman3rd: I do not believe your spoiler, Linda. Remember in the last episode, when she had a gentleman caller, a man who had brought his dog in for treatment? I thought something might come of that in last night's birthday dinner. But there's still time ...

*** NEWS FLASH ***

Wordle is becoming part of the Puzzle Industrial Complex:
The New York Times Buys Wordle

Wordle was acquired from its creator, Josh Wardle, a software engineer in Brooklyn, for a price “in the low seven figures,” The Times said. The company said the game would initially remain free to new and existing players.

Oh my.

>239 lauralkeet: that could be convenient since I already try the NYT crossword and spelling bee most days.

*Initially*

So we won’t be able to play it for much longer. Crap.

>239 lauralkeet: Boo. Hiss.

I'm with >233 SandyAMcPherson:, there were a lot of options for the first letter. I chose the wrong one once and only got it right because that was next on my list!

>239 lauralkeet: Aha. you beat me to the news flash. Eventually I expect Wordle will be incorporated into the Times puzzle subscription, but not immediately, as they don't want people with tar and feathers in front of their shiny building.

I just wanted to update you on the spreadsheet project. I've mapped in 163 mystery series! And that was after leaving out a few I knew I'd either read from start to finish or was sure I didn't want to continue. Now I think I have to assign a subcategory, such as 'cozy' or 'police procedural' or some such. And then there are all the x.5 titles that sneak in. How do you list them?

The good news is that the task reminded me of some series I liked but didn't keep up with. The bad news is there are so many of them. After trying a few out, I may end up marking those that are really bubblegum as the equivalent of DNF.

>239 lauralkeet: - I saw that yesterday! Good for him. I think it's jumped the shark anyway, and he's cashing in at the right time.

Oh! I meant to tell you that that piece of mail I was expecting last Monday showed up yesterday! Alas, it was not a check for a million dollars. It was a check, though.
.
.
.
For $0.80 :-P

>238 lauralkeet: Yes, well, Seigfried has the minor interest from time to time as well, but that could all just be leading us on...

>246 katiekrug: Oooh! What are you planning on spending your unexpected fortune on? ;)

>248 PawsforThought: Or, as my father would always say about such amounts "Don't spend it all in one place!"

>249 laytonwoman3rd: Exactly - gotta spread the wealth around!

>248 PawsforThought: and >249 laytonwoman3rd: - Snort. It's not even worth the time it takes to deposit it with the bank - even using their mobile app!

Good morning all. I'm late to the threads today and as much as I'd like to jump into the discussion above, I'm going to take a pass.

Later today we're taking Woody to the vet. He's been having trouble eating and vomited a few times yesterday. It may be that his time has come. We'll see what the vet says.

Thanks for keeping my thread warm.

>252 lauralkeet: - Very sorry to hear about Woody, Laura. Take care!

>252 lauralkeet: Oh, Laura, I'm so sorry to hear Woody is not doing well. I'll hold my thumbs for the both of you.

>239 lauralkeet:, >242 richardderus: "Boo. Hiss." is exactly my thought.
There'll be a pay wall up in no time.

And to make up for the frustration I had (>233 SandyAMcPherson:), to day got the word on the second try. First try was 2 yellowed and 1 green, so I had a good start.

Edited to add that I just saw this >252 lauralkeet:, when my post refreshed the thread. Sending best wishes for a good outcome, Laura.

>252 lauralkeet: I'm hoping for the best in Woody's situation, Laura. Your decisions will be tough, and I hope you feel the support you've got behind you from all of us.

*hugs* I'm thinking of you and sweet Woody.

Keeping Woody and you in my thoughts.

Ooh, poor Woody. I will think good thoughts. It's so hard to see our animal companions suffer.

Not thrilled about the Wordle news, and though I subscribe to the NYT and have requested a recipe subscription to cooking, I am not keen to pay for games, particularly as I rarely have time to play. I was reading comments last night about grandparents connecting with young grandchildren over Wordle, people who might share a subscription and wondered if they could still each play, etc. I'm glad to see the creator compensated, but its simplicity and shared joy is/was what made it special.

Interesting comments here about prescription meds. We recently declined to pick up a med for my daughter that costs nearly $250. When our Whistler needed seizure meds, we bought those at Costco for $40-ish dollars but they were well over $200 at our supermarket where we normally purchase. My husband is from Cyprus, where a prescription drug costs what it costs no matter where you fill it, so this crazy dance people do to try to afford the medications they need makes him crazy.

And trash. Ugh. Denver has a municipal contract, but we're on our own in the suburbs. We used a local company for years and years until they sold to a giant corporation that quadrupled our rates within a year. So we switched again. To a service that apparently will not pick up after it's snowed, which is not very convenient when you live in the Rocky Mountains. But many services also means many trucks roaring through our neighborhood on all days (but not weeks when there's snow. Sheesh.)

Thanks for the link to your friends' BnB, Laura - it looks wonderful! We're dreaming, but it has been 5 years since we visited Cyprus, so our next big trip will likely be there. Not that I should complain about that, but our schedule is not entirely our own when the trip is to visit family. No details yet, but there is a niece's wedding in September, which would make it impossible for me to attend and have a long, vacation-y visit. But maybe Stelios can go.

Poor Woody, I will be thinking of you and hoping for a good outcome at the vet.

Oh, poor Woody. I hope the visit to the vet is helpful.

>252 lauralkeet: Sorry to read about Woody, Laura, keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm thinking of you and Woody, Laura.

My sympathy is with you and Woody.

Thanks again everyone, and please forgive me for not responding individually to your very kind posts.

Woody crossed the Rainbow Bridge this afternoon. Those who were around here last year know that he had a major health incident in July. X-rays showed a tumor, likely cancerous, and he has been on a sort of palliative medication since. He turned 14 in November, a ripe old age for a Labrador. Today the vet described what was likely going on internally and offered us the option of further tests, which we declined because we knew we weren't going to do surgery or anything like that. His mobility had declined dramatically from a year ago, and he just wasn't leading the optimal dog life. We are sad, but also at peace with our decision.

In the weird way the world works, as Woody was leaving this world the Dulles Greenway Eagle Mom laid her first egg, which for the time being will be known as DG1.

😢

>265 lauralkeet: Oh, Laura, I’m so sorry. Losing a pet is so hard. You absolutely made the right decision to let Woody go, but that doesn’t make it easier, does it?

>265 lauralkeet: - I'm sorry for your sadness but glad that Woody did not suffer. 14 years is a good, long life, and he had a great one with you and Chris. (((Hugs)))

So hard to lose a beloved pet Laura. But I'm glad he didn't suffer long.

>265 lauralkeet: Very sad with y'all. I'm glad Woody started his journey with his loving people family around him.

So sad and sorry but you did the right thing keeping him from further suffering. Hugs to you all

>265 lauralkeet: Vale Woody, hugs to all.

>265 lauralkeet: So sorry.

I'm so, so sorry, Laura. It's such a hard decision to make but also one of the most important and loving responsibilities we have as their owners and friends. Woody was *such* a lucky dog to have you and I bet those 14 years were wonderful on both sides. Adding my hugs to the pile.

Thank you so much everyone. I really really appreciate all of your kind words. I'm going to post my final review for January, and tomorrow I'll start a new thread.

5. Magpie Lane ()

Dee works as a nanny in Oxford, and has had a series of stints with visiting faculty and administrators, working for the university on a temporary basis. She has just finished one such assignment when the next one falls in her lap: caring for Felicity, the 8-year-old daughter of Nick Law, a new College Master, and his Danish wife Mariah. Felicity’s mother died four years earlier, and she has been selectively mute ever since, speaking only with Nick. Dee sets out to earn her trust.

But readers also know that one evening Felicity disappears, and the media and law enforcement launch a major campaign to find her. The novel chronicles, in parallel, the events following Felicity’s disappearance and those leading up to it. As tiny details are revealed, it becomes clear there’s more to Dee than she wants others to know.

The full picture emerges slowly. Author Lucy Atkins expertly weaves a number of plot threads together, and most of the details are revealed by an unreliable narrator. It kept me guessing all the way to the end and even now, while I know more about what happened to Felicity, there’s much left unsaid. This was a great read.

>265 lauralkeet: I am so sorry,Laura. Not an easy decision. Sending hugs your way.

Those of us who have lost pets know how hard it is to lose a friend after so many good years. My sympathies to you and Chris.

So sorry about Woody.

I found Magpie Lane for 1.99 on Amazon (Canada), so obviously I had to get it. Thanks for the rec.

So sorry about Woody. These decisions are so hard.

Thanks again for all of the kind and comforting words here. I am so grateful.

My new thread is now up ...

So sorry about Woody Laura.

>265 lauralkeet: So sorry to hear about Woody. I'm glad you were with him to say goodbye.