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#851
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Still breathing, but no column
Chickened out and drove to the Winter Market today. Well, I drove to the library and walked to The Pavilion in Central Park, which wasn't far. Bluebird Bakery didn't show, so I didn't buy anything. I was slightly tempted by the jugs of frozen cider. Wished I'd brought my cane before I got back to the car. The library parking lot surprised me by being full of cars. I hardly ever get there in a car when it's open. I went in, looked up Bujold, and checked out _Penrick's Mission_, which I read instead of Usenet this evening. Now I'm wondering how to get it back when suiting up takes longer than the ride. Weather Underground says the temperature is going to be right off the chart next week, but the days the red line runs off the top, there are a lot of tall blue bars below it. (Blue bar chart of the probability of rain.) I had been thinking of walking to Lowery's, but walking wasn't pleasant, and I did need to drive to Owen's West for some fizzwater too heavy to carry walking. I bought a small bag of clearance potatoes while I was there. Tried to drive from there to Lowery's on Winona, but I was on the wrong side of the tracks and a train was using them. Thought I'd have to wait at the stoplight blocking traffic until it passed, but there was just enough room for me between the crosswalk and the last car on the other side of Detroit, so the guy behind me had to wait at the stoplight blocking traffic. Fortunately, nearly everybody wants to turn left at that intersection. All I wanted was a pen ($5.66, ouch!) and I knew exactly where it was, but I took a complete tour of the store after buying it. Then I drove home, ate lunch, and slept like a rock. My sore throat is better, but now I'm blowing my nose. Viral, so far. No other symptoms except feeling tired. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net |
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#852
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Still breathing, but no column
On Sat, 17 Nov 2018 22:18:39 -0500, Joy Beeson
wrote: Chickened out and drove to the Winter Market today. Well, I drove to the library and walked to The Pavilion in Central Park, which wasn't far. Bluebird Bakery didn't show, so I didn't buy anything. I was slightly tempted by the jugs of frozen cider. Wished I'd brought my cane before I got back to the car. The library parking lot surprised me by being full of cars. I hardly ever get there in a car when it's open. I went in, looked up Bujold, and checked out _Penrick's Mission_, which I read instead of Usenet this evening. Now I'm wondering how to get it back when suiting up takes longer than the ride. Weather Underground says the temperature is going to be right off the chart next week, but the days the red line runs off the top, there are a lot of tall blue bars below it. (Blue bar chart of the probability of rain.) I had been thinking of walking to Lowery's, but walking wasn't pleasant, and I did need to drive to Owen's West for some fizzwater too heavy to carry walking. I bought a small bag of clearance potatoes while I was there. Tried to drive from there to Lowery's on Winona, but I was on the wrong side of the tracks and a train was using them. Thought I'd have to wait at the stoplight blocking traffic until it passed, but there was just enough room for me between the crosswalk and the last car on the other side of Detroit, so the guy behind me had to wait at the stoplight blocking traffic. Fortunately, nearly everybody wants to turn left at that intersection. All I wanted was a pen ($5.66, ouch!) and I knew exactly where it was, but I took a complete tour of the store after buying it. Then I drove home, ate lunch, and slept like a rock. My sore throat is better, but now I'm blowing my nose. Viral, so far. No other symptoms except feeling tired. Frozen Cider? Back in the day that was the poor man's method of (would one say "enlivening") Cider. Leave it out overnight and drink the part that didn't freeze :-) cheers, John B. |
#853
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Still breathing, but no column
On Sun, 18 Nov 2018 11:59:14 +0700, John B. slocomb
wrote: Frozen Cider? Back in the day that was the poor man's method of (would one say "enlivening") Cider. Leave it out overnight and drink the part that didn't freeze :-) My father told a most-entertaining tale of a road-shovelling crew and a barrel of vinegar that froze before it could turn to vinegar. (Hand gestures: the road went like this, and then it went like *this*.) Probably an old joke, but people *did* make their own vinegar. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ |
#854
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Still breathing, but no column
On Sun, 18 Nov 2018 18:30:34 -0500, Joy Beeson
wrote: On Sun, 18 Nov 2018 11:59:14 +0700, John B. slocomb wrote: Frozen Cider? Back in the day that was the poor man's method of (would one say "enlivening") Cider. Leave it out overnight and drink the part that didn't freeze :-) My father told a most-entertaining tale of a road-shovelling crew and a barrel of vinegar that froze before it could turn to vinegar. (Hand gestures: the road went like this, and then it went like *this*.) Probably an old joke, but people *did* make their own vinegar. Sure they did. Just like they grew their own meat and vegetables and salted, dried or "canned" them for the winter. Some of them even made their own clothes and even stranger, blankets for their beds :-) cheers, John B. |
#855
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Still breathing, but no column
On Mon, 19 Nov 2018 07:41:32 +0700, John B. slocomb
wrote: Sure they did. Just like they grew their own meat and vegetables and salted, dried or "canned" them for the winter. Some of them even made their own clothes and even stranger, blankets for their beds :-) Which made me wonder how old home canning is. I looked up Ball Brothers (living in Indiana naturally made me think of them first) and they started making jars in 1884, when Mason's patent ran out. That patent was filed in 1858. And it was for an "improved" fruit jar, so it's got to go back a bit further. Zinc caps and both styles of glass lids were still in use when I was a child. Hasn't been any change since the invention of the dome lid. Except today's lids hold "up to eighteen months", and if any of those made in the forties are still on jars, they are still holding. Wikipedia says that home canning with jars that used sealing wax to secure the lids began in the 1830s, remained common until 1890, and continued into the early twentieth century. Mom used paraffin as a lid on strawberry preserves. (I don't recall preserving any other kind of fruit.) She would put some shavings of paraffin into the bottom of a jar and pour in hot preserves. The wax would melt, rise to the top, and seal the jar. Then she'd put a lid on to keep dust off. Or maybe it was waxed paper and a rubber band. Having four children, she put strawberries up in pint jars. We would fish the berries out to spread on our bread, and pour the syrup on ice cream. Ah, she had to have stopped using wax to seal preserves about the time we started to put them on ice cream -- she froze them after we got a home freezer. But after we moved to the Colfax Place a few years after Dad retired, Mom and I made a batch of wild-strawberry jam that we picked along the railroad tracks, a very few half-pint jars. (The railroad used 2,4-D to keep the weeds down. Poison ivy is particularly sensitive to 2,4-D and the spray mostly didn't get down to where the strawberries were.) The wild strawberries made thick jam where we were expecting runny preserves, and the wax didn't seal perfectly. It was really, really good. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ |
#856
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Still breathing, but no column
On Mon, 19 Nov 2018 19:13:30 -0500, Joy Beeson
wrote: On Mon, 19 Nov 2018 07:41:32 +0700, John B. slocomb wrote: Sure they did. Just like they grew their own meat and vegetables and salted, dried or "canned" them for the winter. Some of them even made their own clothes and even stranger, blankets for their beds :-) Which made me wonder how old home canning is. I looked up Ball Brothers (living in Indiana naturally made me think of them first) and they started making jars in 1884, when Mason's patent ran out. That patent was filed in 1858. And it was for an "improved" fruit jar, so it's got to go back a bit further. According to the Internet, canning" apparently originated with Nicholas Appert in France who. in about 1810 introduced a method that involved heat-processing food in glass jars reinforced with wire and sealing them with wax. This was in response to Napoleon Bonaparte having offered a reward for whoever could develop a safe, reliable food preservation method for the army. Zinc caps and both styles of glass lids were still in use when I was a child. Hasn't been any change since the invention of the dome lid. Except today's lids hold "up to eighteen months", and if any of those made in the forties are still on jars, they are still holding. Wikipedia says that home canning with jars that used sealing wax to secure the lids began in the 1830s, remained common until 1890, and continued into the early twentieth century. Mom used paraffin as a lid on strawberry preserves. (I don't recall preserving any other kind of fruit.) She would put some shavings of paraffin into the bottom of a jar and pour in hot preserves. The wax would melt, rise to the top, and seal the jar. Then she'd put a lid on to keep dust off. Or maybe it was waxed paper and a rubber band. Having four children, she put strawberries up in pint jars. We would fish the berries out to spread on our bread, and pour the syrup on ice cream. Ah, she had to have stopped using wax to seal preserves about the time we started to put them on ice cream -- she froze them after we got a home freezer. But after we moved to the Colfax Place a few years after Dad retired, Mom and I made a batch of wild-strawberry jam that we picked along the railroad tracks, a very few half-pint jars. (The railroad used 2,4-D to keep the weeds down. Poison ivy is particularly sensitive to 2,4-D and the spray mostly didn't get down to where the strawberries were.) The wild strawberries made thick jam where we were expecting runny preserves, and the wax didn't seal perfectly. It was really, really good. I vaguely remember fruit jam or jelly being preserved in jars with a layer of wax but most things were "put up" in those all glass jars with the wire "latch" that held the top on tightly. Assuming no jars got broken all you needed "next year" was the rubber "rings" that actually sealed the cap and they were available at any grocery store. Of course, back in those days I never heard of a "working mother" either. Married women were at home to take care of the house and children, prepare the food and in many cases make the clothing. In fact one of the reasons for talking to the girl's father before announcing one's intent to court the girl was for the family to determine that you "could support the girl in the manner to which she was accustomed" :-) cheers, John B. |
#857
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Still breathing, but no column
On Tue, 20 Nov 2018 08:40:41 +0700, John B. slocomb
wrote: Of course, back in those days I never heard of a "working mother" either. Married women were at home to take care of the house and children, prepare the food and in many cases make the clothing. And feed the hired help. One of Mom's stories was about a city girl who married a farmer. Her husband told her that there would be a thrashing crew, but her first clue that she was expected to feed them was hungry men coming up her walk. Fortunately, they were also dirty men. While they were washing up she opened a few cans of tomato juice and made soup. While they were eating that, she cooked something else, and got them out the door thinking that serving a meal in installments was a fancy city way. Another of Mom's tales about resourceful women was of a feeble-minded housemaid who couldn't learn which knob on the gas stove controlled which burner. So she turned a knob at random, and put her pot on the one that lit up. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ |
#858
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Still breathing, but no column
On Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:29:59 -0500, Joy Beeson
wrote: On Tue, 20 Nov 2018 08:40:41 +0700, John B. slocomb wrote: Of course, back in those days I never heard of a "working mother" either. Married women were at home to take care of the house and children, prepare the food and in many cases make the clothing. And feed the hired help. One of Mom's stories was about a city girl who married a farmer. Her husband told her that there would be a thrashing crew, but her first clue that she was expected to feed them was hungry men coming up her walk. Fortunately, they were also dirty men. While they were washing up she opened a few cans of tomato juice and made soup. While they were eating that, she cooked something else, and got them out the door thinking that serving a meal in installments was a fancy city way. Another of Mom's tales about resourceful women was of a feeble-minded housemaid who couldn't learn which knob on the gas stove controlled which burner. So she turned a knob at random, and put her pot on the one that lit up. That last describes my stove efforts exactly. Unless my wife helps me, of course :-) Regarding young wives. When I was stationed at Bangor, Maine (in the 1960's) a local lad who'd joined the Air Force came to me (his Sergeant) asking what he could do about his wife... It seems that he'd married a girl from Massachusetts or Connecticut, or one of them foreign places and brought her home to Maine when he was transferred back there. Now he, being an energetic young guy had bought a piece of property about 10 or 15 miles north of Bangor and set out to build a house. He'd got the foundations and cellar dug and cemented and as it was getting along toward Fall he just roofed over the cellar with a tarpaper roof and figured that they could live there for the winter and he'd finish the house the next year. They hadn't moved to their new house more then a month when his wife said that she wanted to "go home to mother" and he'd come to his Sergeant for advise... He said that he'd done everything he could to make it easy for his wife... he'd dug the well only about 50 feet behind the cellar and even built a windlass so she wouldn't have to haul the water up by hand. He'd built a nice little wood shed" just at the head of the stairs" and made sure it was always stocked with wood, even split the kindling. And, he'd been filling the lamps himself as his wife didn't like the smell of kerosene... He couldn't understand what was the matter with his wife. cheers, John B. |
#859
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AG: Changing Seasons
On Monday, November 12, 2018 at 10:00:25 PM UTC-5, Joy Beeson wrote:
Had an early-morning follow-up exam today. Yesterday, knowing that I'd leave the office a bit earlier than I usually get off when I go on a ride, I packed the bike for a dump tour. Forgot to fill my water bottles, but one was full and I filled the other at the hospital after dumping a couple of magazines in the emergency room. Back when I rode in near-zero weather, I used to blow into my bottles instead of squeezing them, to keep ice from clogging my valve. Today one of my bottles was too stiff to squeeze even though the temperature was above freezing most of the time. I just realized that there are three reasons I no longer go out when the water freezes in my bottle. All these years I've been thinking that it's partly because of all these years and mostly because I live on a side street instead of on a state road that I shared with three snowplow garages, two schools, two fire stations, one sheriff's sub-station, the county dispatcher, and an ambulance squad. While writing the... The season prematurely changed here in Ottawa. It looks as if the snow is here to stay until March and the temperatures are to drop to -20C tomorrow--and that's not including wind chill. -- Andrew Chaplin SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO |
#860
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AG: Changing Seasons
On 22/11/2018 8:32 AM, Andrew Chaplin wrote:
On Monday, November 12, 2018 at 10:00:25 PM UTC-5, Joy Beeson wrote: Had an early-morning follow-up exam today. Yesterday, knowing that I'd leave the office a bit earlier than I usually get off when I go on a ride, I packed the bike for a dump tour. Forgot to fill my water bottles, but one was full and I filled the other at the hospital after dumping a couple of magazines in the emergency room. Back when I rode in near-zero weather, I used to blow into my bottles instead of squeezing them, to keep ice from clogging my valve. Today one of my bottles was too stiff to squeeze even though the temperature was above freezing most of the time. I just realized that there are three reasons I no longer go out when the water freezes in my bottle. All these years I've been thinking that it's partly because of all these years and mostly because I live on a side street instead of on a state road that I shared with three snowplow garages, two schools, two fire stations, one sheriff's sub-station, the county dispatcher, and an ambulance squad. While writing the... The season prematurely changed here in Ottawa. It looks as if the snow is here to stay until March and the temperatures are to drop to -20C tomorrow--and that's not including wind chill. -- Same thing here in Montreal. Seems like the shortest autumn in memory. Looks like we're into full blown winter. |
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