Little House In California
4:57 p.m. - 2007-07-19


I have to give the big thumbs up to Kinky Boots, because it is one good movie. The guy who plays the transvestite designer is fabulous, and Melissa tells me that he was in Serenity. Anyhow, I enjoyed the movie very much.

I finished putting the buttons on the sweater I was making for myself, so on to the next one. After two cardigans in a row, I am tired of bands and buttonholes, so the next will be the grey heather pullover. I also have the ribbings knitted for the bright green sweater, also for me, but it is a cardigan so will wait awhile.

Today I have been listening to The Long Winter, the Laura Ingalls Wilder book. I loved these books as a kid and introduced my own girls to them. The life described in these books must have been very like the life lived by my grandfather whose family homesteaded in Indiana also. This book about the blizzards of 1880 or thereabouts makes me think of the reason Chas's family came out to California. His father heard there was no snow there and that sounded great to him. The books hold up very well and always have the same effect on me - they make me want to cook and sew and put stuff up and plow a field etc. So today I got energetic while listening to the book and boxed up the 10 pints of applesauce and froze them, baked an applesauce cake for the spouse, made chicken stock, and am now simmering a big pot of Basque Cabbage Soup. This soup is a new one for me from the Elsah Landing Cookbook. This book has the best ever recipe for clam chowder I have ever come across so I am trying out some of its other offerings. I sometimes still see the book at used book stores, so it is worth acquiring if you see it. Elsah Landing is a restaurant in Illinois that appeared to serve mostly breads, soups, and desserts. I have had my book for years.

I hear from the Joels that they were in Monterey the same time we were, and were also driving up Lighthouse Avenue during the day on Friday, so we probably passed each other without knowing it.