Bacon

Have you ever noticed how edible the slang referring to money sounds? Kale, lettuce and cabbage have all referred to green bills. Clams, cake, cheese, cream and even honey can all mean money. People save their dough, spend their bread, get their cheddar, are worth their salt and bring home the bacon. 

Kindred

I had expected time to trickle slowly by so arrived armed with a crochet hook and a ball of yarn. I took a seat and when I had exhausted the reading material on the walls and my inner conversation ground to a halt, I plucked my yarn and hook out of my bag and began to crochet. There was a steady hum of activity all around as the door opened and closed and people came and went, came and went and I crocheted on.  An elderly woman entered the room and sat beside me.  She watched my fingers moving and my hook flashing. She reached out and squeezed the ball of yarn.  I held up my project and said, “it’s a granny square. “. And then added, “and I’M a granny!” I don’t know if she understood my words but her eyes seemed to suddenly sparkle with something….courage perhaps, because she reached over and took the crocheting from my hands, yarn, hook and all and began to feverishly crochet.  It seemed as though the waiting room inhaled in unison. “One, one?” She asked. “Yes,” I said nodding and holding up one finger.  “One stitch between, two here. Two at the corner.”  

“Good, good?”she asked holding the crocheting up for my approval.  “Oh yes, very good,” I agreed. 

She handed back the granny square and I showed her pictures on my phone of a baby quilt I had recently finished.  And some crocheted purses. And my husband carving.  She pointed to her foot and cradled an imaginary baby.  Baby booties! “No,” I admitted.  No baby booties yet.  

Aren’t kindred spirits a wonder? 

Poor guy

Do you think Santa is out of sorts in January? You know, overtired, discouraged by commercialism, strained back….

I’m only asking because I think I saw him shopping with Mrs Claus today at Freshco and he was pretty grouchy. He kind of cheered me up (just as you would expect Santa to) Here was someone shopping who was feeling grouchier than me.  Poor guy. It made me want to go home and bake him a cake.  

History on rewind

Because my husband and I weren’t born yet when What's My Line was a weekly game show, we have been cranking back the hands of time and increasing our knowledge of the 50’s at the same time by watching reruns on YouTube.  Isn’t YouTube a boon to mankind? 

The host and panel members of What’s My Line dressed in marvellous specimens of fashions of the decade. Glamorous gowns and beehive hairstyles. Evening suits with bow ties. Even the odd tux. It’s worth watching just to see the fabulous dresses and hair piled high! 

The host was a paragon; articulate and droll, funny and gallant. His name was John Daly (He had four sons all named John! Sort of like Dr Seuss and his Thing One and Thing Two. It’s good they had middle names to fall back on) 

I think while watching, we are learning things we never knew.  A variation of educational entertainment and history on rewind. 

Up and away

I nearly joined Mary Poppins today.  As I climbed out of my car, wind instantly inflated my unzipped jacket. I grabbed the top of the door and hung on. Up, up and away. 

Hot

 “It’s not HOT hot,” my husband says, handing me a mug of tea. “It’s just hot,” he adds by way of clarifying. 

Unbelievable

 I like to plump up three pillows and settle in amongst my quilts like a chicken in a nest box. A ball or two of yarn, a crochet hook and time is my friend.  There always comes that jolt back into reality though, whence I bundle up yarn and scissors and stow them away for later. Later is usually the next day, and twice now, as I’ve shaken out my quilt while making the bed in the morning, a crochet hook has appeared before my unbelieving eyes.  Whaaaaaaaa??!!

Today, instead of a crochet hook, the light reflected off of a rather large darning needle giving a fresh take on the old adage, “like finding a needle in a haystack.”