taking time

 We are having two days with temps in the sixties - how wonderful. I emptied out a bag of compost into one of the raised bed squares. 

It looks pretty full, but beneath it is dry leaves and some branches, sort of a hugel mound; I know it will settle and go down. Lentamente.

I've got the last Anne Perry Christmas mystery - I look forward to them every November, and like most of them. This is it, since she died this year. The main character is a woman in her eighties and I keep thinking that Ms. Perry was perhaps describing herself on these pages? 

After deciding not to use interfacing in my dress (mainly because I didn't have any), I found some in a small drawer where I didn't expect to see it. So, after the facings were sewn together, I cut out a piece and ironed it on. I think it will help stabilize things when I have to slash the back opening.

before I ironed it on

I get an infrequent newsletter from a Benedictine monastery (not the one I've mentioned here before), which I enjoy reading. In this issue is a story - a legend - that coffee was first used as a stimulant in Ethiopia in the 9th century. A goatherder noticed his flock getting excited after chewing on some red berries. He mentioned it to a monk who was have problems staying awake during prayer times, and that's how coffee drinking took off. The author of this newsletter says monks still depend on it when they have to get up for Vigils, which are prayers said around 3-ish. They don't go back to bed after that.

The other day there were leaves of gold all over the street in front of our neighbor's house, near the corner.

"Last night's heavy frost loosened the golden leaves and this morning, when the school bus came, they were falling like confetti. Still it was noon before you could notice any diminishment of leaf on the young maple by the driveway. By that time the sharp-pointed leaves covered the ground under the tree, like ruffled gold feathers covering a bird's body."

-  Rachel Peden