ImperialPansy of Bloom

We had quite a nice holiday, though not exactly the one we had planned. I thought we'd go over to Dr. Nurse' house and chat at a social distance with Dr. Nurse and her husband, mom and dad for a couple of hours, then come home to our own modest celebration. We arrived about 2 with our folding chairs, and set up in the back yard with Dr. Nurse and the Duchess, and ended up staying until 8. We kept hoping that the Duke and Mr. Dr. Nurse would join us, but they were greatly occupied in the garage, where they were installing a new garage door opener--one with a safety feature, unlike the old one!--and an outlet for power tools. They emerged at intervals, dusty and sweaty, to gulp a glass of water. But then they would wave and dive right back in. I kept offering to leave, in case the Duchess wanted to have more time alone with Dr. Nurse, but she professed herself starved for "other faces," and Dr. Nurse kept urging us to stay, so we did. Once the garage was done, the Duke moved on to fixing one of the gutters. The process of putting the ladder up caused the Duchess much anxiety, but he managed without any mishaps.

The Duchess brought along a snack--a big container of piroshkis, or pirozhkis. This was a surprise pleasure from the past. Our mother used to make them as a special treat for the cocktail parties our parents held for members of the history department and other friends. There are many versions of this baked or fried dumpling. The ones she made were baked, made with a very short, rich pastry dough with cream cheese in it, brushed with egg and baked until they are golden brown. They're filled with a mix of ground beef, onion, a bit of sour cream and herbs, preferably fresh dill. We all loved these little treats when we were kids, but we couldn't poach more than one or two, because they were needed for the guests! The Duchess had made a great many. I had a modest four, but Mr. Dr. Nurse had nine! And I'm not sure how many the Duke managed to scarf before he rushed back to work on his projects. The Duchess had cleaned the kitchen with Dr. Nurse in the morning. They are such hard workers. Later this week, they're going with a church group to Midland to help with the cleanup. I feel sad that I can't participate in such heroics right now, but I guess I should just be glad I have such diligent family members. I was too tired to blog when I got home. It turns out that sitting and chatting for hours is hard work. It's true that the sun was very hot. I watered my raised beds in the evening because the heat had dried them out.

This morning I was up before dawn after 4 hours of sleep. There's no reason not to sleep, but it's not happening. I made my own tea, because I wanted to get to the Old People's Shopping Hour. I didn't buy as much as last time, partly because they seemed to be cleaning and restocking a lot of things, and many shelves were empty. There were a few pitiful tiny packs of organic toilet paper. I imagine the people who would like these as elfin creatures who live on sunlight, pure spring water, and the juice of a few flowers, and have little need of such gross material things as TP. However, I bought one anyway, just in case.

It was even hotter today. I wasn't sure I could walk around in it, on 4 hours of sleep, but I decided to give it a try before it got hotter. it wasn't too bad. Now and then I would enter a shady space and a pleasant breeze came to meet me, and I was glad I had come out to greet it. I had to take a nap before dinner. We had put off the ham from yesterday, but ended up putting it off yet again, because I'd bought some half price whitefish at the store, and we wanted to cook it right away. I made potato salad and green beans to go with it. Watching "The Nine Tailors."