Tuesday, May 08, 2018


I am sorry to have left you for so long. We had a grand weekend. I have no pics yet, but I hope someone will send me some. No knitting. I had finished the corrugated ribbing on Alexander’s second-attempt vest, and was ready to establish the Calcutta Cup itself – but that required a good deal of counting, not to be attempted in a houseful of jolly people.

Nor have I felt very strong. Better, perhaps, today – and the Cup is now established.

James tasted the kimchi and says it’s good. So it seems to me. But is it fermented? I remain disappointed at how little bubble-activity I saw in there. I’ve started eating it anyway, and look forward to attempting another batch. When chillies become available from British chilli-farms next month, I also want to try making a fermented hot sauce.

This is a second-Tuesday, and a new Fruity Knitting is up. I will take it to bed with me soon.

I have nothing else to report, so I will tell you a story….

Some years ago, when the financial system seemed about to collapse about our ears, my husband decided that we should take a wadge of cash out of the bank and stow it somewhere. It seemed to me at the time that this was not a particularly good idea – if the financial system did collapse, what use would a fistful of paper be? We’d be better off with potatoes, and a rifle.

But he was determined to do it, so we did. There is a wonderful little cupboard off his study, full of his paper. He stowed the money somewhere in there.




(Dark, but I think you can get the idea. There's a good deal more-of-the-same, just out of sight to the left.)

By the end of his life, he had himself forgotten exactly where it was. Recently I set Archie to work in there, offering 10% if he could find it. He tried hard, but failed.  With all those people here at the weekend, I set them at it. They tried, in relays.

And James succeeded. I gave him his 10%.

It’s nice to have the money, but even nicer, in a way, to have closed the book on a silly episode.

12 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your kimchi! I wondered how many tried to find the cash ahead of James. And isn't James the one who works (or worked) for The Economist? Perhaps that shows a certain aptitude.

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  2. =Tamar7:30 PM

    Hooray for James!
    I don't think it was entirely silly. I've read about the early bank holidays when people were caught short without any way to make change or buy necessities. I suppose the modern equivalent would be a moratorium on the use of cards of all kinds.

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  3. So happy to hear you had a grand weekend!

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  4. A houseful of jolly people, successful, delicious kimchi and some found cash. Sounds like a wonderful weekend. And, for your prize, an episode of Fruity Knitting.

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  5. IT does sound like a perfect weekend! And found money is never a bad thing.

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  6. Wonderful story! I imagine this kind of thing happens a lot. Once, when we were going away, I hid a piece of jewellery inside a ball of wool in a storage box. Later, I remembered what I had done, but not which ball. I won't be doing that again in a hurry.

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  7. Anonymous2:06 AM

    A busy weekend with the family sounds excellent.
    So glad James was able to find the cash! Was it inside a book?

    I can strongly recommend a vacation in Palermo, Sicily. Lots to see, including terrific mosaics, and very good food. We walked and walked.
    Thanks for the blog posts with suggestions!

    LisaRR

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  8. Anonymous1:42 PM

    So glad your kimchi weekend was fun and tasty.. Back when, I stashed food products in case of a recession. I like the fact that he intended on providing for both of you or for one or the other if things got tuff. Enjoy what the two of you did together - You because he needed to - and he, because he needed to for you.
    enjoy

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  9. Anonymous2:46 PM

    Love Anonymous's Comment on why your husband stashed the cash. Also, just a thought - not well researched (only anecdotal evidence) that, from a woman's standpoint, men are just funny about money:). Perhaps from hunting and gathering days.... Your kimchi adventures are making me hungry. Chloe

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  10. Yay for a great weekend. The money story kinda reminds me of my grandfather's guns. At some point, he hid them from my grandmother (who didn't want them in the house). He hid them so well we didn't know they were in the house at all till after she died and we were cleaning the house out to sell it. Man, he had a good hiding place...

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  11. Anonymous6:49 PM

    Oh! you cannot leave us in suspense like this! Melfina, please tell us where he hid them!

    The jewel hidden inside a ball of wool reminds me of my son, aged about 7 who said, seriously "You need to put it somewhere safe but not so safe that you can't find it again."
    Helen (anon)

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    Replies
    1. He put them in a old lunchbox, under two small anvils (about the size of a fist), with a couple old toy guns on top, then put the box up on the top shelf of the garage. Even if you opened the box and took out all the other stuff, you'd think the real guns were also toy ones at first glance.

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