I think I am beginning to expel the poisons from my system which I had to ingest for the colonography, but didn’t walk today because of stormy weather and a visit from my accountant. She is working on my income tax. It’s going to be an expensive procedure. We met in the sitting room where she could hardly fail to spot some of the project bags hanging from every available knob – she’s not a knitter, but she is a friend of (and accountant for) Kate Davies.

 However, I did no knitting. After the accountant left I went into the kitchen and did some clumsy cooking, then ate and napped. I must knit this evening. Calcutta Cup week is here.

My Freecell theory from yesterday didn’t work this evening, but in the end I coaxed it up anyway.

 Tamar, I was much interested to see from your note yesterday that rhubarb is not reliably present in grocery stores where you live. I can’t remember how I first tasted it. I loved it, as I still do, and since it was never served at home, I assumed it was rare and expensive, like globe artichokes and lobsters. We never had it at Oberlin either, so I went on assuming that until I got to Glasgow and thought it wonderful to be in a country where rhubarb was cheap, and served routinely. This is the very best time of year for it – it is forced, that is, grown without light, so that it becomes pale and interesting. It is a speciality of Yorkshire. But when the forced-rhubarb season is over, we get ordinary field rhubarb virtually all year round. That is not as delicate-tasting, but still delicious.

 

Bread: I don’t know why plastic bread is called that, Peggy (comment Thursday), but Wonder Bread is indeed what it is. I am glad you are baking bread, Mary Lou, It’s certainly fun. Kirsten, I haven’t been baking lately. Couldn’t say why. I got my sourdough starter out recently. It was completely inert, of course, but still tasted good, perhaps rather over-acidic, so I brought it back to life over several days, and put it back in the refrigerator. I think it’s probably time to repeat the process, and perhaps even to bake a loaf of bread. Tomorrow, however, I hope to make a batch of kimchi.

 

We’ve got a storm blowing up out there, as forecast. I hope all of you on the east coast of the US are safe and warm.