A Simple Twist of Fondue

I wasn't on last night or the night before due to computer problems. Or more specifically, as it turned out, mouse problems. The right-click wasn't working. I was able to use the keyboard, but not right click the mouse. I finally borrowed two older PC mice from Dad and my cousin Mark tonight, and they do work. I thought it might have been a virus, but it would appear to be a mouse that has never been replaced.

I did finally get my new glasses on Friday. I got quite a shock when, between the coupon and the Union benefits, they only came to $25 (and they were originally 280)! And not only that, but I could see so much better. Everything is amazingly sharp and clear, and the colors are so much brighter and crisper! I guess I hadn't realized just how old my last pair was.

I finished And Then There Were Five on Friday and started a genuine vintage 1948 pirate swashbuckler novel, The Golden Hawk, yesterday. I'm going to have to look for more Melendy Quartet books. The Melendys are four kids living in a huge old house in the country with their dad and housekeeper during World War II. Their adventures - holding a fair and auction, canning, meeting their eccentric neighbors during a scrap drive, fishing with a nice old man, adopting a local teenager after his cousin dies in a fire - are fun and exciting. While the story of Mark and his cousin gets a little melodramatic, the subsequent fire and adoption are handled somewhat realistically and with care.

I spent most of yesterday and today working and cleaning. I also got to the farm market for the first time in almost a month yesterday. The blueberries are gone, but the apples and pears are out, and I was able to get blackberries, celery, carrots, a small loaf of bread (since I still have some of my home-made rye left), cranberry-pear butter, and peaches.

When I went over to Dad's to borrow the mice, I ran smack into a fondue party. Jessa had apparently been begging Dad and Jodie for fondue, and since fondue is largely party food, Dad and Jodie made it into a small Labor Day bash for me, Dolores, Uncle Ken, Mark, Vanessa, Jess, Brittany, and Jess' buddies Crystal and Alexis. Dad sliced up broccoli, French bread, and apples to dip in melted swiss. Vanessa contributed a massive five-pound zucchini. Jodie brought potatoes, sliced beef, and shrimp for a second pot filed with olive oil. It was tasty and fun...and far more interesting for a Labor Day bash than your ordinary barbecue!