General Developments

Our hot water heater gave up the ghost on Friday, as DOB learned by walking down the hallway in his stocking feet. I would say "blew up," my standard term for any significant malfunction, but I find that when I say "Our hot water heater blew up" people get the mental image of a gaping hole in the side of our house with shrapnel everywhere. So no, it merely rusted away. Quite dull, but still expensive. The plumber has come and gone and replaced it, a difficult task because the house builders forgot to put in a place for a hot water heater and wound up stuffing it in the intended linen closet, for which it was too large.

While the heater was draining we collected a great deal of water in all our pots and bowls, which are now all over the kitchen. I was supposed to use these to distill, but I find I cannot remember to put them in the distiller; as soon as I have it scrubbed out, I automatically fill it at the tap. So I will see if I can remember to throw the extra water in the laundry.

That's a water distiller, not the other kind.

We went to the library book sale on Saturday--the event of the year in the Duchy--and returned with three boxes of books, including several excellent children's books for the day when D1 learns to prefer interesting stories over Motortrend and the Wall Street Journal.

D1 could roll back to front if she wanted to, but she doesn't. She rolls all the way up on her side, teeters on the edge, and then thinks to herself, "Why should I roll over on my tummy when I'll just immediately wish to return to my back?" So she stops.

And speaking of D1, thanks to a generous friend we now have a digital camera. (O joy! O rapture!) More frequent picture postings after I dig out from under the weekend mess and learn to use the thing.

Yesterday afternoon DOB sprained his ankle. (OK, it was during a football scrimmage, but he vows he placed his feet very carefully. It's just that his footgear was too slick.) The weird thing is that it was his good ankle, so he's having a terrible time using crutches in the opposite way from what he usually does.

It's very difficult to make popcorn when all your bowls and pots are full of water.