Wooden Spools.

Thread spools are now, and have been for a long time, made of plastic. It makes these spools, inherited from John's grandmother, something of a rarity. They're little works of art, with and without thread on them, and for no other reason than that I stick the empty ones up on a shelf and save them. I often wondered (fleetingly) what 'mercerized' meant but never bothered to try and find out. It is a matter of minutes to find out in the modern age of Google.*  Thanks to MaryElizaR for hosting with such interesting challenge topics.

We were invaded by guys from Moore Home Services today, replacing rusting, corroded  iron pipes with plastic. They dug a trench in the garden from the house to the septic tank, but didn't finish, leaving us without a toilet in the master bathroom and  an open trench in the garden. Good thing there's another bathroom down the hall, but it will be a bit of a trek in the middle of the night...more than once!  I hid out in my workroom, air buds firmly in place to block out  lessen the noise emanating from under the house. They will be back tomorrow to finish. 

More insurance frustration as our broker seems to have gone AWOL. The homeowner's policy isn't being renewed and somebody is supposed to be preparing a replacement proposal for us. In fact, we arranged a group phone call with them months ago in which we would be presented with alternative proposals. We're still waiting for those proposals and the current policy expires on Sept 7th....

Work proceeds slowly on the Klee Quilt as much pondering is needed. I'm quite enjoying the process , the only drawback being that not much else gets accomplished around here.

John went off on a roundabout trip to collect prescriptions for him...there is apparently a shortage of dilantin...heartworm/tick medication for Spike, and groceries for us. Spike's medication cost as much as the other two combined, plus some.

BLT sandwiches for dinner tonight. What friends call a 'goof-off dinner' ...perfect for a day when not much was accomplished....

*Mercerization is the process of treating cotton thread in a caustic solution (usually sodium hydroxide, otherwise known as lye) under tension, which causes the fibers to swell.Using this process dyes are better able to penetrate fibers. This increases the luster while strengthening the thread.