We’ll see……

I have so many things that need fixing repairing replacing sorting saving or tossing, and no one to help. I have to do it—some of it. If I don’t do it, I’ll be dead and the mess will simply go to my kids to toss. Today I went through two sewing baskets, actually looking for a tape measure. Matt has lost so much weight I don’t know what size he is and I must get him some new jeans. He’s wearing drawstring pants that don’t need measuring. I found one pair of cords that fit, with a belt, but the legs need shortening. I can’t sew.

No tape measure but a lovely collection of buttons for clothes I don’t own any more, safety pins, old spools of thread, and two Canadian pennies.

I have a list:

The top drawer of one of my dressers is broken. When I could have visitors my grandson used to fix it, jam it together so it would hold sweaters and not fall apart into the drawer below. My hands aren’t strong enough to fix it.

The little wooden latch on the inside of my antique washstand is broken and i don’t know how to fix it.

I have to bake bran muffins soon but i have a new dishwasher and I’m still trying to figure out how to load it. ( I will not wash muffin tins by hand.) My instruction manual is already dog-eared.

I’ve had a big bottle of Listerine for a couple of months now but i can’t open it. You have to push down and twist and pull up, and I can’t do it any more. (Hands again.) See, I still my marbles but my dwindling technical skills can’t handle them.

The sun is shining. I’m going for a walk.

I’ll talk about socks tomorrow.

It’s three now (November, that is,) and I can’t guarantee a blog today—with the U.S. Election to watch and think about.

The world, as Sean O’casey said, is in a state of chassis.

We’ll see.

Maybe just a few words—to feel like normal again.

myxomatosis noun [ mass noun ] a highly infectious and usually fatal viral disease of rabbits, causing swelling of the mucous membranes and inflammation and discharge around the eyes. (Now, where did I pick this up?)

zygote noun Biology a diploid cell resulting from the fusion of two haploid gametes; a fertilized ovum. DERIVATIVES zygotic |-ˈgɒtɪk| adjective ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from Greek zugōtos ‘yoked’, from zugoun ‘to yoke

diploid adjective: (of a cell or nucleus) containing two complete sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. Compare with haploid. • (of an organism or part) composed of diploid cells. noun: a diploid cell, organism, or species. DERIVATIVES diploidy noun ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from Greek diplous ‘double’ + -oid.

gamete noun Biology a mature haploid male or female germ cell which is able to unite with another of the opposite sex in sexual reproduction to form a zygote. DERIVATIVES gametic |gəˈmɛtɪk| adjective ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from modern Latin gameta, from Greek gametē ‘wife’, gametēs ‘husband’, from gamos ‘marriage’. (I hit the jackot there but I doubt I can use any of it.)

nugatory adjective: of no value or importance: a nugatory and pointless observation. • useless or futile: the teacher shortages will render nugatory the hopes of implementing the new curriculum. ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Latin nugatorius, from nugari ‘to trifle’, from nugae ‘jests’.

And—are you ready for this? I came upon a whole phrase—in theTLS, where else?— that sounds wonderful…

amarinthine mandarinate

amaranth noun 1 a plant of a chiefly tropical family that includes love-lies-bleeding. ●Family Amaranthaceae: several genera, especially Amaranthus. 2 a purple colour. DERIVATIVES amaranthine adjective ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from French amarante or modern Latin amaranthus, alteration (on the pattern of plant names ending in -anthus, from Greek anthos ‘flower’) of Latin amarantus, from Greek amarantos ‘not fading’.

mandarin noun 1 (Mandarin or Mandarin Chinese) [ mass noun ] the standard literary and official form of Chinese, spoken by over 730 million people. 2 an official in any of the nine top grades of the former imperial Chinese civil service .• [ as modifier ] (of clothing) characteristic of a former Chinese mandarin: a red-buttoned mandarin cap. • a porcelain ornament consisting of a nodding figure in traditional Chinese costume. 3 a powerful official or senior bureaucrat, especially one perceived as reactionary and secretive: a civil service mandarin. DERIVATIVES mandarinate noun ORIGIN late 16th cent. (denoting a Chinese official): from Portuguese mandarim, via Malay from Hindi mantrī ‘counsellor’. (I’d say it’s a purple porcelain ornament. What do you think?)

There!

Here i am, back to normal.