It's just a bunch of stuff that happened - Part 1: Peaches Deliver Joy

How it started:

In April, I ordered 12 pounds of peaches from The Peach Truck, on a whim. Because the four Peach Truck peaches someone shared with me last year were astoundingly delicious.

The Peach Truck lived up to its
slogan: Delivering Joy.

How it’s going:

I picked up the peaches on July 2nd, getting in the end of a huge line in the dangerous sun and heat.  I feared getting sunburned, but The Peach Truck operates efficiently.  The precious cargo and my skin were home within the hour.

Twelve pounds of peaches,
minus two which we ate out of hand.

The Peach Truck said to spread them out on a table for a few days.  I did, but it was a good thing I did not wait more than a day. These gems were ready for baking.  I spent the next two days making pies, perhaps the most intense pie production of my life.  

One recipe said chunks are better than 
slices.  Slices are hard to cut,
but chunks are way harder.
As for the outcome, further
research is required.

Cutting peaches for pie is not as easy as cutting apples for pie.  These peaches were oh, so lusciously juicy, which made them ultra slippery when skinless, as most of us would be.  

First pie, with hearts and triangles.
For Thanksgiving.  

On Independence Day I made two of the pies and six tarts. For the tarts I cheated by using store-bought graham cracker crusts.  Thank you, Keebler Elves! 

On Independence Day, my favorite season
is still the fall of the patriarchy.

As I was endangering my fingers by slicing peaches for the second pie, I listened to Heather Cox Richardson read the Declaration of Independence out loud, with commentary.  I had not been keen to recognize this holiday, but with peach juice dripping off my hands, I hit my stride and was glad to have my own little celebration, just me and HCR and peaches and pie crust.  Suitably American.

Second pie, with diamonds. 
 Planned for my birthday.

While peach pie is one of my favorites, I haven’t made it all that often.  I experimented with several different cooking methods– those might appear in another post, much much later.  Or not.

Third pie (raw; those are supposed to
be clubs cut into the crust).
And tarts.

We ate the third pie for July 4th dinner.  It was rather soupy – dammit, I will have to try again.  I think it was because the top crust needed more openings.  Through additional rigorous scientific testing (n=6), we discovered that graham cracker crusts become soggy after just a day or so, but the filling was not soupy. 

We stored two pies in the Common Household Son’s freezer – one for my birthday and one for Thanksgiving (if it makes it that long).  We did eat some of the peaches fresh.  Oh, glory!

Part 2: Chairs and Gardens
Part 3: Empty Nest Again (final in this series of posts)

The Feast of Saint Valentine

We went to George’s Kitchen, a diner in Cleveland, for a late breakfast on Valentine’s Day.  Our party consisted of me, the Common Household Husband, Older Daughter and her husband.

It was the diner-iest looking diner I have seen in a long time.  Our seasoned waitress was clad in a beautiful bright red sweater, appropriate for this saint’s day.  As we arrived at our table, I observed several patrons shoving money into the waitress’s apron pocket as they were leaving.  They clearly adored her.  

George wants everyone to eat a lot of eggs.  The menu discouraged the ordering of eggs in increments of one or two.  All breakfast dishes were THREE eggs plus something else, such as corned beef hash, or bacon & hash browns, or an omelette.  EXCEPT, if you ordered pancakes, you could then add TWO eggs.  

The menu said, “Absolutely no substitutions” at the top of every page.  I was downright afraid to ask for just two eggs, without ordering pancakes.

The waitress took our order, calling my 30+ year-old daughter “dear”, a requirement in a diner.  On the down side, orange juice was the only juice available.  On the up side, the CHH was excited to order corned beef hash.  He’s not going to get that at home.

When we were finished giving our order, the waitress said, “Ok, thanks.  I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” and walked away.

A short time later, she served us our large meals. A while later she came back to check on us.  Upon seeing that the CHH had cleaned bare his plate of corned beef hash, she said, “Oh, you did a good job on that!”  CHH teased, “Well, I was waiting for you to bring me some breakfast.”  She replied that she was all alone because she had killed two husbands. 

As we were lingering over breakfast, we heard the man at the table behind us call our waitress over.  I did not look, but could hear that he had a baby with him.  We overheard him say, “I have a huge request. And there will be a big tip in it for you.  Would you be able to watch my baby while I go out to the car?  I know it’s a big thing to ask, but I will only be gone a few minutes.”  I guess he had not heard her comment about former husbands.    She agreed to look after Baby.

At our table, the CHH murmured his doubt that Single Dad would actually return.  We held our breath.  A minute passed. The waitress cooed at the baby.  Our tension increased.  Two minutes.  Then, sigh of relief, Single Dad returned.  Faith in human beings restored, at least for today!

I’m not much into Valentine’s Day, but our red-sweatered waitress showed us the day of love in action.  (Perhaps we should ask those deceased husbands if they know St. Valentine, who might be hanging out with them in martyr’s row in heaven).  

I wish I could write novels, if only so I could put that waitress into a book.   

Handwritten sign on the door
listing the hours.  
No service after 2:45 PM!

2025: End of Year Survey

I decided that it is not too late to answer these six questions drawn from the lengthy end-of-year surveys I have seen circulating in the blogosphere.

1) What did you do in 2025 that you’ve never done before? 

I led the chants before a crowd of thousands, at the Hands Off! rally in town on April 5, 2025.  

Never before, and if the world is smart, never again.  However, if it furthers the cause of democracy, I will do it.  And I think we have seen that the world is not particularly smart these days.

But in the past 9 years, I seem to end up doing all sorts of things because nobody else is willing or available to do them.   Play all the music for the church service on a snowy Sunday?  Sure.  Speak to the media about the rally?  Sure.  Be in charge of managing the crowd? Sure. Of all the things I’ve done that I’m not best at, this was the least best-at of all.  I am supremely unqualified to manage a crowd. I don’t have the temperament nor the physical strength.  Luckily, that one time, it turned out I just had to say to people repeatedly, “No, you cannot have the microphone for a minute to say F#&k them.” 

In 2025 I started holding small gatherings at a local sandwich shop, ‘advertising’ just in the various grassroots groups I am in.  These were gatherings of like-minded people just to chat, in the hopes of strengthening our sense of community.  These have been life-giving to me. 

2) Did anyone close to you give birth?

No, not that I can recall. 

3) Did anyone close to you die?

Several long-time and beloved members of my church died.  No one in the immediate family died in 2025, but the family generation previous to mine is all gone now.  Functioning fine, but also still grieving.  I am still wrapping up estate stuff.  Life ends but estate stuff goes on and on and on.

4) What places did you visit?

North to Women’s retreat

Cleveland, OH

Philadelphia, PA

Boston, MA

Washington, DC

Denver, CO (for work)

South Fork of the Shenandoah River, VA

5) What would you like to have in 2026 that you didn’t have in 2025?

A functioning and thriving democracy. Pleeeeze. 

A working piano.

Normal retirement prospects.  What I am faced with is vastly different than I had imagined how I would spend time during retirement.  I am not a natural at politics, but I feel compelled to defend democracy and the dignity of human beings as best I can.

A youtube announcement from a podcaster I follow has me reminiscing forward about what I had imagined my life in retirement would be, but now will never be, thanks to the $#&* in charge of this benighted country.

Dr. Dan McClellan is a scholar of the bible and, shall I say, iconoclast, who does the podcast Data over Dogma with the other Dan, Dan Beecher.  The podcast’s goal is to combat misinformation about the Bible and religion.  He announced he is running an online class on Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Feb through May.

In a different world, I would be taking that class.  I would LOVE to take that class.  But I don’t have time in this particular version of the universe.

6) What dates from 2025 will be etched in your memory forever?

Seems like I’d prefer not to have to dwell on 2025 events.  That said, I enjoyed most of the travel we did.  The time with the family in the house along the Shenandoah River was quite therapeutic.  And Nov 4, 2025 was the day we swept the local elections - an encouraging day in a sea of…. whatever you want to call what we are in.

I saw these end-of-year survey questions most recently on Daria's blog.

More Light: Things that happened in December 2025

Maybe I could make a card out of this photo.

Things that Happened In December 2025

Witnessed the swearing in of the School Board candidates I worked so hard

to get elected.  All four of our candidates won.

Got my car inspected within the deadline (THAT’s a miracle).  It passed without repairs.  Yay!

Attended a political rally in the cold cold cold.

Attended outdoor Hanukkah menorah lighting with our synagogue in the

cold cold cold.   An act of defiance and an act of bringing more light into the world.

We frozed our tuchuses off.

The Common Household Husband got two flat tires by driving his EV over a large pothole (which was disguised as a puddle, as potholes often are). Do not recommend.

Sang in the church cantata.  Practiced music for family talent show. Band concert.  Symphony.  If it weren’t for the music, we would not be.  

stockings with the obligatory fruits

Wrapped gifts, stuffed stockings, provided ingredients for others to bake cookies.  Ate cookies.  A lot of cookies.

Christmas Cookie Carbohydrate Center

I believe the mud-colored icing
on the United States cookie
was intentional.

Picked up the “Blind Date with a Book” items I ordered from our library’s fundraiser.  I get them mainly because they are so beautifully wrapped.  The librarian picks a book from one of 6 categories (I request the category) but you don’t know what the book is until you open the gift. Each book comes with a pen, and bookmark, a hot chocolate packet, and a peppermint.

My only mistake was not getting one for myself.

Made progress on estate matters.  But it is still not done yet.  Will be two years in March 2026.

The CHH cleaned out some of the shelves in the front closet.  Still more to do there.

Read scripture at Christmas Eve worship.  “In the beginning was the Word …The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.”  Played piano accompaniment for a duet “Gesu Bambino”.   Bringing more light into this dark world.

Christmas morning with the family. Much fun.

Figured out what to make for dinners.  This had ceased to be an issue in this

empty-nester house, but one adult child came home on Dec 18th to stay for

several weeks, so meal planning was required.  Bonus: That adult child

cooked many of the meals. Yessss!

Kept up with a more hectic work schedule, brought on by the emergence from the federal government shutdown.  One of the agencies whose reports I summarize went from once a week to twice a week publication.  

Had a bunch of medical tests which I had put off until after the election. In retrospect, I do not recommend delaying such things.  Because the ultimate triumph in politics and elections is outliving the f#&*ers and living to vote in every next election.  One test revealed that there is no life-threatening issue behind my pulsatile tinnitus, so it’s relegated to the status of Really Annoying But Not Painful or Dooming.  However, that test uncovered another issue of concern, which, after even further testing, was determined to not be of immediate concern.  Return for repeat testing in a year and don’t think about it until told to.  Another type of test was inconclusive, so more testing must be done.

After Christmas, we joined the extended family for a gathering at a place that housed all 18 of us in one building.  A huge blessing to be with those people.  My generation is now the oldest generation in the family so I count every moment we can spend with them as an unearned moment of grace.  (Except maybe for the moment where someone was stomping around at 11:30 PM in the room over our heads.  That was a moment of tolerance practiced.)

Shenandoah Valley

Finally superglued my shoe!  Have not yet tested it out.

Accompanied the Common Household Husband driving to a New Year’s Eve party in a blinding snowstorm.  Other people had the sense to stay home, but not the CHH.  I went mainly because staying home and wondering if he was lying in a ditch would be more painful.   Made it there and back (by 10:30 PM).

House of Cards

Joy to all!

Sending cards at this time of year is one of my favorite things to do.  Every year

I fail to get them all done - please forgive me.  Following in Bibliomama’s footsteps,

I decided to document for the centuries to come some of my favorite cards

and my process.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Cards using my own photos

Cards using my own photos.  Clockwise from upper left: 

Suburban Pittsburgh Gothic, Feb 2010. In which the Common Household Mom and Husband seek to re-enact a famous American painting.

Cat of Hope in the Neighbor’s Driveway.  This cat, posed perfectly at the end of our unshoveled driveway, has never been seen again.

Gingerbread Houses at PPG Place, Pittsburgh, 2011.  This was from the Gingerbread House contest, brilliantly displayed.  After that year, the display moved to a different location and was not as elaborate, for instance, no train.

Card with skyline of NYC, pre-21st century

Long ago, we lived in New York City (Manhattan).  I loved to send this card

with its stylized skyline of NYC.  After 2001, it became too sad.  

I have kept one copy because it includes the Twin Towers, to remind me of

what was, but is no more, due to hatred and violence.  

Winter chickens, with pun:
Have a sPECKtacular season!

Winter Chickens, 2020.

Fabulous art PLUS a pun!  The art is copyrighted original art by

Patti Gay (Two Can Art).  The description on the back reads: 

Two Can Art is a collaboration between artist Patti Gay and her

son Noah who is autistic.  Noah creates all of the painted textures that

become Patti’s palette from which she creates beautiful, layered images.

And I am delighted today to find that this art work (and much more) can be purchased at allport.com/twocan. They also sell puzzles, towels, and napkins, using recycled paper.  A portion of proceeds go to charitable organizations.  

Eight Nights of Excuses card,  and headline card

Hanukkah cards

I don’t know how these particular cards, which aim to be amusing, are

received by our Jewish friends and family.  We’re just trying to bring levity

to the world.  We have already used Excuse #3 this year -

went out to dinner, missed sunset.

tiny owl card and 3-D card

A few more

The owl card is by artist Kristal Serna.  I don’t remember how I happened

across this artist’s products.  Many of them are way too cutesy for me,

but I like this owl. (And I really love her fall and spring scenes.)

The 3-D card on the right is an example of homemade cards.  I have

known two people who can make cards like this and I have been the fortunate

recipient of some of their work.  I am in awe.  

Humorous

Do yinz appreciate humorous Christmas cards, even if they border on rudeness? 

I haven’t had the right frame of mind to send these two.  Yet.

Chaos

The process begins at the computer desk, for the selection of photos and the

writing of the paragraph describing our year.  I fuss and brood over this part. 

After using most of a print cartridge to print (on regular paper), it’s on to

the actual cards.

Commandeering the dining room table

The card-writing operation takes up the entire dining room table.  I spend

some minutes agonizing over which card to select for which person. 

Would this person prefer seeing a fun card, a profound card, a religious card,

a homemade card?   I can’t listen to music while doing this task, lest I write the

wrong word or make a mistake on the address.

I have a fondness for envelope seals, partly because the glue on the envelope

sometimes is defunct.  The envelope seals are both festive and functional.

I told my husband that this year I decided not to use the Hanukkah envelope seals for the cards to our Jewish friends.  He said, “We can’t live in fear.”  I agreed, but said that I can’t make that decision for someone else.  Why should I potentially identify a household as possibly Jewish by sending them a letter with a Jewish symbol on it?  It’s extremely sad, but these are the times we live in.

After I complete a few, it’s time for the concluding ritual:

Seal the envelope

Affix address label on front

Carefully choose and affix envelope seal on back

Affix stamp

Assign Common Household Husband to take the crop to the post office.

Signed, sealed, and ready to mail

So far, as of Dec 20th, I’ve gotten halfway through my list.  

These days, I wonder if it is worthwhile to continue - all the paper used, you know, and the energy to transport them.  But I decide maybe it’s good to support the post office, and maybe one of those cards will bring some cheer to someone desperate for it.  In conclusion, I guess sending holiday cards is a dying ritual, and perhaps rightly so, but I will continue it while I can. 

Happy holidays from the Common Household!

Thanksgiving Survey 2025: Sandwich

Einstein enjoys a corned beef sandwich.

 At this season of thankfulness, I’m grateful for you, O blog readers.  

You, on the other hand, may or may not be grateful that it's time for the Thanksgiving survey! This is the Common Household’s annual tradition in which we express thanks for a thing.  This year we shall express thanks about that inimitable comestible, the sandwich, whether edible or metaphorical.   

Thanksgiving survey:  

Sandwich

Question 1.  What is a sandwich for which you are thankful, and why?

Bonus:  Provide the lyrics for your favorite song or poem featuring a sandwich.

Please participate by giving your answers in the comments.  If you want.  Participation is always voluntary.  Happy Thanksgiving Preparation Time!

Some past Thanksgiving Survey responses may be found here:

Letter

Wheel

Water

Felafel sandwich and tahini shake

Is a hotdog a sandwich?

The Impossible Burger

La-dee-da cucumber sandwiches

Everyone in the family knows
I can't stand mayonnaise.
Back in 2017, I took one for the team and 
bought mayo for the Lunch of the Resistance.