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Continued...


I'LL WAGER, READER DEAR, YOU NEVER OPENED A POSTAL PACKAGE to find walnuts. On second thought, if I'm betting on it, let me amend that to walnuts in the rough--good English walnuts in the shell. Oh, and I'll stipulate further: they had to be sent by friends, not just from some mail-order company! And, uh...one more thing. Along with the walnuts, there had to have been included a homemade pick (I received one, and it was fashioned from a nail; but this one--this one showing up in my wager--it could have been made from anything at all. I won't be a stickler about that).

So there you have it, Dear Reader. Ahem, are you stepping up to call my bluff? If you win this wager, I'll send you my pick. It is far superior to yours, I'll bet. Yeah, I'll bet you my box of walnuts...oh, wait, dear me, it is time to stop gambling with my windfall!

(Because--unlike you--I did receive walnuts in the mail, and they are from friends, and, by George, I do need that pick made by George!)




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I spent the afternoon engrossed in a project that's completely new to me. Never before have I worked on a design for two gravestones; well, to be honest, not even for just one gravestone.

The consensus was two markers for the graves of my parents, and it was I who suggested that the design flow from one to the other. Good idea! my siblings agreed. Go ahead and show us what you have in mind! So I'll show you, too, Dear Reader, when I've got it done...
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Tea is my hot drink of choice and brewing loose tea is what I prefer. A few weeks ago I came across this big glass mug at the thrift store. It's as large as a small soup bowl, and perhaps it is meant for sipping soup. But I've started brewing my tea leaves in it and this has bumped up the pleasure of my tea-drinking considerably. Every morning, now, I take delight in my see-through bowlful of tea.


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On this eve of Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for you, Dear Reader. I am ever so thankful for you!


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