By golly, stop skewing the treadle and crossbeam!

Tags

fiction, nonsense, postaday2011, skew, treadle

One day, long past today, there was an odd-looking physician called Dr. Jiggybones. He had a practice that served the little village in the Berkshire Mountains called Wyben. The community as a whole was an exceptionally self-sufficient bunch. The church group made the rounds throughout the village and kept the Minister and the good Doctor apprised of whom needed medical attention, blessings, and the general welfare of all the patients and patrons of the church. They had their own butcher, blacksmith, grocer, many farmers, a barber, a seamstress and even a weaver. Life was comfortable and orderly in a the village of Wyben.

During the late winter however, the Doctor started to get an unusually high numbers of patients complaining of twisted knees and ankles. Each time the Doctor would ask his patients about the origin of the accident, the patients would clamp their mouths down tight and not be truthful with their good Doctor. He conferred with the Minister and the church group and they were as baffled as he by, not only the high incidence of twisted knees and ankles, but by the strange stubbornness shared by all, not to divulge the reason why.

The Doctor and Minister were in agreement that the study in the refectory needed a new rug, so they decided to pay the Town weaver a visit; Miss Belle, was her name and it suited her very well, indeed. She welcomed them both into her shop and when they stated their purpose, she took out her notepad and asked for the dimensions, color and type of wool. When asked how long the rug would take to make, she replied “I can’t make any promises because I’ve been having quite a bit of trouble with my loom and no one seems to know how to fix it.” The Doctor and Minister, looked at each other and asked her “who have you asked for help?” to which she replied “well every man in town has attempted to help, but they have been the worse for it”. “Ah, so that’s it” said the Doctor and Minister in tandem.

The Doctor offered to take a good look at the loom from underneath and asked the Minister for some aid, when the Minister accidentally applied pressure on the treadle, he started to stress his knee, at which point the Doctor braced the Minister from beneath his shoulder alleviating the pressure. Having learned his lesson, it was the last time Doctor Jiggybones would let the cross beams get off skew on the treadle.

The Hotest Hot Versus the Coldest Cold

*artic wolf *

I think extremely hot humid weather is the worst because there is only so much that you can do to make yourself comfortable. Sometimes naked isn't enough. Cold weather gives you more options such as layering, cuddling, layered cuddling. You feel that you can do more to protect yourself and I live in the North East so having both extremes, I feel better armed against cold than extreme heat.

Write about a food that you used to like.

Tags

postaday2011

When I was pregnant with my son twenty years ago, I had some crazy cravings for pancakes. I would look forward to weekend excursions to the local International House of Pancakes.

Growing up in my French household, pancakes weren’t a traditional breakfast choice. My choices for breakfast were very consistent and very French, toast with butter and preserves or cereal. School week or weekend, it didn’t matter.

My introduction to pancakes came during breakfast outings with my friends during high school at the local diner during first free period. Being used to the simplicity of crepes, the pancake breakfast was beautifully decadent with the combination of warm butter and maple syrup.

Prior to my pregnancy, I would indulge in pancakes from time to time but it was relatively rare in comparison to my usual choice for breakfast. I prefer, even to this day, a healthy breakfast such as oatmeal, cereal or toast. However, once I entered my second trimester, I had pancakes on the brain. It is so hard to describe what cravings feel like or how relentless they can be. The craving is so primal, it feels as if, if the craving isn’t satisfied something is going to pop. Once that craving is indulged, the feelings are so intense and feel so good that Maman and baby are so happy.

What became so bizarre was that as suddenly and powerfully I craved pancakes, the minute I gave birth to the little prince I lost all desire for pancakes. My husband was so saddened by the loss of his pancake companion, my company wasn’t the issue, it was the fact that I no longer indulged in pancakes. It wasn’t that the sight or smell put me off, it was the texture and feel of the pancake in my mouth that killed all delight in the pancake. To this day, when I think of pancakes, I immediately feel a dry, cakey feeling in my mouth and my stomach starts to turn, I begin to feel nauseated. In my mind, I know that it is all mental, but really, is it that important to overcome my dislike of pancakes?

I know that my cholesterol levels are the better for it, so is my waistline. So, in the end, my pancake craving served its purpose and it makes for wonderful food memories.