24 ramakins

sunny, hot, temps 29

An unexpected and beautiful day. Was supposed to rain - storm even. but so far it's been gorgeous. And - to make it an even better day - we have an Abercorn Bakery lemon meringue pie in the fridge. If you're in the area there are two bakeries you must try to drop by - the Abercorn Bakery, in the village of, yes, Abercorn. It's just across the border from Richford, Vermont. and, in Sutton, the magnificent La Rumeur Affamee. Which has baked goods, but also has the most wonderful selection of cheeses, and meats - and sorbets. And if you like date squares....well - their dates will get you to third base in no time. they're obscene.

We zipped across to Richford, then to the bakery, then to cowansville, then to Knowlton for lunch - then home to meet Johnny and his son who came to take the rusty old clawfoot tub and a sink out of the basement. then Tony arrived to get the ten year old paint tins out of the basement and take them to the toxic site. Ugh.

We're convulsing with activity here. I'm trying to organize the kitchen into three sections...a sort of kosher construction project. There're the things we want to keep. The things we want Kirk to sell (nice glass and plates), and the things we want to offer to friends (good things, but not necessarily collector's items, just good, sturdy kitchen wares). And then there was the shocking amount of stuff that just got thrown away. Out of date food, opened and stale stuff, broken wares. Honestly - it's very humbling to clean out an old kitchen and see all the stuff that just got shoved to the back.

How did we end up with so many mugs? And glasses? And those little ramakin things. How many does any family need? Probably none - which is what we'll have after this renovation.

Want a ramakin?

And measuring cups. Dear lord, if this was my next-of-kin cleaning it out they'd think their Aunt Louise was barking. for a woman who barely cooks, how come I have two dozen ramakins and at least 5 one cup measuring cups? And three meat thermometers. And no tupperware container matches the pile of tupperware tops. I also have at least thirty cookbooks. but, to be fair, I use those a lot when writing the books. I'm surrounded by cookbooks and poetry books. And pastry. And cafe au lait. Dreadful, the life of a writer.

Wheeled the recycling container to the curb yesterday. it was overflowing. Only to realize an hour later that it wasn't the week for recycling. So I wheeled it, bouncing, back....and Lise, God bless her, and Donna went through it and found all sorts of useful things I'd decided in frustration to recycle.

I'm actually at that stage in life, and in the renovations, where I want to keep so little.

Want a ramakin?

Michael. Trudy. A good book, a fireplace, a nice cup of coffee or tea. A La rumeur date square sometimes. A bathtub. A Queen bed, so we can cuddle, but also have our own space. A laptop to write with, and a notebook and pen. the complete works of Auden. And knowing that the people I love are healthy and happy and safe. That's what I need.

who needs a ramakin? or 24?

Oh, I wanted to tell you that my terrific Quebec publisher, Flammarion, has put Le mois le plus cruel(book 3, which is just translated and published in French in Canada) in the front window of the two major bookstores in downtown Montreal - Chapters and Indigo. Our great friend Dom took this photo of the Indigo store window today and sent it to us. Isn't that a fabulous image in the window? I'm stunned. And thrilled. Thanks, Dom!

Now that's what else I need - kindness. And love. Finding lots of both these days. Makes it so much easier to downsize things.