CONTENTS 11/2/2020
We’re Still Neighbors
Vote Tomorrow
Help Your Neighbors Vote
Free Siberian Iris Clumps
Craft Projects
Silly Doom-Scrolling Recipe
Radio Free Fl!p: Fashioned In The Clay
WE’RE STILL NEIGHBORS
No matter what happens tomorrow, we will still be living side-by-side. My neighbor Bea across the street reminds me that I wrote her a song years ago with this verse:
We don’t agree on God or Politics
But we still take soup when someone’s sick.
We still share pie; it tastes so sweet.
We still agree we love Cherry Street.
We can find a way to live together. We will.
VOTE TOMORROW
If you need a ride, let me know. Don’t wait till late in the day. Vote early. I’ll help you find a ride. I will also be willing to personally pick up and drop off your ballot, though I am immune-compromised and not ready to share a car with anyone but Zeke. I will not ask who you voted for. I care that YOU get to vote! That’s what makes us a democracy. ~ Fl!p 360-671-4511
HELP YOUR NEIGHBORS VOTE
1405 ballots need “curing” in Whatcom County as of this evening. People who turned in their ballot might not be able to have their ballot counted unless they contact the Auditor’s office. The window for fixing it may extend beyond tomorrow, but it’s best to check. Usually the problem is something like the envelope wasn’t signed, or was signed by the wrong person (mixed up with your spouse or housemate’s more often than not). You can contact the Whatcom County Auditor’s office to fix this and make sure the vote you cast is counted.
VoteWA.gov to check your own ballot
To check to see if anyone you know has had their ballot caught in purgatory, check this website, created by a Lynn Street neighbor here in the Columbia neighborhood.
https://www.votewashington.info/voter/wa/wm/ballot/challenged
FREE SIBERIAN IRIS CLUMPS
Light blue and dark blue Siberian Iris clumps. I am dividing my clumps and have placed them out front. ~ Yasmin Liepa, 1511 East Maplewood
CRAFT PROJECTS
This is the time of year that our thoughts turn to craft projects. I have lots of pine cones, free for the picking up at our daughter’s house 1613 E Maplewood. The internet has some great ideas for all ages that are beyond the peanut butter, bird seed bird feeders variety that are a such a popular preschool project.
By the same token, I’m making some Della robbia candle wreaths that use a variety of cones, seeds, nuts and pods. If you have a tree or other plant that drops something that could be used, please contact me. I’ll be glad to come by with a bag and pick them up.
I’m regretting very much that I put all those beautiful poppy seed heads from our garden in the yard waste tote in July. But who was thinking autumn craft projects this summer? Clearly not I! ~ Joan Gaasland-Smith 360 303 4983
SILLY DOOM-SCROLLING ANTIDOTE
I’ve gotten into a self-indulgence of making Creme Brulee about once a week. (Or twice in weeks when I haven’t been able to stop doom scrolling.) 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of sugar (mix together well), 2 cups milk or milk-&-cream mix, more vanilla than the recipe says. My big pyrex baking pan holds 8 custard cups or ramekins. I place a folded dish towel in the bottom to keep the ramekins from conducting heat off the bottom of the glass pan. And don’t let the cups touch each other or the edge of the big pan. Add hot-but-not-boiling water to halfway up the cups. (I do this after I set the pan onto the oven rack to keep hot water from splashing into the ramekins.) Bake in the oven at 250-300 degrees for probably around an hour but start checking at half hour. They’re done when they barely wiggle when jiggled. Cool on a rack, then cover and refrigerate. That’s it. Makes 8 little custard cups and lasts a week in the fridge once I have the lids on (if I can keep from eating them all the first day). Sprinkle sugar and a tiny bit of salt on top. Melt with an itsy bitsy kitchen blow torch or other butane torch. Or under the oven broiler – but watch closely. It just takes a minute or two. Wait to eat till the top has cooled so you don’t incinerate your tongue and fingers. Melted sugar is HOT. But once it’s cooled, the topping is crunchy and the custard is smooooth!
Of course, the best treatment for Doom-Scrolling is to put down the phone or laptop, tear your eyes from the screen, and find something useful to do! Go garden. Even better – connect with other human beings, heart to heart. If you’re going to cook goodies, you could share some…
RADIO FREE FL!P: FASHIONED IN THE CLAY
Gordon Bok, Ed Trickett & Ann Mayo Muir. This was exactly the song I needed today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s2YLH4fK-k
Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511 2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org
If you want to ask me to post something, just email me. If it’s urgent, phone. If it’s a real emergency, call 911.