New Plaid Tam and the Mousetrap

 

Today I worked from home and was very busy doing expense reports for another FART member who was way behind. Travalon and I went out onto the dock on our morning break and saw a big bird party, and he took some photos which I have forgotten to get off his camera. Then just before lunch I got an email that my hat had arrived. When I told Hardingfele yesterday that my "new" (pre-owned) hat would come today, she said, "You're getting another hat?" But I could just as easily say to her, "You're getting another cat?" Anyway, here's my hat:

I wore it for our lunchtime walk, when we went down to the dock again, and the bird party was still there. It was lovely out today, perfect for a vintage handmade "golf" tam with a big pom pom. They claimed it was an argyle beret, but I would just call it a plaid tam. I love it! I actually did get another hat on Wednesday, but no photo of that yet. It's just an indigo knit cap, the kind some people call a beanie and other people (I'm talking Canadians) call a toque, which is pronounced "tuke" because of course it is. That one says "Contrarian" on it, which is a group of people opposed to Dear Leader, including lawyers bringing cases against him... and winning. It was a fundraiser for them, and also this way at the protest next month all us Contrarians can recognize each other. It is a very warm hat. My goal now is to donate enough blood to get a bright red toque from the Red Cross early next year. I have already scheduled a donation for April.

Tiffy got to town right about the time I got off of work, and I drove her to the Turkish restaurant on Monroe Street, where the one non-meat option (it is Friday in Lent, after all) was the appetizer sampler with hummus, baba ghanoush, a red pepper spread called something like ezra, and a yogurt spread, with grilled pita bread. I also had a little bit of lentil soup beforehand. I asked the waitress if the sampler was huge, and she said no, but of course it was, so I brought half of it home. I was wearing the appropriate shirt for a Turkish restaurant, the one with the evil eye protector design on it, but you probably couldn't really see it under my (Irish) plaid poncho. I got the poncho for my first Scottish ceilidh, but it was actually made in Ireland - shh! There was a woman who started playing the viola while we were at the restaurant, and she played everything from Bach to music that sounded very appropriate for the venue.

Speaking of shushing, after dinner Tiffy and I went to Edgewood University to see The Mousetrap put on by students, and they made us take a vow of silence about the ending. At intermission we could write down our guess about who the murderer was on a notecard, but I was way off so I didn't get put in the drawing for tickets to every show for the 2026-27 season. Which is just as well, because I doubt I'd use them anyway. Who would I go with? Travalon doesn't love the theater, and who's to say Tiffy could come to town for every show? And who's to say I'd even want to see every show? I did enjoy this show a great deal, even if I never would have guessed who the murderer turned out to be. It's never who you think it's going to be in an Agatha Christie story.

Famous Hat