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!

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