1+1+(1+1+1) things make a post

1. Happy birthday, helenraven! I hope you are celebrating in whatever way you choose...

2. What I should have said in my previous post: GirlBear was home for Christmas, and (despite anxiety beforehand that she should not leave hospital prematurely, however understandable the desire to clear the wards for Christmas) is making good progress and happy to be home.

3. weegoddess, who knows what I like, has brought me gifts from the US:

3a) Thrift shop cookbook, Betty Crocker's Mexican Made Easy (includes recipe for Strawberry Margarita Pie)

3b) Thrift store book not about cookery, Growing Up in Coal Country about children's life in the Pennsylvania coalfield around the turn of the twentieth century (and goodness, it's a signed copy!)

3c) Cookery book not from a thrift store, Centre County Amish Cooking, one of those wonderful spiral-bound cookbooks to which a community contributes the recipes they actually use (such as a recipe for Kosher Dill Banana Pickles - bear in mind that that's Amish Kosher Dill Banana Pickles - which contains no bananas, but does require kosher dill mix)