Miraculous

We ended up getting 2½ inches of rain on Saturday, so we woke up to a wet world on Sunday. It was a little chilly and windy, so I was glad I wore my alpaca wrap to church. And as we were walking from the car to the church, I was a little ahead of Walter, and he called me back. I turned back to see what was going on, and he held out something for me to look at.

Remember five weeks ago, when my ivory pendant fell off at church? I found the necklace in the aisle at church, but we had not found the pendant despite retracing our steps several times. The church staff also looked. We both prayed about it. And yesterday, there it was in the mud in a bed in the parking lot. I think the rain must have exposed it somehow.

After five weeks, I honestly had accepted that it was gone for good. And for such a fragile piece of ivory to have survived out in the elements for that long is truly amazing. I cleaned it up right away, of course:

And showed it to a church staff member whom I knew had tried to find it. It’s not perfectly intact—you might be able to see that the loop at the top is cracked. I’ve been trying to piece together what must have happened. The ivory loop that attached the pendant to the necklace must have broken when I was walking through the parking lot on the way from the car to the church. So the pendant fell off there in the parking lot without me noticing. I can’t figure out how it fell sideways into the bed rather than onto the pavement where I was walking.

Then the clasp of necklace worked on unscrewing itself, and came undone as I walked down the aisle to our pew. So it was really two separate failures.

Today I acquired most of what I’ll need to rehabilitate this lovely piece of jewelry that Walter gave me forty-six years ago. The pendant and the beads from the necklace are now taking a nice little bath in mineral oil.

I have new stringing material for the necklace, and a new clasp, and a metal jump ring to replace the ivory loop that formerly attached the pendant to the necklace. I’ve been doing research on how to fix that crack. It’s going to be very delicate work, for sure. But I am so thrilled to have it back—even if I never get to wear it again. (But of course I hope I will wear it again!)

After that excitement, we had a quiet afternoon, with Lina being the only one to join us on the Zoom. We always enjoy talking to her.

This morning my friend/neighbor Kim came over to visit. She is making real progress since her surgery and has started going to a gym to get some exercise, which will help with her lungs.

And also, even while I was visiting with Kim, I sold my pressure canner. I had to come down a little in price, but I’m so glad to be rid of it. The lady who bought it came to get it at about 12:30. It’s interesting to me that of all the items I have listed, the most expensive one is the only one that has generated any interest.

There is sourdough news also. I have spent the last couple of days working on rehabilitating my sourdough starter. I would hate to lose 25 years of continuous fermentation! By Saturday night it already looked much better. I would have liked to make sourdough crumpets, but there’s no one to eat them anymore.

By this morning I was so impressed with its revival that I went ahead and made sourdough bread dough. It took all day to rise—but that’s normal. The bread came out of the oven right before supper, and Jasper couldn’t resist having a fresh warm heel with his supper. It got a thumbs up. Tomorrow, sourdough pancakes for Shrove Tuesday!

Alas, Walter has not tasted the bread or even had anything at all to eat today. He has been having some digestive troubles, and when I went to call him for supper I found him in bed in the dark. I had really hoped he was over all that. I sure hope he feels better in the morning. I’ve been kind of at loose ends for much of the evening. Watched some Olympics replays.

Joy Spark: Yesterday’s was finding the pendant for sure. I’m still just stunned that it survived in the wild for five weeks! Today’s was the lovely sunny, breezy and cool weather.

Parting Shot:

My orchid is in bloom again! Robin gave it to me years ago, and most of the time it’s nothing to look at, but once or twice a year it sends up a stem which develops buds and then blooms. I love it.