Handiwork

Saturday in Seattle was rainy. I didn't do much outside. I woke up in Eric's room, later than usual. That room has curtains and faces north. Eric had gotten up in the night to go to the bathroom and somehow hit his head on the bathroom door, so he was a little upset, but went back to sleep with me on the floor next to him.

My main task for the day was processing acorns. They've been in the freezer since we collected them. Eric started out helping me, but soon moved on. Later, Nicole came and provided more help. I used a nutcracker to break the outer shells and then pulled out the nutmeats by hand. Sometimes the paper husk came off easily, others I gave up and left it. Reportedly that part is higher in tannins, but I'll risk it. I put them straight in a bowl of water to minimize oxidation, and then a few times, when the bowl was full, moved them to the food processor, with more water, and then into a large jar I had made ready.

I think we went through a few hundred acorns. There were a few we discarded, but most were healthy, and I didn't find any worms. I started around eleven, I think. I had a break to help Eric wrap a Christmas present, and then continued until around 3:30. Nicole and Rachel had gone out for lunch and shopping. They came back around two, maybe, and Nicole helped off and on over the last stretch. My hands were very tired by the end, and starting to ache.

I took this photo shortly after completion, when it was still a fairly uniform mixture of acorns and water. By now, the solids have settled more and the top layer has darkened. Tomorrow I'll just need to change out the water, I believe.

Next, I took Rachel and Colin to the Avenue for some shopping. That was a success. The library was closed on the way, though, which we hadn't expected. And then, when I was backing into my parking space, carefully watching the cars on either side, whose diagonals were not parallel, I went too far and smashed the taillight cover on a tree. Oops.

Nicole made pumpkin stuffed shells for dinner. Meanwhile, Rachel and I wrapped some gifts. A box from France arrived today, as well. After dinner, we watched The Return of the King, with a break for dessert. Lydia and I had one last slice of pie each, while the others had ice cream topped with whipped cream. After the movie, I mixed up the olive bread for tomorrow, with help from Eric. Actually, it's just bread right now. I need to go back and add the olives in a moment.