Rounding up dishes and running the dishwasher today after the messy process of making a loaf of lemon poppyseed pound cake last night. So much work and splatter to beat all of that butter with everything slowly added. I like it, though I think next time leave out the poppyseeds. They go straight for the gumline, don't they? I followed the instructions in the cookbook the first time and nearly burned out the motor of my ancient handheld egg beater. Another time, use the Kitchenaid stand mixer.

I think I have that out of my system - it was something I wanted to make over the holidays that kept getting postponed. After sampling a slice the rest is in the freezer and will be a lovely dessert when friends come over for lunch.

Also trying to get coconut out of my system. I think something came into the house with the term "natural flavorings" that was actually coconut, I can't figure out where else, but I've had my classic skin breakout after coconut this week. I've gone through the packages of things here and tossed a couple where contents were vague.

Rereading my riff on where we manage to make friends, at work or outside work, I want to add that what I'm always pleased to read here are all of the people over the countryside in two provinces who Dorothy seems to know when she describes her travels. She sets an example of how to be friendly and a good friend and (most importantly) enrich both herself and those people in the process of their conversations, however long, short, or involved it might be. Taking note of the people we meet and the in-person conversations, those are so good for us.