We had a lot of chores to do today – the farm is covered in ice, we shoveled and chipped, we went to Bennington to get some slippers for Maria, but the bulk of the day was devoted to ironing some of the wonderful hankies that have been poring into the farm from all over the country. I haven’t ironed in awhile, but I like it, is warm and a good task for obsessives. I think of all the seamstresses of the world who stand up for hours and iron, and I imagine it is not much fun.

We had to wash them and sort them and iron them and stack and study them. I have to say I loved doing it, I’ll stay at it through the week until we get on top of it.

We have many hours of ironing to do, and we switched back and forth, Maria did the bulk of it, she was, as usual, amazed that I wanted to help her, she is always amazed when anyone wants to help her. I hope that fades, we had a good time. The hankies are astonishing, so varied, beautiful, so much amazing craftsman ship. We sorted them into piles by size and style and damage. These will make some beautiful things, it will be fascinating to see what Maria does with them. Thanks to those of you who sent them.