Had wonderful company last weekend. Piffle's own Mrs. Merdle, aka Lindley in the non-LPW universe, is undertaking a round-the-world-ish tour for a year (bad, jealousy, bad; down, envy, down.......) and is currently making her way up the east coast of the US, so she stayed with us last weekend. Any pifflers in Mrs. Merdle's future route: grab her; she's a wonderful guest.

I had a great time, talking about genealogy and showing her Philadelphia, where we saw the Liberty Bell, a couple beautiful old churches, several blocks of old row houses, a house a possible relative of hers may have lived in, and the different world of South Street (with its condom stores, 'retro' fashion shops and alternative music stores - one is actually called Noise Pollution!). We stopped for lunch at a Burmese restaurant (after discovering a similar outlook on food choices: go for the unusual!); she indulged me while I stopped at Borders to pick up a new book on Plymouth & the Mayflower (the coupon made it as good as price as on-line) and while I fondled yarn at a shop I hadn't been to before (small selection, but what it had was very nice; I was very restrained -- only bought enough for one project [the fact that I'd bought lots the week before at Maryland Sheep & Wool meant that even *my* yarn appetite had been somewhat sated......]).

The only bad part: she moved on before I could take her through the back roads of Lancaster County. But there's always next time......

The cranky 17yo cat has learned a new trick in the last month -- drinking from the washroom tap. She now loudly (I'm convinced she's part Siamese, with the range she has) sits on the vanity and DEMANDS that we turn on the tap. Guess it is a step up from knocking over any tumbler left sitting around.

Seth and I did a basic graphics presentation at the local STC chapter meeting last night. Went as well as I could have hoped; it is always hard to know what level of detail to aim for on something like that.