My desk, my pie and my jam, in that order.

Nothing would give me more pleasure than to itemize the things on my desk � la harri3tspy. Unfortunately, the desk at which I find myself is a mishmash of stuff relating not to myself, but to those who actually use this computer:

� a ruby-coloured iMac, sadly obsolete when it was once so state-of-the-art;

� an ink-jet printer;

� a telephone (with a hold button);

� a French/English-English/French dictionary with a picture of a lighthouse for a front cover because the original died a horrible death through misuse;

� a CD-ROM of photos from my brother-in-law with �Happy Birthday!� written in marker thereupon;

� a stapler;

� a lead pencil;

� my daughter�s address book;

� N�rt�n SystemW�rks CD;

� several ZIP disks in jewel boxes;

� lots of disparate sheets of paper with phone numbers and other notes scribbled thereon;

� a pair of scissors;

� a ZIP drive, presently not connected to the computer;

� a CD zipper case, containing mostly computer games which the kids played until they figured out how to beat them and have now abandoned;

� printer inks;

� a cardboard box which originally held printer paper which now holds all the other junk, like manuals, headphones, extra cables and various CDs which would otherwise clutter up the surface of the desk; and

� a goose-neck desk lamp with a burned-out bulb.

In other news, I baked a red currant pie today and made the fatal flaw of not sealing the upper crust to the lower, with the result that the bottom of the oven is now bedecked with a ring of red currant juice and will be very difficult indeed to clean. I think I will just leave it until it burns to a black crisp and I can vacuum up the ashes. That�s how I normally deal with these mishaps.

The pie itself was delicous, sweet and tart at the same time, and very, very red. There is actually some left over, but probably not for long. I tried some of my white currant jam today and was blown away. I had cut up half a lemon and added it to the currants and sugar, and the resulting jam is unbelievably yummy. Whoever visits me gets to have some on toast for breakfast.

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