Real Life Returns

Back from California, land of shirt sleeves, swimming pools, and striding along without worrying about slipping on ice or snow. It was below zero during the night here, but it's soared up to 6 degrees, F. and it's spitting snow.

So we've returned to bird watching, and snow sweeping for fun and frolic. It is amazing to me that even a short break can help me appreciate the upside of winter, though.

On Friday, we took a drive through Joshua Tree National Park. Vast, dry, and full of curious flora which were new to us. Midwesterners don't see a whole lot of high desert terrain (yet). But we were fascinated by these puffy plants which appeared to be so touchable---from the safety of the car. They proved to be spiky in the extreme when we got to see them up close.

It is amazing how plants and critters adapt to life in such an arid place, though.

At the western end of the valley there is a vast windmill installation which provides power for thousands of homes (or so we were told on the tramway ride), and we really noticed the wind the most during our takeoff when we left Palm Springs. Oh, and on the mountain tops. Once on the tramway when we got outdoors to take pictures, and at a rest stop on the way to the State Park. Very, very windy, indeed!

Well, my post about being home sort of veered back to California, didn't it? Perhaps that's because I had pictures I'd never posted.

I have a long list of February projects to begin on Wednesday. Perhaps there's enough there to share on this blog. Time will tell.

Happy Monday, all!

The Old College Try

Posting is difficult here, and keeping the computer "on task" seems extraordinarily difficult.

Jan says it's the solar flares. Works for me...

Anyway, I can give you my opinion of The Artist this morning. It gives us a taste of silent films, with a drop dead handsome "hero", a charming dog, and a heroine who channels Mary Tyler Moore. Not much plot, but lots of period cars and antiques.

We also took a tram trip up the mountainside in the afternoon which was pretty interesting. You ascend on the tram car up 6,000 feet in ten minutes to Mt. San Jacinto State Park and Wilderness Area. Last weekend the area suffered a huge windstorm, which disabled the tram, stranding some hikers and skiers at the mountain top for 14 hours. That had to be pretty cold and scary.

I was trying to pack light----which was a bust, by the way, but I needed another sweat shirt to serve as jacket, bathrobe, etc. So we stopped in a Goodwill shop and I found the best big old grey sweatshirt. You know me -----all about style!

If you are interested in seeing more about the tramway try pstramway.com. Hopefully you won't have to book a big party or something. chuckle.

Part of the reason I didn't travel as light as I expected to was that I took a couple very lightweight knitting projects along. The aforementioned socks, and a cap pattern from Anne Hansen's Knitspot. I love both of them---even though I haven't had much knitting time. Pictures tomorrow---even though it's Friday Fragments day. I don't think I have fragments this week.

Stay warm and cozy. Pet your dogs and cats for me. I'm having kitty withdrawal.

Just Me, Waving at You!

We've bought post cards and a few groceries, driven the whole route down the valley, and had two great meals so far.

The natives are apologizing about "the cold". We are bearing up in the 70 degree weather with a patient smile. They assure us that it will get better. How, I wonder!

Thanks for your enthusiasm for Sweet Doe soaps. That's not only here, but everyone who has gotten one as a gift from me loves the soap too.

The portal to the internet here is very erratic so I'll close quickly before all is lost.

Suds and Fragrance

I mentioned this lovely stuff yesterday in Friday fragments, but it really does deserve a post of it's own. I have been enjoying the fragrance of it since it arrived and it does the job in the shower, too.

In addition to the bars I ordered, called Meadowlark and Sunny Day, she threw in some samples of other formulations called Lemongrass poppyseed, Gardenia---for Valentine's Day, Glisten, Sparkling Anjou, Tres Leches (their best seller...the bars are brown and white swirl,) and Lavender.

Check out this link, because the web site may help you more than my lathery praise. Goat Milk Soap suppliers. If it isn't up and running yet, check back.

I've added a couple more projects to the queue. I'm doing some quilting for my sister, and making a pair of Finnish socks out of Nancy Bush's Folk Socks book. So far, so good.

The house sitter takes over on Monday when we go to spend a week in warm weather. The forecast is for 75-78 degrees for a high each day, and no precipitation. I'll post pictures of palm trees, for my friends in -0 weather.

My cats are already looking at me askance. They think our place is with them----always.

Have a great weekend.

Frosty Friday

Time for the weekly trivia festival hosted by the beautiful and extremely funny Mrs. 4444 of Half Past Kissin Time. (Thanks, BF.)

Thankfully our temperate winter held on until our furnace episode was over on Tuesday morning. I got up at 6 AM to a temperature of 62 degrees in the house, and called our gas company at 7 AM. We have been paying for their maintenance agreement for years, and getting the yearly inspection, but have never needed the repair service before. He was a champ, prompt and capable.

Then came the colder weather. Personally, I can't believe there isn't a Packer fan or two who are relieved that they can watch the remainder of the season in the warmth of their living rooms. I've sat in that stadium in cold, cold weather---and I didn't think I'd ever get warm again. (That is all I have to say about the sorry disintegration of Sunday's game against the Giants.)

This week I received a box of Sweet Doe goat milk soap from Iowa. Not only am I as clean as can be, my house smells wonderful. I'm putting a bar in every room and my clothing drawers. It is amazing. (I'll do a whole post later.)

Also this week, we received a gift of a jigsaw puzzle made from a US Geological Survey Map of our original home town, Iron River, Michigan. Talk about tough! Plus we have to keep it covered with my cutting mats and an afghan so the Fuzzies don't help. They would love to rearrange those pieces all over the house.

My kid, the teacher, is back to being a full-time student. She is ecstatic! Born to learn.

And my sister, the teacher, now retired, still gets a bang out of snow days. So do we. Somehow the excitement of a "day off" even extends to retirement---when we have every day off, if we so choose.

I must go fill bird feeders now. We have a huge flock of red polls who feast here each day, along with the chickadees, nuthatches, mourning doves, blue jays, squirrels and deer. I scared a deer off last evening when the car lights caught him in the back yard.

Stay warm and dry. And leave a comment.

Yet Another Yarn

Knitting Daily's motto is Make Time For Yarn Every Day.

I do this, of course, since it gives me an excuse to sit on my ... couch and make stuff.

My sister and Daisy were visiting this weekend, and while we chatted I did some "stash-busting". Here is the result. I made the cap-----the little shawlette was made for her by another friend who makes time for yarn every day.

We had some unusual events here after she left. When I got up on Tuesday morning, the temperature in the house was 62 degrees, and no amount of thermostat-twisting made the furnace kick on. Thankfully, we have a service and inspection contract with the gas companyuse and the repairman was here promptly---even before 8 AM, and he replaced a motor and repaired the fan, and we had heat by 11:30.

Our furnace is as old as the hills and we have been gathering estimates on replacing it ever since the inspection. We were warned that replacement parts would be hard to find and we should start thinking about making a change. I guess that will happen sooner, rather than later.

FYI---if you are a curious knitting person----the cap was knit with one strand of worsted on size 6 needles and 76 stitches for the ribbing. Increased to 80 and another strand of variegated yarn for the body of the cap for about 8 inches and then decreased to the top. The Prayer Shawl ministry was gifted with a number of single balls of variegated yarn and I'm combining them with worsted weight to use them up. They aren't warm enough to use alone, and there isn't enough for a pair of socks. The caps will be given away.

Have a great Thursday.

Wordless Wednesday

An Only Child

In the misty past, during the Great War, when my Dad was off sailing the Pacific, I was an only child. I had my Granny and my Mom "all to myself". Except when my cousin came to visit.

My cousin is exactly one year younger than I, and tons cuter. (It doesn't matter too much now, but certainly did when I was four.) Since I usually had all my dolls and other toys to myself, I was not a champ at sharing with her.

It is only now that it's occurred to me that she was my first "sibling" experience. I thought she was so lucky to always be an only child, whereas I was joined by my sister by the time I was five. Little did I know. During the war, she and her mom were sharing a household with aunts and cousins galore. I was the one who had stuff and didn't need to share---except when she came to visit.

I was telling her about a drawing prompt I had that asked that I remember a place from my early childhood and I thought of my grandmother's pantry with the smell of cardomom bread and so many delicious things. She had exactly the same memories of my grandmother's place. Now it is comforting that we share the same memories of someone so beloved. When we die we leave so little behind, except in the memories of our loved ones.

For a time I worked on a genealogy project and it grieved me to relegate all these interesting, formerly vital people to dates on a list. I know everyone can't write an autobiography, but for the sake of our own children and grandchildren, it would be nice to have some idea of who people really were.

My paternal grandmother was gone before I arrived on the scene, but she wrote letters to her sister, who saved them. My cousins typed them and put them in a folder, and after I spent an afternoon reading letters that Eva Christine Nordell Lundquist wrote to her sister, I felt I knew her better than I knew my own mother. My mom wrote letters to us when we lived away from her, but they were about menus, and company. Never how she felt about anything, or what she believed. I guess we had to deduce that from living with her.

It is a pity that there are so many things about family history that we are curious about only after all our informants are gone.

Friday Fragments

You know how it is by the end of the week. A little of this, a little of that and by Friday you are glad to spill the bits and link up to Mrs. 4444 at Half Past Kissin' Time.

I am thinking that Aaron Rodgers must be a pretty good sport, and I get that idea from watching the "Discount Double Check" ads which feature him and his "touchdown dance". The new one I saw this week with lineman Raji giving him dance tips cracked me up.

(For those of you who aren't football fans, Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. He's pretty skilled, playing for a pretty good team.)

Good Guy saw the doctor again and was pronounced well-----as well as can be expected, all things considered. Which is true for all of us who are of a certain age.

I got some frightening information this week in my e-mail, which told me that the guideline for neurosurgeons under the new health care plan directs palliative care if you have a brain bleed episode and you're over the age of 70. I know a great many healthy, vibrant people of 70 who would lose out.

All of us at book club enjoyed The Art of Racing in the Rain though nobody else was reduced to tears. (Hard hearted women.) I never consider myself a dog person----but I have loved particular dogs very well indeed.

The photograph answers for the week of geography quizzes are thus: Day One--Copper Harbor's Harbor House Bed and Breakfast, and Fort Wilkins. On Day Two---Dublin, Ireland and a coastal city in Ireland on the Southeast Coast. My memory still hasn't spilled out that info.

Day Three---Hawaii. Day Four, Wordless Wednesday, I was about five years old.

Above we have a picture of a friendly black cat we met at a park in Hawaii where we stopped to eat sandwiches. The black cat is in honor of Friday the Thirteenth.

In the era before our household was run by Tony, Bella, and Sweetie, we had a cat named Ella Fitzgerald who was in residence when we moved from downstate Michigan back to the upper peninsula. Ella wasn't crazy about moving (to put it mildly), nor did she like sharing quarters in a strange house with a dog. So when she got a chance to go outdoors, she disappeared. This took place in mid-August.

We looked everywhere in the neighborhood to no avail, but it is amazing how well a cat can hide and how quiet and still they can become. We gave her up for lost, though we still checked at the Shelter, just in case, from time to time. On Christmas morning she reappeared walking daintily along the narrow board on the deck, and she peered into the kitchen window. It was the same cat---and she never gave us a clue about where she'd been since August. She was thin and had lost a tooth, but walked right in, purring and made herself at home.

It taught us one thing. It's good to have Inside Cats.

Join in and sweep up your fragments. Happy Friday.

Please Pass the Bread

I used to bake bread pretty frequently when the kids were growing up. It was thrifty and I could use whole wheat flour, plus kneading and pounding on dough was a socially acceptable way of releasing hostility.

It also reminded me of my beloved grandmother. When I went to her for "bread lessons" though, she wasn't much help. She never measured anything---and did beating and kneading until it "felt right". That doesn't help a novice who has no idea what it should feel like.

Nowadays, Good Guy and I use our bread machine fairly frequently. I follow recipes with an alteration or two. Good Guy bakes a basic bread and throws in craisins, sunflower seeds, nuts, ---and whatever comes to mind as he browses the cupboards.

He outdid himself this week with a whole wheat concoction with those three additives. It makes delicious toast, too. My only problem with home made bread is slicing straight. Oh, that and wanting to eat more than I need. (And as my granddaughter says, "Butter, butter, butter!")

Wordless Wednesday

Answers and questions

Yesterday's answer is Ireland. The street scene is in Dublin, and the seaside is on the east coast in a location to be recalled later. I can usually find the picture I took of the boats at anchor with the harbor name on the side. However, try as I might, I can't find the picture this morning. It isn't Dublin, though.

Today's question is where are these pictures taken? (Wherever they show up on the posting.)

We seem to have quite an affinity for water, wherever we travel.

I must confess that I was surprised by Ireland. I was picturing the misty Emerald Isle, and I was seeing mountains, and rock, rock, rock. My dear DIL told me that when the Irish men came to Kentucky as indentured servants, they were put to work building stone fences which are seen so often in Kentucky. After visiting Ireland, I think nobody knows more about utilizing stone than the Irish.

And for something completely different, will some kind soul tell me how to set up a gadget to chronicle my completed knitting projects. Complete with photographs?

Today is said to be our last mild day in the forecasted weather days. Well, it was nice while it lasted, and for those of you who are praying for cold and snow, better days are coming. I'll hunker down in my workroom and piece quilt squares for a few days.

OK, I'm ready for your guesses.

Where's This?

Kay is right. This is fun. These were taken on the same journey but not in the same city.

Good Guy keeps finding bargain fares to cold places. I tell him there's a reason it's the off season. On this trip I had to buy both a long flannel nightgown and a sweater because I was chilly all the time. Living here in snow land, I thought I was accustomed to "chilly". But this was a different damp kind of cold.

Not that I'm complaining. All we saw and experienced were worth it. It was a great trip.

My camera is still MIA---but I found all this great stuff held captive in Good Guy's camera.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Where were We?

I am searching for my trusty little camera, and in the meantime, I'm having to use Good Guy's Canon. So, while preparing to take some knitting pictures, I downloaded the pictures already on the camera and found some riddles for you.

Last summer we stayed here for a couple nights and enjoyed it very much.

We also saw some local sights. The places were deserted at the early hour of our visit, but are pretty busy with tourists during the "season".

Hints: We were on the water, and within the state. That narrows it down to about 265 places we could be. And we were about as far north as we could be in Michigan.

Gotta go and take pictures of my first knitting project. Back tomorrow.

Friday

Friday comes around fast, and I hate to miss Friday Fragments (hosted by Mrs. 4444, and linked up with a great many fine and funny fragmenters. Spell check doesn't like that word, by the way.)

How does one choose a charity? Every cause I've ever given to sold my name and address---resulting in a deluge of begging letters, especially before the holidays.

This resulted not so much in soul-searching as in hair-tearing. Do I care more about mistreated animals than in prisoners children having Christmas? If I do, does that make me a shallow person? Are struggling people in Ghana more worthy than struggling people in Detroit? (You'll probably never know.) You get the picture.

Here's something funny. After my flurry of knitting, to provide my loved ones with warm stuff to wear, climate change has made wearing them unnecessary. Good thing I'm not superstitious, or I'd be taking the blame for "climate change". I expect I do my share in the carbon footprint department!

The ski hill people have to be worried this year. Even here where we have had some snowfall, we are having a whole week with highs in the 30's. It is nice for those of us who like to walk on clear roads, but tough if you're making snow for your ski runs.

The tree is down, and 90% of the Christmas gear is put away. I leave the snowmen around and the Christmas music is still heard. I love Christmas music. All the candles aren't burned out yet either. Little by little the January doldrums will settle in.

We are planning a trip to a warm place, so that can distract us with travel plans. I need to come up with some clothes to wear in warm places, too. Ugh---shopping!

Practical person that I am, I quickly discarded my pie in the sky idea of sending off snail mail every day. I'm finishing UFO's in my workroom every day, instead. I have a large quilt to finish by Valentine's Day. That should keep me working at it.

I think I have recovered from my holiday "don't care" attitude about weight control and wise eating. All cookies are gone, marshmallow fluff is gone, cocoa mix is gone, eggnog consumed, so I think we're back to veggies and fruits and not so much concentrated sweets. I hate that backslidden feeling of no motivation to eat right. Sugar rots my motivation, and I need to just abstain-----not try to moderate.

I think that's about all the Friday drivel I can gather up for today. I look forward to reading your contribution.

Recovery from Revelry

Pffft!  As if!  What a faker!

On New Year's Eve I struggled to stay awake long enough to watch the New Year arrive on the east coast, and then headed for bed.  So far, the new year has always arrived whether I paid attention or not, and once again my attendance wasn't important.

I usually have quite a feeling of new beginnings when I get to start a new journal, crank up the new calendars, etc. but this year I'm using the same daily journal as I used in December, and all the calendars have been up for a while.  Good Guy bought a couple calendars to go with our gifts---which means we could probably paper the living room with new calendars.

We aren't having extreme problems staying current with the date, year, or appointments so I don't quite understand the calendar fixation----but it seems harmless enough.  He doesn't drink, gamble, or carouse so I count my blessings.

I untrimmed the tree this morning and spent more time scrubbing pitch off my hands than taking decorations down.  What a mess.  Of course, it isn't outdoors yet, and the endless needle vacuuming hasn't begun.  That seems to be an ongoing project until August or so, no matter how much time I spend today trying to get every single needle found.

GG ended up with a book tally of 103 books, and I ended up with 84.  Even that is a reach, since a few of them were books full of sweater patterns or techniques of which I read only half.  Eighty might be more accurate.  But in this new year, I've already read two books from my Nook----which I requested for Christmas.

It has its charms, but at this point I can't say I prefer it to holding an old-fashioned book.  Since I'm more of a book reader than a book buyer, I downloaded a book from the digital library last week.  (It's no wonder it was available.  It is awful, and I've only read one chapter.  It sent me running for directions about how to delete books from my Nook. Not only that, but it is horrible for over 400 pages.  I'm too old to waste that much time.) In the Nook's favor, a  friend pointed out the advantage of being able to enlarge the font size at will.  That is a good thing!

I have to figure out how to keep track of my completed knitting projects on a sidebar here.  Don't laugh, somebody might care about knitting.

And to wind out with some sad news, the mighty Badgers lost out to the Mighty Ducks yesterday in the Rose Bowl.  Only Sparty came out with a win for the Big Ten so far, and I'm ambivalent about the Michigan---Virginia Tech game.  Good Guy has ties to the U of M, but my daughter is working on her PhD at Virginia Tech.  Maybe I'll try for a neutral stance.  (Not a great skill of mine, by the way.)

Have a nice Tuesday.