Ambition Strikes..

At 3 in the morning! WTF??
Why is this? I lay there thinking about all the things I didn't get done yesterday and all of a sudden I'm awake and I find myself upright and vertical in my bedroom. This is how my body knows it's time to be up. When it finds itself upright and vertical.
It takes a bit of time for my body and my head to sync watches here. My eyes are telling my head that my body is frickin' nuts because it's only 3 AM.
My body is telling my head that it's time to be awake, because, well, we're awake.

Body: It's 3 AM, look at the clock, we could be nestled snuggly under the covers awaiting our usual wakeup time of between 5 and 6.
Head: But there's noone in the house. Noone to wake up if we turn on lights, noone will care if we turn on the music and start the vacuum.
Body: Dude! It's 3 AM! I care if the vacuum starts and the lights are on. Besides, if you make me get up now, I'll have to let out Bu-Dawgh, start the stove and by then I'll be awake and I'll never be able to go back to sleep.
Head: Come on, think of everything you didn't get done yesterday, we can tidy up the stash room, clean out the truck, get next week's hay supply moved into the hay supply place in the barn, heck we could even get the barn cleaned out before Saturday morning, when you're supposed to clean out the barn.
Body: It IS SATURDAY MORNING!!! I'm going back to bed.
Head: No, you're not, besides, you have to go to the bathroom, and then, you'll be awake, so you might as well get used to it. We'll be so productive today, we'll get knitting done! Lots and lots of knitting.
Body: Can we go to the library and return books and get more?
Head: Dude, we can do anything we want. It's Saturday and we have a whole day to do whatever we want.
Body: Except sleep.

And so it goes, and of course, Head wins, we are already upright and vertical when this argument ensues, and by the time it's over, we've already visited the bathroom, started the stove, checked our email and let out the Bu-Dawgh.

The only thing left to do is enjoy our coffee, while making a to-do list!

The Dishes Are Done Break Out The Tree!

This year's Thanksgiving Dinner was at my cousin's house, who happens to live in the same town as me. This doesn't happen very often, usually we travel, so this was pretty cool. Plus it meant I got to drink wine, and play scrabble and get down on the floor and play with the kids and since I was drinking wine, noone thought anything of me being down on the floor, or making up scrabble words. (Mark, you rock at scrabble! I'm your partner next time! What? Scrabble doesn't have partners? Snap! You still rock!).

This year's Thanksgiving Dinner almost didn't happen at my cousin's house. Earlier in the week we had gotten our first storm of the season and while on the way from point A to point B, she rolled her Blazer. Her daughter was fine, and she was fine (after hanging upside down for nearly an hour, while they tried to peel the blazer away from her). This was not fine, and this was definitely cause for a Thanksgiving Dinner if ever there was one. Plus she got a new jeep out of the deal.

So, because her husband is hunting (what male isn't hunting at this time of year in N. Mich?), I offered to take her and her kids to go get their tree (she's not quite up to driving yet). We'll just fire up the farm truck and drive over to the local Tree Farm. Who knows what will be picked up. She's a balls-to-the-wall kind of gal, a go big or go home type, so I know I'll need the big truck. No matter, it will be fun. It will be a 'venture, as one of my grand-twins used to say. And we will have a blast, and there will probably be more wine.

For the last few years I have not gotten a real tree, the kids are gone, it's just hubby and me, and I really don't like cutting down trees, or buying ones that had already met their demise. It just seems wrong. So, in my lodge decor that adorns the inside of my log cabin, I have several very very realistic "fake" trees. Realistic to the point that if I put the big one (acutally a stand of 3 trees) in a pot, people would have to look to see that it wasn't a real tree. They are imperfect, they are different colors of green, and they really look real. So anyway, this tree, or set of trees, stays up year round in my house. It holds lights (year round) lodge type of ornaments, seasonal goodies and I take it out onto the deck and hose it off twice a year, because it also houses seasonal critters and dust. But this year......
You guessed it, we have a child in the house again! We have a gal who used to live with us when she was in high school for awhile (one of our daughter's friends), and she's back, going through a rough time, and has a 2 year old! How much fun is this gonna be!!
I won't pick out the tree for her, I'll let her do that, I remember how much fun my kids and I had when we did it, but I'll look forward to helping decorate it (gotta dig out the tree stand, if I even still have it).

This will be fun! And we'll drink more wine, or hot cider maybe, and have leftovers from yesterday and, and, and.......

In Which The Mouth Swipes My Pie!

So, today finds me over at my cousin's house armed with pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and rolls.
Since I'm totally a homemade gal, I did almost all of it. The pumpkin pie came from pumpkins, that no, I didn't grow, but I did can. Those are the best. Don't even have to have pie pumpkins, any that I've tried will do, they just taste way better, fresher than the canned pumpkin mix I've "bought" in the past. Takes 3 qts of home canned pumpkin for 2 pies. The pie shells are made from a centuries old recipe I've had for, well, half a century anyway.
I bought the cranberries and the oranges, but will mix them together with a bit of sugar and cinnamon, add some heat and water and produce cranberry sauce.
As for the rolls, yeah, they're just plain white rolls, but I'll throw in a bit of whole wheat flour just for kicks.
I didn't whip up the cream myself, I don't have access anymore to fresh milk and cream so I bought the old standby, CoolWhip. Hey, that stuff's not bad!

I will take my pie (made 2 of them, The Mouth swiped one), Cool Whip, cranberry sauce and rolls and head over to my cousin's house as soon as the rolls are out of the oven (and I haven't started them yet, but it's still really early, she'd shoot me if I showed up really early).

And in return for all of this early showing up and all, she will reward me with wine! Lots and lots of wine. Knowing her, it will be an all I can drink kind of thing, bottomless, and not even in good wine glasses, but in tankards. Yeah! That's what you should drink wine out of, saves the need to keep going back for a refill.

I did not finish my mossi cardi, grrrr, but I will take it over to work on, when I'm not swilling wine or on the floor playing with the kids.

So, two things happened yesterday that merited remembering. When The Mouth dropped off my groceries (my vehicles are in various states of protest, and the one that runs currently does not have plates or registration on it so I can't go too far), she spotted the pies. Pumpkin pie is her favorite, and as it was, the 2 pies happened to be cozily nestled into my 2 remaining pie pans, my favorites, as it were, mostly because they're the only 2 I have left.
The minute her eye went for the pie, I knew I was in trouble. So, I did the only thing a loving mother would do. Grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and hastily scrawled out a contract regarding loss of life and limb if the pie pan was not returned. Laughing at me, she signed it, making such comments as "you know I'll bring this back". Yeah right, if I knew that, I'd still have 8 pie pans instead of my current favorite 2!

The second thing that had me rolling on the floor relates directly to the new tin roof we put on the cabin this summer. And Bu-Dawgh. And the current location of his leash, which is outside the front door. I knew the snow was going to come down, the temps had warmed up and you could almost see the snow inching it's way down off the roof. And Bu-Dawgh loves to play in the snow, next thing I heard was the goosh-plop of the snow off the roof hitting the ground. Thinking this would be an awesome thing for an oversized puppy I went out fully prepared to see him happily bounding around in the new fallen avalanche. He was not. He was up on the deck, hiding underneath the summer aquarium, shaking. Not shaking as if to shake off the snow, but shaking as if he was scared to death. Trembling. And very much willing to leave his snow outside. He's such a baby. He's recovered though, already been out playing in it. I suspect before long, he'll be looking forward to the goosh-plop so he has some new snow to play in!

Off to start the rolls now. Have a great turkey day!

Time To Get Warm

Today, will find me taking a brief respite from my real job and out slogging through the woods cutting firewood. To me, this weather is perfect for this job. No hot sun, no sweat, no bugs, cold enough to keep you cool!
Actually I should rephrase that, my saw isn't really big enough to keep up with the big boys, so I do more loading and stacking and less cutting. Whatever, it gets done and we all have free wood. It's a great deal!
Every now and then we get a tract of land to cut, either the owners want some cleared, or they've sold off the good stuff and want it cleaned out, that's how we get our firewood. It's not really free, and I'll feel how much it cost tomorrow, but it will go a long way toward heating our house this winter.

Several times we've mulled over the idea of taking out the woodstove, or of just using it to supplement another heating system. When we put our wood floors in, we talked about putting a sub floor heating system in, but I think, no. I like the stove.
Don't so much care for the mess, and it's a real bear to regulate the temperatures, sometimes on a really cold January night, we have to crack the windows in the bedroom because it's so hot, but I think the system we have works just fine. It could be better, but it's not broke, so....

My shawl is almost done, could probably finish that today if I had a notion, but it won't happen. Also, the mossi cardi that I want to wear for Thanksgiving is close to done, I really want to finish that, more than the shawl, so that one will rate higher.

On the farm, we continue to meet the weather head on. Ice is made every night, so until it gets too thick to break with a shovel in the horse and cattle tanks, that's what we do twice a day. When it gets too thick, I'll break out the tank heaters, don't like to do that, costs electricity, and they are notorious for deciding to not work.

Hubby built me a "shack" around the water pump by the barn. It's insulated and everybody! Now, 1/2 hour or so with the heat lamp and my pump will be thawed out and ready to use. I fill tanks every other day in the winter, I'll have to take a picture, it's a rare sight!

Try to stop at a neighboring farm on my home from work at night to pick up corn for the cattle, they are getting so big.
The chickens aren't crazy about the snow, but they'll get used to it and best of all, I've started to make my paths again.

Making paths in the snow rocks! Kind of like an adventure!

Your Daily Physics Lesson

In which the forces within are equal or greater to the forces without, Or in layman's terms - Bring It On!
First of all let me dispel a myth that may or may not be disturbing you. Ready? Here goes:

I am not a physicist. I'm not even sure I spelled it right. I know, it's shocking, what with my incredible insights into the world around me - or inside my head - whatever. But, no, I'm not one of those people who wear the pocket protectors. I'll just leave that to settle in for a minute.

If you've recovered enough from that statement, I'll continue.....

My particular version of "forces to be dealt with" this morning include not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 of my vehicles. Yes, I have 4 vehicles. Hey, hubby has way more than that, but around here, they each have their own special brand of usefulness. Even if they are just yard ornaments.

We can eliminate the bike, bike riding season is pretty much over, and li'l bro in Colorado who's temps still see 75 in the daytime, you don't even need to comment here, I'm not speaking to you anyway. I took the insurance off of the bike for the season. It was hard, mindbendingly hard, actually, but I did it. I am no longer a biker chick, but this is just for the winter.
Vehicle #2, My Egg (geo metro - 50 mpg - I can put up with a lot of ugly for 50 mpg!) currently is displaying issues involving the spewing of antifreeze all over the driveway. Apparantly, according to hubby, it is the heater core, or the heater line, or something not even remotely close or even connected to the actual heater.

That was yesterday, so I hopped in my favorite winter vehicle of all time, The Truck.
The Truck is a 1993 (I think) GMC Sierra Full Size Pickup on Big Tires, with a Crew Cab and , um, of course, 4 wheel drive. Oh yeah! The Truck!
The Truck rocks, it is my favorite vehicle in which I must ride in rather than on, but alas. The windshield wipers, as well as any assortment of dash, headlights, or taillights only work when they want to, which wouldn't be at night, or during a freezing rain session which is what we had last night coming home from work.
It gets dark here early. By 5 oclock when it's time to leave work, there is a definite need for headlights. Oh it's easy enough to see driving home, but not so much for people to see me, so working headlights are a great option.
And, when I have to stop every 1/2 mile to scrape the windshield (remember the wipers don't work and it's freezing rain) it's really cool if the people behind me can not only see me, but see that my intentions to pull over to the side of the road are documented by application of the brakes and taillights. Oh, and I forgot to mention, there's no plates and insurance on The Truck.
So, that was yesterday.
Today.... we are driving our "new" vehicle of choice, the assembled and altered, Izusu Rodeo, or The Clomper as I like to call it. I like this vehicle because it's different I guess. Really there's no reason not to like it, but it starts and stops without rain dances, goes forward and backwards, has 4 wheel drive, and the wipers and lights all work.
No, it's not legal for the road either, that should be remedied this morning, yeah, I'll be a bit late for work, deal with it.

And, if it weren't dark out still, I'd sooo take a picture of The Clomper for you. I know you'd find it just as alluring as I do.

And baby bro out in California who seems to have forgotten what snow looks like, give me time, daylight hours are limited and most of them find me inside, actually working. I'll get you pictures, don't you worry.

Edited to add pictures of The Clomper (who really doesn't like his/her name and we're working on that) and also snow pics for baby bro in CA.

Click to bigify, come on, you know you want to!

Winter Seems To Be Here

It has been snowing non-stop for pretty much 4 or 5 days. Not the lake effect snow, where it builds up at the rate of an inch an hour, that would be a lot of snow (and how cool would that be???). But this little piddly flurry stuff that just floats around and finally lands. It will do this now pretty much all winter long. There isn't a lot of snow on the ground, but it's there. As is the cold. This, I don't like. I love the snow, bring it on, but the cold brings with it a whole host of "stuff".
For one....the water in the barn is now officially frozen. When I lift up the handle to the pump, nothing happens. Well, that's not true. This following is what happens:
Lift up handle to pump.
Figure out nothing is coming out.
Go find the heat lamps.
Set up heat lamps to try to get the water thawed out.
Get bales of straw to stack in and around the pump house.
Get old blankets and sleeping bags to wrap around pump.
Come back a half hour later to see if the pump is thawed yet, (which last night it wasn't, so the heat lamps have been on all night.)
I hope it is thawed this morning. Otherwise I'll be hauling water for horses and cows again. That's a lot of water.

I know what you're saying. "Um, excuse me, doesn't this happen every year? Wouldn't you think you'd be ready for it? Like, already have this plan in place?"
Oh come on! You know better than that!

All of this brings me to a comment I had to make on another's blog. (I have no idea how I made that leap, but I got there, so can you!) Apparantly the cost to feed Thanksgiving Dinner to 10 people should cost around 44 bucks, acording to the Farm Bureau.
Let's see, my turkey, vegies and pumpkin (for pies) are all home grown - not much cost there because I DO NOT count labor of love.
The pie shells, and rolls are home made, the pumpkin for the pies is home grown and the berries are picked out of the woods.

The butter and whipped cream are home made, just because I can!

I suppose it's doable, but in today's society, not every has those skills or the opportunities that I have. (a 1 acre garden fertilized daily by just about every critter known to man, except water buffalo).

This life is great! In a time when the world around us seems to be collapsing, we are safe, warm, well fed and now that gas has gone back down, not really noticing a whole lot in the cost of food.

Oh, wait a minute, there is the cost for toilet paper for all of those people! What was I thinking!

Knit Like A Ninja Day!

So, yesterday was Knit Like A Ninja Day.

It was fun, and I stealthily knit, most of the day, well, when I wasn't doing laundry, dishes, making cookies and dinner, sweeping floors and putting screens away. Yes, I finally got the screens put away.

So, what did my little stealthy knit-a-long produce? This:

A miniature Christmas stocking to send to my son who is in Iraq. I'm making another one too, for his roommate, that one's not quite done. It was a fun knit, all in my own hand spun yarn. I know it looks a bit funky, hasn't been washed or blocked yet, it was Knit Like A Ninja Day, not Finish Your Knitting Like A Ninja Day. Geez!

And now, for the question that everyone has been asking.... where was I? Where did I do all of this Ninja knitting? What? You didn't see me? Guess I was pretty good eh? Was I in hubby's deer blind (it's heated, it's doable)? Was I out in the barn (not likely, we now have snow on the ground, and that means mittens or gloves and that's kind of non-conducive to knitting), or was I, in fact, sitting right in the living room watching the last Nascar race of the season? I'll never tell! I'll give you a clue, if you've been in my house, you know the picture was taken on the bathroom floor, but that's not where I was! (rules out the bathtub!).

And, that's all I got fer ya today, I was so busy Ninja-ing yesterday, that i really didn't do much else, except the screens, and it's about time! We now officially have snow on the ground.

Your Regularly Scheduled Friday Report

Today's report comes to you from the rainy wilds of N. Mich, where this reporter finds herself, once again, unable to sleep, and in which case, this is the case, may just as well regale you with the super duper interesting facts of her life!

As I was reading my email this morning, I came across something that I've been meaning to do for awhile now, and think I'm going to try. It's called the Dark Days Eat Local Challenge. Begins 11.15 and runs until 3.15 (of 09, sometimes my time warp abilities are capable of running backwards, this time, not so much).
Basically, what you try to do is as much as possible, eat locally grown or produced foods, from within a 100 mile radius. Should be easy in tropical N. Mich through the winter, eh? This losing weight thing keeps getting easier!
Anyway, if it's something you're interested in, go here for a look:
http://urbanhennery.com/2008/10/14/dark-days-challenge-0809/

Aside from my inside designer lettuce collection, it could get interesting. Oh, once a month or so I get a tomato from my hanging plants in the living room. That should spice things up a bit.
The challenge here is gonna be first thing in the morning with the go juice. Coffee. Gotta have coffee. Gotta.
Excuse me while I go research how to grow a coffee tree, (or bush or whatever), in Michigan. I can promise you this, I won't resort to birch bark tea, yeah, ok the Indians used it to get rid of headaches, and if you've ever tasted it you'll know why. Just sayin', there's no danger of losing me to that stuff. Don't ask me how i know.

And, with the current state of financial affairs, those of us needing less than a million, trillion in bailouts, will probably not get their money, and eating locally may be the only way to go.

Now, our reporter rambles over to the coffee pot, I mean the calendar and discovers that this Saturday, the 15th of Nov. is the opening day of deer season. Actually I did know this, it's a sacred ritual not only in this household, but in all of N. Mich.

You know what I need? Slippers. Yeah, I want slippers for Christmas.

Where was I? I have no idea, oh yeah, deer season.

Here are the basic rules, as applies to this household.
Beginning 11.1 and pretty much continuing until the end of the year, outside chores are to be done either after the hunter leaves for work in the morning, or after dark at night. If you must be outside during hunting season, you will walk as swiftly and quietly between the house and the vehicle as possible, making no noise whatsoever. No breathing is allowed. This does not apply to the hunter, only the hunter's family.
If you get up before the hunter, you are allowed to turn on outside lights, so the deer can't see in, but you can't turn on inside lights, we don't want stalker deer now do we?
No baiting is allowed anymore, although this is fairly ridiculous. I totally get the concern about wasting disease and tb spreading, but some of us have real critters, who still like to be fed. It kind of defeats the purpose to feed the livestock only to have the deer come to them to get food, rather than keep the deer out in the woods.
Going outside to get wood for the stove is permissible, only if the inside temps have dropped to 40 or below and you can see your breath. And only then if you can do it without any stalker deer spotting you.
TVs must be turned down and all inside noises must be kept to a minimum.
Any 2 or 4 legged critter caught out where they're not supposed to be (um, Bu-Dawgh?) will be shot on sight.

Now about those slippers....

Vern Lives!

"Once upon a time", is how most fairy tales start. That would be a normal tale, you know, with unicorns, and talking frogs who turn into princes, stuff like that, that you would just take for granted.

This isn't your everyday, basic B flat, fairy tale.

This is the story of how a homely, very unlucky moth became a beautiful young girl, who just happens to be my pre-niece. (I probaby spelled that wrong, its hard to know how to spell words that are just kind of made up as they're needed, seems like Webster would have thought that one through).

So this particular tale starts at a cabin in the Rockies somewhere, where 4 or 5 drunken siblings were sitting around playing Euchre (loosely, sitting means we, I mean they were all in the same room, most of the time). If you don't know what Euchre is, get out your Michigan map. It won't tell you there either, but you're one step closer to figuring it out.

It was late, the moon was full, out there somewhere, it usually is and said drunks were blatently cheating at a card game named Euchre (see another hint!).

As it is with a lot of the fairy tales composed by drunken siblings, this one happened to have a very unlucky moth, who (which?) very unluckily happened to fly into the light. Didn't fare out well, this moth, so in their serious "lack of sobriety" state, one of the siblings decided that this moth was only probably out trying to collect a bug or two to take home to the wife and kids, at any rate it shouldn't have died.

Now, this is the part where I try to reassure you that I was not a part of this, I'm sure you believe that.

Knowing that this moth didn't need to die, these 5 did what any drunken good samaritans would have done. They attempted CPR to bring it back to life. Several times, in between more card games and beer, we, I mean they tried their best to save this poor critter. Still unsuccessful, it was decided that since this noble creature had died trying to provide for his family, the 5 planned a funeral. For the moth.

First however, was writing the obituary, which proved difficult since they didn't know what his name was. It became increasingly difficult to notify the family, when his serious lack of ID on his moth-ness didn't give any clues as to where he might live (or really that he was even a he!). But since he was a Colorado moth and not a California moth they were pretty sure that whether it was a he moth or a she moth, most likely the other half was the other half and should be invited to the funeral.

First, we they had to settle on a name, and for whatever reason, "Vern" was chosen. So now that Vern's identity was intact we they had to notify the family. This involved much yelling, howling at the moon and talking to other moths until they were sure that enough moths knew of the event so as to get the word out.

The service was a quiet event, as after awhile, the body seemed to disappear.

Until.... ta da.... Vern lives! Vern is now a fun, sparkly pre-niece who lives in Colorado (see, the connection here?) and goes to school in S. Dakota. She prefers to be called Sunny, but alas, some things just can't be granted, so Vern it is, and being the gracious pre-niece that she is, she lives with it. I think deep down inside, she might have issues with being a moth in a previous life, if not being a possibly transsexual moth in a previous life, so we don't really mention it, but if we did....

And that's Vern's story, and if I hadn't been there myself (quietly sitting in the background watching) I would never have believed it, but it happened, yes it did!

Now if you're wondering why I chose to call Vern out of the closet, you should read the comment he/she/it left on my Space Time Continuum post; that will explain a lot!

The Space-Time Continuum

Let me explain the space-time continuum thing for those of you less, well, knowledgeable of such things.

In any given moment, there can only be so much matter occupying a certain amount of space. If you wish to change this, you have to move stuff, or delete stuff so you can add more stuff. And this all takes time. See? Physics is easy!

Here's the equation:

A certain amount of Matter A has to be moved to the Matter B area to clear up enough space so that Matter C doesn't have a meltdown and totally affect the Matter D area. This all requires a certain amount of time to produce.

Get it? Got it? Good!

Now, how this relates to real life, I really don't get other than that I need to figure out how to move some stuff out of the A drawer so that stuff in the B drawer will fit, and this needs to be done soon. Either that or my brain is gonna get all filled up and Matter C is gonna have that meltdown.

So, back to deleting stuff so more stuff can be added. Let's see, what can be deleted. Oh, oh, oh, here's one. The very first phone number we ever had (from when I was like, 10 - shortly after Alex invented the phone). This is the stuff I really don't need to hang on to. Or the fact that on a cold February day sometime in 1960's I finally got the Partridge Family album I couldn't live without.

Here's one, how about the time I climbed the tree with my guitar so I could sing in the moonlight. Yeah, that one can definitely go!

I'm pretty sure I'll never need any of those. And if I looked even further, I'm sure I could find lots of stuff, and even more pieces of long forgotten stuff that I could get rid of. Think of all the space I could recover. Sort of like defragging the hard drive, only selectively, like I would totally choose to keep the images I have in my brain of watching my little brother get run over in the driveway, that particular film clip could have useful black mail tags some day.

Ok, say I've gotten rid of a bunch of old dead stuff I no longer need. And I now have the brain power of a rocket scientist (for you, baby bro, who got run over, who hasn't heard the end of it yet); what am I gonna do with all of this extra space?

For one, I maybe could remember what I did with my socks that I had in my hand not 3 minutes ago. They have to be in the house somewhere, I didn't go out to the barn yet, although finding them out there would not surprise me in the least.

I don't have to worry about losing my keys, one of the perks of being married to the best mechanic in 3 states, is that my vehicles have multiple ways of being started, and I'm good at all of them. I totally excel in rain dances!

Remembering that I left the water on out in the barn might be a helpful thing, well, at least the water troughs have been thoroughly washed out.

Remembering the number of stitches I cast on for the sleeves in my latest creation, or how about this: remembering to write down the number of stitches I cast on....

Remembering to look at my list of stuff to do would be good too, that would eliminate a lot of remembering in itself.

So, now that I have the problem isolated I can work on the solution.

I'll get back to you on that one. It's probably gonna require some sleep, which I seem to have forgotten how to do also.

Schmucked By A Snowflake And Other Ridiculousness

Let me set the scene. Happily, if not merrily, working away at my real job yesterday and oops. Left something in my car. Better go get it.

Happily, if not merrily I wander out to where I park my vehicle to retrieve said item. While there I discover a bunch of things that need to be transferred, not just one, so more than one trip needs to be made.

Happily, if not merrily, I meander back and forth between vehicle and work space relishing this little break, and loving the fact that it's snowing. Even if it is just a little.

The skies are cloudy and dark (it might snow), the air is brisk and cold (definitely gonna snow), and I'm lovin' it (with apologies to McDonalds).

When all of a sudden.... a kamikaze snowflake ATTACKS me where I stand. I've never seen such a thing, usually snowflakes are such docile little objects, but not this one. Noooooooo, this one has a death wish. I didn't mind when it flurried around my head, snowflakes are kind of known for their ability to flurry, and I didn't mind that it actually seemed to rush me a time or two. Silly little snowflake. But then, it schmucked me! Right in the eye! Hard! It probably weighed a pound at least, and I really have no idea how it managed to flurry for so long, being that big and dangerous. This seriously cuts into my happily and merrily meandering as now I'm jumping up and down, holding my eye, waiting for this huge ice chunk to melt. There had to be blood. I'm sure there will be a bruise.

But Bu-Dawgh protected me, he did. While I thought I saw him laughing, probably not, I was only able to see out of one eye, he did chase down a few of my co-conspirators though.

And, that's how my day ended yesterday! Today looks to be much better!

And It Snows And Snows

Which in itself is all good. It's November, we expect that. But, what I have a hard time with is that it didn't stick. The snow, that is. It all went away. It snowed all weekend, like I knew it would, you can look at the sky and see that the snow just wants to come down. But, the ground isn't all frozen yet, so the snow goes away.

Some people think that the snow going away thing is good. Me, not so much. I like the snow.

But, it will come, and it will stay and then I'll be ok.

So, this weekend totally rocked! ALL DAY SATURDAY I GOT TO KNIT!! Should I say that again, or did you get it?
All day! From Saturday at about 9:30 am when I planted my butt firmly in the yarn shop and sat there, until about 5 pm when the shop closed and I found myself home again. Hubby was going to be gone that night, so I didn't have to do anything except feed myself and my critters. 6 oclock rolls around, myself is fed, my critters are fed and the game starts. So, from 6pm until the game is over, roughly 10 pm, I knit.
That translates into ALL DAY SATURDAY I GOT TO KNIT! This is huge, it's great, and sooooo very relaxing. And, we won the game, another plus!
Sunday, with all that relaxation on top of me I actually did get stuff accomplished. Check out this list!!
1. Calf pen cleaned out
2. Horse pasture bulldozed out.
3. Feeders and waterers for both of the above cleaned out and ready for the onslaught of the freezing temps.
4. Barn cleaned out.
5. Firewood stacked.
6. Roof ridge cap put on and secured down.
7. Batch of home growed, home made Turkey soup done, and flower pot rolls to go with!
8. Deck cleaned off (part of it).
9. Lumber for winter and summer projects stacked in the barn.
1o. Various hot spots in the house cleaned up.
11. Laundry done (couldn't hang it out, it was snowing, so had to use the dryer, that scores me some minus points, but it's done, ok??)
12. I got to sit and knit some more!

Very productive and relaxing weekend!

And now it's Monday and I have a major project to figure out, or, I have it pretty much figured out, now I have to detail the details!

Good times!

Last Ride Revisited!

Ok, so yesterday wasn't the last ride, but this afternoon very well may be. It was a gorgeous ride to work, I took a detour. Just cause I could!

Tomorrow is bringing rain, Saturday is bringing more rain and Sunday is bringing the "S" word and freezing temps. I know not to ride when it's snowing. Don't ask me how I know, just know that I know.
Just like I know that Indian Summer is probably officially over and the next thing we look forward to is months and months of dreary gray skies.

NOT!!

I love winter, I really do. Here in N. Mich it virtually snows every day. OK, these days that means something else to most people other than what it means to me, or something like that.
It snows every day. It is humid here. When there is humid-ness in the air and the air is freezing, well, you do the math, or meteorology, or whatever. It snows all the time. Which is cool, cause some of my favorite activities require the presence of snow and ice. Skating is fun, after the initial workout of shoveling feet and feet of snow off the ice. (do not suggest that I shovel snow off the ice as it falls, it does take awhile to freeze enough to support said snow, plus my weight, usually by that time, there is quite an accumulation). Skiing is WAY fun, the problem there being that I have been skiing my whole life so I'm not afraid of going break neck speed down a steep long hill with boards strapped to my feet. Eventually my age is gonna catch up with this. Hopefully this won't be the year that happens. And there's snow mobiling, which is awesome and how I intend to get to work some this winter, now that I have a sled that doesn't require my neice to help me start! And, the dreary gray skies usually only last until the big lakes freeze over, then the sun makes it's presence.

Logging (a really cool term cause it makes people think you're big and bad) is fun too even if it is only cutting firewood on a smaller basis than what you'd normally think of as logging.
Snowshoeing is really fun (when you don't fall off of them... just sayin'....) and cross country skiing is fun too, especially when you go backwards on the trails, at that point all bets are off.

So, Mother Nature, bring it on, I know just what to do with all of your snow, ice and freezing-ness, lake effect or otherwise. I grew up here, I've lived here pretty much my whole life, I can handle you, BRING IT!!

Let me set the every morning scene..... get up early, cause that's how I'm wired for whatever reason, have a cup of coffee while looking at the night sky, which includes a really cool pale yellow moon, watching the frost settle over everything turning the landscape into fields of diamonds glittering in the early morning darkness. The wind is usually nil and I'll go out to start my chores.
I get to make my paths out to the barn and critter houses, I like making paths. I get to have my breath taken away by the cold fresh air, I get my usual cuddles, kisses and snuggles with all of my critters and then I go inside where the dry wood heat goes right through me, wake up hubby, have another cup of coffee and then venture back outside to go to work.

Life is good!
(plus, my electric bill went down, so now I'm all happy all over again!)

Last Ride?

Rode my bike to work this morning. May just be the last time until Spring. This is distressing. Riding my bike is my zen. It's where I live, I am a biker chick in the true sense of the word. I even wore my brand new black leather coat! See. Biker chick all the way.

Well, all the way until it gets a bit colder and the icy and white stuff starts covering the roads. Then I'll be a sled chick.

Won't that be fun? Bu-Dawgh doesn't like my bike, or my snow machine, there's not enough room to sit comfortably, and there aren't walls to keep him from falling off.

So, is the time change kicking anyone else's butt? Does it even matter anymore, now that Nicolai has taken office?

Ugh. Good times are comin' I can feel it!

Oh, btw, happy birthday, Mouth, but if you want me to sing to you, you have to show up once in awhile!
Love you!

Some Stuff Done, Some, Not So Much

The roof is done!
YAY!!

The dishwasher is installed!
Yay!

Ok, well almost.
The roof is all up there, 45 or so sheets of tin. Most of it is screwed down, the hard part is done. The ridge cap isn't screwed down yet, or however you put a ridge cap on, and the tin needs to be finished with the screwing down.

The dishwasher, almost.
It's installed.
It works,
It doesn't leak (any more).
I still have to trim the cabinets so it fits better, and adjust the bottom so it looks nicer.

I spun up another batch of yarn this weekend, this, some beautiful off white and brown heathery mix and started to knit my next project - a scarf/hood/vest kind of thing with cables and everybody. I really like the yarn, it turned out a bit darker than I figured it would. My other choice of color would have been an off white, and that would look just a little too "snow princess-y" for my taste.

We're smack in the middle of starting our Indian Summer. A week or two period around the start of deer season when the temps suddenly go through the roof (60 degrees), the end of the motorcycle riding season, the time when walking through the woods and hear the crunching of leaves under foot would be glorious, but the sounds of gun fire kind of makes one think twice about it.

Yup, good times.

Colors are gone, the little ghouls and ghosties are back home and back to school, and now we get ready for Thanksgiving.
Got all of my decorations out and put them up. I love doing this. In the fall season I collect pumpkins, I guess. I didn't do this intentionally, however looking around my house at all of my fall decorations, there seems to be a plethora of pumpins and pumpkin type stuff. Candles, sculptures, tree decorations, hanging stuff, sitting stuff, it's everywhere.
Not really a lot in the way of ghosts, spiderwebs (well, scratch that, but I didn't put them there), and other hallowe'en stuff, just pumpkins and more pumpkins. These will make way for snowmen and Santa Clause's after Thanksgiving.

I love collecting stuff - from the looks of my house, you'd seriously never get that!