Snow Update

The snow from the last pics has gone



And then come back!!!
We have about six inches on the ground. Hear tell that the temp is supposed to be around 45F tomorrow and it will all go away again.
It did make for a wonderful 'An Indian River Christmas'. There was snow all around, the temp Friday night was 28ish and beautiful. The parade (new this year) was short and sweet. Santa arrived on dog sled again and was taking orders at the town hall per usual. Soup pots were hot and tasty. Tony sampled potato soup and I had some hamburger soup--mmmmmmmmmm.
Jane and I had a nice walk through town and visited with some nice peeps and pups.
Today, Jane and I visited with Elliot (her boydogfriend) and Jan and went for a walk down the road. The trail is snow covered and it's still firearm hunting season. Without her safety vest, it's best to walk the road now. Don't want to chance her (or me) getting shot at.
Finished two sweaters this week for Yule gifts, and that's the extent of my knitting.
Hope all had a wonderful Turkey day Thursday. It was calm at home. Thank goodness! I now understand why my dad likes to stay at home for the holidays. He's SO SMART!!! hence 'The Wise Old Owl' name.

Color Changes in the Weather

According to my posts, one month ago the colors of the trees were a full spectrum of warm shades, oranges, yellows, reds, browns. Now the spectrum has changed to the coolness of winter, white, grey, black, green, blue. Okay, so there is a brown spot on the right, but she is a lovie:)

I've completed the knitting on the Dakota Rib, now to block it.
Last Friday I attended a workshop on small businesses, sponsored by Michigan State University Product Center.
Last night our Boosters served over 300 at the annual fall sports banquet. We provide the potatoes, ham, rolls, coffee and punch. The families bring a dish to pass and table service. All the fall coaches sing praises to their athletes which include in our smallish school--golf, cross country, girls basketball, cheer team and football; approximatley 100 students and their parents attend. Last year I announced awards for the cheer team since I was the coach. Not my favorite thing to do (public speaking), but I do enjoy helping the Boosters since I'm a do-er, not a delegater.
Today is my day of rest and work at home. The list of things to do includes:
1. clean the garage so the car can sleep in there
2. laundry
3. supper (maybe a roast and potatoes?)
4. KNIT
5. rest my aching back
6. listen to a movie
7. walk to loosen up the aching back
8. don't need #3 since the kids are having a mexican dinner tonight to raise money to go to mexico
9. make a decision whether or not I will let R go to mexico (any advice regarding letting a 16 yr old travel to mexico w/school group would be appreciated)

Flexible? Not Cotton!

Six hours knitting yesterday--heaven? NO, learning experience. After six hours of trying different methods of casting on with some chonchenhocken cotton I finally decided it wasn't being made into the lovely ribbed and lace cardi I wanted to make. Cotton is for simple and plain, cool and comfy. I was mostly frustrated because I wasted six hours of uninterrupted knitting time reminding myself of this fact.
So I started on the Dakota Rib by Jason Wurst at Rocking Horse Farms. I got the pattern last year at the Great Lakes Machine Knitters Seminar. I plan to make a visit to their farm and shop in Minnesota. Jason and his mother Carole are great knitters, designers and people all around!
On Wednesday, I'm getting another aquarium with 3 fishes from me momma. She has decided to be done with the fishes and offered them to me first, I think. Tonight and tomorrow I will need to engage the assistance of the other household members and visitors (AKA JEM and Big Bubba) to move furniture around the living/dining room and kitchen.

Can You See Her??

Friday--Success again with the camera. This is Jane walking in the field across the road (with her vest). Can you see her???? On the right she's posing.
On the left she's sniffing for critters.


And here is a the small but comfy 'Kingdom of Witchknitter and Magic Mechanic'.And here is Jane performing one of her daily duties--
carrying in the mail.
Is she missing something???? Oh goodness, where is the beautiful safety vest?

It seems the vest is akin to the Cinderella story, after a certain amount of time, it just disappears!! Or it's LOST IN THE FIELD!

Saturday--I forced Jane to walk again and look for her vest. No luck, but I don't think she was looking very hard.

Sunday--It rained all night so I don't think we'll walk today. So knitting is in order--ALL DAY!!!

A-HAAA!

I did it! There was a technical difficulty--the computer and the camera didn't like the disks--now the disks are trash! I would have prefered the outside pics, but these will do.

Pictured here is famous model Precious Lady Jane in her hunter orange safety vest. She enjoys walks in the woods, chasing squirrels and snuggling 'tween me and hubby. The pic to the left is her 'why are you making me sit still when we should be going for a walk," pose and below is the dejected, "ok, I'll just wait on the couch until you're ready," pose.


Hunter orange is a fashion color in Northern Michigan particularly popular this time of year. Mostly seen on men, this fashion is dictated by the state during firearm whitetail deer hunting season, Nov. 14-30. Anyone in the woods is advised to wear this fabulous color or risk getting shot, really. This is not an intentional thing, but some of the 'mighty hunters' only hunt during this season and some have been known to get "Buck Fever," a debilitating undiagnosed disease in which the afflicted has lost the ability to distinguish between a whitetail deer and any other critter. (Victim critters being shot at as a result of "Buck Fever" are: cattle, horses, dogs, hunting buddies, elk, duck, turkey, basically anything that moves.)
Moving on--
I've had a few dreams as of late. The first one was about J's Big Bubba (formerly seen here in pics knitting). I dreamt he got fired from his job. The dream was a Friday night. I mentioned this to them on Saturday. On Tuesday--he got fired!
The next dream was of the shop I've been thinking about opening. The dream showed a small shop, doing very well, and me--happy, happy--working in my shop. What was in the shop, knitting and crafting stuff and since it was my shop, I could have Jane there to help me.
(The next dream I had I killed somebody because he was SO ANNOYING. I hope that one doesn't come true.)
So the next step of this business venture is to make some plans. I started those (at my other job) earlier this week. I'm also going to attend a business start-up workshop next week--it met my criteria: 1. Nearby, 2. less than a day long, 3. FREE. It's being offered through Michigan State University.

Bright Orange Jane Safety Vest

And what do you see?
Nothing.
Why?
Because I took a couple great pics of Jane in her new vest after our walk, but technology SUCKS and the disk wouldn't let go of the pics. I will try again tomorrow. She was so pretty and proud in her vest. Now she knows that putting on the vest means going for a walk. She's glad to let me put the vest on her.
I skipped physical therapy in trade for walking with the dog today. I may go back to the chiropractor to relieve this numb thumb. It worked before and this therapy thing has been going on for just too long with little relief. Not only that, battening down for winter is behind schedule--storm windows need to be put up, hoses tucked away, garden winterized and it's already November!