Backyard Bounce and Sweater Update

Frederick waits patiently for Simon to clear off the trampoline so he can get some exercise.

And here is Simon, shovelling heavy, wet snow off the trampoline, getting his dose of exercise.

The yard looks much better covered in snow.

And, meanwhile, here is the 1 Up mushroom sweater thus far. The original plan of knitting intarsia in the round has evolved into an even more complicated half in the round/half not mutation. (If I could only figure out how to add steeks into it just for fun, then I would really have managed the ultimate in ridiculous.)

Winter Activities

I can't stand driving Frederick to school when it is dark, being gone all day and then coming home at night (4 pm) to a dark house--it's depressing. So to combat SAD (seasonal affective disorder--a condition I believed (when young and lively and living in Arizona) was made up by people living up north because they were whiny babies but now I know better) I started putting up yard lights and various illuminated creatures a few years ago.

I made the mistake (when I bought the polar bear two years ago) of telling Thomas that we could add a new animal to the front yard each year. What possessed me to say that? Of course Thomas didn't forget and set to picking out this year's addition.

Here it is. Thomas lovingly arranged the scarf and worries that a squirrel will make off with it sometime when we aren't looking. Foolish fears, you say? You wouldn't think so if you had seen the squirrels savage our soccer ball.

Another winter pastime, making fattening treats. This is peanut brittle not yet brittled. I used to make hard candy when I was a teenager and had nothing but time on my hands. I forgot how long it takes to get the damn stuff up to 300 degrees F --and how friggin' hot 300 degrees F is when you dribble a bit across your thumb when scrambling to pour it out before it hardens in the pan.

Here it is cooling on the porch. (Also a good spot to cool pumpkin pie.)

Brrr...

This was two nights ago, when we first got the snow. I had to throw Thomas outside because he didn't want to pry his DS out of his fingers but as you can see, it didn't take him long to remember that he likes playing in snow.
Sweater and hat made by Granny during last year's visit still holding up and getting plenty of use.

This is the temperature right now. Brr. I really don't want to go out and deal with icy roads. Much better to stay home and make sure the fire doesn't go out.

And here is one of eleven of my poor fish that I will have to try and rescue sometime very soon. When the pond gets covered with ice, the leaves and unnameables still rot in the water, but the toxic gases stay under the ice. When I break the ice to let the fish get some oxygen, I am hit with a wave of noxious odors. Ain't mother nature grand?

And So It Begins...

Winter has arrived and, as usual, we aren't ready for it. We haven't raked any of the leaves which are currently being buried under several inches of snow. We haven't cleared space in the garage for our cars (which requires moving the lawn mower--the thing we were planning on using to mulch up the leaves a bit but obviously THAT isn't going to happen--the bikes, the lawn chairs, a loom (let's not stir up that hornet's nest)) so tomorrow we will have to uncover the cars before we rush the kids off to school. What happened to fall? I think I slept through most of it.



And here is Thomas (just a few hours earlier in the day before the clouds let the snow flurries fly) modeling the first new sweater of the year. As usual, he picked out the yarn and determined the stripe specs. I've already begun the next one, which will be all black (groan--so nice to wear, so boring to knit) with a 1 UP mushroom on the front. I've been struggling for weeks on how to do an intarsia pattern while sticking with knitting the raglan pattern in the round and I think I have cracked it. I'm sure everyone will be waiting with bated breath to see how it goes so I will be giving an hourly update on the progress.

Wild Thing On The Loose!

(If you're reading this post first, which would make sense, these are old photos from my cell phone. These, as you can probably gather, are from Hallowe'en.) Frederick wasn't completely into the whole "trick or treat" thing, so after a few doors, we resorted to our usual local walk up to Mott Community College. Strange sights were seen that night...

...and yet more...

Jami will be very peeved that I haven't planned the series of posts so that the "and yet more" appears below the original post. I can live with that. Here is another sampling from the various Walks With Frederick series:





The previous two and this one are taken on the same walk at Seven Lakes Park. In the background you can see a little campsite with its own lake that has closed down for the season.

More crappy pictures

As it's a pain in the arse to do, I only rarely upload pictures from my cellphone. In fact, this is the second time ever. Some of these aren't as bad as the usual ones. As you can see, there's a fairly common subject matter...

Mr. Jones

Frederick has rediscovered his love for Talking Heads, in particular the song Mr. Jones. Hearing him sing their lyrics is always amusing (what isn't funny about a 5 year old singing the song Psycho Killer?) but it is especially amusing when he is missing two of his front teeth. He was really having a great time last night, jumping on the trampoline while singing LOUDLY: "Some rock stars with tamborines, short skirts and skinny legs, selling Bibles and real estate". Though I do wonder what his teachers think.