A vicious cycle

Granny at play

Before Hurricane Sandy brought the cold:

"Ooh, what's this?"

Reading Wild Things to a Wild Thing.

"What ginger hair you have Granny!"

Frederick and Other Fauna

This Thursday Frederick's class went on a field trip to a farm to pick out pumpkins. Frederick knows farms well, and had a good time with the animals, as JacQue's photos attest. Apparently he wanted to kiss a sheep (his favourite) but she protested.

Then today I was able to capture footage of these two shy woodland creatures:

Granny arrives!

Frederick and I went to Flint airport to pick up Granny. Here's the winged beast that carried her hence (from Chicago, at least):

...and here she is, just a couple of seconds before she notices us:

A tree in Autumn

Every year around this time, my favourite tree is this one, on Franklin Avenue near our house. So this year I did what I've been meaning to do for years, which is take a series of photos documenting the change of the leaves. And here is a selection from over the course of about the last month:

The burning bush next to it is pretty nice too...

Gut Cells Feeling Bruised

Tired of wondering if I (Jami) was gluten intolerant, had food allergies or not, I decided to settled this issue once and for all. So, about two weeks ago I had many tubes of blood taken from me. They whizzed their way to a super-duper lab in Atlanta where dozens of technicians worked furiously on them for days and days, checking to see what I can tolerate, and what I can't. They were checked for 500 (yes, read that again--500!!) substances. There are three types of results: code yellow foods (eat only rarely), code orange food (really ought to avoid) and code red (never eat under any circumstance or you will bloat like the Michelin Man). Well, I got my results today and it turns out that I am not fit for this world. Although I can eat most meats and fruit, there aren't a whole lot of vegetables that I am allowed to eat which, if I weren't a vegetarian, wouldn't be so bad. Except that I am, so it is. Here is one of the worst offenders:

Some of my code reds are: celery, chick peas, millet, red and green lettuce, tumeric, zuchinnni, mango, leak, fava bean, brewer's yeast, avacado and artichoke. Also included in my list of no-no's are soy and casein both or which I eat in vast quantities every day. Sigh. I am going to be meeting with a nutritionist/dietician next week to get advice on how to manage meals because all I can think of is egg whites and quinoa, which seems a bit dull after about, well, a few minutes.

Groucho lives!

Election paraphernalia

This was on display in the Milford Library. A handy reminder of elections past. (Remember, click to embiggen.)

Camera dump

The tiny netbook that I used to do my blogging on (because it had a handy little slot that took camera memory cards) died recently so I haven't been posting pictures. I've got a moment now so I'm going to upload a random selection of what's on there. First, a recent shot of the armillary sphere outside Mott Community College near our house. Nice autumn colours (a theme, as you'll see).

This lake is on the way to Thomas's school. Frederick and I visited (on the way to pick up Thomas when Jami was in England, I think) on the first brisk day when all the people had vanished.

Jami had her car in for repairs recently and got a super-new Prius as the loaner car. It even had a little TV on the dashboard that showed you what was directly behind you. Good thing she didn't have it long or she might've got ideas above our station.

They recently had "spirit week" at Thomas's school, where every day was a "dress like ___" day. This is Thomas on the "dress like a grandparent" day. The shirt actually was Grandpa's. I rescued it from the attic at Taddyforde in the early 'oughts. A Van Heusen, you know.

I branched out recently and tried a FOURTH library within driving distance of Thomas's school, that of Commerce Township. It was big but not nearly as nice as the others. But it did seem to attract a nerdier clientele:

And now some more shots of Flint in the fall. Almost makes you think it might be a nice place to live.

This shot was taken in Carriage Town where you can probably buy a 90-year old house for under ten grand.