Tree Update

Day 3 of Decorate the Tree: This is the latest situation. The upper half has lights, tinsel and ornaments and the bottom half is stripped bare. Sylvester's favorite hobbies: battling the tree and attacking whatever I am currently attempting to knit. And, of course, there is stealing food off one's plate, running across the keyboard as one works...

Decorating the tree, pt. 2

I find decorating a tree exhausting, and so stretch out the process from November, through December and into early January. It doesn't help that, no matter how carefully I store away Christmas decorations every year, all the light strings die (not a single one made it through the summer this year---all into the garbage) and the ornament hooks knot themselves into a massive wad of thin wire. Who does this during the summer months?

Since Sylvester has already taken to climbing the tree, unplugging the lights and scooting the tree skirt across the room, no breakable ornaments will go onto the tree this year--with one exception. Up at the VERY TOP, out of the reach of all paws, Frederick placed one of the ornaments he made in his clay class this past month. The rest, an army of gingerbread men (some decorated with stone texture and glazed dark green look very much like a 60's Dr. Who Alien) are required to stay on our dining room table right next to his drawing supplies so he can admire them as he works.

The bottom half of the tree is a mess (thanks Sylvester!) but the top 4' looks quite nice.

The Train, again

About a month ago I bought tickets for the Christmas Express train ride for Simon, Frederick and I. I asked Thomas if he wanted to go but I suspect he is still anxious from the time he and I rode this train about 12 years ago as he was most insistent about not coming. His loss, I say.This is part of a collection of parks, most of which have featured regularly on this blog: Bluebell Beach, Genesee Belle steam boat, the spray park at Bluebell beach and now, Huckleberry Railroad and Town.Just as we arrived, it starting snowing huge heavy flakes--very festive and very cold.We arrived just as a steam train was setting off. Frederick gave a squeal of excitement with the whistle blow--sounding quite a bit like a steam train.Since we had about 30 minutes to kill before we were required to get in line to board our train, we wandered around the "village". It is a restored mid-19th century town with a working smithy and various other quaint Shoppes.Everything that wasn't moving was covered in lights.There is a restored early 20th century Merry-Go-Round. We decided to give it try--anything to get out of the cold artic air.Still not fully recovered from the Ski Slopes ride I had to endure this past August at the City of Flags Carnival, I decided to let Simon enjoy some time with Frederick. We were promised that this ride would only last 3 minutes, as we were worried about missing our boarding time. Everyone was then told to hold on tight as, since it was an unreliable antique, it had a tendency to spin "very fast."Simon said those were the longest three minutes of his life.

As much as we like Ferris Wheels--and who doesn't want to spin around and around high above the ground with the arctic blasts blowing through?--we decided to give it a miss and headed back toward the train.There were an amazing number of little streets and Olde Worlde buildings scattered about.

Finally we are on the train. It was so cold outside and so stuffy inside (from the everyone stuffed tight into tiny seats) that the windows quickly steamed up. The train ride lasted about 40 minutes. We started out just at dusk but it quickly became pitch black out--which was the point as the whole ride is littered with giant light displays. At the point where the train turns around (some loop which the conductor told us the name for but I can't remember) they played 12 Days of Christmas over the speakers and there were 12 giant displays, each themed to the number in the song with a giant, flashing number--it was as if they had Frederick in mind when they set them up! Frederick was very happy and excited to be on the train, just not very happy about having dozens of flash photos taken, all but this one too blurry to use. Once we got off the train, we were all suddenly starving. Frederick composed and sang a french fry song as we walked to the car in the parking lot. Now that we have all eaten and are home for the night, we can call it a day.

Let the festive season begin!

Today, Black Friday, seemed as good as any to usher in the new season.

Here's the first present under the tree:

We have not finished decorating it yet, so stay tuned for further reports.

Happy Tofurky Day!

[Simon:]
Frederick and I went for our usual For-Mar turkey trot this morning, and saw a whole flock of very thankful turkeys.  They're not the only turkeys safe from us, however, because:
[Jami:]
After seeing a brief video about Tofurkey farms that laid out the reasons for buying Tofurkey for Thanksgiving, Simon insisted we eat this thing.

Everyone is clearly very excited. When trying to convince Thomas (who decided to eat soy-based Chick'N Nuggets instead) to give it a go, Simon said, "It's like slightly soft rubber--only brown." Yeah, I think that sums it up.

Simon models a new Fair Isle sweater knitted by Granny. The color work is PERFECT. (Fear not, Knitters! That sweater will never get thrown in the washing machine no matter how much gravy and cheese sauce Simon spills on it.)

I had made a pumpkin pie (with gf pastry) this morning and set it out on the wood pile to cool since fridge space is at a premium (we must be ever stocked up with food in case another ice storm --> power outage occurs) and while we were eating we saw a very fat squirrel climb onto the wood and go for the pie.

And so another holiday gone by. Tomorrow we buy the Christmas Tree!

Wood! Glorious WOOD!!!

 Finally got around to getting wood delivered.  Here's how much wood $250 will get you (delivered and stacked - well, the stuff in the garage was stacked by the three youths who showed up in a truck that j u s t   squeezed down our driveway, the stuff above was stacked by me).  All ash - thank you Emerald Ash Borer.

Sylvester is in da house

As mentioned in a previous post, Thomas has been whining that Martha "needs" a kitten. Today when I went to clay class all the old ladies there talked of nothing but all the cats they have adopted from the Humane Society. So, I decided to surprise Thomas after he finished working at the FIM this morning with a trip to the shelter to pick out a kitten. He was half excited and half anxious as we went in the door. (He forbade me from making what he called "OOOH!!!" noises but there was no stopping me.) There were two rooms of cats/kittens. Most were older (old people who take in cats then have the gall to die and leave their pets orphans--very rude) but several looked about a year old. There was a set of ginger tabby triplets that I was sorely tempted by. I had the sudden thought that if I could get rid of my "triplet" human housemates I could take all three home with me. We finally found the kittens and this one, named Sylvester (2 months old and already neutered), was entranced with Thomas. Although they have both hissed at each other (briefly) most of the contact between then has involved tail bopping and leaping in the air. We have already lost him three times (each time upstairs in a bedroom). He is unbelievably fast--one second he is under the couch in the living room and the next he is stuck under our bed upstairs.He seems very content to be home here.

Windy!

It's been mild the past couple of days, but today a stiff wind is ushering in colder weather. So stiff that it was pretty scary driving to and from Thomas's school this afternoon. And this sight greeted me when I went outside to see if any dead branches had blown down:

Closeup of the branch embedded in the ground:

The DSO... FINALLY

About a month ago Thomas called me in the middle of the day on a Friday to ask if it would be possible for us to get him to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to see a performance. I asked when. He said, "November 21st." I quickly checked my calendar: no concerts that he was committed to, we had no appointments other than Frederick's music but that meant Simon could take him. Sure, no problem. I asked him if I had to get the tickets or the teacher would and we would pay her back. Thomas supposed (though he wasn't certain and was too anxious to ask) that we had to buy them ourselves. So I went online and, indeed, there was a concert on the 21st at 10:45 am (which I thought made sense then that he had to ask to make sure it was ok to miss school to go). So I ordered the tickets and a parking pass. Then, earlier this week, when I checked in with him, he raged, "NOT THIS FRIDAY--THURSDAY!" And I didn't have to buy the tickets, the teacher had them already. Well, that was annoying but not the end of the world. THEN Thursday we were hit with a massive snow storm (not as bad as Buffalo--we didn't get 9' of snow in 48 hours) and roads were closing all around us. Rumors of journeys on the I69 which would normally take 45 minutes were taking 5 hours. PLUS Simon was committed (and had been committed) to attend a talk our department was hosting, as well as taking the speaker out to dinner. So, no trip to the DSO. Anger, resentment and self-pity were only a few of the moods we were subjected to for failing Thomas so drastically. So, I bought MORE tickets for Saturday (last night) and hoped the weather would improve. And did it! It was in the high 40s yesterday and, though we got rain, it was warm and washed away all the show and ice. (So not we can see the leaves we hadn't raked up. That's on today's list of things to do.) So, Thomas and I set out (with Grandma coming along for the experience of it) last night around dinner time. It was an easy, though long, drive; about an hour straight south to downtown Detroit. We got off the freeway, drove 2 or 3 blocks on very empty streets and there we were--at the massive parking lot. Once inside we were treated very well by all who worked there. The inside of the concert hall is lovely and, best of all, the acoustics are wonderful. We were all very high up in the air but could hear every single tiny note.

I had never hear any of the songs before except the last one, Gershwin's American in Paris. Indeed, the conductor announced that we would be unfamiliar with all the music (how did he know?--were they unpublished?) but didn't explain. All we were told is that they were all by Americans. Well, familiar or not, they were wonderful and the audience seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.

I don't know who these people are but they look happy to be there.

Slipping on the sliding ice...

So: I was driving back from dropping Thomas off at school this morning and had just stopped off at Kroger to pick up some things (including eggs - which turned out not to be a good idea as you shall see) and told Jami how much better the roads were this morning than yesterday (sinister music starts playing), when, I was just coming round a corner by the little airport they have on the way and I saw a cop car by the side of the road. "Ooh, better slow down a bit," I thought (I was actually not going fast anyway, but I've been burned by cops before) when suddenly...

Yes, that is a view of the underside of my car, as viewed from the back seat of... the cop's car.  This was after he had helped me climb out of the passenger side door, which was on top.  It was a surreal experience.  I span completely around and went on to the median and was scared I would be carried in to the oncoming traffic.  Then, ever so slowly (it seemed), I went up on my side.  I thought I was going to end up on my roof, but it stopped.  Then I was worried that when I stood up I would tip it over (images of the last scene of The Italian Job came to mind), but I got out all right.  Here are some more pictures of my poor car:

As you can see, the lights are still on.  In fact, everything was still on, including the radio, playing serenely.  And it turned out that that was a good thing.  The cop called a tow truck (the driver told me he had a deal with the police for just such occasions - very canny) who pulled it over on to its wheels.  Before doing so he told me that it was very unlikely that I would be able to drive it, because (a) oil normally pools in the top of the engine, and (b) sometimes coming down on the wheels blows out the tires (or tyres, for our non-American readers).  Neither happened, however, and it was drivable, the only clear damage being the driver-side wing mirror.  I've made an appointment to take it into the dealer ASAP (which, unfortunately, is Monday, so I won't be driving it until then) to check it over.  The cop also gave me a ticket for "driving too fast for the conditions" which he clearly expected me to challenge, as indeed I bloody well will.  The fact that he was already there because somebody else had just spun out on exactly that spot suggests there was a problem (a truck came and salted it as we were waiting for the tow truck - talk about closing the stable door) and how can I be held accountable for the conditions?  Bloody cheek.  Still, he did help me out of the car.  Exciting times - like a very expensive (and short) rollercoaster ride.  Oh, and it turns out only one of the eggs broke.

The view from the library where I'm working

Snovember!  The drive down to White Lake this morning was extra slow - Thomas was 15 minutes late to his first class.

We left raking the leaves one day too long

Or at least, that's our excuse.  It's insulated wellie time!

RIP Pumpkin (2002-2014)

It's been a bad year or so for cats in our household.  We're now down to one from four, that one being (thankfully) Martha, Thomas's most beloved.  However, we just lost her sister, Pumpkin (full name Pumpkin Prudence - Martha's full name is Lavender Martha.  The Beatles supplied half their names, Thomas the other, but it was a different half that stuck in each case).  We noticed a lump in her "udder" a month or so ago, but she was otherwise fairly fat and healthy, but I came back from Prague and she seemed completely diminished.  I felt her (she only really ever let me touch her) and you could feel that something where her kidneys should be was the size and hardness of a golf ball, and she was skinny and greasy.  Sure enough, the vet confirmed that she probably had kidney cancer and probably would die this weekend if we didn't do anything.  So... RIP Pumpkin.  I won't say she was a nice cat - she bullied her sister rather.  But she didn't deserve to go out like this.  Here are some photos from her first year with us, starting in September 2002:

 Martha behind, Pumpkin in front.  We couldn't tell them apart but looking back, Pumpkin is obviously darker.

 This was when what is now Frederick's room was still our "study" and this desk was in it.  We locked them in there while we were out so we wouldn't lose them, and then came home to find we'd lost them.  We couldn't work it out until we opened the drawer.  We still don't know how they got there - we presume they climbed up the back, but the drawer was closed the whole time.

 The Siamese side of her family was a lot more evident than it is in her sister.

I am already working on Jami to get a kitten.  "But Martha will be LONELY!"

Flashback to Tuesday

 Continuing the "making up for bad WiFi of the past" theme, here's some pictures I didn't post of my flying visit to the South West of England.  This is the room I stayed in.  Thomas might recognize it.  Lots of maps.  Grandpa loves his maps.

 The back garden.

 What's on in Taddyforde.

 Where I went THIRTY YEARS ago.  I pause to let that sink in a little.  It's not like it was in my day.

 Ah yes, if you peek round the fancy new bits, the big ugly building that I remember is still there.

 Views of Devon from the new expansion to Grandpa and Margaret's domain.  (They have annexed a piece over their garage and near the entrance to Taddyforde.  Grandpa has Plans.)

 The view down from the heights into the dining room.

 A pond.

 Grandpa planning.  Always planning.

 The neighbors, who can be unfriendly.  But soon they, like all others that stand in Grandpa's way, will fall.

 The kitchen's been remodeled.  Very fancy.

 Off we set for parts Northern.  But Grandpa has to stop off at Tiverton Tescos (whose plan he knows well from visits to Grandma) to buy fireworks.  I head for the tea aisle and am amazed by the (a) amazing profusion of teabag types, and (b) complete lack of loose leaf tea.  Feast your eyes!

[ Here's where all the Bindon Cottage pictures would go if we were doing this in the right order.]

 Here's the pub halfway between Wellington and Taunton where we met Delia for lunch.

And here's an amazing rainbow we saw on our drive North (near Brent Knoll as I recall).  It was actually a double rainbow, and I reacted much as in the famous YouTube video.