Fame at last!

Maybe not on the level of Grandpa Cushing's letters to the Guardian but check it out!

Orange chair power struggle

Whose been in my chair when I'm not home? That's what I'd like to know.

Botanical Experiment

As Simon mentioned, the landscape is a barren (albeit warm) wasteland. So it's tempting to head to the nearest plant nursery and buy up everything in sight. I didn't slip that far, but I did see this oddity at Meijer the other day and bought it:

It claims to be a pussy willow grafted onto a willow tree. (If you look closely, you can see the graft site near the top of the stem.) So, imagine a pussy willow bush the size of a full grown willow tree! (A small note attached to it suggested that it be planted outside. Will do!) When I got it, the pussy willow blossoms looked true to their name, like small kitten feet peeping out of the branches. Since the warm spell hit, they have fully blossomed and are pollinating our house.

The plan is to put this in the ground near the pond. I am hoping it will be ONE plant the ducks do not eat. (Note about the top photo: the sweater in progress is a yoke sweater I started during Christmas break, intending to get it done before the weather turned warm in early May, which is the usual seasonal schedule. Since night time temps are in the 50s, knitting a bulky yoke sweater has lost its appeal. I suspect this will reappear next Christmas break.)

Sunny Seven Lakes

Continuing the "unseasonably warm" theme that all our readers are clamo(u)ring for:

I don't like this time of year (which is usually in March or even April) - the sun is quite glarey (it's still low in the sky) and there are no leaves to provide shade.
In other news:
Kids Nowadays Don't Know They're Born and
Things Were Much Cheaper In My Day.

Always exciting at work

The whole family (those that still live in Flint, that is--insert hard stare directed westward to Chicago) are in the office today, getting stuff done. Suddenly there is a small flurry of activity outside, five stories down. Here is the reason:

Look closer...

The cops are here and figuring out what do to.

And there is the yellow tape that will secure the area. (So far, nothing has actually been done with the tape, because there is no obvious way to attach it to the building.)

It's not even windy out... Update: Several hours later, the sign is still loose but at least the yellow tape is doing its job:

UPDATE: A bloke came later to fix it:

Hotsy totsy

 Mark Twain once said "the coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco".  Well, this winter in Michigan is warmer than a pretty ordinary summer day in San Fran.

 No leaves on the trees yet, of course, but there were a lot of people out fishing, who normally would've been ice-fishing.

Spring Has Sprung!

Unbelievably, it is short sleeve weather here. Yet there are still small mountains of filthy snow piled up in all the large store parking lots. The ducks are happy, and that's all that matters.Sylvester remembers why sneaking outside is so great and considers doing it again.

BFG

Frederick is our resident BFG (Big Friendly Giant, a movie that he recently discovered and loves). This is a close up of his height chart in his room, which shows the 6' mark he passed last September. Today (Valentine's Day), he is at that top line (it's messy because he was wiggly and I am still recovering from a HORRIBLE flu that is sweeping the nation (and, yes, I did get a flu shot)), which is just below 6'2", which is just a hair shorter than Simon.

Thomas is taller than Simon and so still the tallest in the family (when did I become the tiny one??) but Thomas better watch out: one of these days Thomas is going to come home and Frederick is going to reach down and stick Thomas into his pocket.