Altivo

Another gray day, thermometer stuck at 35°F most of the day, then started going down as the winds increased. Asher is usually pretty cooperative, and has been near perfect about putting the blanket on in the morning and taking it off when he comes indoors in the afternoon, so that's good. I am learning to perform the necessary tasks more quickly too, which helps.

Archie is no longer suspicious of Asher because he is dressed funny. The two of them were playing normally this afternoon, much as if they were a lot younger than they are. Though Archie tried a couple of times to pull the blanket off during the first two days, he leaves it alone now. Asher steps up to me and waits for me to put it on him in the morning, so he seems to appreciate what it does for him.

In other seasonal news, the cuttings I took from yard annuals have sprouted roots and I should be able to pot them up in the next few days. Tonight is supposed to be the coldest yet, well below freezing and with some sort of precipitation. Whether this will be snow, freezing rain, or sleet seems unclear.

There are reports of a "turkey shortage" appearing in the media. Oh noes! We might have to eat chicken, or even California eggplants on Thanksgiving? I'm not worried about it. We are planning to go to Gary's brother's place in Wisconsin for that day anyway. But I checked, and I do still have a turkey in the deep freeze here. Takes three days to thaw one in the fridge, but there's time if plans change.

Well, it was more like graupel, the name skiers use for little slushballs. I think graupel is formed high in the atmosphere, wherever the margin is between sub-freezing air and temperatures above freezing. By the time it reaches the ground, it can be just slush or raindrops, but under the right conditions it accumulates on cool surfaces. Today it was unpaved areas, like decorative bedding soil or mulch. It looks sort of like soggy grits, but can be quite slippery to step on. We were out shopping when it started falling in alternating fits with splattery cold rain and plain dry wind gusts.

Asher's new blanket got a serious test today. We were gone for several hours, and when we returned he was still properly covered and protected from the weather. I was pleased. Schneider Tack gave me a $20 credit from that order, and I'm thinking seriously about getting a matching blanket in a different color for his brother Archie.

Mix of birds continues to be interesting. I heard what I'm pretty sure was a Carolina Wren this morning. We are getting groups of cardinals, male and female. The red breasted nuthatches persist, mixed in with the more common white-breasted variety. And the first dark-eyed juncos have appeared. The latter are here only during winter. Sometimes called "snowbirds" because their arrival often heralds the first snow, just as it did for us today.

Leaves are falling fast now, soon all the branches will be barren until spring.

It suddenly dawns on me today, with bright sun and a temperature around 68°F, that this is what we used to call "Indian Summer." Of course, it used to come somewhat earlier, like mid-October or something. I don't remember thinking about it in November before. Forecast calls for similarly balmy weather for most of this week, but the ice hits the fan on the weekend, leading quickly to daytime highs below freezing. Yow!

At the same time, we are seeing birds here that normally show up during severe cold winters in Canada. The red-breasted nuthatch, the evening grosbeak, the tufted titmouse are all appearing on a daily basis at the moment. We saw none of them last year. I'm pretty sure I got a glimpse of a three-toed woodpecker a few days ago. If/when we see these, there's usually already a pile of snow north of the border, which isn't yet the case as far as I know. But sometimes the birds and animals seem to know things about the weather that we don't have an instinct for. Have to wait and see, I guess.

At least I got some weight onto my problem eater before the cold sets in, and we measured him and ordered him a new blanket last week. That might get here before the big chill, or at least not long after.

Yes, I know, official meteorological spring began a month ago and astronomical spring two weeks ago. But one of our significant measuring points was hit over the weekend: our ducks began laying eggs. The first two are in the fridge along with four more left in the hay storage by the neighbors' wandering hens.

Also, I got some sour jelly beans (Starburst, not the best ever but they'll do) so that annual requirement is met. I think last year I never found any at all.

It has been raining on and off for three days. Coming down fairly hard at the moment. I can hear it on the roof and hitting the skylight in the kitchen as well as dripping into the stovepipe (despite the fancy cap that is supposed to prevent that.)

( Music chunterings )

Other than going out to care for the horses, I spent most of the day editing and arranging tunes for ThingamaJig. Tomorrow we should see a little more of the sun, but then they tell us to expect some actual snow. Had enough of that now, no thanks.

Even with the extra insulation, new roof, and modernized geothermal furnace, the house is too chilly for me. Thank Epona there are woodstoves and we have wood. I know, it's adding pollutants to the atmosphere. *shrinks in shame, but isn't shivering*

Experimenting with knitting on a frame (also called a "jenny" or a "rake" or a knitting board.) This because husband Gary asked for a sock knitting frame for Christmas and I got it for him. He has tried conventional knitting but didn't persist long enough to overcome the initial lack of coordination that plagues most beginners. I had doubts that the sock loom would solve that, especially since it is designed for fine yarn and lots of stitches per row. However, when I started him on a larger plastic hoop frame with heavier yarn he took right off and has about two feet of a scarf completed. I gave him several instructional books with patterns and he's already talking about afghans. Consequently I figure I'd better brush up on my own knowledge of the process.

Since I've knitted in the traditional way with needles for more than 50 years, the frame seems slow and clumsy. It also lacks flexibility as to gauge and size. But it does work and I see it is possible to do a lot more with it than I had expected. So, socks are underway and we'll see. In spare minutes here and there I can usually finish a pair of socks in a week or so. This first set may take somewhat longer.

In other news, it's cold. Oh wait, I said that already. At least we could see the sun today and it definitely stayed around later before we were plunged into icy darkness.

So there are five days left in CampNano and I have about 4900 3023 words left to reach my quota. Should be easy, one would think, for someone who has completed the full Nano several times and that requires a rate of 1667 words per day for 30 days straight. I'm up to the easy part of my story, where I know what comes next and how to say it.

But. There's always one of those isn't there. It's a nice sunny day outside and I want to start garden work. Keeping myself from doing that doesn't hurry the other stuff along.

Another but. Many weeks ago I ordered the newest model of Raspberry Pi single board computer, an amazing little power pack of a machine on a single card about 6x9 cm in size. It finally arrived yesterday and of course the US Mail had flattened the package so I had to make sure it is undamaged. Fortunately, it remained unscathed and I am writing this post on it without difficulty. Unlike the original Pi, of which I also have one, this tiny machine pretty much measures up to my standards for a usable laptop or desktop computer. Other than a bit of difficulty getting my cheap wifi dongle to work (something I never did achieve with the older Pi) there have been no real glitches. The wifi does work, the printer works, web browsing and sound are fine, too.

Husband is working on a term paper for a graduate school class. All of six pages. And he's making it sound like it's just killing him to do it. Of course, it's due tomorrow apparently. Six pages? I don't remember anything that short even being called a "term paper." Those were more often 20 pages in high school and longer in college.

Meanwhile, I'm still not getting my own writing quota done.

The maple trees are finished blooming and starting to produce those little winged seeds. Oaks and wild cherry haven't started yet, but I think the willows and birches are blooming now. Daffodils are just passing their peak. And I have 44 working days left until retirement, which means I also need to do some paperwork for insurance and stuff. Can't put that off much longer.

Right now, though, I need to stop watching birds outside the window and work on this CampNano project.

Two nights in a row that dropped solidly below freezing, so the pumpkin leaves finally folded up. The tomato trellis had already blown over in strong winds earlier this week, and I didn't try to pick it back up because I knew there was little hope all those green tomatoes would ripen.

Today the sun came out, though it remained very brisk. I dug through the ruins of the volunteer pumpkin patch and retrieved no less than ten slightly immature pumpkins. The two largest ones were the size of cantelopes and still slightly greenish. The rest ranged from croquet ball to tennis ball size and were yellow or orange. All were pretty hefty, so there's hope of getting some usable pumpkin from them for soup or curry if not enough for pies.

Then I picked through the tomato vines and recovered almost five pounds of green or pinkish tomatoes. These are a large cherry tomato that matures at about golf ball size and has pretty good flavor. There were also a couple of volunteer vines from last year that had the small yellow pear tomatoes, and I got a a good double handful of those, all still green. Gary likes green tomato pie, an experiment I tried years ago. It didn't really impress me, but he thinks it's wonderful and these will make two or three pies after washing them and slicing them up. I'll freeze a couple of packages and make him a pie from the rest.

We also went to the farmers' market in Woodstock, which moves indoors to the Farm Bureau for winter. Right now it still opens once a week, but after November it goes to just twice a month I think. We brought back winter squash, honey, and a pound of Brussels sprouts. We just found a newspaper article this week with ten ways to cook sprouts, none of which I've ever tried.

Tonight's version was oven roasted. Split in half, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted for 25 min. at 425F. Halfway through I added apple cubes and sprinkled them with sesame seed. To serve I turned them into a serving dish and sprinkled them with some Balsamic vinegar. They turned out delicious. Gary made the first course, a curried carrot and apple soup suggested by a friend. We also had mashed potatoes from the garden, and Gary's favorite slow cooked chicken with gravy. Apple pie or rice pudding for dessert, both already made up.

I can't wait to try the sprout pizza, and the fried sprouts and onions with eggs.

Clocks fall back tonight. My wind-up clocks are already set back, which I do by stopping them for an hour. Various digital and battery clocks will need to be adjusted yet.

I'm not sure I can account for all of the time since the last post.

A good bit of it was consumed by just dealing with winter and work, daily routine for me without many breaks or distractions. I don't particularly enjoy that, but it's a horse thing, ya know?

Small things have happened along the way. Max (our latest rescue dog, eleven year old bearded collie) has finally figured out the dog door. He learned to go out on his own a while ago, but never would come back in unless invited or someone held the door open for him. Now he comes back in on his own most of the time. He's good about not doing anything in the house, and we worried about leaving him here for too long unable to get out. Then we worried that he'd freeze outside when he was able to go out but wouldn't come back in unaided. At least that concern is pretty much resolved.

Red, the big lab/golden mix that we rescued a couple of years ago, has developed an autoimmune problem that makes his nose blister and peel. It seems most likely to be pemphigus, which is a nuisance thing for most dogs that have it, but not life threatening. However, it could be lupus which is much more serious. Now awaiting lab results on a biopsy that is supposed to determine which it is and what treatment might be likely to help. During the biopsy they found a large tumor on his tongue and removed that too. Now he's on "soft diet" for two weeks, though his appetite is good and he doesn't appear to be in much discomfort. (Could be the pain meds he's getting, though.)

Weather has been bizarre here. Winter didn't really set in until January, which is very late for us. Fortunate in a way, since we had the two family funerals and attending excursions in November and December. And after last summer's drought, not so good, since we need rain or snow badly. The snow finally came in February, with a vengeance. about 18 inches (official at O'Hare but more like 23 inches by our measurement here) in three big snowfalls. Not done yet, either, as they are predicting another storm for Tuesday-Wednesday of this week with possibly 7 to 8 inches of accumulation. No snow days from work for me, alas. Gary's university did shut down in the last snow, but only as he was leaving for the day anyway.

Gary and his brothers put their mom's house on the market in January thinking that it would probably not attract bidders until spring. Wrong. They had three cash offers in the first week, and the third was for the full asking price. This is a tiny two bedroom brick house on a very narrow lot in Chicago, and not in a particularly trendy neighborhood either so we were surprised. Of course it means they have a big high pressured hurry to clean the house and garage out before the closing which is now only a week away. Since the whole family are "savers," the place was stuffed to the gills and going through all of it is traumatic. I know he'd like to bring a lot more back here, but even he realizes that we have space limitations. Two sewing machines, furniture for two households, and memorabilia reaching back three generations. Plus he's attending two graduate courses with the requisite work to do. I'm trying not to intervene in the triage and decision making. His brothers are picking up their share of the load, fortunately, and I feel it should be their family decision.

He keeps bringing back items that I made and gave to his mom as gifts, which is heart-breaking but sweet as well, and we'll find new homes for them if we can't use them here. Some of these things go back almost 30 years to when I first met him and his family, and I hadn't thought about them for a long time. I have two or three small boxes of similar things from my own mother and older brother, and I've never looked through them from the time the executor of my brother's estate handed them to me. Consequently, I can't complain about his stress and indecision on all this stuff. I was lucky that I didn't have such a huge bulk to sort through. The executor and my younger brother took care of that (it was in Texas.)

I still have a stack of holiday cards and notes that really deserve a reply, since we sent out nothing this year at all. I keep promising myself I'll get to them soon.

So here we are, waiting for a hint of spring. This morning's temperature of 4°F didn't help. I've been neglecting my writing and weaving for months, just doing the chores and trying to stay warm. I've done more reading, and am pushing myself to bake more bread and practice my music more. Additional posts with some of that news soon.

I shouldn't really be writing this, as the lies and false rhetoric of politics are making me violently ill.

However, on other topics. Call sign change is starting to roll now. A number of web sites and directories have picked up the change automatically. A couple implemented it only in part, and needed a nudge from me to put the pieces together. Still waiting on one, where I happen to have a radio-related web page that needs and alias changed. Volunteer administrators, so it probably will take until the weekend to get fixed.

NOAA predicts some rain for us out of the last gasp of the hurricane, but I'm not really anticipating much. We could use some, but it's really too late to save much. The big trees are dropping their leaves at an alarming rate now. I just hope we aren't going to have more dead ones come next year. The burst of grass growth that followed the rains a couple of weeks ago has dropped off when nothing but occasional dew followed. We really need more hay for the winter, and I can't afford to pay the prices being asked, This is not good.

Guild show coming up in a little more than two weeks, and we have only a handful of entries promised. I think this is the last year I will put my energy into that. If they want a show, someone else is going to have to do the arm twisting and organizing. On a brighter note, Gary and I finished the rehabilitation of an antique spinning wheel for friend and ex-boss Harriet, who is pleased to have it back. It now can actually be used for spinning again. We estimate the age of the wheel at something like 150 years. As you might expect, parts had to be fabricated, others were repaired or reinforced. We made no changes that can't be reversed, following the practices of good museum conservators. The whole thing took two years, but obviously we weren't working on it full time.

Somewhat more than an inch of accumulation in fact, complete with lots of pyrotechnics but (thankfully) no hail or high winds. The power kept bouncing off and back on so we shut down the computers, hence no post yesterday evening. Eventually it went down for about a three hour count, but only after I'd already reset all the digital clocks twice thinking each time that the power issues were over. The long failure came hours after the wind, rain, and lightning were ended. Nice work, Comm Ed. ;p

Dentist appointment this morning, did not go in to work. My dentist is in Park Ridge, quite near to Gary's Mom's house, so he dropped me for my appointment and afterwards I met both of them at a nearby restaurant for lunch and then we took her shopping. It was pretty steamy in the city, not as warm as earlier in the week but the humidity was way up there after the rain. When we got home, though, the temperature was dropping into the 70s and a breeze was picking up out of the northwest. It's pleasantly cooler and drier at the moment, though I guess it will start creeping back upward right away.

The young owls were back at the bird baths last night before the storm hit. They vanished, of course, when the thunder and lightning began.

Not enough rain to save the corn crop, it's too late and too little. It may help save the soybeans, though, and should restart the hay that we are going to need before winter. Next chance of an encore is apparently Sunday. A similar rainfall then would be really helpful.