Back To The Frost

 I wasn't surprised to see the fog and frost this morning but I was disappointed that our blue sky was so fleeting.  It wasn't too cold today but it wasn't sunny.  I thought for a minute this morning that we were going to have some sun when the clouds thinned out but it was short-lived and never really got more than slightly brighter for five minutes and then it was back to gray and dreary.  This is better than arctic cold and blowing snow.  Way better.

The House Finches were back on the feeder this morning.  It was hard to tell what kind of bird they were because they're so drab and the light was so low but I think they're House Finches.  They're some kind of finch, anyway.

I went over to visit DS at Zambaldi and he was cleaning the bottling line and tagging kegs to be put in the cooler.  One of these days I'll be there when the bottling line is running.  I love watching things like that work.

I finished the Warm Seasons Beanie this afternoon.  I had lots of yarn left over so...

I started the first cast sock toe cap of the new year.  I have to have a no-brainer knit for tomorrow night's Friday Night Knitting and a toe cap is just the thing.  How badly can I screw up knit 2, purl 2?  We shall see.

14 January--Barbara Malcolm, The Seaview. 

            I knew Iggy had been teasing about Calvin hacksawing his way into the Seaview but that didn't stop me from inspecting the porch floor for the glint of metal shavings.

            Iggy pointed at the latch on the door jamb.  "Gerald never thought about how easy it would be for someone to just unscrew it from the frame."  He laughed.  "Gerald always did think with his emotions and not his brain."

            As I walked down the short hall into the kitchen I heard Calvin calling for one of his crew to cut some PVC.  The plumbing crew was upstairs and even though it was barely nine o'clock they had one of the toilets in place already.  Calvin knelt on the newly tiled floor tightening the bolts that held the toilet in place, his rear end rocking from side to side like a metronome as he worked his socket wrench.

            "Calvin," Iggy said, "did you sleep on LeMoinette's porch to get in so early?"

            Calvin sat back on his heels and grinned up at us.  "No, I sat at the ferry terminal last night and met him as he stepped onto the quay.  He was with his whole family, including his mother and that good-for-nothing nephew of his, Bo.  He caved like the coward he is when I demanded the key."  Calvin rose to his feet, his knees crackling and popping as he straightened.  He reached down to rub the right one.  "I am getting too old to be crawling around on cold tile floors."  He gestured with his wrench hand like a game show model presenting a prize.  "Here is your first working toilet, Rosie."  He leered at me, his eyes flicking to my breasts.  "One down, two to go."  He clapped Iggy's shoulder.  "Time is wasting, my man, and I am sure that you have something you need to be doing.  I need to consult with Rosie about the bathroom in her apartment."

            He gripped my elbow and steered me around Iggy and down the stairs. He didn't let go as we got to the first floor, walked through the lobby and the kitchen, down the short hall, and into my apartment.  As we stepped through the door of the bathroom Calvin used his grip on my arm to turn me to face him.  He pressed himself into me and I could feel his erect penis against my abdomen.

            "I have thought about you, Rosie, and know that you will be properly grateful that I am working so hard to get the Anguilla Health Department off your back."  He rocked his hips and leaned closer so I smelled his stale coffee breath.  "You need me, little Rosie, so you can keep playing hotel keeper on the beach.  You need me and you need to be nice to me or I will tell everyone on the island that you are a liar and a cheat and are only here to victimize the innocent Anguillan people and their simpleton government."

            Keeping my eyes locked on his, I reached down, worming my hand between our bodies and was able to cup his testicles.  He grinned, thinking he had won, but his eyes widened as I tightened my fingers around those most sensitive of organs.  "Are you sure you want to go down this road, Calvin?" I said. 

Today's toss was the last 3-ring binder and then I stopped at Goodwill on my way to the brewery to drop off all of the week's tosses.

The prompts in that year of prompts book are tough. Today I was supposed to write about how I would cope if I put things important to me in a box for a week.  I'm not a "things" person so the only items I'd miss are my phone (because I don't have a land line anymore) and the laptop (because I couldn't blog).  So I wrote about how I feel because I've been feeling like I'm in a box for the last 10 months.  Hey, I filled the page and that's what counts.  The prompts in that book are too specific, they don't allow for any wriggle room.  I'm not giving up, though, not yet anyway.

--Barbara