Brrrr!

Yesterday it got up to 41 degrees and rained, and it was very foggy in the night.  Driving home from work I was very glad that it wasn't slick as greased glass on the roads like it was on Tuesday since Tuesday's snow had melted all over the streets.  When I settled down into bed I noticed that the wind had picked up, and this morning it's still blowing a gale out there.  It's 21 degrees and falling, and the wind chill's something like 7.  I'll definitely be wearing my longies today in addition to some wool socks and toe warmers in my boots.  Probably two shirts and a knitted shawl/scarf too.  (hey, I sit still a lot at work and I get chilled.)

My excitement over having 4 customers on Monday drooped yesterday when I had one customer--at 4:30, just half an hour before quitting time.  Two other people came in, one to pick something up that will be billed later and the other one just fact-gathering about a mask with her vision Rx in it.  I don't know if I sold her or not, only time will tell.  There weren't even packages from the UPS or FedEx guys for me to play with.  I got a lot of knitting and listening done.

I finished listening to The Book Thief and moved on to The Aquitaine Progression by whoever's writing under Robert Ludlum's name these days.  So far, so good.  (I like me a good thriller.)  I finished the keyhole sand dollar dishcloth for next week's exchange; it was interesting and fun to knit it from the outside in.  It turned out twice the size I thought it'd be, further proof that I'm a loose knitter.  If, no when, I make this again I'll be using smaller needles, but I'm thinking a washing and a spin in the dryer will tighten it up and make it look firmer and more... solid.  Today I'm hoping to finish the baby hat I've got OTN and cast on the next one.  Naturally they call for the same size needles or you'd better bet I'd have them both on at the same time and nothing would get done.  (Yes, as a matter of fact I do have multiple needles in the size needed but I know myself well enough to know that neither hat would get done with any speed if I had them both on at the same time.)

We stayed in for our anniversary supper; it was crappy out and we had stuff to make anyway.  We grilled a steak to share (well, broiled it, it was raining out after all), baked a potato to share, and sauteed some mushrooms.  We turned off the TV and enjoyed talking about our lives and adventures.  It was a good time.

December 5--Mesopotamia, Openwork Plaque with a Rampant Goat eating a Plant.  Early each morning Reynaldo came down the road into Sandy Ground with his goats.  The fishermen were just rowing out to their boats as the sun rose and the old man followed behind them staking each goat out in its own patch of weeds.  In the course of a week he worked his way up one side of the mile-long road and back to his house, that way he fed his goats and kept the shoulders of the road trimmed, kind of like a 6-goat public works department.  Rose didn't mind when he tied the goats behind the Sea View.  The tethers were short enough so that the goats didn't eat all of her bougainvillea but once a pair of them got loose and ate all the mangoes on her tree.  That night she dreamed of feeding curried goat stew to the whole neighborhood.

Mmm, curried goat.  Maybe I can talk Durwood into making us some curried goat over the weekend.  He's got a new crockpot that needs breaking in.  (what?  you mean you don't have some goat meat in your freezer??  we do.)  I'm off to read the funnies, eat some breakfast, and bundle up to brave the wind in order to comfortably to keep the world safe from SCUBA diving.  I'm selfless that way.  Stay warm.

--Barbara