A Day Away

Yesterday morning I drove out of the Green Bay sunshine into the gray skies of Sheboygan to meet my friend Lala to see the newest Hunger Games movie, Mockingjay, Part 1 (we loved it) and to spend the day together.  We had a great time.  We sat in our favorite Weather Center Cafe for a cup of coffee then we went for a walk.  It wasn't too cold and it wasn't windy at all so our walk along the riverwalk, while slick in spots, didn't freeze us to the core.  It's been warm enough that the ice isn't solid yet although it is thick enough to support geese.  We went to the Charcoal Inn South for a cheeseburger and a brat for a late lunch and then we parted ways.

I swung through Sheboygan Falls on my way home but Magpie's Cottage closes at 3 o'clock on Friday.  What's up with that????  Anyway, that probably saved me at least fifty bucks so I just swung into Shopko to see if they still had the kind of wool and Thinsulate gloves I want (nope, they don't), I got a suede and Thinsulate pair instead.  Let's see how they do filling birdfeeders.  It never occurred to me that last night was the Friday before Christmas and that everyone on EARTH would be out shopping.  I barely made it out of there alive.  I need to pay closer attention to the world around me.  Also the calendar.

I hauled up the box of decorations and ornaments this morning, and I put the palm frond Rudolph that Dad made ages ago and the jingle wreath up at the door into the garage and I put the Bah Humbug plaque Mom made up in the living room.  Last week I got up one of the Santa prints that Mom's cousin did and hung it up so gradually Christmas is coming to 1510.  I figure by the time I get it all up it'll be time to take it all down.  *shrugs*  Oh well.

Lala gave me a bag of random yarn she found when she was clearing out a closet and Durwood and I got it all rolled into nice tidy yarn cakes this morning.  It's going to make excellent hats or mittens to take to the local elementary school kids.  You remember how kids lose hats and mittens, right?  Well, I'm working to fix it so that there's some in reserve at the school our kids went to.  It's not a lot but it's something.  If one kid stays warm and feels special in a new hat, then all the work's worth it.

December 20--Cypriot, Water Spout.  Water poured out of an opening in the rock wall like a fully open hose.  Centuries ago someone had carved a face into the rock.  It was the face of a man-lion, mane and all.  You could see where the fangs had broken off and where thousands of hands had smoothed his brow.  It was a powerful face and Brett wondered about the man who had carved it.  Brett was a sculptor himself but he doubted he could have stood in the gout of icy water to carve such an intricate design in the living rock.

Last night at knitting I got Old MacDonald's cow started.  I made the head and put on the eyes, tied tight inside with good firm knots, not grannies either, so they're not coming out.  Later after I get the tree up and decorated (next on the agenda) I'll get to work on her body.  Right now it looks a bit like a caplet with eyes, doesn't it?  Happy Saturday!
--Barbara