All I Did Yesterday Was Knit

I purposely didn't sit down to blog because I can get caught up in reading emails and recipes and surfing facebook and checking out other blogs and end up sitting here for the better part of 2 hours if I don't have to go to work so I just decided not to.  I got a lot knitted on my Landscapes Wrap, through the first 2 (55 yd.) skeins (River Crossing) and into the first of the other color (Autumn Trails).  The change isn't quite as dramatic in real life as it looks here.  I'm planning to knit with the Autumn Trails for about 5 inches or so and then switch back to the River Crossing for 5 inches or so,and finish off with a few inches of each color, then it gets an I-cord edging on the top, cast on edge.  I think I'm going to like this one a lot, it'll be warm and thick and cozy.

Durwood worked hard on the Wisconsin Squirrel Report yesterday and he got some great shots of the latest gymnast that has figured out the steps he needs to take to get up on the peanut wreath.  I tried to move the herb pots so his first perch wasn't available but I'd left it too long and the pots are frozen to the cement.  Dang it.  I don't mind seeing the little tree rat dangling from its back feet munching on a peanut since I've got a 20 gallon can full of peanuts in the shell.

Some bird met its end in our backyard over the last couple days.  I spotted this pile of feathers under the park bench where the flower pots live.  It looks like a dove, there are plenty of them since I just read that while they only lay one or two eggs at a time, they can have up to 12 clutches a season.  Lots of doves available for winter food for the feral cat, which is what I suspect left that feather pile.

When I left work on Thursday the full moon was just peeking through the branches of the tree in the next yard and this morning the full moon was setting in the west.  One of these days I'll figure out how to take a moon picture without that halo effect but I like these anyway.

December 6--The Netherlands, Sorgheloos ("Carefree") in Poverty.  Star didn't know they were poor until Emily told her at recess in second grade.  "You wear the same dress every day," Emily said, her arms crossed over her chest. "Don't you have another one?"  Star looked at the red and blue plaid dress she wore.  "I like it," she said. "What's wrong with it?"  "Only poor people wear the same things every day, you must be poor.  Mama says people that live on Second Street like you do are second-class citizens and are poor."  "Second class?  We're in the second grade," said Star, "that's called a class, isn't it?  That makes you second-class too." then she ran away so Emily wouldn't see her tears.

Lordy, kids can be cruel, can't they?  I've got a few chores to do today, like laundry, and some Christmas gifts to work on.  I was thrilled that I thought to stop at Toys R Us yestrday and found the last big set of wooden building blocks.  All I could find were foam ones and plastic ones and I wanted actual, tree-grown wood blocks.  They don't tell kids how to play with them.  I'm amazed to find that Legos and Duplos (little kid Legos) only come in "build this" packages, there aren't any sets of just plain bricks for imaginative play.  It's getting hard to find toys that kids can play with instead of toys that play for kids.  Okay, end of rant, we're going out to meet friends for breakfast.  Later.
--Barbara