A Morning Visitor

I looked up from my first sip of coffee to see this predator perched on the fence.  She/he was casting a beady eye around for any birds out and about.  The birds are smarter (for the most part) than to fly in for breakfast and a bath when the hawk's on watch but the squirrels evidently aren't.  This little guy watched his big brother clamber up to the peanut wreath and stood there hoping that peanuts would fall from the sky.  They didn't.  The hawk gave the squirrels no more than a passing glance before flying off to find more unwary prey.

 










As I said I would in yesterday's post, I put on shoes and socks (and a winter coat of course) and tootled over to ALDI for on-sale fruit and then to Kwik Trip for bananas and no one was the wiser that I wasn't wearing "real" clothes, only yoga pants, a camisole, and a hoodie.  Lounge wear, not street wear.  On my way out, I admired the icicles that had formed all along the gutter and on the way back I glanced down off the front porch to see the hyacinth poking its little green nose out of the snow and leaves.  Hooray!  I've been watching for it and was quite surprised when the daffodils beat it last week, but they're snow-covered again although probably not for long since the sun has enough heat to melt it back from the bricks pretty quickly.






 
Then I settled back onto the couch and proceeded to tackle knitting the flip-top for the other mitten.  I don't find this one quite as ugly as I do the first one.  Maybe it's the yellow-gold hand on the left one that offends my not-so-delicate sensibilities but I find I don't mind the yellow and red striped top on the black-handed one.  *shrugs* oh well.  I'm using the same red as on the first one so they're both made with the same yarns, just in different places--except for the thumbs, of course.

February 27--Leon Benigni, Going Dancing.  The coat felt like a cocoon.  Lenore snuggled into the monkey fur collar and wrapped the midnight blue velvet sleeves around herself to stay warm.  She wondered who had invented open-toed shoes.  Her toes were freezing and they felt like they might crack off if she stubbed one.  Fashion was a cruel mistress but she was determined not to be ridiculed in the columns ever again.

And that, kiddies, is when my day of lolling on the couch knitting and watching DVR-ed episodes of Alone which my knitting friend LB recommended, ended.  It's on the History Channel and is about 10 people that they put out alone (hence the name) about 5 miles apart in a desolate place with their own camera to see who can feed themselves, build shelter, etc. to survive and thrive the longest for a $500,000 prize.  The participants have a radio to call in to tap out and they have med checks every once in a while and pull anyone whose physical condition is nearing the danger zone.  I was quite taken with it even though a lot of it was like watching paint dry over and over since each of them suffered the same weather and similar challenges feeding themselves.  Anyway, I get to work again today (I'm not thrilled but I do like the bigger paycheck) so I'm outta here.  Pretty sky this morning, though.  I didn't want you to miss it.
--Barbara