Making My Own

I'm testing a new pattern for fingerless mittens. My daughter sent it to me indicating she wanted some for Christmas. It's a Martha Stewart pattern and I feel that sometimes Martha Stewart is a bit of an over achiever. I've read through a few or her patterns - and recipes - before and they can at times be a little on the complex side. I to test out the new Martha Stewart pattern before making up the pair my daughter asked for.

Turns out this pattern is easy, peasy. Yeah Martha Stewart, at least this time. I should be able to knit up a pair in an evening or two while watching a movie. I love having something to show for my time - especially when I'm simply watching a movie.

These red mittens, for me. Jen wants black.

Willow

Willow is often the stage name she is know by when performing the songs she writes at the local venues, but we know her as Sally. Here she is, performing a few of her original tunes during our inpromptu, non-traditional Thanksgiving Day combined with Fred's birthday celebration this year at my place.

Tradition

I know, I know, based on the last couple of years, it would appear that our Thanksgiving tradition has changed. But really, it's going to take more than two years before I consider our Thanksgiving traditions "officially" changed.

Our tradition, spend Thanksgiving at my son's in Rock Island. In the freight fowarding business of getting pretty pots of plants shipped to their correct destination at the right time, the winter holidays turn into crunch time at the office for him. Having a more flexible schedule myself, it's always made more sense for us to make the drive over the river, through the woods and over the mountains to his place for Thanksgiving.

Traditionally, our Tanksgiving weekend starts with our arrival at his place right around the time he's getting home from his office on Wednesday evening so we can walk over to the Rock Island Bar and Grill just in time for dinner. I think the reason I feel so at home at his local Rock Island Bar and Grill is because it looks, smells, sounds and feels remarkably like our own Big Lake Bar and Grill on this side of the mountains where I frequently find myself on Friday and Saturday nights with carloads full of my friends. They're both the type of place where after a few visits, you've become one of the regulars, you and the owners address each other by your first names, you say hi to the other regulars, you know all of the members of their regular playing bands by their first names and shortly after 9:00, the tables are cleared and the dance floor is crowded. Well, all of that and the fact that both of their buildings could have been built with maybe the same blueprints and they both have a tiles of black and white checks for their dance floors.

The last two years though, my son and I have had to postpone our Thanksgiving traditions due to inclimate weather. We're only a four hour drive apart, but with a steep two lane winding mountain pass in the middle, sometimes the safest way to spend the holiday is to simply postpone our traditions.

That's what happened this year. Snow was pounding Steven's Pass, even here on the coast. We woke up to a couple inches of snow that ended up turning into six by Thanksgiving Day's end. And, it was a similar story last year too, but. Really though, I do consider it our "tradition" to soend Thanksgiving in Rock Island.

We plan our visit to begin around the ti

16 Degrees

It was only 16 degrees and a thin layer of compact snow and ice covered our streets as the sun came up this morning. It feels difficult for me to compose just the right scene for a picture that conveys the message that it "is" cold outside. I stood inside where it was warm, and sipped a mocha as I looked out at the cold, icy street and took this picture through the glass and felt rather glad that I didn't have to go out and drive my car away just yet.

Sun Between the Rains

A typical November day in Ferndale, Washington usually includes rain. It seems too dark, too early, too soon once we've set our clocks back that one hour for the Daylight Savings time adjustment too. That's why when we do have that rare sunny break in our sky, we rush out and run through the meadow grasses along the canals at Sandy Point. Torrie even made the most of it by jumping in for a swim part way through his run.