Going Home In Handknit Socks
Sydney Anne went home with her Dad and Mom today, all wearing socks handknit by Grandma B.

This picture was taken while they were waiting for the paperwork to be completed. Do you think Sydney can feel the love on her feet?

Mom and Sydney have matching Fluted Banisters knit in Opal Handpainted 12. Dad has John's Basketweave Ribbing Socks knit in Opal Handpainted 14.

Grandma B. has a cold and is coughing and blowing in Michigan, 2000 miles away, but smiling at the pictures she's seeing of the new family. How did long distance grandparents ever survive before digital cameras and computers?


Sydney Anne is home and looking very pleased with the life she was just born into.

We are very blessed to have such a sweet addition to our family. Thank you to all my online friends who left congratulations and good wishes on the baby announcement.

I think this is about as close to smiling as a two day old baby can manage.

Note: This post was written on April 7, the day Blogger decided to do a very needed system upgrade which made posting impossible until this morning, April 8.

Baby Announcement
About 4:00 am Monday morning I got a call from two happy people in the car on the way to the hospital. The water broke and Sydney was about to be born.

Yesterday seemed to drag on forever for Grandma 2000 miles away. Sydney wasn't very cooperative and wouldn't get in position and labor was going slow or not at all.

This morning about 8:00 am we got THE CALL.

Sydney Anne
Born April 5, 2005 at 4:26 am Pacific Time
8 pounds, 6 ounces
20.5 inches long

Everyone is happy and doing well.

I'm supposed to have a picture in my email, but I don't. I'm guessing Dad/Son John was so tired he sent it to Australia by mistake.

If it comes before I leave to pick up granddaughter Kimmy, I'll try to get it posted here. Otherwise, it may not show up until late tonight or even tomorrow - or whenever Dad wakes up enough to actually send it.

The Castle Ratter
Papillons are one of the oldest breed of dog. Their history can be traced back 700 years when they were known as toy spaniels.

Marie Antoinette owned Papillons and, according to legend, she took one of the little dogs to the guillotine with her for company and comfort. (The dog was not beheaded.)

In those times, few people could afford to keep a dog that didn't earn its keep. The Papillons worked as the castle ratters.

It's important to know the history of a dog breed you are thinking of adopting, because dogs retain their breed characteristics whether their owner wants them to or not.

Sunny, our little mixed breed, has a herding instinct. Herding dogs need to have a job to be happy. If a job is not provided, they will make up their own job description and their owners may not be pleased with the duties their dog has chosen.

But I've digressed. Papillons are not herding dogs.

Papillons are hunting dogs. Our little fourteen pound Papillon Pappy is obsessed with rodents. Since we live in the country, he is never bored.

He can sense small rodents under the snow and will dive into snow banks after them. During the other seasons of the year, he is forever diving into grass clumps. Sometimes he comes out with a screaming rodent in his mouth.

I hate it when he catches something. If he's on the leash, I give the leash a hardy tug and tell him "drop it". He does. Reluctantly. Only because he has no choice.

A few weeks ago he was off leash when I saw him catch a mouse. "Drop it!" didn't work. He swallowed it whole so I wouldn't take it away from him. I had no idea that was physically possible. Even more amazing he didn't get sick, although he was a bit sluggish at his agility class that evening.

I can only conclude that as well as inheriting his breed's ability to catch rodents, he also inherited the ability to digest them.

Sydney Anne is Almost Due


My son John and daughter-in-law Anne are about to become parents for the first time.

John writes:

We’re hopefully in the home stretch. Yesterday, Monday, March 28, 2005, marked exactly one week until the due date. Here’s a picture of my beautiful wife, Anne, on that day, just before we went to our doctor appointment:

Anne has been very lucky to have a very good pregnancy. Other than the illnesses of last month, she hasn’t had many problems. She’s been enjoying the pregnancy and enjoys interacting with the baby in every way she can.

A week ago she told me she was ready. The pregnancy has progressed to the point where she is ready to have the baby and get the pregnancy over with. She’s always tired, swollen, and her fingers and toes sometimes tingle from the circulation problems that go along with the swelling and pregnancy in general.

It’s nothing serious, just interesting to hear when less than two weeks ago she was happy and giggling while playing with the baby and telling me she’s in no hurry to end the pregnancy.

Looks to Grandma like baby Sydney Anne is ready, too. It can't be much longer now.

Sunshine and Mink
Thanks for all the kind comments. Today is better. Much better.

Today started off with sunshine. Real sunshine. Sunshine with no clouds. Sunshine that warms the earth and the souls of people who haven't seen much sunshine in the last five months.

The sunshine brought the temperature up to 50 degrees (10 C) by early afternoon. When I went to do errands and grocery shopping, there were people flinging their coats off every place I stopped. I joined them. Who needs a coat when it's 50 degrees?

After I got home and settled in, Bob noticed something out in the east yard by the edge of the pond. At first we thought it was an otter, but it's too small for an otter. I'm thinking it's a mink. And we spotted a second mink, so we have a pair.

They went in and out of their hole, went swimming in the thawed edge of the pond, and looked like they were happily settling in to raise a family.

Fortunately the mink hole isn't in a place the dogs normally walk.

I'd like to think the little dogs have more sense than to tangle with a mink, but I don't know that. I do know (I think) that the little dogs won't go in the water after it. Glory will. Glory will tangle with it and Glory will go in the water after it.

Anyone have any good advice for peaceful coexistence between dogs and a mink family?

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what mink eat besides fish. Guess I better do some research. I'm not even sure I have them identified correctly.

More later after I have some facts.

Weather Blahs
Yesterday it was windy and cold - but it didn't snow. Glory and I went for a mile walk at the nearby fish hatchery. On the shaded left side of the road not showing in the picture, there is still some snow. Little by little spring is winning the battle.

We're overdue for some spring weather, but the snowflakes are whirling around in the air today. Even though it's a little above freezing, there is a cold wind and there isn't much thawing going on.

Looking Hard For Signs of Spring
My sister sent dog pictures from North Carolina today. My eye immediately flew to the background where I could see forsythia and daffodils in bloom.

We have no color yet in Michigan except for the red of the cardinals and now the blue of the occasional Eastern bluebird.

Each time we go for a walk in the back field I look for the flash of blue as the bluebirds hang out near the nest box they've claimed.

I took this picture mainly to show the lack of color in the landscape. If you look closely, you can see a speck of blue in the tree. I circled it to help you out. A person needs all the help they can get to locate color in mid-March Michigan.

These short green shoots are February Gold daffodils, the earliest blooming daffodils we have. Usually they shoot up during each of the major pre-spring thaws and are in full bloom by the end of March.

We haven't had major pre-spring thaws this year.

If the temperatures will stay above freezing for the rest of the month, the daffodils might make March bloom. They're going to need to do some serious growing in the next thirteen days.

This is the only plant in bloom on our five acres. Those two pink colored spots at the base of the stem are the flowers.

This Hellebore is an amazing little plant that starts blooming even before the first major thaw and continues blooming on through the spring, long after it's overshadowed by the more showy flowers.

Actually, almost every other flower is more showy - but none are more indestructible.

This little guy lives in the deep dry shade of a large oak tree in our front yard where hardly anything else will grow. My garden is full of plants that don't need coddling, and this is one of the toughest.

So we patiently wait for the snow to finish melting and hope we don't get any more.

Another month and everything will be green and this field will be hopping with baby rabbits.

Glory is rested and ready for the chase.

Bluebirds and Puzzles
This morning the female bluebird was sitting in a nearby tree while the male stood guard on the top of the nest box. How wonderful to have them back and know they intend to use the nest box. Assuming this is the same pair that used the nest box last year, they fledged a total of nine hatchlings. I'd love to have them do the same this year.

Lately I've been wasting time at Jig Zone , Jigsaw Puzzles Online. After trying a few unsatisfactory puzzle sites, I came to the conclusion that doing jig saw puzzles on line was not fun. Then, last December someone on a knitting list changed my mind by posting a Knitting related puzzle from the Jig Zone puzzle of the day and I got hooked.

End of Winter Walk Pappy and I went for a walk at the nearby fish hatchery today.

Most of the ponds and lakes in the area are still ice covered, but there is open water at the fish hatchery. It must be because they filter and recycle the water in the ponds thereby keeping it moving. Maybe they even heat it a little - but I really don't know that.

Anyway, this time of year the unfrozen water is a huge attraction for all types of water birds.

When Pappy saw this path full of geese, he was in no hurry to go forward and neither was I.

In some places where people feed the geese, they become very aggressive in their demand for food. I wasn't sure if these geese wanted something from us or not. The only thing I had with me to feed them was Pappy.

It appeared the geese at the fish hatchery are wild.

They didn't want to be anywhere near us, and they flew off while Pappy watched.

A Hint of Spring
All week I've been thinking how much fun it would be to take the camera out and find hints of spring here and there. The weather refused to cooperate. All this week it's been below freezing and either snowing or threatening to snow.

Our five day weather forecast shows below freezing temps and snow on every single day for the next five.

Every casual conversation in Michigan starts out, "Is it ever going to be spring?" We are so ready.

We have a three acre field on the back of the property where I walk the dogs several times a day.

The path we walk doubles as a bluebird trail. This morning, sitting on top of a snow covered bluebird house, was a male bluebird - the first one of the season and a sure sign that spring is on the way.

Normally I wouldn't post a bluebird picture where you can't even tell that the bird in question is blue, but this is a very special occasion. This picture was the best I could do under the circumstances.

Trust me, that is a very bright blue, pink breasted male bluebird sitting on top of the nest box. I'm assuming it's the same male who raised two families in that box last summer and has returned to claim it for this year.

Hope he found a warm snuggly place to hunker down tonight because guess what - the wind is blowing and it's snowing.

Is it ever going to be spring? You bet! This week I saw my first robin and my first bluebird. There might even be daffodils coming up under that snow.

John's Birthday Socks
The birthday socks are done! Since they were knit for 6 foot 5 inch tall Son John, they're a little baggy on my sock blockers.

The yarn is Opal Handpainted 14, a very rich combination of blues, greens, and purple. I love the way the Handpainted colors knit up in short bursts of color with no pooling and no spiraling.

I'm calling the pattern John's Basketweave Ribbing. I'll be publishing the pattern, downsized to a woman's medium, on Stitches of Violet soon.

There was no sun today, so I couldn't get a good natural light picture. In fact, this afternoon when I was trying to get a picture so I could package up the socks for their trip to Idaho, it was overcast and dumping snow.

I won't say any more about the snow. It would just sound like whining.

Happy Birthday March 18th John! I'm thinking it's possible you might become a daddy on your birthday. Sydney would be two weeks early, but everyone who has seen the picture thinks Anne looks ready now. And the picture was taken two weeks ago.

Saturday Thaw
Spring is trying to break through. The air feels different, more humid, a little warmer. The bird calls are changing to mating songs, the woodpeckers are drilling on the trees, and a few ants have started to appear in the house.

Last night it snowed. It was like a white sloppy rain. Today it thawed. Just enough to turn the snow into slush. Not enough to get rid of the white cover.

Perfect weather for getting sick.

When I left Son John in Idaho last Monday, he had the beginning of the flu. By Tuesday, his wife had it. Today DH Bob is sick. I'm not very optimistic about my changes of missing out on the fun.

Looking at the weather site, it won't be the first beautiful, balmy spring day that distracts me from knitting next week. By Tuesday the high temperatures are going to be back below freezing and there is snow in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday.

I'm not packing the woolens away yet.

Doggy Snow Fun
This is the first fresh, fluffy snow we've had in several months and the dogs are loving it.

All three of them like to run through it as fast as they can go. The little dogs have to jump around like rabbits to get anywhere when the snow is this deep.

This is Sunny, the little dog who is on a diet and not losing weight. Hopefully now that the crusty snow has been replaced by fluffy snow, she will get lots more exercise and the weight will start coming off.

She has a blue fleece jacket that she wears in the snow because her curly hair is a snow magnet. When she doesn't wear the jacket her chest and tummy get matted with ice balls. We can't pick them out, we have to melt them. Not a pleasant experience for us or Sunny.

Glory, our nine year old lab mix, likes to throw herself down in the new snow and make doggy snow angels.

It snowed on and off all day today, but the total new accumulation wasn't much over an inch. The snow is approximately six or seven inches deep.

According to AccuWeather it's going to stay cold and keep adding little new layers of snow for the next week. Not exactly the spring weather we were hoping for in March.

A doggy outing in the snow is so worthwhile. When the dogs come in they are ready for serious napping.

This is exhausted Pappy. Notice his little pink tongue hanging out. We think it's cute, but then we would. We're his parents.

Back From Idaho
It was a great trip, full of baby fun and anticipation.

This is John and Anne before the baby shower on Saturday.

While in Idaho I spent less than ten minutes thinking about knitting. Does that mean I'm not addicted like the knitters on the lists are always claiming to be?

For the few minutes I did think about knitting, I hauled John's Basketweave Ribbing Sock out of my suitcase, brought it downstairs and left it out where we couldn't help seeing it. Later that day John tried it on and we were pleased to note that it fits perfectly.

I thought I might get the second sock on the needles today, but it didn't happen. I'm not sure where today went, but not very much got accomplished. Tomorrow will be better.

Wizards, castles, unicorns, and lots of dragons decorate Sydney's nursery.

The walls are painted a periwinkle blue. The crib is full of stuffed animals just waiting for her arrival. They probably don't realize that when she takes over the crib, they are going to have to get out - at least until she's older.

It is premature springtime in Idaho. It was in the 50s and the sun was shining. Not necessarily a good thing.

They haven't had their usual snow this winter, not even in the mountains.

According to Son John (who I'm sure will correct me if this isn't right), they will probably have a drought this summer since there isn't a snow pack to melt and feed the lakes, streams, and rivers.

Driving around sight seeing on Sunday we could see that the water level in Lake Coeur d'Alene is low. It is still very beautiful.

For anyone interested, there are more pictures of the trip here.

Wish I could send Idaho some of our snow. It's coming down cold and heavy in Michigan tonight. Looks like we've got about six inches so far.

It's March. This snow isn't going to stick around very long. Any day now we will see the first robin and the first bluebird. By the end of the month the Phoebes will be here checking out their nest for another summer of raising little Phoebes.

And most exciting of all, this spring my granddaughter Sydney will be born.

Blogging Vacation
Lord willing, the next post will be March 1.

Cell Phone, Camera, Snow, and Anticipated Warmth
All the little chores and errands that need to be done before going on a trip have been keeping me busy.

Yesterday I braved the cell phone store and bought a camera phone. Can't give a reason why I need a camera phone. I have a very serviceable digital camera. But I've know for a while that I was going to get one unless it cost too much. It didn't and I did. Just for fun.

One of the things that needed to be done before my trip was to figure out how to use my new phone.

What you're seeing in the top picture is the very first photo I was able to get from my cell phone to my laptop. I went out to get the snail mail, twirled around and took a picture down the road.

This is one of my favorite pictures from last February. Same road, opposite direction from the mail box.

We live on a shaded dirt road in rural SW Michigan. Once the road gets a packed down layer of snow it usually stays covered all winter, even through minor thaws like we've been having.

Checked out the weather forecast for Post Falls, Idaho where I'm going tomorrow. They're having daytime temps in the 50's. Now that's a thaw worth mentioning!

To someone coming from a Michigan winter, a temperature in the 50's is going to feel like tee-shirt weather. I can hardly wait. Do you think the sun will shine? Maybe we can have the baby shower outdoors.

The Long and The Short Of It
The short (5 foot) lady is my mom. She's the height I usually knit socks to fit.

The tall (6 foot 5 inches) guy is my son John, the one who lives 2000 miles away in Idaho and is eventually going to receive the Opal Handpainted Basketweave Ribbing Socks for his birthday in March.

This is my first time knitting socks for him, and I'm a little concerned about the fit. In addition to being tall, he is also very slender.

I'm knitting under deadline. I want to be down to the toe when I pack the first sock in my suitcase for the trip to Idaho.

Several ladies on the Opal Chatters List wrote to me about making socks for their equally tall - or taller - sons. How did our babies get so tall?

During John's growing years, I worked at Kellogg's. The rumor was that feeding Pop-Tarts to our boys would make them grow tall. It sure worked for John.

Griffin, My New Canine Nephew
Just a short post to welcome Griffin into the family.

He's 45 pound cocker/bassett (and many other things) mix whose owners decided they didn't want him after ten years together. How sad.

He was recently adopted by my sister, Carrie, and will be overly properly loved and appreciated in his new home.

In his old home, he was not allowed on the furniture. You can see that he is adapting quickly to the new furniture rules.

Welcome to the family, Griffin.

Knitting Needles on the Plane
A little knitting content is creeping onto Seasons of Violet here. It's good for you non-knitters to know that your government is very concerned about the possible danger of grannies on the plane with knitting needles.

There are a few airlines who don't allow knitting needles at all. My airline, NorthWest, does allow them, but there are reports of some security people who don't let them through.

The poor unfortunate knitters who get these security people are doomed to having the needles ripped out of their knitting and confiscated.

I'm going to take a five day vacation from knitting. I have a John Grisham paperback to read on the way there and will pick up another paperback that doesn't require a lot of mental attention to read on the way home.

Please don't tell the Knitlist. They would probably ban me for life for not wanting to knit in the airports, through all my flights, though all my sightseeing, and through the entire baby shower.

Travel is full of interruptions and interesting things to see and hear. It's much easier to be interrupted mid-sentence than mid-row. And I wouldn't want to make the other passengers nervous with those needles.

One Week To Go
A week from today I'll be leaving for the baby shower in Post Falls, Idaho, Idaho's River City, 2,000 miles away.

I'm so looking forward to seeing Son John and very pregnant Daughter-in-law Anne. This will be the first time I've visited since the wedding in Las Vegas (Anne's home town), over five years ago.

I've never been to Idaho. Montana, yes. Idaho, no. And this will be the first time I've visited the State of Washington. My plane lands in Spokane, 30 minutes from John and Anne's new home.

I'm also looking forward to visiting the Coeur d'Alene Resort where John works. I've been warned we're going to have a decadent brunch - bad enough to ruin my diet for weeks - there on Sunday. Oh well, I guess I'll have to deal with it.

This is my orientation visit, so I'm doing it without a rental car. John is going to chauffeur me around and show me the sights. Once I've looked everything over, I plan to learn how to get around by myself for future visits.

I've decided to do four trips this year whether I can afford it or not. A new granddaughter is just too special to miss.

Tentatively I'm planning a late April/early May newborn trip, an August trip with Granddaughter Kimmy, and an October/early November trip with Great-Grandma Monette before the weather gets bad.

Kimmy is excited about flying for the first time, seeing her Aunt and Uncle, and meeting her new cousin Sydney.

"Tell me about the plane. What's it like? What kind of thing can I do for 4 hours on a plane?"

Guess I better get busy and ask the Knitlist about taking knitting needles on the plane.

(For those who don't know, this is a joke. The topic of knitting needles on planes has been overdone and is now forbidden on the Knitlist.)

Valentine Pappy
Pappy wants to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day. Yes, those are little hearts on his tie.

I rarely dress my dogs. They don't seem to appreciate it. I put the little tie on for the picture and took it off again as soon as I was done.

The tie was a gift from my friend Sue. She formerly worked with me at Pharmacia/Pfizer, but now finds herself happily unemployed and making dog bibs (she has a drooling Newfoundland), ties, and kerchiefs.

Pappy is a very active middle aged male dog. He has a very thick, luxurious coat which makes him look like he might need the Doggy Diet, but he doesn't.

Introduction to Doggy School
Sunny was four months old when I got the idea it would be fun to take her on nursing home visitations.

Knowing almost nothing about what I was doing or how to go about doing it, I talked to the lady at the Humane Society who tests dogs for their visitation program. She told me to give her a call when Sunny was a year old and, until then, see about getting her into a puppy class to learn some basic obedience.

Through a long series of timely coincidences, I found out there was an excellent, semi-secret (doesn't advertise because she doesn't need to advertise) dog trainer only eight miles from my house.

Sunny excelled in her puppy class. In fact, she won the top-of-the-class award. This picture was taken on puppy class graduation night. Sunny was six months old and freshly spayed, which I mention because the incision shows in the picture.

We had fun with the class and practiced almost every day. The whole doggy school thing was new to me and I needed to practice just as much as Sunny.

By the end of the nine week session, it was obvious that we couldn't quit. Sunny loved going to doggy school and we were having a great time on our night out together each week. That's how we ended up in Intermediate Class.

From there, we moved up to the class we're in now, Hobby Advanced. On Monday night Sunny and I go to doggy school for two hours. The first hour is non-competition obedience. The second hour alternates weekly; agility one week, tricks and games the next week. Sunny's favorite is tricks and games.

On Thursday night Pappy and I go to doggy school for the same class. Pappy's favorite is agility.

I'll be telling more about what we do at doggy school in future posts.

For now, I want to explain why Sunny is not visiting nursing homes.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

This picture was taken in the staging area before the 2003 Kalamazoo Christmas Parade. There are strange people, strange loud noises, bands, floats, and lots of kids.

See Pappy in the foreground? He is loving it all, holding his tail high and wagging it as fast as he can.

See Sunny up next to my leg? She wants to go home. Her beautiful bushy tail is tucked just as tight under her butt as she can tuck it.

I never made her do another parade. Or go to a nursing home.

Cute Puppy Pictures
Kim at The Woolen Rabbit has newborn Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy pictures on her blog. Too cute to miss if you're a puppy lover.

Two of the puppies are very small and she's concerned about them. I keep checking her blog to see if there's news - or even better, there might be more puppy pictures.

February Thaw
In Michigan we have good imaginations when it comes to winter turning into spring.

Yesterday and today we're having high temperatures in the lower 40s (about 5 C) and it's feeling balmy.

At night, everything freezes solid again. This picture of Pappy walking on top of the snowy crust was taken early this morning.

For the past few weeks the snow has had a nasty crust. The two little dogs could walk on top of it as long as they kept their weight distributed on all four legs. The second they would squat (Do I have to say why they're squatting?) the crust would break and little legs and butts sink down into the snow. Even lifting one leg to pee would send them through the crust and off balance into the snow.

After the mini-thaw yesterday and the re-freeze last night, the crust is finally thick enough to support them through all their bodily functions.


I take many pictures of Glory, our black lab mix, and end up deleting them because it's hard to get a good picture of a solid black dog.

This morning on our walk I was able to get a good shot of her against the snow.


Granddaughter Kimmy is coming this weekend. I'm picking her up after school this afternoon.

We will eat at McDonald's, go see a movie, make some turtle bars, play UNO, yak with each other, and whatever else we decide to do. It's been a while since we've been together and I'm looking forward to having her energy around for a few days.

She's getting the Sweet Valentine socks for Valentine's Day. I stopped at the post office and mailed them to her yesterday. She loves getting mail and I love making my granddaughter happy.

She is Our Sunshine
I always wanted a lap dog. Bob wasn't so sure.

I found Sunny's picture on Petfinder. She was seven weeks old, two pounds, and just about the cutest thing I'd ever seen.

Sunny was advertised as a Terrier Papillon mix. Since she was found by the side of the road with her mother and two sisters, the guessing at a breed was just that, guessing. One sister looked like a Jack Russell, the other sister was twice as big as Sunny and looked like a white poodle. Her mother looked like a very pretty "breed unknown."

There were fifteen applications for Sunny. Her foster mom wisely decided she needed to go to a home with older people and no kids because she was so small and delicate. We got the nod, and off we went on a hundred mile ride to meet her.

It took me about 30 seconds before I was ready to dig for the checkbook. I handed her to Bob and I'll never forget the look on his face when he took that tiny little puppy. There was no need to ask him if he agreed we needed to take her home.

We named her Sunshine after the song "You Are My Sunshine." We call her Sunny and save Sunshine for when she's in trouble.

She's a mature lady now, a little over three years old. Her ideal adult weight is twelve pounds. Right now she's on a doggy diet.

It's too bad she isn't a breed, because she is a wonderful little dog: intelligent, loving, and very expressive. She's a people dog and doesn't like to be without at least one of her people around.

One of her favorite things is going to doggy school where she does obedience work, tricks and games, and agility.

When I started this post, I was going to write about Sunny and doggy school. Then I got sidetracked on her adoption. We'll talk about doggy school some other day.

Quiz Time!
We haven't had a quiz in a long time. I find them, I take them, I decide the questions and/or results are stupid and I don't post them.

Today I found one where the results are right on accurate for me. Give it and try and let me know if your results were true for you.

Your Dominant Intelligence is Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

You are great at finding patterns and relationships between things. Always curious about how things work, you love to set up experiments. You need for the world to make sense - and are good at making sense of it. You have a head for numbers and math ... and you can solve almost any logic puzzle. You would make a great scientist, engineer, computer programmer, researcher, accountant, or mathematician.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Anne and Sydney at 7 Months
Tomorrow I'm checking out plane fares to Idaho to attend a shower for Anne, John, and Sydney.

I've never visited John and Anne in Idaho, never seen their new home, never seen the resort where John works. And I want to. I want to very much. I'm just a little reluctant to do the airline travel thing, especially this time of year when the snow can create airport overnights.

I do want to visit once before the baby arrives, and the shower is the perfect excuse. I need to get myself a frequent flyer card and get used to the idea of flying across the country as often as I can afford. Granddaughters are just too precious not to have visits from Grandma.

As far as I know, Sydney still does not have a middle name.

I saw this saying in the sig on someone's email today:

"The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so she can tell when she's really in trouble!"

Since my granddaughter is going to be perfect, maybe she doesn't need a middle name.

Birthday Pie
Birthday Pie
Yesterday the sun came out. It was only for show, not to warm things up.

It did mean that it wasn't snowing or freezing drizzling and I could drive to Mom's without sliding off the road.

She baked the birthday apple pie and made coffee. I picked up two Spicy Chicken Sandwiches from Wendy's for the main course, and we had a wonderful lunch together.

Then, because it was my birthday pie, I got to bring the rest of it home to share with Bob. It didn't last the day. Yum. Thanks Mom.

I'm glad we didn't have the pie until I was done pouting about my birthday. It deserved to be eaten with a happy spirit.

No Apple Pie
I'm supposed to be eating wonderful home baked apple pie at Mom's right now.

The apple pie is a birthday present that only Mom can give. She makes fantastic, old fashioned, labor intensive apple pies with a crust to die for.

My morning plan was to drive to Kalamazoo (about 20 miles), get a haircut, pick up some fast food sandwiches to take to Mom's for lunch.

Mom was going to stick the apple pie in the oven about 11:30 and we were going to eat it freshly baked.

The weather man had been predicting freezing drizzle for the past several days. We were about ready to write it off as a bad forecast when it started at 9 am this morning, putting a nice coat of ice on everything including the roads and the existing snow.

One of the advantages of old lady hood is that I now feel no compunction to be out driving around on icy roads. I rescheduled my haircut for next week and sat down to knit on my latest pair of socks for a while.

The drizzle turned to snow and the temperature started plunging. It's supposed to be around zero F by this evening.

Great weather to stay home and knit. But I have plans to go to a lecture on fens with a friend, so I need to start chipping that ice off my car now. I don't think the sun is going to melt it.

She Is My Sunshine
Here's Sunny sitting in my kitchen knitting chair.

The previous sentence is the only non-knitting related sentence from today's Stitches of Violet post.

If you're interested, the Stitches of Violet post shows a picture of the Valentine socks I knit for Kimmy. You don't have to read all the knitting talk. Just look at the picture.

I am officially over my pout about turning 60 and other things that I'm unable to control.

I'm thankful that "60 is the new 40" and ready to get on with whatever comes next.

The Unwelcome Birthday


Last Thursday I turned 60. Emotionally it wasn't a pretty thing. And if one more person tells me that 60 is the new 40, I'm going to scream!

I resisted the urge to get drunk. Unfortunately, that's a consequence of being older and a little wiser. Getting drunk doesn't help a thing and adds physical debilitation to the problem.

What is comes right down to is this - I'm pouting. And, if I tell you why I'm pouting it will be obnoxious whining about almost nothing.

Deep down inside I know that I am very blessed, which makes it embarrassing to be found whining. So I'll just pout in silence.

My family has tried to cheer me up with happy, positive thoughts about the wonderful rest of my life ahead. Maybe even with my best accomplishments ahead of me.

My youngest sister, who is a decade away from this startling age, finally humored me by allotting me one day of pouting per decade. That means I can keep pouting until Wednesday.

To be truthful about it, I started my pout the day before my birthday, so Monday is the only day I have left.

It's nice to put limits on pouts.

Snowy Saturday


This is the reason I didn't go anywhere today. Obviously some shoveling is going to be required before my car leaves the driveway.

The worst part isn't in the picture. The snowplow went by and piled up a heavy bank of snow at the end of the driveway.

The two snow pictures were taken this morning. It snowed and blew all day making it much too nasty to be outdoors working, so we weren't. A lovely benefit of being retired. No hurry to get out the driveway.

It was fun to take the dogs outside today. Pappy and Glory love to romp in the snow.

I didn't need to be a kill joy and call them in before they were ready. After ten minutes of running through the snow, they beat me to the door.

This Cold is Too Cold
This morning I woke up about 7 am, fixed a cup of coffee, and took it back to bed to sip it while snuggling between the cozy flannel sheets.

It was four degrees below zero (-20 C) outdoors, and I was in no hurry to take the dogs out for their morning walk.

The dogs still had unpleasant memories of their last trip outside the previous night. They were in no hurry to go outside again, either.

Sunny is pad trained. She prefers to go outdoors unless it's raining hard or the snow is too deep or the temperature is too cold. Like this morning.

When I threw back the comforter to get up for our morning walk, she jumped into my warm spot and informed me that she was staying in.

Normally when she does this I bring her leash into the bedroom, hook it on her, and tell her she's going out with the rest of the dogs.

This morning I let her stay in. She used the pad.

It was good that Sunny wasn't with us. We only got a short way across the creek and down the path when Pappy decided his feet were frozen and he couldn't walk.

Fortunately his business was complete so I scooped him up and carried him back to the house. One of the few times he's ever appreciated being picked up when outdoors.

Glory, our big old lab mix, ran ahead and beat us to the door.

Let me in! Let me in! I want to go lie next to the radiator and warm up.

Ah. That's better.

Time Flies
Walking out of the house with the dogs this morning we passed the abandoned Cardinal nest. It was full of the fresh snow we received last night.

Nests are easy to see now with the leaves off the trees and bushes. There were so many of them so close to where we walked everyday, but we didn't know they were there. Next year I'm going to look a little closer.

I turn another year older this week. Actually, I turn another decade older this week.

Getting old has it's problems, but so did all the other decades. What concerns me more than getting older is the speed at which life is zooming by.


Wasn't it just a few days ago the leaves were green and this nest was full of baby cardinals?

How can the months go by so fast?

Sydney's Mom
This picture of Daughter-in-law Anne was taken December 18. I'm sure she's looking even cuter now.

This morning we received notice from Son John that they've decided to name my granddaughter Sydney after a trip to Australia they took last February at which time they decided it was time to have a child.

All the details are here.

Summer and Winter

This sock was knit by Jan. She lives in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, where it's summertime.

Nice socks Jan. And I'm so jealous of that greenery and sunshine.

For contrast, this is what I see out of my SW Michigan window.

Today and tomorrow it is drizzling and thawing. 37 F/3 C. The forecast for Friday is snow and very cold, 2 F/-17 C. Definitely not summertime.

The sun is not shining and only the evergreens are green.

The heron is standing on our partially frozen pond getting ready to ice fish through the hole. Since the pond is spring fed, it thaws from the bottom up. There are always places in the ice where the ice is very thin.

Behind the pond is a fast flowing creek. It never freezes. Usually the heron is fishing there and not so out in the open as he is here on the pond.

Let's Try This
After thinking over the double blogging problem described in the previous post, I've decided to post all non knitting content from Stitches of Violet on Seasons of Violet.

The few faithful readers who don't care about knitting can continue reading without wading through the knitting detail. Occasionally when the knitting is related to the non knitting part of the post, there will be knitting content or pictures on Seasons of Violet, but I'll liberally edit out the knitting technical details.

If you are currently reading both blogs, you may want to switch to just reading Stitches of Violet. On the rare occasion when Seasons of Violet has a unique post, I will mention it on Stitches of Violet.

The invitation is still open for the family to publish here. I'm hoping that happens, but not counting on it.

I hope this makes everyone as happy as possible.

Flinging Down the Gauntlet
As you all know, I have a knitting blog, Stitches of Violet.

After two months, Stitches of Violet has ten times more readers than this blog and I can't knit fast enough to keep them entertained.

The solution to that problem is to throw in some nature content and some dog content and a little bit of family content.

But, oops! That's what I do here.

My life is not complex enough to support two blogs.

The obvious solution is to consolidate to one blog, the one with the most readers.

When I mentioned this to my family (they're not knitters), they booed loudly. I responded by challenging them to guest blog on Seasons of Violet. They would need to write a 200 to 400 word post once a week and maybe have a picture to go with it. They are thinking about it.

If family starts writing blog posts, it could get very interesting. We all have extremely different aptitudes, interests, and perspectives on life. It would be fun - I think.

While I'm waiting to see what happens next, the Doggy Diet post is going to be posted on Stitches of Violet. I spent an hour making dog food today when I could have been knitting, so my Stitches of Violet readers need to know about the doggy diet.

The same post is going to appear on two blogs. And that's the problem we need to solve.

Doggy Diet
We got the "fat dog" lecture at Sunny's vet appointment yesterday.

Our vets don't just say, "Your dog needs to lose some weight." They have an entire sermon on the topic complete with dire warnings about what will happen to the beloved dog if the weight isn't taken off now. Then they quiz the dog owner on what the dog is eating and give multiple suggestions on how that might be changed.

I was shocked when the vet informed me the dogfood Sunny is eating is like feeding her Ben and Jerry's ice cream everyday. That explains why they don't put the nutritional information on the package.

Sunny weighed in at 19.5 pounds. She should weigh 14 pounds tops. 12 would be even better.

She's three years old now. I knew she was looking a little "mature", but I had no idea she was carrying over five extra pounds on her delicate little frame.

This is Sunny's "before" picture. The doggy diet has begun!

I did some quick research and came up with a recipe for making my own dogfood.

Tonight was the second night the dogs have eaten home cooked dinner, and they're loving it. This week's entree is a low fat recipe containing ground turkey, corn meal, cauliflower and raw egg. They can eat it until they're stuffed and still take in less calories than what they were eating. I've noticed a big change in their behavior already. They aren't always begging for something to eat because they're not hungry.

I plan to vary their diet. Anybody have any good dogfood recipes?

Salvation Army Tsunami Relief
Most of the country is focused on the urgent needs of the tsunami relief efforts, and rightly so. The many needs of the survivors are critical and urgent.

One of my favorite organizations is the Salvation Army. Based on decades of reading reports from disaster victims, I believe the Salvation Army is often among the first on the scene of a tragedy with practical, physical help for those in need.

The Salvation Army USA website posts detailed and frequent country-by-country status reports on what they are doing to help tsunami survivors.

This is on their homepage:

"The Salvation Army is providing 24 - hour aid to thousands of people affected by the horrific tsunami in South Asia that killed at least 150,000 people and devastated 11 countries. Three of the most affected countries are home to indigenous, grass-roots Salvation Army organizations year round. Those workers were some of the first to respond to this tragedy that affected so many of their fellow citizens. The international community of The Salvation Army was quick to respond as well and will continue to provide support in the community for the long-term."

There's a button to donate there, too. If you've been wanting to give - or give more - I urge you to click now and help the Salvation Army. They do a fantastic job and will use your money wisely.

Baths Are Exhausting
Seems like every day for a week now we've been getting threatening weather reports. It's either going to be freezing rain or a foot of snow.

Fortunately, the reports have been overly pessimistic and neither has happened yet. But they will. It's Michigan and winter has just begun.

Last night it was raining and 34 degrees F (2 C) at dinner time. I considered staying home from doggy school, thinking that by the drive home at 10 pm the roads would be a sheet of ice.

We went. At 10 pm it was still 34 degrees and the rain had stopped.

The dogs had a grooming appointment at 8 am this morning. I figured it was going to be an icy ride, but the roads were dry and it was still 34 degrees.

They got home from the groomer about noon. Exhausted.

Glory headed for the back room where we have an old sofa the dogs are allowed to sleep on.

Pappy is recovering from the groomer on the back of the loveseat in the living room.

Sunny headed for the master bedroom and went to sleep on our bed.

She was still tired from last night's doggy school and didn't want to get up and go anywhere this morning, especially not to the groomer.

I told her that regular baths are the price a little dog has to pay for being allowed to sleep on the people bed.

Tonight we're getting a forecast for up to a foot of snow tomorrow. Since the weather man is on a losing streak, I've scheduled lunch out with an old friend. If the snow happens, we'll postpone it.

The New Year
Questions from Sunday Brunch.

1) What are your New Year's resolutions for 2005?

I resolve to spend quiet time and prayer time addressing my future.

Last year I had a major life change - see Question 2. This year I need to set some goals and strategies for my remaining years.

Then I have the more traditional type of resolutions. Here are some resolutions that I'm likely to keep:

• Track our finances carefully to determine if we are going to need additional income.
  
• Continue building a notebook of healthy recipes that we both enjoy.
  
• Maintain friendships by keeping in contact with my favorite friends. (Introverts such as myself need to work at remembering to do this.)
  
• Knit birthday socks for all family members who have requested hand knit socks.

Here are some resolutions that I'm not going to make because I'm old enough to know better:

• Workout with weights so I'll be fit for yard work in the spring.
  
• Clean out the basement.
  
• Redecorate the house with emphasis on painting walls and installing new flooring.
  
• Be in bed by eleven and up by seven.

2) Did you make resolutions last year and did you keep them?

At the end of 2003, I become unemployed for the first time in 25 years. Thanks to a generous severance check, I was able to stay home and live the fantasy of having an entire year without having to go to work.

My resolutions for the year were for the sole purpose of allowing myself to accept and enjoy a year without working.

Yes, I kept that promise to myself. 2004 was a wonderful year of transition. A gift from God with the help of Pfizer.

3) What did you do this year on New Year's Eve to celebrate, if anything?

Like the true introverts that we are, we stayed home and read, knit, and played with the dogs.

4) Is there any one thing that you hope happens by next New Year's Day?

Ignoring the obvious answers (peace in the world, cures for all disease, the end of crime, abuse and poverty) I hope for a trip to Idaho to visit my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter due in April.

5) Describe your most memorable New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.

Y2K.

I worked in Information Technology at Pharmacia. We had spent over a year changing date fields to four characters, coding, testing, and preparing for the millennium change. There was a lot to do.

That Y2K turned out to be a non-event was due to the fact that thousands of competent, conscientious IT professionals worked their butts off during the year prior to the event.

(Oops. I digressed. Having Y2K called a non-event is a pet peeve of mine. Back to answering the question now.)

January 31, 1999 we were excited, nervous, and ready for anything.

Part of the strategy was to shut down all the computers, even the mainframes, during the switchover and then bring computers and systems back up on January 1, 2000 in an orderly way with thorough testing at every step. My only assignment for the night was to stay sober in case I was needed to help in someone else's area.

The business system I was responsible for was scheduled to come up around noon on January 1. And it did. And it worked. I will never forget the welcome sight of 01/01/2000 dates in the data where they should be. It looked so strange to see that 2000. My workmate Russ and I sat in our office and laughed with glee as piece after piece of our system worked without a hitch.