The Mattress is Down
Veterinarians have a strange sense of humor. Here's a joke they tell over and over again with a perfectly serious face:

"Your dog will be feeling much better by tomorrow. Keep him/her quiet for two weeks."

Sunny, our little dog who loves to play violent fetch and tug games and jump on and off us and the furniture, hurt her back.

After Sunny had a cortisone type shot and was supplied with muscle relaxant and anti-inflammatory drugs, I heard the vet joke.

Then the kindly vet elaborated on the seriousness of the situation even giving me written instructions that say

"Restrict Activity for 14 days."

It was horrible to see Sunny in pain with her back seized up and so inflamed she had a temperature. I'm grateful that Sunny is well medicated and feeling better.

Now, where are the instructions on how to keep her quiet?

One thing we've done is to pull the mattress off the box spring and onto the floor. Creaky old Bob and I are having a difficult time getting in and out of bed, but it keeps Sunny from jumping on and off. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Something to Smile About

Granddaughter Sydney answers the question, "Where is your head?"

What a smart girl.

Only three more weeks and I'm flying across the country to give her a big kiss and ask her where her head is.

F is for the Fifties



The Fifties were my grade school years.

One of my most memorable summers was the year a painted turtle (not the one in the colored picture) wandered into the yard and my parents gave me a large, old washtub so I could keep it for a pet. I arranged the tub interior into a mini habitat with "land" and "water". The turtle seemed to be content in it. But, how would you know with a turtle?


Determining the turtle's sex was beyond me and anyone else I knew. I decided it was male and named him Prince Albert Red Rattler just because I liked the sound of the name and thought it suited him.

Prince Albert ate worms. The worm needed to be in the water, where it would wiggle. Prince Albert would catch the motion out of the side of his eye and plod down to the pond area of the washtub. After watching the worm for a few seconds, he dipped down in the water and slurped it up like sucking down a piece of spaghetti.

The neighborhood kids and I spent the summer digging worms and feeding them to Prince Albert. He ate everything we gave him.

One afternoon we decided to see if he could eat 100 worms. It took the better part of the afternoon to dig, feed, and count. Yes, Prince Albert could and did eat 100 worms.

In the fall it was time to let him go at a creek in the country. (This was my parents idea, not mine.) Prince Albert was so fat he couldn't get his shell closed. I hope he buried himself quickly in the mud for his winter nap before some predator ate him. I'm sure he didn't starve during hibernation.

For the record: We did not live in a dump. Dad was adding two bedrooms onto the house and sister Doris and I managed to pose right in front of his construction trash pile.

In the spring of 1959, when I was fourteen years old, I graduated from eighth grade complete with nylons, low heels, and a white graduation dress.

Under that skirt was what we called a 500 yard crinoline. It supposedly had 500 yards of nylon net sewn in gathered layers, each layer with more yards than the previous.


We washed, starched, and ironed our 500 yards of nylon net in an attempt to get the fullest skirt we could manage.

The crinoline was worn to school on days I wasn't wearing a "tight skirt". Girls were only allowed to wear slacks on Friday. They had to be dress slacks with an ironed crease. No jeans allowed.

Each time it was worn, the crinoline hung limper. I had to repeat the starch and iron routine often. Only someone young and silly would do that much work to wear something so ungainly and scratchy. And I was that in the 50s.

Spring One, Winter Zero
Spring and winter spent the day duking it out in SW Michigan.

Winter kept up a continuous snowfall.

Spring fought back by raising the temperature above freezing so the snow was unable to stick and accumulate.

This is a morning picture of the wet snow settled on the tree branches. It was beautiful, especially since it was so warm the snow melted off the roads and I didn't have to cancel a lunch date with a friend.

By this afternoon, more snow had melted than remained. Even though the snow kept falling, it was a losing battle for winter. Rah.

The only blizzard type snow we've had all season was the storm on the day before Thanksgiving when Mom and I were trying to fly to Virginia.

Most Michiganders are still expecting a heavy snowfall this year. March isn't too late and we can't believe we're going to get off so easy this winter.

If we do get a big snow, it will be short lived. The ground has started to warm, the days are longer, and spring is fighting hard to kick winter right out the door.

E is for Emerging


10 am on March 2, I went out into the cold, dreary yard to see if I could find little hints of green, little harbingers of Emerging spring.

In this picture the small area of lawn that we have is on the left, in front of the creek. It is dormant and brown.

The unmowed acreage is on the far side of the creek. The trees are bare. The landscape is almost totally without any pretty colors.

We live on a wooded five acres. The oaks shed their leaves after it's too cold to rake so the leaves don't get cleaned up until spring.

I needed to push oak leaves aside in order to check for Emerging greenery.

There are naturalized daffodils scattered here, there, and everywhere. They are the hardest and most dependable sign that spring is actually going to happen.

They don't let oak leaves stop them from their quest for sunlight. The daffodil leaves are strong enough to chop right through the dead leaves and keep on growing.


In an almost sunny part of the yard, the daylilies are Emerging.

They are anemic looking from being hidden under the oak leaves. The next mild day we have, I'll get the rake out and uncover the shoots so they can get some sun.

There is snow forecast for this afternoon. For today, the daylilies are probably happiest buried out of the weather.


I never would have thought to look for sedum in early March until Kim in the mountains of New Hamshire showed her sedum heads poking out of the earth.

Shoving a few oak leaves aside (do you see a pattern here?), there they are! Little sedum plants Emerging from the frozen ground. They don't bloom until August, so they're really getting a head start on the season.

5 Quirks
Lisa tagged me with the 5 Quirks meme.

List 5 quirks about yourself.

This should be easy because I have many many quirks. Unfortunately, I've had them for so many years I don't think of them as quirks. I had a hard time coming up with five - at least 5 I will admit to in public.

Thinking Bob, husband for 30+ years, should have no problem coming up with five of my quirks, I asked for his help. Quirky minds think alike. He said he was so used to my quirks he couldn't think what they might be.

We had some fun today thinking and talking about quirks. Thanks Lisa.

And here are five to meet the requirement:

1. I'm superstitious about numbers and have a strong preference for even numbers. 22 is my favorite.
   
   
2. When I'm annoyed, I hum. Bob has trouble understanding this. He thinks I hum when I'm happy although I've told him many times that the opposite is true. Fortunately, I don't have a quick temper or he would have been beheaded by now.
   
   
3. I believe that Pappy understands a large percent of what I say to him. Not only that, but he's a very vocal dog and tries to talk back. Really.
   
   
4. I'm moderately phobic about driving or riding on a road with water on both sides. It doesn't bother me a bit if I'm on a bridge above the water, only when the water and road are on the same level.
   
   
5. I peel a grapefruit and eat it like an orange. Why not? It is like an orange.

If anyone needs a quick blog post because they'd rather be knitting than posting this weekend, you're tagged.

D is for Dumbbell

Hobby Advanced class at Briarwood Dog Training has started working with doggy dumbbells again. My dogs have been though the dumbbell training before. They are still flunking.

The dumbbell forced retreive is supposed to be a fun thing for the dogs. Some of the dogs who have learned how to do it in previous rotations of the class do appear to enjoy it.

The desired sequence of events goes like this:

• Dog sits on left side of owner about six feet in front of a hurdle.
  
• Owner tosses dumbbell over the hurdle and says "Take it."
  
• Dog enthusiastically jumps over the hurdle and takes the dumbbell in his/her mouth.
  
• Dog jumps hurdle with dumbbell in mouth to return to owner.
  
• Dog sits in front of owner and gives his/her owner the dumbbell.

Take your fingers out from under my chin so I can spit this thing out!


The sequence of events when Sunny does the dumbbell exercise:

• We don't bother standing in front of the hurdle.
  
• I stick the dumbbell in front of Sunny's nose and say "Take it."
  
• Sunny ignores me.
  
• I gently push the dumbbell into Sunny's mouth.
  
• I hold Sunny's chin up for about thirty seconds so the dumbbell won't fall out.
  
• Sunny agrees to this because she is being bribed by little pieces of turkey dog.
  
• After two tries at holding the dumbbell in her mouth, Sunny insists it's time to go out for a potty break.

The theory is that I will need to spend less and less time holding up Sunny's chin as she learns to hang on to the dumbbell without assistance. Gail the trainer thinks Sunny is making progress. We have practiced at home this past week, and I'm spending just as much time holding up Sunny's chin as I was last week. Sunny is starting to like the practice more, though, because she can guilt trip me into a great long game of tug afterward.

When Sunny's class did dumbbell training two years ago, she hated it so much that I used dumbbell time to take her outside for a potty break. This time around we're going to stick with it and see if we can get to the place where it's fun for her.

Pappy hates the dumbbell even more than Sunny hates the dumbbell.

I would do almost anything for you - except this.


The sequence of events when Pappy does the dumbbell exercise:

• We don't bother standing in front of the hurdle.
  
• I get down on the floor and secure him between my legs.
  
• I make all kinds of encouraging noises to let him know this is fun.
  
• He clamps his jaws shut. Very tightly shut.
  
• I pry his mouth open while he's playing keepaway with his head.
  
• I insert the dumbbell and hold his mouth shut around it while I continue making encouraging noises.
  
• When I can spare a hand, I rub his chest to calm him down.
  
• Pappy tries to spit the dumbbell out and run under the nearest piece of furniture.
  
• After about thirty seconds, I let him drop the dumbbell.
  
• I get very exited and feed him multiple little pieces of turkey dog.
  
• Pappy is excited too because maybe we're done with this exercise.

Sounds cruel, doesn't it? I feel like an unfit doggy mother everytime we do this.

All the activities that Pappy now thinks are wonderful fun started out with him balking, so I'm not ready to give up yet.

Fortunately, dumbbells only take about ten minutes of the two hour class. If things don't look better soon, I may teach Pappy that dumbbell time makes a good potty break time. Stay tuned.

Saturday Lunch
This afternoon the eldest three generations of women in my family met for lunch at the Oakwood Bistro. Granddaughter Kimmy was elsewhere with her dad. We missed seeing her, but it was nice to have an adult lunch.

Daughter Heather (in picture) treated for a belated my birthday lunch. Our family is not always prompt about things like that. We do things when work schedules permit.

Oakwood Bistro is an award winning restaurant. Its creme brulee is the best I've ever tasted. I don't want to know how many calories it has, but today it didn't have any because it was a birthday treat.


The other purpose for the lunch was delivery of professional pictures taken of John, Anne, and Sydney in Idaho.

The pictures were framed, wrapped securely in bubble wrap, and all sent to my house for Michigan distribution.

Here you see Mom (my mother, Heather and John's grandmother) trying to liberate the large picture marked for her. Heather is doing the same in the top picture.

Everyone loved their pictures. Thanks John and Anne and Sydney.

C is for Cosmetology


I graduated from high school with a math scholarship to Olivet College. To my 18 year old mind in 1963, this was not a cool thing.

What did a girl do with a math degree? And, since it was 1963 when girls did not do much, no one could answer that question for me. When they tried, it came out sounding like “develop your mind and find a husband.” Surely there were easier ways to find a husband than four years of college math.

I enrolled in the fall session of Wright Beauty Academy to become a Cosmetologist.

Nine months later I passed the state test and went to work for the best hair styling saloon in Battle Creek, Michigan. Hair Styles by Ferrari.

It was the decade of beehives, backcombing, French twists, flips, and lots of hairspray. Shampooing once a week was the norm.

In 1964 a haircut was $2, a shampoo and set was $2.50, and a perm was $10. Since we worked on commission, we tried to sell the more expensive perms for $15, but most of the ladies (our license did not allow us to work on men) thought the $10 perms were just fine.

I had red hair with the crown bleached out platinum. With the help of color rinses on the bleached part, I could have all kinds of outrageous color combinations.

In this Christmas picture, the top of my hair was a pale green color.


When I got married in February, 1965, I had a temporary auburn rinse put on the bleached hair. Since I was paying for expensive wedding pictures, I thought I might want to look as normal as possible so my kids wouldn't laugh at me in the decades to come.

When my daughter sees the wedding pictures, she is too busy laughing at the hairstyle to even notice the color.

Non-Winter in Michigan
It's January in Michigan. This is the time of year I should be wowing you with pictures of huge snow drifts and beautiful snow covered trees and bushes. Instead, we have this.

The little snow we've had melts because the ground isn't frozen and the daytime temps are above freezing. Over the weekend, the temps were in the 50s (F). Completely weird.

Last week I saw a pair of bluebirds sitting on a nestbox. They aren't even supposed to be in Michigan in January.

It will be interesting to see what the rest of the winter is like. That is if you can call this winter. It's not like any winter I've ever seen before.


Update on Glory for Those Who Care
Glory had her tube removed on Saturday. Two vets looked at it, and I could tell they didn't really want to take it out, but they didn't want to leave it in anymore either.

They reasoned that the ear had grown together as much as possible with the tube still in, and that the tube had to come out for more healing to occur. They didn't give me confidence that everything was going to be OK, but so far everything is OK.

Each day I'm a little more optimistic that it's going to heal without any more surgery.

Isn't this where I knock on wood?

B is for Bible . . .


Yes, I write in my Bible.

Maybe, since I don't usually mention my faith on Seasons of Violet, I should back up and start this post again -

Yes, I do have a well used Bible. And, I write in it.

I believe the Bible is God's message to me about His nature, His Son, His love, and what I'm supposed to be doing and learning during this lifetime. The more I read it and study it, the more I love it and believe it is the Word of God.

I've been studying the Bible for eleven years now, and have come to the opinion that none of the religious sects and denominations have the total picture. This makes it very difficult to join a church or join a Bible class where they think they know all the answers. I do it, thought, because it helps my study of the Bible to hear others talk about it. I respect my groups by being quiet about the places I disagree.


I've been attending a Bible Church for eleven years. I've done five years of Bible Study Fellowship and two years of Community Bible Study. All three are non-denominational in-depth Bible study organizations where you bring your own Bible.

This is my Bible case. It has pockets inside to hold my Bible in place and a good strong exterior to protect it from the elements. In the midwest there are many Bible toters and most of us use a case. I've had this one for eleven years. It's aging well and I have no plans to replace it.

My Bible needs to last the rest of my earthly life, because I don't want to give it up. I love turning to a passage and finding notes and thoughts that I wrote five or ten years ago.

Some of my very favorite passages are left completely unmarked. They speak to me in different ways and I want them to be fresh every time I visit them.

Happy Birthday to Me
I've never understood why most people are hesitant to tell their age. How old we are is an important attribute of who we are.

Today is my 61st birthday. That means I am starting my 62ed year of life.

It's important for me to say that, to accept that, and to plan the rest of my life with that in mind.

As for the picture, it makes me laugh. Here's hoping it gives you a chuckle, too.

Free Yarn and ABC Thoughts
Look what I got in the mail today! Opal Dreamcatcher 1235, beautiful blues.

This is my prize yarn for having Stitches of Violet mentioned in the new Opal Chatters Newsletter. Is that a good deal or what?

I'm ready to cast on a pair of socks as soon as I figure out who will be wearing them. It's time to start John's birthday socks if they're going to get done by March 18. Gail, the dog trainer, has a birthday the same day and I'd like to have a pair of socks done for her, also.

But my birthday is Friday and I forgot to knit birthday socks for myself. How did that happen? Next year my birthday is going on the sock knitting schedule with the rest of the birthday sock recipients.

Time to go Opal stash diving, pick out yarn for the three of us and cast on some socks.


I've been giving some thought to topics for the ABC Along, the 2006 meme where we post a biweekly picture with the subject starting with the corresponding letter of the alphabet. 26 letters, 26 picture posts.


For my ABC Along picture posts I'm going to use the following guidelines, exceptions allowed if I feel like it.

• No knitting topics.
  
• Find topics I don't normally blog about.
  
• No people's names. I already made an exception to this guideline when I posted A is for Anne . . . the first two weeks. It was Anne's birthday and I felt like it.

And here is Anne again, out in the Idaho snow with nine month old Sydney Anne.

Complete story on Tah Tales.

Lost Weekend
Last Friday Norton Internet Security, my virus protection and firewall, updated my laptop. It looked like a routine update, but afterward I couldn't pull my email and my laptop hung up so severely that I couldn't shut it down without using the power button.

At first I didn't know the problem was Norton, so I spend hours trying this and trying that and rebooting dozens of times. Finally, when I shut off the firewall, I was able to pull email - one time only, and then everything was hung up and I had to reboot.

I couldn't find anything about this problem on the Norton web site and wasn't sure what to do next. Afraid to rush into something while upset, I did one more forced shutdown and went to knit on the front of Aguave.

Thinking that Norton might discover the problem and send out a fix, I just stayed off my laptop all day Saturday and knit. I knit for hours and hours listening to a book on CD. By the end of the day my hands hurt, my arms hurt, and my shoulders hurt but I was happy to be almost done with the front.

The fix did NOT come from Norton. Sunday afternoon DH found the problem being discussed in an online newsgroup and the solution was: Restore the default General and Trojan horse firewall rules.

Detailed instructions for this procedure are here. I hope you don't need them.

I followed the restore procedure. My laptop is functional again. I would hate to know how many hours were spent finding and fixing that nasty software glitch. At least it wasn't my hardware gone bad again.

Since I knit so much on Saturday, I needed to take a few days off. When I picked up the Aguave front on Tuesday, I noticed immediately that I had done the stitch pattern on the edges backward. The right side edge was on the left side and the left side edge was on the right side.

I frogged it. Yes, I frogged fourteen inches of the front. So, instead of starting armhole shaping on Tuesday, I cast on the front and started over again. (Frog = rip it, rip it!)

One of my favorite knitting books is Knitting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti. Maggie says "Admire your work often."

If my subconscious hadn't been busy trying to figure out how to fix my laptop, and if my conscious hadn't been busy listening to a great story on CD, I might have taken that advice and seen the mistake before repeating it for six hours and fourteen inches.

Glory Update for Those Who Care
Glory had her one week check up last night. Dr. B. expressed amazement at the amount of fluid she is producing, but assured me the ear is starting to heal. It's just going to take a while.

He guessed about two more weeks of draining and then he can remove the tube. I'm to make the appointment after she has been dry for three days. The staples holding the skin to the cartilage come out a week after the tube.

Meanwhile, Glory seems to be happy and feeling fine. She's off the sedative as of today, but I have plenty left if she starts shaking her head or pawing at her ear or rolling in the mud.

A is for Anne . . .


. . . and Anne is my wonderful daughter-in-law, wife of Son John, and mother of Sydney Anne. This picture was taken in August when Sydney Anne was four months old.

When my son was a very young man, approximately 20, he moved to Las Vegas to find work in the hotel industry. He did.

For over five years his sister quizzed him, "Are you seeing anyone yet?" "Have you found someone yet?" The answer was always, "No".

Then one day we were surprised and excited to hear that he was bringing someone to Michigan to meet the family. Mother (me) started holding her breath at that news and could hardly wait to meet the "someone" he had found.

It was almost ten years ago that their plane landed and John stepped out with a beautiful, smiling, tall girl named Anne. I exhaled. Son had taken his time and chosen well.

Daughter Heather and I had a private giggling session where we said things like "She's just perfect for him!" and "Isn't she wonderful?"

Now, ten years later, John and Anne have been married for almost seven years. We still think Anne is perfect for him and we know for sure she is wonderful.

Happy Birthday Anne!

Six Feet High and Rising
In Michigan we expect January to be frozen and snowy. Instead, I'm beginning to wish I was married to Noah.

Every day it rains. When it's not raining, it's drizzling and misting. Our creek is the highest it's been in the fifteen years we've lived here. Maybe that's because the ground is frozen and the water can't seep in. Or maybe it's because there were huge piles of snow melting to provide extra water to go with the water that keeps falling from the sky. Probably some of both.

On a normal day, a limber person (not me) could jump over the creek. Today it was about twelve feet wide, running fast. Fortunately our house is way up from the creek. In fact, there is a spring fed pond between the house and the creek. If the creek overflows its banks, it will flow into the pond, so we're well protected from flooding. For now. Unless this never stops.

Someone who lives far away from here, please assure me that there still is a sun?

Glory Update
Glory came home late this afternoon. Everyone, human and canine, was happy to see her. She was happy to be home. Now she can rest up, drain, and recover. It's going to take about a month before the tube comes out.

Quick Update on Glory
Glory had her surgery this morning and it went well. She is spending the night at the vet clinic under sedation and pain meds. We miss her.

We're hoping to pick her up tomorrow, but if Dr. Vet thinks she should stay longer, that's OK. All the people who work there are kind and love animals. We trust them to take good care of her. But, did I mention we miss her?

Dreary Days
I'm trying to remember last time we saw the sun here in SW Michigan. It was before Christmas and surely we're about due for some rays.

It wasn't a white Christmas. In fact, when I took the dogs out for their Christmas morning walk it was raining and we got soaked.

This picture was taken about three this afternoon, just before the thunder started.

By the time we got in the car to take Glory to her vet appointment, it was pouring rain. Before we reached our destination, it was pouring little hail stones. At least they weren't big enough to dent the car, but they did turn everything white. Then the precipitation changed back to rain and the hail all melted.

Glory has an ear hematoma that is hot, swollen, and painful. She doesn't feel well at all. And the poor girl is afraid of thunder, which was loud and plentiful.

The vet appointment was so quick we didn't even have to go into the examining room. One look at her ear and she got scheduled for surgery in the morning.

For those who are concerned: Glory has seen the vet for this hematoma before. She does not have ear mites or an ear infection. She probably broke her ear by banging it on something when shaking her head. There was a good chance it was going to heal with no treatment, so we were watching it. This morning it waved back at us.


How The West Was Spun came up with new type of meme. At least I've never seen one like this before. It's the ABC Along!

Every two weeks in 2006 we are to photograph and post a picture of something starting with the corresponding letter of the alphabet. 26 letters, 52 weeks. Isn't that convenient?

So, sometime before January 14 there will be a post titled A Is For . . ..

I think it sounds like fun. It doesn't take much to excite Michiganders who haven't seen the sun in weeks.

Merry Christmas!
To all my online friends and readers: Wishing you a wonderful holiday, however you celebrate - or don't celebrate.

Tonight, Christmas Eve, we are going to my mother's apartment for a family dinner and gift opening.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, DH and I are spending home with plenty of good food, our three furry loved ones, and all our new books, yarn, and chocolate. We'll be watching it snow, feeding the birds, napping, and relaxing. I'll be doing a little knitting.

That's just the way I like Christmas to be. The only thing that could make it better would be to have the Idaho family here.

Take care, stay calm, and have fun. It will all be over soon.

Those Things That Marguerite Makes
At doggy school parties they call these "Those Things That Marguerite Makes". I assume, since they get sought out and eaten, that is a compliment.

Please don't tell them how easy these are to make.

Need a quick, rich sweet bar to round out your holiday cookie plate? Here it is.

Butter Pecan Turtle Cookies

2 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter - needs to be soft, at room temperature
1 cup pecan halves

• Mix well.
  
• Pat firmly into an ungreased 13 X 9 pan.
  
• Spread pecan halves evenly on top.

2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

• Heat with constant stirring until boiling.
  
• Boil for 1 minute.
  

  Note: I do the heating and boiling in the microwave.
  1 minute - whip with whisk - 1 minute - whip with whisk.
  You can tell when it starts to boil and thicken.
  Then, give it 45 more seconds, whip with whisk, and it's done.
  In my microwave the total procedure takes 4 minutes.

  
  
• Pour over crust and pecans.
  
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

1 cup milk chocolate chips (not semi-sweet)

• Sprinkle chips over top immediately after removing from oven.
  
• Chips will partially melt, but still look like chips. That bothered me at first, but it's OK.
  
• Cool slightly and cut. They're much easier to cut when they're still a bit warm.
  
• Enjoy.