Thanks, Y'all

for the empathy. I'm feeling much better. Christine, I hope you feel better soon, too.

La Grippe, la grippe,

la post nasal drip....

It started Wednesday, with the scratchy sore throat and dry eyes.

Yesterday progressed to the feverish "head wrapped in cotton while laboriously trying to wade through waist deep molasses" phase. Didn't dress, in and out of bed all day, did get through about six chapters of Battle Cry of Freedom (a history of the Civil War).

Today have reached the nose running, sneezing, but "at least Thank God the congestion is breaking up" stage.

So I have my fingers crossed that I will be feeling halfway normal by the time I have to get up for work tomorrow.

I've rounded the bend on the thick socks with short row heels. As you can see, I decided to make them long thick socks. If I'm going for warmth, it makes sense.



I'd better keep plugging.. The forecast predicts temperatures in the 30's this weekend (though admittedly at night - the days should be a bit warmer than that).

Just Some More Pictures

A Good Weekend

Some friends from California rolled in late Friday afternoon. We haven't seen them in years, so there was a lot of catching up to do over dinner.



After dinner, we all headed to the park for the Homecoming pep rally and fireworks show (another good one). On Saturday we went to the parade (well, Mr S. was actually in the parade, marching with his 5th graders - but they were toward the front, so he joined us on the sidelines once they had rounded the final corner). The rest of the day turned cold, gray and wet, to we headed to Monroe for dinner at a good Mexican restaurant there.

The weather on Sunday was glorious, cool but bright - a perfect day. So we set out towards Gays Mills in search of Honey Crisp apples.



We found the apples (and fritters and pie and doughnuts) as well as plenty of



and



Then we headed West toward the river. Since Mike is an outdoorsman, we made a stop at



Then on to Pike's Peak State Park in Iowa



where we could look down on the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers.

Even for a gal who doesn't like heights, it was a wonderful place to be.

Simple Gift

Sometimes the most simple gifts turn out to be the most wonderful.

Last spring, at the end of the school year, one of Mr S's students gave him a seedling, planted in a paper cup. He put it into the ground, out by his bean patch, not sure if it would survive the rabbits and the rainstorms. But it did.



Now it makes my heart happy every time I walk by or glance out the window. Cheerful, cheerful, cheerful. It's a good as hearing a cardinal sing.

Back to the Dark Side

Laura noticed that the current socks are being worked from the top down. Well, yes, yes they are. That's because while in theory I understand the many reasons for working toe up, and affirm them; in practice, when I want a sock I don't have to think about at all, I revert to the comfortable, the familiar, the top down.

However, I do intend to push my limits (and try to get new ways to become familiar ones) by making short row heels. When I went to Knitting Camp this summer, one of my joys was learning and comprehending the yarn over method of working short rows. It's not that I can't "wrap and turn"; I just dislike it. I dislike it a lot.

Unfortunately, after only a couple of months, I couldn't quite remember how this really simple operation works. And my notes were sketchy. So I was very glad to find Mandie's photo tutorial. Yay! The light bulb came back on. Now I just have to finish the legs so I can go to town (or kick up my heels, or whatever).