Cold-weather fungus?

These guys were popping up all over the place in the woods of da UP. Yep. We went on vacation to our cabin in the woods. It was cold up there. Not as cold as usual, but, we didn't have any good hardwood firewood so the high temp for us on the inside was around 60 degrees.

I shouldn't complain - at least I wasn't at work, eh?

No deer for us this year.

They all stayed down here and munched on our pine tree.

In Memory of

Jeffery M. Cohrs
who left us on November 3, 2007
at the young age of 27

You will be remembered fondly.
I wish your Jeep could have saved you.

Who needs more yarn?

Me me me!

Isn't this wonderful?

Another eBay purchase.

It's been a while, once again, since I've been here. That's what happens when you have to work. The fun stuff gets pushed off to the side.

I've managed to finish one pair of BBS in the last week for the Socks For Soldiers group and have another pair in the works.

I've also been working on a cardigan that I started for myself a while ago. Someday it will be finished. My sweater collection has gotten real slim over the years and I've actually caught myself buying sweaters! That's not good.

Not good at all.

Other than working - just been knitting and taking pictures. Most of my pics are over on webshots - look for me - reddeviltj of course.

I've been out there......

I really have been out there. Literally, Out There. Since I got my new camera all I can do is take photos and upload them onto my Webshots page.

I've been entering contests and just becoming photography-obsessed.

Not really.

Just having a good time with all the fall colors and the wildlife that's been stopping by.

There's one up there. Stay tuned and I'll show you more.

Frogs, deer, cats, birds. They've all been wandering by.

There is one problem with all these vivid colors - I've been dying yarn again.

Yep, the latest colors were rusts and oranges. Wonder how I got that idea......

Be seein ya!

Playing with the Picture

Now you know portulacas don't really look like this. I've discovered the "hue" option in my Faststone photo viewer/editor. This opens a whole new world of photo fun for me.

You see, ever since I got my first Kodak Instamatic that my mom saved up Scott Tissue proofs of purchase for, I've been a photo fanatic. I did take a few years off due to circumstances beyond my control. (Right)

Actually, it was this "the cost of film and developing film is too high for you to be playing around like this."

So, since I no longer have that "person" in my life, I can do whatever I want with my cameras and film.

Did I ever list what I have?

Nope?

Let's see:

The usual Snappy 35mm for quick shots

Poloroid I-zone sticky camera

Lomo Super Sport (has 4 lenses)

Minolta Maxxum qtsi 35 mm slr (film)

Sony a-100 digital slr

Kodak APS 35mm

Canon PowerShot A450

I'm thinking I'm missing one somewhere. Maybe not. I'm on the lookout for another Lomo. I'm thinking the fisheye or the supersampler. Maybe the Colorsplash.....

More to come.......

By the way, I keep all my pics on webshots. Just look for me there. You can find me by my usual name "reddeviltj".

Zucchini Season

It's that time of year again folks. I can't keep up with it. These things just pop up, not only overnight, but during the day. I think they even grow while I'm picking them and when I turn around they turn into monsters.

I've been blanching and freezing them for a week now and haven't made a dent. At the moment, I have another 7 of them on my kitchen counter. But, I do have to go to work. I wonder if I should take a week's vacation to freeze zucchini.

The tomatoes are coming, too. I cooked up a few over the weekend and let it simmer until I had a nice tomato sauce consistency. Froze all that. I collect jars all year just for freezing my tomato sauce and salsa.

Oh yes. Jalapenos, too. Got hundreds.

Green beans. Yep.

Big problem right now - it's been raining for 3 days and I can't get out there to pick anything. Know what that means? Those zucchinis are gonna be too big. Way too big. We decided this morning that the really big ones are going to go out back for the deer. They were hopping our fence to get to them until the plants got so big they couldn't find a path to walk. Now they just stop and look over the fence and continue on.

I got a new toy!

I got a new digital camera last Sunday and have been having fun taking pictures. You're in for lots of odd photos now.

This is one I wouldn't have been able to pull off with the Canon A450. My new one is a Sony SLR which works perfectly with the lenses that I use on my Minolta Maxxum qtsi that I've had for years.

Let me see what else I can share with you.

Here's one.

Stay tuned for more!

A Day In My Life

I get up in the morning. Do some knitting - usually socks. Do some laundry. Maybe some vacuuming if I feel like it. I try to go outside and get some sunshine and maybe pull a weed here or there.
Then I leave. Back down the driveway and head for work.




Anyone who lives in Michigan knows that summer is really the season of orange. Every road on my route to work is lined with orange. I'll be bored when it's all removed and all those cute guys are somewhere else making a mess of someone else's drive to work.


This is where I work. Isn't it a lovely attractive place? It's an old building. Really old, but not as old as some of the other ones.
This building was built in 1941 by Ford Motor Company. They never built a Ford in the place. When WWII started the Oerlikan Gun company came in and built guns and turrets for the ships. They say there's still a turret in the basement somewhere that they used to mount the guns and would actually fire them to test them. I've been in the basement and didn't find it. But then, maybe I just wasn't looking in the right place.

Now, transmissions are built there. We're known at GMPT Warren. Some still call it Hydramatic, but that name changed in 1972.

Well, back to my knitting. I'm thinking I might want to head outside for a while today since it is a sunny day and in a while I'll be heading into the darkness of that place up there in that photo.

2 days in a row!

Isn't this just an awesome photo? My oldest kid took this with her Supersampler Lomo camera.

Now, if I could just figure out my Lomo I could do the same thing. They're so simple it's ridiculous. Mine has the 4 lenses in an square instead of side-by-side.

I loaded it up with film the day it arrived and haven't been able to figure it out.

Laura also has another photo appearing here:

http://absolutemichigan.com/

http://michpics.wordpress.com/

You'll have to go there and check it out.

I really wasn't gone that long.

We went on vacation.

We came home over a week ago and I'm just now getting back here to update everyone on what we did.

Sure, I know you're really not concerned or curious. It's just that we all do this Blog thing now and feel obligated to tell about what we do.

So, as you can see, we went to da UP. We have a cabin up there.

This is the moose we see everytime we go there. He stands there at the intersection of This Way and That Way just to remind us of the fact that we're in Luce County, Moose Capital of Michigan. We haven't seen a real one yet. You can ask people who have lived in Newberry all their lives and they'll say they haven't seen one.

We did see another form of wildlife on this trip. Can you see the bear over there? He wasn't paying attention to the sign on that fence, that's for sure. He was just trespassing like no one was going to do anything about it.

We heard coyotes. Steve has a hoot-owl call that he loves to hear echo through the woods in the dark. Boy did that get the coyotes all worked up. We could hear them yipping like crazy. I ran in the cabin. He thought he scared me. I grabbed my camera and told him to do it again because I was ready for whatever came my way.

They didn't come.

So, back at home. We came home, still had our vegetable garden. You see, we put a fence around it before we left. So, we have tomatoes and peppers. The rabbits ate everything else. We'll see what happens.

The deer have been busy this year. I'll have to post some deer photos. The heron has been eating our frogs in our pond. We'd like them to feast on bluegill but they prefer frogs. I don't get it.

The groundhog stopped by this a.m. while I was getting ready for work. I didn't have my camera which is probably why he stood there on his hind feet listening to me talk to him like I thought he knew what I was talking about. I asked him what he was up to. He turned his head sideways and looked at me like it was none of my business. I recited the woodchuck question about how much wood can he chuck if he could chuck wood. He made a noise at me then continued on into the woods. Guess he's not going to give me an answer.

I have to get back to work now. I'm sure none of you will tell my boss that I was here......

Progress

The portulacas are making progress this year.









The frogs in the creek are also very successful and multiplying this spring.
Now, if the raccoons would just leave them alone they'd be fine and happy down there in the ditch. When the creek dries up they just hop on over to the pond.
That brings us to yet another problem. Herons. One stopped by last Sunday a.m. and gulped down a big frog in one quick swallow. I had my 35mm in my hands and got that one on film. It is kinda sad to see a heron on the side of your pond with frog legs hanging out of it's mouth. But, as you can see, we still have plenty of frogs and this was just a small bunch.


My sweater is done! I dyed this yarn 3 years ago, maybe only 2. Seems like it's been a long time. I started a pullover last summer but decided I just didn't like how it was going.
So, FROG I did.
This is sweater #5 from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer '05. I even wore it already. Those fork truck drivers saw me out walking on Monday night.

That brings me to the next progress report. After participating in the America On The Move online challenge, I decided to keep walking. I do stop from time to time since it is easier to knit that way.
Since I started back up with new numbers on June 13th I have logged around 74 miles - now, this is done at work. There's a lot of walking involved with this supervision stuff.
My feet hurt. I can't wear any really comfy shoes since they have to be slip-resistant. Mine are and they used to be comfy, but, I think I'm wearing them out.



Here's how my version of the Anny Blatt cover sweater is going. I just now finished the coral stripe and am winding a ball of aqua right now.

Back to my knitting. I only have 1 1/2 hours left before I have to head out of here to go to work.

Did I mention that I really don't like 2nd shift?

I love this sweater!

I have been oogling this sweater now for 2 years. I wanted to make is so bad that I finally tracked down the pattern book. Now, it's been almost a year since I bought the book and I'm thinking about getting started.

Now, we knitters know about preparation for what might turn out to be our major project of the season. First, I had to find the yarn. $15/skein was rather pricey for me, especially since I would need about $45 worth of the shade called "Moon" - the brown. So, I spent days on eBay looking for a ribbon-type yarn that could be dyed. I found a cone of Italian ribbon last summer. It's been sitting on the table in the basement since then. This past weekend, the cone came upstairs. Now, I've been winding it into 50 yard skeins to start the dying process. Since the brown is the first stripe, I'm going to start there. You know, I can start knitting that stripe in between dying the other skeins. After all, the next stripe is the natural color - means no dying 'til I reach the 3rd stripe.

It's all planned out, right?

Hah, we'll see.

In the meantime, I have a pair of socks for Socks for Soldiers on my needles and am using Jawoll Cotton. Nice yarn.

Those red/white/blue socks are done. I have a photo of them but not on the computer I'm using right now. Photos will come.

Jeep info: I bought a used - gently used I must say - Halftop by Bestop and we put it on the TJ on Sunday. Looks like a little truck now. It's so cute. I have to get some photos and post them. The pic I took on Sunday was in the pole barn and you can't get the full view. I did discover now that the birds like perching on my rollbar now and you know what that leads to.

Yep, white spots.....

What do ya do?

Check this out!

When I saw this yarn online last year I wasn't so sure I'd want to buy any.

I did.

I had to do my part while in the UP last weekend. Village Fabrics and Crafts is a nice shop right outside Paradise. If you're up there, stop in. They've got sock yarn. That's what keeps me coming back.

This sock here is already done. I just finished it a few minutes ago and am about to start #2.

I know it's Memorial Day weekend. The weather is kinda ucky. Everytime I go outside it rains. It's good for the plants and all the new trees that we planted, but, enough already. Rain during the week, sunshine on the weekends. That's the way it should be.

I disappeared again!

I went over the big bridge and into the UP of MI. No, I wasn't gone all that long. I just haven't been to my blog in quite some time because I just didn't.
I thought about it more than once. Maybe I just didn't have any new and exciting photos to post.
I'm sure there's something somewhere that would have been interesting to someone.
After all, spring has finally sprung here.
What have I been doing?
Why knitting socks of course. I've finished two more pair for the Socks For Soldiers. A really long pair in black and the other pair in Cherry Tree Hill. I don't think I took a photo of that pair yet. That yarn is so nice. I almost messed up, though, and came close to putting them in the washer/dryer.
I did that to my cashmere socks yesterday. Now I have to pair to use vinegar on to resize. Maybe this weekend. I can't keep knitting socks just to shrink them.

This is the pair of socks I knitted for myself while up in the UP of MI. I wore them yesterday to work. It was over 80 degrees here. I wore them anyway.
Wanna know why?
My feet are in my shoes for a long time in a hot transmission plant and they feel happier when I wear my wool socks. I do wear a pair of thin cotton socks inside, though.
I've been moved to 2nd shift supervision. It isn't a real demanding shift. It can get lonely. I find things to keep myself busy since I have my reports and paper work to do plus I've been logging in the steps on the old pedometer. 11526 yesterday - well, actually, that's part of yesterday and the day before since I was actually using 2 pedometers over the past couple days and that was just part of it. I also had 759 and 1290 on the other one.
If you're interested, check out www.americaonthemove.org and join in the walking.
I've also discovered www.sparkpeople.com and have switched from using the Weight Watchers online tools. There's lots there to get you in line nutritionally.
We've also been planting lots of trees, blueberries, raspberries. I'm sure its just a matter of time before the deer move in. I had to chase a big one away last week 'cause he was eating the leaves off one of the poplar trees. The nerve of that beast. We have clover and pasture grass in the back for those guys. They're not supposed to be up here eating our stuff. They pass through twice each day. I used to be here for one of the trips in the afternoon. Now, I think they know my schedule and they wait for me to leave.
Back to my household chores. I have to go water some baby pine trees. If they're gonna fight those deer this fall they gotta get big and tough!
Have a great Thursday and I'll try to stop by more often!

It's a blustery day.....

It's a real blustery day Whinny the Pooh!

This old tree fell today and there's about 8' of it in the pond and some parts floated across to the other side. I wanted to go walk in the woods to see what else happened with all the old dead elm trees, but, thought it might be a bit risky. Not only that, I was being blown sideways. Winds are gusting to around 50 mph this evening. Driving the TJ on the expressway was a treat. I had a tail wind on the way to work this a.m. but was heading right into it on the way home. Not good for the already-not-so-good gas mileage.

Back to my knitting.

Have a Happy Monday where ever you are! Spring is here!

Now I know its Spring!

These tiny little daffodils found their way up through the mud earlier this week and survived the snow, wind, and rain that pelted us for days. My kids gave me those in a bucket last year for Mother's Day so I decided to plant them and see what would happen. I didn't know if our local skunk or raccoon was going to have bulbs for dinner like they ate my annuals last year when we were up in the UP. I guess not - at least not all of them. There were about 12 bulbs in the pot.

I also have a flowering dogwood sitting over there on the table waiting to be planted outside. My box of perennials from Spring Hill Nursery arrived today as well. There's 26 plants in this box that have to go outside soon. I think I may have that chance tomorrow.

My TJ is at Belle Tire right now. It's ready. We'll go get it in a little while. This time it's only costing me $30. Amazing. They tell me my brakes look brand new and wanted to know when I had them replaced. I'm thinking it was in November of '05 the day my instrument panel went dead on my way to work. Squirrel chew. Why do they like the coating on wires? November of '06 I had the motor for the wipers replaced. It just decided to burn itself out one rainy morning at 5 a.m. on my way to work. Why do they do that?

I'm knitting as fast as I can. This weekend I'm working on a rather dull pair of brown socks to be sent to the Socks for Soldiers group. I'm going to make a black pair next, though. I need more needles so I can have a pair going for me at the same time. I checked the website out that shows how to knit 2 socks on 2 circs. I see how it works now. I was confused up until I looked at those photos. It all makes sense now.

I have another odd photo to share with you all. Can you guess what that is?

I'll tell you. It's a piece of a flax plant out of my garden that's right in front of the porch that faces the west. I'm not sure if it wants to come in the house or if it got blown there by the wind and rain on Thursday. It's been there since then. I just can't bring myself to pull it off the French door because it just looks so interesting hanging there. My thinking is that when it's good and ready, it will fall off.

Weight Watchers: Friday the 13th was my weigh in day for this past week. 0 change. zip, nada, stayed the same. That's also a good thing, I suppose. I just want to lose 10 more lbs. and I will be where I'm supposed to be to live a long happy healthy life. That's what they tell me anyway.

Easter Knitting!

This is what you do when you don't want to eat chocolate. I have a nice pretty box of chocolate sitting right here next to my computer. I ate one piece last Sunday and one piece of dark chocolate since then.

There are several articles on the 'net saying that dark chocolate is good for us. So, a couple times a week I'll have a dark Hershey Kiss. I'm not sure if I'm any better off, but, it's nice to indulge with permission.

That's my latest sock. Earlier in the week I finished another pair of socks for the Socks for Soldiers mission. That pair is sitting downstairs on the kitchen counter because it missed being mailed out with the 2 pair of black socks that were sent on to Kim.

I'm also kinda outta yarn at the moment, so, thought I'd make myself another pair. I only have enough socks to get myself through 1 week and would like to be able to go a little longer. 'Sides, I have so many balls of sock yarn that I've collected over the past year since becoming a sock addict.

Weight Watchers

How's it going? Did I mention that I rejoined this past January 1st? Well, I did. I had a downfall late last year after changing from a walking around all day job to a sitting down most of the time job. Eight pounds snuck up on me. I wasn't even eating more than normal - I was eating less since my new location doesn't snack all day like the previous location.

So, as of last week - the 8 lbs are gone plus a couple ounces. I have to stick with it and lose the other 10 that I gained all on my own by snacking at work before being moved. You can get lazy. It's worse if you never get on the scale and when you do you think that pound or two that you gained will go away before the next time you get on the scale.

Back to my knitting!

Oh yes, it's supposed to be spring here in Michigan. I haven't seen it yet. I've got some flowers under snow that I'm gonna take photos of in a little while. They'll be posted here later.

Spring?

This was the sunset the other day, although, I couldn't seem to catch it with my camera. It was so pretty with the pinks and purples. Guess that's just one more aspect of digital photography that I'll have to figure out.

I didn't realize that I haven't been here in a while. Spring's here. Well, at least today. It's over 60 degrees out there right now and I'm thinking that I'm going to go out there, find a chair in the pole barn, and sit on the porch and knit for a while.

What I have been doing? Knitting and working. Wait, I think I've been working more than knitting. Actually did some overtime in the last few weeks. Wow. Extra yarn money? Nope. Paying the bills....

I just finished another black socks for the Socks for Soldiers group. I've got to wash and dry them and send them on to Kim. That makes 12 pair for me.

I found a free Berocco pattern yesterday online that really caught my attention. It's named Wren and is knit in their Zodiac yarn. Well, being impatient and not the owner of any Zodiac yarn, I looked around and found some Penguoin yarn from way back and am using that. We'll see how it goes. After I get a couple more rows done I'll take a photo or two.

Now, off to the porch!

Have a great weekend!

More water - more ice.

Anyone who lives in south-east Michigan knows that we have fun with our weather. If the weatherman says one thing - you can either expect that plus some, or nothing at all. We had rain, rain, rain last week. This is what our creek looked like Friday afternoon. Normally, it's about 4' wide and 1' deep.

Now, the temperatures have dropped to below freezing again and we're back to the ice all over the place again.

Where is spring?

Daylight savings time begins this weekend. Maybe that will set something off. We can always hope.

Button, button, who's got A button?

I do! I do!
That's only one of my trays of buttons. I have about 8 of those plus some jars and some boxes. Those were vintage buttons that I bought off ebay last summer.
Why am I taking their photo today? They were here and I hadn't taken any photos in an entire week! Wow. How did that ever happen.
Down there is my sweater that I finished. I even wore it already. Was nice and warm and I do need nice and warm clothes to wear to work. We never know how it's going to be there. Mondays are usually pretty chilly. By Friday it warms up then they shut everything down before we go home. All to save a buck or two.


It was rather sunny today so I was having a hard time getting a good photo, but, you get the idea.
I'm working on another Big Black Sock for Soldiers today. Since it got dark I had to stop, though since it's hard to see what I'm doing. Normally, it wouldn't be except we rearranged our furniture in here and the lights are in the wrong places right now. We moved the furniture so we could take care of some insulating issues. We discovered quite the passageway for air to stream on in last weekend. Our builders didn't quite insulate all that well around the windows during construction and we find the leaks the easiest on those really cold days.