If You Are Cold, Put On A Sweater

Just like K does - although this was a summer photo. And yes, I made that sweater. She loves it, and picked out the butterfly button herself.

So, I am definitely the type of mom who tells you to wear a sweater. And if you are cold in the house, you should maybe wear a hat as well. I wear several layers of clothes when it gets cold. I can add and subtract layers as the day warms and then cools. I keep the heat at 64 during the day, which I admit is a bit cool, but I have a nifty swifty programmable thermostat and at dark it goes up a bit, and then you really don't want to know how low I keep it overnight. What? We are under covers, no one has suffered frostbite yet. Heck the kids sleep in blanket sleepers - that means they are basically sleeping in a blanket. And by the time we get up in the morning, it is nice and toasty 65.

The irony is that the little girl I watch afterschool on Mondays, well, she had a short sleeve shirt on yesterday. Sorry, not a good choice at my house. Sure, she wore a coat to school, and later she wore a coat in my house. Not surprising, I often wear my fleece in the house. Which is what made me think about that maybe I keep my house a little cool.

Lest you think I am cruel, she wasn't cold when we made sugar cookies since that meant the oven was on. Ergo, the kitchen was warm, smelled good and was a delightful mess from them decorating. It was nice and cozy and they ate warm sugar cookies and had hot chocalate.....

So if you are cold, put on a handknit sweater and make sugar cookies.

Sparkles

Today was a fun day. I spent much of the morning at the wheel, spinning some beautiful red merino wool that I will be making into Christmas yarn much like this.

I just put this skein up for sale today. Isn't it pretty and seasonal? I like it. I am really excited to add some little ornaments to the next skein to make it totally new and unique.

I Love Our Library!

Recently I heard about libraries that, wait for it, charge for a library card! Not a replacement card, a real card. What? A public library charging for a card? Not only charging, but charging $20 a year! Insanity! What would Ben Franklin say?

I am so thankful that my library does not charge for cards - and only $1 to replace a lost card. Recently they had a little calculator that figures out how much use you get from the library - my family gets over $100 worth of services from the library each month. From books and movies to storytime and Needlearts group and the incredible databases they have - I absolutely love Heritagequest. I can look up census records right from home - just cause I have a library card. Incredible!

Not only that, the people at the library are so nice. They greet K and I by name when we go to storytime. I order books online and they are ready for pickup in a couple days - unless they are really popular, then I do wait, but not for long. One of the security guards leaves books for my husband that he thinks he will enjoy - and he does enjoy them. What wonderful personal service.

This weekend I went to my knitting group at the library. It is a nice group and we enjoy each other's company. One of them even gave me some embroidered shirts for K. Another one gave K a baby blanket for her dolls - I guess a doll blanket. It is just so nice to have a place to meet new people and get together.

So thanks to all the library people out there. I really do love and appreciate all you do.

Family Friday - Russell Lee Brandt

Russell Lee Brandt is technically my father's cousin. His first cousin - but I doubt my father knew him very well. His mother, Grandma Alice, was one of 13 children and by the time my father was born, Russell Lee Brandt was about to be fighting in World War II, so there was quite the age difference.

Yesterday, we honored our veterans and Russell Lee Brandt was one of them. And what he survived is amazing. He was on the USS Indianapolis when it was hit by torpedoes from the Japanese Navy, it sank in 12 minutes. Wow! How scary - 12 minutes to get off a huge cruiser and into the water. And then for 4 days they drifted, were picked off by sharks, exposed to the sun and sea, and no one had even been looking for them! The military did not even know they were hit or sank until a patrol boat saw them. Out of 880 who survived the initial sinking, only 316 soldiers survived the sea. Russell Lee Brandt survived. I don't know how, I don't know how people don't give up. I don't know how he survived and over 500 people did not....

But he did survive and I am so proud of him and all the other great men and women who have served our wonderful country. I have many relatives who have served this country and I thank them all. Thank you veterans, thank you for the freedom we have and thank you for having the will to never give up. You are all heroes.

Good bye Old Friend

Scruffy has gone to the Rainbow Bridge, where she waits for us to come. Wasn't she adorable?

It is never easy to let anything go, but for Scruffy, it was time. The above picture was taken in better times for her. Scruffy found C about 10 years ago. She came into our lives and was just so adorable and fit in so well. She had not had a great life until then - she wasn't spayed, was missing teeth, had a hernia, eye infection and stomach parasite, her fur was horribly matted. But we got her all fixed up and she was such a wonderful dog, she more than paid us back with love. She loved to lay on the bed with C until she got too old to get up and down safely. I think she missed him horribly when he left for school. She was a one of a kind sweet dog, a huge heart in her little body. She loved to rub her face on the floor and roll around - we called it Scruffin' - as in she is scruffin. It was so cute. We loved her so much. But her quality of life had diminished so much.... well, Scruffy, I am going to miss you horribly. And I loved you, you little scruffer. See you at the Rainbow Bridge someday.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my son, L! He is now officially in the double digits and woke up so very excited to be 10 today! The picture below was taken a couple of weeks ago when we were hiking. Beautiful Colorado day.

Here he is with his friends and sister for Halloween. They had a great time out and about on Halloween. Although it is becoming harder and harder to find people who give out candy on Halloween in the neighborhood. Only 5 houses on my block! That isn't very many. People forget how much fun it is to see the kids in their costume and how excited the kids are to trick or treat. It is a childhood rite of passage, to get more candy than a normal person needs in the year, eat a bunch of "good" stuff and have mom throw the rest away in a month. Let me add, it really wasn't a holiday designed for a bunch of adults to dress up ridiculously and go to the bar - so stay home, stay sober and hand out some candy.

And happy belated birthday to my sister. I hope you had a very nice birthday, sis. 29, right?

Now that all the school ugly is decided, I'll hopefully be back to my normal (normal? what is that?) postings about my beloved knitting and spinning and Family Fridays - lots of interesting relatives. Any suggestions or memories about our dearly departed relatives - send me an email. And I was recently "elected" secretary of the Pikes Peak Knitting Guild - woohoo, another position no one wanted so I said I would do it. I all ready was the librarian, which means I have a box of knitting books and videos members can borrow.

I have some really cute fingerless gloves I have sold to the secretary at The Husband's school. She loved them so much, she wants another pair for at home. So finally a non-related knitting sale! That is exciting!

Life is exciting!