In the house this afternoon!  He'll be accompanied by Little Bro and their mom for a quick overnight visit.

WTF??  Wall-to-wall Christmas music this morning on one of the stations programmed in my car, and the latest listen at work played a holiday song mid-morning!  Uh-uh, not ready for that yet -- so I exercised my option to spin that dial!  Ahhhh, that's better.

Lots to do this weekend, of course.  One of the bigger goals is to move completely out of the old bedroom and into the new!  I have a bunch of photos to process and online galleries to fill -- some mini-session Halloween and Christmas stuff -- and some cards to make and get up on Etsy, also some knitting things to finish up and/or mail.  DH has a little list for me, too -- oh, hey, I finally got the shopping buttons for limited-edition prints working on his website last week!  It's a very full schedule, but I think I can do it.  I'm also taking time tomorrow for a matinee showing of This Is It with a varied group of friends and family -- I expect to be energized!

NaBloPoMo?

I let it all get to me yesterday and had one of the most stressful days I've had in a long time.  I'm normally pretty laid-back and easy-going and usually do a good job of handling and/or juggling stuff, but yesterday the wheels came off and I was a wreck, nearly dissolving into tears at one point -- it would have helped if I'd felt one iota of sympathy or saw even a glimmer of a smile at that point from the people who were supposed to be helping me -- instead, the stony-faced sent me on my way with a clear-as-mud instruction sheet and I developed an ulcer on the way home.

Haha, not really.  But OH!  I had SO much to do -- there has BEEN so much to do, some of it so TEDIOUS!  Progress IS being made, it's just that it feels like I'm chipping away at everything and not getting any one thing done!  Dependent on so many other people to do what they need to do, circumstances of time, schedules, work, weather, and availability are all conspiring against me!

Meanwhile, I'd contacted my old neighbor in August with a suggestion that we get together for dinner and, when we couldn't find a day that worked, I suggested that we try again in September... and now we're three days from November!  What happened to October???  Time is the worst conspirator of all.

By the end of the day, I had calmed down some -- a little retail therapy helped, nothing exciting, just a couple of new turtlenecks (it's been so cold), plus I purged and moved some more of my closet.  There's still a bunch of stuff on my list, but I'm not stressing on it so much -- it'll get done -- and my tummy ache is gone!  I guess I needed a freak-out day.

I took some time for some phototherapy, also.

I do believe the color inspiration for my next interior decorating project is in those hostas.  It won't be happening anytime real soon, but there have been paint cards taped up next to the colonnade in the living room for a while now -- in shades alarmingly close to the color we just painted the new bedroom, and the color of our soon-to-be-old bedroom, and the color of the downstairs bathroom, and in the same family as the kitchen.

My crucified (espalier) crab apple is amazing right now.

And I played a little.  The motor on this old NuTone exhaust fan from Kate's apartment is seized up, so we're in search of a replacement.  I thought I'd pretty it up a little.

Happy Thursday.

I ♥ Faces

This was at least the third costume change of the day...

 
Very serious super-hero mode.  I can't get over his eyelashes, those sweet lips, and that creamy skin! 

Actually, I think Katie took the true BEFORE photos.  I'm usually so anxious to dive in that I don't take the time for pictures until we're already at DURING.

You can just see the adorable 24-inch-wide refrigerator on the left.  I scrubbed it down real good on Saturday and it's just hanging out there until its new niche is made.  The fate of the microwave (peeking out from behind the 'fridge) has yet to be determined.

I sucked it up and pulled out the stove -- it wasn't as bad as expected; I degreased it, the wall behind it, the neighboring cabinets in every direction, and started on the floor.  The stove exterior cleaned up pretty good (I don't think it's very old); the oven doesn't appear to have been used much (plus, self-cleaning!).  I bought new drip pans for the stove -- cleaning the existing ones wasn't even a possiblity as the they'd nearly disintegrated.

She sure has the cupboard space!  We decided to remove the small, highest cabinet doors and use the space more for display; Katie's already slapped a little paint in the ones above the sink and the difference is amazing!  After a failed attempt at cleaning the existing hardware, we bought new -- and found some at a terrific price, plus removing those upper doors brought the total number needed down to 27 from 41.

The drawers where our purses and camera bag are deposited are from a cabinet in the living area that's being torn out.  At one time, the apartment took up the entire second floor and the big kitchen (with a long-gone peninsula) adjoined a dining area which was wide open to a big living area.  Awesome apartment then, and maybe again someday, but for now we're tearing out what used to be a closet in the living room (originally, second bedroom) to open it up more to the kitchen and make more of a "living area" once again -- it is the best solution right now and (again) the difference is/will be amazing!  We are definitely making progress.

The nice wide hallway leads to an enclosed porch with lots of windows -- so much light!  There's a nice deck, too.  The view, above, is out one of the porch windows.  Saturday was the first day we were there while the sun shined -- it was wonderful!!  It sure brightened our outlook.

Katie will soon be moving into her first real apartment!  She's lived in an apartment with a roommate before, but it was basically off-campus housing while she was still in school -- a step up (or down, depending on perspective) from living in a dorm.  DH is doing some of the heavier repairs and improvements while Katie cleans and paints, and I'm helping her clean (I've had enough of painting lately, thanks, and I'm very good at cleaning when I want to be).

I have moved into some pretty nice places that were in awful condition in my day -- I'll spare the detailed description of cleaning out the 'fridge at a house we rented in Tillamook that still had food in it when the power had been turned off several months earlier (yeah, go ahead and imagine the worst -- you might be close) -- and this one is ranking right up there.  I try hard to not think and just do -- otherwise, I risk being depressed and paralyzed by the overwhelming, disgusting, greasy, griminess of it all, not to mention the old carpet full of dog hair (I don't even want to think about it) (get the dust masks ready, that's the next thing going out!), the completely disintegrated drip pans on the stove, and (yep, you knew it was coming) the toilet.  I'd rip the toilet out in a second and just replace it, except that it's a wall-mounted toilet and those aren't exactly filling up the aisles at Home Despot, you know?  They're out there, though...

Moving on...

It will be an awesome apartment again one day and Katie is so excited to play and work some magic on the clean slate -- once it's clean -- and all I can say is thank god that the "vision" gene was passed on to the kids!

I have a million things going on and wonder when that'll ever dwindle to a half-mil or so.  Knocked a big one off the list (partially, at least) last night, though, when I finally updated DH's website and added photos of a mural project he did in a client's California home earlier this fall.  He truly has the "vision."

Before, during, after -- sure looks like a cool house!

Happy weekend.  I'll be cleaning some more on Saturday; shooting a Halloween party on Sunday; looking forward to new carpeting on Monday; possibly a big move on Tuesday/Wednesday!

I made a special trip south on Saturday afternoon to do a family photo shoot on Sunday morning -- it was a good excuse to go spend some time with Mack and Addison.  I gave them the Green Bay Packer helmet & uniforms sets that Mom send down, we played outside, had supper together, and read bedtime stories -- and I hit the hay right about when they did!  I'm pretty sure that Mack slept in his new uniform (minus the hard plastic shoulder pads and helmet).

I was gently awakened by Addison on Sunday morning.  He crawled in and jibber-jabbered while I stretched and dozed.  He was just two in August and, while he talks up a storm, he doesn't pronounce all the letters correctly yet, so I wasn't quite sure what he was saying to me, over and over, 'til he slid out of bed and dragged a couple of Tonka and Little Tikes toys into the room -- right into bed!  "I'll get your digger."  Mine was a frontloader, his was both a frontloader and a backloader.  Heehee!  Soon Mack joined us, hoisting a digger of his own onto the bed and, before we vacated completely, a dump truck had found its way in, too!

I had a great photo session and was home by the start of the 2nd quarter of the Packer game.  I watched the rest of the game while downloading and backing up photos, unpacking my gear (camera stuff, clothing, knitting), and folding laundry.  I went to the grocery store and made supper (pecan-crusted* salmon - YUM!), then went up to the coffee shop for a couple of hours to help Ali do a little repainting.

DH was busy re-working the closet area and finish-painting our new bedroom over the weekend.  The room is being measured for carpeting today!  I'm SO excited.

*I misremembered the recipe, which is actually for sesame-crusted salmon, but until I can find a source for bulk sesame seed, I'm not making anything that calls for more than a couple of Tbsps!  I made the recipe almost exactly, substituting pecans for sesame seeds -- probably a bit more fat that way, but I'm still plugging away, a 10th here another 10th there, and this morning I weighed in at my lowest yet.  My clothes are definitely fitting differently -- I kept having to hike up my jeans during the shoot yesterday (I don't even think about what I'm doing or how I look as it happens, but I get into some weird positions and, especially when shooting kids, it can be a bit of a workout!).

Happy Monday! ~

And boy, how!  Things went a little haywire for a few hours yesterday afternoon in the realm of vehicles and transportation -- mostly at work and, thankfully, nothing with my car (knocking on wood), but Katie's was somehow sucked in.  She dropped DH off at the flooring place to meet me and finalize the carpet order before heading off for a pre-spelling bee meeting with her team.  We were barely on our way there, ourselves, when I got a call from Katie -- her car was running fine, but not moving because her transmission locked up and she couldn't shift into gear.  This is at 5:00 p.m., at a busy and sometimes dangerous intersection.  Not fun.

DH ended up staying with the car and waiting for the tow truck while I took Katie to the "bee."

The theme was "back to school" and Kate's team dressed up like a football team.  They had numbers on their shirts, nicknames and slogans -- pretty cute, and they won for best costume!

 
Aren't they adorable?  They came in about 6th place out of 14 teams.  The emcee kept calling their team "Half-Time Books" -- I don't know if he couldn't read the sign or if their costumes threw him off.  It was a great turn-out and a nice fund-raiser for the Literacy Coalition.

"Orange Crush"  -- does she look like "the crush station" to you?

We stopped by Joe's Garage after the bee to see about her car.  Something about air and bubbles, the transmission and clutch, bleeding the line... and off she went!!

Busy day!  I'll be finishing some stuff that I didn't quite get to on Wednesday and I've got to spend some time cleaning up my studio/office!  Busy weekend!!  Heading south for a family photo shoot on Sunday, and will pop in at my sister's for a visit with the boys, too!  If I don't check in over the weekend -- y'all have a great one and I'll see you on Monday!

Yeah.  It's so deflating to work hard on a post and then see it vanish **POOF** right before your very eyes.  There was lots of talk and pictures about knitting -- mostly about scarves and shawls -- and keeping warm.  And about how I heard the word "chic" again last night when I wore shadow[]box to book club.  So funny.  Wearing it tonight to a spelling bee.  Tres shiek!  Hehee!  Anyway, Katie, aka "Orange Crush," and her fellow booksellers will be competing to benefit the Fox Valley Literacy Coalition.  Should be fun.

I'll re-inflate and be back tomorrow.

Dear Blog,

I forgot about you today.  I know, I know!!  On and on I went yesterday about you and life-sharing, life-saving, life-changing!!

I launched at 8:30 a.m. and was in the dentist's chair by 9:00 (though not before a thwarted stop at my current credit union, having apparently forgotten exactly what is meant by "banker's hours").  Then it was a stop at my former credit union to open my new Health Savings Account (which will someday come in handy for paying the dental bills... and more) (my current CU doesn't offer HSAs) (kind of a pain, though not so much as in the past, what with online access).  I also had to stop for yarn -- one more hank of Silk Garden and some Lamb's Pride Bulky for a promised project (which I forgot about!).

I was able to walk from Home Depot (another gallon of paint for the bedroom) to Office Max (for, um, office supplies), but otherwise I was zipping around and in and out of the car a lot!  After a final stop at my current credit union (open door!), I went home and unloaded all the paint, yarn and office supplies, then waited for Mom to pick me up for coffee/lunch at Ali's!

I coulda used a nap.  Instead, I'm dumping or burning old files and downloads to make some room on my laptop's nearly full hard drive!  I knew this day was comin'!  And I have some other book work to do, too.  While the laundry's drying.

Welcome to my day off.

Since a post isn't a post without a photo, and since everyone and my brother (and mom and dad) are traipsing in to look at the photos from our recent weekend up north, I thought I'd post one from the archives of another weekend up north.  I may have posted it before; it doesn't really get old (except for the hairstyles and glasses) (what in the world was up with my hair???).

XO 

Thank goodness I forgot to post one of the weekend photos from Flickr yesterday.  I went right home after work and picked up a paintbrush (instead of a camera), joining Ali who was helping out and already half-finished rolling the ceiling.  I wish I liked painting more.  I love color, choosing color, playing with color, dreaming in color -- color, color, color!  Painting = Ugh!  Clean-up = Double-UGH!!

The painting might be done tomorrow -- for sure by the weekend.  I fear it will be too much to ask that the carpeting I haven't even picked out yet be installed by then, too.  I brought my "inspiration" with me today and will stop at the flooring store for some samples.  We'll see.  I'm anxious to move our stuff into the new bedroom and start settling in!

I got paint on the phone when Annie called last night.  She wanted the address to the blog -- I thought she meant the photo blog but, no, she meant this one -- Sharon had told her about the photos I'd posted from our weekend together up north.  Annie said that she'd already looked here, though, and didn't see them!  Turns out, she has a little ADD when it comes to the blog -- she starts at the top and clicks as she scrolls her way down and sometimes doesn't make it to the final, intended, destination before time's up!  Then, later, she sent me this email:

I love your blog!  I don't read it a lot but when I do....there goes an hour!  Gone and it feels so good with all kinds of emotions stirred and chords touched and it's also fun knowing a little more to some of the stories than gets reported!!  !#$%^&*(!

Sweet, and from my sissa!  I know that Karen feels the same way -- and Sharon, too.  Sharon calls me up to ask "Wha's Up?" if I miss a day.  ; )  Michael told me the other day that he'd called his wife in to look at our weekend pics and then he wandered off; when he got back, she was wiping tears off the keyboard after a little trip into the archives.

I've been thinking about the blogging quite a bit lately, what with the recent comment pains with Typepad (still not happily/completely/satisfactorily resolved), and just the Whos, Whats, Wheres, Whens and Whys (and Hows) of it all.  At the risk of being sappy, the blog has been something of a Lifesaver over the years -- a Lifechanger, for sure.  It's made me more of a Lifesharer -- to varying degrees, both on the blog and in real life, I guess.  It's given me an outlet for creativity -- writing, knitting, photography -- and a place to share my joys and pains and everyday.  The blogging has definitely changed over the years -- I'm more cautious and reserved -- and I sometimes wonder at the evolution, and miss the excitement of "good old days" of blogging.  It's good, though, that changes in me and in my life are reflected here -- and I will continue to change, as will the reflection.

And I better get this posted!!  Can you see me now?  Heheh.

Isn't he cute with that little dusting of snow?

I was expecting to see snow on Sunday morning.  That's just what I had in my head.  When I woke up on Saturday morning and saw my car covered with a thin blanket of white, I was so surprised!  I gasped aloud and said, "It snowed!" even though the kids were still asleep.

I put Mickey on her leash and more or less retraced my steps.

It was much more golden this weekend than last time.  Many more trees were leafless; if they were bearing leaves, they were yellow, orange or red -- no green; the only green trees were evergreen trees!  Beautiful.  It was interesting to see the difference that just two weeks can make at this time of year.

I pulled grandpa's old rocker into the addition (a comfortable construction zone) and placed it smack dab in front of the patio door -- this was my view on Saturday morning.  And on Sunday morning, too, only with a little less snow.  Quiet, beautiful, warm, coffee, knitting.

I love the colors -- and the bokeh -- leaves, twigs, snow-covered moss.

Mickey and I took a walk all the way around the island where the old boat house used to be.  I think I've only been able to do that one other time in my life.  Anyway, we found this amazing sand "path" leading into the woods through the underbrush.  I have no idea what animal might have made this -- whatever it was, it must have a nice, deep den for winter at the other end.

My voyageurs!  Kate is a veteran and Madeleine still flushed from her summer wilderness trip to Canada.  Maddy's already made plans to accompany the group again next summer.  It was 30F when I got up yesterday morning -- this was a wee bit later, so a tad warmer.  It was sunnier and much less windy than Saturday, too.  Maddy is wearing the fingerless mitts I sewed up over coffee!

We had a wonderful time.  ; )

That's me!

I found the Which Ewe Are You quiz at Alison's the other day.  It's a fun little quiz, part of the promo for The Knitter's Book of Wool by Clara Parkes.  The link also shows her book tour stops, beginning with Rhinebeck, of course.  Looks like a great book to add to the library.

I just took the quiz again with the same result.  Heh.  Dual-coated and primitive.  I love that.

Katie is going to pick me up after work tonight and we'll head west, swinging by to pick up Maddy, before heading north!  Yes!!  I'm heading to Uncle Duck's cabin for the second time in two weeks -- the color was great last time, but they say it's "peaking" right now.  It's a very real possibility that we could see the first snowflakes of the season.  I brought earmuffs and gloves.

I've seen snow there before, but it's been a while.  We had Christmas at the old cabin a few times when I was still in high school.  Christmas 1975, for sure, because Grandma gave me a quilt she tied, and she wrote my name and hers along with the year.  We'd cut a tree on the island and prop it up in the wood box, decorate it with a homemade tin foil star and paper chains, light a big fire in the old pot-belly stove.

See you on the flip!  Have a great weekend, everyone.

My Kari-Bak Scarf   in the Opal Hundertwasser has been "finished" for a while.  It still needs a bath and blocking...

...and I won't really be able to wear it 'til I weave in those ends.

The lovely fingerless mitts  are also almost there -- a quick seaming is all they need.  (Gah!  I was too lazy to pull out the DPNs, the straights were right there!)  It's getting colder and colder here -- my wonderful new shadow[]box  has been a constant companion -- and those mitts will be a very welcome addition.  (The word "snow" reluctantly fell from the weatherman's lips last night -- there's a possibility on Sunday-into-Monday.)  Getting these two projects in wearable shape will be a weekend goal!

Of course, I started something new.  This is Colonnade from Knitty.  I'm lovin' Stephen West's designs !

I've used a single skein of Noro Cash Iroha for the solid color stockinette portion; I believe it was one of the prizes in a stash sale package I purchased from Norma a while back.  Apparently, my stash is incomplete without a few hanks of Silk Garden -- I'd recently picked up these two, and another of a different colorway, with a striped scarf in mind, but I'm thinking this is way better.  We've been slammed by fall and I am in great need of warm -- I'm thinking coverage, here, and shawl is trumping scarf!

As of yesterday, Alison owns both the coffee shop and the building it's in.  To say I'm a proud mama is just the tip of this happy mama iceberg.  We -- the girls, us, our whole family -- are in the midst of a big transition period, one we've been waiting on for quite a while.  Everyone's prepared, doing what they're supposed to be doing, and the dominoes are finally falling -- I'm rather enjoying this like I do that -- the speed has quickened and soon the dust will settle.  And then we'll start again.  Heh.  Well, this has been a long time coming -- begun even before taking over operations in February.  There were doubts and tears and many frustrations -- I guess it wouldn't be any fun if it was easy.

I'm exhausted!!

It's a busy Wednesday, too.  Spent some time with Mom today and running some errands, and spent a lot more time than intended with my new dentist (it's my own fault - ouch!); I'm also doing laundry and packing up some orders to ship, plus my car is getting new tires and an oil change!

I'm looking forward to some knitting this evening -- I started a new project yesterday!

Ten on Tuesday:  10 Things You Want but Can't Afford

1.  An island in Greece.

2.  (Or just about anywhere.)

3.  A 20-car garage.

4.  And the cars to fill it, including a 1958 Corvette, a vintage Saab, a vintage Bugatti (or two), a vintage Porsche (or three), a Karman Ghia... that leaves 12 openings to fill, when moved, as desired.

5.  A little farm with chickens and sheep.

6.  Hired help -- a gardener, a housekeeper, a cook.  "Help" is the keyword; I love being all of those things, it would just be nice to have help sometimes.

7.  Extended periods of time off of work without worry of lapses in important areas (such as health insurance), etc., to travel, vacation, explore, relax, get things done.

8.  A fix for our health care/economic/political woes.

9.  A cure for cancer.

10.  World peace.

I love this photo so much that it's serving as decorating inspiration for our new bedroom.  The enlargement, which will eventually be framed, arrived yesterday.  I had it printed on "pearl" or "metallic" paper -- I had some small ones made of it (and others), also, for cards (which I'll eventually put together and put up on Etsy).  Anyway, the ceiling will be barely sky blue, the walls will be in the neighborhood of "wet sand" (or some varieties of chocolate), and the trim and carpet will be shades of "dry sand."

I laid pretty low all weekend, sleeping in and taking it easy, warding off a cold or pneumonia or something -- and I do believe I was successful.  I was supposed to go on a photographers' camping weekend -- it sounded like so much fun! -- but it was cold and damp (all weekend) and I was so worn out by Friday night, I just never made it.  I slept and sneezed and putzed around at home.

The marten house, above, is supposed to be standing in water and the dock -- where there used to be a big old boat house -- is supposed to be on an island.  I've never seen the water so low!

Happy Monday!

I consider it a success to have photos of all five of us with... all five and no one crying.

And we all have our shoes on -- both of 'em!

We even look like we're having fun, don't we?  There was a lot of goofing off!

And singing!  I don't remember what song they were belting out.  It's funny to look at all the photos in the series fast -- it's like a flip-book and you can see them swaying back and forth, even, as they sing!

We laughed.

And laughed.

I sure like being behind the camera better than being in front.

We had such a great weekend.  We'll be doing it again real soon.

I stopped to have lunch with Maddy on the way up on Friday, and then connected with Sharon and Ann (but not before giving Annie the wrong directions and cursing the state for changing the names of the frickin' highways all the time) (etc.).  We met at Hancock Fabrics where Sharon chose a few more fabrics for the sewing project, and then to Target for last-minute supplies (chocolate) and games!

Michael had driven up much earlier in the day and had plenty of time for a nap before our arrival.  I roasted some potatoes in the oven and he grilled rib-eye steaks as big as our heads for dinner.  The four of us had a nice evening and went to bed early.

Annie made omelets for breakfast on Saturday (she does breakfast and brunch so well!) and then we took a short walk 'round the neighborhood.  The sewing machine came out and we spent the morning cutting, pinning, and sewing.  After a quick lunch we all took a nap!  I can't remember the last time I took an afternoon nap -- it was wonderful!

Karen arrived mid-afternoon.  She made a wonderful pasta dish with roasted tomatoes while Michael fried up walleye (from Uncle Jim's freezer -- Thanks Jimmy!) for dinner.  Yum!

We gabbed and talked and laughed.  And drank wine.  And played Catch Phrase!  We completely forgot about using the board, and at first we played with the timer but soon gave that up and just played as a group, passing the thingy to the first person to get the Catch Phrase.  And drank wine!

The Breakfast Queen made us whole-grain pancakes for breakfast on Sunday.  We traipsed over to the old family cabin (currently for sale), peeked in the windows and dissed all the changes.  Really, hot running water, indoor plumbing, a furnace?  Heh.  It's the removal of certain walls and elimination of sacred (to us) features, areas, rooms that diminish the updates in our eyes.  We are most certainly biased.

We cleaned the place up, leaving it better than we found it, and hit the road for home!  So much fun.  I can't wait for next time.

I just joined Norma's Alert The Media group.  There's an FO in the house and I took pictures!  This has been finished for a couple of weeks, already, and the photo shoot (such as it is) was among the things I ticked off my To-Do List last night.  I ticked enough things off the list that, while there's still some catching up to do, I feel a little bit better and more relaxed.

A quick but good Mexican dinner out with the hubs helped.

I've finished My fluffy shadow[]box .  The shadow[]box   pattern by Alison Brookbanks is a free download available at Ravelry.

I knit mine using five or so skeins each of Dale Heilo and Rowan Kidsilk Aura.  Yum, yum, yum.  It is so soft and fluffy... and fuzzy.  It's shedding a bit, but really not too bad; I've felt as though there's something in my right eye all morning, but think that must be all in my head (or some wild and crazy eyelash thing).

I loved knitting it, but I wasn't so sure, at first, upon finishing -- I think, mostly, that's because I could have knit it just a wee bit smaller.  I also wasn't sure what to do about the "neckline" and "closure."  Katie grabbed it and threw it over her had, draping it very cowl-y and said, "Do it like this!  I can see you wearing this to those art openings you go to with Dad."  And it was so cute on her!  So I've been playing around with variations.

With the DPN?  I've also used a cable needle and a utilitarian kilt pin; I've pulled out the button box, too, and probably have some large brooches that might work.  There are so many possibilities!

I wore it some over the weekend up north, have worn it a few evenings while knitting/watching TV, wore it last night (even after we caved and turned the furnace on!), and I'm wearing it right now!  There was quite a bit of frost on the ground this morning.  It's so cozy and warm, I may wear it right through 'til April.

Or knit another one.

I finished the Baktus scarf at the hospital on Tuesday -- it needs a bath and blocking -- and started on fingerless mitts.  Can you believe it?  All this knitting for warmth is a sure sign of autumn.