Tree is done- a Shrimp Graduation- and let the Holidays Begin!

Let's see...

In my last blog, I left off where the tree was up and we were getting a huge storm.  Yes, it hit and left us with huge drifts of about 4 ft across the driveway, of course.  Steveio had to work at shaving it away sideways, a narrow slice at a time with the snowblower.  The drift was higher than the snowblower---    here he is, amidst the swirling blowing snow as the gusts were reaching 50+mph.  But if you don't get the drifts out of the driveway several times during the storm, once the temps drop as predicted, it will be hard as a rock and stuck like that for the rest of the winter!

The most important part is getting the area in front of the motorhome snowblown away, 

so we can make an escape in February!  LOL 

During the Packer game on Sunday (which they LOST!~)  I was able to get the tree decorated.  Now... what you would expect from a sock knitter???  YES!   It's a SOCK TREE!~ 

I have tiny knit socks, ceramic socks, stuffed socks, burlap socks, 

plaster socks and one crocheted sock from my Auntie Lois! 

Now to get to the cookie-baking and finish the present-wrapping... then I am free to enjoy the holidays!  

On Monday, we had a special invitation to attend the Grandparent's Day at the YMCA in Green Bay. Our one year old granddaughter, Allegra, was GRADUATING!   Yes, from "Shrimp" to "Perch" in her swimming classes.   How adorable is that?   What a fun place to go in the middle of a frozen winter!

 At the end of the class, the parents are allowed to take their child down the swirly waterslide as a reward.  Allegra had a blast and she sure didn't want to come out of the swimming area, as can be seen in the photo below:

Tuesday night we had Steve's union holiday party/meeting to attend in Green Bay.  Besides work as a locksmith for the University in Green Bay, Steve is the president of the union for state employees.  He handles all the state workers for Northeast Wisconsin, including the universities, prison guards corrections, transportation etc.  Not the teachers, just the hardworking poorest laborers and lowest paid staff people. He works very hard for very little pay as President.  But everyone loves the job he does and nobody runs against him, so each year he ends up in another term.  It's a lot of hassle, but important.  Our new governor elect is mouthing off about abolishing all state employee unions when he gets into office.  What then?  Who would protect the mere workers from the crazy off the wall situations that seem to occur more and more often from management?  As budget cuts stress the situations even worse, the employees need protection more now than ever.  Many, including Steve, haven't gotten raises in years and it's been a year and a half that they have been working without a contract.  So it's not so much the wages issue, it's the protection they need from mismanagement.   Ok ... Off the soapbox.  

For the annual party, we went to a historic place in Green Bay called Titletown Brewery company.  It was built in the old train depot just a few blocks from my old home in Green Bay.  It was vacant for a few years and became a target for vandals.  In 1996 they bought it and fixed it up into a nice restaurant and brewery.

http://www.titletownbrewing.com/

The food was okay, the meeting was informative, and we had a nice night out.   The building was full of fun historical memorabilia and was an interesting place for them to hold their meeting.

We drove past my old house a few blocks away to take a gander.  Wow.. the little pine tree I planted is now huge and higher than the rooftop.  The trees in the backyard are amazingly tall too. I remember planting them as skinny 8 foot tall sticks.  LOL  I bought it in 1985 and sold it in 1997. The house is the same otherwise, and even peeking in the lit windows from the dark street, I could see the same curtains as I left in there 13 years ago when I sold it!  It was too dark to take a photo, so here is a photo from my own files taken another time.

That was a pretty cool house when I owned it.   English Tudor style inside and out, with Old World craftsmanship.  It has hardwood floors, some arched top palladian french doors, huge fireplace with built in curio cabinets on each side, formal dining etc. with crown mouldings and high mopboard trim.  The front windows all opened like little french doors into the room.  It was so charming!   They don't make em like that any more. This one was built in 1926. Sure was a cute house and we enjoyed living there.  But it was smack dab in the middle of Green Bay, in a declining neighborhood.  We were smart to sell when we did and get out when we did. 

On the topic of RVing...  we are scheming and planning to take off from here about mid-February and heading south towards Texas and west towards Arizona and California to wander around.  If any of our RVing buddies know of the best routes to take from Wisconsin at that time of the year, chime in and let us know.  Also any cool stuff that are "stop and must-see" places for us? 

Steveio just replaced the one section of tailpipe that wasn't replaced when he did the rest of the exhaust last spring.   It was too cold to go out and take a picture, so take my word for it.  He did it.   Now the oil, filters, chassis lube and hub levels are all changed, checked, updated and ready to roll for an extended trip.   Now to get through Christmas, New Years, and property taxes and income tax filing before we can afford to go! 

We are touring a day care center tomorrow to check it out for little granddaughter Chelsea.  Right now I care for her Mon-Fri full time in my home.  She will slowly transition going there part time until we leave for our trip, and then it will be full time there while we are gone.  It will be hard to let her go, but she needs socialization and learning and sharing and playing with other toddlers. 

All of my rug, towel and sock orders are done and out for the season (barring any last minute orders from repeat customers)   We shipped out the last box last night and I can breathe a sigh of relief.  

Going to start some cookie baking next, I think..... 

BLIZZARD - it ain't over yet!~

With wind gusts of 50 mph and about a foot or so of snow, we are kinda in the middle of a messy blizzard.  Going to stay in today and not even bother shoveling or snowblowing. Why? It will just blow back again!



Here are some pics I snapped a few minutes ago....

This snow is piled up a foot or two deep on the deck, right up to the patio doors. 

The winds are whipping around the motorhome where the ground underneath is almost swept bare, 

but the drifts are building in the driveway and front yard.  

They are about 3-4 feet deep by all guess.  I ain't going out there to measure them!!!!

The plow just went through on the road in the background, 

but with this wind the drifts in the yard will just keep getting bigger and bigger

Good thing it's Sunday and we don't have to wade through these banks to get to the mailbox???

I don't think Ducky Dog is too thrilled about going out in the storm either....

We still have power yet, though lots of folks around us are already out.  I have run extra buckets of water to hold onto, just in case.  If the power goes out, of course our well pump doesn't pump water out of the faucets.  In a real pinch, we could fire up the generator in the motorhome and run a cord into the house.  

But for now, we are fine.  We have the catalytic heater here on the main floor that doesn't require any power to operate, just LP gas. (Steve moved it in from the motorhome for the winter to use in the house as supplementary heat)   The big furnace downstairs needs power, but we don't really need it if the power goes out.   We have the fireplace too, but with such gusting winds, we don't want anything blasting down the chimney and blowing sparks into the room.  

Just heard on tv that the metrodome in the Minnapolis collapsed under the weight of the snow in this storm.  Oh gosh!  We sure hope nobody was hurt---  they had already cancelled the game because the opposing team could not even fly into Minneapolis airports. 

We are gonna stay in, stay warm, and forget about going anywhere.  The Packer game will be on tv, if the power stays on.  Otherwise I suppose we could trudge out to the motorhome to watch the game and fire up the generator to watch it out there!!!  From your Diehard Packer Fans in a Wisconsin Blizzard-----

SNOW --- oh such snow coming our way - got a tree - and New Yarn for Socks

The snow is falling down.... it started last night and we are in for a foot or so, I guess.  I don't mind the snow, but there is supposed to be bitter sub-zero cold following it.  Might get to 10 below?  Brrrrrrrrr

Here are a few pics I snapped ----  with the Iphone so it's a bit blurry.  This is taken out the side door at 7 am when I let the doggers out.  They paced around and sniffed the air and licked the snow.  That was enough and back in they came.

Yes, this next photo is for my RVing friends who read this blog.  There is our poor motorhome, out in the cold.  Sure looks sad and forlorn.   It's all winterized and decommissioned of it's canned goods and clothes we like to wear often.  Waiting... waiting ... waiting...

As we sat here this morning, reading blogs and enjoying our coffee...  we are all cozy and warm.  Then Steveio and I decided we better go get a tree before the snow gets too deep.  Since we sold the pickup truck and bought the Geo Tracker, we don't really have a truck to go in the woods and snow to get a tree.  So taking the car was our next choice.  Either that or we could unzip the convertible top on the Tracker, flip up the back seat and cram one in there?   LOL

We drove to Dicks U Dig It in Suamico, WI .... it's a tree farm of items raised as nursery stock, and if you want to buy a tree, you take a shovel and dig it out yourself.  Thus the name!  (the clump of birch trees from my last blog photos with the kids came from here)   Some of the blue spruce have gotten too large and rangy for the landscaping type trees, so they advertise to come and cut them down to be used as Christmas Trees!   $10 a tree, can't beat the price.  You bring a saw and cut it down and take it home.

These are baby spruce trees, waiting to grow up and be used for landscaping

Ahhh  here is the right tree!   The one side is a bit bare, but that will go against the wall when we tuck it into the corner.   We used to get 18ft tall trees to go up to the tippy top of our cathedral ceiling when the kids still lived at home.  But since they are gone, we have decided to go smaller and in the corner.  That leaves the entertainment  center in the middle of the room where the tree used to go.  Now we don't have to move it each year and move it back again.  That gets complicated with all the cables and wires and cords.

Here is my Lumberjack Steveio doing the honors with his swedish bow saw

Tucked the trunk in the trunk--

- and heading on home (about 10 miles away)
singing Over the River and Through The Woods.....   tee hee

So there, within an hour it's cut and up in the stand in the house!   Some snow is melting off the branches yet in the house, going drip drip drip.  But that is okay, we need some humidity in here anyhow!  LOL

As I sit here and write this, I am also cranking socks on the antique circular sockknitting machine. I snapped a shot of my sock machine and where I often sit to work at. I have the laptop, my coffee mug, my yarns and machine all in one place.

I go between typing, cranking, or just looking out the patio doors and daydreaming!  If you look in the background you can see that the river was frozen over yesterday, but today it's open again.  Perhaps they opened the dam upriver and cause some turbulence--- enough to break the fragile ice layer that was forming.  Never fear, but Monday's subzero temps, it will freeze over again.

Our local television news last night had 2 or 3 dimwits who went through the ice on some of the local lakes... some ice that had just newly formed the day before, and these idiots were out there ice fishing!  I pity the poor rescue folks who endanger their own lives to get these fools back to safety.   No fish is worth that kind of risk this time of year.




This part is for my fiber friends reading this blog.

Our daughterinlaw Heather and son Dan, with little Allegra got me a gift card to Hobby Lobby for my birthday this year.  I stopped and wandered around the store and found some new to me yarn from Lion Brand called Fisherman.

It's lofty and almost springy in the socks as I crank it up.  Yummmmmmy!   100% wool in big 8oz skeins.  I can get about a pair and half per skein.  Chelsea helped me sort the yarn, wind it into balls... with the yarn trailing through her fingers as she helped to crank it slowly into balls for knitting on the machine.  She will be a fiberholic before we know it!

And here is the first sock of this lovely yarn.... fresh off the machine!  (still attached to the next one) 

Well, it's about time for a little nap here... 

Steveio already beat me up to the loft and is snoozing for the afternoon siesta.  

Guess I will go join him.  

Meeting up with RV friends Fred and Sharon for dinner out tonight, if the snow don't get too deep.  

We got four wheel drive in the Tracker, so we should be fine. 

Gotta love these Wisconsin Winters! 

FAMILY - Allegra's First Birthday - and the Mannheim Steamroller concert

Oh boy I am sooooo far behind on my blog stuff---- both reading and posting! I will catch up, I will catch up, I will catch up!

It's the busy time of the year for me, to crank out socks and weaving up rugs and packing and shipping them out.  Seems every day I am taking more custom orders.  That is fine with me, because I am setting aside funds for vacation time in Feb and March.  Wheeeeee


Our darling little granddaughter, Allegra, turned ONE YEAR OLD!  On Saturday, her parents threw a party in their home, and we were all able to make it.  Even Steve's mom and dad came all of the way from Waupaca for our little darling's party.   She was on her best behavior and such a darling to everyone.

The theme was mexican nacho bar for the meal, and I brought a crock pot of chili con queso dip and some chips.  They had all the fixens, and of course, home baked cupcakes and ice cream!   Of which the birthday girl really enjoyed herself.. .teee heeee  I was video taping the singing  and candle, but was able to snap a few shots as she enjoyed her cake.

She got to open up a pile of presents, 

and you could see how she wanted to play with each and every one..

She will also be the best dressed kid on the block 

with all of the adorable clothes she unwrapped. 

 But one of her favorite presents was a can of black olives!!!  Yes, she LOVES black olives! 

Jameson was teaching her the letters on the play mat for her playroom. 

 I got in some cuddle time with each grandchild, but I shared them with the other grandmas, too.  

It was a very nice party and we were so glad to be part of our grandchildren's lives.  In a few years when we hit the road full time in the motorhome, we won't be able to make it to all of their parties.  So we will enjoy these early years.  After they get bigger, it will probably be those crazy riotous noisy kids parties at ChuckECheez or the like.  We can bow out on those.  LOL 

Then  on Sunday... Steve had a treat for me....  Steveio bought me an early Christmas present.  Two tickets to see Mannheim Steamroller in concert at the Weidner Center in Green Bay.  Because the concert was on Sunday Dec 5, he had to give the tickets early instead of on Christmas Day.  But that was okay, it was still a surprise to me!

So we got gussied up... Steve in his suit and I in a nice dress and we went to enjoy an evening of holiday music.  It was blasting cold winds and subzero windchills, and being in a dress and heels is quite unnatural attire in this kind of weather.  But I was treated with dropping me off at entrance while he parked the car.  Whew!

We started out with cocktails in the reception/lobby area and admired some of the artwork on display.  This light fixture was pretty strange.... It was all twisted tubes of colored glass, reminding me of twisted balloons of some gigantic clown project.  It was about 10-15 feet long and suspending from the ceiling.  I had to sneak a pic of it with my Iphone.    The colors that you see at the top are throughout, just the light was hard to get a picture of from that angle.   Really strange, huh?  All in the name of *Art*???

At the same time Steve snapped a pic of me in front of a tree, then another couple offered to snap a pic of the two of us together. Awwwwww  how sweet of them!  I know they are blurry, but you get the gist of it. I was very proud to be on the arm of my dapper dandy do hubby----

The concert began soon after we were ushered to our seats.   It was so pleasant to be there with my loving man, enjoying some good music in a live performance.  We don't get to go to these things to often, so it was a real treat for me.  Our days of the kids school concerts are long over, and we do enjoy live entertainment when we can attend.

Mannheim Steamroller's name is derived from the city where Mozart composed his music, Mannhiem, Germany.   The Steamroller portion comes from the name of the crescendo portion in musical scores, nicknamed the Steamroller.

Some tunes are more traditional, some rock-ified, some celtic, some jazzy.  A mix of orchestra, rock band instruments, two grand pianos and even a tiny toy piano made up the band.  All very interesting and really enjoyable.   The music was great, and the light show was enhancing.  But the big screen video in the back ground was distracting somewhat and took away from the effect of the music. Many times I just closed my eyes to the lights and let myself enjoy the tunes.


But one thing was noticed.... a dad and mom, presumably the parents, came in the seats directly behind us with four kids:  2 teen girls, a pre-teen girl and a young boy about 8 or 9.  The kids obviously did NOT want to be there.  Why their parents shelled out $66.00 a ticket for each of them was beyond me.  That was almost a $400.00 outing for the family.

The two girls chattered throughout the first 8 songs, the boy kept kicking my seat, rustling under his noisy nylon jacket as he huddled underneath with a cell phone playing games on it.  He even let the ring tone get away a couple times and someone else from behind them hushed him and told him to turn it off.  He was making noises and complaining and making disparging remarks in general about the concert, his sisters and not wanting to be there.  Then he was clapping applause in the middle of songs and distracting everyone around him.  And his sister next to him was louder than he was each time she would tell him to *knock it off*.   The woman, presumably the mom, was oblivious to it and didn't do a thing.  I turned around a couple times with an irritated look, which he just grinned snottily in return.  I then looked at the mom and raised my eyebrows and she just looked away. The father was way at the other end of their row of seats so I could not make eye contact with him.   Seems the pre-teen girl was the only one embarrassed by his bad behavior.

At intermission, they all went to the lobby.  When they filed back in to their seats as the lights were dimming, they were all quiet and chastised and silent.  The father had a stern look on his face and that was the end of the distractions!  Perhaps an usher had spoken to them.   LOL ... Later, Steve suggested the woman might have been a step-mom or a girlfriend with no authority to discipline the kids?  Who knows, but at least we got to enjoy the rest of the concert in peace!


Come to think of it, the four folks ahead of us were also visibly irritated by this family and they did NOT return to their seats after intermission. Perhaps they complained and were given other seats in another area of the concert hall?



As we got my coat from the coat check (fake fur, not real)  Steve said he didn't park ***too*** far away and it would be faster than trying to get back up near the building where the valets were bringing up cars.  So we should WALK to the car.  After all, I had on a *fur coat* right?   ahem?  What about the bottom half of me?  Walking in heels, pantyhose and thin dress is essentially walking like I was bare naked!   LOL   I tootled along as fast as I could manage on my heels, as we were buffeted by the winds coming right in off the icy waters of the Green Bay! .... the car was parked a lot farther away than I think he realized, but we made it, with the danger of frostbitten toes and other parts of my anatomy!!!!!!  

Winter in Wisconsin, ya gotta love it.


   

FAMILY - Thanksgiving family photos- our celebration at home

All of our kids and grandkids had Thanksgiving celebrations with their spouse's families on the actual day, so we had our own gathering on Sunday here at our home.  It was a relaxed day, with us tossing in a bird into the roaster, whipping up some dishes, the kids each brought stuff to add to the meal and we were all set!

This is the first time I have done a bird in the separate Nesco type roaster on the counter.  It came out very juicy, but I still had to take it out and place it in the big oven for a while to get it *browned up* on the skin. I had pans of mashed potatoes with corn flakes, pans of stuffing and sweet potatoes and green bean casserole all in the big oven, so that is why we tried the Nesco for the turkey.  I think next year we will just do a few of the turkey breasts and not mess with the carcass, the skin, the wings and drumsticks...  all our family likes the white meat anyhow.  The breasts are much easier.  Sometimes I even toss one in the pressure cooker with some soup broth and it comes out wonderfully.   But I digress... back to the day:


Erin and Mark with little Chelsea had to come later, as Mark's grandmother had a gathering at her home too.  So they are in the later photos.  

It was a Packer Sunday, we had the game on the tv, toys scattered all around the livingroom, and I was in my glory with all our family together under one roof!~  Here are some shots of the food set out in the kitchen.  We filled our plates and sat in front of the tv in true Packer Backer Fan style.   No fancy table settings or candlelit meals this time.  It was Game Day.

Granfaddah and Granmuddah Pfun (me and Steveio)

 Steveio carving up the bird

Here are all of our kids and grandkids

Heather/Jesse/ Jameson          Dan/Heather/Allegra            Erin/Mark/Chelsea   

The kids had toys scattered all over the place...  some are old, old toys from my Grandmother Kafehl, which would be the grandkids Great Great Grandmother!  I know she was smiling down on them as they had played with the same toys we played with at her tiny house on Western Ave. in Cedarburg, WI.

 Jameson looking for the toys I put up out of the little ones reach, 

and a shot of the livingroom in it's Natural State of Disorder when the grandkids are visiting.

Being that it was a Packer Game Sunday, both girls had to wear their Packer Cheerleader outfits!   

Jameson has outgrown his last Packer jersey, so he is going to ask Santa for another one.

Those danged girls kept taking Jameson's toys, knocking his stuff over, 

crawling over where he was playing or trying to steal his crayons.  

So here he is in a reflective moment on the hearth, 

taking some time away from them and seeking his own space.... awwwwwwww

We had a wonderful day, even if the Packers lost in the end. 

Heather and I took Allegra outside to snap a few quick pics of her at the base of my birch trees so I can have a set of all three kids for the wall.  Steve bought me this clump of tiny birch trees 10 years ago or so.  We planted them right out of the kitchen window.  Now they are the the three trunks of our Family Tree! 

 It came out so cute!  Now they all match! 

Even without the turkey, the pies, the beers and the snacks,

the best part of the day was having all the grandkids around... 

don't this pic say it all?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ! 

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