Hibernation Time

 My procrastination has made me pay this week.  On the nicer days, I refused to go to the grocery store and library and to get my hair cut.  I had to get groceries yesterday and ventured out in light rain and high winds.

It really wasn't too bad though.  I was planning to drive to North Bend because the Snoqualmie Safeway seems to never have any cat food the cats like, but once I saw and felt that wind, I decided to stay closer home.  Less chance of a tree falling on me.

It was nice and cheerful inside, and therefore I was surprised to come out and find icy rain and puddles over my shoes in places.  My hood kept blowing off, and I made the mistake of getting several bags of groceries and some heavy things (like cat litter and Soleil).  I was doing a lot of muttering to myself and then had to do it all again when I got home.  Elise has done a great job of cleaning her stuff out of the garage, but I still have to get rid of a few more things before I can park inside the garage.  It sure does look narrow.

Now this morning there was hail already and constant rain, so I don't even want to go to the mailbox and certainly am not going to the library or to get my hair cut.  It's just too cozy with a fire in the fireplace and two sleeping cats.

Layla doesn't like the heat as much as 

Bowie.  It makes her want to attack him and start a slow-motion tussle.  

I probably won't see the girls this weekend.  They have plenty to do at home and play so well by themselves that Emily is getting things done this morning.  She's ordering teacher gifts early - amaryllis bulbs - and getting Nutcracker outfits ready ahead of time.  

I hope one is for me!  I've been trying to keep Graysen from missing too much math during her sick days, so that makes me a teacher of sorts.  

And this reminds me I'd better figure out how to over-winter my ferns and last year's amaryllis and a few other plants from the front porch.  I hate procrastinating but do it anyway.

I've mainly sat here and worked on getting my new computer the way I want it.  Or closer, anyway.  The font on Windows 11 was so pale against a white background and so tiny that I had to enlarge it every time I opened a window and then squint.  So I explored and am trying this black background with white lettering and a bigger font.  It's wonderful.  Not pretty, so I might tweak it a little more, but it sure does cut down on the eye strain.   It shows a gray here, but it is a crisp black and white in real life!

I'm seeing just the hint of some sunshine coming in the dining room window, so I guess I'll go to the mailbox while I can.  It's about to get real, but I don't see the threat of snow flurries on Tuesday like before.

Sick Days

 Oh, boy!  It's beginning.  Flu and cold season.  I've been vaccinated for pretty much everything this fall - Covid 3rd dose, flu, pneumonia, and the first shingles - but still here I sit with a runny nose and sore throat.  As long as the family brings home things from school and work, I'll pick them up.

Katherine met outside school yesterday afternoon saying she didn't feel good and didn't want to go ice skating.  That's unusual for her, because she loves that.  A few minutes later, Graysen came out almost in tears saying she had a headache and felt sick.  Her math teacher was there to take her to Mathnasium, but she was in such a sad state, we decided to give her a break.  So we walked home, had a cup of hot chocolate and finished up our last Clementine book.  Graysen didn't even eat a snack but lay down and acted like she was going to sleep.  She finally said she wanted to go home, so I took them, and Emily said she took some Tylenol, went to sleep, and woke up 3 hours later feeling a little better.

Today I have Graysen who still feels bad, but Katherine had to go back to school and was not happy about it.  I'm not sure what we'll do all day.  We've already tried to get a reaction from the cats to a cucumber on the floor, but they ignored it.  Bowie enjoyed a nice fire for a while until he got too warm.

He does have the sweetest face.  I wonder in his other life how someone could have let him be out in the cold and scared and injured.  He wants for nothing now!  He sleeps beside me but still won't let me pick up up and hold him more than just a few seconds.

Graysen has to do 10-minutes bouts of math during the day.  We reviewed multiplying by thousands with  0s, which she showed that she knew very well.  We'll do this until we catch up to what they're covering in class today.  She really does not care for that at all.  I may have to find some bribes.  

Speaking of ice-skating, they girls have lessons every Tuesday after school at the rink near us.  I've taken them and watched a couple of times and was impressed at how relaxed they seem.  They're learning new skills that I don't know anything about, but they involve hand and arm motions and lifting one foot and spinning a little.  I can't get good pictures because I'm up on a mezzanine with glass and a net thing between us and the ice.  I'll try to get some videos on here too.

The place is teeming in the afternoons.  There are several ice-skating lessons going on as well as hockey off-the-ice activities, and I'm not sure what else people are doing.  Katherine is lucky enough to have her best friend Luka taking lessons too.

Luka in the green helmet and Katherine in the pink one.

Graysen in the pink helmet.

The girls found a feather maybe from PopPop, and Katherine made a pretty label for it.

It's time for another math lesson.

A Necessary Break

 Well, it's been a while!  I missed August, September, and October.  After getting used to NOT writing, it became something I didn't think about, and I just didn't.  Sometimes, I would think, "I'm going to regret not capturing this, because I know we won't remember it."  But I never felt bad enough to actually open my computer and do it.

I did get a new computer, and it is lovely.  It's similar to my last one, but this is an HP.  I went away from Dell this time, but I still got an 18-inch screen.  I doubt my eyes are going to get any better, so the bigger the better.  Since I've abandoned my TV, if I ever want to watch a movie or YouTube thing, this is the way to go.  I never watch movies though.  I'm still constantly listening to audio books on my phone though, and I'll have to try to compile a list of ones I've liked and not liked.  Right now, I'm reading Fairy Tale, Stephen King's latest book.  I like the way he writes, but I don't always like his subjects.  This is interesting, but I think the part I'm in is going to go on way too long for me to enjoy!

So---We had Halloween.  It didn't affect me much.  The only trick-or-treaters were Graysen and Katherine.  I was afraid someone would stop, so I went and bought a bag of candy.  They took a good share, and I put the rest in the freezer.  I purposely bought the kinds I don't like!

Emily and Ryan are fun parents, and they enjoy Halloween about as much as the girls.  They started out with Halloween pillows in the swing, a few lights, and a black wreath.  Every time I went over there, there was something orange and green and purple, flashing lights, crows, scary cats, spider webs.  The whole works.  I have to admit that it was impressive!

I'll just post a bunch of pictures without too much comment.  

First, my half-hearted attempt to celebrate fall on the front porch, although by the time I got it this way, we needed quilts to wrap up in at night.

I can't do anything about those boxwoods, and the ferns were down temporarily to catch the watering from the sprinkler that comes on every night.  I think the temperature is dipping down into the 30s this week, so I'd better make plans to bring some of the things inside or into the garage.

I don't want to get my hopes up, but Elise is slowly moving into her apartment, and I'm getting a garage for the first time since I've been up here.  It's always been a storage room for anything people don't have room for.  I just might be able to park in there this winter.  

More Halloween and fall pictures in no certain order. And a few scenes from Mimi's House.  

They do love to make their "potions," and I don't mind the mess it makes.  They mostly clean it up!

The garden went out in a blaze of glory.

Katherine grew this pumpkin from a seed grown in their second-grade classroom.

More potions.

Both front teeth out for a jack-o-lantern smile!

I admired this dish towel in the Swedish Hospital gift shop, and Emily b ought it for me.  Too cute to use!

I found these purple cabbage plants at Safeway, and they have been pretty on the porch this fall.

I was not going to bother decorating this hutch since it's always full of "stuff," but I sat this pumpkin up on a shelf and hung an extra wreath on the coat rack, and it had a little bit of a fall vibe when you count Elise's dead bouquet and the colorful art carousel.

We can't remember how many years we've had these placemats or where I bought them, but they're still my favorites.  Elise couldn't resist coming home with little pumpkins to fill up the bowl.

A little sample of Clay Saturday at the Win-Bin house.  They're getting quite good at it.

Speaking of good, Emily has become quite a Dahlia Grower.  They're just now come into their own and are so pretty.  

The foliage was late turning colors this year and didn't put on the show it did last year, but there are areas of breath-taking beauty, especially when you're out driving and can't take pictures.  These are on my block.

I'll have to dig up some pictures of soccer, ice-skating, and my birthday trip to Mt Rainier, but I've run out of time today.