Never mind ...

... it wasn't the flu.

I have pneumonia.

Apparently rice krispie lung is not normal. My doctor yesterday came in, muttering something about these things needing time to clear up on their own (which I know, and which is why I already cancelled my Tuesday appointment), listened to my chest, hopped up, raced out of the room and came back with a mask for me. At least I was there legitimately :-).

Many, many thanks to the happy little red pills that seem to be slowly clearing this up.

We just had the second wave of the three wave snow storm coming up from the States (thanks, Colorodo ... not!). Alison will be late for work this morning because of this ... Keep an eye to the right of the snow blower as you scroll down. Oh yes, there is our Honda. Oops.







We're expecting the last wave of the storm tonight and Sunday. The warnings from Weather Network have already started clogging my mailbox. To quote Kevin "Who lives in this country?" :-). Truly, I love the snow, but this was a little much. I'm just grateful for the high winds yesterday that blew much of it "away" ... somewhere ...

Happy snow daze to you all (okay, perhaps not our relatives in Georgia and Florida ... just think of what you poor souls are missing way down there :-D ) LOL.

Can I recommend something for keeping last minute Christmas spending in check?

It's foolproof.

The flu.

Blech. I actually have to try to get in to the doctor because although I'm over the acute part of this illness (high fevers, body ache extraodinaire, headaches) I can't seem to shake the breathlessness and exhaustion. Plus my lungs sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies :-) ... you know, snap, crackle, POP!

I managed to do a pathetic job of washing the kitchen floor yesterday ... then had to rest for two hours. Just sad.

My farmer friend Elmer came by yesterday on farm business, took one look at me and suggested I go to the doctors because his wife had pneumonia for six weeks in October, and apparently I bear a strong resemblance to her at that time. I know I don't feel that bad (at least not in the mornings!).

The only small show of productivity in the last week? Below. I've procrastinated these socks for ages because the wool wasn't fingering weight and I wasn't sure how to knit them to the right size. Then I procrastinated even longer because the skein got tangled and I didn't have any interest in the untangling process. Last snow day, I finally took time off from normal chores, and sat and made a centre-pull ball from the skein-mess. It took something over two hours. I'm glad I did though, because in the last week, this is about all I've managed!




It's a very fun pattern to do ... it's called a right twist, and the pattern is a four row pattern. Easy enough that even in my fog I can remember it ;-). The yarn was hand-dyed by my friend Ann-Marie, and Kev saw the skein, loved it and brought it home for me to knit up. Umm ... a couple of years ago. Better late than never! Unfortunately, my correctly-sized needle is missing (along with the socks for Alison I was knitting at the time) so I'm using quite a small needle for this heavier weight wool.

Stuart McLean, CBC's Vinyl Cafe, recorded at the Regent Theatre in Picton, Ontario

Stuart McLean of the Vinyl Cafe (CBC), speaking at the Regent Theatre in Picton on "Downtown Picton"

This is a delightful listen. Listen and learn about our town :-). Story surrounding this; my sister-in-law Kim was down to see Claire in Annie, and she prior to Annie we drove over to the bookstore (mentioned in the audio) ... Vinyl Cafe started and Kim was able to sit in Picton, listening to Stuart McLean ON Picton. Fun!

By the way, the ginger tabby cat's name is Miss Lily, and she is the mascot at Miss Lily's cafe, an awesome new cafe with lots of outlets for laptop computers, plus fair trade coffee and even (hurray) gluten-free desserts!

I love our community.

Finally, we managed a photo!!

Is that not the cutest thing? We have one more photo to get now ... when we go in to the coop at night, after eggs are collected, very often there is a large pile of chickens keeping warm together. If we look very, very carefully ... we can see a little pink nose in the middle of this feather blanket.

Perhaps we should be calling Roger "Rocky" instead, since he thinks he's one of our barred rocks!

Some people have point-and-shoot cameras; we have a point-and-shoot border collie.

The best thing I've done recently is to train Dickens to mouse. Two summers ago it was very dry and we had a huge explosion in the mouse population around our home. He caught on quickly, and, better than a cat mouser, actually learned to mouse on command. "Get the mouse!" said in an urgent voice would send him to the woodpile, or in to the field on a mission that wouldn't stop until he was successful (the wonderful obsessiveness of a border collie).

A few nights ago our garage door was not closed fully early one morning. Outdoor kitty made it in the house and was shooed out quickly. Apparently we had another guest as well!

For the last few days we've had gremlins. Cupboard doors mysteriously open, with things falling out. The dog searching behind our antique radio, where the cats don't fit. Yup, you got it.

Last night I stayed up until 11 (late for me) and as I headed upstairs, locking up, it finally occured to me that there had been a LOT of animal noise ... cats "playing" .... dog chasing ... I stood and watched what I presumed would be the dog chasing the cats ... and discovered instead all three chasing some unseen common target. Yup. A mouse in the house.

This would explain the open cupboard doors, the food falling out as the cats tried to squirm in to find the mouse. It explains the obsession our dog has had with our antique radio.

However, rather than being the crisis this may have been in the past (I have less than fond memories of our home in NJ; mouse traps, mouse "alarms" etc) ... instead, I called Dickens to heel and said, "Dickens, there's a MOUSE in our HOUSE! Get the mouse". I pulled the sofa aside, and he had it in about 8 seconds. I then called him, and told him to take it outside and drop it. And he did! Because he's a wonderful and very useful dog :-). No traps, no poison, no hysteria ... just calm and hyper-focussed border collie obsession. I tell you, I practically threw a party for him when he came back in the house; he knows he did a very good thing.

Here is he is in his "kick back and have a beer" pose. But you still see the glint in his eye ... "Anything else you want me to do? Huh? Huh? Can I find another one?"

Good dog.