tmcknit

Thanksgiving fun

I’m way behind in posting so it’s time to play catch-up.  This is what we did on Thanksgiving after a big, wonderful dinner.  We all made little gingerbread houses.  It was so much fun.  These kids are all so creative.

I should have used the digital camera instead of my iPhone because the lighting wasn’t so great and a flash would have really helped – but here’s a shot of all five of our gingerbread houses……

…..and here’s Keith with his…..

…..and Justin…..

….and Corey and Danielle, who chose to put their little picture that was at their table-setting instead of their sweet faces…..

…..and this reject is the one Mark and I made.  We made a very pretty one last year so gosh only knows what happened here.

Happy birthday to………..

Happy birthday to two of the men in my life.  Corey and Danielle had a cookout.  For dessert, no surprise here, it was pumpkin pie for Corey and German chocolate cake for Mark.

Socks for Mark and me (or is it I?? or is it myself?? – hmmmm) (Pairs #34-36)

These three pair took forever to make.  The red, white and blue pair – oh did I dislike that yarn.  Until I told myself ok, they’ll be my 4th of July patriotic socks, I just dreaded working on them.  After that, it was smooth sailing.  The middle pair are for Mark .  They were ok to work on except the solid color got a little boring but that’s because I love working with the self-patterning so much.  The other pair – oh my – they were my biggest sock disappointment to date.  They are Paton’s Kroy.  It worked up beautifully.  The pattern is the fluted banister pattern that I’ve always wanted to try and is actually brainless knitting and they turned out beautiful – until I washed and blocked them.  They lost some of their brilliant color and felted just a bit.  We’ll see how they wear but again, disappointed.

Helpful hint – don’t walk away from a photo shoot with cats in the house who adore and covet wool.

**Teri’s 4th of July socks – Regia 5346

Mark’s maroon socks – Regia Stretch 32

Teri’s fluted banister socks – Paton’s Kroy Stripes 56615 Bronzed Berry Stripes**

A beautiful fence materializes in two days

This is Corey and Danielle when we were leaving Menards with a whole bunch of fence.  This was the second load.  Corey and Danielle had already picked up the concrete, posts, screws, etc.  On the back of the truck, you can see we answered the age-old question “Where’s Waldo?”.  Who knew he was hiding on the back of a Menards truck.

This is Mark and Corey working on the front corner.

This is the first beautiful section finished.  The whole fence is finished now.  It took two days of working in wind and rain and cold.  Don’t let the beautiful sunshine in the picture fool you.  It was cold and Danielle and I both have fierce windburns on our faces.  All that is left to finish is the gates, which is the easy part.  We all agreed the worst part was setting the posts.  We also had our first sleepover at Corey and Danielle’s.  Since they only live forty minutes away, we have never spent the night there.  It was a fun and very productive weekend.

Sushi anyone?

Keith, Justin, Mark and myself went to this Japanese restaurant last weekend.  The tables were each in “pits” where you sit on cushions on the floor and your legs and the table are in the pit.  As is tradition, you also take your shoes off before you go to your table.  We had a blast, especially watching Justin with his wasabi.  His face would turn beet red with every bite.  When Keith suggested avoiding the wasabi, Justin said no, he liked the feeling when it got to his stomach.  Keith, Mark and I got the tempura chicken (typical Americans).  Justin ordered this beautiful plate of sushi.

Myself, I like sushi but not the kind with raw fish.  I’m not a seafood fan so I’ve actually never even tried the ones with raw fish.  I did it this night because Justin asked and I usually try whatever the food is that I haven’t tried yet unless it still has eyes in it or repulses me, i.e. squid and roe.  For the record, the brighter orange item on this plate is roe.  Wiki defines roe as “the fully ripe internal ovaries or egg masses of fish and certain marine animals, such as shrimp, scallop and sea urchins”.  Wiki describes eggs as “usually chicken eggs, but also those of other birds and turtles, as well as those of fish”.  It even seems the Wiki definition is trying to scare me, even though an egg should just be an egg.

I ate a piece of the green sushi, which was cucumber.  Mark also tried that one and didn’t like it.  His palate is not adventurous.  He likes a good burger or some lasagna.  I also tried the raw fish one.  It’s not for me – it’s hard enough for me to eat cooked seafood let alone raw.  Keith had already tried the raw previously and is o.k. with it if you can get past the texture.  All in all though, we had a great time.

Shed Fire – 03/21/09

On top of everything else going on in our lives right now, this happened Saturday at my parents’ home.  ~~NOBODY WAS INJURED~~

Click here for more pics:    http://picasaweb.google.com/tmcknit/ShedFire032109#.  Below is the story of what happened.

Mark and I were in our backyard.  I went in to make us a sandwich and when I came back outside, I saw smoke at my parents’ shed.  I said to Mark “is that smoke coming from Dad’s shed?”  Mark started to walk and then ran like hell over there.  He yelled back to me “call 911″.

Dad had been working outside all day.  We had watched him, waved at him, etc. but now we couldn’t find him.  While I was on the phone with 911, Mark ran into this burning shed, filled with smoke and flames, windows exploding, to try to find my Dad.  My phone call with 911 started at 2:06 p.m. and by 2:09 p.m., the shed was fully engulfed.  911 stayed on the phone until Mark found Dad, who had just one or two minutes earlier drove his riding mower next-door to my brother’s house – thank goodness!!!

Roger heard screams – he didn’t know who was screaming or what I was screaming – it was me screaming “Dad”, then telling 911 “we can’t find my Dad” – then saying “I’m sorry” to 911 – then screaming for Dad again – 911 was very nice and said it was o.k.  I tried to stay calm – I knew I had to calmly give the address and our township and “what is your emergency” – but after that I just wanted my Dad and Mark safe.  Roger later asked who was screaming – I told him me – he said “man, you’ve got a loud scream on you”.

When Roger heard the screams, he looked and saw what was happening and came running (with a little fire extinguisher – somehow, later that was an LOL for us all).  It was all too late.  In those few minutes it was already over.  Dad was safe, Mark was safe, our world forever changed.  I couldn’t sleep just thinking that I could have lost them both.  If Dad were in there, he would have fallen trying to get out – he’s not as steady as he used to be.  If Mark had heard Dad in there, I know Mark would have tried to rescue him – that’s my Mark.

So today is a new day – it’s an ugly mess but nobody got hurt.  Something that took my parents over fifty years to build, was gone in minutes.  They will rebuild and life will go on – that’s the blessing – life will go on.

And last but absolutely not least, the firefighters were amazing.  I think there were four departments there – Noble, Kingsford-Union, Hanna and Washington Townships.  This pic is of Richard (left) and his little brother.  Richard works with Mark and these two were just all smiles and cute as could be.  Thanks to all the fire departments and the ambulances for a quick response.  It seemed like forever but looking at the time on the pics, it was twelve minutes from the start of my call to the arrival of the first fire truck.  In rural America, that’s pretty darn good.  More good news – the firefighters were able to save my parents’ home.  It has the obvious damage you will see in the pictures – melted siding, broken windows, but only the outside pane of the double-pane windows broke from the heat of the fire, so there is no interior damage to their home.  Thank you thank you thank you to them all.

Delicious!

Delicious!  But what is it???  This is a ball of all of my scrap sock yarn.  I perused lots of books and websites trying to decide what to make with my scraps that I have collected so far (an overflowing basket, which was screaming “DO SOMETHING NOW!!”).  I decided to make a blanket for Mark and I.  I am double-stranding and making garter stitch squares using a size 8 needle.  As for the yarn, it is one strand of the scrap yarn and one strand of Regia Stretch 1, which is sold as blanc or white but is really off-white.  Below is the first square.

A study in contrast…….

Corey and Mark went to the World of Wheels car show at the McCormick Center in Chicago yesterday.  As a study in contrast, this is my favorite picture they took:

As beautiful as that picture is, below is Mark and Corey’s favorite picture from the show:

There are tons of really cool pics they took of funky cars and trucks and skyscapes of Chicago – but somehow that is their favorite picture.  Just to redeem themselves, I’ll post a picture of the two of them taking of picture of themselves – they are both really great guys who had a really great guy day.

Update on Mark

Mark is doing well after his surgery.  He is walking very slowly.  He is supposed to walk no more than two blocks per day.  If he were to walk our block, since we live in the country, he would be walking 4.5 miles per block, so nine miles per day, just for reference.  He is also not to lift anything over 5-8 lbs., which is making him crazy because he wants to be useful and he feels helpless.  That’s frustrating but I tell him there’s a reward in the end (good health!).  He gets his stitches out on January 9 and that will provide some relief as the stitches are pulling and creating more discomfort in his back (back incision is stitched and is five inches long).  His front incision is glued and healing beautifully (seven inches long).

Our weather has been beautiful (relatively speaking, for winter – it’s been in the thirties to fifties) so we’ve been able to walk outside.  Today it is snow again and heavy wind and will be in the twenties or lower for at least the next week, so he’ll be walking in the house again for now.

Merry Christmas!

Who better to wish you Merry Christmas than our sweet little girls, Carrie and Chloe.  We wish you all as much love and joy in 2009 as these two share with each other and with us every day.

So from all of us (Mark, Teri, Carrie and Chloe)………..to all of you (our wonderful kids – all four of you – our family and friends who have e-mailed, called and shared your concern, good wishes and friendship through Mark’s hospitalization and recuperation, and throughout the year)………..from all of us to all of you…………….

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for 2009!!

P.S.  I had to add the bonus picture of our little Buddha Belly Chloe in the picture below – it’s from last year but it’s priceless.