Overseas....

Our friends in the UK sent me this picture.....

........ of the Big Board at the London Stock Exchange.  As  you can see, this company just went public and is already moving up in value.  The people who are business partners in this company.....

......... are shown here as the opening bell sounds.  Please look carefully at the faces in the circle..... Yes!  They can be identified as David and Allison - our friends and the homeowners of the villa where we stay every winter in Florida!  How exciting that day must have been for them!  Congratulations!!!!

Yesterday....

....... I took this picture in the side yard!  Yes...........we had..........

..... 7-1/2" of snow over night!  Yes..... Poppa actually took his tape measure out and checked to see how much there was.  I was quite surprised..........

....... when I saw who was helping Poppa blow the snow from the driveway and the walkways!  Want a closer look?

Yep!  It's Squeegie in his snowsuit!  Is it time to go to Florida yet?????

Knitting? Of Course!

Last winter while we were in Florida, I came across a sweater pattern that called out Auntie colleen's name to me!  I just knew I had to make it for her.  Recently, I posted ......

........... this picture which was the beginning of the first sleeve.  I have been working diligently.  It is a rather complicated pattern - and required extensive use of a cable needle.  I'm always looking for a convenient place to put my cable needle between cable stitches.  And - I usually end up putting between my teeth.  After a while that becomes irritating, so I thought about it and then I....

......... found a teddy-bear part in one of my drawers - it was one I had made and then rejected because it was the wrong size.  It was already stuffed and it held my cable needle nicely, but it was too light to hang properly...........so I put two $2 coins in the bottom - kazaam - it stands up!  Then I just took a couple of pieces of cotton yarn and attached them to each side......put it around my neck and tied a knot at the correct length... and....

....... there was my cable needle in just the right location for grabbing and then sticking back in!  I'll try to come up with a prettier version later, but for right now.........

....... it sure makes the cables quicker and easier to do!  I have finished the two sleeves and.......

.......... have about 12 inches done of the body.  There are 411 stitiches on my circular needle and a long row to knit!  But, it is great fun and I am enjoying the challenge after so many pairs of socks! When the body section is long enough it will be joined to the sleeves in preparation for the yoke - which is a totally different cabled pattern.  I keep you posted!

Poppa's Project

After what seems like a long wait, Poppa finally found enough time in his days to work on the kitchen cabinets.  You may recall a photo from last year - just before we left for Florida - of our kitchen with new, custom-made-by-Poppa cabinets on the bottom.  He was so busy this summer, he didn't have any available time to work on the upper cabinets.  At last, on some rainy days in the autumn, he squeezed in some time to work on them....and here he is....

 .......... installing the doors on the first unit.  What a difference it makes.....

..... in my kitchen!  I looks amazing!  Of course....

.... I had to manage for a few days with only some doors on.  The weird thing was - as I was working - my peripheral vision kept telling me that I needed to close the doors, since I could see the contents without really looking there.  It was a lot of work for Poppa, staining, varnishing, finishing and installing, but..........

......... when, at last, the curtains were hung........

....... the end result was wonderful!  Here..........

.............. is a view from another angle, and just in case you've forgotten..........

........... this is the section that started it all - two years ago - when I asked for a small-appliance cupboard - that is it at the extreme left of the picture.  As you can see by the top of these units, there is still some trim work to do on the newest cupboards on the other side of the kitchen........more pictures later when that is done.  Right now, Poppa is busy helping Uncle David to store his boat for the winter, so there will be a slight delay.

Oh sNOw!

On November 1st as we were driving through town.....

.......... this is what we saw.  There was less than this out where we live, and fortunately it melted away quickly.  But it is a sign of what is to come - and it looks like this year we will have winter before we leave for Florida on the 26th of December.  But.........

........... in the meantime, Poppa is still gathering up leaves and making trips to the dump.  When I went to help.....

...... there was a piece of digging equipment in the driveway beside Poppa's truck!  It turn out that the crew...........

....... working on building a picnic shelter in the park across the road asked Poppa if they could leave that thing in the shed driveway rather than taking it to and from the site every day.  So there is sits.

When Poppa had the trailer all ready for transporting, Squeegie drove us to the dump where we disposed of one more trailer load of leaves.  On the way home we stopped to pick up some lumber....

.... at one of Poppa's favourite stores - and you can see that there was some precipitation on the windshield of the truck.  While I waited for him to come back out....

.......... I noticed there was still some snow on the roof of the restaurant across the road... Brrrrr!  I hate winter!  Soon....

........ Poppa was back, carrying his pieces of moulding, so he can finish..........

........ another project he has been working on.

Older and Newer

Mommy sent me a really cute picture to my cell phone.  I must point out that my cell phone is NOT a smart phone - so downloading pictures to my computer is rather onerous and I don't do it often.  But....

.... I found some older ones that were too cute to keep to myself, and I felt the need to share with you!  Here is last year's Hallowe'en picture - adorable or what!?!  I also found....

......... successful first-ever attempt at going fishing with Daddy!  Daddy insisted it was beginner's luck, but I'm pretty sure it was skill!  Also from this summer...........

........ was this cute photo of Poppa at the park with the little boys.  All three of them appear to be having a good time.

Here is Munchie - chilling out with his tablet and some friends.....

.......... and checking out his new bunk beds.  Munchie claimed the top one and decided he would allow Curtie to sleep in the bottom one.  It made me a little nervous when I saw them, but apparently they have worked out just fine!

Curtie was never fond of swinging (unlike Munchie who loved it from the time he was old enough to sit in a swing!), but since his big brother pushed him gently - he has learned to love it.

This one was also taken about a year ago.  The boys were visiting Aunt Melissa and got fixed up as clowns and scared Uncle Craig - who doesn't like clowns at all.  From left to right: Munchie, Uncle Craig, Curtie and Cousin Reese.

Sometimes Mommy and Daddy do strange things with Curtie's hair........... but no matter how I look at it, this is one darn cute picture!

This is a picture taken after a trip to the dollar store on a rainy day when Mommy wanted to get something done.  The boys are painting Easter eggs - I don't have a picture of the finished eggs though?

I just love this pic of little Curtie taking very good care of his baby.  He's going to be a great Daddy some day!

Naturally - I have to include the pictures of the little guys heading to the school bus stop in the morning.  Munchie has longer legs than Curtie.............

...... but eventually he waited for him to catch up.  They are both enjoying school.  Curtis is having fun in Junior Kindergarden, and Munchie is learning to read and write - he is doing really well, and that is exactly what he wants to learn!

Finally - here is one more picture from the Day of the Leaves which took place at Poppa's house recently- yep they are definitely cuties!

Hallowe'en

I'm so pleased!!!  Mommy sent me some pictures from Hallowe'en.  First....

Four pumpkins were transformed in clever Hallowe'en decorations.

Then, two little boys got ready for trick or treating.

When the costumes had been donned - Sonic the Hedgehog and a very handsome Superman....

....... grabbed their loot bags and set off to gather some treats!

Later....

......... after a couple of weeks had gone by

.......... we received some visitors!  You probably recognize Buster and Friend and Big Buster....... they are joined by Broggy and Hounddog and Sam.  Sam always lives at our house, but the rest of the gang all live with Munchie!  Yes, Mommy came with the boys for a visit - and Munchie brought all of his bears with him!  Daddy had to go to Gramma's house - so we got the rest of the family!  As you already know, Poppa has been really busy raking and disposing of leaves for the last month.... and he was still doing that when the boys arrived.

It wasn't long before he had some helpers!  You will notice that Mommy is helping too!

We lost Munchie for a while - and Curtis wasn't very helpful - he wanted Poppa to drive the tractor and move the trailer ............but...........

... But with some help from Mommy we discovered a mound of leaves that moved around!

..... and soon we had two little boys again!

Poppa decided to follow the lead of our other neighbours and started this wonderful method of disposing of the collected leaves.  So he pulled the trailer - full of leaves and two little boys with two buckets....

........ where he received some excellent help..........

The littel boys started putting leaves into the buckets

Munchie even put his gardening gloves on!

He filled his buket to the brim.

And carried it over to the edge of the trailer.

And then helped Poppa carry it to the fire.

While Mommy kept a close watch on Curtie while he was dumping his bucket.  The day was a great success - and Poppa got his leaves raked up!  Afterwards we went in for some homemade macaroni and cheese which turned out to be a great success!  It was a great visit and we were happy they had come!