More Patterns

 
I have no pictures specific to today, so I'll share some pattern pictures I've been saving. You know I love this kind of stuff.







Could you guess what they are? First is water drip trails through condensation. Second is foam on green water. Finally we have mineral swirls in sandstone.

In other news: I had a book event today, and I did quite well. I'm super pleased because it was a small venue and I didn't have high expectations. Now I'm spending the night at a friend's house because I have another event tomorrow.

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Fun and Games

 
It's all fun and games until somebody has to go home, right? I managed to forget to take the traditional family picture, but we got one of the boys and me playing games. We did Mille Bornes- this year's favorite, but we did Sorry, Sniggle, and Old Maid, too. And Steve has developed an aversion to having his picture taken. I'm not sure what that's about, but I can't make people do what they won't do.



I set up a simple puzzle, because last year Steve actually wanted to do one. This year, I did it all, but Steve likes to time me to see how fast I can do one. We didn't time the whole thing, but I managed to do 100 pieces (of the 300) somewhere in the middle of completion in 50 minutes. Doesn't seem very fast, but usually I'm the fastest puzzle-doer.



Omer is taking Steve to the airport in the morning, and I'll be off to a book sales event. Over too soon, but it's been great.

In other news: I did get some editing and formatting done before Steve got up, and I went to the bank.

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Packing It All In

 
We are packing two holidays into three days, and packing in the food too!



Since the dining room is totally unusable for dining, we set up a small table in the living room, and had a yummy meal. Winner! We found 5 menu items that everyone was willing to eat, and they are OK with leftovers tomorrow, too. We had a pork roast, mashed potatoes, peas, squash, applesauce, and cranberry relish. Nothing fancy. Pretty easy to fix.

Then we played some of the games we do well together. Omer agreed to one round of Sorry (definitely not his favorite), which he won, so he shouldn't gripe too much! Steve and I have been playing Mille Bornes quite a bit.



Then we did a group game with a hugely wrapped package with one tiny treat in the middle. Each person has a turn to unwrap as long as the music is playing. Oh, but the unwrapper has to wear bulky awkward gloves! This was a real hit, and Joshua won, getting the cash prize.



We did Christmas stockings, and ordered gifts for each other from the internet. Not my fondest template for Christmas, but I'll take what I can get. It's really nice to have Steve home.

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Cold Cruel World

 
My froggie went back to living outside today. She didn't seem all that eager to leave and I miss her already.

She wasn't too interested in hopping out of the tub into the wilderness of fallen leaves.



I had put the tub outside for a few short whiles before the final shove into the real world to let her cool down more gradually.

Finally, I urged her on the way because the wind was trying to take the tub for a sail across the yard. I didn't think she wanted flying lessons, so I nudged her into the leaves.



Supposedly they spend winters under the leaves, and there is a nice layer of them where I put her. But I suspect she's had a nice warm house to live in for more than a few months. I wonder what she thought. Maybe she'd rather be warm and just eat spiders and get a drink when the toilet tank drips condensation or someone takes a shower. Who knows? Well, she's on her own now.

In other news: Steve and I played a few games, but it's pretty quiet here.

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Hyla versicolor Demonstrating Her Name

 
Look at my little friend today. She climbed to the very top branch in her little condo.



And then she was opening and closing her mouth. This picture isn't in very good focus, but it looks to me like she has something in her mouth! Is she eating one of the spiders? That would be good news.



But she showed the real range of colors today, "versicolor." They can vary from nearly white to almost black, and I think she's got all that down pat. These colors are pretty much what I saw, and not some trick of the lighting. Earlier today, she was very dark.



This evening, she was nearly white.



And remember, when we caught her on Sunday night in the bathroom, she was bright green.

Anyway, she's going outside to fend for herself tomorrow. Even though she seems happy in the little tub, I did some research and you have to keep things moist but watch for mold and clean it out, and buy food, and this tub isn't tall enough... I think I need to let her go. I've become strangely attached, though. She's super cute!

In other news: We picked up Steve at the airport, but then when we got home I went to bell choir and writers' group. I'll try for family pictures tomorrow.

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Frog is Gray Today

 
I'm enjoying observing my little froggie! She seems extremely happy in her tub world, but I'm worried about her food situation.

Anyway, even though they are nocturnal, she spent a lot of the night under that block I put in there for her to hide under. But today, she crawled up on the branch... tree frog, right? She sat in this fork for about six hours.

And, on the gray branch, look what color she turned. I told you they could change!



I backed out here so you can see her little vacation condo. I have managed to get a small daddy long legs and three live fruit flies in there. I have no idea if she's caught anything to eat. Of course, there might have been some insects in the litter I put in the bottom. I'd love to see her catch something, but I'd probably have to watch every minute.



Later in the day, she climbed even higher and stayed there for a couple hours.



Now she's back down in the lower fork.

I know we are messing with her rhythms. She's in the kitchen and we keep turning on the light to get coffee or a snack or whatever. It would be better if her night matched the one outdoors. I think I'll keep her one more day so Steve can see her (probably he won't care, but O well, I have to be an educator mom, right?). Then I'll let her go. It's supposed to rain on Wednesday, so that might be a nice moist day to re-introduce her to the outside leaf litter. I have to assume she did not start life in the bathroom! Ha.

In other news: I wrote my newspaper column in the morning after I finally got up. Worked late into the night, not because I was being good, I was simply obsessed and couldn't stop. This is why I get things done. Then I had to do a bunch more stuff to be ready for the rest of the week.

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A Visitor in the Bathroom

 
While cleaning the downstairs bathroom, Om found this little one!



It's a gray tree frog. Yes, I know it's green, but they vary in color. Notice the edges of her legs are yellow. They are bright yellow on the underside. She's tiny. Her (she has a white chin) body is only about an inch long.



There were lots of spiders for her to eat in the bathroom, but Om finished most of them off and drowned the room in Lysol. Not a very healthy place for a little frog now. I'll keep her a few days. They can tolerate very cold temperatures, but I wonder if she'd be OK with going directly from 70 degrees to 40 with no transition. I don't think keeping her over the winter is a good option because I'd have to buy crickets or something to feed her. They want to eat every day.

But, temporarily, she's got a woodsy home in the kitchen in a tub filled with dirt, moss, a block to hide under and a branch to climb. I managed to catch a couple of fruit flies and get them in there too.



At first, she hid under the piece of block, but now, she's out in the lawn. You can see her little behind through the plastic. I wonder what a little froggie thinks.



In other news: I worked on Accidentally Yours almost all day.

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Frilly Frost

 
I think this is the best picture I've ever taken of frost patterns. This was the situation on the car when I left for Cadillac.



In other news: I did quite well at the vendor event today. That helps! However, for some reason I couldn't sleep last night and so although I was fine all day, now I'm crashing. See you tomorrow.

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It's Starting Way Early Here

 
It's pretty strange to be getting ready for Christmas, but if this is the time of year Steve can come home, and he's willing to do so, we'll do holiday!

Last year, the traditional creche did not get set up. That's because of my silly rule that it has to be different every time. Since I made that rule up when I was a child, you'd think I could break it, right? Nope. Has to be different. Sometimes it's natural-looking, sometimes it's modern. I got an idea...



For potentially new readers, these pieces came from my mother's childhood. This view backs out to show the whole set.


For some other displays with these pieces follow the link at the bottom.

This also happened. Stay tuned.



Please note that at least the center of the room is clean, and most of the rest is at least covered up!

In other news: I worked on North Country Quest in the morning, and on formatting both books in the afternoon. Tomorrow I have a vendor show, so probably nothing else will get done.

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Black Flamingo

 
Today was wet, warm, and windy. I took a few pictures, but they don't look like much of anything at all, so I'm going with a picture I didn't take and a bird I did not see.

The whole flamingo post theme has become quite the blog joke here. I've actually considered starting a separate blog for all those posts. Who knew it would grow into a "thing." But this news story is quite interesting. Apparently a genuine black flamingo has been seen twice, probably two sightings of the same bird. It was seen in Israel in 2014, and on a Mediterranean island in 2015.

It's believed the bird has / had melanism, too much pigment, which is the opposite of albinism, the absence of pigment.

What fun!



The picture is attributed to Reuters.

In other news: The morning did not go as expected. When I woke up, my new cell phone would not turn on. That did not make me at all happy. Drove in to Verizon, and the guy said, "Oh yeah, the Pixel phones sometimes lock up when they do automatic updates." He held the power button for about a minute, and it came on. Glad it was easy, but who knew? Since I had to go to town, I also got most of the groceries for next week's festivities with the boys. I've decided to cook, but we are having very plain food... hopefully everyone will be willing to eat at least a couple of menu items.

So, the morning was shot for writing. But after lunch I hunkered down and did major editing on a chapter of North Country Quest that needed a lot of work. Then I continued formatting Accidentally Yours. Got quite a lot done!

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Pearl Crescent

 
Here's a picture from our Kentucky trip that I never shared because I took it with the good camera, and couldn't transfer those to the internet without the computer.

First of all, it's a picture I'm pretty happy with because of the colors, not to mention the butterfly is in focus. It was taken at the University of Kentucky Botanical Garden.



It's also the first time I've identified the Pearl Crescent butterfly. Probably the first time I've seen one, although it's just barely possible they could be found this far north. Here it is with a closer view of just the butterfly. Pretty neat, huh?



In other news: I woke up really early and was uncharacteristically alert, so now I'm tired early. I've spent so much time editing and formatting on the two books today that my brain hurts. But I'm making progress on all fronts. Found an essay for Accidentally Yours that I thought I had lost. I'm glad, because it's a funny one. Have 68 pages formatted in North Country Quest. Continued the cleaning project too. Boring.

There's not too much of interest going on outside. Melting snow, blah, blah. I may have to scan some pictures and feature some old event for a few days. We'll see.

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As Stubborn as an Oak

 
If "stubborn as an oak" isn't a saying, it should be. The oak trees just refuse to drop their leaves until way after all the other trees have given up for the winter.

I just liked this one on the way to bell choir practice.


In other news: I worked on books all day long except for a little more house cleaning, and a few errands on the way to bell choir.

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