"Pile high the hickory"

Winter Night, Edna St. Vincent Millay

Listening to: absolutely nothing... ahhh (won't last long)

The last few days have been unseasonably warm, up into the 60s. Mornings are foggy and cool but not freezing, and as the sunny days progress, blustery breezes blow up from the southwest. A few of the fall lettuces that weren't totally snapped by the last freeze are starting to put up new curly leaves. Maybe if I scatter leaves or straw over the top they will last longer. The warmth has brought the insects out again: ladybugs, flies, moths... and the moths especially swirl around the mercury light by the workshop outside. It shouldn't have surprised me to see the little brown bats flittering around, their jagged flight patterns giving them away as they swoop and dart. I wonder how this unnatural heat during their normal hibernation time will affect them later on. And I worry what kind of cold crazy weather is in store for us in January...

Christmas is approaching, and as usual (regardless of best intentions) I am behind again. The holiday with my parents and family won't be until January 7, so those gifts can wait. But this weekend is Christmas with hubby's family. Anna and her boyfriend will be here (Yay!). I'm 'askeered' when I look at the list... but I will not resort to gift certificates unless absolutely necessary. Except for the couple that are planned, that is. There's a knitting project nearly everywhere I sit down, one in the car to haul to work, by the sofa, by the bed (I refuse to put one in the loo). Luckily there are plenty of horrible reruns, and I picked up a couple of very soothing CDs that really help me flow with the yarn. The last couple o' days have been productive at the torch as well, making quite a few beads - focals and matching sets for earrings and necklaces. When I'm just about done, I make a few chili pepper beads on headpins and so far have 15 or so in different reds, greens and yellow/orange.

Thursday is my last day at work for the week. Patty and I had talked about doing some different biscotti recipes for gifts, which would mean I'd get to visit her! And MAYBE even spend the night! I really wish we lived closer. Anyway, not sure if that will be Thursday night or Friday night. :)

We've had more trouble with mice this year than I ever remember. We've caught 3 in the last few weeks, but there's at least one SuperMouse who avoids traps. Smart one, that. Today I picked up my tennis shoes to put on, and one was nearly full of raw shelled peanuts. Sure enough, the bag of them I had for brittle had a nicely chewed hole and very few nuts left! Now that I'm aware of the sneaky little guy, I'm finding peanuts all over the place, and it worries me what I'll find at the end of the trail...