Moose on the loose

Mr. Ram-niss and I left Escanaba very early this morning. We drove many hours in the dark. After passing a wolf, a fox, many dead and live deer - the sun started to rise. Our first view was just west of St. Ignace. We stopped at a nice rest area where the facilities were in a nice warm log cabin. Sure beats the old pit toilets of years ago. As you can see it was a little nippy.



Nearing St. Ignace we started seeing Moose. This was the one that greeted us outside our restaurant. Can you guess where we ate?



Yup - we ate here - breakfast buffet.



Classes today, tomorrow, and then returning to Escanaba after work and class on Wednesday.

Greetings from Marquette

It is a cold day here in Marquette. I had to take photos of the waves coming from Lake Superior. It is very hard for photos to really show the depth and power, but I gave it a try.



I thought I would divert your attention away from the fact that I haven't had time to knit. The reason for being in Marquette?... - a rally.



We were pleasantly surprised at the great turn out. Must say that a enthusiastic crowd from the UP is very different than an enthusiastic crowd from below the bridge. I know that people were extremely happy to meet the Governor, and I will hear about every one's close encounter till I leave. Here in the UP they clap and clap louder. Maybe a little cheering, but over all a pretty docile group. (While I was writing this, I got a call from one of the older residents that went to the rally - she told me she had a fantastic time. She thought too that the crowd could have been rowdier, but that they don't get many of those up here so they didn't know how to act.)



10 more days... vote early... vote often...

Where am I?

I am here.
(Please note - there are no photos of yarn stores or projects in this particular blog. Though I will be going over to the local yarn shop in a few minutes, I have to show you pretty pictures of one of the top five great lakes.)



... and here...





One more glance at the lake.



Can you tell where I am? I am in the second largest city in the UP. Mr. Ram-niss, Meg, and I are volunteering in Escanaba at the Delta Democratic campaign office through election day. (And no, contrary to the name, the Delta Dems is NOT a sorority.)



Escanaba is twice the size of my own home town and yet it feels like a small town from a couple generations ago. They are warm wonderful people. The downtown area is about 20 blocks long. There are small cafes and restaurants all over the place. We ate at a GREAT Mexican place last night. People came up and started telling us of other great places to eat. No one will starve here! I may be rolling home from the bridge!

Little Visitor

I hope Aunt A. doesn't mind - but I just wanted to show off our new visitor. Little O stopped by. She is a sweet, calm baby with a ton of black hair. Get this - she has eyebrows!

She slept through all the prodding, passing, and poking that come from anxious baby holders. She didn't even flinch when our menagerie of animals came through to check her out as well.

Congratulations to Aunt A and Uncle P, she is a sweetie!


I think this is much more interesting than photos of dried sidewalks and driveway. We are pretty ecstatic now that we finally get to park in our driveway after parking in the street for a few weeks. And though I am much further along in my sweater, that too just pales in comparison to babies. (Just imagine my kiwi green sweater with the back done, the 2 front panels done and part of the sleeves. There - no photo needed :-) I was going to take a picture of it outside with the leaves, but YUCK it is wet and cold out there. So enjoy the baby photos!

I also learned that my siblings are checking out this site. So siblings please note - if you start to see little knitted kid/toy projects - you may either pretend that you don't see them, or not assume they are for your children. I am attempting some items for Christmas, but am looking more towards this as birthday items. This will give Aunt Ewe-niss a few extra months to knit them and finish her classes! :-)

Snow and sidewalks

Today it snowed, and contrary to others - I thought it was pretty. Of course if we were discussing this in March my response would be much different (and probably in need of editing). The new sidewalk looks much better in person. In this shot you can't see that there is no longer an 8" drop and cobbled up sidewalk. They still have to do the driveway entrance. This means one more round of Mr. Ram-niss guarding it during bus stop pick-up/drop-offs. There is nothing more alluring than nice smooth wet sidewalk cement! :-)

This picture is the sidewalk after they removed the concrete, see the pretty fall leaves? This was from a couple days earlier.


Not sure if I am going to be able to walk without stumbling in the old area. After 40 years of knowing every drop-off and busted piece of sidewalk in front of the house, my legs will want to walk as if they were still there. A nice new sidewalk and I will trip over fallen memories. (I hope it doesn't hurt too much.)

Stitch Markers

This is how I marked my stitches. For many years and a house full of girls,
I always had little pony tail holders around. A work I remember a co-worker
laughing at my stitch markers. I figured she was jealous - she had boys. Hot
Wheels are just too heavy to mark stiches.

This weekend I finally broke down and purchased the supplies needed to make
my own stitch markers. I had so much fun making them that I would love to make
them for others. When I work up a way to package them, I will probably send
out Mr. Ram-niss to the LYS and see if any of them would be interested in selling
them.



Here is a small sample of my fun for today. Below is my sweater with a new
marker. It looks much nicer. :-)



And here is more of my playing. You will see that I only purchased a few types
of beads for my experimenting. I will get some other colors later. But for now
- take a look...

Roof is done!

After three non-rainy days the roof is done! They even left some of the extras so we can put shingles on the bunny's hutch.

Next installment in this thrilling home repair... watching cement dry!

How Green was My Roof?

Work on the roof continues. Mr. Ram-Niss and I love the new green color. The old roof was green about 20 years ago, but this new green is perfect.

I am just wishing that I hadn't spent so much time planting flowers all around the perimeter of the house. The plants are being broken by roofing material and hoses. I know that the guys are trying to be careful, just a little frustrating. The plants are all perennials and they will come back next year.

The new beautiful roof will last much longer than the plants!

Raise the roof

They have started putting a new roof on the old homestead. Meg took the photos while I was at work. They will be done in just a few days. Last night we had several thunderstorms roll through. I am hoping that the work they had done would hold, They didn't tarp and they haven't put on the new shingles.
With luck it will stay dry enough for them to continue, but I hear rumbling in distance.

Bloomin' sweater

I have 6 more inches to go in the back. Next I
start the front panels, they have a pretty lace along the sides that will add interest to the knitting.

Classes? Oh, yeah - one is doing great the other is killing me... hence the marathon knitting sessions. :-)

Have a great week all!

Coming into port

I am nearing the end. My sister-in-law said that when she made hers she wished that she had a way to double the band so that she could have a nicer finish along inside. I figured since I still had that part to do, I would give it a try. So following a hat pattern that had the band folded I tried that trick with my band. It came out ok, but I think I could live with the inside as it was originally intended. I do like how the inside bands are neat, but they are thick and it was time consuming. Over all I like it, just don't think it was worth the extra effort. (Had I not tried it, it would have been nagging me to wish I had done the band fold.

Although it could be considered done - I am going to put in pockets before I wear it to work.