Getting Ready for Winter here.....

Winter knitting is off the ground. Some pretty, gossamer weight yarn came in, from knitpicks, for new shawls that will undoubtedly take me several years (winters?) to finish. One of the colors is not what I expected, much, MUCH paler than the picture on the web. So, next time, before I order, I am going to send for a big color card of all their lace weights. Piccies tomorrow.

And, the tortoises are in semi hibernation. I have pictures to add tomorrow of them also. The tortoises are going to be dragged inside and stuffed under the old chest of drawers this year. They cannot dig a proper burrow for hibernation in this rocky ground, so they can't keep their bodies at 55 degrees, which they need to do in hibernation mode. We need to help them out. We were lucky that the big freeze of last year didn't kill them. Two or three nights of 20 degrees is not something they can live through, usually. Actually the baby digs all the holes and his parents try to evict him. Well, I'm on his side because I've known him since he was a hatchling the size of half a walnut shell. We are bonded.

Also, I'm going to tuck answers to comments at "Helicopter" right here because things have gotten slightly away from me.

Meribeth, isn't it odd that people can think a tree is dirty? And yes, leaves and seeds are the main irritant. Now a bulldozer... heehee. The only clean one I've ever seen is in a Showroom. Trees are the best thing for our oxygen levels, as you pointed out so well. There's only one thing that creates more oxygen for us to breathe, and that is those ocean critters too tiny to get much credit. Poor little fellers.

Rachel, thank you. The gloves should arrive at DDs house any day now. And thanks for your concerns for California dwellers. I think we are just about finished coughing up all the soot and other crap in the air that we'd breathed down. We all know that we are going to have problems again if a Santa Ana wind like that one comes along, even in January, if we haven't gotten some rain. We'll need quite a bit of rain, actually. There was a very nasty fire a few years ago that started in January.

Mary, Hi there, and thanks! Your shawl is gorgeous, and Wedgewood is a beautiful blue. Isn't blocking out a shawl magical? Also, I hope that you get out your gloves UFO and go for it. I like making them so much but do NOT like having to weave in all those little threads. That is the WORSE thing about them. But, it's a good thing to do while watching DVDs or TV.

Hi Joan, nice to hear from you, and thanks for thinking of us. I hope that you all get through the Dry season without any fires. I know OZ has been shriveling up in the heat of summers and getting little rain in the Wet season, as we have. We have just those two seasons here, too. Also, now that I've finished that other glove it's time to go post at the UFO Anonymous site. :) I've not made any progress on Gretchen, still, but things are looking up here for knitting again. We are almost done getting things shifted around. Everything, that is, but the studio messes. What a mess they are.

Hi Sallyjo :) Ah! The first snow. I think that is sort of early for you, yes? I did see snowy pics from Alaska posted in another forum. Brrr! And, thanks so much for thinking of us Californians during the fires.

This fire wasn't quite as close as the last one ( to our immediate area)but was almost as much area burned - though that's un-official.. off the top of my head. We drove up the I-15 the other day Through much of the area, and we didn't see the damage like the Cedar Fire caused. The Cedar fire burnt everything for miles and miles and just totally black along HW 52 and I 15. That was truly horrible and depressing to see that much damage from a fire. It looked like black velvet had been laid over all the hills, valleys and any chapparel left standing was charcoal. It was the biggest fire DH and I have ever seen in a life of living with fires here.