Inauguration Day

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America."

...and even the pileated woodpecker stopped by today to peek through our living room window and watch the inauguration of President Barack Obama. (I love saying "President Barack Obama"!)

Snowstorm and visitors

We're getting a heavy snowstorm here in Maine today (Ken says we have 8-10" so far, and it's still coming down to beat the band).

My bird feeders are especially popular on stormy days, and the front yard has been abuzz with activity.

We've seen the usual visitors: cardinals, juncos, goldfinches, bluejays, nuthatches, but we were shocked to see a flock of robins perched in the crabapple tree and the burning bush. I think they were enjoying the berries on each.

I guess robins in winter aren't that unusual, but they're unusual for us. I read online, though, that a robin's internal temperature is 105°, despite its being in the teens and twenties outside.

Here are some rather eerie photos of the robins, taken through the pelting snowstorm, and one of my ever-faithful cardinal. That's a junco perched on a branch beneath the cardinal, in our bridal wreath.

Of birds and hyphenation

I got all excited yesterday afternoon when this woodpecker appeared at the feeder. I'd never before seen this particular species in our yard. My pulse quickened. I consulted my trusty A Guide to Field Identification Birds of North America. 

Ah ha! It looked to be a Ladder-backed Woodpecker. Only problem was, Ladder-backs are  indigenous to Mexico, and they're non-migratory.

That didn't stop me. I was convinced this was a female Ladder-back. It had all the required features: red spot at base of beak, well-defined red "hat," striped back, buff-colored belly. Yes, this must be a Ladderback.

I pictured the press beating down my door. I pictured the bird and me featured on the front page of tomorrow's paper. I pictured fame. I pictured glory.

Then I decided I'd better contact the Maine Audubon Society. They'd want to know a bird native to Mexico had not only come to Maine, had not only come to my yard, but had done so during the coldest temperatures known to Maine in the past five years. This was truly remarkable.

I sent an e-mail to Maine Audubon. A nice gentleman replied immediately, saying Ladderbacks live in Mexico and do not migrate. I knew this already, but I figured I'd give him the shock of his life when my sighting was confirmed. He tried to tell me the woodpecker was likely a hairy or a downy. I knew he was wrong: we have those at the feeders constantly, and I know 'em when I see 'em.

I told the Audubon gentleman that I could send photos of the bird. He said he's like to see them.

Then he sent this response:  Ah ha! It is a female Red-bellied Woodpecker! Normally a more southerly species, hundreds of Red-bellied Woodpeckers migrated into Maine late this fall. It is not clear why, but reduced acorn crop to our south a lot of people are suggesting. Good bird for Maine, uncommon but increasingly less so.

So that's that. No picture in the newspaper, but a darned pretty bird, just the same. She's been back at the feeder again this morning.

But here's the part that really amazes me: The Audubon guy knows that when a compound proper noun is hyphenated (e.g., Red-bellied), only the first word of the two is capitalized. That blows my socks off. 

Forging ahead

In case anyone's been wondering how my Aran is coming along,...it's coming along. It suffered a major minor setback last Wednesday when I realized (just after silently congratulating myself on having memorized the pattern and no longer needing to look at the directions) I'd knit rows 1-12, but within those rows I'd somehow knit a section of two or three rows twice. Don't ask how this could happen. I have no idea. 

Discovering the problem was only half the battle. The other half was figuring out on which row the problem had begun. I raveled four rows, started knitting again, realized I hadn't raveled back far enough, raveled some more, started knitting again, etc., etc., etc., (gasp), ...until I got it right. Getting it right occurred sometime late Thursday, so basically a full day's worth of knitting was spent knitting one row forward and two rows back, or something like that.

The experience has made me a more attentive, more humble knitter. Or at least I'm more attentive for now. I'll probably lapse into another period of self-confidence and do another royal screw-up. Stay tuned.

My earlier gestimate that this project would take me the month of January was clearly too optimistic. Let's say it'll take all of January and February. The back is nearing completion, but here it is January 13 already. There are two front sections (I'm quite sure it'll be a cardigan, or "cardi," as they say in the knitting world), and two long sleeves yet to be knit. Mercy. Thank heavens I'm not an octopus.

I knit only a few hours a day: with my first cup of coffee in the morning, then with Oprah and Dr. Phil in the afternoon. That's pretty much it.

So I'm forging ahead, but sometimes the forging is slow going.

We Live with a Thief

Can you see Molly well enough in this photo to make out the pencil in her mouth?

Molly can't resist stealing when our backs are turned. She has done this since she was a puppy and enjoyed stealing anything left near the edge of the countertops: recipes, important mail, knives....

Once she scoffed up a $20 bill and wouldn't give it back until I offered her a dog biscuit. She'd prance past me, the $20 hanging carelessly from her mouth. The minute I'd close in to grab it, she'd suck it into her mouth and clamp her jaws shut.

Another time it was a pair of scissors. At first I couldn't figure out what she had in her mouth, because only the orange  handle loops were showing. Then I realized the scissors blades were inside her mouth.

She loves dirty socks. She simply cannot resist them, especially Ken's dirty socks. If she has stolen one from the laundry hamper and I don't notice immediately, she walks back and forth in front of me until I look up and notice what she has.

Then there was the size 5 bamboo knitting needle, double-pointed. I was working at the computer and could hear Molly chewing something in the living room. I figured it was a small piece of firewood. Wrong. It was one of my precious knitting needles, which she'd whittled down to a 3" stick.

Yesterday, a pencil. This is Molly's stance as she gloats and dares me to try to take the pencil from her. Not in the mood for chasing her, I went to her biscuit cupboard, she followed along, dropped the pencil, and took the biscuit. Incident over.

On a happier note, my amaryllis finally blossomed yesterday. It was supposed to bloom in time for Christmas, but it got its scheduled mixed up, I guess.

Progress Report

I used to dread writing progress reports for my students. In my early days of teaching, each report was handwritten, and with 100+ students, those suckers took ages to compose. These were done three times a year for most students, more often for a few.

Then the checklist progress report came along, and the job was simplified dramatically. With a good checklist I could address just about every aspect of a student's performance. A short, handwritten note at the end and voila! the job was done.

But this progress report is easier still. Take a new photo, upload it with the January 4 photo for comparison, and voila! the job is done again.

The sweater isn't done, of course. Far from it. But the progress is there. And the ball of yarn is getting smaller. It's almost time to wind another hank into a ball.

An Aran for Moi

My first knitting project for 2009 is an Aran sweater for myself. I've actually knit (I just checked Webster: either "knit" or "knitted" is correct; I prefer "knit.") this pattern three times before for three little children, once as a girl's cardigan and twice as pullovers for young brothers. It's a fairly complicated design requiring careful attention, but I love seeing the cables, blackberries, wishbones, and seeds emerge from the yarn.

The pattern is by Yankee Knitter Designs; I like these knitting patterns and have made other Yankee Knitter Designs sweaters, perhaps two or three others.

The yarn is from the Briggs & Little yarn outlet in Harvey, NB. I wish I'd bought more of their great wool yarn while I was there in October. Hindsight is definitely 20/20.

The project got off to a shaky start: I knit 20 rows of the "twisted rib" bottom edge before I realized I was supposed to knit only 16 rows. I raveled (Either "raveled" or "unraveled" is correct; I prefer "raveled;" It's like "thaw" and "unthaw" and "flammable" and "inflammable," I guess.) out four rows and was about to forge ahead when I realized I was using a size 7 needle for the rib, and I was supposed to be using a size 4. Frustration!

But I pulled myself together and started the sweater again.

Once the back is completed, and that won't be any time soon, I'll need to decide whether I'm making myself a cardigan or a pullover. Your thoughts?? One day I think it'll be one, the next day I think it'll be the other.

My Aran sweater project should keep me out of trouble for the month of January. After that, I see sock knitting in my future, for awhile, at least.