If I wasn't so lazy I'd have a real post with real pix

Maybe not lazy. I might be sick. I don't know. Sick only counts if you are feverish or are throwing up, and I am neither.

But my tummy hurt today, for unknown reasons. And with all the gastro-intestinal yuck going around right now, I lay low, just in case. It hurt a fair amount, then a little, then almost none, now a little again. I don't know.

But anyway, here's some pictureless blog information to tide you over until I feel like messing with pictures and video.

1.) the no-bakes. Last night made as if to start a new batch, with the butter, sugar, cocoa, and milk, and brought it to a boil. I stirred in the peanut butter, then added the crumbled mess of the previous batch and sort of smooshed it in until it was more or less incorporated. Then added about 1.5 more cups of regular (non quick) oats. They looked about right, I dropped them onto Saran Wrap (or was it some other brand?) and they set up beautifully. So they were, indeed, redeemable. Yay!

2.) the squirrel. While home nursing my tummy this morning, a squirrel got itself caught in my bird feeder. I do not have pictures because it was fairly appalling and traumatic for both of us. He did not get stuck in some cute and comical way, like squeezing his whole body into the food. Instead he somehow got one tiny little squirrel paw caught in a wire loop, and the weight of the feeder and his body were, apparently, pulling the loop tight. He was frantically trying to chew the wire from which the feeder hangs, and chewing at a bead which, unbeknownst to him, would not have freed him had he chewed through it. We watched for a little while, hoping he could just pull loose, but he didn't seem to be making any progress. I tried to call the local Nature Center, but they do not open until 1:00 on Sunday. I would've called my parents to rescue me, but they, and the Grand Lunar, were at church and unable to rescue me. I thought, perhaps, if someone could lift the feeder a little, it might put enough slack in the wire to free the squirrel. But I'm a little too rodentophobic to even attempt it. Eventually I went over to my neighbors and quiiiiiietly knocked on his door, not wanting to *wake* him but hoping he might be awake. But no one stirred. I was tromping through the snowy lawn in my jammies and a sweatshirt and denim coat to try the other neighbor when I looked between the houses and saw the squirrel was gone. I was so relieved. He sat in the tree licking his paw for a long time. So that didn't really help my tummy ache.

3.) a sock - I finished the first of my pair of kool-aid dyed yarn socks. I took a picture, but at the time my machine was disassembled, so I didn't put the pix on the computer. Maybe tomorrow. It's a pretty sock and fits me well. I started the 2nd one.

4.) sledding - I took some of the kids sledding yesterday, and we had fun going down the Big Hill with the Big Jump. If you're interested, here's one video -- http://homepage.mac.com/kimanderson/iMovieTheater39.html -- I didn't put it on my youtube space because with my computer disassembled I didn't have the password saved, couldn't remember it, and didn't want to reset it. So I put it somewhere else. It starts kind of abruptly. But make sure to enjoy, especially, the squeaky-toy child at the end.

pictures coming ... soon?