I finally finished knitting the other sock. A sock is not a lot of use alone (unless it is very large and it’s Christmastime.) But finally my sock has met its match. As you can see, they were shy at first, but they warmed up, and now its love.
The Sun shone brightly today. I had fogotten just how much I missed it!
In June, my favorite grandchild will become my favorite grandson–as I create a new category for my favorite granddaughter. We’re very excited. (Of course we would be excited about a boy or a girl, but it sure is fun to know.)
Image courtesy of babyclipart.net
Today is the 400th birthday of the King James Bible. That’s quite a birthday to reach! Drop in and say hello if you haven’t visited it recently.
Yes, that’s a pun. Toilet Paper is not something that is usually discussed in polite society, but it has a part to play in certain pranks and “artistic” endeavors.
At John Brown University, it has become a tradition that at the first home basketball game of the year, when the first home team basket is scored, the fans rise up and toss thousands of rolls of toilet paper onto the playing floor. For years the administration tried to stop it, but then someone pointed out that traditions like this one often stay with alumni longer than any specific thing they learned in a class. So student volunteers hand out rolls of toilet paper outside the sports arena and prepare recycling bins to collect it later. A penalty is called on the John Brown team, and the opposing team gets a couple of free throws, but everyone agrees that it is worth it. For the past five years, Hillsdale Freewill Baptist College has volunteered to be the opponent for this first home game. They know they will have to dodge flying toilet paper, but they are part of a huge celebration. They also take great pleasure in delaying the first home team basket just as long as possible. You can read about it here.
The practice of tp-ing someone’s house is also a popular prank among teenagers, often as an absurd sign of affection. My brother recounts his most memorable tp-ing attempt. One of the boys he knew had played a prank, so Brother and Friend decided to prank him back. They were prepared with plenty of tp, and they thought, enough stealth. But they forgot about their friend’s father’s profession–US Senator. The police tended to watch his house and quickly spotted the two boys. They nabbed them and brought them to the door. When the Senator answered, they asked him if he knew the two boys. He freely admitted that he did. The police asked if he wanted to press vandalism charges, and he said, “No. These are good boys. They wouldn’t be doing this unless my son did something to deserve it.” Then the police said, “Well, do you want us to make them clean it up?” The senator said, “Yes, but wait a moment. I think my son better come out and help them, since it’s his fault as much as theirs.” Since then, my brother has restricted his use of tp to private purposes. But we could use more elected officials with this much common sense.
Mrs. Muddle celebrates the first snow of the year in December–which is where it belongs, in my opinion. But here outside Washington, DC, and all up and down the East Coast, it snowed yesterday. It snowed big, soggy flakes that made layers of slush on the cars and on the roofs. I wasn’t impressed. We haven’t even celebrated Halloween yet! So I’m waiting to celebrate the First Snow until it is the proper season and we get a proper snow (fluffy and white, not soggy and wet.)
I knitted a sock! I really did. It has a heel and a toe and everything. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I succeeded. Of course there is still one little problem. ONE sock doesn’t do anyone any good. I can’t wear this one until I’ve knitted it a friend. But still, even one sock is something to CELEBRATE.
Although Mrs. Muddle herself does not speak Pirate, she very much approves of this holiday. Its founders, John Baur and Mark Summers, claim that it is the only holiday based on a sports injury. During a game of racquetball, one of them injured himself and uttered the word Arrrrr! This made them think of various pirate stories they had read and got them thinking about what it would be like to talk like a pirate. Of course neither one of them had even been a pirate, but thanks to Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, Treasure Island, and various other artistic works, everone knows how pirate would talk if they had also read the book. Baur and Summers proclaimed September 19 as Talk Like a Pirate Day and invited others to join them. Now, after 16 years, Talk Like a Pirate Day is talked about internationally, whether or not people greet each other with “Ahoy, matey,” or not.
Mrs. Muddle is waiting for Speak Pig Latin Day.
While we were visiting out of town relatives this summer, my sister-in-law invited my girls to come to her house to pick apples. My children from the suburbs were so thrilled at the sight of all of this food just growing on a tree that they got rather carried away and picked A LOT of apples. So, in between wedding preparations, we canned apple sauce, boiled down apples to make juice, and dried apples to make chips. It was a lot of work, but parts of it were fun. Money DOES NOT grow on trees, but sometimes food DOES.
This is our second wedding of the summer. We are very happy, and also rather tired.