Molly Bee's Attic

If you guys thought I was proud of myself when I conquered driving in downtown Madison, you should see me now. I made it safely there and back again to visit my friends, the Brownes , up in Minneapolis. I'm positively obnoxious with power!!! Look out Chicago, you are next in line to be my b**ch! The ride up was interesting. Ben and I saw bald eagles in Sauk City, scores of deer in the fields along the highway, awesome sandstone structures and every rest area between here and there. The girl and the dog, they need lottsa pee-breaks doncha know. One of us drank A. LOT. of diet Coke on the way! Some of the waysides had cool features like this ode to the Passenger Pigeon... And a cool sculpture homage to Wisconsin's Law Enforcement... The five hour highway driving was a cinch! I only got lost when I was about 3 blocks from the Browne's house. They live in a lovely neighborhood. I investigated it thoroughly...for quite some time. But I made it. Here's proof. This here...

It's been a busy week or so at Chez Bee. Nothing earth shattering; just seem to be in constant motion, putzing and stuff. My big thing last week was purchasing a beautiful new set of bedding ( flannel sheets, comforter, shams, pillows, and dust ruffle) on Monday with some money Mum gave me for Christmas. Every night is like sleeping in a fancy inn! You can't tell by this pic but it's plum and gold. Friday night I went to dinner with friend D. We ambled on over to Frugal Muse afterward to kill some time before going to see Sherlock Holmes at Point. I have a serious addiction to books. Looking at the shelves with D. I couldn't believe how many of the titles I've read...and were I still a book purchaser, I would have left the store with more tomes than a dozen men could carry and a much lighter pocketbook. Thanks Goodness for the Dane County Library system. Harriet may try to kill me on occasion , but it sure is cheaper to borrow than to buy when you cruise through...

I had decided over Christmas that I was going to take the month of February and 'Finish It February' and complete all of the half done projects I have laying around. I had the flu last week and a LOT of down time so once I felt like I could get myself in a sitting position, I grabbed the purple socks...and finished them: By then I was feeling better enough to spin a little so I set to plying the natural brown wool singles that have been sitting on my wheel for far too long: And finished that...It's SOFT, chocolate brown, lace weight with a sprinkling of white. It's hard to tell from the photo. Then I set my sights on the Ninja Death Scarf and finished THAT! Despite the possible danger associated with the actually wearing of this scarf, I managed to bend it, and then I made Ben model it. At first he looked all around... ....in case any of his buddies might be lurking. Didn't want to take a chance on them laughing, name calling, and barring him from playing in any do...

When I opened the drapes this morning, I thought there was a blizzard going on outside. I was puzzled because snow wasn't predicted. Upon closer inspection I discovered it wasn't actually snowing; the wind was blowing the lacy ice crystals from the tree branches. Yesterday was fairly warm so we had a heavy fog in the evening. Overnight it froze to every little branch, needle and twig making for a Christmas card scene in the front yard. It's beautiful days like this that don't make me dislike winter as much. Here are some photos. (Click on 'em to biggify if you can. You won't be disappointed!)

So I stop at the store to get food for the Fur Beast that lives in my house. Food is the one thing that rocks his world and I never want to be in the position to find out what happens should we ever run out. We were down to the scraplins in the bottom of the bucket. I didn't want the maintenance man to get a complaint about the funny smell coming from my house and have to break in only to find me missing and Bentley gnawing on a bone that still had a New Balance sneaker attached to it, so off I went. I didn't go to store where I usually go to get it. It's cheaper there, but it takes a lot of psyching up and mental fortitude on my part to actually go in there. Usually the briefest of visits, having to plod along behind the cattle to get my hair spray or whatever, makes me absolutely hate my fellow humans and besides, the crashing sound from all of the falling prices scares me. Instead, I stopped at the one with the bulls-eye logo and picked up two 5# bags to see us through ...

Snowy day in Wisconsin. 6" or so on the ground and another 3"-4" on the way. My work load today was all computer stuff, so I decided not to join the fracas on the roads and to work from my home office today. It kinda cramps Ben's style because he can't follow his normal nap regime . He's afraid he'll miss something. He was sorely disappointed today! The task was the archiving, renewing, cutting and pasting extravaganza that is my monthly reports session. Every month I send out revenue reports to thirteen of our Branches around the globe. It doesn't take a lot of brain power, just a dexterous mousing hand, the patience of a saint and a talent for remaining conscious! Ben solves the consciousness problem by morphing into his alter ego 'Mad Dingo'. One minute he'll be sitting there swaying, eyes half-mast, head drooping and the next minute he's getting his blood pumping by doing hot laps around the living room like his tail is on fire. He...

As usual, I managed to pack a lot into this long weekend. New Year's Eve dinner with friends ( see last post including comment section where the author of the book I recommended commented! Squeee !), dog sitting, visiting, coffee drinking, baking for neighbors, cleaning, shopping, knitting and watching the last David Tennant episode of Dr. Who (sob!). Saturday afternoon and evening were spent in Middleton at Natalie and Dan's house playing games. Had a great time. All present are great company. Dan's special salsa, guacamole and stuffed mushrooms were divine . We played 80s Trivial Pursuit and 80's Scene It .... People. I lived through the 80s. It was MY decade. So why can't I remember any of it? I totally tanked at Trivial Pursuit and did only marginally better at Scene It . Friend Jen blames the memory loss on all of the Aqua Net we inhaled trying to get our hair stand up like that. I'm going to go with that rather than the fact that since the 80s was MY...

2010 is bound to be a happy and prosperous year for all of us being that the blue moon fell on New Year's Eve! At least that's what I'm counting on. Mine started off great. I went to friend Steve's house for supper. Steve has a farmhouse south of New Glarus and the ride down was beautiful with the full moon glowing on the snow in the fields. Friend Joey made us a delicious steak dinner complete with baked potatoes, green salad and home made gingerbread. It was a veritable feast! They sure do know how to treat a girl right! Joe has three Boxers and Steve has a Golden Retriever mix. They are all super friendly, sweet and cuddly . I would include a photo but I was under the pile of them for most of the night. Better than a woobie any day! We watched the ball drop in NYC and since Steve and I are both from the East Coast we counted that as the start of 2010. Sorry Joey. It was a wonderful night of friends, a feast and furbabies . I can't think of a better way ...