From Newly Knitted Hats to Dear Deer

I knitted a hat as my first knitting project, during the course of a three-week class. Another woman in class had the same yarn, but I knit more tightly, so I got a pattern, called flashing, and she just got random color changes and was envious.

Ornamental lettuce is planted for color during winter.

Fog in Greg's parents' back yard in Connecticut.
Reflection in a puddle/pond in a park.

Black squirrels were introduced to this area from Britain and haven't affected the local gray squirrel population.

Another black squirrel

Greg's late grandfather's workbench. He was a wood carver, amongst other things.

A bamboo plant in a blender? I have interesting neighbors moving in.

Triple deckers. Each floor is a different unit.

Views from the Top of the Hub restaurant, atop the Prudential Tower. I know I have lovely pictures of the Pru, but at the moment, I can't find any.

If you look far off in this picture, you can see the cruise ship dock. Beyond that are some boats coming in, and beyond those is the Boston Lighthouse (a little fleck of white), the oldest operating lighthouse in the country, so says my Grammie.

The Charles River

The streets here were based on cow paths, which is why they're all wonky.

Scary Alfred Hitchcock image

I tried to get the ominous clouds and the shock of yellow leaves, but I couldn't catch both at once.

Two deer were having a nibble alongside the road.

The Big E

Okay, so the stupid user interface (UI) for Blogger on IE8 (Internet Explorer's latest version, which made its way onto my computer uninvited) is screwy. So the photos are in reverse order, and I can't seem to move them. Dern it. Okay, moving on...The Big E. The Big E is The Eastern States Exposition - the biggest fair in New England. It's even bigger than the Del Mar Fair (the "San Diego County Fair"). Check out this mondo spider I saw on the way out!

The cars for the parade

This is much funnier in order, but look at these fried vegetables. Healthy, huh? Can you even recognize that they're veggies?

Here's where they come from. Does anyone believe they're eating healthy here?

4H kids sleep on their cows.
It's true! Here's another one.
A butter sculpture! Hilarious. But seriously, dairy is a big deal here. And let me tell you, Vermont milk is delicious.
Hefty G?!? Pardon me.
I remember being so afraid of the Zipper as a kid. I didn't go on this time, but I could have. Really.
Yes we can be a prize at a fair.
Flannel is supposed to keep you warm, but I think these folks found a loophole, so to speak.
Emilee!!
Isn't it usually Mexican Cantina?
The fall colors are starting to punch.
And a giant turkey leg is bigger than you think.

Hiking Mt. Washington

We'd been invited for another New Hampshire hiking trip to the Schuss House, which is a ski lodge in the winter, sleeps 50+, and has a history of adventurous outings. There was a good group of us there, and many of us had been on the previous trip in April. Saturday started out as a lovely day, but several of us still bought better hats and gloves for the hike to the top of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in New England, known for the worst weather in the world.

The leaves in New Hampshire (we were a few hours north of Boston) were just starting to turn colors. Below, you can see Mt. Washington in the background.

Someone's hat flew off and someone else ran to catch it. As we crossed along a ridge, the winds must have been 60 miles per hour. We had to hike hunched over so our centers of gravity were lower. We took each step carefully, for fear of the wind knocking us over onto the rough granite rocks that were everywhere.

We'd started the hike in shorts and t-shirts, but as soon as we reached the tree line, we buttoned up. The wind was whipping so strong that it was best to keep your knit hat inside your hood.

With the wind as it was, the clouds blew over the mountain very quickly. Within the span of five minutes, you could see the peak, then it was covered, then you could see it again.

There were stacks of rocks to mark the trail. At this point above the tree line, the mountain is mostly rocks.

From Wikipedia: Rime ice, or hard rime, is a white ice that forms when the water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects. It is often seen on trees atop mountains and ridges in winter, when low-hanging clouds cause freezing fog. This fog freezes to the windward (wind-facing) side of tree branches, buildings, or any other solid objects, usually with high wind velocities and air temperatures between 18-28 degrees Fahrenheit.

Check out that steep grade!

We made it!

Check out the rime ice over there.

This small building at the top of Mt. Washington is chained to the mountain to prevent it from being blown away. And that's rime ice all over it.

This is the weather station at the top.

I think you should be able to click the picture below to make it bigger, but if not, here are the highlights. Summit wind speed: 64MPH (we were guessing it had been windier on the ridge). 24-hour peak wind speed: 91MPH. Current temp: 27 degrees.