Ankle Benders

Every eleven years or so I go ice skating. And every eleven years or so, I tear up the ice with some of these lovelies . . . 

Thanks for the fun, guys. See you on the rink in '33.

Negativity

Being Negative has never felt so good. 

It's always gotten a bad rap, being negative. But now, it's the best thing in the world.

And so . . . now we begin The Festivities . . . 

Mistah and I began thusly . . . 

. . . with a stroller full of toys and books from a certain someone for a certain someone and homegah I can't believe we're going to get to meet her.

Seasons Greetings, y'all.

And hey. Stay negative.

There's a New Tin Man in Town

Years ago Mistah bought an outdoor deck heater at a yard sale for thirty bucks. He put it in the car and we ended up leaving the car downtown that night and when he went back to pick it up in the morning he said the heater lying there in the way way back looked like the Tin Man.

Tin Man has been our best friend ever since.

But Tin Man recently started not working well and performing badly -- hey, it happens to the best of us -- and as much as we've loved him all these years, it was time for a new Tin Man to step up and take on the responsibility of being our new best friend.

It's a lot of work, being our best friend.

We put on the quite recently late, and quite everlastingly great, Vincente Fernandez, and we -- and by we I mean I -- got to work . . . 

One cannot always put together an appliance outside on a December day, but when one can . . . 

. . . one does.

The Tree is not atilt; in that last photo the photographer clearly was. 

It took a while . . . 

. . . but I loved every moment . . . 

I cracked up when I saw the 800 number on a sticker on the unit. Like, "when your unit dies call us."

Not this one, baby.

Putting together Tin Man's hat was one of the last steps . . . 

. . . and I'm going to borrow it wear it as a fascinator at every Royal wedding I get invited to.

Nuts and screws and bolts and washers atop the unit, my friends . . . 

And then . . . 

. . . Voilà.

Tin Man II

My new best friend.

Dig It

Would you like to see the best photo of The Mistah in the history of recorded time?

Of course you would. 

I know, right?

Remember these glorious Lauras from the deck this summer?

Wait, here's a better view, since we're focusing on The Mistah today.

Well, they have to be dug up and brought inside for the winter. Needy little stinkers, aren't they? It's a good thing they're so dramatically beautiful.

Most of them are already in the basement . . . 

. . . they're jealous of their former deck-mates who get to bask in the sun all winter . . . 

. . . but the bulbs planted in the Field have to be dug up and -- with any luck at all -- given to lovely friends visiting from out of town.

Hi Jill!

I don't even do the digging, but I'm out there in my usual farmer weekend apparel . . . 

. . . but not the Mistah. Best dressed digger in America.

Thanks for the photos, Jill.

Happy wintering, canna lilies.