Fiber Arts & Furry Critters

Surprise visitor

9 yo DS went outside and came back in immediately to tell us about the snake at the bottom of the stairs!  He went back out for a minute, and told us the snake was still there when he came in again, so I had to grab my camera.

We stood there talking about the snake for several minutes at least, snapping pictures and chatting.  We observed the bump in the middle - it must have eaten recently, probably something like a mouse.  We also observed the tongue flitting in and out, and discussed that this is how snakes smell!  DS was fascinated by that fact.

Here are a couple of pictures of our visitor.   Upon looking  it up online, we find that it is a common  garter snake.  Not so common for us, as they are rarely seen (I've spotted one or two in my garden) and fascinating to watch.

Click on a picture for a larger view.

Happy 4th of July!

OK, so I'm a day late, but we've been pretty busy lately.  DH took vacation this week so we've been going places and doing things.  One day it was Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, MA and yesterday we went to the movies.  We saw the new Die Hard movie (I enjoyed it tremendously!) and I finished up to the heel flap on this sock while in the theater.

Actually, I just kept knitting (because while I can knit in the dark, I can't count in the dark) and had to rip back a few rows in order to start the heel flap when we got home.

I also picked up an older computer from Craigslist in order to play around with Ubuntu Linux.  This is our third desktop system (DH and I also have laptops) so this requires a little re-arranging.  The kids are cleaning their rooms in order to earn the priviledge of having their own computers.  9 yo DS (the future engineer) has a system slightly older than the one I just picked up.  His has about 10 GB of hard drive space, a wireless card, etc, and it has a VNC program on it so that Daddy can spy on his activities remotely.  It's currently on the desk in our bedroom, and will be moved to his room, probably today.

The other desktop computer is the one that everyone currently shares.  Because the kids use it indiscriminately, it's time to wipe the hard drive and start over, if you know what I mean.  That one also has (and will have) remote monitoring on it.  That one will move up to the desk in our bedroom so that its use can be limited.  DD would be on it at least 12 hours a day if allowed, just watching YouTube videos and goofing off (we do not permit instant messaging, chatting, or chat rooms of any kind).  As soon as that one is moved, the Linux system can come in the house and take that spot on the living room desk.

We went to the mall one day so that I could play with the iPhones on display at the Apple store.  That was fun!  We were looking for a 12-foot S-Video cable, so that I can play the techie video podcasts in my iTunes on the TV (through the DVD Recorder).  We tried it with the 6-foot S-Video cable we have, and it worked well, but we're risking dogs running through and knocking everything to the floor without a longer cable.  We checked several other stores looking for the cable and ended up ordering one from Ebay because of the outrageous prices we found.  We did find, however, 1-GB flash drives at CompUSA for $13.99!  Boy, those prices have come down a lot lately! 

For non-geek news, the eggs under the broody hen have begun to hatch.  I'm pondering whether I'm going to move her (to a dog crate (nest bucket and all) in order to be able to put out some baby chick food and water, and get them off the three-foot-high nest box shelf!  Baby chickie pictures to come soon, hopefully!