Three week’s progress: 86 fish for a total of 176 fish completed at this time.

Fish Joining the Fishbowl
3 chocolate brown, 6 grape, 6 dark country blue, 6country blue, 6 gray heather, 6 berry blue, 6 violet, 6 blue mint, 6 autumn red, 6 pink, 6 orchid, 6 iris, 6 sundrop, 6 sping (green), 6 aqua mist

Previous Fish
90 fish: 2 red from stash, 6 orange from stash, 5 yellow from stash, 1 chocolate brown from stash, 1 purple from stash, 6 cream/off-white from stash, 6 watermelon pink, 6 limelight green, 6 lemonade yellow, 6 dark sage green, 6 forest floor green, 6 mango orange-yellow, 6 truffle heather (brownish-purple), 7 soft blue, 5 red, 6 light country peach, 6 bone (khaki), 3 chocolate brown

This post was supposed to appear December 4th, but I was too busy knitting fish, laying them out and knitting more fish. I have pictures, but again, I need to finish this by Saturday, ACK!

when public add tags: tessellate, fish, blanket

Tags: blanket, Christmas, fish, knitting, tessellate

Do you remember elementary school art class or maybe math? Take a piece of white copy paper, fold it several times and then cut on the lines hoping for a good snowflake. Now you can create your own snowflake without needing paper or scissors.

Tags: snowflake

Because everyone needs a little holiday joy. Click on the sweater photo to knit your own delightful holiday garment.

Tags: holiday, sweater

While talking with a friend on the phone today, I noticed a new bird at the suet feeder. He’s a rather plump red-bellied woodpecker.

Tags: bird, woodpecker

There will be visitation/viewing at Mohnke Funeral Home in Big Rapids on Sunday, December 7 from 2PM-4PM and 6PM-8PM. The funeral will be Monday, December 8 at 11AM at St. Paul Lutheran in Reed City. There will be a short committal service and fellowship meal to follow at the church.

Obituary

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Reed City Food Pantry (donations may be mail to St Paul Lutheran) or G.T. Norman Elementary School/LIFT. The LIFT is a literacy program that Tom and Linda participated in together once a week in the Reed City school.

Funeral home directions
128 S Warren Ave
Big Rapids, MI 49307
(231) 796-8628

St. Paul Lutheran Directions
22275 4 Mile Rd
Reed City, MI
(231) 832-9541

GT Norman Elementary
338 W Lincoln Ave
Reed City, MI 49677
(231) 832-5548

Tags: dad, funeral

Big Rapids – Thomas L. Proefrock, 64, of Grant Township, passed away Thursday, December 4, 2008, at Spectrum Health Butterworth in Grand Rapids.

He was born September 2, 1944, in Detroit, the son of Theodore and Edna (Knauf) Proefrock. As a child, Tom moved with his family to the Reed City area, and graduated from Leroy High School in 1962.

Following graduation, he joined the US Air Force, and served as an airplane mechanic stationed in Dover, Delaware until his honorable discharge in 1966.

On April 14, 1973, Tom married Linda Harrison of Paris, and they have made their home in Grant Township. For nearly 20 years, they owned and operated Gone to the Birds Farm, specializing in raising Bobwhite Quail. Tom drove bus for MOISD, and also drove athletic teams for Ferris State University. He also drove truck for several local companies.

Tom was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Reed City, where he was confirmed. He enjoyed his AA Fellowship, was active with Therapy Dogs International with his Golden Retrievers KDB and Molly, and was formerly Scoutmaster of Reed City Area Troop #70. He also actively participated in the LIFT Program, reading to children at G. T. Norman Elementary School in Reed City. Tom was “Dad first”, and looked forward to the annual trips to Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota with his family. He loved shooting sports, and built his own skeet and trap range on the family farm in Ashton.

Surviving are his wife Linda; 5 children; Melissa (James) Barns of Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, Jamie Proefrock, Jeff (Jeanne) Proefrock of Muskegon, Jason (Debra) Proefrock of Hersey, and Josh Proefrock and his fiancé Julie Feutz of Paris; his mother-in-law Audrey Harrison of Paris; and his half brother Philip Parker of Battle Creek.

Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m., Monday, December 8, 2008, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Reed City, with Rev. Dawn Pooley officiating. Burial will follow in the Ashton Cemetery. Tom’s family will greet friends at the Mohnke Funeral Home in Big Rapids on Sunday, December 7, 2008 from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m., and after 10:00 a.m. on Monday at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made for the Reed City Food Pantry or the L.I.F.T. Reading Program at G.T. Norman Elementary School, with envelopes available at the funeral home.

Tags: dad, funeral

I know there are deer in Michigan, I know there are deer where we live. I almost watched two frolic in the road on my way to church this morning. I’ve come close to hitting several this season, however, none have jumped in front of my sweetie for him to bring home to us. We have another shot in a few weeks, muzzleloading season. Maybe we’ll have meat for the winter.

Tags: deer, hunting

The headline for a disturbing story:
Wal-Mart Worker Dies When Shoppers Break Down Doors

I have two words: handmade gifts.

Even more disturbing is the thoughts from an online knit/crochet community I frequent. The responses range in variety from outlaw sales to sue Wal-Mart. My question, what happened to personal responsibility. No one made those people line up outside the store, no one forced them to push others. If one doesn’t agree with the policies of a mega-chain, it’s simple, don’t shop there and tell all your friends why you won’t shop there, but don’t make more laws. Hold PEOPLE accountable for their actions. In hindsight, I’m sure Wal-Mart should have provided more security measures, however, I would venture to guess that the individual saddled with that responsibility would have been trampled as well. Three years ago a mom caused a stampede and injured several people in the Grand Rapids, MI area. I was in NY visiting family, but I remember hearing about it. It was a Wal-Mart I had visited and hated the set up for the entrance. The entrance was modified after the catastrophe. In looking for news stories about it, it was difficult to find news sources, mostly blogs linking to sites that have become nonexistent, so I chose to pdf the articles I found for preservation.

• Herald Tribune Nov. 2008 (pdf if link no longer works)
• CNN Transcript (pdf if link no longer works)

2008

• NY Times Article (pdf)

foxnews pdf of story

Tags: black friday, walmart

As a child, I always seemed to have an advent calendar to help me wait until Christmas arrived. It was usually a cardboard stand up thing with windows to open. As an adult, I have been looking for a reusable calendar that centered around the true meaning of Christmas. Two years ago I finally found a wonderful counted cross-stitch kit and purchased it with a 40% off coupon. I started it last winter after I finished Granny’s rather late and overdue cross-stitched Christmas present. I made a significant amount of progress on it, but haven’t touched it since February. The scene on the calendar is that of the Nativity/Creche. The rest of the calendar is gridded out with a space for each day counting toward December 25. There are ornaments to stitch ranging in designs from shepherds to stars to angels and baby Jesus in the manger. I redesigned the Nativity scene a bit because I do not believe the wise men arrived until Jesus was a toddler, so I took them out of the scene, but will leave them in as ornaments I think. I know they started traveling when they saw the same star the shepherds saw. Because I don’t have a fun way to countdown yet, I’ve gone in search of online Advent calendars. I make no warranty about content because I am unable to open any until December 1. As I remember to investigate, I’ll mark the appropriateness.

• Woodlands Junior School - UK based
• Boowa & Kwala
• The St. Margaret Mary Advent Calendar begins Nov. 30
• Knitting Advent Calendar
• Doxaweb
• Presentation Helper also has a PowerPoint version to print and cut out
• Episocpal Diocese of Washington 2007
• North Pole UK - day one was a puzzle
• Busted Halo
• Yule in Iceland
• Yahoo Directory of Advent Calendars
• Thrifty Fun’s list of advent calendars

Tags: advent, calendar, Christmas

This week’s progress: 29 fish for a total of 90 fish completed at this time.

Fish Joining the Fishbowl
29 fish: 2 truffle heather (brownish-purple), 7 soft blue (oops), 5 red, 6 light country peach, 6 bone (khaki), 3 chocolate brown

Previous Fish
61 fish: 2 red from stash, 6 orange from stash, 5 yellow from stash, 1 chocolate brown from stash, 1 purple from stash, 6 cream/off-white from stash, 6 watermelon pink, 6 limelight green, 6 lemonade yellow, 6 dark sage green, 6 forest floor green, 6 mango orange-yellow, and 4 truffle heather (brownish-purple).

when public add tags: tessellate, fish, blanket

Tags: blanket, Christmas, fish, knitting, tessellate