Frog on Rusty Railing

The temperature was pleasantly cool this morning, so husband, Mocha Cat, and I enjoyed a cup of coffee out on the deck. It was a nice way to start the day. Mocha was intoxicated with cat nip and unwilling to be photographed in that state, but I found another willing animal participant. I give you Frog On Rusty Railing:

Isn't he cute? Of course, you can also see how terribly in need of a paint job our deck railing is, but how about focus on the cute frog instead? He's some sort of tree frog.

I have been knitting again and am currently working on this great hat from Metapostmodern Knitting. I'm using charcoal grey Patons Classic Merino, and of course, being a true knitter, I've changed up the pattern. Personally, I find the ribbing to be too long and don't like the look of a turned up ribbed edge. It looks a bit too "little kid" IMO. So...instead of knitting 3 inches of ribbing like the pattern says, I've only done 1.5. It looks much better that way. I am not sure if I'll make any more mods or not; probably not. The hat is coming along nicely and working up fast. The cables would have probably shown up better in a cream color or other light color yarn, but there was charcoal grey in the stash...

I also have a kitchen project going on--scuppernong jelly. Our grape vine has produced a few grapes this year and I wanted to take advantage of that. The vine has to be trimmed back this winter which means we likely will have no grapes next year. I cooked the grapes last night and extracted the juice. Today I'll cook and jar the jelly. The grapes on the vine smell so good, and the aroman in the house last night while they were cooking was intoxicating! Speaking of intoxicating, I may also try to make some scuppernong wine depending on how many more grapes I'm able to get from the vine.

We took a short (little over 6.5 miles) bike ride last night. The weather is getting perfect for it, and with nearby access to a good bike trail, we have to take advantage. I really want to ride along the canal, but that's a weekend day trip kind of ride. I also probably need a different bike for that. My bike seat sits up very high even adjusted to the lowest point, and I have to lean over the whole time to keep my hands on the handle bars and hand brakes. That is a bit painful on the arms and back, so a more appropriate bike is on my wish list for one of these days.

The first home soccer game of the year is this afternoon, and I'll be there cheering on the boys and the cheerleaders. Soccer is one of my favorite sports to watch, so this will be a fun afternoon. I'm making marshmallow rice crispy treats to take for the girls' snack.