Snow

A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations,

but look what they can do when they stick together!

~Author Unknown

The guys were able to get in several hours of fishing before the storm hit. Little man likes leaning over the hole while using a jigging pole, twitching his line, watching the fish take the bait then reeling them in. He got his little cousin fishing the same way by the end of the day. They caught about 30 pickerel and perch but only kept a few.

The storm was slower in getting here then anticipated. By the time we went to bed there was only an inch. We woke to a winter wonderland. There was only 3-4 inches but it stuck to everything.There are times snow is beautiful even when you want Spring and this was one of those time.

Winter Icicles

Are those the magic fairy wands

glistening on the tree

or only winter icicles that I see?~Author Unknown

Friday was a fairly nice day. The sun was shining and the snow was melting. I knew that each little drip off the end of the icicle was bringing me that much closer to Spring. I even started looking for robins. I know, I know I am about 3-4 weeks too early but one can wish!

But alas, the weather has changed again. Needless to say it is a good thing I knit this hat yesterday as we are due for a snow/freezing rain storm which can measure 3-6 inches. The guys are going out ice fishing before the storm hits. I will make sure the animals are all set, then go back inside and find something else to keep me busy until Spring really does get here.

Ask, and it shall be given you

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;

and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?` Matthew 7:7

I finished knitting a pair of socks and yesterday morning I was sitting with #2 daughter and I said "I don't know what I feel like working on. What do you think I should make?" And before she was able to utter a word, a whispery voice came floating down the hallway and it said "Make (little man's name) a pair of mittens". I looked at #2 daughter and said "The walls are talking". And again the whispery voice came and said " Yes, they are saying, make (little man's name) a pair of mittens". Since I always listen to whispering walls, I did just that and little man went to school with a new pair of mittens this AM.

But now the walls aren't whispering anymore and I am sitting here with the same question as yesterday....What do I feel like working on?

I found a cable pattern that I like for #1 son's stocking but I don't have the right yarn to start that. I have an idea for the loom but hate to warp it. I have lots of little pieces of left over yarn so I could start an earflap hat and use up some of them. I did spin for a little and there is lots more of that waiting to be done. Or I could go clean the house and do some laundry..............think I will go surf the net for an idea!

Hoodie Hoo Day!

Here is what I have read ….

On this winter day, people go out at noon, wave their hands over their heads and chant "Hoodie-Hoo".It is a day to chase away winter and bring in spring. After all, everyone in the northern hemisphere is sick and tired of winter at this point and a little crazy being cooped up inside all winter and not seeing the sun.

“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” ~ Victor Hugo

And I would assume that seeing people yelling Hoodie Hoo and waving their arms would make people laugh.

For all intents and purposes, it hasn’t been a bad winter. December was warm, January was the first or second warmest in history. February has been cold with no snow other than on Valentine’s Day. So I can’t really say we have cabin fever but I am tired of the winds which zap every ounce of warmth out of you. I do not think there has been a day above freezing this month. But we are due to get a warm up and there is only 28 days until Spring.

So at noon I'll go do my part -after all, I need the excercise and my neighbors already think I am crazy!

Who's Been Here?

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.- John Muir

When the kids were toddler's we went to an environmental program up by the lake. We picked up a book by a fellow Pennsylvanian, Lindsay Barrett George called Around the Pond: Who’s Been Here? The kids loved this book. We read it every day… several times a day to the point that they could recite the book.

I think they were drawn to the book because we took them fishing by the river and they helped picked berries from when they could walk just like the book. We use to take them for walks down a road with two streams and they would “fish” the streams. This consisted of getting a fishing rod (aka stick) and “hooking” a leaf or piece of grass(aka fish). These streams weren’t big enough to sustain fish but the kids had fun.

So yesterday I walked out to check the chicken/duck’s water and saw footsteps and it reminded me of that. So here is my Who’s Been Here…

Dog, chicken, cat, duck. Since it was nice out I decided to go walk up into the woods under the ledges

And I found...

Deer and the last I'm not sure on...it is either a chipmunk or a field mouse as they were small and side by side. And then some tracks need no explanation.

I came down out of the woods, locked the animals in and came inside to a cup of coffee the man made for me. Life is good! We had a quiet evening so I was able to finish knitting a sock. And since this is supposedly a fiber blog I took a pic of what I have finished. I may have written about it but I need the visual for me to remember what I did do. So there is the 5 hour baby sweater (takes me about 8-10) the bonnet to match, baby socks done on the two circs (didn't like doing it that way) the man's stocking, a baby bib and a pair of socks done with the magic stripes. Everything still needs the ends woven in and to be blocked but I moved on already and started on another pair of socks. I just got to the heel flap on the second one so I should finish them today.

Morning diamonds

That which is striking and beautiful is not always good ~Ninon de L'Enclos

You can definitely say that about water. We woke up this morning to a world that sparkled.

The last picture isn't very good this small but all those little white dots looked liked diamonds just lying there.

It is hard to believe that water in it's different forms can be so beautiful yet so deadly. A gentle summer rain with a rainbow is beautiful. A horrendous thunderstorm or non stop rain with the resulting floods is anything but. A little snow on the tree's is beautiful

yet a blizzard or avalance is not. And the force of water in it's different stages is impressive to say the least. It can carve thru stonegranted it takes time, millions of year for the Grand Canyon, but this pliable substance can make mountains.

Here in the winter, what starts out as one innocent little ice chunk

can turn into one big ice jam, which if it doesn't melt slowly or gets forced down river by a melt up river can take out anything in it's path. There have been years where they have used dynamite to break it up.

Lao Tzu said “Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful."

We may not be able to change or control it but we can't live without it.

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

L-O-V-E, love

I have never met a person whose greatest need was anything

other than real, unconditional love. You can find it in a simple

act of kindness toward somone who needs help. There is no

mistaking love. You feel it in your heart. It is the common

fiber of life, the flame that heals our soul, energizes our spirit

and supplies passion to our lives. It is our connection to God

and to each other. --Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Happy Ba-a-a-alentine’s Day! That is what my card said and it had a sheep on the front…that man knows me well. My kids will tell me that it is stupid that I would find that too cute. But they, like him, feed my fiber addiction even though they don’t understand it which to me is love. And I know that even if they don’t wear what I make them that just the fact that I did make them something shows them I love them. Like Robert Heinlein said... Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.

So today when I am done with my coffee, I plan to finish the socks I am making (gift for someone) and then start a baby project. I just found out a family member is due in September. I am not allowed to say who, as others weren’t told yet.

The snow we were expecting is letting me down. I wanted those 20 inches and it is mostly sleet and rain. It is 13 degrees how can it rain?!? But there is enough snow to cancel school so I am sure the day will involve lots of wet clothes and hot cocoa.

I wish everyone a day of love and happiness. "In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away" - shing xiong

Did you know?

Did you know February is National Blah Buster Day? No. Well, me neither until yesterday. And how do you celebrate this? Well last night my daughter’s girl scout troop had their overnight at the mall to break up the dulldrums. We stay in a locked down mall overnight, we are not allowed to sleep but we go from station to station and play games all night.
This year’s theme was obscure February holidays and there are alot more than you think! So you get there at 9:30. register and go to your spot. Each attending troop has to pick a holiday and their swaps have to coincide with that holiday. We did Groundhogs Day. We gather up our can’s of food to donate to a local food pantry (Feb is Canned Food Month) and go to the food court for the welcome. We exchange swaps with other troops and from then on it is just up and down flights of stairs going to whatever activity is scheduled for you. Two local colleges have waiting lists to get in and do this as a community project. Their activity has to be entertaining enough to keep the girls active (aka awake) for 30 minutes and be in theme. And should you fall asleep the mall has plenty of these

to sit on to wake yourself up!!!

At 12-1 they rotate the troops to the food court for pizza and soda. Then back to activities until 5-6 when you return to the food court for a breakfast. Then parents pick the girls up at 6:30. By which time you are ready for February 28 which is Public Sleeping Day!

The man came and picked us up as I didn't want to do the hour drive home after not sleeping for over 24 hours. When I got home I slept for 2 ½ hours and then spun an ounce of camel and tussah and then promptly fell back to sleep for 4 more hours. I have to admit I am getting old because even now my brain feels like mush.


So for your entertainment while I go back to sleep...

February is . . . . National Blah Buster Month, National Embroidery Month, National Grapefruit Month, National Snack Food Month, National Weddings Month, Responsible Pet Owner Month, Return Carts to the Supermarket Month, Creative Romance Month, International Twit Award Month, Canned Food Month
February 1 is . . . . . Serpent Day
February 2 is . . . . . Purification Day
February 3 is . . . . . Cordova Ice Worm Day
February 4 is . . . . . Create A Vacuum Day
February 5 is . . . . . Disaster Day
February 6 is . . . . . Lame Duck Day
February 7 is . . . . . Charles Dickens Day
February 8 is . . . . . Kite Flying Day
February 9 is . . . . . Toothache Day
February 10 is . . . . Umbrella Day
February 11 is . . . . White Tee-Shirt Day and Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day
February 12 is . . . . National Plum Pudding Day
February 13 is . . . . Get A Different Name Day and Dream Your Sweet Day
February 14 is . . . . Ferris Wheel Day and Valentine’s Day
February 15 is . . . . National Gum Drop Day
February 16 is . . . . Do A Grouch A Favor Day
February 17 is . . . . Champion Crab Races Day
February 18 is . . . . National Battery Day
February 19 is . . . . National Chocolate Mint Day
February 20 is . . . . Hoodie Hoo Day

February 21 is . . . . Card Reading Day
February 22 is . . . . Be Humble Day and Walk the Dog Day
February 23 is . . . . International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day
February 24 is . . . . National Tortilla Chip Day
February 25 is . . . . Pistol Patent Day (Samuel Colt)
February 26 is . . . . National Pistachio Day
February 27 is . . . . International Polar Bear Day
February 28 is . . . . Public Sleeping Day
And if that is not enough…. http://library.thinkquest.org/2886/INDEX.HTM will give you a month to month list.

Whether the weather be fine...

“Whether the weather be fine,

Whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather,

Whatever the whether,

Whether we like it or not” ~Anonymous

And baby is it cold outside! It was – 0.4 when we woke up yesterday. The kids had a two hour delay at school…not that it made that much of a difference as it only warmed up to 2.8 degrees by the time they left. Today we had a heat wave…it was 1.9 at 5:45. They have another two hour delay. They haven’t used any of their snow days so they are enjoying the delays.

The ducks and chickens never left the barn the past couple of days. The cat doesn’t venture out and the dogs only go when they have to.

Keeping everyone in unfrozen water is almost futile. It would not be so bad if the incessant winds would stop. They keep funneling down the river valley at 10-15 mph with 35 mph gusts.

Although this weather can be beautiful with the clear blue skies, frost on window panes and the ice sculptures it makes it can also be brutal if you are not prepared. Looks menacing doesn't it?!

So I will only venture out when necessary and I’ll sit inside with this thought to keep me warm….

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.- Proverb from Guinea

Happy Groundhogs Day

Today is Groundhogs Day and Full Snow Moon. I also read in the Old Farmer’s Almanac that it is Candlemas Day. They had this verse...

If Candlemas be mild and gay,
Go saddle your horses and buy them hay;
But if Candlemas be stormy and black,
It carries the winter away on its back

Which would lead you to believe that since it is mild (29 degrees) and gray (overcast) we are going to have 6 more weeks of winter. But alas, the groundhog didn’t see his shadow so that foretells an early spring. Maybe the time of day will change things as we are due to get some snow later this afternoon which would make it stormy and black!?! I am all go for the early spring. Half of the plants are already in bud or coming out of the ground. We haven’t had any snow to speak of. If you added all we got together I don’t think you would get to 2 inches.

Cyndy,http://riverrim.blogspot.com/, has told me that all seed orders need to be in by this date. Knowing this date was coming, last weekend I did work on sorting thru the catalogs and narrowing down the list of “wants” to a more realistic, manageable size. So this morning I put aside the knitting and decided to finish the task. I usually order from several magazines to keep them coming but this year I decided I can look on their websites if I really want to order from them. I narrowed it down to two companies …Victory Seed and Seeds of Change. This has made me change some of my picks but I can work with it. So here it is…

The Seeds of Change ~ Nutri-Bud Broccoli, Delicata Squash, Amish Paste Tomato, Royal Burgundy Beans and Cherokee Wax Bean.

Victory Seed ~ Late Flat Dutch Cabbage, Mammoth Red Cabbage, Straight 8 Cucumbers, LI Cheese Squash, Red Strawberry Popcorn, Atlantic Broccoli and Broom Corn.

I still have to pick up seed for yellow squash and the Fordhook vucchini that I like. I might even have some as I haven’t checked the seed stash. I know I have pumpkin for the kids and jalapeno pepper, sugar snap pea, Riesentraube tomato and Blondkopfchen tomato, Yellow Pear tomato and I think I still have some Green Zebra tomato seeds. The beefsteak tomato plants and seed potatoes we buy locally. I will have a bigger root cellar this year so I was thinking of carrots, leeks, parsnips, turnips and brussel sprouts but I can buy them at the farmers market and store them. I decided to not do green peppers this year. I will buy them locally and freeze them. Mom may chime in with some others but that is the list as of now.

I guess while we have no snow I should go clean up the garden and get ready…no it’s still winter and I will stay inside and do fiber arts, there will time for that later. Before you know it I will be in the greenhouse and will have less time for the fiber.