Spring is Here

I haven't any little lambies or chickies or ducklings to post. I haven't a farm or a vast acreage to wander or deep woods be lost in, but the wonder of Spring come at last is here too. She has put on her crinolines and topped them with a swirl of green and white, and the pinks and yellows are not far behind. Welcome dearest mother, and sweetest sister.

Two New Things

I have been working hard these days, trying to get things done for the shows, for the business. Trying to decide on the way to procede, the order to do things in. I think the Etsy store will be a bit separate from the LLC, though part of it, and I am excited about the possibility of local stores too.

I have completed two new things for the store, one a slow piece, a primitive hanging that will be one of my mainstays I think, and the other a stuffed piece I made in honor of a barn owl family I have been watching for about 10 days now. On Friday night, the male (McGee) brought in a live field mouse (my twitter name!) and while transfering it to Molly dropped it. It hit the bottom of the brood box and was out over the side in a flash. Well, Molly looked pretty non-plussed, I can tell you! It was out the door and don't come back til you have something BIG! The bunny McGee returned with sometime later was minus the head! No escaping bunny there! So, maybe more in honor of the fast thinking and ever resourceful rodent, Now You See Him Now You Don't, Poppi Paramiscus, here's the stuffie!.

A Very Satisfying Day

This is the final version of the exchange offering for the steampunk deck for my TravelersHart Group on Yahoo. I have been a bit worried about it all coming together, it really started out to be something quite different, but somehow it all did. The final and coalescing piece was the hand charm gifted me by a student of mine, and voila! It works! It helps to be listening to another Mary Russel story, this one is The Moor, referring not to the Moorish people but to Dartmoor, a foreboding and bewildering place when it is raining (frequent, I assure you) but simply stunning when the sun covers the peat and stone in a honey-colored clarity, and the sky can be a remarkable blue. I was there on such a day, and was captivated. It is a high moor, and not to be trifled with, and I remember a feeling of real presence there. Not evil, nothing sinister (though I never saw a fog, thank goodness) but the moor is not just dirt and rocks. No more than the ocean is just a lot of water. Anyone who has sailed her knows what I mean. The moor is like that. So once again Holmes is solving a mystery on the moor, and Russell is with him. I think I will go listen some more, and stitch on my wee quiltie!

What a Lovely Day

I had an absolutely splendid day, it couldn't have been better. I went to a friend's house, we climbed in her car, and off we went on a day of camaraderie, shopping, and all around good fun! The weather was perfect, sunny and 70 or 72f and it wasn't too crowded on the roads or in the shops. We hit both antique shops and thrift shops, though I only purchased something at the first shop. I got a lovely shawl and a cabinet card to make a book from, and I think I may go back there to pick up a picture for dh and a pennsic potty for me. Seems a worthier purchase than a spinning wheel right now. If my Etsy shop kicks off, maybe a wheel isn't too much later, but not to trek up the hill at night in the rain... oh, heaven! I haven't seen Lynette in way too long, and she is a treasure. She is my own angel too, she is generously helping me both mentally and physically get my art business started. Scary, but good. A great day all around! More tomorrow, I have a date with a pillow! Love you Lynette!

You Wouldn't Think...

That I would be particularly happy about the rain, but really, I am. Well, maybe not this much rain. But if this had been snow, it would have been 17 inches! So yes, rain seems pretty good about now. We did have some lovely weather last week, but as in January, it was just a tease, I know. That is okay, I will enjoy it all the same. While the Farmer's Almanac is still predicting another snowfall in March, I am hoping for none. The rest of this week looks to be in the 50's and 60's, and sunny by week's end too. After that, it's anyone's guess.

I spent this weekend on samples for new classes. I only got one done... stopped one midway through, hated it. That is always so disconcerting, it takes time to regroup afterwards, I can't just move on to the next idea. I do like this one though, so that is okay. I will make a series of these cuffs, and do one each quarter. I have been asked for more project based classes, and may let my surface design series rest a year.

I am almost done with the last Laurie King novel in the Mary Russel series, The Language of Bees, before her newest comes out. This one is as good as the rest, and I shall reread the first to refresh my memory. Fitting series for someone with a steampunk deck upcoming.

So Cute

So I was looking around the internet and found this really cool site, and then discovered every month she gives away a little embroidery pattern, something simple to get the creative juices started. This is one of them, and really, isn't it so cute? I know, I am not exactly known for cute, but these are just irresistable! Go ahead! Try to resist, I dare you! So here is her site. I am already working on another, along with a rather more serious piece with a more celtic look and a more medieval flare.

I am currently listening to one of Laurie King's Mary Russel books, Locked Rooms. It is set in San Fransisco in the 1920s, and is quite good. She makes the times and the characters very believable, and I look forward to the next in the series, the Language of Bees, and then the new The God of the Hive will come out in the spring. Is it spring yet? I hope the warm weather comes soon and doesn't turn hot too quickly!

I am also reading Ellen Crosby, a local writer's, series, Murder in Wine Country. The current offering is her latest, The Chardonney Charade, and with it I have read all four. I am so glad to have run in to her at work. I have enjoyed each one, and will surely enjoy any future books as well. She has just the right touch of down home reality, Washington weirdness, mixed with worldly wisdom and a little viticultural information thrown in. It all makes for a very good read.

Flurries but no stickin'

I am happy to say we are back to a normal trash pick up! They acually picked up on Tuesday (thank you Fairfax County). The county has widened our street's passage and no new snow has accumulated. Whew. I am beginning to like the flurries that don't stick! The squirrels are all back to fighting over peanuts and trying to figure out how to get into the birdfeeder, BUT FAILING HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Ahem. Birdies are very happy and munching away at the constantly refilled feeder. Most of the snow is off the deck and the front bushes, but I am worried about the azelea. It has been nice watching the olympics, but I am too old to go to bed this late! Gotta get to bed by 11 latest! Josh leaves for NC today or tomorrow... it was really nice to see him, and it won't be so long til next visit, but I am still going to miss him. I don't interact with him as much as dh does (it is that INFJ thing) but it just feels nice to have him around. At least he is on the same continent!

Waiting for More

Yes, more snow. Tonight. I love snow. I do. I just have enough thank you, plenty. Really. No more needed, not tonight, not Monday, not Tuesday, none. Thank you.

But the birds are flocking round in droves, and eating more seeds than ever. I have smeared pinecones with peanutbutter and bacon grease and rolled them in seeds. The squirrels carried some off and I wired some to the posts on our deck. Cardinals, jays, woodpeckers and more have been snacking. The squirrels are quite protective of the peanuts we through out. As my dh was tossing out nuts, one of our cats snuck out and found himself nose to nose with a (much smaller but very interested in peanuts) squirrel. It was the feline, not the sciurid who backed down! That squirrel was not going to give up a single nut!

February Fury

They are running out of names for the storms! (This one is pretty lame.) I think I liked Snowpocolypse best. I am running out of energy to fight the snow. I am also running out of room for piling said snow. The piles are not just higher than my head, but higher than my 6'3"+ husband! The pile on the table on the deck is prodigeous, and I am not moving it, it will have to melt! It already lost some from the "warmth" we had on Monday and Tuesday, as shown by the icikles above the table. Those may have to be brought down, they are giant and sharp. Shudder. The cats finally ventured out to the deck when we had a sufficient amount of shovelling done. They needed to get their dead herb munchies and look for birdies. We were worried about the weight of the snow, it was really quite heavy, and there was quite alot of it, so we shovelled. And shovelled. It was also well compacted. Trench Meister was much better at getting the compacted stuff into handle-able chunks. I am afraid I am just a wimp. Sigh.

Well, well, nothing to do but go downstairs and knit! And drink cocoa and tea. And eat gummibaren! I believe I will watch Born of Hope tonight!

Oh My!

We have barely gotten the snow from the last blizzard of about 30" piled up, and now we are expecting another this afternoon. It was supposed to have begun this morning at 0900, but is now slated for afternoon. THAT MEANS THE SYSTEM IS MOVING SLOWLY. Crud! That means it will stay over us longer. Oh my. oh my oh my oh my oh my. Oh my.

Note that the piles of snpw are higher than the cars. They are higher than our heads. The storm drains are all covered. The door to the deck was frozen shut this morning from the melt yesterday... even though the temp wasn't higher than about 32, much melting occurred. Yup, large puddles of now well frozen ice now litter the roads too. Sigh. The trip in is likely to be a nasty one. Better get going.

Winter Powerhouse

At least that is what the weather channel is calling it. I am calling it one heck of a storm. I will take pics in the morning sun (such as it is or will be) for the final tally but this was quite early in the day, and it snowed til about 2000, or 8pm for you non sailor types. I spent the day quite happily stitching inbetween shoveling and salting and warming the men and finding my son and the shovel and restocking the birdfeeder and peanutbuttering and seeding a pinecone ane and, well, you get the idea. It was pretty at night tho, don't you think?

I grew up around plenty of snow. Germany, Chicago, Nebraska, (the latter has nothing between the north pole and it other than a line of stunted linden bushes in South Dakota). The difference is that those places all had the equiptment and funds and plans in place to handle even a 30" snow without it doing much more than slowing things down. Except that little snow in Lincoln where we had about 28 inches overnight. But we were back in business the following day. Here in Northern VA, we spent our small snow allotment already, haven't enough trucks etc anyway and they don't build the streets and neighborhoods condusive to plowing. One trying to do our road (trying is the operative word) drove in, dropped the bucket and backed out. Better than nothin' but not all that effective. We will all be out tomorrow again to keep at it. Problem is it is a long 1/8th mile to the first road they can actually plow... but they haven't yet, according to my Marine son. His car was on the other side of the truck who tried to get out and managed to get stuck in the road, crosswise. Sigh. I am on the wrong side. My car looks like a Japanese van... the tall ones! It's all snow. Is it really worth it to get out tomorrow?