Calm After the Storm

I woke to a bright blue sky this morning, something of a relief after a week of stormy weather, so I decided after feeding the burros that some photos of snow were in order; our main house is usually below the snow line, so it is a rare treat that should be recorded for posterity. We lived for thirteen years at our other house, where there are now several feet of snow, and where our children grew up sledding, snowboarding, having snowball fights, and otherwise taking advantage of the wonder of a transformed landscape each time a storm finished.


Here's a view from the front of our house ... the roof pitch is too steep to keep any snow on it, so we heard it creaking and crashing off all night...


The morning sun really favors our back porch, and we spend a lot of time during the summer under the shady overhang. The french doors pictured lead to our bedroom, so it becomes something of an extension of the yard with the doors open all summer long. One of kitchen doors also exits into this yard, and berries and grapes drape the fences, leafing out to provide us with a very private space.

This little guy lives next to our backyard water garden, where a small fountain pump keeps the negative ions circulating during the warm months:


Some days you just have to try a little harder.... poor little gnome out ice fishing!

Linda and I decided last night that the weather had not been conducive to trekking over Yuba Pass to watch the sheep shearing at Harvey Farms; in fact I was tempted to call Anna and tell her to leave their coats on them, as the temperatures were set to drop about 20 degrees from what they have been! I stayed up late and finished the knitting on the felted bag order I have going and also my ribbed fingerless mitts. They are in a deep purple Peruvian Highland Wool from Elann, and will come in very handy both for typing at the computer in my drafty old house (less now that DH have spent so much time weatherizing and insulating), and when going out to do chores... they even go well with my old barn jacket!




This pattern was created by Amanda Gill and is available here for free. I will make the men's size as part of my 40 Days challenge, to contribute to CIC.

My knitting for the rest of the weekend: I want to string my beads and cast on the fancier fingerless mitts, Mrs. Beeton from Knitty, knit up the purse I-cord straps and get it ready for the washer, and finish up a quick gift. From there, I have two hat patterns to try out: Amber, designed by Susan Lawrence and available free at MagKnits, and Coronet, another Knitty pattern. Both will go to Bad Rad Beanies (see my button on the left), and use up some of my leftover worsteds from past felting projects (I have a whole zippered blanket bag full of wonderful colors to choose from!).