February Yarn Along

This morning as big fluffy flakes from another snow storm were falling I made the comment that we’re having an overactive winter.  But Paul made the very valid point, no, we’re finally having what used to be a normal winter.  Those first two pictures are from the ice storm we had last week.  Thankfully this time we did not lose power.  All that white on the deck is not snow but tiny ice pellets.  Between the ice storm last week and the current snow today when temps fluctuate between zero and the high teens we've had temps above freezing and then some thawing, better known as mud season.

There were a few days it cracked forty and on those days I was able to get out and have some proper walks, some with my camera, and check in on the two little baby lambs across the street.  Otherwise, it’s been indoor exercise, (yoga).  My daughter bought me a yoga wheel for Christmas, which truthfully has been a wonderful surprise.  She also had been trying to get me to read about red light therapy and I’m so happy I did.  I’ve been lying under it with it shining on my face and neck for twelve minutes a day.  I don’t know if it will do anything for my wrinkles, but it does a lot for my state of mind.

Getting into the spirit for Valentines Day I put up a few lights on the mantel and then I made a Scandinavian heart garland for the kitchen doorway.  I used some scraps of felted wool sweaters I had left in my scrap box to make the hearts.  Other indoor activities, I put together a puzzle I got for my birthday in November.  Women’s March, a 500 piece round puzzle that came with a little apology note, they left out two letters of the word “Individually”.  It might have been a little frustrating had I tried to put it together not knowing the word was misspelled.

I’m continuing with my effort to keep up my attempts at art.  I bought some Paperwhites to pot up in a dish of gravel hoping to bring a little early spring into the house.  Before I planted them I laid them out on a notebook page and took a picture so I could draw them later.  The second drawing is done in pastels, which I hadn’t used since high school.  I had forgotten how much fun they are to use.

Yesterday, Valentine’s Day, started out warm.  My son, granddaughters and I delivered much appreciated handmade Valentine’s and Meals on Wheels without jackets.  When Paul and I took off for our day it was in the 60’s.  We took about an hour’s drive to Melvern Lake.  We had read reports of eagle sightings in the area.  When we arrived we found large amounts of gulls walking on the ice.  They, along with the broken ice, were gorgeous and we got out so I could take some pictures.  We were shocked it had already dropped 20 degrees, and the temperature continued to drop.  We never saw any eagles, but we did see eight blue herons staying close together.  And I didn’t get out of the car to take any more pictures.  By the time we headed home the temperature had dropped a total of 40 degrees.

I’m still knitting the infinity scarf with my yarn from Peru, just now starting the second charted section.  But I also started a ten stitch blanket for my granddaughter’s birthday next month.  It’s a simple fun pattern that I’m making out of the Lion Brand Mandala cakes.  She really likes the yarn and asked for me to make her something with it.  But it’s a 3, light, which has me wondering if it will be heavy enough.  I’m considering starting again in another yarn.

I’m currently reading Winter Hours by Mary Oliver.  But I’m also finding out now that I’m not rushing out the door I can lose entire mornings on the internet researching.  Here is a link for an article and a podcast interview with Mary Oliver, who sadly just passed away the end of January.  And for another thoroughly enjoyable hour, I also found this podcast with Maira Kalman reminding me of her book The Principles of Uncertainty which I’m now reading again.

I’ve included three other internet links below that I found enjoyable, moving and thought-provoking.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Enjoyable: http://www.dinneralovestory.com/my-mom-was-a-fast-food-cook/

Moving: https://cupofjo.com/2019/02/julie-yip-williams-letter-to-her-daughters/

Thought-provoking: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/jakarta-january?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Poem-a-Day%20%20February%2011%202019&utm_content=Poem-a-Day%20%20February%2011%202019+CID_884909d4d25979de6aeb1951a596f890&utm_source=Email%20from%20Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=Jakarta%20January