Ice, Ice Baby

 

I got to play Rink Nanny this week. One of Daughter's students had a test session at the rink we both used to skate at years ago so I met her there so I could wrangle the little one while she did her job. 

It wasn't hard to do because he loves Zambonis so we just went from sheet of ice to sheet of ice watching them do their thing. It's a big rink with many sheets of ice.

When they were finished their work we played Zamboni on a table in the warming room. I alcohol wiped it to death first because I'm pretty sure it hadn't been cleaned since I was there last and that was about 20 years ago. 

I even found a knitter in the lobby to chat with. Her daughter was also testing and like I did in my day, didn't watch but kept herself busy with the needles during what is always a tense time. She was working on a breast prosthesis which earned a great deal of admiration and respect from moi. 

Everything looked pretty much the same as the last time I was there. Even the same person was behind the check in desk. Only this plaque was new. This rink volunteered itself as an overflow morgue during the height of the pandemic. The owners planted a memorial garden in the courtyard in honor of those who worked tirelessly during this terrible time in their history. It was a grim reminder that had me digging my mask out of my pocket when.....

....we left the rink and headed over to the Ikea that's down the street. I hadn't been there in ages either and..... 

....was not happy with the changes I found. Yes, I love the new self checkouts that get you out faster but when did Ikea turn all.....beige? Room after room of nothing but boring colors and minimalist decor. I was not impressed but I did save a lot of money because of it. 

Having said that I did manage to fill the baby's stroller with a few things to bring home. Mostly marked down Christmas stuff and ginger cookies. 

And....look who shared the ride home with me. Stevie.  Daughter handed her over in the parking lot. She's still in her box because in it she's worth almost $300. I AM going to take her out. Maybe tomorrow. The guy who got it for me insists she's to be played with. She will be. As soon as I get used to her being here. Squee...

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 

Llama Lump is a done deal. I had a terrible time with the snowflakes. I had to rip them out and re-do them in a darker color since the white and pale blue they were supposed to be faded into the background. 

I finished the last box of the top border and packed it all away. 

Christmas Quaker will still be worked on for the rest of the winter. It doesn't feel very Christmasy to me and I like working on things that are mostly one color. I've got lots of spring things to get out of time out but it's too soon. 

And....I spied these beautiful embroidery scissors on Valerie's blog last week and had to have them. Now I do and they are even prettier in person. I don't want to even take them out of the box. 

Charming Stars

I finished the 7th block of Charming Stars yesterday. I need to make 2 more and am worried about sewing myself into a corner with the colors and patterns. These are big blocks and I've got nowhere to lay them out. My floors are a muddy mess thanks to days of rain. I've given up vacuuming and mopping. It's useless.

I also finished machine quilting the Dresden blocks and now have to tackle all the brown sashing. I was going to do something fancy with stencils again but decided against it since it didn't go so well with my last attempt. I think I'll keep it simple but I am going to change the thread color. 

What I also did on a rainy Sunday was get out all the old photos of my dad's side of the family and put them in one place. I need to do that with my mom's side too. It makes it so much easier when you are going back and forth with websites trying to figure out who is related to who and how. What we have found out is that people back in the day did an awful lot of lying. Matching up family stories and documents doesn't usually add up. I just learned that my dad was actually 3 years older than we thought he was. AND don't get me started on WHO is in that little coffin. The back says Barbara Jean. Family lore says it's my father's sister who was run over by a car but we can't find a thing about it. Anywhere. And the only deceased infant we can find was just a few months old and didn't even belong to my grandmother but to her sister. Something's not adding up. 

Here Come the Brides

 

The very last of last month's midnight Barbie shopping arrived yesterday. I had won her in an auction but the seller for whatever reason couldn't get her mailed out until the 20th. 

Just look at that little blue garter she came with. I had a total squee moment over it. I wanted her bad enough to bid on her because not only is she an original 50's reproduction but she has red hair. Growing up all my Barbies were red haired. My middle sister had all brown haired ones and my youngest had blonde. That's how we could tell who belonged to who and reduce the chances of any squabbles-but I can assure you there were still plenty of squabbles.

Speaking of bride dolls, look what I found in my grandmother's box of photos last week. I remember my sister coveting her like crazy when we were little. We were not allowed to touch her. The next time I see my sister I am going to hand her over to her because the last thing I need is another creepy old doll around here. I've got plenty.

And....this is a hint to my other Barbie loving blog friend out there. The #1 coveted Barbie doll last year was.....sold out and is going for a fortune on ebay right now. Well.....you know how Daughter's student works in the doll designing industry? Guess what he managed to get for me. I don't have her yet. She's at Daughter's waiting for me to get up there to get her but nothing is stopping me from putting together a wardrobe fit for the white witch of rock and roll in the meantime. 

Some of it's already arrived. 

Hot Stuff

 

Yesterday it was 75 degrees out. I had every window and door open and the ceiling fans on. 

As nice as that sounds, it was awful.  Everything was a muddy mess from all the snow and things that shouldn't be popping up are popping up through it already. Those are either my crocus or my narcissus. I can't tell which.

I knew it. My poor camellias are frost burned. They've been trying to bloom for weeks now and this heat wave is forcing them into it too early. 

It was not a pleasant day. The heat made me tired and all that I accomplished other than a lot of scrubbing and cleaning was a half hearted attempt at another star block. It's hard to believe just days ago I was sliding down my ice and snow covered back yard and yesterday I was about to have a heat stroke. Mother Nature needs to get herself on some meds. She's just not behaving very rationally these days. 

Friday Fluff: Family Ties

 

Ever since we found so many unknown to us relatives, my sisters and I have been going hot and heavy with the genealogy. Combing through old documents that have been uploaded on Ancestry is addicting and keeping me up at night but look what I found....I hit the jackpot. My 5th great grandmother on my mother's side, the Allen branch, had a SPINNING WHEEL.

Like mine. 

And a pair of hand cards like mine for doing this. I was so chuffed to find this out. She also had 10 pounds of wool, 6 ewes and 4 lambs according to the inventory she submitted for her husband's will. 

She also had a "weaving apparatus" like mine and I hope a home as messy and full of things to do as mine. This makes me wildly happy even though I know most women had that stuff back in the day which for this lady happened to be in 1770 in the English colony of Prince George, which became the county I happened to be born in and had lived most of my life until we moved to the beach. 

And.....I've finally made peace with my yak. I spin at night pretty much in the dark while watching whatever I am watching on TV and just don't look down. I'm just going to enjoy it running through my fingers and not think about a finished product.

A Fresh Start

 

Nothing is better than the sound of that roll of paper hitting the floor under the loom. That happened on Saturday during my wildly productive day and made me very happy.

That roll of paper means that I am that much closer to finishing this thing. I have one more roll to unwind on the back and then that towel will be a done deal. It was time to get started thinking about something new. 

I had to spend some time with the weaving stash figuring it out. I was looking for a draft I have done many times. I wanted something tried and true because what I am working on looks like a disaster and makes me sad.

Because my loom is smaller than what most patterns call for I always have to do a lot of math to cut them down to size. Somewhere in this mess I had that one already done. All I needed to do was find it. 

 Ah ha...there it was. I've done this Herringbone Twill many times over in many colors and it always looks great. Now I am going to do it in these fall colors that I've had sitting here since last summer. I'll most likely have the towel done by next fall-if I'm lucky. 

I had to declutter the warping board before I got starting winding as it had became a catch all for every bag I own but I did get started. The love is back.

And....right before the rain came yesterday we took Pup out for a stroll and were surprised to see so much ice left on the inlet that runs off the bay into the marina. It hadn't seemed that cold when we had all the snow, at least not to me, but it seems that it actually was pretty chilly. 

A Change in the Weather

 

By the time you read this all my lovely snow will be gone. The headache I had yesterday told me a change was on the way. We were going from the teens to the 60's by Friday and guess who decided at the last minute to go out and shovel what was left of the snow yesterday. We've been getting along just fine with it where it was. I honestly think he was just trying to get out of the serious housework that was happening inside. 

In case it was actually another case of ants in the pants I got him out a puzzle. We're looking at three days of rain ahead and the idea of being cooped up with him was not making me happy. Of course I can't tell him the puzzle is for him or he would just object claiming he's too busy.  So I just set it up and then work on it a little and then tell him I'm stuck and watch him finish it. Works every time. 

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 

I almost got the top border of Patchwork Hiver finished this week. I have one more small box to fill in and then it's going in timeout for the rest of the winter. I know it drives people crazy when I do this but this one is just too Christmasy to work on now. I'll save that last side border for next year.

I will finish Llama Lump this year. I just have a few snowflakes to stitch here and there and then it's a done deal. I've got two more of the stacked critter collections stashed away to start in the spring. Some goats and some pigs, I think.

And.....if you want a laugh. Here's how we get our groceries down to the house when it snows. We have a long steep driveway and we park at the top of the hill so this has been our solution for years. It's great fun. I even took a few more slides down the backyard after I get everything put away. It's melting fast though. It'll be 60 by the end of the week. Boooo........

Ups and Downs

 

I finally got my ride. The temperatures dropped and the wind stopped and the conditions were perfect last night. 

My backyard is the perfect sleigh riding hill. Not too steep. Just a nice long ride.

We always see how close we can get to the drop off to the creek. No one has ever gone over it-yet. 

The walk back up isn't too bad. I just take my time. I was riding solo. The Mister is not too sure about it after all that surgery he just had. Pup went down with me once and then thought better of it. 

I had a good old time. It was 29 degrees but I was hot. I was covered in Lopi. There's nothing better for snow than Lopi. I don't even wear boots anymore. I just pull a pair of Lopi socks over my regular socks and I'm good to go in just a pair of my silly Crocs. Good times. 

This and That

 

I'm not sure how I did it but I actually got to work on stuff yesterday. Getting up at 3:30 am helps. I don't know what it is but I can't sleep past that time anymore. As soon as the chores were done, I made time for the Juki. 

I got one more star block made. I took this photo right before I sewed the top points on backwards. Rip, rip, rip but since I wasn't being bothered by anyone or anything I didn't even mind. 

I got a decent sized section of gray hooked on the snowman. 

And finished joining the first row of Audun.

Maybe it was all the snow or the bitter cold or the wind. I don't know but The Mister and the critters all resigned themselves to leaving me the heck alone for a change and doing their own things. Give me more of that please.