Almost Heaven

 

The weather has been insane here. I'm not going to complain about 60 degrees in January but it does feel weird. On Thursday when we took Pup for her walk down by the water it was eerie. The bay was like glass. The clouds were so low on the horizon you couldn't see the eastern shore. 

The sun was reflecting off those clouds making striped reflections on the water in a way I had never seen. All you could do was stop and stare in awe at the sight. If a herd of angels had flown by I wouldn't have been in the least surprised. 

Some Friday Fluff and a Couple of Fails

 

I finally got around to plying the singles I spun from the leftover Thrummed Mittens fiber. It was not a fun spin. The fiber was hard to draft and very clumpy but this chain plied yarn should work just fine in the Garter Squish. 

As for the fails.....the first one is a big one. See that metal transition track between the two floors? It runs the length of the kitchen/dining/living area. Yesterday on a high from finishing the foyer we decided to tackle the last remaining kitchen job which was to put down the T molding that covers the track. Did it fit? NO. Nothing we did let the top piece pop into place like it's supposed to. The bottom prongs just broke off every time. The transition piece and the track came together as a set and the set was from our flooring collection... so now what? We don't have a clue other than rip up all the track and start over with something else. I see a trip to Lowe's in our future. 

Fail Number Two was not as costly-just really stupid. Since I didn't have a working oven at Christmas I never made any gingerbread this year so I thought I would play with my new little oven and make some. I got every thing prepped and mixed and when I went to add the flour......I didn't have any. The can was empty. All I had was some rather elderly whole wheat flour so I threw it in and hoped for the best. Yuck. It all turned out very mealy. The cookies were not crisp. The cake was like lead. THEN as I was cleaning up and putting everything away I found...........

....yeah. A brand new bag of flour that had come in MY VERY LAST GROCERY ORDER just last week. Ooof. How dumb was that? 

Since the Universe was talking to me very loud and clear yesterday I decided to sit the rest of the day out with the puzzle. It seemed like the safest bet. 

Snow Job

In 2018 I made this runner and mini quilt set for the top of the buffet.

Now I want one for the table too. I'm starting by making the snowflakes and then I'll worry about what comes in between later. I'm going to have to so some serious stash diving to come up with the remnants of what I used before. They are in there. They are just all over the place. 

Of course when I got out the paper piecing stuff Dear Jane gave me the side eye. Yes, I see you. Yes, I'll get back to work on you. First things first and right now I need some snow....but it's still 60 degrees out. In January. 

 

Homework

 

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh....after taking off pretty much the entire month of December it's back to work. All that molding we put up in the foyer in November had to be painted and the stair treads needed another coat to undo the damage we did to them when we were banging all that molding into place. 

The Mister reminded me of it every darn day any time I set off to do something I wanted to do. I got tired of hearing it so Monday morning I jumped out of bed and into to my paint clothes. It's still around 60 degrees so it was good painting weather for January. We had it done in no time.

My reward for pushing through it was a walk on the beach. It's not too often that's a pleasant thing to do in January.

Someone else was also not happy when she saw the work tools coming back out again but she waited patiently for us to finish so she could get out and about. That happy face won't last long though. We're already planning to redo the downstairs bathroom as soon as the paint dries in the foyer. It's always something. 

Taking the Plunge

 

Hey Mister....whatcha lookin' at?

Oh....it's the New Year's Day Polar Bear Plunge. 

The beach was filled with lots of crazy people taking a swim in the 40 degree water. It was 60 degrees out so it was actually a very good year for it. 

It was just a week ago that I was down there taking photos of the ice. 

What a difference a week makes. I do have to say though....I prefer the cold-and having the place to myself. 

Resolutions

 

I'm not posting a review of my finished work this year. I'm posting a "I really need to finish this" review instead. I really need to finish hand quilting Dad's Squares quilt. I'm on on the very last row of the very last border and I have 2 1/2 sides to go. I can do this. 

I need to finish Audun. I have a box of squares. I need a bit more and then they need to be joined. I can do this. 

I am soooo close to finishing Rainbow Kitty. I can do this. 

I just finished Advent sweater #16 so I need to make 8 more before December 1, 2023. I can do this. 

I'm not counting Garter Squish because I want this around during this year's Tour de Fleece. It will be good spinning motivation. I need lots of colors to get it done. 

I'm also NOT counting the Fair Isle siblings. They will take me years. I hope I still have years but let's NOT go there. My mind's been going there too much these days-especially when I look at my sock yarn stash. Never will I ever. 

 

Happy, Happy

Well folks, it seems we've made it another year. Here's hoping 2023 is a happy and healthy one. We all certainly deserve it.