Thank You Note

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you so much for listening to my plea for more snow. I'm sure I'm not the only one asking for just a wee bit more Winter before Spring, um, springs.  But I might be the most grateful. Today's forecast calls for light snow throughout the day with flurries...the cutest snow and the most fun to watch. Tonight it might snow up to an inch or so.  Perfect!  I didn't ask for another Snow Day, just snow.  You WERE listening!

If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know.  I knit a mean pair of socks, just fyi.

Your humble snow-lover,
Brenda

February Happenings

 Joey turned 18!! He spent his birthday with his dad.  They went go-carting (indoor track) and to the Car Show in Baltimore.  And no, his mother isn't a lazy baker...he likes his favorite cake without icing or frosting.  Favorite cake? you ask...Marble Pound Cake. (Now you want cake, don't you?)

 I finished a mystery shawl on time with the rest of the 600+ knitters doing this project.  The clues were handed out once a week for five weeks.  Each clue had choices A or B...so you could pick which one each week.  You could also do two colors, if you wanted. It's fun to see all the different shawls in the end but some of those color choices...ew!

 Blocked a hat I knit. Very clever hat too. I love patterns that teach you something new. Non-knitters turn away...the brim is knit with short rows so the back is only about 1/2 an inch and the front about 2 inches.  AND the short rows aren't your usual wrap&turn, they're German short rows, oh yes, learned something new I did. Look 'em up on YouTube if you want to see how it's done.  The stitch pattern is super easy to do but the fabric looks woven! I got this hat in a kit from...wait for it...France! The yarn is very "woolly", like off-the-sheep woolly...and it had an odor. After blocking it was much softer and less odor-y.

 Took this cute picture of our cat, Lyra.

And lastly, I knit a new short-row heel created by Dolly.  No holes and no double wraps...don't cha just hate those?  Non-knitters, just nod your heads in agreement.

Confession Sunday

Well, it's Sunday. A good day for confessions, especially if you're kinda Catholic. Or Catholic, but not practicing.  Or as my friend, Mtr. K says "the church you're going to when you're not going to church".  Take your pick.

I follow several blogs, mostly knitting blogs.  If you're scratching your head and saying "What?!" to yourself, yes, believe me...there are tons and tons of knitting blogs just waiting to be read.  They're prettier than mine, better photographed and posted to more often but they don't include me, so how on earth can they be more entertaining? Really, I've never seen an escape-the-giant-spider-encounter post on any of them. So there.

In this lovely month of February, after several snowfalls (since November for some) and cold, cold temps...I'm seeing posts with titles that say "Done, Done so Very Done" and "I'm Finished".  They're not referring to their knitting, oh no.  That's right...they're sick of the cold and snow and want it all to be over.  Everyone from Florida to Maine is sick of cold and snow.  It hangs around long after it falls, piled high in parking lots and front yards, getting dirty and brown, slushy during the day and icing over again at night.  Who on earth isn't sick of this Winter?!

My confession?  I want it to snow AGAIN!!!  Just one more big snowfall before Spring dances in....pleeeeease!!  Mother Nature, if you're reading this...please one more beautiful blanket of white.  Create one more coating of quiet softness on my world, catch every branch and stubborn leaves on trees and Aunt B's still hat-less head (below).

I promise to celebrate Spring with the rest of the world but I'm not ready to bid Winter a fond farewell.

I like to party.

A few funnies for today...

 I finished this pair of socks!  They're Crowley by Alice Yu. Beautiful yarn by Susquehanna Knitting Company. 

Snow Days

These are pictures from our Snow days so far...

These icicles are from a big snow we had that I pretty much missed because I had the flu.  Yes, I got a flu shot! I got the stomach variety not the respiratory variety, which is what the flu shot works to prevent.  So no hope...just get through it.  Not fun. 

 The next snow fall came and I was ready! Here Justine and I are bundled up in our matching Fuego hats! The snow was so light and fluffy it was swirling around us...

 Gracie didn't like it too much.

 Playing in the snow with Padre.

 This is across the little swampy area by our trail.  Water was frozen over.

 Ahhh...now that's what I like to see: A teenager hard at work!

 Icicle toothpick?!

 These following pictures are the result of a snow fall a couple days ago.  The river at our dock is frozen and covered with snow...so pretty!

 The dock has a device that keeps the water bubbling under it so it won't freeze around the pylons and do damage to the dock (I'm guessing...jeez, what do I know, I'm from California!).

 We were out walking around around 4:30pm, just before sunset and man, was it cold!

 Mike has a theory that the brackish water of our river gives the ice a different color.  The river isn't frozen solid, good Lord that would take many, many days of sub zero temps, but it was frozen several inches! We saw foot prints in the snow of someone who was walking on the river.  Crazy.

 Wearing my newest hat...the Amanda Hat.

 Climbing hills in snow is tricky.

Our feet and fingers (and noses) were a bit numb when we got home but it was totally worth it to see the beautiful snow and river as the sun was going down. 

National Tree Adventure

Just in case some of you have been missing your Christmas decorations and for some of you who still haven't put them away (it's ok, no one judging here)...here's our adventure into DC to see the National Tree last month.

 The White House in the back...can you see it? Those people along the fence are the closest you can get.  The weather was sunny and if you stood in the sun long enough, you actually warmed up enough to unzip your coat (keep that scarf on in case the wind kicks up).

 All around the National Tree were smaller trees from each state and territory. The ornaments were covered with these plastic balls to protect them from the elements but after some snow/rain, then sunshine...we had a bit of condensation lurking inside so seeing the ornaments was a challenge. Most were from schools in the State.  

 This was the tree from Florida which had the brightest ornaments and looked the best we thought.  Can you tell we miss Florida? 

 Selfie with the Tree.

 At the base of the National Tree were model train displays.  So cute!!  That was the best part! This one had airplanes too. There was a fence around the Tree, but plenty of room to walk around and see all the displays. The sunny weather (and it was a Sunday) brought out the crowds.

 It would have been fun to see it at night all lit up. 

 Me, the kids and the White House.

 After the Tree we had lunch at some pizza place (it was SO good) then walked a couple blocks to the Portrait Museum. This was the inner courtyard...there was even a restaurant so you could dine "outside". It was very pretty inside this courtyard...Mike, Joey and Veronica are walking across a water feature, looks like glass huh?

 The museum was interesting...most interest was the new $100 bill on display.  Very colorful! Across the street was the International Spy Museum...that's next on the list!

 Then we walked to Ford's Theater. And across the street is the house where Lincoln died. The amount of history surrounding us here is hard to grasp.

 Ok, totally touristy...we even took pictures inside the Metro station.  haha

2014 is here!

Last night as we rang in the New Year (well, not so much "rang" and watched Ryan Seacrest blab about it on TV...and what's the deal? Are Jenny and Donnie together in real life? That was some smooching going on...jeez!), I thought a lot of people are happy to see 2013 heading out the door. It was a tough year for some of my friends. I'm sure 2014 will be better.  I sure hope so.

So have you seen that At&t commercial, you know, the one with the guy sitting at the table with a bunch of kids, talking to them.  And the kid says something about making a "New Year's Revolution" instead of Resolution. That's me. I feel like I sometimes revolt against my resolutions...and not too soon after Jan. 1st.  So in the last few years I've been more in the mind of "goals" instead of resolutions.

Goals this year? Not many I'm glad to tell you.

Exercise more (ok, that's every year...I should have it tattooed on my forehead).

Blog more...bet some of you are thinking "it's about time" on that one.

I can't think of anything else...guess I'm not much of a resolution or revolution maker.

Are you making Resolutions this year?