boy...is it ever getting deep around here

How deep you ask? 12.5 inches. That's how deep. And geez louis 36 hours without electricity. I know why the pioneers lived to the ripe ol' age of 29. They spent all day everyday making food and heat. Cross that off my list of things to do. The thing that gets me is growing up in Colorado, it snowed like this with regularity so people when on about their bidness. Here? Not so much. The whole city was shut. Everything. They had to call out the National Guard to get people out of their cars on the highway. There were people who were stuck for almost twelve hours (that happened to us once when we had just returned for Iceland of all places. We were stuck on the beltway in DC. For twelve hours. That was a treat with a two and six year old I can tell you.). Anyway, nothing was moving. We live in the mountains and it HAS been known to snow here. You would like to think they would be a tad bit more prepared for when it actually happens.

It is awfully pretty though...

And? May I say? Thank You for the lovely birthday wishes!

48...is great!

Today is my birthday, and I love birthdays. I never worry about getting older (I'm living to 100, you know) because I love birthdays so much.

Dale gave me this wonderful ring as part of my birthday gift. He found this artist on Etsy who will stamp things on what she calls poetry rings. Dale asked her to engrave words from our song. When mountians crumble to the sea...

There will still be you and me.

I'm a lucky, lucky girl...

well, hello there...

Geez...I don't know what happened. I was taking down the Halloween decorations, keeping an eye out for bears and suddenly it's December and the tree is up. Sheesh. This whole year has just blown by at warp speed. That lovely wreath up there? Was an idea I stole from Tia who stole it from someone else who I'm sure, stole it from somewhere else. You know how it goes... I remember something very much like this one when I was a girl; only they were made out of those IBM data cards my dad use to bring home from work. This one is sheet music.

So. Anyway. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving prepared by my lovely daughter-in-law. All I had to do was bake a pie (pumpkin-pecan), make cranberry relish, and bring a bottle of wine (an exceptional little Spanish number called Juan Gil)(love,love,love Spanish wines, the only thing I like better is a good brunello, but those are very expensive so I have to settle for baby brunellos most of the time...sigh). Um...where was I? Oh yes, pie...cranberry relish...wine. Thanksgiving was a treat. The only thing to make it better would be if Dale and Samantha could have been with us.

I have been knitting and felting nests and needle felting eggs for Christmas ornaments to go in the gift boxes this year, I found this cute pattern here.

What else. Oh. I'm (literally) walking my ass off. Finally able to walk for exercise, but I still can't walk the hills in the neighborhood so I'm stuck on the treadmill for a while longer. But I'm not complaining because I am SO happy to be moving around again after the hip thing.

And? I haven't purchased one single Christmas present. Oy.

a halloween tail

On Halloween, about midnight, I let the dogs out into the front yard. I was dog sitting Chris and Kristy's dog, Fiona, because they were having a party and it was just easier for her to be here. So, anyway, I let Jack and Fiona out and I noticed there was a smell hanging in the air, all over the yard; kind musky with a sulphur undertone. It was weird. The dogs started going berserk, they were running around the perimeter of the fence, barking like mad. Of course, it was raining. I noticed the the security light had come on back in the driveway and the trashcan had been overturned (it's a BIG can, tall and on wheels). Hmm. Finally, I got the dogs back into the house and that was the end of it. Or so I thought. Yesterday, my neighbor called me to let me know that about that time I was running around the yarn. In the rain. In the dark. Chasing crazy dogs. There was a black bear (yes. BLACK BEAR) cruising through the neighborhood looking for something good to eat.

This isn't the bear she saw, this photo is from our local 'bear aware' website. I've lived in this house for 14 years and there hasn't been a bear before (that I know of). We've had big tom turkeys walking down the middle of the road gobbling, and I saw a fox running down the driveway this summer. It looked like it had a sandwich in it's mouth, which I thought was weird until I realized it found a big piece of bread Dale threw out for the birds. Years ago, there was a pair of foxes that played in the snow. But bears? Not so much.

time change

I love the Sunday when daylight savings ends. There is a shift in time yes, but in me as well. It's almost as if I am existing outside of time, in a shadow of time. This feeling last too; until my body and my life catch up to the change in time. Usually a week or so. And then? I like the digging in and cozy feeling of wrapping everything up before dark and closing the doors and curtains against the dark, turning on the lights. Don't get me wrong...I love when the days get longer and we have the free run of summer, but equally, I love the recharging that happens in the darker months. I know this probably sounds very off the wall, but there it is.

boo

Happy Halloween, ya'll!

lace goes in the sock column...

I must be deficient somehow because I started the lace bit on my shawl and had to tear it out TWICE. I could. not. figure out what in the hell I did wrong; smoke started coming out of my ears and then my brain crashed. So. I frogged the lace bit and I did a slight ruffle-ly-thing instead. It's cute but it's not the lacy bit either. Now I'm a lace-don't as well. Crap. And I still need to block the shawl. Actually, after living with it for a minute I think I like the ruffle better than the lace anyway. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Because I am a copycat I have been compulsively making silhouettes for Halloween. Probably because of my lace inadequacies. But whatever. It's Tia's fault. The link for the witch and the werewolf are here.

I love, love, love the crows.

Oh. And did I mention I blew out my back last week? No? Well, I did and I'm pissy about it. Not that you could tell. But really, I'm not as sweet as I usually am. I stubbed my freaking toe going up the stairs which shot lightening straight up to my sad, sad hip and whipped around to blow my back out. Stupid stairs. Stupid hip.