Spring!

I have still not managed to make my iPad talk to my computer about photos. I've started to use my camera instead. THAT syncs nicely by putting the card into my computer. Poof, photos. Weather is still an amazing thing around here. We went from blizzard with roads closed on the 15th, to sunny and bike rides in short sleeves on the 22nd. My blood is thinning already, and 55 seems cool. Last week, it was warm.

Some pretty photos from the snowy weekend ...  The bird feeders were VERY popular with our feathered friends, and I simply do not have the skills to do them justice.  There was an incredible variety of birds at the feeders, including a Fox Sparrow couple and a bird I have yet to identify -- somewhat like a Worm-eating Warbler, but the size of a chickadee. 

Three cardinals

Filius' Car

Shoveling the Driveway

Minnesotans in rural communities usually have connections to the farms in the area.  And when one has farm toys to play with ... why use a hand shovel?  Our neighbor's driveway -- make that neighbors' driveways -- are usually cleared with something akin to this, or a Bobcat with a plow attachment, or a John Deere tractor with a snowblower/plow set-up.  The others use snowblowers.  Our snowblower hasn't been cooperative of late, so we tend to get our exercise clearing the driveway.

With the passing of winter and the onset of spring, it's time for spring yardwork.  Willow trees shed, and for the next few weeks we'll spend some time each week raking up sticks from under it, putting them in our collection of trash cans, hauling them to the town compost on Saturday, and repeating the procedure.  Yesterday we cleared the garden bed immediately under the willow tree and have 150+ gallons of sticks to dump, plus some piles ready to put into the cans when they become available.  There are Lily of the Valley, tulips, columbine, daffodils, and irises peeking up already.  Bleeding heart, hostas, and the crocus have yet to make their appearance known.

Lupine

Next to the house, some Lupine is definitely anxious to see some sunlight. I removed the white collar from around the plant clump so it'd have space to spread out -- then remembered that the rabbits and chipmunks LOVE Lupine, so I replaced it around one plant.  It'll be fun to see where the Lupine has spread to this year.  My mint has some teensy leaves, and the oregano was more than ready to be uncovered from it's blanket of leaves and gravel from the plows.  (Snow plows, that is.)



A few weeks ago, I came across Tea Eggs on the internet.  Anything with 'tea' in it catches my attention, so I looked into it further and decided to make up a batch.  They're easy, and definitely turn hard-boiled eggs into a conversation piece.  I like the inside of the shell better than the egg itself for appearance.  The appearance changes more than the taste -- but I may still make them again.  

Chinese Tea Eggs

And I've actual knitting content!  Here's the blocked shawl from last week's blog entry.  Canis helped me block it by laying down on it.  ARGH! 

A Hap for Harriet

I'm now working on the sample knit I spoke of last week, but just have to share the chiastic structure which happened to my knitting last week.  I was offered a sample knit (A), and accepted it, and the yarn was put into the mail.  The next day, I was offered another sample knit (B), and accepted it, and the yarn was put into the mail.  And I said to myself, "I'll probably hear from C tomorrow with some knitting work."  C was early, and the e-mail popped into my inbox 3 hours shy of the next day.  C's knitting work was electronic, so I got started on it the next morning, and finished it up the day the yarn for B arrived.  Project B was in the final rows when the yarn for Project C arrived.    A B C C B A.  Chiasm!  Or in computer-speak, LIFO.  Last in, first out.

As if I don't have enough knitting going on, my friend Beth's Patreon posts this months have been about Danish Nattrøjer, and I am itching to knit one or more at a delightfully fine gauge.   (Counterpane, Carolyn.  You're knitting a COUNTERPANE!!!)  So I ordered some yarn for swatching, and some smaller-diameter needles for use with my knitting belt.  Fun fun fun!

Oh, I know!  In the past, I've had a yearly theme to my knitting -- The Year of the Sock, The Year of the Mitten...  I should do a The Year of Beth's Patreon!  Whatever she posts about in one month, I can knit up the next.  That would be so fun.  AFTER the counterpane is done.

Maybe. 

More April snows

The projected winter storm hit as projected, and was significant enough to get elevated to Blizzard status and cancel church services.  Unhappily for my sugar consumption, I'd made treats for our fellowship time after church and had an abundance of salted nut bars and chocolate molasses chews.  Willpower for opened treats in the house is not my strong suit.  Some yet survive in the freezer, though!

I took before/during/after pictures of our weather, and my tablet is refusing to upload them.  I'm giving myself 30 minutes to work on the upload, and you will know I was successful if this post has weekend photos in it. 

Today's winter storm got downgraded to a winter weather advisory.  School districts less than 30 miles from us are either closed or closing shortly, so I wouldn't be suprised if it got upgraded to a storm again.  It's currently snowing at a calm, deliberate pace.  And Filia is at work, 17 miles of country roads away.

So much for Minnesota weather.

In other news, I'm plotting to abandon Facebook and use a simpler platform called MeWe that has the delightful features of letting me choose what I want to see and in which order, and also no ads.  The only drawback is that lots of my friends aren't there yet.

Knitting-wise, I'm back to the counterpane.  A Hap for Harriet is completed and blocking behind me.  A sample knit is in the mail to me.  I've a pattern proposal to submit, and some new yarns to figure out what to do with.  Plenty of activity there, in other words.

New Felted Clogs

A Hap for Me, In Progress

Gardening isn't going so well.  Last April, I was busily cracking my shin on a wheelchair, bike riding, cleaning the yard, making nettle soup, and other such outdoor activities.  This April, the nettles aren't even up yet and cleaning the yard has involved shoveling snow.  I am debating whether to repot my tomatoes, or not.  Vir's tobacco seedlings haven't, with one exception, bothered to emerge from the soil yet.  My decision to direct-seed kale may not have been a good one.  The seeds aren't in the ground yet, at least!  But warmer weather is in the forecast, so perhaps there will be time to garden before the first frost.  To give you an idea -- to qualify for crop insurance in MN, corn can be planted no earlier than April 11th, and soybeans by April 21st.  It's the 18th.  Farm tractors still have snowplows attached to them, not plows, harrows, and seeders.  Fieldwork does not usually include bulldozing the snow off the field.  And oh, it's going to be muddy when the thaw hits.

Morning, April 13th

Morning, April 14th.

Morning, April 15th

Between the April Snows

We're having a fun April.  I left Minnesota last Tuesday in the midst of a winter storm, arrived home the day before several inches of snow fell, and a winter storm is supposed to hit this weekend.  After an inch of rain.  Meanwhile, my tomatoes and other seedlings survived my absence and are looking lovely.  Except for the 6 peppers which haven't bothered to sprout yet. 

There's not much photographic evidence that I took a trip to Dallas.  I thought about making sure that I had photos of me and all the people whom I now have more than a virtual acquaintance with ... and decided against it.  I didn't want to focus on orchestrating photos -- so I didn't!  Other people have that gene, and I was part of at least 2 group photos, one of which is on Ravlery.  That leaves you with the following assortment

The Airplane.  A Study in White

The Mustangs of Las Colinas

The Intriguing Dishcloth

Trust a knitter to get a picture of a variation of Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth, and totally skip getting a picture of her hostess!  Regardless, I had a delightful time.  I saw Cheryl for the first time in a decade or more, met all my co-workers at Dallas Afterschool, spent time with a wonderful assortment of knitters, including several Master Hand Knitting Committee members I'd not met before, and had a bit of time for knitting around the edges.  (My traveling knitting ended up being the counterpane AND a scarf.  Good things, too.  The scarf was in a splitty gray yarn and made for Very Bad Airplane Knitting, so I worked on the counterpane ... until the cable separated a bit from the needle (on a fixed circular), when I switched back to the scarf, until the vendor hall opened on Friday ...  three more squares done, and I'm about halfway through the scarf now. 

It was a delightful trip.