bread & milk?

We don't get much snow around here. The big joke in South? One person says, "Did you hear that there's snow on the weather report?"

and the response is, "Do you have bread and milk?" I have no earthly idea why all these households in the South don't have milk and bread the rest of the time, or why, if there's an inch of snow, there should be a run on the store to buy these two items. Logic is completely unrelated to this weird custom!!

However, this morning, when I went out to snap a photo of a rare morning around here (freezing rain, topped by some slippery snow flurries, which would not cause any discussion in upstate New York or New England, but of course, we have no salt, sand, or plows, so schools are closed), I saw a man walking up the hill with a half a bag of Wonder bread. A bread emergency? No kidding.

My enjoyment of a nice brisk 20 degree day with flurries was marred by the fact that there are still folks in my area with tarps over their roofs, or no roofs at all from the bad storms and tornadoes we had in the last couple of weeks. The university is doing a "Show of Love" bake and art sale tomorrow to collect donations and other household supplies for community families that have been affected.
On the fibery front, I've been busy lately. Here's some handspun that I just washed and dried. From left to right: Gray Mohair and handdyed alpaca/wool pink blend 2 ply, a skein of Jacobs wool, spun from the lock, 1 small skein of spindle spun Finn wool over a big pile of Romney and fine wool cross brown singles, and finally, another skein of 2 ply Finn wool (for mittens, someday.) The 2 ply Fin wool is fingering to sport weight; everything else is approximately worsted weight. I'm thinking of doing a two color sweater maybe with the dark brown wool, but I'll think on that as I spin some more.

I've finished the first mitten from the Grafton Fiber batt. I've got the Black Watch color scheme going here, and you'll note that the afterthought thumb is GREEN. 'Cause, of course I like to think I have a green thumb! The second mitten will have a black thumb, perhaps, just to play up the joke. Are you interested in learning how I got from the batt to the mitten? Let me know in the comments and I'll do a tutorial.

Finally, in preparation for Valentine's day, the professor has given me some very beautiful tools. (actually, he gave them to me in mid-January, but whatever..we're not strict about dates here!) I've used my Heart's Ease Socks as a backdrop so you can remember the Valentine's theme... These are two pairs of very fine antique scissors, made in France, and recently rediscovered and offered for sale. The professor also got me a special horn comb. I'm filled with delight over these tools. He'd apparently been thinking about it a while, because we use both his mother's scissors and great-grandmother's scissors all the time. He thought of these new ones as an investment in the future. That's a pretty romantic notion, isn't it?!



Have a happy, affection-filled day tomorrow, with extra hugs from me! :)