hot, hot, NOT!

Like a game of duck, duck, goose, the weather has been playing with us. Last week was warm (70F/20C) and sunny. On Saturday it rained a lot, which didn't help our enormously flooded rivers. Then, overnight the temperature dropped way, way down and it turned to snow.

The professor knows that I am missing some of our regular household routine. My world has gotten increasingly small. I am now 34 weeks pregnant and have to spend a lot of time in bed with my feet up. (I've got a lot of swelling going on, as well as a variety of other symptoms--it isn't so fun just now.) Anyhow, I usually wake up earlier on the weekends to feed the dogs so my lovely spouse can sleep. Since I'm not so able-bodied, the professor is doing this too.

Here is a photo he caught of Sally the dog, rushing into the house for breakfast. I love how it is all ears and tail and long pointer/hound legs in a blur. This is definitely Sally's morning attitude!

In order to prove to the world that indeed, all the snow had melted and we did have sunny days last week, the professor includes this photo of the new condo construction across the street. We are baffled as to why they changed the design and construction plans to make a frowning face that is pointed directly across from our house. When the professor sits at the dining room table, he looks out the window at this building and spends time debating what would make the face more cheerful. I'm wondering if we need really thick curtains or something so he'll stop worrying about this!

After breakfast, the dogs go on their walk. I have not gotten to take a solitary dog walk since January, and I really miss it. The professor brought his camera along to show me how much everyone still enjoys their walk. You can see the amazing skeletal canopy of our elm trees, which line the streets. Even in winter/spring/late fall, their size and natural architecture is impressive. Although Winnipeg has to actively fight against Dutch Elm Disease and a percentage of the trees die each year, it is one of the few cities in North America that still has its elm trees left. This is one advantage of our very cold climate. I love the majesty of these trees!

Sorry for the brevity of this post--wanted to tell you that I am still alive over here and that there are no babies on the scene as of yet. I'm just waiting patiently and now having a doctor's appointment and an ultrasound every week....along with a lot of unpleasant "twin pregnancy" symptoms that I'd prefer to live without.

Patience is a virtue, right?

snowscapes

Remember this Icelandic yarn I spun up for my dad? Here's a photo of my father wearing the vest my mom knit for him. I'm featuring just the vest, as my dad's blue plaid flannel shirt didn't coordinate well with this Mother-Daughter & sheep masterpiece. :)

My family in Northern Virginia are all snowed in with an enormous blizzard. (My mom's had a lot of time to knit!) There's been a flurry of emails back and forth about it, as they are all completely snowed in. In fact, there was a period where some of them didn't even have electricity. I'm relieved to say that everyone's fine (and the electricity's back on) but they seem to be getting a little bored when it comes to shovelling and staying indoors. After 3 feet (90cm) of snowfall in a week, one could get tired of shovelling! Here in Winnipeg, we get our snow just a little at a time, but it never melts in the winter. So, I thought I'd post some photos of what some winter landscapes here are.

This here on the right is my front walk. If you make the photo bigger you can see Harry and Sally's paw prints--we always leave the house from the front door for our walks. A packed snow path is standard in our neighborhood; it mostly provides traction without ice.

I find the elms that line our street beautiful in all seasons so far. They are these majestic and enormous skeletons in the snow. They also can help figure out where the sidewalk is as compared to the street itself!

I met these guys from the city out surveying the street the other day. They had to use pick axes and shovels to find the curbs and sidewalks underneath the snow! I asked them why they didn't just use Google Earth instead, and one of the younger guys smirked. Apparently they looked up the street that way first, before putting on their parkas and coming out to survey the old fashioned way!

The dogs love their walks in all but the coldest weather. They are happy outside without their coats right down to about 0F (about -17C). They do want to come in more quickly when it's -20F (-29C). The difficulty is that Harry gets these yucky ice balls in between the pads of his paws. We've had the hair there trimmed and we keep his nails short, but he's still had a hard time adapting his feet to winter here. We then attempted something we thought we'd never stoop to:

Dog shoes. The professor bought two pairs of the least expensive booties we could find, but at $30 for each dog, they weren't a bargain. Whenever I even opened the package, Sally raced from the room. So, clearly, Sally wasn't about to enjoy this as a fashion accessory. (Sally wouldn't wear a coat until she finally discovered that her short hair wasn't keeping her warm enough otherwise!)

Harry loves to play dress up, so we thought this might work better for him. First I tried putting on one or two booties. He walked around like he was drunk and his paws stuck in molasses. Then, I hoisted him onto my lap. He lolled around like a big furry baby. I put all four booties on him. I let him outside in the yard with Sally.

At first he stood still, completely scared. Then, distracted, he forgot about his paws and took off after Sally, ready for a chase. Within 30 seconds, the booties (all four of them) flew off his feet like in a TV cartoon. Oh well. So much for booties. I had to find them all in the snowbanks and, once dried off, they still looked brand new and were returned to the store.

Not all fashion styles work for all of us. I, for instance, don't wear bikinis. I'm not one for open toed pumps or nail polish. Harry and Sally? Not fans of the dog booties.

Last, but not least--Icelandic seems to be the fiber theme of the day. This is my first woven rug, done out of Icelandic wool. It's about 2 feet by 3 feet. The cotton warp's a nice long one and I'm now at work on rug #2, which will be Icelandic wool as well, done in a twill pattern. So far, they're very cushy--I think they'll feel amazing underfoot. I may make longer runners of 6 feet, too. I am a fan of these very plain solid color designs--they show off natural colors of wool admirably. The next warp will likely be dark and I'll do dark brown rugs.
(Please do drop me a line if you think a fleece rug sounds tempting...I'm thinking of selling these if I can find any takers.)

That's the news from here! Please take time to make snow angels if you're experiencing a bit of the fluffy white stuff...

the tour goes on

The professor got back to Winnipeg safe and sound and brought home a treat for me. He often goes to collect his moths in an area near Homestead, Florida. He goes to the Robert is Here fruit stand, where they sell all sorts of tropical fruits. Usually, he has himself a keylime milkshake (these milkshakes are top notch!) and he buys me passion fruits, which I really enjoy when he gets home. What is particularly interesting is that technically, bringing fruit from the US to another country can be difficult. (it's one of those questions they ask you on the customs form.) However, there is no real danger of contaminating Winnipeg with passion fruit diseases. One winter's hard freeze will certainly get rid of any tropical fruit diseases we might bring along home in one bag of passion fruits!

The "heat wave" here seems to be passing and we've had a couple of light dustings of snow. The snow doesn't stay around for long and it doesn't amount to much. Supposedly, that will change soon. In the meanwhile, I shot a photo of it so I can remember --we didn't have much snow in November. :)

I'm still really enjoying my time outside. Granted, it hasn't gotten much above about 35F this week, but that is apparently "tropical" for Winnipeg this time of year. I kept meaning to take a photo of the amazing elms that line our street...and then of course, the canopy of greenery turned color and came down. Yet, even now, the trees are majestic skeletons that reach the sky.

In the U.S., the professor and I have been in many small towns where there is some mention of the elms that "used to" line the streets. Sometimes there are replacements--other varieties of trees--and sometimes there are few trees along the streets. That is because Dutch Elm Disease basically wiped out the elms in most of North America. Manitoba has a lot of its elms left...cold weather and an active prevention program have saved many elm trees.

I'd never seen elms "the way they used to look" before moving to Winnipeg, and I find it awesome and inspirational. Every walk under the canopy of these trees finds me thinking about how lucky it is that, so far, these elms have survived.

I can't let the end of November come without mentioning the 95th birthday month of our house. Most people who buy an older home have no idea exactly when it was built. There's a lot we're still wondering about ours, frankly. However, we have this little homemade "plaque" above the entry to our living room. It's a bare spot of plaster that's never been painted. It's framed by molding and signed....click on the image to read it for yourself! (also, if you can figure out that first name at the top, please let me know what you think it says in the comments!) Hopefully, we'll be here for a big bash on November 18, 2014. Seems like 100 years is a good reason to throw a party...maybe an "open house?"

We are celebrating this big birthday by doing lots of home repairs. The professor feels he has a new hobby called "recreational plumbing!" (as in, if you want the toilet to work or that faucet to stop dripping, well, take up plumbing as a serious hobby!) I've also been hanging pictures, cleaning, and trying to take care of other house needs...like frequent radiator bleeds. It's an adventure, owning a house this old, but so far I like the house because of (rather than despite) its age.

Another special part of this house is that the front door opens into a small anteroom. This room has hooks for coats, window seats for putting on boots, and room for dog towels, leashes, and other important winter details. It's also the place where I am able to show you how my knitting is being put to good use!

Many of the knitted samples from my books have been kept pristine, in case anyone should like to see these as a trunk show or at a lecture I give...someday. (the requests aren't exactly rolling in...) That said, my handspun cashmere Gator Gaiter, pictured here from Knit Green, is seeing a lot of use. (project links are available on Ravelry.com) The white hat is the women's or small size of the Icelandic Winter Cap from Fiber Gathering. I love this hat and it is wearing very well!

Both of these projects are quick ones, if you're looking for holiday knitting ideas... I can vouch for them both--at least for me, they are warm, reasonably attractive, and comfortable.

You'll note there are no more pictures of my Icelandic wool spinning--I think I've just finished bobbin seven. It's getting a little monotonous, so no more photos for now...

So, what do you think that first name is on the signed portion of my living room wall? Any guesses?