Once again, it’s all about timing.  We ordered a real hot tub and are trying to give away the claw foot one.  The excavator came the day before our major snowfall and said, wait until the spring thaw to set up it’s final resting place.  So here it is…in our driveway.  At least it’s pretty private.  Next problem, setting it up.  First we had an air lock and no water spewed forth from the jets.  We figured this out in the dark when it was about 10 degrees outside.  This meant it also wasn’t heating – after it was filled, luckily, with hot water from our outside tap.  So I had a mildly sleepless night thinking about our new hot tub freezing out there.  The water temp only fell to 80 degrees but not warm enough for my taste.  After about 10 phone calls to the manufacturer and 3 trips to hardware stores, Tim fixed it and this morning, 3 days later, it’s 103 degrees.  When Chelsea and I were in New Zealand, one town boasted tepid springs.  Now I know what they are talking about.

Avatar 3D

We saw Avatar this week.  Not to be missed.  I laughed, I cried and I spent $20 for matinee tickets.

Touch mohair scarf

This is knit from yarn I bought in New Zealand.  I love it!  Very light and warm.  Maybe I’ll wear it in the hot tub.

We went to watch the Nordic Combined competition today at Lake Placid.  Participants were from around the world and they were vying for spots on their Olympic teams as well as endorsements from sponsors.  First they jump off a 90m ski jump at about 60 mph and travel 80 – 95 meters before landing.    Happily there were no agonies of defeat.  Then somehow (using the Gunderson method) the ski jump score is weighted and they compete in a 10k cross country ski race.  The start times are staggered based upon the score from the ski jump – the best start first – so that the winner of the cross country race is the ultimate winner.  Unbelievable how fast they fly overhead.  I tried to snap some photos but missed a lot and never really captured their speed .  Their grunts and the rush of the wind was incredible.

We took the elevator up to the top of the 120m jump, which wasn’t in use, and watched from there a bit.  The views of the High Peaks was great.  It was a balmy 14 degrees so with about 20 layers of clothes on, and lots of knit and woven wear, I was toasty.

Oops I missed

View from the top

Right place and time

After the races, we stopped at a sugar house to buy some syrup.  Despite some problems with navigation, we made it there.  The shop keeps costs down by not paying anyone to man the store and relies on the honor system.  They must not read the Press Republican.   There was a lot of money in the till when we got there.

Trusting Maple Sugar Shop

Nice to wake up to this morning.  On land, I don’t care if the morning sky is violet, pink or bright red!  We’ve had some snow and have been cranking the wood burning stove to keep toasty.  I chopped a pile of wood and it’s still fun.  Very satisfying when the log splits on the first try and both pieces go flying.  I’m going to spin a positive light here so all the kids will be happy to chop wood when they arrive.

First Warped Loom

I followed Ashford’s instructions that came with the wheel and found it very easy to warp the loom by myself.  I was amazed how fast the work progressed and already have a sampler scarf.  More fiber fun.  Today I’m going to a quilting meeting to get started on my new bedspread.

We’ve had our first snowfall!   I got to use the new snow blower but it was really for my own benefit because early in the morning a neighbor came by with a truck to pack down the driveway and after I used the snow blower on the whole driveway (with a path to the “hottub”) another neighbor came by with a huge tractor and plowed the driveway clear.  I’m working on my refined technique. If you reverse over an area a second time, it packs it down better.

We get a local newspaper delivered and I saw this classified in the Lost and Found this A.M., “Found: framed picture in my car.  If lost, please call to describe and claim it.”   Sets the mind to wondering.  Does this person shuttle so many people around that they can’t call up and say, “Hey did you lose a pic in my car?”  Or a darker side of me thinks perhaps the person wants to hear the verbal description of the picture.  Hmmm.  OK so too much time on my hands.

Tim is out trying out couches.  We are sitting ducks in furniture stores once we start lying on and testing out couches.  We become a captive audience and I grow weary.   So since Tim found such a great house, he has authority to buy a couch too.  The excavator thinks we may have missed our window to set up the real hot tub where we want it so we may be soaking in the driveway this winter.  Hear those banjos?

Packed, snowblown and plowed

Looking North

I am still sorting through my pictures from New Zealand.  The landscape was so amazing, even though I never saw a rainbow, that Chelsea and I took over 400 pictures.  She took the good ones.  So here are a few fiber shots.  We were in the land where sheep outnumber humans by about 10:1 and hobbits abound.  I deferred taking pictures of the sheep until the last couple of days.  Here is an example of what a flock of sheep does when you get out of the car and say, “Yo, sheep.”

We traveled south from Christchurch to Ashburton where I could visit the home of Ashford spinning wheels and looms.  I saw the biggest spinning wheel and bought a loom which got home about the same time as me.  I can hardly wait to set it up and start working but I have a few hundred pictures to work with first.

Now that we have a new home, Tim is encouraging me try new fiber adventures because he wants a quilt.  I saw a beauty at a honey store but my computer is having a brain freeze and won’t let me upload more pictures.   Maybe it’s a bit too much for the first (actually second) attempt but…

Back at the cabin, it snowed today but not enough to break out the new  snowblower.  The fireplace and wood stove kept us cozy and I broke out my spinning wheel for the first time in months.  Time to get back working on the fleece I washed in a bucket at the lighthouse.