I attended a writing workshop in Blue Mountain Lake today. The setting was amazing but the trip there in the snow was not. I crawled and skidded over mountain passes while I watched snowplows pass in the other direction. How’m I doing?
photography
Finally, a winter day
We finally got some snow today and more is expected through the night. We drove out to our CSA but were dismayed to find our favorite bakery closed for the winter holiday. It has become a tradition to stop there on our way home for “pizza night”. Dogwood Bakery makes the best pizza we have ever eaten anywhere! We made all sorts of back up plans but went to a pizza place right in town that was surprisingly good. We didn’t want to wait for our pizza so took home one to “take and bake”.
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Who cares about taxes
I am the trustee of my parent’s estate, which creates a lot of frustrating paperwork at tax time. Today was gorgeous though and I have shed my cast, so what could I do but take a walk. Tim and I walked to and fro our half mile dirt road, which means that I walked a mile in my boots. Yeah!!!
My new found freedom also enabled me to venture into the local thrift store, which is situated up a long flight of stairs. The first time in 9 weeks! I have sort of hesitated from shopping there since my patients could theoretically come in for an exam and see me in their clothes but what the heck. I was really on a quest for material and fiber but I found a Harris Tweed coat for $5.00!!! I have missed these opportunities for almost two months.
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So I am now the proud owner of a Harris Tweed Coat woven in a point twill by James MacDonald! In addition, I found a set of hand embroidered napkins and a table cloth for $3.00. I also spotted a pair of placemats I had crocheted while we were living on our boat and I managed to stop myself from buying them back.
Ain’t no spring chicken
Me or this bird. I think it was a mourning dove but it looks sort of eerie. I’ve been taking baby steps without my cast. I managed to walk for ten minutes on a treadmill at a rate of 2.0 miles an hour but I still can’t dance the tango. It’s cold without much snow so I am not really missing anything. I’ve been finishing knit and woven projects so fast, I am shipping them out before I remember to take their photo! Maybe I’ll get to see them in use.
The endless quilt is complete. I tried to make some matching shams and while they didn’t work out, figured out a technique which cut the piecing time in half at least. Always learning. It’s about ready to be put into full time use.
I finished a dresser runner for my daughter and it’s already in use. I was scared it looked like a burlap bag when I was finished with it but it won approval.
The days are rapidly getting longer and we even had a flock of Robins stop by the other day.
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Lake Placid hosted World Championship bobsled and skeleton races this weekend and we got to watch the action. We were able to observe the sleds and riders fly by in a tenth of a second and then follow their progress along the two mile track on television monitors. It’s so impressive to be in the company of world class athletes. They may outperform me on the treadmill.
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It’s about time
Light green trees
Jay Mountain is snow capped but not the rest of the terrain. We’ve had a warm spell, which turned anything wet to ice, and more rain and sleet is expected tonight. I think the good snow will come when I am ready to ski again this season. Today’s outing was a trip to Lake Placid, where I had to make sure the road surfaces were fairly clean so I wouldn’t go flying – crutches, walking cast and all. I had to go out because I needed more material to finish a quilt I started two days ago. That’s right, two days ago! And I think it will be done by tomorrow. This could be very bad. If I can make quilts faster, I will finish them sooner and will have to buy more fabric. Oh these addictions.
This is the first time I made a quilt with a “jelly roll” and it was amazing. Jelly roll strips are pieces of material which are precut. I sewed a few together, cut them into triangles and sewed them together again. I never knew! My last quilt, which isn’t finished yet, took five months to piece together. This one will be done tomorrow. It’s going to cover the back of the couch to protect it from the cats. I sewed it together as it was below, but then decided it needed to be long and narrow, so took away one row and made it longer – 2 x 6 blocks. I combined it with the backing and batting when I got home, did a “quick turn” and am almost done machine quilting it. The cats are very happy with it.
One day quilt
Almost finished
On my way to town, I was reminded of the stellar athletes who come from this area and give me a sense of pride. I pass the Olympic cross country ski trails, the luge and bobcat runs, the ski jumps and the Olympic Training Center. I would like to say I contributed to the American Luge team winning a silver medal in Germany this January. I would like to say it but it’s not exactly true. I had to reschedule my follow up visit with my surgeon who traveled with them as the team doctor.
I will have to climb this peak again when I recover. The first time, I made it almost to the top – but not quite. Next time.
Snow Cascade
Iced tea
It was so cold the other night, we awoke to ice on the inside of the windows! It’s the perfect storm of a propane fireplace heater, which creates moisture, a new, well insulated house and arctic temperatures. We’re trying different combinations to prevent it. I guess the easy answer would be to simply turn the heat way up but noooooo.
Inside Ice
To keep warm, I just keep brewing and drinking tea and photographing the pretty reflections.
Reflections on tea
I saw tracks outside and was convinced two snowshoe hares must have been exploring the field with a duck-footed hop. I don’t think we actually have snowshoe hares but it was a better thought than tracks of a bear awakened from its winter sleep. On closer inspection, Tim told me they were left by humans.
Tracking
The absence of electric wires continues to pay off.
Jay from inside
Snowed in
Not exactly but it does make crutching more challenging. We had about six inches yesterday and expect the same today. It’s quite pretty but I’m disassociated from it since I won’t be able to play. Loki enjoyed sitting on the porch to watch it come down and Shirley sat by the fireplace or in my lap in her new sweater based upon a few design modifications from my daughter and her friend. Who knew that hairless cats like to wear sweaters?
Loki and the snow
This picture tells me Loki enjoys watching the snow but not walking in it and my windows need to be cleaned.
My latest cooking adventure was pasta. I happened to have some semolina flour, mixed it with white flour and a few eggs and voila! I don’t think I rolled it thin enough because it was pretty chewy and I wasn’t sure if I should refrigerate it or let it hang dry. I opted for drying because it made a prettier picture.
Rolled pasta
Pasta highway
Just hanging
Lastly, I am enjoying my adventures in tea and have a made a variety of the flavors. The strawberry lemonade is a mild, already sweetened lemonade and so pretty!
Strawberry lemonade
Small amusements
I continue to repurpose the old handknit sweater. The body is in the process of becoming a cat cushion. Shirley, my little old lady cat, always seems to be cold so I decided to try to make a cat coat out of one of the sleeves for her. It fit handsomely. Unfortunately, I was reminded of why we couldn’t use little harnesses when they lived aboard our sailboat with us. Pressure on their neck or shoulders, I am not sure which, causes them to slink and fall over. While she looks pretty cool lying here, she didn’t look so cool when she toppled over when she tried to stand up. i tried just snugging it around her waste and still no good. But it provided an afternoon’s entertainment. And she was warm.
Warm, cool, Shirley
I received a sweet tea set from my daughter and have been brewing all sorts of teas: apple, strawberry, pineapple and blueberry and drinking them hot or cold. They taste good, are already sweet and are pretty to look at.
Teavana
My little aran sweater is taking as long as a full size one. I decided to make a flap on one shoulder with a button to prevent the old head squeeze. One and a half sleeves to go. This is getting me in shape to try some serious cable knitting. I have a full size adult one in mind and a blanket. I may not have enough time on the couch to accomplish all this.
Baby aran
When life deals you lemons…
Make lemonade. Or in my case, when the sweater you made your son six years ago is too big, it’s been felted and is still too big, repurpose it. The body of the sweater has become a cat bed, it just awaits some sort of pillow stuffing. I cut off the sleeves and lo and behold they make nice legwarmers, especially since it was 3 degrees F this morning.
Repurposed sleeve
In the case of the CSA,when the farm deals you kale, make kale chips. It’s our new, favorite snack food thanks to a suggestion from a friend. Rip it into little pieces, spray it with oil, salt it and roast it in a 400 F oven until crisp. Delish!
Baby sweater
And I needed to make a few baby sweaters and found some baby yarn in my stash.
Hopping along
For those of you who have never needed crutches, I hope you stay that way. Whenever I meet someone who has already used them we are instantly bound by a common ground of resourcefulness. Everyone remembers how hard it is to carry a drink from one place to another. People have devised various bags and even carts to help them along. Ice is treacherous. I grow tired of being dependent so I am trying to do more and more on my own. I even went back to work yesterday for a day.
There’s an advantage to a small kitchen. I can cook by keeping a chair in the middle of the work area to rest ingredients or myself on, while I hop around using the counters on the perimeter as support. Oddly enough, I can’t clean up! So far I have tried two batches of mozzarella cheese, much easier than expected. The night nurse in the hospital shared his fascination with it and I found an easy recipe on the internet. Ingredients are simple: a gallon of milk; two teaspoons of citric acid; and a rennet tablet. You also need a thermometer and the whole process only takes about 90 minutes. Somehow both batches were eaten or used before I took a final picture, but the last step is magical. You heat and knead the lumpy mess a few times and it becomes silky, stretchy delicious mozzarella cheese. One gallon of milk makes about a softball size ball of cheese.
Mozzarella 1
Mozzarella 2
Mozzarella 2
My view from the house has improved because Tim’s project to remove the overhead wires was completed this week. The wires are down, we still have phone service and electricity and all went well. I have a video of a very cool piece of machinery yanking the pole out of the ground and may include it at some point.
Getting ready to take down the pole
Our unobstructed view of Jay Mountain today. I hope the birds don’t mind in the spring.
We continue to eat well and colorfully. A couple of days ago, I made a batch of mashed potatoes from blue potatoes from the farm. They were very an interesting shade of blue but not as creamy as the white ones.
Blue potatoes
Tonight I made a chicken pot pie entirely with farm ingredients. This is the way to eat.
Chicken pot pie
Pot pie minus one
I’m knitting and weaving and plan a big adventure tonight – I’m going to go downstairs for the first time in almost a month to be near the wood stove, my weaving and quilting. The temperature is going to go below 0 degrees F tonight and it should be cozy there. If it wasn’t for the kitchen, I might never come back upstairs.
Island and North Country Life 