While We Weren't Watching

Yesterday, the snow that blanketed us almost two weeks ago melted enough that we could see areas of ground. It always amazes me that snow drops can come up and bloom under the snow.

P is like these snow drops. She is changing and learning new things when we are not looking.  The other day she and I were drawing together.  She wanted to draw Humpty Dumpty. She tried several times and was frustrated with her result. We turned the paper over and she amazed herself. First the egg shape, just like she wanted. Then she added eyes and a mouth. On to arms, hands, legs, and feet. She paused excitedly and then added eyebrows. Lastly, she said, "I going to give him hair too!"

Then she had to draw more

and more.

These are cats.

I can't wait to see what's next.

Kettle Holes

When we woke yesterday it was 50 degrees. A lot of our snow had melted; this was what our upper garden looked like. This garden is sort of a saddle of land between two bowl like depressions.

We live on a glacial moraine, the pile of rubble pushed ahead of an advancing glacier. We have two kettle holes on our property. These were formed when large blocks of ice calved off the front of the receding glacier and were buried under glacial outwash or sediment. When the ice finally melted a depression was left in the land. Kettle holes filled with water are called kettle lakes. Ours only hold water for a few days in the spring.

This is what the smaller kettle hole looked like in the morning.

By the afternoon it looked like this.

This morning it is cold again and there is ice on the kettle pond.

You can even slide ice chunks all the way to the other side.  If it stays cold it may be thick enough for skating tomorrow.  Too bad we don't have skates.T

hey have predicted 6-8 more inches of snow. This is the way of early March.

In Like a Lion

They say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb but I never hear much talk about the rest of the month. What is it that happens in between?

Mud.  Here, March is Mud Month.

This was taken March 10, 2007. P and M enjoyed the pond that formed when the snow from the "sledding hill" behind them melted. Notice that M took P out in a dress and not pants because, as he said "the pants would just get muddy."

March his when the snow melts and we get lots of water but the ground underneath is still frozen. Sloooowly the ground thaws and that water soaks in. The top part of the earth becomes saturated with water.  Our driveway turns to mud, a growing layer of mud. The  boys used to play out there when they were little. They would dig channels with sticks and float boats in the driveway. They would ride their bikes and come back in with brown stripes up their backs. I often wonder how many shoes have been swallowed by that little area of earth. Even a truckload of gravel has been eaten by the mud.

The ground will eventually thaw completely and the water drains away as if someone had pulled out a plug. That is March for us.

Happy March.

Leaping Into Snow

For our extra day of February we are enjoying MORE SNOW! We went out to shovel the walk before it got too deep and then went for a little walk.

P is flying like the blue jays she sees ahead of her.

Here's hoping that March brings a little bit of spring.

I am hopeful. I just saw a bluebird out the window.

Popcorn Sweater Set

This morning we woke to new snow on our old snow. This was the view north to the road from the top of  our stairwell.

This was the view from our bedroom window. The small trees to the left of the chicken barn are plum and apricot trees. The chickens like to roost in the plum tree closest to the barn.

I almost finished knitting the popcorn hat for P last night but I ran out of yarn that had been wound into a ball.  I knew she would want to help wind the last hank of yarn so I waited until this morning. We got out the swift and ball winder and went right to work. A little fast knitting and out to the porch for photos. OK, I admit this was probably not the best day for an outdoor photo shoot of a 2 year old in a sweater.

The snow was still blowing.

P declared herself cold and we came back inside.

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees

Yesterday we enjoyed a little sunshine and took a stroll around the fields. P wanted to find some birds. We saw one hawk and lots of animal tracks.

We also checked on our Christmas trees.

This area was a corn field when we bought our property. We started planting a variety of trees here but nothing we planted the first year lived as there was too much herbicide still in the ground. You can see that we do have some tallish trees now.

We had grand plans when we started planting the Christmas trees. We put in 50 each year and thought we would be harvesting them about the time the boys started college. We planted Christmas trees under the power lines because we knew we would cut them down before they got tall enough to be in the way. We have had experience with the way the  power companies trim trees and would like to avoid that in the future. We also planted Christmas trees along the edge of one of the garden spaces.

Our plan was for the boys to plant them, tend them, and then sell them to bring in money for college --or maybe just college books. Due to the deer, rabbits, and the occasional tractor incident, they are not growing as fast as we had hoped. Perhaps they will add to P's education fund.

This area covered in snow is where we grew our pumpkins last year.

Icicles

I know that icicles hanging from the roof are not a great thing for the house, but they are beautiful and interesting. We have enjoyed watching these grow for the last few days.

They changed with the light at different times of day.

Sometimes they sparkled in the sun.

M took this picture last evening with the pink sky.

The boys were hoping they would grow to reach the porch. This morning we woke to fog and warmer temperatures.

The icicles grew to about 20 inches from the porch. They melted today and the last chunks fell this afternoon.

Red and White

I thought I would share a little more of our winter beauty.

Viburnum berries.

more

sumac

P shovels the walk.

Family Focus - winter white

Ice on the Huron River taken by B on his way to work.

M found hugs and kisses in the driveway.

D took this one at midnight the other night. He went to close the chicken barn and came running back for the camera to get this moon shadow of the redbud tree.

Today, I will be traveling to Grand Rapids with the High School Symphony Orchestra for their performance in the Michigan Music Conference. I have my knitting packed for the bus ride! If I can possibly manage it on the bus, I'll work on the December Lights Tam (designed by Mary Jane Mucklestone) shown on the cover of Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2007.

Don't ask me why. I have never worn a tam. I don't need a new hat. I have two and am already knitting myself another hat. It's just that my friend A got the magazine and, well, she and I drooled all over page 38. We were practically fighting over the magazine. We finally broke down and ordered the yarn. We figured that if we went in together and just ordered one extra skein we could get two hats out of the yarn. Dear A  divided the yarn last weekend and now I am dying to start. I know that she has started and she knits really fast. I can't let her finish first!!!

If I can't do that project on the bus I can always work on simple socks.

Snow White

More winter white:

Michigan is seldom sunny in the winter. Here is a glimpse of snow in the evening sun.

B cut down some locust in the field for firewood next year.

Yesterday, the first thing I heard from P, while she was still in her crib, was "what should we bake today, mom?" Of course, we had to bake some cookies.

She wanted to make cutter cookies. I am working on finishing things on my list this week, so I wanted something quick and easy to satisfy this request. We made chocolate chip cookies because, well, I am sure I could make those in my sleep. I promised that next time we would use the cookie cutters. B has requested short bread cookies dipped in chocolate. We will make those next.

New Year - New Snow

We had a great time in Cadillac while it was snowing here. This was our road as we came home today.

The van is now stuck at the end of the drive but we did get to play a little in the snow. We made some snowballs

and a great snowman.

It even has "two eyes made out of coal!"

Frost

I went out early this morning to attempt to get photos of the sun on the frost.

I discovered that it is not easy to get that "sparkle" in a photo.

We have an unusually clear blue sky for Michigan winter!

Thank goodness for digital cameras! Lots of photos for a few that are worth keeping. I am glad I didn't have to wait for developing, and pay for all those pictures that weren't any good!

Texture

We saw this great drift tree on a trip to Florida before P was born. I was very interested in the soft looking wrinkles and folds in the tree that show after the bark is gone.

Very soft texture.

I made this soft little sweater set for P before she was born. I wish she could have worn it longer. She has tried the hat on today. It is a little beanie on the top of her head.

The pattern for this set is in an old issue of Interweave Knits. If anyone is interested I'll look and find which one.

Big snow

We had snow that started Saturday night and lasted most of yesterday. These are some photos taken in the evening after the snow stopped and the sun was low.

It was still very windy.

Peaceful.

I really like the drifts we get around the buildings. This cliff edge was made by the wind blowing by the barn. It scrubbed the ground clear just to the right and made the big drift you can see here. This drift is in a large arc around the corner of the barn.

Barn roof

The path to get eggs.

Getting the tree

We go to a tree farm every year to get our tree.

It is a local farm with no frills. No petting farm, no hayrides, no cider, or hot chocolate- just fields of trees.

We cut it ourselves

and carry it to the car.

Very impressive.

First Snow

Yesterday was a very soggy, foggy day and not advantageous for taking photos indoors or out, so I'll share some shots from earlier last week. Here are some pictures of our first snow this year.

The highlight of my weekend was sitting in the old train depot listening to the  Chelsea Chamber Players along with the Chelsea High School Chamber group perform their holiday concert.

As I sat there listening to them perform Telemann's Concerto for Viola, Greensleeves, and Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 I was struck by how lucky I am. I live in a small town in Michigan with a high school of less than 1000 students, yet, our town is rich in music, art, and theater opportunities for everyone in the community.

I am sure that my son does not realize how unusual his situation is, that as a high school student he can perform in a chamber group with professional musicians and also to be a part of a high school celtic music group that travels and performs at festivals across the midwest - to him it is normal.

My little bit of holiday sparkle that is shining through the gloom today.

Leaves

This morning we walked in the woods near Grandma's house.

Last month was the warmest October on record here in Virginia. They also have had a drought for several months. I wonder if that has anything to do with the leaves staying on the trees longer than normal. One of our usual Thanksgiving week "chores" is to rake all of the leaves in Grandma's yard. We make a huge pile for the kids to play in. When they have had their fill of the leaf pile we drag the leaves down to the back of the yard on tarps. This year most of the leaves are still on the trees.

There were enough leaves to make a small pile for P.

Hearts

Years ago my son found this rock by the barn and gave it to me.

And, we found this in our potato harvest this fall.

heart- the center of the total personality, esp. with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion.

I have been inspired to make this little bib.

Adventure

Everything is an adventure when you are two.

Walking in the woods

to see fall leaves.

sewing with a needle and thread for the first time.

Doing embroidery

like mom.

Two year old adventures are very exciting.

Fall

This fall we have had a few extra weeks of warm weather.

We have been enjoying the warmth while we finished  our garden harvest and prepared the lawn and garden for winter.

Today is twenty degrees cooler than yesterday. Now it is time to change our focus to indoor activities like home repair and renovation and fun fiber projects out of this beautiful hand painted yarn from my friend Chris of Briar Rose Fibers.

Last winter I was making myself a hat...

which will be an adult version of the hat in this set that I made last winter for P.

I also made this for my niece a couple of years ago. She has outgrown it and given it to P!

Can you tell I really like to use Chris' gorgeous yarn?????????????????? 

(note: She put her own shoes on. It appears they are on the wrong feet.)