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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.
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This morning I took my new knitting book, Favorite Socks 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave Press, to the coffee shop to meet the aunties. 
A and I were flipping through the book and drooling over every page. We both wanted to make them all. We came up with a plan- together we will knit through the book. The root of the plan is that we will each knit only ONE sock from each pattern. The best part of the plan is that we have cured second sock syndrome!
Here is how it will work. We will take turns with each pattern. The first person will choose the yarn and keep both socks. The next will do the same. That way we will get to try all of the patterns and will still get a pair of socks for each two socks we knit!
We believe this is a clever project for us as A will be moving about 5 hours away in the near future. This will be a neat way for us to keep in touch and have fun mail.
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P was playing with our Fisher Price Little People; she dug in the bin to get just the right people, matching tables, and matching chairs. Then, she said they needed dishes. I handed her some coins and pony beads to use for plates and cups.
After arranging those on the tables, she said, "They need silverware." She ran out of the room and returned with some real, life size forks from the kitchen and seemed surprised that they were too big for her little play scene. It made me laugh and reminded me of when I was small, and the boys too. I remember getting gifts and thinking that ANYTHING was possible. A tiny little box could hold a pony or a bike. The package size or shape gave no clue to what was inside. I remember that feeling of mystery that everything is possible. It is sad that we lose that innocence when we grow and learn. Of course, we need that knowledge for grown up tasks, but wouldn't it be nice to keep that feeling of wonder and amazement?
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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.
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How could I pass up a book with this title? I found this great little book at a used book store. It was printed in England around 1910.
It contains directions on how to do many kinds of needlework, embroidery, and lace making. It also has several very practical chapters. The one called "The Mending Basket" is particularly interesting. The author, Flora Klickmann, talks about preventative mending:
"We have heard that in China it is the custom to pay the family doctor to keep his patients in good health rather than to call him in only after illness has laid the sufferer low. Many of us applaud this system, but have neither the opportunity nor, perhaps, the courage, to defy conventions in our own country.
But why not pursue the same wise course in dealing with household mending? It works admirably.
Take the proverbial stitch that "saves nine" in very good time, even before there is any apparent need for it, and you'll find it will work miracles."
Flora did not think highly of "ready-made frocks" either. She recommends that you resew all buttons and reinforce sleeves and hems "before the garment is worn for the first time, to overcome the little deficiencies that we may expect to discover in the 'ready-mades.'"
I think she was also not a fan of the "modern laundry." It is the cause of much of our mending! "Where our mothers could keep their under clothing in good condition for years, ours is torn to shreds, and some of it comes home ragged and tattered most weeks from the average laundry. Knicker frills go very quickly, and often need replacing." She then explains a simple way to renovate the knickers.
She talks about choosing quality materials and techniques for your work.
"I want to urge those of you who have any time to give to needlework to remember that this is as much an art as painting and music and architecture. You can be blunting- or elevating- your artistic sense (and that of other people) by the type of work you produce and display, just as much as by the type of picture you hang upon your wall. You will be lowering your ideals by doing shoddy work and false work, just as you will be raising them by doing work that is thorough and conscientious."
By false work she means "the sort of work that strives by cheap tricks to look like something that it isn't."
The chapter called "The Educational Value of the Doll" is also very much worth reading. "The child who has helped to put together her doll's combinations, will have no difficulty in making her own later on, neither will she be perplexed when she in turn has little people to sew for."
"This instruction as to the doll's wearing apparel is only the beginning of the educational possibilities of the doll. The next step is to encourage the little girl to see to the household linen and general furnishings of the doll's house."
Show her how to make the small feather bed, and how to stuff the pillows. She can make a little mattress from small cloth clippings; this will teach her the value of tiny waste bits of material..."
I think a lot of what Flora wrote is still applicable today. Her notes on quality are right on the mark. Along the same lines I remember my mother saying "if something is worth doing, it is worth doing right!" I agree with her thoughts on the dolls too. There are many life skills to be learned from caring for dolls. I do a lot of mending too but I have to admit I don't often mend undergarments.
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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.
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I seem to be good at starting projects. I thought I would show you an update on the Miss Terwilliger sweater. This is the back.
After starting this sweater I started the popcorn set for P as seen yesterday.
These are just my most recent started projects. I don't want to think about all of the other projects I have not finished.
Maybe I need to make a contract with myself. "I will not start another needlework project until I finish one of these sweaters."
I thought about higher goals- like finishing all the projects I have started. But I would have to find them all first. I will keep working on them.
As I knit on these, I am thinking of that red and aqua yarn and what I want to do with that...
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I know it happens. I just don't think about it every day. I notice the changes in jumps. Last night, for example, we saw an eclipse of the moon. It was not a "moom." Today we baked cookies not "tookies." These changes are bitter sweet. I am glad P is growing and learning but it is sad, in a way, to see the baby ways disappear. At least we can still eat "compatoes" and play with Mr. Compato Head!
It also seems she is getting to be all arms and legs. That big, red sweater her auntie A made her when she was born is now rather small - and she used to wear it with the sleeves rolled up.
P and I are working together to make a new and BIGGER sweater. P helped wind the yarn on the ball winder. She learned how to keep winding in the same direction for the whole ball. 
My sisters and I used to wear sweater and hat sets from this pattern when we were small. My mother made many of these popcorn sweater sets for us and for gifts. When my aunt sent me a copy of the pattern, I knew I would be making one for P. I do wish my mother could see P in her little popcorn sweater set when it is finished.
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We have had several days of VERY cold weather. I am now thinking warm thoughts to years when we stretch President's Weekend into a trip to Florida to visit B's brother who lives in St. Petersburg. We camp on the beach at Fort DeSoto and soak up the sun and warmer temperatures.
Here is M in 2004. He made a friend at the Tampa Zoo.
We also enjoy sunrise walks and picnic breakfasts on the beach at Fort DeSoto. This is D in 2005. It is amazing the colors the water and sky can go through in such a short time at sunrise.
We see a lot of beach life on our early walks.
P has not been to Florida. Perhaps next year...
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A few weeks ago P watched a friend as she was spinning. She was mesmerized by the process. I haven't spun in a long time and our wheel has been put away in the closet.
Saturday, I went to the Spinners' Flock winter Fleece Fair. I really wasn't planning on purchasing anything. Do I ever PLAN to buy roving (or yarn, or fabric)? The tables were
loaded with lots of beautiful fiber. You know how it is when you have yarn, roving, and supplies stuck everywhere in your house. You tell yourself that you should use what you have first. But, then you look across the room and see that some of the balls of roving are jumping up and down on the table. They are even waving at you. "Come over here," they say. "Take us home." That is how it was with these balls of roving.
You might remember I currently have a "thing" for red and aqua as seen here and here.
We had to start spinning right away when I got home! Just as I thought, P wanted to watch. She had to be close - very close. She learned a little about spinning and a lot about what happens if you watch from TOO close.
She learned that your hair can get sucked into the spinning wheel. Perhaps her mother knew what she was talking about when she warned about getting too close.
I haven't decided what I want to do with it yet. Just that I want to do some color work with them together. I know I should have a plan before I start to spin but I don't always work that way. I am thinking socks, or mittens...
I could not get the colors to come out true in the photos. I tried LOTS of pictures in different light. The red is almost right in this one but the turquoise is a bit blue.
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