April Fools' Day

I opened the door and picked up the morning paper. The snow was just starting to fall. This is a joke, right?

About five minutes before that, I had noticed that our magnolia was beginning to bloom. So, not all the white is snow.

I wonder if we'll have enough distance between the last spring snow and the first winter snow this year. Will we be so excited about those first flakes of the winter? Will we still think it's pretty?

Saturday fun

We had all the kids to play with today. Since it was such a nice day, we decided to go to the playground. Our snow is all gone and it never occurred to us that there would be so much there. It's just a few blocks away.

Charlie had his trusty little shovel and tried to clear it all away for us. He changed his mind in favor of the swings when the job proved too big.

Becky tried the teeter-totter and enjoyed the up part. Everyone had a swing, including Katie. She opted for a nap pretty quickly, though, and left the rest of us to enjoy the swings. Unlike her, we didn't have cozy fleece around us and it got cold even while we were having so much fun. So back home for hot chocolate and stories for us.

We left the mother and son who came to the park to practice their softball game. The bases were marked out in the snowfield and they took turns being the pitcher and batter. Running around the bases must have warmed them up because coats had been shed. Son was soon playing in a short-sleeved T-shirt. We really can't wait for spring.

Oh, no!

It went and snowed again! Yesterday was the most glorious day...standing-in-the-sunshine glorious. Then, in the space of an hour or two this morning (after the morning paper was delivered), a fluffy white blanket covered the ground.

I would not care. I really wouldn't. If it weren't the day for our AGM. And a bit of white stuff on the ground means seniors don't move from home. Let's hope we have a quorum.

No picture...we've seen it all before.

For real!

Hey! The groundhog thing worked! Snow drops were spotted in Kitsilano this afternoon.

I wanted to get a shovel out and scrape away the foot of glacier on top of our patch. There were a bare spots around a tree and something green had made its way out of the ground. I could tell because the squirrels had chewed on it. Oh, well, I guess it's hard to find salad when the ground is covered in icy snow.

Hungry?

The poor worms in the compost box are going to have to survive on the scraps they received today. I'm hoping since it's cold that they aren't as active as usual. We haven't attempted the trek to the side of the house since Christmas and the bucket contents had been compacted as much as possible. It was time.

But, emptying the compost bucket this morning was an adventure on the order of an Arctic expedition. Snow seems to be higher on this path than anywhere else. The gumboots fill up with snow when you walk where no one has gone before. Returning, you feel like King Wenceslas' page: walking in your own footprints. Or trying to. That's actually harder than blazing a new trail. So, I guess the King had it easy; he just didn't know what he was asking the page.

But I digress. Here's to the hard-working worms! May they find morsels to help them last another few days.

Cable cozy

Number Twelve is safe at home in Toronto and already working hard to keep the tea hot. I think this was it's first job...a nice cuppa before crashing after the long flight.

I'm sure the residents are happy not to have the snow we just got. I guess the magic of the 'scare-snow' isn't very good. Or maybe it has the exact opposite magic. Better get the hats and mitts put away quick.

Magic

I saw this arrangement standing in the hall yesterday. After shovelling the snow, our hats and mitts are always wet. So we just pop them over a handy yardstick, hiking pole or umbrella handle to dry. It is now our official 'scare-snow' and I hope it works!

I think we'll leave it this way until, say, July. That should do the trick.

Merry Christmas!

The snow is now over 60 cm here. It was over my knees as I tried to shake some snow off the shrubs yesterday.

Last night we had some unexpected Christmas Eve visitors. DS & DIL with three grandkids couldn't get to their intended destination and so came to this inn. It's not roomy but we found space for everyone. The stockings had to be hung for Santa. And he seems to have safely landed his sleigh on the deck because this is what we found this morning.




Many parts of N Van lost power last night due to the weight of the snow on tree branches. Not for long but enough to put us all on alert. We have our one and only back up plan - look to the right. It may require some prep work. Of course, we hope the power stays on. And it's very nice to have kids on Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve

I think I'm smiling...we're having a blast building our snow knitter. She's not actually in the act at the moment but you can see the results of her work. The flowers are a hopeful touch from Anne.

Andrea and I started by shovelling the driveway and sidewalks; then decided we needed to have some fun. The snow is pretty wet now and compacts well. Very nice for sculpting the huge pile of snow that we created.

Merry white Christmas !

Pretty

Looks like Christmas, doesn't it? This was taken early this morning after our night of the Big Storm. The snow just didn't quit all night. But today is clear and cold so that makes it quite pretty.

The birds are not so happy, though. We had a number of bush tits clustered on the suet this morning. And the jay came for his peanuts. A woodpecker came by for suet, too, but we couldn't get a good photo. He was hiding behind the container.

Blocks

It took just one quilt block to get my imagination started again. Here is the first quilt block: Eccentric Star. I hope to do at least 6 for the swap. The photo color is as true as I could get it but the purple isn't quite right. There are two different shades which I hoped would reflect in the tweedy bits. This was great fun.

And I have learned this lesson: my style is very non-realistic and I love bright colors. A lot of primitive rugs are not so bright with earth colors which are definitely not my favorite. I have to try to remember this next time I'm trying to get too much realism in my hooking and my colors.

The snow has stopped and the last little bit has melted away. But the big foot from overnight remains. I shall just have to hook on my new enterprise this afternoon. This is a butterfly fantasy which will be auctioned off as a fundraiser. Onward!