A Walk Through The Snow

I live in a small city of about 60,000 people.  It’s not particularly picturesque, but there are some pretty areas.  One of them is the old town green.  I live down the street and around the corner from it.  I decided to take a walk today, as I’m tired of being inside (another snow day) and take some pictures of the green. I walked around the whole green.

It boasts the oldest church, the Congregational church and also a catholic church on the other side of the green, St. Joseph.

(typical New England shot)

See that street in the middle of this picture?  The one that goes up and up and up…that is where my brother’s family lives, including the winggirl.  It’s the highest straight street in town. They live at the top.  We have a lot of hills.  I took the picture by the green which is also on the top of a hill.

I was able to wander into the green, as someone had actually plowed a lane through.

That’s a lot of snow!

Some people didn’t plow or shovel all the way to the end of the street corners.

Some people need to dig the fire hydrants out that are in front of their house.

When I got home I headed down my driveway to get the shovel, to shovel the steps…nope would not have been able to get out today.

Those are my UGGS…I love them…They are not typical Uggs, I don’t like how those feel on my feet.  These have pink and blue flowers embroidered up the sides…

Snowing Again!

Today we got out early, it’s snowing again…

Yesterday I drove to work in this…

It was yucky.  They didn’t call a delay because the high school has mid terms…they started at 7:45….busses were still picking up HS students after 8:00…it was messy and yucky…I was late..After the above pictures, the highway became a parking lot…I left and took back roads and drove the long way to avoid the hills….

The kids are crazy…they’ve been out of their routine for 3 weeks now….I tested all day Monday, Tuesday and today until dismissal….testing SUCKS the big one…I had a headache most of the day…

I just took a picture off my front porch…

It suppose to start snowing again until the morning…

I think I’m going yarn shopping…I need some Buffy yarn from here…

A New Obsession–Supernatural

I have a new obsession.  See I only have basic cable and every year I limit myself to new shows.  I watch a lot of television, trashy, as well as classic (Downtown Abbey, anyone?)  I'm home, tv is on, sometimes just for background noise.

Well as you know, I'm a sci-fi/fantasy fan and I loved the X-Files.  I never watched Supernatural when it started.  I think it was on when I watched something else...and no I do not have a dvr or any of those devices, eventually...we are hoping to get new tv's this year and the new devices  along with them.

So this summer I started watching it on TNT.  They had 2 episodes a day...I was hooked...Flash forward to this past Thursday...the Hubs texted me and ask if I want anything at Barnes and Noble...at first I saw no, but then text Supernatural S1 or Criminal Minds.  Well he came home with seasons 1 and 2 and a Criminal Minds (had to exchange for a different season)  I have now watched both seasons and I am hooked....Tomorrow I'll go and get another season (they are having a sale, buy 2 and get 1 free - sweet!), so I'll probably come home with the next 3 seasons...

I’m in love with Jensen Ackles, I knew him a little from Days of Our Lives (Mom’s soap) and Dark Angel, but I think he is just so great in this role…and he does the one teardrop really well…and Jared Padelecki, well Dean from Gilmore Girls…loved him, until he became a cheater, but still fondness is there….

Oh and I did some knitting...I finished my second square from Learn to Knit while watching Supernatural and started my third - a basketweave...

And we have more snow in the forecast and it is still January…we anticipate having very little of an April vacation!

The Question Was Asked…do you wear your knits?

by fridica on her blog

As I’ve only made one knit so far, the short answer is no and yes….I do wear my crochet….mostly hats..I make A LOT of hats..and I wear them.

Yesterday I wore this hat

The Hubs ran away from me all day, as he thought I looked goofy…but got compliments on it, alas no picture…

But I do have some pictures of me wearing different hats out and about…

That’s me, squished in the middle of my nephews at Thanksgiving, wearing one of my crocheted hats. 

This one is from last January.  The Hubs and I went to Northhampton, Mass for burritos and a visit to WEBS.  Another hat and you can just see the matching scarf peeking out from my coat. 

That’s about all I could find.  As I say, I wear them all the time, but I’m usually out and about alone, so noone to snap a pic….

A Finish and Additions to the Stash

This is my Games Ghan.  I started it last February for the Ravelympics.  I finished it yesterday.  It is made of Caron One Pound in Cream and Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in Cranapple.  It is very heavy and almost covers our queen size bed.  It’s a little short.  I love it and am glad that it is done!  It’ll be great to snuggle under while watching tv.

And the stash…here are the latest additions…

I had the green Mission Falls 1824, but bought the beigy (it’s name is curry) and the plumy (Damsen) as I want to make a hat.  It’s going to be mostly the green (Basil), but I wanted to add accents.  Not sure of the pattern yet, may make it up as I go.  So bummed that Mission Falls is out of business now.  I love their wool! I bought it at my local shop

I did some online shopping at The Loopy Ewe and came away with some Lorna’s Laces.  I adored working with the Shepard Worsted in Zombie BBQ, so wanted to try it again. The Hubs picked this one, it’s called Amish.  I also wanted to try something else so I got some Lorna’s Laces Shepard Sock in Butterscotch.  Look at that color!  Luscious! I also joined the Loopy Yarn Club.  I’m trying out some clubs this year.

I also received my latest blog win!  Yeah Me!  It’s Claudia Hand Painted Lace in Pistachio.  I won it from here..

It looks like sherbet!

Today we are going out and about, not sure where we will end up…might have more purchases by the time I get home!

Let’s Take A Walk Through the Stash

I have a very large stash.  At the moment I have 946 types of yarn stashed on Ravelry.  I am trying to remember to update it and stash as soon as I get new yarn.  Doesn't always happen, but I've been working on it off and on the past couple of days.  I really only post pictures of higher end yarn and not "big box" yarn.  I have a lot of big box yarn, as I never walked by a sale without buying something and I do use acrylic....Not so much Red Heart anymore, but Bernat, Caron and I Love This Yarn.

But I also have a problem.  I belong to several "yarny" groups on Rav, too.  As soon as I hear a yarn praised, I must have!

Kiogu.  This obsession started with Kathy Merrick and the colors are just gorgeous!  I have not made anything from it though..

Claudia Handpainted, small stash started from Webs..

Creatively Dyed.  She was my first indie dyer that I bought multiple yarn from.  I have gifted a skein or two and also made fingerless gloves and a nook cover and still have a healthy ball left.  That skein is not pictured.

Yarn Chef, an online dyer I heard about.  I love the colors.

String Theory, gorgeous feeling yarn.  Bought all of this at Stiches in 2009.  Nope, not made a thing with it..Sundara Yarn, love her colors.  Cherry Blossom, limited edition, gauranteed to make me buy!Wildflower Whimsy, used to be Zen String.  See that skein on the right?  It’s called Secret Garden, after my favorite book!  I lusted after this, but could find none for sale, finally won this one an one of the Rav threads.  I was thrilled!  Then I bought some more…Miss Babs, I purchased these at Stitches this year…Love the Mums on the right and the gorgeous feel of the two left ones…

Persimmion Farm, they don’t sell online, so you have to find them at a festival.  Absolutely gorgeous colors and their prices are the BEST!

Sereknity, another festival find this year, but one I have heard talk about..

Madelinetosh, I blame Lori for this one, although I might have had a skein or two before I saw her beautiful work with this yarn.

The Sanguine Gryphon.  Skinny Bugga the left 3 skeins, Little Traveller in the middle, Bugga to the right.  I missed one skein I found after I packed these up…

Ah, the always difficult to get Wollmeise.  I have been gifted two skeins, won one in a auction and bought another…They are so tightly packed, I don’t want to disturb them…

Socks that Rock…the Hubs has bought all of these, after I showed them to him at Webs….

There are many more that I would like to buy and I have many single skeins of a lot of different independent dyers.  I try to support the indie, as much as possible. 

The Hubs said the other day, that it’s kinda like I’m saving up for retirement.  I’ll have all this yarn when I retire and won’t have to spend the money then!  LOL…So yeah, this is my retirement plan!

Sorry for the sucky pictures, as it snowed again today..hence why I’m home and not off preparing malleable minds for the future….or for all the testing we have coming up…yuck!  And I did not link, as I was too lazy to look them all up….

As the Great Martin Luther King Jr. Said..

I cut out the beginning part of the speech...It is a powerful speech and should be read and remembered....Happy Birthday to Dr. King


"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Blog Contests

I have been lucky enough to win several blog contests, in fact the last two I won were:

I got this in the mail today from “Almost Handspun” an indie dyer/spinner.  I love it, as it is half alpaca and so soft.  I’m thinking a big squishy hat or maybe a short scarf.  It’s 250 yards.  It would look so great cabled, but not sure I’m up to knitted cables yet.  I could do a crochet cabled scarf….I won it here

I also won this from Croatia.  The yarn is an acrylic/wool mix.  The pattern is very pretty, but beyond me at the moment.  I won this from Fridica, who also had previously won from me.  (How cool is that?)

Today I found out I also won some Claudia’s Handpainted Lace from here.  It is very pretty.  Very excited about it, as I was looking for some lace for a pattern I bought.

So even though I haven’t bought any yarn this year, I’m still accumulating it! 

Now onto a mini-rant about contests……I hate having to jump through hoops.  There is a contest that I’d love to enter for some needles.  However, there are 5 steps that MUST be done!  That is so frickin’ ridiculous! 

I don’t want to “like” anybody on Facebook.  I’m only on FB to keep in touch with friends and family.  I rarely used it before the emergency with my father last February.

I don’t want to have to “follow” anybody.  I don’t really get the following..Oh, I’m excited when I see I have a new follower, but I don’t actively seek them.  I guess it’s easier for some people to follow and read the blogs through readers.  I don’t read the blogs I follow that way.  I read them through my blogroll. 

In fact, my follow widget just got put back because it had disappeared when I changed formats and I couldn’t get it….now it’s back and it’s exciting…but I don’t want to make anyone follow me.  Also I rarely look at the blogs I follow, cuz some of them are not in my blogroll…must fix that…

I think the whole following thing is like cliques in high school.  You want to be part of the popular clique, but really those people who have 100 or more followers, are they really in touch with them? Just like the Queen Bee, she doesn’t know all the peons that follow her around in HS.  My 21 followers, which I’m really happy about, I visit their blogs too.  I reciprocate….

I don’t mind looking at someone etsy store and commenting on something, but don’t make it part of a many step process.

KISS people!!! Keep It Simple Stupid!  More people are bound to enter that way….

So hopefully I didn’t piss anyone off and you’ll keep coming back…..

Ever Wonder What Two Feet of

snow looks like?

My uncle sent me this picture in an email…so I did a search for it and found it here

Image by G. Augustine Lynas

I thought it was very funny and shared it with my students at school….

The Winner is…

Comment #9, which was made by Eskimimi…congratulations! I did do the number generator at 10 last night…..But since I did not get home until after 8, the rest of the night I just watched tv…I was very tired… I still have your address from when I bought the yarn…So I’ll get it out, once I can get out…

We woke to this today….

It’s about 18 inches…We can’t open the back door…. This is against it…

I Feel Like I'm Doing Something Wrong....

"Yup, you're knitting." said the Hubs.....

Oh and I have two copies of Interweave Crochet Winter 2010 I'll random generate a number at the end of the day tomorrow. Just leave a comment by 10:00 EST tomorrow, on this post...I'm sure there will be another goody or two in the package....I'll ship anywhere....

I Won!

Now I have been good about not buying any yarn, doesn't mean I'll stop entering contests!

I won this gorgeous skein of yarn. I chose the Stonhedge Fiber Mill, cuz dude it's alpaca! Plus I bought some skeins at the festivals that are similar to the first one....so cool!

Yeah me!

Today I was busy, busy, busy...cleaning, organizing, lesson planning, correcting..then I sat down in time to watch Downton Abbey...I had read about it, but actually caught it by accident...

Love me a good period drama, even without Colin or Jane Austen being involved, guess where I'll be for the next 5 Sunday nights....

And, yeah BIG possibility of more snow on Wednesday! It would be our first snow day! Time for bed, and it's frickin' cold in here!

Night all!

Tired and I have alot of Yarn

I have spent the majority of my day stashing and organizing....

Since my one resolution was to be more organized this year, I started with the yarn.

I have a bag to throw skeins in to donate....it's about 1/3 full....

I put almost all of my yarn with the pattern into a bag (except socks)....

I edited my WIP and WIM pages on here.....

Still need to add a few, I'm sure I'll find a few hanging around...

Updated some of my Ravelry project pages and stash pages.....

I can now walk into my craft room, there is more than a very narrow path...

The Hubs will be happy, as we keep the computer in there and he was getting annoyed....

I still have a lot to do.....

I have 944 yarns stashed at Ravelry and that's not all, but I also have given some away and/or used some and not updated the stash page.....There are many "cheap" yarns on there...

I am keeping all of my Bernat Satin yarns, as they work well for amiguramis...also keeping my Vanna's, I Love This Yarn and my TLC's. I like those acrylics....Thinking of giving away all of my Red Heart Sport, don't use it, even for ami's.....have to sleep on this....

Back to updating Ravelry or I'm heading to bed...

It Snowed!

It was one of those pretty, picturesque snow falls....





But the Hubs has to go to work...that means cleaning off his truck.


- I like the little ticker on the side that shows where my visitors are coming from...just wish more would pop in and leave a "hello!" in the comments.....

- I was able to finally reload my followers widget and look I gained 2! Woo-hoo! Thanks for joining!

- When I redid my format, I lost my Google Analytics...but I haven't reloaded it again...not sure that I will.....

- I have no idea where those birds in the uphand right corner came from or how to get rid of them...but I did see them on another blog earlier this morning...they don't really bother me, as I like birds, it's just strange...

- My student's mom lost her battle with cancer on January 6. Rest in peace and comfort without pain Nila.......you will be missed by your family and friends....

Zombie Eyes

I don't remember being bit by a zombie....and I didn't drink at the staff party last night (because then in addition to having zombie eyes, I'd also have red, itchy splotches...alcohol gives me hives)

But I am allergic to dust mites and I am not the best housekeeper/cleaner...so, ergo, dust mites in the house.....so allergies all fall and winter long, because no open windows where they can escape....my eyes have been getting worse during the week...and since some days I wear contacts, it just makes them all the more redder....

today we have the day off, thanks to those 3 Kings (and a big SHOUT OUT to my MOM on her birthday!) So I plan on doing some school stuff, some yarny things, taking down the Christmas tree (well undecorating it, as I can't take it down by myself) and maybe, just maybe I'll do some cleaning...at least get rid of the cobwebs in the corners....