And...it's snowing again

It's a small victory, but we finished the shoveling from the first snow about 2:30 this afternoon, before the next storm started.

Nothing like slave labor to help with the job:


The falling snow isn't all that clear here, but you CAN see the grill tucked under the scaffold, ready in case we lose power again.


My arms hurt just thinking about the next round.

I do so hate the snow

Yes, it's pretty. And pretty unpleasant as well.

We woke up at ~4 am to no power and a big cedar limb in front of the back door (our back door is our main entrance door). Back to bed, eventually back to sleep, and up at 7 to fight the snow dragon.

Doesn't this downed tree covered in snow look like a snow dragon?


By breaking off some of the smaller limbs and using the lopper on some of the bigger ones (have I mentioned lately how much I love Fiskars in all of its many manifestations), we (that is, TMOTH) were able to throw the trunk off to the side. This would be repeated many times today, and a few more times tomorrow.

The yard, again:

I don't know if you can tell how MUCH more snow there is on it than any of the previous times.

The path out to shovel land. That big lump of snow in the middle of the picture is our Accord.


The roof of our house. The bare spots are where the snow periodically WHOMMPs off the house.


Shoveling. This is TMOTH shoveling; I did my fair share as well.


There will be more shoveling tomorrow. Ick.

LOTS of snow on the way

I know, two feet is nothing to you upper Midwest girls, but the mid-Atlantic grinds to a complete halt with an INCH of snow. And we're supposed to get a lot more than that. AND 30 mph winds.

This is what it looked like this afternoon:


It's sticking, even to the sides of the trees:


Kona is happy, she loves the snow:


Snow on a bramble next to the compost bin:


The only good thing is that The Lovely Daughter's art class and the birthday party that Small Man were supposed to go to tomorrow are both cancelled. So I can sew. If we still have power.

Keep your fingers crossed that we don't lose electricity! The guild challenge quilt (Plan B) is coming along nicely.

More snow last night :(

I am so done with winter.

This is what our yard looked like this morning:


The lilacs held the snow well - but I prefer them in purple:


I think this is our magnolia:


The box elders:


Looking up into the tree in the center of the ovoid driveway (it's a flowering cherry or something):


The evergreens hold LOTS of snow:


Deer tracks in the snow:


Playing in the snow worked for a little while for the younger set:


Of course, it all melted off the branches by noon:


And now, for something completely different: the Small Man turned 5 yesterday!

Great giveaway

Over at the Creative Place.

Oh, and if you enter? Go for the paper. That fabric stash has my name on it :)

Plan B for the guild challenge

The diamonds quilt is too long for the challenge. Despite suggestions from TMOTH, I'm not cutting it off or taking off the last row of goldenrod.

I did some rooting around in my stash and came up with a biggish panel of solid black (I think it's linen), a strip of satin brocade with goldfish, some solid burgundy cotton brocade and solid tan satin. I'm going to applique some water lily leaves and one white bloom on the black part, and use the burgundy and tan in a diamond pattern down one side. It'll be bold, that's for sure!

Photos soon, I hope.

Shoulda been a snow day

And I would've gotten a lot more done. But no.

According to National Weather Service forecasts, we were supposed to get a "dusting" of snow. Well, when The Lovely Daughter and I left for her art class this morning at 10 am, I might've believed that. There were lovely little swirlies of dry snow on the road; no problem. By the time we got about three quarters of the way there, it was NASTY. I nearly rear-ended a police car (!) because the roads were so slick. I decided to go on ahead to class in hopes that the roads would get treated before we had to go home (3 hour class). I called TMOTH to warn him to NOT go to karate because of the roads and stayed in the art classroom and read on of the Art Barn books on quilting and schmoozed with The Lovely Daughter's teacher and fellow student.

After class, we had lunch at Subway and bought birthday presents for the Small Man at K-Mart and headed home. It was a nightmare drive - slick slippery roads that weren't well plowed or sanded. We've probably got 4 to 6 inches of snow. I spent the afternoon napping to recover, and TMOTH made pizza for dinner. After dinner, I got the last of my 9-patch and snowball blocks in under the wire:


Close-up of the snowball - don't remember if I posted this before:


And finally, the "backing" for this quilt - really, the quilt is the backing for this material:


Really, words do not do justice to how much I love this material. The photo is basically just the middle third of the width of fabric; it's red on one side, black on the other, with the cream birds bisecting the two. I have no idea when or where I got it; my best guess is that my grandmother bought it at the thrift store and I inherited it. There is NO clue on the selvedge about where or when it was made. I'm just happy I will finally have something done with it.

Started sewing today

I got the diamonds laid out on my "design wall" - otherwise known as my bed.
Cookie was my "helper" today.

Here Cookie is supervising as the first diamonds are placed for the center:


He doesn't seem to understand that the design will get bigger:


Not happy about being moved - notice the position of the ears!


Guarding the pieces that got stuck under his feet:


Now to sew it all together and finish it.