A Retiree Day

It's snowing!  I'm tired of rehearsals.  I'm tired of rehearsals that take me away 2 or 3 times a day... It's the high season for churches, and concerts, so I'm taking a snow day.  And, yes, dear readers, NM finally is getting snow.  The first for the month of February, yesterday there was snow in the air, but it was very wet, and just made things a little slippery.  This morning it has turned fluffy, and non-stormy.  Very pretty, and I decided to take the day off.  

Except...

My toes are cold, and retiree day means I want to wear flip flops around the house, so first I had to repair this.  How could my doggie chew off the toe in one piece?  The toe cap came off... (See previous blog post.)

I used 1 gram of leftover yarn and knitted a new one this morning.  All is well.

Winter arrived...

But this is as bad as it gets!

Feeding the hungry birds

Grandma next door

Snow covered luminarias

The finishing touches

Spring is Here!

I've been reading my Norwegian bloggers and finding that they are shoveling snow, and have frozen water pipes and such.  And here in mostly sunny New Mexico (except today) we have had pleasant temperatures, the daffodils are blooming and the occasional snowstorm comes through every week. The snow slows down traffic for a few hours and then it's sunny again.  I love this place!  Snow is pretty... then it's gone.  

Our sign of Spring is seeing the cattle and their new-born dogies, horses, mini-horses, and donkeys arrive in the field behind the house.  Mamas calling babies and donkeys calling in the night are the only disturbances we hear.  (I choose to ignore the wind.)

For the past few years I've been intrigued by orchids. It makes me think of tropic scenes, and humidity. The blossom itself is so unusual with its un-concentric design. Never daring to assume that a dry NM climate could sustain them, I didn't give in to my urge to have one in my house until last May.  I bought a beautiful dark pink plant with 11 buds, and most of them open.  It made me so happy to watch it and count 13 blossoms in all. In October the last one fell off, and after a trim and a wait of 5 months, today the first new blossom opened up.  I have at least 6 more to look forward to!

Silent Night

Quiet!  Please....
No need to ask; my guests have departed leaving a vacuum of space and sound, and most of all, a time for knitting.

How little did I knit in the past month?  Very little.  I didn't finish the Advent Socks, but I created and finished a quickie "Little Miss Santa" in less than 24 hours.  I'll try to be more prepared for Christmas Eve NEXT year...  I'm not totally happy with my creation;  I used stash yarn of 100% acrylic (thick: lovely; touch: horrible) with trim in off-white wool.  The end result: Something that looked like it came out of a cedar chest from the '50's.  It worked with the red tights and black shiny shoes.  (Baby's first shoes!)


To accentuate the quiet, we have snow.  Several inches in the past 24 hours:  Wonderful crunchy snow.  The only sound is movement on the snow, of the occasional car, and a few footprints.  My own steps are shockingly loud as I move around the block with my dog. Tonight I awake to the glare of an almost full moon shining through the trees, making a beautiful scene.