Scenes from a snow day

And then it snowed

Flipping the calendar to March early has backfired. School is already called off and they're predicting a sizeable snowfall overnight. The kids have made numerous snowmen (all in the same spot, they keep chopping parts of the same one off and rebuilding), snow angels like crazy, pelted each other with snowballs (it's a great packing snow), and what makes Kevin and I laugh the most is when we see each of them flat on their bellies with their hands behind their backs, straining their necks and licking the snow as if they're seals or something. We've been watching them out the window like it's T.V.

Several things happen when it snows this much in central Virginia. First, there is no milk or bread in the grocery stores, there's a run on all the essentials with the first call for flurries. It's probably just as well people stock up and stay off the roads because if you venture out you'll see a car in the ditch every hundred feet or so. And lastly, school is called off well ahead of time, even if there's a chance it'll be melted by morning. This time I think we'll wake up to lots of snow.

So we dragged out all the mismatched gear that accumulates from year to year of snowless winters and when I informed Allie that the snowpants that were in her size were some of John's old black ones she about had a hissy fit and threatened to only wear pink. Of course my response was that she'd have to stay in and in about five minutes the color seemed not to matter. Usually there's enough stuff to go around that everyone can be covered. The years where I have each child completely outfitted and matching there is no snow. Not a single flake.

Sunny loves it and doesn't know what to make of it at the same time. The kids were feeding her snow and she acted like it was bones.

Conflicted

The weather surprises me every time this year as it vascillates between 60 or 70 degrees at times to the now 30's with sleet. The daffodils are clearly confused as am I. We're warming up to this again inside:

A few days ago we decided we'd had enough of winter and flipped the calendar to March thinking it would somehow make the last few days of February go faster. I also got a new haircut for Spring, it'd been about 6 months (!) since my last one and I was so overdue. I decided to chuck the bag lady look and ever-present ponytail (I'm much too old) and got about 6 or 8 inches taken off and I couldn't be happier. Still have my graylights right in the front but they're apparently here to stay. I'm not complaining, I've earned every single one of them and am hardly ashamed to be 38 (so young, so young).

I'll leave you with thoughts of Spring and not woodstoves. One of the many things I love about living in the country is the surprise flowers that pop up in the middle of the woods. I forget about them every year and then one day, out of nowhere, there they are again.

Can I just take a minute?

When the customer who purchased my booties a while back told me what she was planning on doing with them I thought, now that is a great idea for a baby shower cake topper! While I thought it would be cute I certainly wasn't expecting this! How great is that cake?

Thank you Etsy for opening up my little business to the world and thank you to my wonderful customers (this one in particular!) who make my creating extra enjoyable and sometimes elevate it to a whole other level. Literally!

When all else fails

When you're trying to keep your mind on working and can't, when you're trying to feel something and you're not exactly sure what, when you need to see color and spring hasn't sprung, just pull out your daughter's watercolors and start doodling. What has gotten into me?

As far as the eye can see

I'm drowning in booties and hats here, working my fingers to death putting together a wholesale order--my biggest one to date. I'm so excited about the whole thing and the prospect of being an ongoing supplier to my new client that I want to have everything finished immediately. But I keep envisioning the tortoise and the hair, (no kidding, I really am) and have to picture myself lumbering along like the tortoise in order to stay on track.

Last night out of the blue Kevin asked me what my plan was when my fingers were too arthritic to keep working this way. I said I didn't know and that I didn't have a plan. This was before he went to sleep and could see me with my hands wrapped in ice packs. Needless to say, it really helped.

It's at times like these when I picture smiling, rugged, wrinkled women in Peru or Chile, let's say, with numerous kids and a baby strapped to their backs, working away with the bright, cheery yarn and patterns they use to make all sorts of things. You can picture it, right? They work all day with their hands and probably never complain and I'm not about to start. But I will say that I've been thinking more and more about recruiting them to help me!

News

Just got the news that I'll be vending again at the Goochland Farmer's Market this summer! You may remember how it all started and the little bit of press that I thoroughly enjoyed and was surprised by and how I met great friends and ate great food and brought home pretty flowers any time I could. We taught men to knit, dodged the rain and did I mention the food?

I'm so looking forward to another season I can hardly wait. Each year the market grows by leaps and bounds and this year should follow suit with more vendors applying than ever before and an increased interest throughout the area to buy local, eat fresh and participate in keeping small town America alive and well.

And if the knitting wasn't enough, or all the crazy ideas Kevin and I have been entertaining about what to do with ourselves (ie. chickens, additions, etc.) we've added another one to the list of things to do "one day". I'll give a more in depth account of how the notion was born (it's my fault), but for now, click if you dare.