Saturday, January 05, 2008

Have you seen my window screens?


Our journey into 2008 has begun, & I find myself sincerely hoping that the past five days are not indicative of the coming year.

Work continues to take up entirely too much of my time & energy; today, I was up early to get my hair cut, before heading to the office to play catch up with my general ledgers & filing. The only saving grace was that the weather is so abysmal, that I’m not missing out on any fun activities, like a trip up to the snow (not recommended at this time.) I am making progress, & I anticipate having the chaos tamed into submission by the end of the month.

 Paper Work 


Or maybe the end of next month.

Or the end of the year.

Whatever.

 I Don't Know 

Chris, on the other hand, has been enjoying some well-deserved, extended time away from work; since he returned from Florida on last month, he has only worked 7 of the past 24 days. The upside is it has all been paid- either vacation or holiday pay. The downside- the one day he went in the week before Christmas (for his company party) he caught the virus that has been circulating in the office, so he has been hacking & snotty for the past week & a half.

Yeah, fun.  Sickly 

Speaking of the weather, we are currently in the grip of a series of winter storms that has been wreaking havoc throughout the state. While the higher elevations are seeing heavy snow, here in the Valley, we are being buffeted by high winds, driving rain, & threats of floods from the over-taxed levy system. Fortunately for us, our town is more than 50 feet above sea level & 10 miles from the nearest levy or river, so the likelihood of flooding is remote; but we are dealing with a number of uprooted trees, falling branches, & flying debris. 

 

Windy

 

While I was working today, Chris was clearing up the mess in our yard, settling the rabbit into the laundry room, & helping our neighbor reattach his roof shingles. I had planned on writing about my new cold frames that Chris devised while he was on vacation & doing a photo tour of my vegetables.

Winter 2007 172

The vinyl panels double as overnight frost protection, as well as creating a greenhouse atmosphere, raising the interior temperature by 15˚F during the day. Everything is doing well & we’ve been enjoying a modest weekly harvest;

Winter 2007 169 

Winter 2007 175

but right now, it all looks pretty bedraggled after the wind-beating the garden has been taking. While the wood frames are in good shape, the vinyl sheets have been almost shredded, so we are brainstorming some other type of protective casing to use during inclement weather.

AlpacaMerino Scarf 003AlpacaMerino Scarf 001AlpacaMerino Scarf 004

 

Well, I need to get back to my knitting; I’ve finished only one bandage so far for Junie Moon’s Bandage Brigade, & I need to get them mailed out by the 15th, so other knitting is on the back burner for the time being. Too bad, because I have some fun projects in my queue:

J   I’m in another read & knit along on Ravelry- this one is with the “Austentacious” group, & we are reading Jane Austen’s Emma over the next 12 weeks, while creating items with a “Made for Each Other” theme (things that go together);

J   I’ve had a special request from a blogging friend for some “surprise” fingerless mittens (I think you’ll like what I picked out, Becca);

J   I’m on the last month of the “Anne of Green Gables” read & knit along, so the bandages will be my final project;

J   A friend gave me a gorgeous pattern for cabled kilt hose, which I am itching to start- I have the yarn & needles, & just need the time to begin (this will be a long term project- at least a year);

J   I’m considering joining another read & knit along next month (when “Anne” is done)- the group will be reading three of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple mysteries over as many months, & doing a themed “mystery” scarf swap

Book Club

The good news is that PBS Masterpiece Theater is presenting adaptations of all six of Jane Austen’s novels- lots of dedicated knitting time! 

 Knitting 

  

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

My inlaws in the Sac valley have not had power since yesterday morning, but thankfully they have a generator. I am hoping that power comes on soon.

Hugs!

Anonymous said...

oh my goodness there's so much to comment to but no time at present.

i'll be back. that's a promise, not a threat. ;o)

glad you're faring the storms all right, meg. me? i'm melting i'm melting! lol.

suzee said...

So glad you have power, I was wondering about you. Take heart, it's supposed to start getting a little better...we're completely water-logged.

Love the veggie huts.

Hope life gets easier soon!

Dana said...

I am so glad you are faring well during this weather. Here in Houston? Right now it's 79. I know I could just say 80 but seriously typing the 7 made it feel just slightly cooler. The low will be 66.

Geesh.

Stay dry and warm. Batten down the veggies. Check in on you again soon!

Qtpies7 said...

I hope the weather clears up for you soon!
I just learned to knit this past week! I am so excited about it. I haven't tried purl yet, but I'm working on it.

Mrs. Darling said...

Oh i love the idea of doign vegetables like that! But goodness it looks like you folks really took a beating from the storm. Im amazed the frames held. OH now you've made me all antsy to do some vegetable gardening!

Junie Moon said...

I didn't know there was a read-and-knit along on Ravelry about Jane Austen. I'll have to check this out. My post for tomorrow is about the upcoming PBS movie series featuring Jane. I'm going to use the time to work on my bandages, too.

Betty said...

OMG I forgot about the winds in Tracy. I remember how bad it would get sometimes. We've not had it as bad down here though my back yard looks pretty gross with leaves and "bunrt" plants. I'm going ot be working on cleaning that up this week. I try not to complain "much" because I can remember when it was 109° out there and I was wishing for winter. LOL Good luck with all of your projects and job!

Tulabell said...

Look at you! Knitting and gardening, working and reading and mothering and spousing all at the same time, you are so awesome, I wonder what the new year has to bring to you! Happy new year!