crafts + recipes + existential dread
The weather sure has changed around here. Dare I say it actually feels right for this time of year? Yesterday afternoon we were hit with a bit of snow and when I picked up Jake from his job at a local farm I just had to take this photo. There are a million reasons I feel lucky to live in New York, and the beauty of the Hudson Valley is definitely right at the top.
I have been knitting since November 2005 and crocheting since 2009, and I live just outside of Rhinebeck, so it is no surprise at all that the annual New York Sheep & Wool Festival is one of my favorite events! This year I went with a friend who has just learned to crochet and we had such an amazing time! The weather was gorgeous, and while the festival was certainly busy, I think Sunday is always a little less crowded so I didn’t feel completely overwhelmed by people.
There were so many gorgeous yarns — soft fibers, brilliant colors — just an absolutely delight! It was so hard choosing what to bring home because I oohed and ahhed over just about everything. I picked up some fun goodies, of course: a solar dying kit from Hilltop Farm Fiber Arts, Sparkly Sock yarn in Spruce from Flying Goat Farm, and Iachos yarn in Helm’s Deep from A Hundred Ravens. I left with so many ideas and so much inspiration! Here are a few scarves/shawls I loved and might make:
Wishmaker Shawl by Helen Stewart (knit)
Woollsia Shawl by Ambah O’Brien (knit)
Affair de Coeur Shawl by Tammy Hildebrand (crochet)
Naturally I got treats for my daughter and husband too. I picked out three sugar-free dip mixes for Drew to use in his dessert creations and a crazy caramel, peanut butter & M&M apple for Laura. I couldn’t leave them out!
I think before I jump into a new project I am going to spend a little time reorganizing my yarn because currently there really isn’t a lot of rhyme or reason to my method. I also want to redo all of my pattern binders. Currently I have stacks of printouts that need to be filed. I love a project to work on while watching TV at night, so I think I will probably start there. If I can do both of these things it will help me plan for next year!
Since I was very young I have always wished for an opportunity to see the Northern Lights, however I always thought it would entail a trip to Alaska or Iceland. I never would have imagined I’d be able to view them from my front steps, but that’s exactly what happened last night! I missed my other opportunities to view the aurora earlier this year, but last night around 7:40 I went outside, looked North and was treated to this spectacular display:
Were you able to view them where you live? We may have another chance here tonight and yes — I will be outside, bundled up, ready to take it all in again!
I am definitely a create of habit. I enjoy planning and routines. (It might be the control freak in me, LOL!) Anyway, today was the last day of my current Friday Routine. During what I call “annual appeal season” every Friday I need to check the P.O. Box for work, just in case any donation checks were sent there instead of our physical address. I have been waiting on one check so we could close out this year’s appeal and it was there today so I can resume my monthly visits instead of weekly. (We rarely get anything delivered there.) This is our tiny little post office!
Because it’s in a part of town that I rarely need to visit, I always feel like I deserve a treat for going out of my way, so I usually hit up our local Stewart’s for coffee and a muffin. Their chocolate cream cheese muffins are my favorite, but I didn’t see any today so I got a cinnamon crunch muffin along with my usual dark roast. Honestly, it is probably best that I slow my Stewart’s stops down because the muffins really aren’t helping me with my weight loss goals!
Our town is very small — barely over 4,000 people. It does not have its own school district, so kids who live here attend school in one of four other districts. Also, aside from the Agway and Stewart’s, there aren’t any chains here. If you enjoy small town, country life, Clinton is definitely the place for you! We have a couple small café/delis, a sit-down restaurant, a wine shop, a gift shop, lots of farm markets, and two vineyards. You will not be seeing a fast food restaurant, supermarket, or major drug store here anywhere soon, which I like for the most part, but sometimes I wish I didn’t have to travel 15 minutes for these types of things. Of course, it is a small price to pay for all of the open space and nature we enjoy. When the weather is nicer and flowers are blooming I want to do an “around town” post to show off some of these picturesque spots.
At any rate, with the check in my bag and coffee in my hand it was time to head to work for the day. I’m not sure if I have ever shared a photo of the outside of the library on my blog, so here it is:
I also took this photo as a “before” image because we are finally (finally!) moving forward with an ADA ramp project that started in 2018. (Lots of small town government drama that we don’t need to get into.) But at the Town Board meeting last week, the bid was accepted and hopefully by summer we will have a new accessible entrance.
So that was the start to my day. I am trying to get a bunch of items checked off my to-do list and I will be super happy when 4 PM finally rolls around! TGIF!
This afternoon I saw two chunky robins hopping around the backyard. It’s official: spring is here!
Well, it definitely snowed! There was barely a flurry when I went to bed last night and around 5:30 AM I was woken up to the dulcet tones of chainsaws (ha!) across the street. It took me a few minutes to register what the noise was, but then I saw the beacon on one of the highway vehicles and put it all together. The heavy snow weighed everything down and while we have luckily not lost power so far, friends nearby have.
These first two photos were around 7 AM before Drew had a chance to go out, clear the driveway, and shake everything off.
You can see one of the branches on the pussy willow broke.
Same with this tree by the shed – the weight of the snow was just too much for it. Obviously, everything was closed. Both the governor and our county executive declared a state of emergency for the area, which meant no driving on the roads.
Believe it or not it is still snowing as I type this at 6:30 PM! The wind is supposed to kick up tonight, but I am hoping it doesn’t. We don’t need anymore branches down! All told, I think we got around 10-12″ of snow. It’s so hard to say when it is compacted like this, but it is more than enough regardless!
What did I say? I thought it might be a snowy March and it seems to be holding true. A couple inches fell last night and we are looking at a Nor’easter on Monday that may bring 12”-18” of snow.
The library board already canceled our monthly meeting because the snow is supposed to start on Monday afternoon. I’m expecting a snow day on Tuesday as well. Hopefully the winds won’t be too strong, but the generator is ready in case we lose power.
Maybe we all can curl up like Marlowe here and enjoy winter’s last hurrah. In like a lion as they say, right?
What happened to winter this year? I know so many people dislike the cold, but it’s just not right to have the forecast for the upcoming week have temperature in the high 50s in February! The last few Marches have had some whopper snow storms so I guess we will see if we get anything then. Though at this point the weather already has me thinking about spring. It is definitely weird.