Snowing and Blowing

Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents -- the day that commemorates the Bible story of the murder of baby boys under 2 years of age by King Herod.  It also happens to be my sister's ( Mary) birthday.  So, I decided to brave the icy roads and blowing snow and go to town to visit her a while because she always takes her birthday off from work.  Well guess what?  Yep, She decided to go into work and I wound up leaving her birthday gift by her back door.  I bought her a Yankee candle, the Christmas Wreath scent.  While I was in town I took Tom's Muck Boots that I bought him for Christmas over the the UPS center in the Pamida store to send them off for exchange because they were too tight on him and he wanted a larger size.  All in all, it was a quick trip.  The roads were very icy and I had to have the 4-wheel drive on in the truck the whole way.  Snow devils on the wind abounded.  Darn!  I wanted to visit Mary a while and drink a cup or two of tea.

While I was in town Tom said six big wild turkeys wandered through the front yard.  I told him he should have grabbed the camera and taken a couple of pictures of them for the blog.  He didn't think of it.  He said they flew up into a tree on the far side of the chicken coop when he and the dog went outside to look at them.  I figure they were probably looking for the corn I toss to the chickens.

I started practising spinning on my new Turkish Spindle.  I really like it.  Of course, I have to go slow and my yarn is, well, not exactly uniform, but it sure is fun.  At first I was really uptight because I kept breaking the fibers and the yarn size was either really thin or chunky, but I just unwound what I thought was too poor a quality and pulled it apart to re-spin.  I'm getting more comfortable at feeding the wool into the twist. My wool is a lovely natural gray -- I prefer natural colors.  I hope I wind up with enough yarn to knit a sweater.  Tom bought it from Red Barn Farm, a local farm here in Butternut that sells spinning supplies.  Here's the link:  http://users.dishmail.net/redbarnfarm.

Tom and I are planning New Year's dinner.  We will have ham with biscuits, sweet potatoes and green bean casserole.  And I will make pineapple upside down cake for dessert.  I always make pineapple upside down cake for New Year's because Tom's father's birthday was January 2, and that was his favorite cake.  You know, one of those family traditions that keeps memories of loved ones long dead alive.    I think the holidays are hard for Tom because he is the last one of his family left.  I know it would be hard for me if the situation was reversed. 

Well, the Bears are playing Minnesota, so I'll let you go.  May you all be safe and warm and enjoy the Season!