Wish I could take decent pictures

The colors were awesome that day.

Raindrops keep falling on my head

I was looking at my phone and I've collected a few cloud photos over the last few months and thought I would finally share them. The last two look a bit like mammatus clouds, which are more rare. It's a wonder I don't drive off the road sometimes. ;)

The sky

I've been taking more and more pictures with my phone camera (wish I had a real one). As you can see, I watch the sky a lot and weather patterns intrigue me. Here's a few I took a couple weeks ago when I was out at mom and dad's.
Enjoy.

Pagosa Fiber Festival

Last Saturday I traveled over the pass about 70 miles to go to the Pagosa Fiber Festival. It was a wonderful day with just a few sprinkles of rain. I took the boys with me and we walked around. There were many different vendors of wool and roving and yarn and spinning tools and books. The boys liked the animals the best. There were different kinds of sheep and goats and rabbits and llamas and alpacas. We watched a sheep-shearing demonstration. The man had been shearing sheep for 56 years and he was fast. I ended up buying some Australian merino(undyed) and some superwash dyed roving. On the way home we stopped at a malt shop and I had a huge sundae. It would have fed several people. I had no idea it was going to be so big. Set the diet back a gazillion years but it was a special occasion.

Weekend

Well, both yesterday and today we woke up to snow. It's just not Easter without snow. Now it's raining so I'm sure every weed seed in my yard will jump out of the ground when it rains. Well not jump, but start growing. It seems like they jump out of the ground. Also, the lamp in my bedroom has stopped working unless you wiggle the cords a lot but I'm not in the mood to do that every time. Also, the glass shade covering my outside light in the front is suddenly on the ground in pieces. It must have just fallen.

But what you really are here for is this woman. Stout is not something you hear much anymore. And look! a whole style book just for you, you stout woman you. And that dress? It's only $3.98! That's just amazing from 1955. I meant to ask mom if that was cheap or expensive or what. But look at her! Do you think she is stout? I think her waist is smaller than mine. If anyone calls me stout, I'm going to smack them. I bet all the larger size people out there wish they were stout like her. I know I do.

Well, the rain is picking up and wind is blowing and I have a ton of homework to do so I better get cracking. Have a great week everyone!

Snow

This picture was taken as I drove home last night. Jesus is floating in the window because the Mormon missionary guys gave me a card yesterday that was sitting on the dash. Now that it's spring, the weather changes in a moments notice. Like now, it's snowing. Big blizzardy flakes. But in 10 minutes, who knows?

The bull of doom

Back in the old days, when I worked at the bank, I got the job of getting the float built. The float? you say. Every year there is a big to-do in my town. It involves parades and rodeos and carnivals and dances and concerts. Anyway, the bank had a float every year and for many years they had just hired someone to build it. But lo and behold, she tired of float-building, having done it for many years and not just for the bank. So we decided to do it ourselves. Did you know there are float-building catalogs out there? Indeed. I was chosen to design it and get it built so I promptly got myself a committee and we brainstormed and came up with a design. A rodeo bull with a tiny fence around it. I forget what the theme was that year. One of the loan officers was handy with tools so I was design and he was engineering. I decided what I wanted where and he figured out how to do that. The float was doing well (buying drinks for people that volunteered to help didn't hurt) and one evening I had to work late but was planning to go over to where the float was being built. Being the earth-conscious person I am, I decided to walk there. The bull had been finished and was being brought to put on the float. Did I say that the float was being built in an empty potato warehouse? The float was being built in an empty potato warehouse kind of on the backside of the building of where the company was active. So after work I walk to the warehouse to check out the work of my committee. Since I wasn't there to direct things, I guess the motivation fell apart and everyone had left. But since I was there, I decided to take a look at the bull. Lifting the wooden bar to open the huge door, I saw the bull in his glory. Unfortunately he was pointed the wrong direction on the float so I walked in to examine him from all sides. It looked great. I had been hesitant about the woman who volunteered to make him, not knowing if he would come out looking any good or not. But he was great. I was impressed. I stood there in admiration when suddenly a gust of wind came up and slammed the door to the warehouse shut. If there were lights in the building, I didn't know where they were. Fortunately it wasn't completely dark but I imagined all the creepy crawlies coming out of the woodwork to feed upon me now that I was trapped in there. The bull also didn't look so great any more. Kind of a malign presence looming above me. As I walked to the door I also realized that I was kind of in an out of the way place and no one really knew I was there. There was no car to indicate anyone had been there. I imagined that I just disappeared off the face of the earth and no one would find me for 24 hours at least. The distance to the door got longer and longer. Would it open? Would the slamming shut have made the wooden bar fall latching me in forever? Were there spiders on the door I was about to touch? I walked toward it, pushed, and it opened! Crisis averted! As I walked home I was so glad I didn't have to spend the night in a dirty creepy crawly warehouse in the dark. Then about 5 blocks from home it started to pour rain. So I got soaked. The bull had his revenge.

Winter wonderland

It snowed Friday night. Really snowed. Cold and windy and blizzardy. Yes, I just made up that word. A good night to stay in and keep warm. The next day was beautiful. This is my back yard. Looks like a jungle out there.

The furnace

My new little house has a total of 3 heaters. Ok, so far so good. It's the coldest time of the year and I have only 2 of them lit and I turn them down during the day when I'm gone. (Don't worry, the cats have fur coats to keep them warm) The problem is that one of them, if I turn it down too far, goes off. Then I have to light it in the evenings. Besides the fact that I'm all handy around the house knowing how to light pilot lights, it's annoying. Because even though I follow all the instructions and get it lit correctly, as soon as I turn up the thermostat, it goes on, then goes off. Then I have to light it again. Usually the 3rd time is the charm. Although I am all handy, that handiness doesn't extend to knowing what is wrong with the furnace or how to fix it. If I leave it up high, then it doesn't go off but that defeats the turning down the furnace when I'm gone to save money principle. Ah well, we'll see what happens. Spring is coming in 3 or 4 months, isn't it?

Tricksy sun

The sun is out nearly every day here in sunny colorful Colorado. The days are getting longer and so the sun comes up a few seconds earlier every day. Bright and beautiful, it shines upon us. It's life-giving light illuminating our lives. It's invigorating warmth bringing life to all froz....... wait. There's no warmth coming out, none whatsoever. It's bright but not warm. Something is definitely wrong with the sun. It's not working correctly. Perhaps a battery is run down. Just slap a new double A in that puppy and make it go. Spring seems so far away. (Can you hear the wind laughing at me?)

this post inspired by karie

Strange Days

Make no mistake, it's cold out there. 10 degrees F or less all day. We woke up to snow, now there is a little breeze so when it's snowing, the snow hits you right in the face no matter what direction you are going and if it's not snowing at the moment, the wind pretty much hits you in the face any direction you are going. It's cold out there. A walk across campus to a meeting and back pretty much confirmed the snow and cold in your face. Then, getting a ride to the grocery store because of the aforementioned cold and walking back in yet a different direction with the wind in your face making you cold. Then you feel the cold. At the grocery store, picking up something for lunch and pausing..... frozen food section...... Ben and Jerry's ice cream..... Ben and Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. It's only a $1. I had some last summer and it was wonderful. Picking it up and buying it to eat for dessert. Oh yum.
Oh, did I mention it's cold out there?

Scarf

I've finished plying the merino/tencel and it came out nice. I've started on the Morning Surf Scarf and it's turning out really nice once I learned (again!) to count. It's going pretty quickly too.
The weather has been cold cold. It's been at least 15-20 below zero the last few nights and so everyone pretty much stays inside all the time. You don't go out unless you have to.
I'm hoping Christmas will be a good one this year. It hasn't been good for me the last few years. I'm not getting that 'special' feeling I used to get. But hope springs eternal....