a rolling stone gathers no moss

 Yes it does. And yes, I guess I need to vacuum in the basement.

one of Daisy's wool balls

hopefulness

 There are icicles everywhere. Riding along, you see scads of them, hanging on almost every building. I don't know why some buildings don't have them. It's very cold all the time, but when the sun is bright, I guess there is some melting, because these things are lengthening by the day.

I had finished knitting the hand warmers and gave them to my friend, but I'm knitting another pair with the same yarn. She wears them over thin knitted gloves, and the basic bind-off I use doesn't have any give, really - they could be a little less tight at the opening, and since I have more of the yarn, and they're easy to make, I'm knitting another pair with a different bind-off, and it does seem better. I have a book that's just cast-ons and bind-offs, and it's very handy. Sometimes you buy books you think it would be good to have, and they just accumulate and you wonder why you bought them, but I'm happy I bought this one. 

A year ago, I received a book of Coleridge's poems, which I'd asked for, but they haven't really clicked with me. I enjoyed Malcolm Guite's Mariner, so I guess I'm more interested in the man than in his poetry. But I do like this one which I read today:

All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair -
The bees are stirring - birds are on the wing -
And Winter slumbering in the open air,
Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!
And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,
Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.

Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow,
Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.
Bloom, o ye amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,
For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!
With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow, I stroll:
And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?
Work without Hope draws nectar in a sieve,
And Hope without an object cannot live.

- Work Without Hope, composed Feb 21st, 1825

And we know from Emily Dickinson, don't we, that hope's the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.

frost and cold

 

O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

-  Daniel 3:69,70

big snow coming

 The thermometer outside my window says it's ten degrees, and it's going to get colder. It will be very cold for a few days, but that isn't the main event: the very big storm that's crossing the country will bring us a foot of snow, maybe a foot-and-a-half, tomorrow and Monday.

Tuesday evening I started to get that feeling of a cold coming on; it progressed, and I ended up missing a day of work. Today, I got caught up a little with some of the food that's been waiting in the fridge: I cooked a chicken for tomorrow's dinner, a meatloaf for the freezer, a small batch of granola and some energy bites for myself. 

The furnace has been going on all day. A foot of snow is not a huge amount - the hullabaloo is mainly over two things: the size of the storm, which is big enough to cover much of this large nation, and the ice that so many in the south will get. That will cause problems, if it hasn't already. I don't think we're going to get any.

I took so many pretty pictures of the last snowfall; I wonder how long it will take for my enthusiasm to wane, if it ends up a snowy winter?

sshhhh

 We've seen a rabbit outside under the bird feeder, the past two nights, eating seed. The snow is crusty and hard, the days and nights are frigid and they are hungry. My brother bought timothy hay at Agway, and put some out there, and the rabbit came tonight. I was about to get the dryer going, but decided to wait - the noise and steam might send him away. 

Just trying to help.

staying warm

 The wind roared all day. 

A group of starlings were in my neighbor's apple tree - resting, maybe? It's going to be very cold all week.

Meanwhile, I re-drew a skirt pattern that's getting worn, and made cookies. I almost forgot how helpful it is to cook something in the oven on my days off!

fairyland, and other dreams

 Well, everybody was praising the "mildness" of the day - it was above freezing. 

Last Sunday night, it snowed. We woke up to a fairyland.

It was so cold all week, the four inches stayed. It's been in the single digits at night. Today was a pleasant reprieve, even though just around forty.

I finished the Star of Bethlehem book; the author's conclusion was it was probably a planetary conjunction. Would that really be so bright? I am no astronomer. The most interesting thing in the book turned out to be a quote from Franz Kafka:

"The Messiah will come as soon as the most unbridled individualism of faith becomes possible - when there is no one to destroy this possibility and no one to suffer its destruction.....The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary; he will come only on the day after his arrival; he will come, not on the last day, but on the very last."

                                                            

That was written in 1935. I think we're almost there.

There was a very loud bang yesterday, like a bird hitting a window, only louder. We looked out to see a hawk, resting a way off from the house. He didn't stay long, and didn't seem hurt. 

The other day, Suzy Q, the library director mentioned the 250th "birthday" of Jane Austen. She said we should celebrate - well, her birthday's in December, so there's plenty of time to plan. But I went to the basement to get my regency dress. And I don't believe I've ever mentioned it here.  

I don't remember how many years ago, but I had discovered Jennie Chancey's website, Sense & Sensibility. She made period sewing patterns, and I bought this one.

I made it in a black watch plaid cotton flannel, with a black lining of - not sure I remember correctly. A broadcloth of some kind, probably a cotton/poly. The buttons are plain black plastic and there's a bit of cheap black nylon lace at the sleeve edge. I put black piping along the bodice seams!  (What has happened to my sewing mojo?)  I'll have to take a photo of it. Well, it doesn't fit me now, but I would never get rid of it. It must be the best thing I ever made! I had also made this pattern from a pretty quilting cotton in a soft green with a gentle dragonfly design over all and a bit of gold metallic shine here and there. I don't have that one anymore, but I found a photo on her site of me in it! Here it is.  I made it a little shorter so I could actually wear it. It's modeled after a dress Kate Winslet wore in Sense and Sensibility, here.  

Should I sew another Regency dress? 

endurance

Jack came by; he does beautiful work. It was nine below zero this morning, and during the day in the teens, with excessive wind yesterday - we kept exclaiming about it at work, with people coming and going through the staff door (naturally!), and the howling and blowing outside. 

January, on the other hand, was so temperate that we didn't need a "January thaw". It was never below freezing during the day, all month long. I'll try not to complain about the lack of appreciable snow, since we may well get clobbered. We have plenty of time for that! But it isn't like our usual winters.

Daisy is scheduled to be spayed on March 20, and she is uncomfortable in the meantime. She goes through periods (no pun intended!) of crying, squirming, distraction, not eating because she can't seem to focus. Until finally she gets so tired and can sleep for a while. Annie puts up with her as best she can.

It seems that Annie's lot in life is to play second fiddle; she is a stoic, if not by nature, then by circumstance. I often wonder how she feels about it. 

She is a nice cat.