More Winter Projects

A special order for mittens "like our great-grandma's" had me peering closely at a photo of a much-darned heirloom in a shadow box while I sketched and swatched and finally knit two pair for some customers.

A beautiful printout of The Christmas Account from the Bible is often welcomed thankfully by those we interact with in December - from grocery store clerks to our friendly clinic staff, who got the addition of little crocheted snowflakes with theirs.

Another little job for Reywa Fibers was testing just a section of this scarf pattern (in my own scrap-yarn) to help finalize the wording. My first attempt at knitting cables still has me thinking I'll usually leave them to Elsa who actually enjoys the process and does it beautifully!

Lyme Disease: Did you know?

Spring has finally arrived in the North! We get out in the fresh air and sunshine as many hours a day as possible. Gully shunned her indoor cat-bed as soon as the snow began to recede and began begging for our company outdoors.

But spring also means tick-season has returned. While still suffering daily from Lyme disease and co-infections contracted nearly 15 years ago, I have great concern at seeing my family and friends pulling ticks off themselves as they work and play outdoors each year. 

This area will be a lifelong test of faith and trust in God's providence and goodness. But we also should not be foolish or careless with the health God has given us. So I will post occasional information about Lyme Disease and how you can guard against it or seek treatment when infected.

"DID YOU KNOW? Most individuals who contract Lyme don't get it from a tick sting. Spiders, fleas, mosquitoes, deer flies, black flies, horse flies and other insects can transmit it.
Deer, birds, cows, horses, other mammals and rodents can also be carriers.
Lyme has been detected in all 50 U.S. states.
It's an issue that is quickly spreading across the entire globe -- 300,000+ people per year contract Lyme."

 CLICK HERE to learn more and sign up for free access to a two day replay of "The Best of Chronic Lyme Disease" online summit airing April 27-28, 2019

Every Story...

Every Story has two sides...  So the saying goes. 

                    

And so goes this new knitwear design. My "boss" at Reywa Fibers designed the Every Story colorwork hat sporting two distinct patterns - one on each "side" of the hat. I had the challenge of designing a mitten based off the two motifs using the same two skeins of Reywa's Harmony line of yak-down/wool blend yarn.

One of my Florida beach pictures gives a glimpse of the first prototype, but much has changed over the past two months. I just submitted the finalised pattern in time for a Local Yarn Store Day event this weekend. 

Among the Living

"Why do you seek the living among the dead? 

[Jesus] is not here, but has risen."

Luke 24:5b-6

(April flowers at the greenhouses)

April Blizzards

If April showers bring May flowers, 

what do April blizzards bring?!

Our winter-full of snow had mostly melted before this new layer. Strong winds are already whipping up 3-foot-deep drifts while a poor robin sits diconsolately fluffed out in the pagoda dogwood branches, not knowing how to eat from the feeders I just filled as the storm began. At least a whole flock of juncos found this a good place to be snowed-in. 

The More It Snows

Back home we enjoyed two March blizzards before it began to warm up enough to start the long process of spring thaw.

Our Christmas tree was as beautiful as ever in this "Narnian" winter.

What a contrast with my mornings just a couple weeks prior.

               

This was perfect timing to enjoy an audio-book version of 

A.A. Milne's The House at Pooh Corner 

and one of Pooh's delightful "hums."

"The more it snows

(Tiddely pom),

The more it goes

(Tiddely pom),

The more it goes

(Tiddely pom),

On snowing.

And nobody knows

(Tiddely pom),

How cold my toes

(Tiddely pom),

How cold my toes

(Tiddely pom),

Are growing."

- Winnie-the-Pooh -

Yes, a snowbank just like those in my snowy childhood beckoned me to a bit of fort-building for the first time in decades. I focused on the fun it had been and the progress it showed in my health during the following week of intense shoulder and back pain!

Even with missing three weeks of the winter, Dad got more use out of the snowblower than usual this year. One morning he cleared out our neighbor's driveway and blew more than a mile to provide access in case of emergency in our neighborhood. Good thing we know where the roads should be under all that white!

As a couple feet of new snow piled on already white rooftops and rain was in the forecast, it sounded like just the combination which had felled our barn some years back. So two of my cousins came and helped with the heavy work that is too much for Dad since his heart attack - especially without the help he used to get from his three girls on the roof.

  The guys even harnessed themselves to the tractor bucket and lightened the heavy load on our canvas shed. What a blessing!

Jason thinks we should plant "iceburg lettuce" in our garden when it looks like this!

Where and Why

Now to begin to clear up the mystery I recently introduced:

Where did we go?

South - to get a break from increasing symptoms mid-winter...

... and find some sunshine, ocean breezes...

... and warmth. 

100 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer than home, to be precise.

We even searched for shade some days!

Where was this to be found?

On the Atlantic coast of Florida for a couple of weeks, at our doctor's suggestion. That wasn't a hard "pill" to want to swallow, though it took several years to become even a possibility. 

Even now when the way was opened and our strength increasing, we simply didn't know if all the extra work and stress would be outweighed by the benefits. Since each day at home is challenging enough, it could hardly be otherwise when spending days on the road, fitting four adults into a camper that is "perfect for two," and keeping up with grocery shopping and cooking for our special diets without all the fridge and freezer space that help us save much time and energy at home.

So, was it worth it??

Yes! It was a huge, perfectly timed gift from our loving Father in Heaven as well as our amazingly caring and generous earthly parents. We are still seeing the benefits in little ways back at home. But more about that later...