Weather Trolls

It's a funny thing, this canceling of winter. For once, I believe Vermonters are almost not noticing.

Usually, our weather is the one reliable topic of conversation as we wend our ways through our days.

"Man, it's hot out there."

Or "Do you believe that ice?"

Or "If I have to shovel one more time, my arms will fall off!"

You heard that last one a whole lot last winter when we got hit with storm after storm after storm. By early February, the entire population of the Upper Valley looked as though it had been sleep deprived since Christmas.

But this year, we're not talking about the weather. It reminds me of when the Red Sox were competing (for the first time in living memory) for the World Series title, and this whole area went into superstition mode. We ate the same cereal every morning, put our shoes on the same way, sat in the same chair to listen to the games. Or didn't listen to any games at all because we didn't listen to the first one, and, well, if we changed anything, the Sox would lose again.

So talking about the weather--the complete lack of snow and no driving cold--has become almost verboten. After what we lived through in 2011, no one wants to draw the attention of the weather trolls to our little corner of the world.

Frost Feathers

With the landscape around here so bare (as in no leaves, no flowers, no snow, few ice sculptures), it's more than a bit of a challenge to find little moments of beauty.

But water continues to be the most interesting element of the four described by the ancient Greeks: earth, fire, air and water.

Two mornings ago, before the sun hit its stride on the horizon, I found these wonderful frost feathers on our three vehicles. This formation was on the hood of my red Corolla catching the new day.

First Project of the Year—Done!

OK, so one of my New Year's resolutions is to get some of those projects that have been on my quilting to-do list for too long over to the done list. And yesterday, I finished this patchwork bed for Goldie.

This got started in the far distant past when we had to retire a down comforter because most of its feathers had drifted to the outside edges. Jay took out the remaining stitches so we could get all the feathers into one corner, and that's where it sat (in my stash closet) for about a year.

Took up a lot of space that could be used for something else (such as batting).

I started by sewing around the feathers to lock them into a pillow shape. Then I thought—well, why don't I use up some scrap to make the outside.

And then it went from merely a scrap exterior to a long, narrow quilt that I folded, sewed up the sides, stuffed with the down pillow, and then sewed closed.

Kind of the long way around to make a "simple" dog bed.

But just look at my little girl curled up on it. So worth it.

Green Winter

January 2. Hmmm. Front yard still showing green grass.

Hmmm.

Snow shovels stacked—unused—by the front door.

Hmmm.

After last winter's intense cold and snowstorm after snowstorm after snowstorm, I am digging this.

And after getting beaten up by the weather deities in 2011, this is nice.

Welcome 2012

Over here in West Hartford, Vermont—and around Vermont in general—we are very happy to see the tail end of 2011 sneak around the corner and head off into the past.

Not that that extremely difficult year's legacy isn't going to haunt our state for a long time to come.

But somehow, with the ability to display a new calendar now a reality this morning, you can kind of feel the bad taste of Irene fade into the distance.

And hope, that expensive commodity, rises again.

Which is as it should be.

So, resolutions anyone? I realized at some point in early December how much I missed blogging every day. Today, being the first day of the first month and the point at which the last Mercury retrograde is totally over, I decided to get down to daily blogging again.

The plan is to move everything over to a WordPress blog under my own URL in the coming week with an aim to have it all up and ready for viewing by Friday the 13th (oooh, yeah, get that date over with quickly). But in the meantime, I needed somewhere to spill words.

And the morning glory? Well I have a passion for the color blue, and this particular shade is one of my favorites. I've tried to grow this babies for years but every time I put seedlings in the ground, the slugs feast on them until there is nothing.

But this year, a few of my morning glory seedlings went into stealth mode, and in August—voila! Big blue flowers appeared at the top of my trellis. And they bloomed and bloomed and bloomed while Irene poured water on us, while we moved out and moved back in again.

They went to seed which means there will be tons of seedlings all over that area this spring. They'll be back.

And so will we. Not leaving (except when we see really high water because that still freaks me out) but fixing.

A lot to look forward to this year. I'll let you know when the move to WordPress is complete so you can stop by for tea.

Together, we're going to be glorious.

Simmertime

On our first kayaking trip of the season, we traveled to
Grafton Pond to hang out with the loons.
You can hang out more with me at my website www.SonjaHakala.com

One of these days, I have to look up the proper name for this
wonderful water plant. I love the shape of this leaf, and
am thinking about using it for an applique quilt.

My husband Jay with his little kayaking companion,
our little girl Goldie.

No matter how many times we walk along the river,
we seem to find new plants. This is
a swamp milkweed just before its flowers
burst open.

July-Oh My!

These beautiful trumpets of pinkish white are bindweed. There are always more pictures at
my website: www.SonjaHakala.com

The Blackeyed Susans are in bloom early this year.

Deadly nightshade has blossoms like the tomato plant.

And we have more milkweed than we ever have had.
More monarch butterflies!