Cat and hat

We are now taking care of a cat. We first heard about this cat maybe ten years ago, when there were two sisters, Lola and Cola, staying with a grad student. That student went on to defend and leave town, leaving the cats behind. During their first winter, Lola got outside and came back missing some bits - a tail and the right hind leg.

 Both cats have been living with our friends Jenny and Pat, but now the sisters don't get along as well as they used to. They divide the house upstairs and downstairs, meaning that Lola doesn't get enough attention. So we're giving her a trial run, with the option to take her back if it doesn't work out or to keep her if it does. She's been super friendly and purry, wanting attention. So far, so good!

In hat news, I finally got my hat pattern up for sale on Ravelry: Baltic hat
My best picture of them is here:

The story is that I made the red hat first and made the mistake of wearing it into the yarn store where I got the main color. Someone there asked me how to do the Estonian braids and would I teach it. OK, fine. The yarn store policy is that I make a shop model from yarn currently available in the shop - which the Lopi Lite is not. So I picked some Cascade 220 in colors which aren't quite as exciting and made a shop model. In thinking about it, that's a lot of knitting for a class that meets twice, so then I made the small bag to be the in-class swatch. I taught two people, not including the one who bugged me to teach it in the first place - she wants another chance, so I said I'll teach it again in the fall.

compost pile

Last year we bought a compost container and put it out by the wood pile in a practical spot, far enough from the house. Then this past winter we discovered that this is smack in the middle of the band of snow deposition. There were weeks in which it was completely hidden. Now we might finally have access to it again!

Various

In knitting news, I finished my red sweater. It's 11.5 balls of Dale Svale with ideas from several sources.

I don't know what's up with the blog software, but this image is now tightly linked to the one below. Weird.

Sun pillar over setting sun - seen from the airport. We were on our way to Toronto for a Tai Chi workshop, heading out in the evening for the red-eye.

The gang at health recovery week. It was a small group so we all got plenty of attention from the two instructors.

Chanting stations in the temple. I went chanting each morning, always the same one for health and longevity. New is some attempt at the tones on the last word of each phrase.

The Center's pond. We were in the practice hall in the upstairs with the high ceiling.

Today we got invited to a bonfire, Rob's favorite. This is the morning shot.

Several hours later, the snow has melted back and there's quite an ash pile. Rob burned a hole in his shirt.

Off grid system update

Remote Power, Inc installed some new batteries for the generator.  The batteries and charger are on an A, B or A+B switch.  We also installed a separate inverter and batteries to power the data logging and control system.  Now to work on the temperature monitoring and control relays.

Had our first night or so above freezing.  Breakup has been very mild so far -- nice and slow melting of the snow pack.  Snow depth at the airport 4/11/2012 was 19 inches.

Moose in the hood

This was the view from the top of our driveway this morning (zoomed to max):














He/she let us get a little closer:
















I'll spare you the third shot of a blurry butt.

Ice too

Last night we had dinner with a couple visiting scientists and they expressed interest in visiting the ice park. I hadn't been either this year and was curious to see it in its new home (just a mile from the old place). There might be fewer entries than in years past, but there was still some very nice work - and not much sign of melt yet.

These are from the single block entries. It started off with a sea creature theme:
































The feathers were in amazing shape for almost a month after the judging. The raven is sitting on a nifty 3-D object.

















I took this picture because we've been listening to the Dark Tower series - it has free-standing doors.



















Next is the multiblock category:










































This won the multiblock first prize - just amazing (the photo doesn't do justice to the hedgehog):

Snow and a guest

First of all, we have a guest who is staying for three weeks:


















She's pretty fun and not too skittish:













About ten days ago we got a bunch of snow. One evening, we shoved at least 12 inches of light fluffy powder. In the morning, we shoveled another 8 inches:














This view of the road is artificially darkened so you can see the tire tracks of some neighbors who went by before the plow did:















We had to leave before the plow came as well - we just followed the tracks and were lucky enough not to meet anyone before we came to some maintained roads. The snow on all the trees was really pretty:














But then the wind came up...

In past years, we shoveled a path clear to the wood pile along the left side of the house. This year, we gave up and are going around the long way:































That day we rode out the tracks, we were in the Subaru, no problem. Then this past Monday we took it to the shop for a gas filling problem - air wasn't venting to make room for the incoming gasoline. They still have the Subaru, so we've been driving the Mazda - we've gotten stuck going up our driveway and by the mailboxes. Have shovel, will dig.

The wind has been doing amazing things with the snow, making these little overhanging shelves: