Musk Oxen

We now have our replacement fridge part, but it hasn't been attached yet. We're still limping along with an ice box - and I think I killed my sourdough because it's just not as cool as a fridge and I got kind of distracted - a weekend of Tai Chi, then a quick trip to Seattle. I'm going to try the rescue, throwing away big wads of it, feeding the rest, repeat until something is bubbling in it.

In other news, we got invited to the musk ox farm to look at some yarn just back from a mill and to maybe make some shop samples. How could I resist? I'm trying to finish up some socks first, so I don't have any of it knit up yet. There is a qiviut-silk blend and a qiviut-wool blend (with extra-fine merino) - I have some of each to try. The qiviut isn't of the best because this is from the year they were having malnutrition issues (the animals weren't getting enough copper and cobalt), so they only had the blends made up. We talked about the fiber for a while, then we got to go see some animals:

Orphan female, still nameless.

Same little gal.

One of the mothers in another pen. Note the qiviut hanging just behind her ear. The farm people comb them out, but the animals don't like to be bothered near the face.

Just to prove that it's not just a musk ox farm, but a Large Animal Research Station. This is a caribou.

June flowers

Last fall I rashly bought some bulbs and planted them. The crocuses in front don't seem to have flower buds...

Labrador tea blooming too

Tulips up close - will they come back next year?

Iris plants - no flowers here either.

We've got a lot of tansy plants - we brought seeds from the dye garden.

In knitting news, I'm working on an advent scarf in colors mom wouldn't approve of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news, our fridge died after less than three years of use. Our freezer stuff is in a neighbor's large freezer and we bought blocks of ice.

Gorgeous spring day

Sunset with virga

 

 This first picture was actually a few days ago. The sun was setting off to the left, shining on the clouds and their virga over the valley.

Birch just starting to leaf out

Zoom in to see leaves and flowers

One remaining snow patch below the driveway

Another snow patch

 The third patch is by the house and is looking more "snirty" (dirty snow).

Bulbs are sprouting - what did I plant there?

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.