SNOW!

Oh my goodness. Some of you may have read or seen that Denver is having a snowstorm. It started Tuesday evening and hasn't yet stopped. Howard went out this morning (thank God it is our weekend!) and cleared off the car and shot a couple of photos. This picture is just past the front door to the apartment building. Normally that branch is high overhead. I would guess that the car on the right has not moved since before the storm started.




We worked Tuesday night, leaving for work early because of the forecast. It started to snow as soon as we were on the freeway. By the time we got off work, the car had several inches on it. It was a white knuckle drive down the mountain, the road was completely white. Oddly enough, the last little bit was the hardest -- the plows don't go through so much and climbing the hill was almost too much for our car. We parked the car in the parking lot (can't get it in our garage space yet) with the understanding that we did NOT need to go out again until Friday night. Whew! (This is the back view of that car.)



This is what our car looked like, having missed the first night of the storm. The one in the center of this photo, looking as if it has a thin line between the end of the snow on the car where it hasn't QUITE met the snow on the ground. Yet.









Howard cleared part of the windshield and took a photo of the contrast.

Howard used the shovel blade as a measuring tool to measure the depth of the snow on top of the car. The blade is about 14-16 inches deep (we need to measure to be sure.) As you can see, the snow extends a bit above that.

Our car is being protected a bit by the apartment building. I don't want to walk out and see what the cars that are unprotected look like. Call it lazy or call it cold. Forget it right now. Almost time to go to bed!

Welcome!

At their own wedding. I'd like to welcome a new member to our clan -- Justin. Serena and Justin married September 30th.
Photo taken in June at Justin's brother's wedding.


That makes 2 Justins, now to be known as Justin T (or Big Justin) and Justin L (or Little Justin or Justin the Small.) We figure the initials are safer, as Justin L will grow. Will he be as BIG as Justin T? Who knows. grin

Justin and Serena were best friends her freshman year of college. They lost touch, but found each other again.


The newlyweds live in the Chicago area. With 2 cats and 3 dogs.

Serena is still looking for a job. Good thoughts her way would be appreciated.

Justin

Here's Justin "reading." I LOVE this picture!

Raccoons

You know, I've always considered raccoons to be cute and harmless. The other night Howard received a frantic call from Serena that raccoons were in the house please come help. It seems that 5 of them had pushed in a screen and made themselves at home. Tora-chan hid but Titania decided to defend her territory. When Serena got to the kitchen 3 raccoons were fighting one very angry cat. The other two coons were investigating the house. Serena started throwing things to get them away from Titania. They weren't afraid of her at all. She finally knocked something down on them. Titania ran away and Serena chased the coons out of the house, replaced the screen then shut the window. That's when Howard got there, to a trashed kitchen and a VERY upset daughter! No sign of Titania, Tora-chan strolled out leisurely shortly after, wondering about the upset and why the dreadful almost skunk smell in the house. After much cleanup they started the search for the missing cat. Nada.

After we got off work and other appointments we drove up to find the cat. Nope. By then we were pretty resigned to the worst. Maybe not resigned, but definitely thinking that it was inevitable. At 6:30 in the evening Titania strolled out, a little sore and wondering what was on the menu. After a vet visit she came away from the attack with a sprained tail (how can a cat sprain her tail?!) a sore foot and a slight infection. An antibiotic and short course of steroids and she will probably not even remember this-the cat with two brain cells, one in each lobe of her brain. She has no memory-be away from her for more than a day and she doesn't know you.

Knit stuff

I can knit again. Those of you who knit understand, these weeks without knitting have tried me almost to the limit. I finished a pair of Happy Feet socks in the past few days. Okay, not quite finished, I need to graft the toes. But I look forward to wearing them, suddenly my socks are starting to show signs of wear. Part of me whines greatly, the other part looks at my list of completed projects and sees when each pair was finished and is grateful they lasted so long! After all, the latest to develop a hole is from October 2003. I'm going to try to darn the hole, after all, the rest of the sock still has plenty of wear! I started a pair in Kaffe Fassett's Regia Landscape, this time the colors are much better at singing than the earth pair I made last year. I'll let you know as they progress. There is something about the olive green that he includes that icks me. I love the rest of the colors so far. I found myself trying to knit faster, to get PAST the olive, as I reacted so negatively to it. Don't know why.

I'm trying to stay awake to call the apartment office to ask them to please fix the ceiling in our bedroom after bits of the plaster fell when the roof leaked. Part of me wonders why I have to ask that, as they already know of the problem and have reported that the leak(s) repaired. Oh well. Such is the life of a person who works nights as opposed to days. We are asleep when most of the rest of the time zone is awake.

Oops

When I was really restricted on my right hand, I tried to sew. I planned out the cutting layout (including the length I wanted on the skirt) and Howard was a sweetheart and cut it out for me. I managed to get the zipper in and one seam before the pain won.

Tonight I got most of the skirt done. It is hanging at the moment, so the hem can hang out before I measure and hem it tomorrow. I eked out the fabric, it was all that was left on the bolt. I was so proud that I'd gotten all the pieces without any but a few tiny pieces leftover. You know what they say about pride. grin I forgot to read the pattern pieces, one said cut 4, I cut 2. The last said to cut 2, I cut 1. So I didn't have enough fabric. I used scrap fabric to make the inside waistbands. Without planning it in the least, the stripes (it is a pinstripe fabric) matched precisely on the pockets. That was NOT planning, luck is the only way to describe it. The other problem? Despite measuring several times, the skirt is way too long. It is one of those that really needs to be adjusted BEFORE it is cut. sigh And, of course, if I had measured that correctly, there would have been more than enough for those other pieces. grin

Yesterday was supposed to be an inch of snow, per the national weather websites. We left work with 6 inches. East and westbound I-70 was basically a parking lot, the commute wasn't pleasant.

LAST weekend we were absolutely hammered. I took a picture at work before it really got bad. It continued throughout the night and the next day -- a heavy WET snow that compressed as it fell. The roof at work wasn't built to sustain that amount of weight, 42 inches of snow when they measured it. The building was closed while the snow was shoveled off. Yeah, it is pretty, but it is sure devastating! Some people waited more than 3 days for electricity. Some of them also lost phone and water service too. NOT a happy way to spend the time. The main way we were impacted is that the roof leaked and we have ceiling that decided to come into our bedroom in one place. Joy

Whee!

I saw the doc today. No surgery! Two different doctors, same practice, two opinions. I'll take this one, thank you! GGGGG I am to do occupational therapy for a month, then see him. If it still hurts, then try a cortisone shot. If it is still a problem, last thing is surgery.

I pulled out my knitting. Hard for you to believe, isn't it. GGGGG I haven't dared try it, but I plan to do so quickly!

:(

I fell at work a month ago. Doc said it was a sprain. This week I had an MRI. Turns out I have a non-displaced fracture, a torn ligament and a tear in a different ligament. No wonder it hurts! Find out the 21st when I have surgery. No knitting or spinning for a while.

Big Grin

I got a note from Serena the other day. The entire post is copied for your delight.

I tie-dyed your car at lunch. ;)

Love you!!

New Knitting project soon

This knitting adventure came as a trade from a friend in Denmark. Whee!!!!

Fast postal service! Mailed about March 17 from Denmark and arrived in Colorado US March 23! Interesting, instead of colors 98 lagoon and 102 magpie I was sent 98 lagoon and 99 aubergine (purple.) The colors look good together in the package, so I am going to go with it. Now to wait until my hand has healed! snivel

The hand continues to be difficult. I know a sprain takes a while, but sheesh! Last week the doc's office made a plaster splint to immobilize the thumb (because it hurt more than when it first happened!) After a week in that, it has improved. Today the physical therapist gave me a new brace, one that fits better than the first. Turns out I need a size small, not the medium first given. Doctor again tomorrow. I don't expect to be out of the brace this week. Tell you what, these longer nights for a medical appointment is tiring! Especially today! Less than 5 hours of sleep because of the pt appointment in the morning and then knitting group in the afternoon. I'm going to have to skip knitting on PT/doc days, I NEED sleep!

Talking about trying to spin tomorrow, don't know if the hand will allow it, but it would certainly help my sanity!