The three of us left in the mountains cut and ran this morning. More snow was forecast….and I know what that means. We could have been sitting pretty up there for a very long time! The two remaining teenagers decided that they wanted to do things in the big city this week more than that they wanted to ski, my wool supplies were coming to an end (I mean how long can you keep knitting the same old sock!) and so we drove home.

The house is cold and it’s a dreary sleety day, but the fire is lit and roaring away, the candles are burning brightly, the first load of washing is in the machine and it feels good to be back.

This week I’m going to go into designer mode – I’ve been invited to join my first ever bee and so I have some work to do to catch up with the other quilt afficionados in the group. Watch this space!

Seriously though, I LOVE coming home to my fabric stash! I was really starting to get withdrawal symptoms from being away. So this week will hopefully see some really serious sewing.

On a related note. I would really love to go on a quilt related holiday this year. Last year’s trip to Houston was fabulous, but I can’t do that every year – so something closer to home and a little less expensive is called for. So the limits are UK/Europe and for less than a week. Any ideas? The best answer will be rewarded with a delightful, but not yet defined, quilt-related prize!

I look forward to hearing from you!!

Helen

The blizzards have stopped and the wind has dropped. The temperature is only slightly below freezing and the sun is shining. It’s glorious and I would dearly love to be on the ski slopes along with those who are not too lazy to ski – which is a veiled reference to the one teenager who has barely got herself out of bed all week. It’s all a bit of an exercise in patience for me. On several counts.

I’m very happy that socks take an age to knit and that I’m making good progress on the big pile of books I have wanted to read for ages. This makes me feel that I have actually achieved something this week! Yesterday’s offering was The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal – which I think I would give four stars. It started a little slowly, but became unputdownable. Today it’s and I shall have some peace there by Margaret Roach – a book by one of Martha Stewards editors who chucked it all in and went to live in a house in the woods. Lovely. my sort of thing – it’s been speaking to me since the first sentence. I’m itching to get the seed catalogues out and empty my compost heaps and get going in the garden.

Yesterday was the start of Fasnacht in Andermatt. Fasnacht is the Swiss version of carnival. It started with a parade of Guggenmusiker – a band made up mainly of drums (very loud) and brass instruments (competing with the drums) – at 5am, in the dark in a blizzard with temperatures at minus something unmentionable. There was a small parade of dressed up children and parents in the afternoon. My photos were awful because there was almost no sunlight, the roads are terribly narrow in the centre of the village and there were too many people in the way. It was all rather disorganized and chaotic, but the children were happy. We were a little bemused as to where the group dressed as American footballers fitted into the grand scheme of things. The bakery sold special cakes decorated with clowns and there was a masked ball – for children or adults? We never found out.

In the evening our dinner was enlivened by the arrival of a group of about 20 adult Guggenmusiker – dressed in all their finery – from pirates, to Tigger, to witches and a gentleman who seemed to have a full set of antlers on his head. They had been on their way since 5am, charged with visiting every restaurant in the vicinity (there are 30) and having a drink in each. They were clearly having a great time and were somewhat the worse for wear, but could still make their music more or less in time. My guess is that it will be VERY quiet in the village today.

I guess this is what you do in a little town (pop. 1,000 give or take) in the winter where you are cut of from the rest of the world on a regular basis! I tried to explain to the teenagers that there is probably far more going on here and much more of a sense of community than we would ever find in our own little dormitory village of twice this size. They didn’t get it.

Sorry. I seem to be burbling on a bit today. Cabin fever I guess!

Helen

There’s a huge blizzard outside. Nobody is skiing – you can imagine what the result of that is like in a small flat! The teenagers seem to have worn themselves out with all their arguing and now the cards are out and there’s been mention of Monopoly.

I’m onto my last piece of knitting. One project is done and I’ve run out of yarn on the second one, so I’m now well on the way with number three. Once these socks are finished I’m going to be in big trouble as I’m not very good unless I’ve got something to do with my hands. I’m rather amazed that I could possibly have underestimated the amount of knitting I’d be able to get done. That’s certainly never happened before.

I’m struck by the fact – and admit I should have learned my lesson by now – that more often than not delicious hand-dyed gorgeous coloured yarns turn to sludge when they are knitted up. Why is it that variegated yarn ALWAYS looks better on the hank than when it’s knitted? I always end up being a touch disappointed.

With that in mind I hereby vow that at that point in my future when I’m allowed to buy yarn again I’m only going to buy solid colours. Please remind me when I go astray.

Helen

Don’t worry, I’m not going to show you a photo of me in my PJs doing yoga in the middle of our very small living room. The teenagers think it would be a very good idea – but I don’t. Me with a red head and all my wobbly bits is not a sight for public edification.

I’m doing yoga every day now. Quietly and slowly (and ignoring all rude comments from those who are to lazy to go skiing), every day I do a little more. My sun salute extends into other asanas that don’t hurt my knee, but do stretch out my back and feel good in the process. I’m quite amazed at how much strength – especially upper body strength – I seem to have lost in the last couple of months. Working my arms and shoulders I really feel the muscles straining and the next day I feel the ache in the muscles – but it’s a good ache, a getting things back again sort of ache.

It’s going to be a good while before I can run again. The bone bruise in my knee is going nowhere fast, but I see now that yoga and pilates classes are back within my grasp. Once we’re back from the mountains I can’t wait to get back to them – and I’m going to finally make myself take a meditation class too. I’m not a meditation sort of girl really, sitting still and doing nothing is something that is well-nigh impossible for a flibertigibbet like me. Which is why I think it’s something that I should take some time trying to learn. Who knows, it could change my life.

Right now all I can say is that yoga is carving out a little oasis of calm for me in a two small flat with teenagers who are spending way too much time together in a confined space – and those of you who are parents of teenagers will know exactly what I mean when I say that.

My body feels better, my spirits are lifted and my energy levels are up.

Yoga. It works. If you’ve never given it a try, maybe you should!

Helen

Highland Fling – a delightful shawl. I love the border with its points and bobbles. I’m going to walk to the shop now and give it a test drive! Just right for a cold, bright afternoon.

Highland Fling – designed by Susan Mills and knitted in Vista Mountain Top by Classic Elite Yarns

Helen