I can’t believe how the sun is streaming in the windows on a SATURDAY. It feels fantastic. Almost like spring. Until I go outside. It’s still a bit nippy out there. Still ice in the pool, I am afraid.
Interesting thing about that pool. I drained it in September. Now it is 3/4 full! And not frozen solid. I have been able to reach in and get a few leaves out when I get home from work, as there is a skim of water on the top at the end of the day. It won’t be long now!
This morning we awoke to a really cold house. Last night we decided to let the pellet stove go out so I could clean it today. We have to do that every couple of weeks, and it has been unseasonably warm, so we didn’t think twice about it.
But the house should not have been THAT cold. 59 degrees chilly. A turned the heat on at the thermostat, which should not have had to happen, it should come on automatically. We burrowed under the quilt and waited.
Nothing.
So I got up (a couple of hours later, I must admit) and went down cellar to check the hot water heater. We had hot water but it wasn’t circulating. This could get expensive.
I lit a fire in the stove down there and came upstairs to hurry and clean the pellet stove. As I passed the thermostat, I thought I would just check it out. Hmmm. When did we last change the batteries? I popped new ones in on a whim and damned if I didn’t hear the circulator start to work.
I don’t understand why the thing needs batteries to work when it is hard wired to the house, but I guess I will change those every fall, because you just never know when you might actually need the heat on.
I did clean the pellet stove, and we are warm as toast now. A has been out to the dump (yea, A!) and I have done some cleaning about the house. Laundry is nearly complete (all credit here to A) and the bed has been changed, bathroom cleaned. Life is good – time for a break to sit on the couch and knit. 🙂
This weekend I am making a full court press on the golden waves THING (Wrap? Shawl? Scarf?) to finish it once and for all. I am tired of toting it around. I am near the end of the second ball of Kidsilk noir, and although I have more, I think that this will be long enough. Maybe. I am actually considering putting in a life line, blocking it and seeing how long it really comes out. I think it need to be about 5 feet to be useful, not sure if I can get it there yet. No new photos of it, but it looks the same all the time anyway, so here’s an old photo for you. 🙂 (Very old, it turns out – late last summer!)
I finished the little light orange baby hat, and will take a photo sometime this weekend. It is cute, and now that I am comfortable with the yarn again, I will make something more like I intended in the first place.
Hap for Harriet comes along, more slowly. I think I have 15 or 16 of the first 22 sections done. I want to get clear of the golden waves so that the hap becomes my traveling WIP – I get lots done at lunch time at work. 🙂
Yesterday I got home a couple of hours before A so I hooked the laptop up to the TV and watched how to spin videos. I practiced on some leftover sock yarn, and I have more idea how it is supposed to go, but I do struggle to keep the wheel spinning consistently while feeding the yarn in. I can only imagine the mess I will make when I have to draft wool. 🙂 I plan to get in touch with the Purple Fleece for some lessons after tax season is over. Just a few more weeks of that!
Niece B texted the other day to see if she could stay here for March break. Well of course! Got new sheets for the new bed in “her” room, and made it up, ready for her whenever she wants it. I think she arrives next weekend. We have nothing planned – it is March, after all, and we both have to work, but that way she can sleep the days away. I might be bale to squeeze some time off and maybe think of something fun to do.
Tomorrow is a day in the “big city.” A and I are volunteering at a 5 K road race which benefits one of our programs at work. We hope to be done shortly after 10, and then we will meet up with Crimson Crow and do some errands while in Ellsworth – groceries, cat food, and a reward at our favorite pizza place. Not our usual Sunday, but change is good for the soul, someone said. Not sure if I can knit while the race runs, but I plan to try. 🙂
Have a good weekend, and don’t forget to get out and enjoy the sun of you are lucky enough to have some!
whatimuptotoday 
LOVE that stitch pattern, and the colors! Gorgeous!
thank you!
The sun was out here too! Keep practicing on spinning, it is fun to do. Is there a fiber/ spinning guild in your area?
There is a group called the Wednesday Spinners, but they are all REALLY good. I am not ready for them! I hope that when I go for the lessons this spring I meet others who are also learning and in the novice to intermediate class. 🙂
Your days sound busy and full! And I completely agree that, when the sun shines at this time of year, it changes my attitude completely!
Glad to hear that the heat was merely an issue with a battery. We recently wanted to upgrade our hot water heater and ended up having to buy a new furnace because, guess what?, the old one was no longer to code! Yay, old houses! Still cold here so I appreciate a photo taken in the summer. And finally, I used to go visit my aunt and her partner for spring break when I was in college. It brings back great memories.
Old houses have lots going for them, but not their systems, I am afraid. At least with a new furnace, you will be warm!
Gorgeous knitting. I do love and enjoy those 2 colours together.
Glad you are warm again, and even better that the weekend turned out sunny. Yay indeed.
Enjoy the new week. 🙂
Getting up to 59 degrees sounds so awful! Glad you figured it out before having to call someone. Though I think I still would to see why it needed the batteries replaced to get to working if it is wired to the house. Your knitting looks lovely! Very pretty pattern. It will look beautiful as a scarf or shawl. Hopefully you will finish it soon and get it off the needles for good.
I know what 59 degrees feels like in a house. Do you use the pellet stove rather than the heater? The wrap or shawl is great. That light golden orange is eye catching and I love the real.
We use both pellet stove and hot water radiant heat. That night apparently we used neither!
Thanks for the compliment – just blocked it last night, it looks very different now!