After spending last weekend in the snowy mountains, this weekend, we headed in the opposite direction for Andy's family cabin on Whidbey Island. It was a weekend filled with good friends, good food, and late nights. These cabin weekends are the perfect solution for the gloomy winter days. It certainly helps that the days are gradually getting longer. The sun is once again setting after 5 PM, and soon I'll still have plenty of daylight left for walks after work, rather than trying to find time for long lunch walks during my busy work days. Until then, I'll keep enjoying the quiet cozy days of winter while they last!
Read moreLife: Week 3
The winter gloom really set in this week. The weather was consistently overcast and rainy, and I quickly lost my motivation to get outside for walks during the week. I've been burning a lot of candles these days to try to get through the long, dark nights. I'm really looking forward to longer days, when there will still be daylight left at the end of the work day, giving me more opportunities to get outside. Weeks ago, my mom had suggested spending inaguration day at their cabin in the mountains, completely off the grid. It sounded like the perfect escape, so Friday morning we packed up the car and headed off for the snow covered cabin. After a stop for lunch at Twede's in North Bend (aka the RR Diner from Twin Peaks) we were on our way. The last leg of our journey was a 1.5 mile snowshoe, since the road to the cabin isn't plowed in the winter, so after parking, we strapped on our snowshoes, shouldered our backpacks, and set off into the wintry wilderness.
Read moreLife: Week 2
It was another cold week around here, in more than one way. Temperatures continued to be mostly below freezing, and late in the week Andy came down with a bad cold. Thankfully he's recovered now, but it meant that we spent the week close to home. With all that time at home, I've been making good progress on the sleeves of my sweater - they're already half finished! I've known about the idea of working a pair of knits at the same time, but mostly read about it for socks or mittens. To save time, I decided to try knitting both sleeves at once. So far it's working out well, and it definitely seems to be speeding things up. I wish I'd spent more time outdoors over the week, but there are only so many hours in the day With these short winter days, it's more challenging than usual to find the time. The days are getting longer though - soon there will be plenty of time for walks after work!
Read moreLife: Week 1
The first week of 2017 was COLD! It stayed below freezing until some time Sunday afternoon, with thick layers of ice and frost decorating every surface.This was a week that really made me appreciate working from home - not having to spend 5 minutes in the cold every morning scraping the ice off my windshield, or waiting for it to defrost. Instead, I could enjoy the beauty of the cold by going for afternoon walks, during the warmest part of the day. Over the weekend, Andy and I drove out to the Snoqualmie Valley so I could stop by my favorite yarn shop to stock up on yarn for my next big project, followed by a walk around the frosty Evans Creek Preserve before heading home to start knitting. Now that the holidays are over, I finally have time to start this sweater for myself! The pattern has been at the top of my list since I saw a knit sample of the sweater at Tolt Yarn last winter. I'm so excited to finally get started on this beautiful project. Hopefully I can knit quickly and have a cozy new sweater to keep me warm for the cold winter day to come!
Read moreLife: Week 52
The last week of 2016 was filled with snow, sunshine, family, and sweets! Most of it was spent in Wenatchee, celebrating a belated Christmas with Andy's family. After the hectic scramble leading up to Christmas this year, this was the perfect way to end the year, and start off 2017. We spent hours playing with new games and toys and reading new books with our niece and nephew. We drank hard cider made by my father-in-law from the apples on Vashon and limoncello made by my brother-in-law from the lemon tree in their backyard. We ate far too much delicious food, as we usually do when we visit Andy's dad. We stayed up late playing cards and dice, and catching up on life. We went on several snowy adventures, including two snowshoeing treks, with hot cocoa - or hot rum cider! - to warm us up after. Sadly like all good things, it had to end, but with 2017 off to such a good start, I'm optimistic about the year to come!
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