April?????

   After almost 2 weeks of beautiful, improving weather conditions...including some near 70's!...the forecast for yesterday was not welcomed.  I was scheduled to work in Cooperstown and was not looking forward to a cold, wet day in the shop without any customers.  I packed 2 books (one that was almost finished and the next one in that series), a hank of sock yarn that needed to be wound up, my short circular sock needles and my lunch. (oh, yeah, and the 2 cowl scarves I had made for the shop), dropped off Fanny with Jeff's and headed up the mountain.  It was raining but not very cold.  In fact the temperature was actually going up!  The shop looked fantastic when I got there.  We have rearranged and set up new displays and it looks bigger (than it's postage stamp size) and better than ever.  We have a new candle maker and a chocolateer!  I added the cowls to my display and moved things around a little.  Looking good!  I was surprised by the light, but steady stream of people coming in...and buying!  It took a little longer but I finally got the yarn rolled into a ball and cast on for a sock...for me.  The yarn is a handpainted washable merino wool blend in a color combo called Watermelon. Let's just say it's 'different'.  I ate my lunch and read when I was alone and knitted when there were customers in the shop.  The day actually moved right along...until I looked out the window and noticed...snow!  (This was after it had rained so hard it came down sideways!)  At first the snow was just big wet flakes.  Then it started to accumulate on cars and the ground but the roads and sidewalks stayed clear.  When it was finally closing time (5pm) the ground was white, and visibility was next to nothing cos of the falling snow and rising fog!  The road was wet but without any ice or slush...until I got past Richfield Springs and started over the top of the hill.  Then the slush started to form.  I was in a line of traffic with one wise ass who obviously couldn't see the car in front of me coz he had to zip by me only to find he had to slow down.  (Poor, baby!)  We traveled to Mohawk in that order where I pulled my quick change (instead of going north thru the traffic light on Main St and Columbia, I turned right and took Main through the village, crossing 5s at  the next traffic light...and waving at my traveling companion who thought taking 5s would be faster.  I think he may have learned something.)  It was still snowing in town but the roads were in much better shape.
   Fanny met me in the driveway, popping out of the woods (definitely, not 'having stayed in the yard') and jumped in the car as soon as I opened the door!  She was alone, wet and rather muddy.  Sometimes Jeff leaves her outside alone while he refills his coffee cup but there were no foot prints near the stairs but her paw prints and it wasn't snowing that hard.  Jeff was inside working on my computer chair (more later) and fuming.  Fanny has a hard time understanding that I'll be back when I leave and tends to carry on some...a lot!.  She has to check the driveway every time she goes out so see if I had sneaked back home.  He caught her trotting down the driveway and out on the road but she would not come back into the house.  (Maybe his tone of voice or vocabulary?)  She's lost her freedom for awhile...and knows it.  If a dog can be grounded, Fanny is!  It's on the long lead every time she goes out and she doesn't like that one bit.  She spent a lot of time last night trying to cuddle up to Jeff without any response.  He wasn't accepting her apologies.  Maybe she'll learn 'stay in the yard' means stay in the yard.  I doubt it.
   My computer chair came from the library when they bought new chairs for the staff a couple of years before I retired.  I had liked it and took it home when it was offered.  Had to patch the arms with black electrical tape but on the whole it was still good. And the price was great ($0). Over the years it had fallen backwards several times and used by a wide variety of people in a wide variety of ways (would you be surprised how fast it can go?) so it was not a surprise to me that the seat cracked last summer...and continued to crack if a lot of pressure was put on the arms when trying to get out of it.  I had it on Jeff's  'Honey do' list for awhile but since I wasn't complaining (he was) I didn't think it would be done soon.  I was wrong.  When I came home yesterday, the chair was apart and a new plywood seat had been cut and was being installed.  Jeff had even bought insert nut & screws (at $1+ each) to reassemble it!  After I made a fresh pot of coffee to appease the dog trainer, he handed me the old seat and told me to finish taking off the black fabric that was stapled to the underside and holding the foam seat in place.  He screwed the old seat over the new covering the tops of the insert nuts (a little protection?).  Next came the old foam seat and finally a lawn chair cushion.  It's gives about an hour pain free before it's time to get up and move so I think a new, thicker cushion is now on the list.
   Today it's house cleaning day...especially since Jeff cut and assembled the chair seat in the TV room.

April...Spring At Last!

   Spring has finally arrived with it's many chores and jobs.  The floor of the garage (covered with water from the compost fire extinguish that froze across the width and length of the garage 4-6" thick) finally thawed and things could be picked up, so yesterday Jeff decided to put the skin on the greenhouse.  He's been talking about it for a month but the roll of plastic was stuck in the ice.  Our greenhouse has a frame of conduit with pvc pipe and 1x2's screwed in for re-enforcement. Jeff split some foam pool noodles and taped them over the conduit to keep the plastic from tearing on the screws.  Then he hoisted the folded plastic over the frame and we un-folded it and spread it out.  There was a gentle breeze and the plastic unfolded was 20x24' so there were a couple of times I thought we were going to become airborne with a giant parachute bellowing in the wind!  It took some time but we finally got the plastic open and the greenhouse covered.  Jeff wrapped one end like a package in wrapping paper and he stapled it in place.  The other end needs a door and both ends will get ventilation openings before he puts plants in.  It looks pretty good...just like a greenhouse should!
   The shop opened in Cooperstown on Thursday and we had our annual meeting Wednesday night, but 
since Wednesday was my birthday* I decided to skip the meeting.  I took my stock down on Tuesday and my shelves look pretty full.  I did more of theose cotton lace tank tops in adult sizes that sold well last year and ladies cotton socks with lace cuffs as well as the usual baby sweaters, hats and socks.  I also did a couple of cowl scarves that I'll take down with me Tuesday when I work.  My next work day is in early May so I can do some other things I've been thinking about to take down then. The shop has a Facebook page (Cooper Country Crafts) with plenty of photos. We're open 7 days a week 10am-5pm, so if you're going to be like Joe Torres and go to Cooperstown this summer, stop it.
   By the way, my tests showed nothing (I told you so) but I still have to see a neurologist. After the EEG I felt as if I had let a teenager put styling gel in my hair...it was really sculptured!

*I have been complaining all winter about how cold I am.  Blame it on the rat poison(Warfarin) I have to take to keep my blood clotting ratio in range coz I sit next to the woodstove and wear wool socks...even to bed!  I have 2 thermal blankets, a comforter and an old heavy blanket of Jeff's on the bed and the dog...and Jeff...to snuggle with without any relief. Jeff's been telling me to get one of those emergency blankets that reflect your body heat back to you but I never thought they worked.  For my birthday he gave me an inexpensive one from Walmart.  He suggested I put it next to the top sheet under the blankets and tuck it in across the bottom of the bed.  It spread out across the bed (a queen size) and about half way up to the head.  I put the rest of the blankets back in place but didn't have much faith in the thin sheet of foil to keep me warm.  Boy, was I surprised!  That was the 1st night in a long time that I didn't wake up shivering...or have to check my feet to see if my wool socks had slipped off!  It works!  I think I'm going to get a couple more of those things...one for the car in case of emergency and another one just to have on hand in case Fanny splits the foil.  The only thing I don't care for is the crackling noise it makes when one of us rolls over or is restless but it's a small price to pay to be warm!