We Survived!

The polar vortex has come and gone. FuzzyHusband, myself, and the critters hunkered down under bunches of blankets and didn't emerge from Tuesday afternoon until Thursday morning.

We probably should have informed Artan that pattern pieces are not blankies, but it's doubtful he'd have listened anyway. We also learned how many layers of garment leather my sewing machine will go through.

Thursday night I ended up with a fantastic chance to see a rescheduled concert featuring one of my favorite bands ever! I loved how the colored lights matched the colors for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's colors. Disturbed is very vocal in their support of people with both addiction problems and mental illnesses. It was gratifying to have a bunch of rock stars validating so many people who struggle every day.

Last night Whiskey City Burlesque hosted a fundraiser in the form of a Cards Against Humanity tournament. This quarter we chose our local crisis nursery as the beneficiary for our charity. We raised a lot of money and had a packed house. Many people brought physical donations as well. This was the most successful fundraiser yet! 

There were short performances in between rounds of the game. I managed to get a few pictures, but I was running around helping wherever I was needed.

I need to get back to sewing and trying to get some cleaning done before rehearsal tonight. We're gearing up for our next actual performance in April. See you next weekend!

All Kinds of News

First: it's NOT a hernia! I just have to keep taking it easy for a couple more weeks and the pain should fade. Pixel was so excited she had to pop out of the dehydrator's box.

Second: FuzzyHusband successfully made it to the originally planned snowshoe hiking/camping area with his friends and they're off the grid. You couldn't pay me enough to be on the shore of Lake Superior right now. No sir and/or ma'am! I hope they're having fun though. Two critters in particular are missing him though.

Third: We got a wee bit more snow here, but mostly had crazy winds. Thankfully I don't even need to brush snow off the driveway to get out. Most of it ended up in the back yard.

Fourth: I'm about to start in on this lovely little number for one of the burlesque dancers. If possible I want to take a muslin of the jacket to rehearsal tonight. But we all know how good intentions go.

Fifth: I'm now officially part of the burlesque troupe as a production member. This means I'll be able to actually say I'm part of the group and not just their occasional seamstress. One of the things I'll be doing for them is orchestrating their social media presence and helping the other production member with the website when he's unavailable. Once the website is done and live, I'll be linking to it on the sidebar.

That's all the crazy news here. How are things in your parts of the world? See you next weekend and stay warm!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

The thermometer tells me it's -2F (-18 C) and this does not make me happy. I did managed to get money together to feed the birds this year, unlike last year with lots of doctor appointments and inevitable co-pays.

I took some pictures yesterday because a melanistic squirrel had come to dine. He's on the left and a regular grey squirrel is on the right.

There was also the tiniest goldfinch I'd ever seen on the finch feeder.

Today there's a dusting of snow covering the ice from yesterday afternoon, and steam is rising from my heated birdbath.

These days FuzzyHusband is much less fuzzy, at least when it comes to his head. I happened to pick up a crochet magazine whilst getting supplies before the ice hit on Friday and found a handsome hat pattern that called for a yarn I had stashed. And more luck, I already owned the correct hook size!

So I came home, put all the groceries away, filled bird feeders, and bided my time until I had to pick himself up from work. What I should've done was triple check that the hook was where it belonged. You can see where this is going, can't you?

Himself gets a ride home from a coworker who was coming into town to see a movie. He makes eggnog and I decide a jot of rum in my chai would be nice and warming. THEN I decide to look for my hook. And its missing.

So before he could enjoy his freshly made drink, FH puts shoes back on and drives me to buy a new hook. What we didn't know is the ice storm had started. He almost turned us around. But he's happy that he didn't.

Now I must brave the weather and the streets to go check on a friend's bunny. I'd been watching him all week and couldn't go over yesterday. I did give him lot of extra food on Friday just in case I was trapped yesterday. Happily a neighbor (who is unfamiliar with rabbit car) checked on him yesterday and he was fine. Don't let the cute face fool you. He's gnawing on my boot in this picture!

Once I'm home there is a long list of chores that needs doing. That's what I get for doing nothing yesterday but dishes and crochet. See you next week and stay warm!

Bonus picture of Pixel because she was just too cute not to share!

Purging

I've started off the New Year with a big project: I'm clearing out the storage room.

So far I've filled up the 95 gallon recycling bin twice... to be fair, the first time was topping off the regular contents. But I pretty much filled it again the day it was emptied. I have to wait for another month for them to come back. The 95 gallon garbage bin is also filled to bursting. Good thing they come on Tuesday morning.

Fabric that I will never use is being given away. Some has been traded to a plumber friend of ours so we can get our upstairs shower fixed. The rest is being picked up by a couple who hauls fabric, notions, and sewing machines up to a Reservation in the Dakotas. Not sure which one, but whichever it is, they have a sewing class program.

Lots of things have been earmarked for Goodwill donations and will likely be hauled over there in the coming week. FH just carried up the old TV to be loaded up. I'm not sure when he thinks it's going, but now it has to be loaded as it's blocking the door to the garage.

Mercedes is enjoying short trips outside to play in the snow. They are short trips as the temperature here is in the single digits... not fun when you're using Fahrenheit!

It snowed all yesterday afternoon. So far it's the largest snowfall this winter. I'm just wondering if it will stay winter or try to be fall again in the next couple of weeks.

On the quilting front, I did get my machine in for repairs and servicing. Hoping to hear from them this coming week. Even if it's, "we need another week because you managed to do a number on it." ;-)

On the mini front, I did get a few more boxes made for Tinsel Towne. They are printies I found online, but the website isn't working at the moment.

Also FH bought me a mini Eames chair in mini for Christmas. I've been wanting one for a while now. A friend gave me a doll that had been given to her.... honestly I'm not sure where he came from originally. But he's going to be dressed in a silk robe at some point and will set in the chair.

The pillow is for modesty. Someone added a few details to his body with polymer clay.

That's all for this week. I need to get back to the studio and start sorting through quilting UFO's and suchlike. Hopefully I'll be done with the major sorting and furniture rearranging in a week or two.

Taking a Break

FH and I finished digging out last night and then helped our elderly neighbors dig out.  Good thing to since the wake up temperature was -10F (-23C) and everything would have frozen in place.

I'm going to sit in front of a roaring fire and stitch.  My hands and arms hurt too much to try and wrestle with wood, tools, and glue today.

See you all later!

The Snowpocalypse is Upon Us

Snow is falling, the wind is howling, trees are cracking, and I'm shocked we still have power.  Last night we got about 5" of accumulated snow over the course of about seven hours.  Today we've had that much again in half that time.  The wind is really violent and there is little visibility.

FH and I have agreed that our usual plan of shoveling as snow falls just isn't going to work this time.  We're staying inside until tomorrow sometime.  He's been home all afternoon, working via the desktop computer.  The plan for tomorrow is the same.

For anyone interested in statistics the current rate of snowfall is approximately 1-3" per hour and the temperature is 22F (-6C) with a wind chill of 6F (-14C).  The wind is blowing at 30 mph.  We can expect anywhere from 13" to 19" of snow before the storm is over.

 While FH is working I've been playing with minis.  I'm laying slate tiles on the porch.  I've never done this before, so I'm not too sure I'm happy with it.  Time will tell though.

I'm using the same method that Casey used for one of her current projects.  Follow the link over to her place if you would like details.  I'm using larger "pieces of slate" though.  Every slate porch I've ever seen has large slate slabs instead of small ones.  Plus it makes the work go a bit faster.

While I'm at it, here's last night's progress on "Rose Cuttings."  I should finish the small rose and the buds tonight.  I might even get back to the stems and leaves.

I'm going to go back to work on the porch.  Hopefully the slate will be finished tonight.  I also need to put up the remaining interior trim.  It's painted and should be dry by now.  Tomorrow I will finish up any final details on slate and then start the stonework along the base.  I should see about making some steps too. 

I hope everyone in this line of storms stays safe and warm!

Best Laid Plans...

I had planned on both playing with minis today and doing a blog post about the project(s) but instead I'm venturing out into the blizzard to look at a house that FH and I like last evening. I'm taking a friend with me who has a business history with kitchen remodels to tell me what she thinks it would cost us to update the neglected kitchen in what is otherwise a fairly nice little house. That will determine whether or not we are done with our search or if it will take us longer.

However I did manage to get the pipes to the washing machine thawed yesterday. Hoping they haven't refrozen already since I won't be here to monitor the space heaters.

*grumbles*

Pipes are frozen again. They thawed out well on Sunday but now they're solid again. It's currently 14F (-12C) here and we're going to have snow dumped on us again. The "highs" this weekend will all be in the single digits... which I rather think makes them not count as "high."

I had intended on posting something fun today, but instead I have to babysit the pipes and makes sure they don't warm up too quickly. Then I get to go look at a house with FH and refill our drinking water jugs at the store.

For now, I think Confetti has the right idea.

Bitter Bloody Cold - with editted update

The kittens and I are about to go curl up in the bed with FH. I've been up running water through the washing machine's pipes to make sure they don't freeze again. We have faucets on down the hall in both bathrooms, but the last time a pipe froze it was the cold water line to the laundry. So in the morning I will be doing even more laundry.

I'm wishing the bunnies could reliably curl up with us in the big bed too, since it's colder than normal in the house. Sadly the bunnies would fight each other all night and then run around the house instead of staying where it's warm. Not to mention Tempie is still too fat to properly wash her butt by herself, so ew. It's almost time to give her a bit of a shave soon.

At least the drafts in the front room have been mostly dealt with. We have a large chunk of fleece hanging over the front door and plastic film over the windows. We couldn't get anything over the sliding glass door, but it's not too bad. The office and my craft room are the two coldest rooms in the house.

I feel sorry for FH having to go out in this horrid cold in the morning. He's still got a bit of that cough. We're waiting for him to get paid so we can afford the $50 bill for the new medicine for Castor. The vet is having the drugs compounded into a gel to rub in his ear. I hope it works with only one does. The way things are looking we wouln't be able to afford that as a regular expense. Their special food is bad enough.

Pollux is so easy to pill. I wish his brother was the same way. He gets a pill every other night with very little difficulty. Confetti is sowhere in between the two, but she only has to get a pill before she sees the vet. Tranquillizers are best for her and the vet. The bunnies get liquid medications. That's the easiest thing in the world. Tempie actually think some of her medicines are treats. She will keep licking the syringes after they are empty. We have not had to medicate 'Bert for anything yet. Force feeding him has happened, but not medications.

Anyhow I'm being stared at by a pair of green eyes who want me to make room on my lap for the rest of her. She gets cold easily and likes to burrow under blankets and into laps. If we bother to crawl ot of bed tomorrow I will post the high (hahaha!) that the temperature reaches.

**edit**
It's less than 12 hours after the original post. The cold water to the washer has frozen. FH is coming home with a space heater to point at the wall. That worked last time. The high right now is -7F. The expected low is -19F. That's without windchill. All the schools are closed. Holly and I are not going gallivanting today as planned as it's too bloody cold and the kids are home. I'm going to go prep things for FH's return and check the faucets at the back end of the house...again.