So, as I'm sure as you all know by now, we got a bit of winter precipitation last weekend.  We got about 18 inches.  It was enough to make it fun to sit by the window and watch it fall.  We were not the only ones who wanted to stay inside.  These are the footprints of all the birds looking for shelter from the blizzard.  We have a bird feeder and Peter Kevin has been enjoying watching the power struggle as the little brown birds push the much larger birds out of the way.  

Our stars were mostly buried and you can just see the lights from our snowmen there.  Yes, our Christmas lights are still up.  The weather was too wet to put the ladder up under the window to take them down.

And then Pete's sister died.  She has been fighting cancer for over 20 years and suffered two strokes late last year.  Her poor body just had no fight left in it.  Her memorial is this Friday.  She was what my grandmother would have called a "gutsy broad".  She was funny and smart and one of the most giving people I had ever met.  If you needed it and she had it, it was yours.  No questions asked.  

So, our lights will come down eventually.  I was not sorry because I got to see them covered wth snow and that was beautiful.

I spent the snow weekend watching soccer games and movies and knitting myself a new pair of mittens.  

  It's the Hansa Mittens pattern.  I have a pair in pink and brown but I wanted to see what a variegated yarn would look like and I love it.  

I'm also continuring to work on Pk's Gates of Moria mittens.  One is almost finished.  I love the sparkly blue yarn and the way it just gives the mitttens a bit of a mithril look to them.  I am trying to finish them this winter but I've been a bit slow.

I saw the eye surgeon two weeks ago for the last time and he told me the reason my vision in the left eye is so blurry is that there is a cataract there from the surgery.  My optometrist told me he can get me  better vision but not all at once.  Right now, the vision in that eye is 20/200.  Yea.  Bad.  He can eventually get me back to about 20/50 which is much better but it will take two steps.  Otherwise my eyes won't work together.  These are my new frames.  It's so hard to pick them out when you can't see!  These have torquoise arms and bits of glitter in the front piece.  They are a huge change and I can't wait for them to be ready.

I take terrible selfies.

And one more snow photo.  This was Saturday afternoon during a lull.  I stuck my head out the front door and you can see how the snow is so smooth and gorgeous.  You can't even see where the street is supposed to be.  They hadn't plowed at all at this point.

So, life here has been its usual round of ups and downs.  An interesting thing has happened at work.  Two different individuals have let us know that they recorded their sessions with the doctor (and me).  We were surprised.  This hasn't come up before and we're not sure how to handle it.  On the one hand, nothing that is said is secret or improper.  But it scares me just a bit because digital recordings are so very easy to manipulate and how would we prove that we did not say something?  In PA, it's illegal to record a conversation without the permission of all parties.  We are going to have to come up with a plan because I have a feeling that this is only the beginning.  (One of the individuals has threatened to use the recording to make trouble for us).

I'm not sure how I feel about this.  What do you think?

Happy New Year!! I think my pre holiday post was prescient.  I actually had time to post but didn't have energy or the will to do much more than stare off into space and watch old videos.  Yes, we had the Holiday Plague here.  Pk started it in early December and managed to spread it to me and Elanor just in time for Christmas.

It wasn't helped by the fact that it was 75 F on Christmas Eve.  We went outside around 9 pm to see Santa ride by and we were in t shirts and quite comfortable outside.  Quite a shock to our systems since we are usually bundled in all the sweaters.

So, most of our holidays were spent in pajamas.  I knit a small bit but not enough energy led to many days of just sitting and sleeping.

There were amazing handmade presents.

Peter Kevin made this ball winder for me.  What's that you say?  It doesn't look like a ball winder?  Well, it's one of those wooden ones that makes large cakes of yarn.  It's in pieces because one of the gears broke in the process of putting it together so it's being re cut.  The large gear has spokes that are sheep.   It's very cool.

There were tiny little computers called Raspberry Pi.  That's the motherboard.  The sad thing is that it's more powerful than my laptop.......

There was some knittting.  I made a pair of socks for me out of some extraordinary self striping yarn.  

There was Barm Brak an Irish raisin bread that was delicious

I washed some yarn and hung it to dry.  The one in the middle is called Exploding Tardis and it is knitting up like this in some mitts for me

It's very "organic" looking but I love the bits of orange and the sparkly bits that show up.

There was a "skull cap" for Jim.  He enjoyed the pun and my very rough skull.

And penguinski s alive and well.  Em left this for us to find on Christmas morning.  I guess it's a fair payback for the blow up penguin we left in her bathtub.

We had a quiet New Year's and were asleep before 12.  We're back to work and moving back into our routines.  Christmas will be put away this weekend.  I will enjoy the space when the tree comes down, I miss the colorful lights.

How were your holidays?  Were they festive?  Any resolutions? (Or as one of my clients says, "revolutions")?  I am going to be kinder to myself and try to take better care of myself.  Nothing too strict.

So, have a happy and healthy 2016!