Joy in Snow

It has been a very snowy (and cold) February and the snow is still coming down. This was the view out the kitchen door yesterday afternoon:

We have a bucket for both the forklift and the track loader, so the husband can move the snow into huge piles. They made great sledding hills when the girls were little.

Snow falls off the metal roof and piles up along the edge of the porch. The winter of 1996-97, we had so much snow that it was up to the porch roof. Walking from the driveway to the kitchen door was like walking through a tunnel.

The chicken coop:

The chickens won’t go out in the snow, so they get quite cranky at this time of year.

It’s hard to see, but there is a platform on the fencepost just to the left of the coop. It acts as our snow gauge. The husband must have cleared it off Sunday, because just before I left for church, it had over a foot of snow on it. When I looked out this morning, it was up to about 10".

The herb garden:

We need the moisture, so I will not complain about the snow. And it’s pretty.

*******

I finished all my class prep, so now it’s a matter of collecting and packing supplies. I’m glad I can drive to Sew Expo; I don’t know how I would manage if I had to fly. The class coordinators are making a point of telling teachers that some students will show up unprepared, without the requisite class supplies, so we should bring extras. 🙄 I have found that many students think that all they have to do is show up for the class and everything will be provided for them. When Tera and I went to Sew Expo two years ago, each of us had a rolling tote full of all the supplies we thought we might need for our classes.

It’s a fine line. Sometimes it is easier to tell students that a kit of supplies will be provided (and charged for accordingly). I do that when I want students to have specific supplies. My thread class comes with a thread kit—put together by Wonderfil—and I provide 5" squares of light-colored fabric backed with a lightweight interfacing. (I fuse interfacing to a large piece of fabric and cut the squares on my Accuquilt cutter.) When it comes to basic supplies, though, such as scissors and marking tools, students should come prepared.

I finished sewing down the binding on the Correspondence quilt last night. That one has been crossed off the list. I’m kicking around the idea of starting a scrap quilt because my bag of red strips is absolutely overflowing. Sewing strips together is a good mindless activity. I can’t decide if I want to take a sewing machine with me to Sew Expo or not. I could sew in the evenings, but after a day of teaching, I like to vegetate.