And I can still get into my blog, so here are some pictures.

The big part of the storm came overnight, and it’s still going on. High winds, drifting snow, a lot of snow (especially for Maine). I think we have between 17 and 20 inches in our yard. Records are being broken all over southern Maine with 29-33 inches and still snowing). Not sure about here.

The view out the kitchen window this morning,

and the view the other way… (Gravy in front, Zuzu in back)

The inside of the door to the outside, and cracking it open to get out,

We had to shovel out to go get the boyo, who had spent the night at a friend’s,

No problems driving around in the old Subaru. DH says I want a Subaru. I think we will fix this one (it needs a head gasket and new timing belt), and probably get another at some point.

Coming back from gathering up the offspring, and coming down Sand Hill, we wondered what was going on. It was soon apparent that somebody tried going up the hill and couldn’t make it, so they had to back down the hill. A truck was sitting next to the car, waiting for it to back down the hill, and there was a line of trucks with plows waiting at the bottom.

(SUV in that line decided that it wasn’t going to make it up either and is turning around here)

State Street, between the rotary and the turn up Winthrop,

Crazed driver and non-plussed sprog,

Turning onto our road!

And almost at our house, there it is on the left (in the right photo),

That snowdrift out the back kitchen window?

(for reference, he’s about 6 feet tall)

It is nearly impossible to shovel with the dogs around, especially Zuzu. She wants to catch the snow as it flies off the shovel. So she’ll put her face right at the shovel. She frequently gets bopped in the chin, but she doesn’t care. And then Gravy starts barking, because she wants in on the fun too. Here’s Zuzu waiting for the next shovelful. She was eventually enticed to go play ball and we finished clearing off the steps.

Yesterday was really foggy in the morning, and all the web work in the woods was dewy and really visible.

Webs on the forest floor, webs on leaves, on dried plants, everywhere…

But the pretty ones were from the orb weavers.

Even the ones on the chain link and barbed wire…

Neither of these are the web weavers, but I thought it interesting they were hanging on the same leaf!

I think it’s a Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar along with a Harvestman (not a spider!).

We went for another walk here this morning, and the web work was all gone, presumably from the morning rain (early hurricane related rains). We walked farther today, and what we saw was a little depressing. This is out behind and below the airport in Augusta, in the area known as Bond Brook Recreation Area.

The city has been working over the past couple of years to create bike, snowshoe, and x-country ski trails down here. Part of me resents that my relatively private playground now has a lot more people there (and therefore I go less), but part of me is glad that people can enjoy the place. There was even a big winter ski festival/competition there last winter.

However, I strongly disagree with the city when they say that all of this is to the benefit of the environment. That before, the criss-crossing of little trails provided a lot of erosion. Sure, some ATVs would use the roads (gravel) and rights-of-way and even cause some erosion on the hill into the quarry pit. But it is nothing compared to what has been going on and continues to go on in the name of progress.

This is recent work,

This is a tributary to Bond Brook, an Atlantic Salmon stream (also here)

It usually runs pretty clear, even in heavy rains.

They did this last year, and it still heavily eroded. Because we know it is better to plow through a hill rather than walk (snowshoe/ski) over it.

I think this is from last year too,

All of this drains into the little streams that run into Bond Brook. Where is the erosion control that one usually sees in projects like this? It’s not like they have no idea this will happen. Hay bales, those little erosion fences… something. Especially around the streams/culverts.

I may notify the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission.

FO’s, and one of them is knitted…

The last bit of the bathroom is done (installing the end pieces on the counter), the trim is painted, everything’s cleaned up. The plumber had to access the shower pipes, which meant removing the radiator cover and the sheetrock panels in the hall outside the bathroom. The radiator became a small project for me.

Before on the left (the grate is just leaning there, but you get the idea). Though I’d removed the shelf to bleed the radiator, I’d never removed the grate. A lot of paint to scrape. And on the right, mostly down to the metal or the first coat of paint and ready to spray.

And now, bright and shiny. I even painted part of the wall to the right… when the grate came off, there was a large unpainted area.

You can see if you look (because the base color is fresh and bright white versus the old antique/linen/whatever white came with the house), but it’ll do.

The hall was painted over 10 years ago, and surprisingly the blue wash was still in a yogurt container in the basement, and even more surprisingly, it was still good… just needed a bit of water. I found a lot of fuzzy stuff growing in other containers… and a lot of gelatinous muck that once was paint. I know what we’ll be bringing to the next home hazardous waste day…

Vanille

Lots of mods to pattern, waist shaping, more fitted arms. What I hope to different in the next sweater: figure out the raglan length so the armhole isn’t so deep… makes the sleeve baggy and oddly fitting at the top. But it’s comfortable, and like the blue paint, it’ll do.

Got a haircut too!

what was I thinking?

I got seeds for Sweet Annie at the Common Ground Fair last year… the stuff smelled so wonderful. Um, I was there with our “invasive plants” display… this thing can be invasive? I hadn’t heard that for Maine, but I think I need to get it out of the garden!

rain!

I was rather excited that Earl brought us some rain.

shhh… that’s the flash making the liquid water look white and solid…

new project started

Newport cardigan, out of the Phaeolus dyed wool!

Sara I never post on my blog anymore won the snowmelt contest! (OK OK, to be fair, she is active in Ravelry). She guessed May 24, and, guess what? It was totally gone by then! There were a couple of minor wet spots that were raised a bit above the ground… these typically result from ice melting below them. But no ice… I figure it had finished melting that morning. A groundhog even appears to be living in that snowmelt area…

Since Sara works and lives in Augusta, it was easy to deliver her winnings on my way to a meeting (she lives on the east side and works on the west, I live on the west side and work on the east).

She seems happy with the circular needle holder and a couple of buttons. Or maybe it was the delivery of that frozen caffeinated beverage… It has been wicked hot here these past couple days (90′s and humid).

I did a bit of spinning over the weekend…

Something from Amy, not sure what color, burnt toffee maybe? I got this a few years back to use with the drop spindle. Which hasn’t been happening… so it’s now for the wheel. I’m not trying for anything special, just to get back in the groove… then I’ll move on to that alpaca I was working on months ago, or maybe that “I’m trying to spin thin” wool.

See what happens when I don’t post during the week…

meet Dory

Who graciously modeled her fancy schmancy sweater…

I was in Brunswick on Thursday, recruiting for summer field interns at Bowdoin, and thinking, gee if I had a cell phone, I’d call up Ohana (her Ravelry name, but does she ever do anything in there?) and say where are you I am here (she works there). And within 10 minutes, who walks by? So we got together, walked Dory, gabbed… I was glad to know I didn’t crush her back when I slammed a great bear hug into her at the job fair…

the river is still icy!

Along Front Street (that dirt road along the river) in Hallowell, behind the Lucky Garden, looking north.

Along the rail trail in Augusta, last evening.

color

I have been making progress on DH’s sweater…

But I needed some antidote to all this white gray oatmeal blah, and something small I could work on at the job fair… and so,

And before I set up for the job fair, I visited Ellen at Purl Diva! And came home with some subtle color, Madeline Tosh sock yarn in the lichen color,

OMG it is so lovely. Ellen has a new shipment of all sorts of Madeline Tosh yarns…. they’re all wicked nice, squoooshy, soft, great colors, yum yum yum!

Maybe I’ll actually work on some socks soon…