The romance and practicality of winter

In the bleak midwinter

Frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron,

Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,

Snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter,

Long ago.

--Christina Rossetti

Sometimes I forget how much I adore Christina Rossetti poems. Originally I stumbled across her in a Lit Survey book--one of the works was a poem entitled Goblin Market. Not long after that I found a Dover Thrift Edition ($1.00) of an unabridged version of Goblin Market and Other Poems on a clearance table at the local bookstore.

Her work always makes me feel as if I should be curled in some hidden nook watching the world from behind leaded glass and reading. Although I have no leaded glass windows, I do have a very snowy winter Saturday before me. Knitting and listening to an audio book sounds like a great way to spend the day.

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Well, at 8 am, light has finally come across to illuminate the overcast and very snowy morning. I shoveled the driveway around 7 am for the second time in 12 hours. Luckily it wasn't soooo bad this morning (meaning I had about three inches instead of six). However, since the snow continues I think it won't be another twelve hours before I must again shovel. The best news: it is a light dry snow and very easily removed.

Moon Report: 99% of full. full moon.

middle of a book

Moon Report: waxing crescent. 3% full.

Book Note

Ok. I am in the middle of a book called The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman by Louis de Bernieres. This is a very well written book and one I think is interesting and should be great if I ever finish it. My problem--I think my attention span is shrinking. I have now checked it out of the library for the third time to see if I can manage through. There is absolutely no excuse for my lazy reading.

I originally checked this out of the library because I thought the title was amusing. After beginning I am glad I checked it out--it's magic realism/surrealism [I adore it.] But now I find that this is the middle book of a trilogy and I am wondering if I shouldn't stop and read the first one.
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Crochet v. Knit

I am ambidexterously-challenged. I can't knit to save my life. There is something about having to use a stick in each hand to knot a bunch of yarn together that is impossible. The giant problem: knitting has so many cool stitch patterns.

My sis, who writes lefty but is ambidexterous otherwise, can knit. She's not bad either when she learns a pattern. [I'm jealous].

All I can do is crochet. I am about to attempt my first afghan. I decided a good granny afghan would be nice and "homey" for this winter. I just bought a ton of very bright yarns--canary yellow, peackock turquoise, fire engine red, and spring grass green. They will make up the granny squares and then I'll crochet it all together in black. My goal is to be finished by mid-January. Luckily the granny square is very simple to do while watching TV and doesn't require too much concentration.