Not Quite Winter

It was no surprise to find a sugar coating of snow on the ground early on Tuesday morning.

I  heard the wind moaning in the night and knew that the predicted cold front was moving through.

The above photo was taken about an hour after I got out of bed.

[I am rising earlier than I would like most mornings as our cats haven't tumbled to the fact that their resident humans have been on standard time for the past two weeks!]

I shut the bedroom door so that J. could have another hour of rest.

I bundled on a layer of clothes, stoked up the fire, dished out cat food.

When I stepped outside with my camera the wind assaulted me with a fierce blast.

Drifted leaves wore a powdering of icy crystals, as did the plants in the herb garden.

A grey mist clung through the morning, with the sun making tentative peeks before finally coming out in force about noon. The snow quickly melted save in pockets of cold on the north side of the dooryard trees.

The wind continued, biting and unfriendly.

J. brings in wood for the main fire in the living room. I carry some downstairs for my sewing room fire.

I decided to retreat downstairs after a brief tour of the yard with my camera.

There seemed to be no shelter from the wind.

The cold blasts whipped tears from my eyes, sent unwelcome draughts down the neck of my jacket.

I made up my fire, took down a mug of tea.

The cats, lured by my fire, followed me downstairs to sprawl--on the rug in front of the fire, on the old quilt on the daybed, and --unhelpfully--on the table where I needed to lay out quilt blocks.

I finished the quilt late on Tuesday evening and delivered it to a local quilter today.

There are often a few issues to overcome when I am 'creating' with fabric from my stash--there is only so much of each and I have to improvise.

In this instance, I had to piece the vivid directional print for the outer borders of the quilt--something I would have preferred not to do.

I took some pains over it, matching the busy pattern as closely as possible.

I tell myself that most of those who see the finished quilt will take in the general design and only another quilt maker would be likely to spot my contrivings.

J. and D. spent the day getting up more wood--they are like the hardworking ants of the old fable--preparing for winter.

There was no wind today and the sun prevailed, but we have had our warning that winter is hovering close by--ready to pounce.

Bring it on--I have another quilt started--and a goodly supply of wood for my fire!