Red Sky In The Morning

I’m not sure that these photos do it justice but, earlier in the week, I woke to see the reddest sky that I can ever remember.

The saying, ‘Red sky at night, sailors’ delight, Red sky in the morning, sailors’ warning’ came to mind.  It seems that the red is caused by haze or clouds relating to storms in the region.  I suppose this explains why it wasn’t long before the snow started once again.

Just For Fun

Another knitting post today.  How could I resist knitting a light bulb?

This was a fun stocking filler at Christmas.  I suppose that when opened, it could have been described as a lightbulb moment...

Unravelling

There are times when life gets complicated and then it all unravels.  A bit like this knitting.  I made this vintage jacket two years ago and posted about it here.  At the time, I was going through an incredibly stressful period of my life and I think that this was reflected in my knitting, which was far too tight.  Needless to say, I was lazy about knitting a gauge swatch and the garment didn’t come out well.  I threw it in a drawer and left it there until I moved it to make space for something else.  A couple of times, I thought about sending it to the charity shop, but the yarn was beautiful and I didn’t want to part with it.

I was chatting to my Mum last weekend and we talked about knitting and other projects.  I mentioned that I had this jacket and I should do something with it.  The call ended and I decided to stop procrastinating and do so.  Out came the stitch ripper and I took my confidence in both hands and started taking the jacket apart.  The process was hugely satisfying: it felt like I was unravelling all of the stress that went into that knitting and putting the past behind me in the process.

I did fairly well, only accidentally cutting a couple of stitches.  I soon had seven balls of yarn in various sizes, which I then wound into hanks.  For the non-knitters amongst you, I had to do this in order to wash the yarn to remove the kinks - Mr Candytuft described this as ‘decrinklating’.  He’s good at making up words.

It is actually quite a lengthy process as it takes quite a while for hand-washed hanks of yarn to dry, but they did so within a couple of days.  I finally finished winding the yarn back into balls this morning.

I now have a new project on my needles, which I will save for another post.  It is only in the very early stages, but already shows promise.

After The Storm

We woke to another 20-30 cm of snow yesterday.  It already seems like a long winter.

This was our car on the drive.  Just in case you wondered, there are no front number plates here in PEI.

 

Digging out actually wasn’t that difficult because the snow was the light, fluffy (though slightly wet) sort, as opposed to that heavy lead-like stuff we got last time.

The day was extremely overcast, verging on misty, so not ideal for photos.

But it still looked pretty on the trees. 

 This is me, outdoors in waterproof trousers and boots, all ready to start digging.

And finally, the view from our back deck.  I know that it looks pretty, but I would be quite happy if it all melted overnight (not that that is going to happen, as there is more forecast for tomorrow).

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Just before Christmas, I found Meyer lemons for sale.  As they make the most delicious lemon curd, I bought a bag.  

The taste of lemon curd transports me back to childhood, as my Mum used to give me toast and lemon curd.

This recipe didn’t make much, but it was certainly worth the effort.

Winter Drive

Our trip to Cavendish before New Year involved an interesting drive.  Once we left the main highway, we passed through New London and stopped briefly near St John’s Presbyterian Churh.  It is certainly an imposing building.  As it was cold, we didn’t get out of the car for a closer look.

We passed a frozen bay with houses dotted along the shore.

The roads were icy, as I mentioned in my previous post.  Driving in such conditions is challenging, to say the least.

 They were also snow-covered in places.

We were looking for Green Gables, but somehow managed to miss the turning, as it was not well signed. 

Instead, we headed down into North Rustico, with the intention of finding somewhere safe to turn before retracing our steps.

 

We discovered fishermen’s huts adjacent to the shore.

 Neatly stacked lobster pots lined up outside.

One hut stood out with its bright red door and fishing buoy decorations.

This is the fish market.

 

And all of the boats hauled out for the winter.

Back on the highway, I snapped a photo of this church, but I’m not exactly sure where it is.

 Looking out across the ice.

 

And snow-covered fields in a winter landscape.

It was lovely to get out and see something of the countryside, but we were glad to return home to the warm and a cup of Yorkshire Gold.

Our Morning Walk

Thursday morning offered an unexpected opportunity to go for a walk by the harbourfront.  It was minus 2C, so considerably milder than of late, although the wind was still cold.

The harboourfront looks very different in winter.  Last August, I posted about this same walk here.  Now, the harbour is all frozen and ice extends almost around the entire island.  I read in the paper that this is unusual for so early in the winter, but we have been experiencing some extremely cold weather.  

     The lighthouse stands out as the only bit of colour on an otherwise drab landscape.  We pass this about ten minutes into our walk, so it also marks ten minutes to the car on our return.  Although part of the boardwalk is visible in the photo, it does not receive winter maintenance, so we walk on the adjacent path, which is a bicycle route in the summer.

 No one is using the shelter on this day - in milder conditions, it is a popular spot for people to sit and chat, or enjoy their coffee.

 

There are still a few birds about, but they are less visible when it is cold.  We did spot chickadees darting about, but they were too fast for me to capture a photo.

   

The end of the trail and the frozen harbour beyond.  Off to the left (out of the photo), the Confederation Bridge was barely discernible in the distance.

   

 Winter walks are full of black, white and shades of grey, as in the trees by the shoreline.

  

  A frozen stream, where we watched the muskrats playing only a few weeks ago.

   

   

There were footprints in the snow.  Could this have been the muskrats leaving the warmth and safety of their den and looking for food?

Quite a few people are still leaving seed and peanuts out and we saw one grateful squirrel having his fill.

Since drafting this post, the weather has become brutal.  We were out yesterday doing a couple of errands and it was minus 18C with a wind chill of minus 33C.  It is difficult to describe these temperatures to those who have not experienced them.  All that I can tell you is that being outside longer than a minute or two is more than enough!  As the wind chill remains below minus 30 today, we have opted to remain indoors.

Happy New Year

The New Year has arrived and 2018 is underway.  A chocolate log was requested by Mr Candytuft, so I baked this one, though we had probably already had too much dessert over Christmas (I’ve stashed some of this in the freezer for another time).   

The tree has come down and the ornaments put away.  Life isn’t quite back to normal, mainly due to the weather with a major winter storm in the last day and a half.  We’ve been digging out today and it was hard work, as we had heavy, wet snow which felt like shovelling lead weights.  The residue of the storm resulted in winds which were so strong that we could barely stand up outside, due to 100 km/hour gusts.  What with the winds, and the ice underfoot, it made clearing up extremely hazardous.  With the mercury due to plummet tonight, we needed to clear up as much as possible.  

I read today that the Island is almost completely surrounded by ice, which is unusual for this early in the season.  In places it is about 30 cm thick.  It could be a long winter.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and all the best for 2018.