that's entertainment

Need slippers?

Step 1:

knit giant clown-sized wooly footbags. 

Step 2:

throw them in the washer with very hot water.

Cross fingers and hope for the best:

Step 3 (optional):

make a before-and-after composite

for full comedic effect.

What, doesn't everybody measure their knitting

with a Biltmore stick?

(It just happened to be handy.)

And here's a rav link to full project details for felted slippers.

You may want to try it!

First it will make you laugh,

then it will keep your feet warm.

How many things can you say that about?

~~~~~

focus

(Pssst: Looking for the Grow Your Blog post? It's right here.)

~~~

This is how cold it has been lately.

These days, I often remind myself to "focus in."

Keep my mind on little things.

Small, manageable tasks.

Small, quantifiable achievements.

It seems like a good way to stay positive and avoid becoming overwhelmed by...well, anything.

Just before falling asleep,

I try to jot down one thing I've done that day,

that I feel good about.

One day it was finishing some onerous paperwork.

Twice - on two separate days -

it was successfully extricating the little green sportswagon

from a mound of deep snow.

One day last week, it was cooking this squash:

The biggest of the Sow True Seed Pink Jumbo Banana squash

raised as part of the 2014 "Reporter At Large" planting project

hosted by my blogfriend Tipper at Blind Pig and the Acorn.

The three varieties of winter squash I planted in my garden all produced so little and so much later than everyone else's, I was not much use as a reporter! But eventually I harvested a few squash and carefully saved them for Winter.

Which is certainly here.

So.Much.White.

Isn't it time for a little color?

Or a LOT of color?

Isn't this refreshing to the eye?

Everything about cooking this squash -

the weight of it, the colors,

the lovely fresh smell -

reminded me so happily of the garden.

The sun, the rain, the aching back, the sweat.

The magic.

Summer in the garden, August 2014 

Summer in a bowl, February 2015

And nothing was wasted,

which is always satisfying!

The seeds were cleaned and saved

for eating or planting.

The fibrous core was a treat for the hens,

who appreciate fresh vegetables in the winter

as much as I do.

And who always eat organic, even when I do not.

Happily, this time we all did.

And now, it's time to bring out my Deep Winter Survival Strategy:

the 2015 seed catalogs!

I do not even peek at them until February.

We are expecting two more days of snowstorm.

It is definitely time for the seed catalogs.

And a continued focus on little things.

~~~~~

february

The little birds have found the feeder again.

Early in the morning, before the sun is up - 

hence these dark pictures -

they begin to appear, perching atop branches
and clinging vertically to the icicles hanging over the windows,
awaiting their chance to swoop in.

Some are willing to share.

Some are not.

But sooner or later,

everyone has a turn.

~~~

There has been a lot more snow this week,
and also some snowstorm knitting.
Bundled up in the big chair by the parlor window.

With entertainment.

It has been so brutally cold lately,

I've been feeding the squirrels.

It helps keep them from going insane

trying to winkle seeds out of the bird feeder.

We all need a little help from time to time -

don't we? - 

to keep from going insane.

In February.

Which is why I made a handknit "cozy"
for my hot water bottle.

Do you use hot water bottles?

Or do you associate them with Wodehouse-era pranks
and slapstick calamities?
I used to be in the Wodehouse/calamity camp,

having never seen or heard of a hot water bottle in actual use.

But after reading a thread on ravelry
where many Irish and British and European ravellers
gently expressed their surprise that everyone doesn't
routinely use hot water bottles...

I bought one online in 2008

and became a convert.

Encasing one's hwb in a woolen cozy

will help it retain heat for much, much longer.

So wouldn't you think I'd have knitted one a bit sooner?

I have no excuse.
Until now, my hardworking hwb has been
wrapped unceremoniously in an old polarfleece pillowcase.

Well, not anymore!
I began this project for
the Stitched Together Random Rummage Craft-a-Long
and finished it in four days.
It still needs a light steam blocking
to even out those wonky stitches...
but it's pretty cozy, alright!

~~~

I hope you are faring well, whatever your February weather.

Try to stay warm if it's cold

and cool if it's hot.

And whatever you do...

don't run out of hay.

~~~~~

january slipped away

...and here's a little update on the week past.

The Porch Project is back on track!

After a considerable delay and two reschedules - once due to a snowstorm - the painters came last week. Three days, three hours of preliminary sanding, followed by three coats of satin-finish polyurethane on the pine walls and ceiling.

The results look quite nice, I think.

(Disclaimer: these photographs exclude an unsightly heap of residual construction material and debris. Removal is proceeding slowly, somewhat hampered by snow.)

Even the color difference between

all the fresh new pine

and the darker 17-year-old pine wall

(to the right in the snap above)

appears as a pleasing design element, rather than a distraction.

Serendipitous!

Have you seen the shelf beneath the gable window?

It was one of the final items on the carpentry list.

The shelf runs the full length of the 14' south wall.
I planned it as a place to neatly store things
that I need to access only occasionally.

The Last Interior Frontier (Fronterior?) will be the floor:

lightly sanding - possibly staining - 

and then polyurethaning

the original mahogany floorboards.

Soon, I hope.

Because when the floor is done,

I can "move in."
Huzzah!

~~~

Snow:

we've got it.

I've lost track of the snowstorms.

We've had plenty of snow.

Still do.

Every time I can get out of the driveway,

I go fetch a few bales of hay before the next storm.

In fact, I went for hay yesterday.
And the snow began again last night.
Still falling now.

Cold:
we've got that, too.

One morning it was still -5F (-21C) at midday.

Brisk.

Which reminds me...

 the fireworks picture at the top of this post

celebrating the latest porch progress,

is actually a screenshot from Up Helly Aa 2015.

As always, it was powerful stuff:

My feelings about life and death, creation and destruction,
have been revisited and revitalized for another year. 

Well done, People of Lerwick.

Thank you for sharing!

~~~

P.S.

If you are looking for the giveaway, it's here.

Entries open until 14 February.

Good luck!

~~~~~

Grow Your Blog

Welcome to Comptonia, friends and newcomers!

If you are visiting for the first time as part of the wonderful Vicki's Grow Your Blog Party, I know you will be travelling the blogiverse at a dizzying gallop, trying to get an idea of what many blogs are all about. The quickest way to see what this blog is about, would be to left-click on an annual collage post: here is 2013 and 2014.

But if you'd like some words...

I write about ordinary life in a tiny house

surrounded by trees
in a fairly rural part of New England.

Sometimes I share a practical tip that readers may find useful,
but only in the same way we all do that, in conversation.
I mean, this is not a blog full of helpful information,
but if I rattle on long enough, I'm bound to say
something useful eventually.

No, mostly it's just looking around and taking photographs,
and thinking about what I see and writing about it.
There are many trees on this blog, for example. 

Also, attempts at gardening.

There are walks in the woods...

with my dog, Piper.

I may as well tell you right now:
Piper thinks Comptonia is her blog.

But Piper is wrong.

Just ask my little herd of cashmere goats.

Oh, and sometimes there's knitting.

And sometimes occasionally, adventures in the kitchen.

Please feel free to look around - I hope you'll find something enjoyable!
Sharing interests and ordinary life through blogging is a very pleasant way to "meet" people from all over the planet, and I'd love to hear about you and your world. Please do leave comments anytime the mood strikes you, because that's a really wonderful part of blogging: genuine connections with people we are unlikely to meet in "real life."

If you would like to "follow" or subscribe to Comptonia,

there are some clickable options in the sidebar.

Thank you for visiting!

~~~

And since this is a party, of course there will be a giveaway!

 This woolen felted star was handmade by a woman living in a very tough environment - Mongolia - using local wool.

These wooly stars and lots of other nifty items are created and sold through a wonderful community-based conservation program called Snow Leopard Enterprises. If you left-click that link, I think you will be impressed! It's a "good news" click.

Oh, look: here's another star:

I have admired the Snow Leopard Trust for many years, because I respect their approach to conservation. It considers not "just" the animals, not "just" habitat, not "just" cultural preservation, but incorporates all three in a realistic and functional way.
Also: field research! The website is full of phenomenal photography, up-to-date news of discoveries, international conservation successes, and...
the shop full of handmade goods.

These stars, for example:

You know, it's tricky to come up with a giveaway item that will appeal to every reader, woman or man, child or adult, office worker or trapeze artist.
But I really think I've managed it!

One of these stars makes a cheerful decoration on any wall,
or hanging in any window.

Who doesn't like stars, right?

Like this one:

Or maybe a pair of stars hanging from a small branch

 would make a pleasant mobile?
As the stars slowly turn,
one might see first the solid side,
then the decorated side.

Like this:

Oh, and I see a lot of buntings on blogs...

I'll bet stars would be very happy elements of a bunting!

Wouldn't this star be pretty in a bunting?

Maybe with a couple of its starry associates?

I think so.

So, my giveaway item is five of these handmade stars.

In fact, the very five pictured in this post -
one each: orange, green, yellow, pink, and blue.

Would you like a chance to win?

The giveaway instructions are simple, and

everyone, everywhere, is welcome to enter!
Here's how:

1) Leave a comment on THIS blog post,
by February 14th.

2) INCLUDE a way for me to contact you:

email address is good,

ravelryID works too,

or a twitter handle.

That's it! I will draw and post the winner on February 15,
and contact the winner to ask for a mailing address.

Then a packet of stars will be on its way to you!

Like magic!

Good luck, everyone!

And now I'm off to the party  :)

~~~~~