Snowstorm Files, Day 3

It's over.

The blizzard warnings were called off yesterday evening around 6. It was still snowing here, but clearly winding down. We haven't taken any measurements, but the news is reporting different totals from different people around the area. Anywhere from 20-33 inches, I think, has been reported. We are leery of going with the "official" totals, which are taken at Reagan National Airport. The airport is in a low spot for the area, and always has a lower total than we have in our backyard. Of course, that's when we actually have a measurable total, so 'whatev.'

The Washington Post's online link showed 24.5 for Camp Springs (right around the corner from Upper Mayberry!) yet only 17.8 for the airport. See what I mean!

Here are some of the photos from around our house this morning. In the aftermath!

This is looking out the front door at the carport. You can see that there are a couple cars under there. My dad made a path out yesterday evening. The rest we'll tackle together after breakfast, I'm sure!

Another view of the front - looking more toward the yard and out to the street where Wall-E cleared a car path last night. Seriously, a backhoe came by, pushing and dumping snow in a very methodical manner. The guy was AWESOME, but it really looked like Wall-E to me!!

This is on the deck. The egg-shaped lump there is the Webber grill, and that's how much snow is surrounding it. It's on the very edge of the deck, so the blowing kinda drifted around it, but you can see how much snow is surrounding it, and that's pretty much how deep the rest of the yard is.

Again the back yard - this time looking toward the table that's been moved to the side of the yard. You can see a bunch of things piled on top, but where the table starts is about hip level for me. I'm short and all that, but THAT'S A LOT OF SNOW.

So, how'd I pass my time yesterday? Being that I can't knit (or spin) and all, I decided to play with some fiber! Messing around on YouTube the other day, I saw this video from my new "friend" Tara at Blonde Chicken Boutique, where she dyed some raw fiber in a canning jar in the microwave using - guess what? - Easter Egg Dyes!!!! It was so easy, and I'd snapped up all the leftover Easter Egg Dye kits at Target and the FoodLion near my house last year, so I figured I'd be able to play all day!

And that's just what I did! Looky:

The fiber - the Romney I just received, and washed on Friday afternoon. From left to right, and top/back to front/bottom there are - purple, brown (!), blue, teal and green. I should say that both the teal and green were listed as "green" on the packages, but you know egg dyeing - close enough is good enough for them. No worries, as I plan to card most of these colors together with other colors and blend them. The brown I'm super excited about, and plan on using the rest of the dye tablets today on more fiber (I've got two pounds). The purple was a bit wonky, and gave some interesting color effects - blue in lots of places and a funky amethyst in others. Nice! Here's the fiber back on the drying rack after coming out of the dyebaths:


The colors are (top to bottom): blue, teal, orange (see below), then brown, purple, and green.

I also did some Lincoln locks in orange on top of the stove, but apparently forgot to take pics of that. I like it - I used a big hank of the lincoln, so used 3 orange tablets dissolved in the water, then put another crunched up on top so that some parts would be REALLY orange, and it worked!

I'm off to fuel up so I can shovel, and then I'll be doing more washing and dyeing today.

:O)