I am little
hesitant to show you these pictures because now you all feel sorry for me…
but here they are, the scenery I look at today, May 18th, 2020.
This has
been long and slow spring. The lake is still covered by ice, but I am almost
holding my breath because the ice must go soon. Soon. When the ice breaks and
the lake is free again, I will stay up all night, soak in the light and praise the
power of the sun, and drink champagne and toast that once again, the winter
is behind.
With binoculars I can see that there is quite a big free water area in the northern end of the lake. If the wind would pick up and blow from the north, the waves would start building in the open area, and thus the power of the moving water would start crushing the ice. But it is a calm night.
The migrating
birds are here, their constant singing is uplifting. Night temperatures have
been low, well below zero this past week. The day time temperatures have not been that great either; we have not gone past ten
degrees Celsius yet. This is arctic spring.
I have lived through
many springs up here, but I do not think that we have ever had so much snow
left in late May. The floods might get difficult this year. These cold nights are
particularly good as they slow the process of melting snow. Even the spots
where the sun hits the snow, the snow piles seem stable. The surface of the
snow softens during the day and come night; it will freeze again; the snow
piles have turned into little icebergs. Where the ground is free from ice, it is wet
and dead.
This willow has
been standing here, close to the water always (it seems) and it is all bare yet,
not a sign of life. It is as willows are, sturdy and has survived different
springs and has taken manhandling from the ice a few times. One spring it was
laying on the ground as the ice packed against it, but with little help, it got
up again and there it stands, brave little thing, having no idea how this
spring will treat her.
I will try to record its spring this year and will
report back to you how it is for her.
I was raking today
for a little bit in between snow piles. Then I went to see if I could find any life
in my Humulus Lupulus, and I was not disappointed, there were little
violet stems just beginning to grow. They are always the first.
Inside, I have
been making little pants for the hares (more specifically the Tundra Wool Hare,
close relative of the Mountain Hare, Lepus Timidus). I made five pairs in a
row, making little tweaks after each pair, taking good notes. Now I will know
how to knit them, even after a long time. So far, I have mostly jotted down haphazardly
few words here and there and when I return to make another piece of clothing or
creature, I always need to study carefully just what I did before. (I am proud
of the pockets.)
And there is one
little hare without a face and a tail.
I don’t think I am done knitting them
yet, I mean there is only three and how many cats did I make until I had
enough, I don’t know.
Do you know Julie
Williams of Little Cotton Rabbits -blog? She knits all kinds of lovely
creatures.
I was searching for inspiration and I
looked through her blog and patterns in Ravelry. There was one pattern that
caught my eye… I would love to knit a few tiny donuts. That pattern is free.
I also have Striped Esjan on the needles.
Hope I can show
you pictures of the lake next time!
Wool with you,
Lene