Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Preparing for the winter

I got up very early this morning. And was so tired. Yesterday I woke already before five and got quickly and quietly up anticipating that I would have many many hours of solitary time before anyone else wakes up. The school is out and the children are home... But this morning it was different. I did not want to get up and needed the sleep. The old black dog had to go out and she made her pleads, and I lay there in bed pretending that I was not hearing her and hoping that someone else would --- but not a soul was stirred and I had to get up. Quite annoyed. But if the old lady has to go very early in the morning, so she has to.
Then I made a cup a coffee, took my knitting and went to sit outside for a while with the knitting. After a while it did not feel bad at all.This is the scenery from my morning coffee spot. If you look carefully, you can see both the dogs roaming around. (I'm not sure of the water temperature but probably something like 12 C.)
The knitting isn't much at the moment. It is the handspun Polwarth but can't say anything else of it, because right at the moment I'm very much in doubt...
(Oh no, I don't sell my handspun, first because the quality is not good enough that anybody would like it and then I'm very slow, but I put the belt on the yarn to have it look more organized and the yarn appears to be better and the belt has the information for later use.)
So the knitting content is limited. And probably is going to stay like it for a while. I'm sorry but remember when I said that we use wood to heat the house. Mostly wood. Which means that the wood has to turn from the trees into firewood and there are many steps...
This is just the beginning of the pile needed for the long and cold winter.
(A teenager was spotted on the scene but refused to appear on these pages because of wearing clothing suitable for this job. Before getting her work gloves on she sat long and hard at the incomes policy table with her father and sorted out all the little details like whether she was paid while having lunch...)She was the tallyman.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous02:50

    Your lake looks very pretty and the pile of firewood looks very familiar. When my family lived on Vancouver Island, we heated our house with wood. There was a whole vocabulary of words just referring to the wood in its various stages of being chopped up. The warmth of the fire in winter was the best heat.

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  2. What a beautiful view you have, it must be wonderful living in such a beautiful place. Is that your front yard up to the lake.

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  3. Anonymous04:52

    During my stay in Maryland with some friends, we used a small, somewhat ineffective wood stove during the winter. The stove had come with the house, and they had plans to buy a new (effective) version, but I don't know whether they did. Perhaps for next season. The best part was when we burned the cedar that unexpectedly appeared in the cord of wood that we were burning.

    When I lived in Kyoto for a year of university, I walked by a man chopping wood in a small side street each day on my way to class. Near the end of my stay, I realized that the pile of wood was next to the back door of a local public bath.

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  4. Anonymous11:42

    such a different life, Lene... the summer has barely started and you have to be thinking of winter. Well, so is life, I suppose... luisa underscore soso at yahoo dot com.

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  5. Anonymous16:00

    What a beautiful morning coffee spot. It's nice to know that teenagers are the same everywhere - wanting to look good for pictures and negotiate chore salaries.

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  6. Anonymous16:10

    Greetings from Toronto - A quick note to say how much I enjoy your postings. They are a great pleasure to read; thoughtful, peaceful, beautifully crafted, and illustrated in such a delightful fashion.

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  7. Anonymous16:34

    wow, the lake and the sun are so pretty that a lump formed in my throat . . . i hope you can take a nap to make up for the lack of sleep today!

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  8. Anonymous17:12

    I have been enjoying your posts for several months now. Here in Newfoundland people are gathering their winter wood as well. There is nothing so comforting as a very large wood pile, all neatly stacked and ready to go. I have a love affair with all things far north, so I read and look with enjoyment and a bit of envy at your nothern landscape. Thanks for sharing your poetic take on knitting and other subjects.

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  9. Anonymous17:21

    is it your own draw? They are great... the socks too!
    I'm from belgium and i'm surprised you prepare already for the winter now lol
    have a nice day!!

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  10. Amazing. Summer isn't even officially here yet, and you're already making preparations for the winter. I guess that's life way up North!

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  11. Can I join you for coffee? That's a wonderful coffee spot.

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