It's SpringAutumnWinter ~

Around here, we get confused about the seasons. It was 70 degrees today. By this weekend, our lows will be freezing. Technically, it's autumn, but everybody else is having blizzards and ice. In this part of the South, December and April feel similar.

I'm drinking hot tea each day. I made a quick little cozy for my mini-teapot out of ultra-bulky yarn.

My daughter-in-law Shani works for the amazing greeting card company, Love Pops. They make cards so gorgeous that they are gifts in themselves. Peter sent me a dragonfly!

See how he perches on the lily pad? Look at his lacy wings!

Adam baked some apple turnovers on a chilly day. When weather turns cold and damp -- especially if it's rainy -- Adam bakes.

The apples and sultanas had been soaking in vodka for three months. The alcohol, of course, cooks out during the baking, but the fruit is left with a lovely, rich taste.

The first Sunday of Advent was also communion at our church.

The Bradford pear trees in front of the church are gorgeous right now, the perfect shade of autumn orange.

Trixie loves to play in her daddy's straw piles. She's becoming long-legged.

While snipping willow wands, I discovered an oak tree, cut off and scrubby like a bush, but it has the most wonderful color in its leaves! Here are a few:

Next to it, a crab apple is in its yearly state of confusion about whether to bloom or not.

A couple of our fig trees are similarly baffled about what season it is ... springautumnwinter?

I'm slowly making progress in my spinning. I'm more nervous about launching into this craft with reckless abandon than I usually am. Initially, I had raw alpaca fleece but none of the tools needed to process it. Adam made me a second hackle with the tines set closer together.

He also made me a new diz from a cut piece of PVC pipe, with multiple holes of different sizes for pulling the fiber through. I've made three nice coils of roving now, more consistent and better quality than the first I did. I'm hopeful. 

I don't know that I'll be able to really process yarn well until I somehow acquire a spinning wheel, but I'm having fun nonetheless. I'll probably end up with bags of roving, in anticipation of getting a wheel at some point. I bought a dog grooming comb with tines perfectly spaced for alpaca, although the tines are rather short. Adam plans to make me combs too, with longer tines.

Here's a video I've been enjoying of a lady in Virginia who clearly adores having fleece and fiber in her hands. I listen to her as background because I enjoy her voice and her devotion to the craft. This is what I aspire to be!