Birthday Girl Goes Skiing - Warning, Lots of Pictures

So, once again, I'm behind. But I did want to get some photos up from last weekends birthday trip to Stowe...


Friday, after school, Bella blowing out her candles (it's been a cupcake sort of year, I guess, but that's what she wanted!).

Ernesto joined us for the first two days! Here's Conall, hanging out with Tio Ernesto.

Bella getting ready to hit the slopes. Conall holding onto Percy and chewing his coat. Oy.

About ready to go over to the Inspiration chair lift...

Nice job, guys! (They're the two in orange, in the middle of the picture.)

Home again. Conall *really* wants a helmet of his own...

I will post soon about the shibori projects I've been working on!

City and Skiing

I'm way behind on posting, so these pictures are actually about *last* weekend! This is where my weekend started...

Just off the T (subway) at Park Street, the Boston Common is to the left, the Freedom Trail is right under my feet, and that's the Massachusetts State House and Beacon Hill straight ahead.




View across Boston Common towards Back Bay.

View looking out over the Financial District of Boston. Back when I was a full time lawyer, I worked in that smaller-ish skyscraper in the middle (with the pyramid shaped top) - back when I bought my first loom, actually, and taught myself to weave.


Ms. B on Sunday, a very different sort of day. I forget how little she is sometimes, pictures like this remind me she's still only 4!

Bella and Conall.


Yup, the bunny slope is officially way to easy for her. (She slalomed those little green whiskers without even thinking about it.) Think we'll be hitting the chair lift tomorrow!


See you on the slopes!

This and That, Marketing and Lots of Little Flowers

Happy New Year to everybody!

Hope things are going well for everyone. That huge pile of snow we got before Christmas? It melted. It was 60 degrees out if you can believe it! Crazy! It's snowing again today, though - Bella is outside building a little snowman.

And we've gone skiing twice! Bella is tearing up the bunny slope at Pat's Peak, I'm so proud, it won't be long before she's back on the chair lifts again. And Conall is so much easier this year! He spent half the afternoon walking up the far side of bunny slope to watch Bella ski down (Bella was earning her turns, too - walking up, I mean - faster than taking the magic carpet lift) and had a great time. No photos, I keep meaning to bring the little camcorder up to videotape her.

I've been slacking a little bit in terms of keeping up with my Etsy shop and my blog... I have a bunch of finished scarves I just haven't gotten around to photographing them or listing them. (I'm liking the cashmere/bambu7 sett at 20epi, by the way, in case anyone is curious.)

I have been trying to figure out what to do with these, though...

I started making some to attach to Christmas presents for the various women/girls in my family, and I can't seem to stop making them! (They're little crocheted flowers made of cashmere and bamboo yarn, mostly, I've been sewing pinbacks onto them to make brooches.)

I was thinking of a couple of different weaving projects that could incorporate them, but I'm kind of in production mode right now (which I try to take advantage of whenever it happens!).

So, I'm thinking I'm going to contribute them to The Sampler. The way it works is - you contribute 25 or more (up to 100s, if you want to!) of little samples of your work, the Sampler people organize it all, and then subscribers pay a small amount (not sure how much) to purchase sampler packs and get all these little samples and coupons/marketing materials from the crafters/artists that contribute.

I've done it once before and got a sale from it, and since I've already got all these little flowers lying around gathering dust, I figured, well, heck, why not, I'll contribute to the February Sampler. Wish me luck!

Snow!

Well, I do believe we are going to have a White Christmas this year!



We got about 10 - 12" last night (still flurrying a little now), of fluffy white, nice snow. How pretty!



The kids are having fun, though Conall isn't too sure of the deep stuff.

Trying to get the driveway cleared out - we're thinking of doing some cross country skiing this afternoon, probably during Conall's nap (we have a big sled/poulk that Carlos made to pull the kids along behind whoever is skiing, but Conall doesn't want to sit in it, though he did last year).

I was thinking of dragging everybody up to Pat's Peak in New Hampshire tomorrow to get Bella's seasonal rental skis and maybe ski a little, but I've just heard that we're getting another storm tomorrow! And we're right where the weather changes in our region - Boston is supposed to just get maybe a couple inches, but we're just into the zone that is supposed to get anywhere from 5" - 10" *more* tomorrow. Crazy.

Hopefully the weather will hold on Wednesday... We're attempting the Nutcracker again, lol. We got completely stuck in a HUGE traffic jam on Thursday night trying to get in to Boston and Bella completely fell asleep, so we didn't actually see it. Argh! I managed to get more tickets for Christmas Eve, though, and it starts at noon, so no chance she'll fall asleep this time! (Learned my - VERY expensive - lesson!)

I love winter. I know I'm nuts, but I really love winter and snow....

Last Day at Pats Peak

So, yesterday was the official last day of skiing at Pats Peak in New Hampshire. We had to turn in Bella's seasonal rental skis and boots, so that's probably the end of the season for us, as well. (Wah!) (But, hey, we got up to Stowe for the first time in five years, I am so happy about that!)

Above - Bella (in pink) and Carlos (Mr. Skiingweaver - big guy in blue with orange boots) - waiting to get on the magic carpet for the little bunny hill (last week, actually, on a nice sunny Sunday).

The little pink kid in the middle of the frame (turning towards her left) is Ms. B (you can click on the photo to zoom in if you really want to, lol; I know my kids aren't nearly as interesting to you as they are to me!).

That's Carlos to her left, keeping an eye on her. This is the big bunny hill at Pats (have I mentioned what a nice little mountain it is for learning to ski?? pretty boring for Carlos and I, but really nice for her) - but she also conquered one of the green runs, off the Valley triple! The whole darn run, all by her self, a whole bunch of times. I'm so proud. LOL.

We'll worry about getting her to stand up straight, etc., next year. This year was all about learning how to control her speed and how to turn, and she does both gorgeously, connecting turns all the way down and stopping on a dime when somebody cuts in front of her/wipes out near her.



Can't wait until Conall is big enough to learn, too! We'll have him on cross country skis to tromp around in next year, just like we did with Bella. Gets them comfortable with the idea of having skis on their feet...

More Ruffles...

I actually managed to hem, photograph and list a scarf today. Wow.


Black merino yarn combined with a hot pink tencel that I dyed myself back before I was pregnant with Conall. It's been lying around, looking at me accusingly, so I decided to finally use it in a brightly colored scarf...

I am really having fun with this differential shrinkage stuff. It's very neat to give up a measure of control - weavers are such control freaks - once you put it in the washing machine, all you can really do is cross your fingers and hope it comes out right...

And, obviously, we're home again! We had a very fun trip to Stowe, lots of good skiing for everyone (even on the day that it rained - it just sprinkled up on the mountain and it turned the snow soft-ish, very much like spring skiing - and the rain scared everyone away, so, no lift lines!).

This is what happens when an almost-four-year-old skis for a couple hours:

She was so crashed, she didn't even realize that Tia Lexi had stopped in for a surprise visit (photo by Lexi). Conall knew though, and flirted appropriately.



Very neat to see Lexi! :) And I can't wait to get back up to Stowe - probably next weekend, the cats would never forgive us if we went up again right away. We were looking at real estate listings up there a little bit... So close to being able to swing a little vacation condo, that would be awesome! Maybe in another year or two...

Skiing! Hooray!

So, we've been skiing on Sundays a bit this winter, just popping up to little Pat's Peak to give Ms. B a bit of an introduction to the sport. It's a friendly little mountain, very nice for kids, and has some nice little steep runs for Carlos and I, too.

But this past weekend, we got up to Stowe, for the first time in FIVE YEARS. I can't believe it's been that long... We used to have season passes there, and rent a house with friends (hi to Doug and Sarah!!), but that was before Ms. B and Mr. C. They've put a bit of a damper on the skiing thing, especially since Stowe is a bit over three hours away.

The Quad, on Saturday morning - the "nose" of Mt. Mansfield is in a bit of clouds.



This is partway down from the quad. It's always hard to get a good perspective of the steepness of a trail with a camera... This is a relatively mild blue (intermediate) run at Stowe. I think I'd forgotten what skiing a real mountain is like. The double black (expert only) race trail at Pats that I was having fun on would rate pretty much with the more difficult blue runs at Stowe. Pats is cute, but its a toy mountain! And one run at Stowe (they're loooong runs) is about equal to four at Pats. My thighs were burning!

Man was it good to be back on difficult terrain - yes, I do ski the black runs at Stowe. And I have skied all the Front Four (including Goat, which is nuts), but not on this trip, I'm still too out of shape. Depressing, but true.


Bella on her first chair lift! That's the new Inspiration Quad over at Spruce Peak (also part of Stowe - nice that beginners have a completely separate place to learn, basically). Spruce is in the midst of a HUGE construction project. New lodge, new housing, shops, an ice rink, new lifts, it's all going to be gorgeous from the looks of it. Main Street (run down the middle of Spruce, used to be completely 'wild' snow - no grooming and no snowmaking) looks completely different. There is a HUGE half pipe, all sorts of big jumps, and a new, much faster, lift.

The changes are interesting. I'm used to Stowe being kind of funky classy, almost eccentric. I'm hoping it won't lose all of that vibe with the improvements... Definitely really like the Over Easy Gondola that connects the two mountains. I actually had time to scoot over to Mansfield and get some snowboarding in while Bella was in her lesson on Sunday morning.



Bella, after her first-ever ski lesson with a real live instructor. Tired, but really happy. And she's learning so much! (I'm all proud, the instructor raved about how coordinated she is - she's still just three, after all, for a couple more weeks...)



Conall says - hey, I have ski pants, why am I stuck in the lodge while you guys get to have all the fun?? Got to learn how to walk on your own, first, little man... (My kids are late walkers.)

Carlos, after tele skiing on Saturday afternoon while Conall, Bella and I hung out at our hotel: "If I could have one day a year of skiing like that, I'd be a happy man..." I think that means he had a good time.

I was a bit worried about his back (he had pretty major back surgery in the summer of '06 - while I was pregnant and about three weeks before we flew to France, insane!), but it held up really well. His days of hucking off jumps and such on his snowboard are probably over (really kind of sad, wah, poor guy, he's so coordinated and graceful on his board and skis) (I hit a couple of little natural kickers for him on Sunday in the powder, just for fun, lol), but he can still telemark like a demon!

We're heading back up this coming weekend, for four days this time! Whhhheeeee!

Stay tuned - I need to post about meeting a fellow EtsyFAST team member!

First Turns!

So, my sweet hubby pried me away from my various looms and projects today and sent me skiing for the afternoon. I just went up to little Pat's Peak:

Isn't it a cute little mountain? It's in Henniker, NH. Which, as any fiber addict from this area knows, is also home of The Fiber Studio. (uh-oh) But I was good, and resisted stopping in on the way home. Oh - good thing I didn't stop by, it's closed until Jan. 2! Man, though, doesn't it look tempting from its website??

The idea was to check out the mountain to see if it would be a good place to teach Bella to ski this year - I think that's a yes! Nice little beginner's area, non-crowded lodge and slopes, and it's only an hour from home, also good for the little ones. Stowe will have to wait for a longer vacation. (WAH) But this is nice for a day trip, and Carlos and I can sneak in a couple quick runs, too, just for fun.

Overall, it was just fantastic to get out on my skis again. Just my little slalom skis (good thing, it was icy and they love ice), and only 9 or so runs (out of shape), but a lot of fun.

But now I'm stressed about my Etsy store being empty. Eeks. I do have three scarves done and ready for their photo sessions, though. And a shawl that I have half the fringe twisted on... So I'll be posting things to my shop soon!

Snow!

Big ol' snowstorm today, first of the year, really, in the Northeast U.S. Fun! I took the kids out earlier - Ms. B had a great time running around with her shovel, Mr. C mostly looked confused as he watched us. Still not too sure about this snow stuff (though he did *really* want to go out in it).

There's been a line of cars on the road in front of our house since 1pm, it's been kind of funny. A mass exodus. Carlos works in one of the few tall buildings in our area and has good views of Route 3 and Route 495 (two big commuter roads) and says it has been funny to watch the traffic - both on those roads and everybody trying to get out of his building.

Later in the winter, people probably wouldn't even really notice this much snow (it's at about 4 inches now - still falling fast, though!).

This is where I really want to be:

Doing this:


These photos as from Stowe - and, no, that's not me or Carlos skiing, but I sure with it were! We're both tele skiers (and normal skiers, and snowboarders, and cross-country skiers - you name it, we do it, more or less)...

After not skiing AT ALL last year (pregnant, what can you do, had the monster baby in January) and only getting ONE DAY in the year before (this for a person who generally skis at least 30 days a year) I am completely chomping at the bit. My poor tele skis may never forgive me.

But maybe I can get over to Great Brook Farm State Park and use my cross country skis tomorrow morning before Carlos goes to work! Fun!

Stowe

Man, I have been completely lame about posting lately, haven't I?

On the bright side - it was about 60 degrees out early this morning when I went to the YMCA to work out. Wow! Felt like fall, almost. Gorgeous! I love cool weather... And I love that I'm starting to get back in shape (two kids and about two total sit-ups in three years = one very out of shape weaver). Here's hoping that this shapes up to be a fantastic ski season...

Ahhh. One of my favorite places on earth. Mt. Mansfield in Stowe, Vermont. Highest mountain in Vermont, gorgeous views from the top (yup, we've hiked up there, in the winter, no less, skis on our shoulders, ski boots on our feet, for some amazing back-country skiing...). Wonderfully challenging terrain for advanced skiers (especially off the beaten path and especially if you're not afraid of tree skiing), but also a really friendly beginners area on Spruce Peak across the street, where kids/beginners don't have to worry about being run over by skiers bombing down the black diamond runs. A really nice setup. So many ski areas just cut their green (easy) trails back and forth across the hard runs - not a nice learning environment at all. Which, since Ms. Bella will really learn to ski this year, is important to us!

Maybe I can talk Carlos into spending a week in Stowe this winter... Before we had kids we used to rent a house for the season and go up every weekend - sometimes longer (I spent one winter working as a contract attorney and could work from the house up there - hooray for the internet - so I spent 3-4 days there at a time...).

I really would love to live there someday, if we could figure out how (houses are *not* cheap in Stowe, but the school system is very good). Maybe when we retire, if we still have knees at that point, that is, lol.

The Skiing Part of Skiingweaver

Hey, you may have noticed that the url for this blog/my etsy store are actually skiingweaver.blogspot/etsy.com. And I haven't even talked at all about skiing!

Mostly because we haven't gone yet this year - me being hugely pregnant being the major obstacle there, lol. But also because we've been having a freakishly warm winter so far in New England. It's been crazy! Warmest December on record, EVER. Nice for the heating bills (and for people concerned about going into labor during a snowstorm...), terrible for skiers. Happily, places in Northern New England, like our favorite, Stowe, have stayed cold enough to make snow and get some snow, but the more Southern resorts are struggling from what I hear. And man-made snow is horrible in comparison to the real stuff.

We are hoping Bella (soon-to-be-3 year old daughter) will be able to really learn this year. We had her stomping around the yard on little mini-cross-country skis last year (too cute) and she really enjoyed that. And I've hiked up a bunny hill and skied down holding her, much to her delight, but that's about the extent of it at this point. But three is about when kids are strong/coordinated enough to start to learn to ski (older for snowboarding), and she's a very coordinated kid, with a good sense of balance, I think she'll pick it up pretty quickly. And be skiing circles around us by the time she's 10...

We downhill ski, obviously, snowboard, and cross-country - we both converted to telemark skis a couple years back, actually, for downhill. I get out my little slalom skis for early season rock skiing and on really icy days, or when I feel the need for speed, but I really love telemarking. It's really difficult! (Your heel is free for telemarking, and you do sort of a lunge for each turn, unlike on regular downhill bindings, where your heels are fixed to the ski.) Nice for a change - we've both skied long enough at this point (neither Carlos nor I learned to ski until after college, it's an expensive sport) that we can pretty much ski anything you throw at us if we're on normal downhill skis. About the only challenge on the East Coast at this point is Goat. (That's a Stowe reference. http://www.stowe.com/mountain/ in case you're curious.)

We were lucky enough to ski all over the West before Bella came along and slowed us down a bit - and absolutely fell in love with Alta, in Utah. Amazing. Gorgeous. Incredible, incredible powder. You see it, you can ski it. Devil's Castle. Kathrine's Area. Unbelievably fun. No snowboarding, but Snowbird is right next door (literally) and you can snowboard there... We actually learned to snowboard at another Utah resort - Brighton - in about a foot of fresh snow. Makes all that falling down a lot more fun! We skied a lot in Colorado, too, and went to Taos quite a few times (another skiing only resort, but that was before we learned to board) but Alta is really my favorite. Although, the HGTV Dream House this year is at Winter Park, CO! (We've skied there, it was fun! Yup, we're entering the contest every day, I'd give you the url but I don't want you to enter, lol!)

These days we tend to go to little Waterville Valley, which is less than two hours up the road from us, in New Hampshire. It's a really nice little mountain, the lift tickets are reasonably priced (the season passes are a real steal), and it's just got a nice atmosphere. Last winter the snow was terrible (pure ice - and when I say ice, I mean ice, not like the little bit of crunchy stuff wimpy Western skiers complain about - I mean blue sheets of ice) but the winter before I finagled a baby-sitting arrangement with my Mum and would scoot up there to ski for a couple hours on Friday mornings. No lift lines, lovely views (it's in a National Forest), sweet. And we skied nearly every Sunday with Bella in tow, taking turns watching her in the lodge while the other person skied. It's not a very challenging mountain, but it is fun, and an easier drive for the munchkins at this point.

I really REALLY miss Stowe, though! We rented a house there for the season two years in a row and I got completely spoiled, skiing nearly every weekend all winter - and one of those years was an epic snow year, and we really got to know the mountain, venturing into the backcountry, etc. We would absolutely love to live near there someday - the only problem being how to pay for it! (Hard to find a job in hubby's line of work there, though there used to be some in Burlington...)

Anybody want a baby update? Conall is doing great, he's already regained his birthweight, and Bella is doing a great job as a big sister. Thank goodness Carlos is home from work this week and next, we'll see how it goes when he goes back and isn't around to keep Bella entertained! Yikes!