What's happening?

 First off, just a few words about my wordless Wednesday.  Last year Jackie, from In the land of the Living Skies II, shared that she had knit up several scarves for donation. (I think it was last year...or maybe the year before). In any event, she inspired me to get off my duff and use some of my extra stash of yarn to make up scarves that I donated to a warming center here in Regina. This year I started a little earlier, but still didn't make any more than I had last year. There are nine scarves and four headbands. The latter are made of double strands so they ought to be nice and warm. I typically don't follow a pattern, I just knit until I run out of yarn or until I reach a length I think is reasonable. It was a good way to use up some of the stash and as Patty said, to keep my hands busy.

I washed and dried them on Tuesday to get rid of as much cat hair as possible. After folding they were placed in a bag and the bag tied up. It was my plan to drop them off the same day, but with the slightly warmer weather we got, came snow! I did make a trip to the closest grocery store for a few items, but turned around and came directly home. I put things away, had a bite to eat and then I was back outside to shovel the snow that fallen. Two to three inches maybe? It took about 45 minutes to clear the driveway and sidewalks. 

We had more snow overnight into Wednesday, so I cleared the driveway again of the 1/2 inch or so that had accumulated. I had forgotten my grocery list the day prior, so headed out to Walmart to pick up the last few items. It was bitterly cold -28C (-18F) but I decided to make a fast trip to the Dollar store as well. I did pick up a couple of things, but nothing particularly exciting.

The excitement for the day though, was hearing from my brother R, that sister-in-law P tested positive for Covid. Later in the day, he let me know that their daughter L tested positive as well. L had a couple of friends out around New Years, had driven her friends home the next day, and the following day both friends tested positive. L had been testing every day since and had always had a negative test. It was only when P started showing symptoms that L's test came positive as well. R had been at work when he got the call so he immediately called his boss and headed home to isolate for a few days. P has planned to isolate at the lake house, but as R said, if he tests positive in the next day or so, she may as well come home. (Update: L tested negative this morning, has completed her quarantine of 5 days, and returned to work today. P is still isolating at the lake house...I think she's enjoying the quiet time.)

The stupid cold weather continued into Thursday - it was -36C (-33F). It had "warmed up" to -34C (-29F) by the time I went out to feed the birds around 9 a.m. We're expecting slightly warmer weather over the next four days. I will get those scarves to the warming center soon.

Since I had no plans to leave the house, I set up a batch of dough for buns. We have leftover chili from the night before so dinner was figured out early in the day. While the dough was rising, I caught up on blog reading and then turned to Ancestry. When I signed in for the first time after the new year, I found a couple of messages.

One was from a young woman seeking information about my maternal grandmother's family. Unfortunately I wasn't able to give her much assistance. My grandparents married in 1899, moved from Quebec to Saskatchewan in 1904. My Dad had mentioned that his mother went back east (Ontario) to visit family members - however, I was just 8 years old when she passed away so did not hear the stories first hand. This contact indicated both her mother and grandmother were adopted, and her grandmother was a niece of my grandmother's. 

The second was from a gentleman, someone my mother would call a shirt tail relative. To be honest I haven't quite worked out where he fits in on the family tree. But his family and my father's families are entwined through several marriages. He indicated that I had incorrect information for one of the daughter's of my great grandfather's brother's. I guess that makes her a niece of my great grandfather. To correct the error (I'd copied from other trees), I had to delete a large branch of the family, and then add in the correct information. This is what can happen when cousins have daughters who have the identical name and are born within months of one another. I've been working my way through that branch. I've been able to identify some additional information that Doug did not have so have shared that with him in an e-mail. It was kind of him to reach to me, it's the least I can do.

On Friday, the temperatures started to improve, though the wind was still freaking cold. -28C/-18F with windchill of -44C (-47F). You can bet I didn't stay outside for long when I fed the birds. It appears the hares have found a way under the new gate and are bunking down in the back yard, along with the Hungarian partridges. The latter are scraping at the snow and getting down to the frozen grass below. Too bad they won't do the same on the driveway. Especially since, with the warmer weather came another dump of snow. 

I went out to the garbage bin mid-afternoon and spent another hour clearing the driveway and sidewalks of the snow. I don't think that much fell, but the blowing snow blew in nearly 6 inches at my garage door. It always seems to pile up there. 

I've been puttering in the craft room in between chores and playing on the computer. I repaired a couple of items that got damaged over Christmas and finished a set of coasters. I had picked up the cork pieces on my day trip in November in one of the small towns we've visited. I've never seen them in the craft stores here in the city. I used scrap book paper and modge podge to finish them off. I think I'll tie them in a ribbon and they'll make a nice small gift for some one. (I made the crocheted peppermint candies for myself). I'm currently working on a new wreath for summer - it's made of clothespins and will be painted to look (somewhat) like a sunflower. I'll share a photo when it is finished...assuming it looks decent. :)

Today, I needed to run out to do an errand for D, and pick up bird seed. With this cold weather they're going to eat me out of house and home. I shovelled the path to the back yard (I didn't get that far yesterday), as well as cleared the driveway of the snow that had blown in overnight. The pile on the east side of the driveway is a good four feet tall now! Again, with the wind it was freaking cold out there. 

The snow plows were out on the main roads nearby when I went out. They're moving the snow into the center of the road, so that what is normally a two lane street is now a 1 1/2 lane street. The piles are almost up to the roof of my car so it makes for some fun driving as one nears corners especially. They will eventually have the snow removed by trucks and taken to a snow dump. Meanwhile the wind is doing a lovely job of polishing the remaining snow on the road into ice. Have I mentioned recently how much I hate winter?

When D called this morning, she told me she'd had an e-mail from the school that there was a confirmed case of Covid in the pre-K class. She had kept Eli home this week because of the rising number of cases, and intends to keep him home this week as well. He has a couple of appointments that she doesn't want him to miss. He is missing his friends so she is arranging a Zoom playdate with a friend K for later this week. Her family is currently in quarantine as most of the family members have Covid, thankfully most with relatively mild cases.

On a happier note, I'm home with no plans to leave the house until Tuesday when the weather improves. There are several curling games on today, with the women's provincial tournaments being run in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. I've got the first of a pair of mittens on the needles, a cup of tea beside me, and dinner is prepped and in the fridge.

Have a great week ahead, stay warm, stay safe, and be well.