really cold..... really really REALLY cold

ok not 27 below zero cold......but still

tonight it is to go down to 8

above zero

that's pretty cold no?

i fluffed up the hay in the duckie domicile
they have a snug little hay filled and hay surrounded duck house

so they stand OUTSIDE in the outer pen
ON one foot

and shiver

huh?
i know they go in their little duck house at night
they can't control their sphincter muscle......so the evidence is RIGHT THERE
and
serafina.....she's even sat on the ROOF of the duck house.....under the roof of the duck domicile

(these duckies have not one roof but TWO roofs over their heads.....they are LUCKY duckies)

so someone PLEASE tell me WHY they want to stand out in the cold on one foot and shiver?

i do realize that their brains are the size of a shriveled walnut

but still.....??

the rest of the week should be warmer and warmer

and it's time to start thinking of seeds for the garden

i want to get the peppers started soon as some of them take forever to sprout


i don't have too much to say right now

i am knitting some lace.....
the harebell fichu from 'victorian lace today'

it's a test knit
so far the instructions are rather terse........
i figured out the neckband part right away, but the first couple of actual lace chart rows and how they join got me nuts

so i was on the phone with a friend of mine that is a lace knitter out in western pa
between the two of us we sorta figured it out

the way it seems to read.....is that you repeat the first two rows over and over for a few

but actually you don't
you knit the entire lace chart a few times..... (7 actually) BUT
you join them to the neckband differently

this is a knitted on border
and it's curved
so it took some talking about it and a bit of math

the instructions ARE accurate but where a big vague to me

i think that test knitting this was a very good idea

for two reasons.....
1) to work out the kinks for myself
2) to 'get inside' the author's head

i suppose i need to learn how she thinks and writes
looking at the charts
not one of the projects in this book are really hard.....
involved maybe.....
BIG yes
time consuming..... oh yeah.......

but really not hard

now all i need is a huge cone of cream colored silk lace weight
and i can play until spring

(well this is my reward for gardening and canning all spring/summer/fall .....no?)

til next time

vi