Tired of winter, loving my spinning wheel

Breaking news: there are birds outside my window today.  I've been hearing them the last two mornings, and now I've seen  them, and I hope they know something I don't know because

Honestly! 

I am so done with cold and snow and boots generally.  I don't know what it's like where you are, but probably you could use a good dose of the non-white bright stuff too:

Whew.  Thank goodness for colourful yarns and fibers and fabrics and, also, paint and paper and all the other arty things.  Colour is just so reviving, don't you find?  Not quite enough to get me cheerfully through this winter, but enough to give me hope the darned thing will end.

Oddly we've had a few days with skies as blue as this fiber (called Moxie, from Twisted Fiber Art), which would be cheery if they weren't so chilly.

As the cold days wear on, I find myself remembering Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter, in which her family and all their neighbours nearly starve to death when the supply trains to their isolated town get stuck in the snow and can't get through to them.

What I remember the most - possibly inaccurately - is how they slept through as much of the time as possible, under piles of blankets to keep warm in the terrible weather.  I vote Yes! to that, only on the days I've tried it, I've also worn my hat and mittens.  And I still freeze.

Though my house is probably better insulated than Laura's was, the fact is the radiator under my desk doesn't work, and the window over my desk leaks cold air.  I feel like my nose is ice-cubey all the time, which would only be good if I were a dog, assuming that thing about a cold nose meaning a healthy canine is true.

Away from my desk and tucked safely at the spinning wheel in a much warmer room, I have noticed only one drawback to this sort of leisure activity.  Which is, you don't move around a lot or generate much heat doing it.

Apart from making a very large blanket and draping a lot of it over your legs as you knit or crochet your way through, it's probably true that most crafty exercises aren't fabulous for keeping you warm.  Still, spinning is probably the least effective of all.  Unless of course you're using a walking wheel, because you actually stand up and walk with those.

Now there's a good idea!  And let's hope none of us needs to use it specifically for keeping warm next winter because yikes.  I don't think I could bear two in a row, unless in the second one nothing whatsoever went wrong in the house, as has been happening every week or so since January.

With the birds singing outside - their song perhaps translating to a plea to be let inside - I would just like to take a moment to say Thank You Wheel, for standing by me for the duration like a good friend should.

And now it's time for me to go find a warmer sweater.

Take care of yourself and I'll see you tomorrow, okay?