End of February update

We had a day with mild temperatures.  Our yard was suddenly filled with little critter foot prints.   These bothered me the most as they were raccoon prints.  The prints went to the feeder, across the deck, to the compost pile, back and forth to the barn door.   There is a gap between the bottom half of the barn door and the footing.   It could be big enough for a raccoon to get through.  Although these foot prints were quite large, raccoons can fit through some awfully small spaces.   Now I'm wondering if this beast over-wintered in the barn.  The chooks have a large pen, totally sealed in with hardware cloth or solid walls, so they are pretty much as safe as we can make them.  After the last attack, hubby sealed off every little possible space since we saw the raccoon slipping through a tiny opening.  But I'm afraid to let the chooks out when we've got a raccoon wandering around the property.

I finished up the bright blue speckled socks.  I'll post a photo when I can take it in the daylight because

the lighting is iffy in the evening.  I've started these socks though in the meantime.   I saw this sock yarn - Kroy, not my favourite, but it knits up quickly and makes thick socks which are warm. It means I can wear these socks with my boots with treads when we're hiking and not have to wear my winter boots, which are heavy, old and not so grippy any more.  

 I loved the blues in the skein, so it came home with me.   It's self striping.  They are knitting up quickly because I'm using stockinette stitch, so it's a pretty mindless activity.  I've used the square or common heel again, just to make sure I've got it memorized.  It's pretty nifty in how quickly the heel gets knit up and using the slip stitch flap, it fits quite nicely.

Another view of the lake at the trail we've been walking at regularly.  We'd had a lot of wind the day before, and the back roads were slushy and icky.   There was a bit of a breeze when we left but it was a nice enough day.   By the time we were at the halfway point in this trail, the winds had picked up and it had started snowing again.  It rained on a mild day a couple of days before this photo and then we had a deep freeze.   The photo is deceiving, as there is a thick layer of ice just a couple of inches below the snow.

 I have a couple of nice shots with lovely blue skies.  However this photo is indicative of what our skies look like most of the winter.   White ground, white in the air and white sky.   I'm looking forward to spring.

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