first snow

Today it started snowing around mid-morning or so. It has been snowing slowly, all day. It is starting to accumulate, but they are not calling for much. It was a good day to stay inside and weave. The small shawl pictured above was one of the pieces that I worked on today. I wove it from some of the yarn that I purchased from Autumn House Farm, at the Rhinebeck Festival. I like it well enough to go ahead and weave a bigger shawl from the same yarn. On days like today, I am glad to sit by the stove and let the warm glow of the coal soak into my bones! I spent a portion of the afternoon spinning by the stove. It was a cozy day.

I also had a nice surprise visit from my "farmer friends" who live down the river from me. They came bearing gifts in the form of pork. Not just any pork, these were their own "milk-fed" pigs. Seriously, I was there when they would mix up the milk and feed them! I have not tasted any of it yet, but I am sure it will be very good. I am grateful that they would share their efforts with us. They got two piglets and raised them this past summer. It is nice to have good meat, to know where it came from, and what it was fed. They also raised and butchered a pair of turkeys...and they are on their way to the Thanksgiving Table. I tip my hat to them for doing all the hard work themselves. If I had to raise and butcher my food, I am afraid I would become a vegan! I really think it is wonderful to raise your own food, it is just very difficult for me to get past that whole "you are eating what you nurtured" thing. Then again, I have a nasty rooster, who may be destined for the stew pot someday....