Shiny Things

Okay, so the epic aran swatch is slowly plugging along, but, as predicted, a number of shiny things came up to distract me from what I should be doing. Not all of it has been fun stuff, but even those things have had silver linings. I had to go to an out of state funeral with my Dad, but I do love road trips and new knitting stores (Kanawha City Yarn Company should not be missed if you happen to find yourself anywhere near Charleston, WV). See what I mean?

Now, imagine this on every wall and shelves
in the middlish area too, a very patient father
and a giddy knitter and you'll get the picture.

I'm ready to go back. NOW!

It was one of the best knitting stores I've ever been to! We had a little trouble finding it, thanks to the scourge of the Internet: online maps and directions. Trust me, it was well worth the trouble of getting (very slightly) lost! It wasn't difficult to find at all really, you just need the right directions, novel I know; kind of like how a map to the Grand Canyon won't really help you find your way to the moon, you know, that sort of thing.   But half of the whole 'road trip' experience is the 'road' part of things; if you get lost for a block or two (or an hour on the highway when you came into town and missed your exit), you just get to see more sights, and that's just fine with me! And, traveling through the mountains provides other entertainment, too:

Like how it's always fun to try to scream or hold your breath
through a tunnel, and traveling through the mountains
gives you plenty of opportunities...

...but they can get the best of you if you try to hard.
I failed on this one, but didn't pass out. 
Came close, but no.

Actually getting dessert at a restaurant, a travel treat!

This was the last tunnel and the only one I managed
to hold my breath through, and narrowly at that. 
The other three came close, but never worked.

And then home again to this dapper little devil!

After we came back I got sick for a little while, and while I'm sure there is a silver lining to that, I'm not really sure what it would be (aside from more down time for reading, maybe).  Then my aunt came up to visit and help with my grandmother after a medical procedure.  Once Granny was doing better, that meant field trips and playing tourist in our own area, which is always fun.  Then we got snow, and to be honest, for me the silver lining of snow is snow!  I always love it when it snows, but this year was particularly entertaining with a puppy that tries to catch snowflakes and loves to catch snowballs (and then drag them inside to finish eating them).  This was our only real snow of the year, and it just barely stuck to the ground overnight - too bad for Harper!  Winter wasn't too bad this year, so spring is coming around a little earlier.  We'll see if it lasts...!

Spring has sprung, almost...

...almost.