caracolina

When we were out and about on Saturday I had been pretty sniffly and congested – allergies, right? Well it turned out it was a real cold. On Sunday I spent most of the day in bead nursing my headache and trying to avoid coughing. Today I was feeling better but not sure if I would last for an entire workday so I worked from home until 2, then rested.

I celebrated New Years Eve with my very own tradition – I called my mother in Frankfurt about 5 minutes before their midnight – then she opened the windows just in time for me to hear the people on her street go crazy with firecrackers and rockets while clicking through Frankfurt webcams to find fireworks moments. We talked for about an hour, then John and I drove to Little Rangoon for dinner. On Friday our farmer friends Rob and Jerry came over, their first time visit at our humble abode. John cooked up some italian pasta dish served with a small mixed salad.  Saturday was my monthly guild meeting and I’m happy I attended – Christy Puetz from the Bead Museum in Glendale was the Guest Speaker and (naturally) talked about beads, their meaning and history and brought lots of artefacts for us to look at. Afterwards we all made little bracelets with random beads she had brought for us. Later on I went for lunch at Chuys with Gayl, Melissa and a few other ladies. On Sunday I started my latest project – a knitted and felted bag (Celtic Tote from IK Winter 2007) using a bunch of homespun churro singles. I really tried to emulate Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted yarn but some skeins came out more bulky. And of course all of my five skeins are of different grist, but three are pretty close, so I figured I”ll get started and see what happens. Live dangerously!

In October we had some great visitors, our old friend from way back when in Frankfurt, Taner, with his girlfriend. They stayed in Phoenix for a few days to visit with us before embarking on a long trip around the US. We had a great time together and John and I were so happy they were able to spend time with us and at the same time sad to see them go. When the two of them left us we gave them our crummy prepaid cellphone (in case of emergency) and a bunch of maps and made tentative plans to meet up in Vegas before their return to Europe. Well, things happened not quite as planned – we didn’t hear from them and were out of town when they swung back around Phoenix to visit us one last time to return our stuff and bring us a present – and then there wasn’t any time left to rendezvous in Vegas. So they departed and ended up sending everything in a BIG box, completely covered in “caution glass” sticky tape. On our way home this afternoon we ran into Mr. Postman and picked up our package right from the truck, yay!

Upstairs we gently opened the box and, next to our phone and maps found three very special gifts – one amazing bird made out of a stone and metal, one beautiful gecko made out of porcelain, and one very, very, very special shawl – which Verena had worn here during her visit. I loved it and had complimented her on it and she decided to send it to me with a sweet note. I am still overwhelmed! Thank you Verena and Taner, I miss you guys! Hope to see you again next year.

This was a long weekend… and a great one. We went to the movies to see Princess and the Frog on Christmas Eve which was really nice. On Christmas Day we had lunch with Elizabeth and Alfred from Little Rangoon at Totties 2 and on Saturday night we dined (and enjoyed dessert at Cheesecake Factory) with Sonal, Hemu, and Khushbu in honor of Khushbu’s birthday. In between I knitted, spun, and carded, watched Dogville (another 2 thumbs up for Lars von Trier) and even added over an inch to the Navajo rug of doom.

The big event this weekend was that my sister’s package arrived. Stephanie took a trip to the Wollmeise shop in Pfaffenhofen earlier this year and, for a lack of a better word, went nuts, buying lots and lots of this wonderful yarn for the both of us. Now, my share of the loot has arrived in my loving arms, along with a few balls of insanely soft Sirdar Snuggly Snowflake yarn (which I just want to cuddle), a painting by my niece, and a few other goodies. I can’t wait to finish a few more of my current projects so I can cast on with some of this treasure – thank you, Stephanie!

In other news… we drove out to the farm stand on Saturday morning, but because Rob has another stand on Sundays which is closer to Phoenix and more convenient to reach, business was on the slow side. We closed up and had lunch at Tony’s in celebration of my birthday, which is always a treat. On Sunday morning we picked up Rainy and Joe for a drive out to East Mesa to see Avatar in 3D Imax, which was awesome. After lunch at Little Rangoon we returned home where I did some more carding and knitting, too.

We left around 6 AM on Saturday morning for the Grand Canyon. John was really worried about the weather because a lot of snow was expected at the South Rim but we arrived just fine, although the last miles were tense for him. (Since it has been many years that he’s driven in snow on a relatively regular basis it makes him awfully nervous now.) As it turned out, the canyon was filled with fog and the barely visible. This was somewhat disappointing for many visitors but intriguing for us. After visiting this place so many times in bright sunlight, the shrouded mystery was quite a treat.

Instead of braving one of the trails into the canyon we decided to take it easy and, after lunch at El Tovar, took a stroll on the Rim Trail. At some point, when the fog in the canyon parted a little, John whipped out our checkbook and we celebrated a very special event – no, not my birthday, but the signing of the check for the down payment to our Grand Canyon dory trip in October 2010!  After the check was securely tucked away in John’s pocket we continued our hike to Mather Point, by which time the sun was setting somewhere behind the cloud layer and we headed over to the visitor center tram stop for a ride back to the Bright Angel Lodge, our accommodations. We had dinner at the Arizona Room, a first for us – this place has been either closed when we were visiting so far, or we were just throwing ourselves at the El Tovar because of the views and atmosphere in that classy lodge. After a good dinner we found ourselves rather sleepy – a week of short nights had taken its toll. We retired to our room in the Powell Lodge of the Bright Angel Lodge and were soon asleep.

I’d like to say we had a good night of sleep but sadly, that wasn’t the case. For one, their beds are really short. Even my feet were hanging over the edge! Then, the room temperature was difficult to adjust (maybe an old boiler and plumbing are to blame here), it was soon too hot for us and the only way to get the room to cool off was to lift one of the windows, which caused it to rattle in the wind every few seconds. So while we got sleep, it wasn’t as relaxing and rejuvenating as we would have hoped. Nonetheless we got up in good spirits and packed up, ready to go have hot chocolates (the best in the world!) and breakfast at El Tovar. We grabbed our jackets and bags, left our keys in the room and headed out the door, only to find out that not only was it snowing, the winds had picked up quite a bit and the snow felt like needles on our faces. Even our balaclavas that we quickly donned weren’t helping much and we were wondering how much more snow we could expect. Would we have problems getting home? We decided to play it safe. After breakfast at the Bright Angel Lodge dining room we started our drive home in semi-blizzard conditions. The first 25 miles were very stressful for John, then, as we reached lower altitudes the roads were cleared and the snow turned into rain. To avoid more snowy roads we headed west on the I-40 and returned home via Prescott rather than driving through Flagstaff.

As we got home in the afternoon I had enough time to finish the first round of carding of my black alpaca fleece and almost got done with John’s first sock!

My company has had a holiday party every year since I started there in 2002. John and I have skipped a couple of years because we were traveling, other times I attended by myself because he was out of town or otherwise indisposed. Some years the firm rented a restaurant space, two years we tried celebrating in the office, this year we got together in a “golf house” at the nearby Kierland Resort. Unlike last years we not only got to bring our spouses but kids as well.  The atmosphere was casual, relaxed and we had a lot of fun. John is always nervous about attending these kind of functions but usually manages to have a good time regardless.

One funny moment occurred when a bag with envelopes was brought out and all employees (or their representing family members) all got to pick one. John threw himself into the melee and pretended to push a few children aside to grab on envelope -and thus managed to grab the big price for us, travel money!

It has been raining most of the day which is rare in Phoenix. Usually it rains for a short time in a small area then stops. In the evening the winds kicked up and just now we had some fierce winds whipping through the trees next to the house. We heard noise and opened the front door, just in time to see a plastic bucket become airborne. One of the top-heavier cacti had already fallen over (luckily, to the side, not down to the ground) and I brought it into the kitchen. After a few loud thunder claps the heavy storm moved on, though, and now we can hear the rain and some wind but with much less intensity. I’m curious whether there will be snow on the Northern mountain tops in the morning.

On Saturday I finally managed to attend a meeting of the Arizona Desert Weavers and Spinners Guild and joined. I had a great time because it was the guild’s annual fundraiser meeting which means that there is an auction of gift baskets compiled by guild members. Vice President Susan Clarke did most of the auctioneering and had everyone in stitches, she’s a hoot! The guild members I spoke with were all very welcoming. I met Bernie who is going to help me get started weaving (I’ll be rending the guild loom next year) and after the meeting I had lunch with Gayl, Karen, and Melissa. I’m looking forward to the next meeting!

John was at the farm on Saturday, so I had the afternoon to myself. I had a great time knitting and watching movies on Netflix, knitting up the remaining yarn for my knitted ruana wrap and continuing on John’s socks.

On Sunday my sister phoned, while I was on Skype with my mom. I called Stephanie back shortly afterwards and we chatted for quite some time which was great. In the afternoon we drove to Tucson’s Loft cinema to see the film Anti Christ by Lars von Trier. I can’t outright say I loved it but it was excellent, while at the same time exhausting to watch and follow. The performances by Willem Dafoe and especially Charlotte Gainsbourg are gut wrenching to say the least. This is not for the faint-of-heart or easily offended. The movie really made us think and we talked about it all the way home.

DH and I have been sporting a Starbucks addiction for the last months and we blame these guys (and a few others at the same location)! They are just too damn fun to come visit and chat with. Couple months ago we entered the store and found Rainy and Joe (left and right) were sporting impromptu faux facial hair. Torey (in the middle) needed a little extra persuasion, but, being the good sport she is, consented not only to the lamb chops but also the uni brow.