Hot and Cold

Or maybe that should be cold and hot...anyway, those are the adjectives of the week for my vacation! We spent some very cold days at my in-law's cabin with seventeen (17!) of his closest relatives. My heavens, it's a lot of people. There are two things that constantly confound me when we have these little (big?) get-togethers: first of all, how little food they eat. It's not as if everyone is on a diet or anything, and I'm sure it's just that I'm used to feeding, two people, four at most, so I imagine that we need some kind of medieval banquet table set up, but it's still somewhat amazing to me, nonetheless.

The second thing that I just don't get is how much hot water is in that place! Showering 17 people takes an amazing amount of hot water, I would think, and with half of them being teenagers --what is it with teenagers taking 45 minute showers, anyway? Never mind, I probably do NOT want to know-- well, anyway, it's pretty cool that I was able to get hot showers.

The best part about the cabin trip this time was that my niece wanted to learn how to knit. I brought some sock yarn and some other wool and needles to start the swatch cap for my Elizabeth Zimmermann Fishtrap Aran, but Katie asked if I could show her how to knit, so I gave her the wool for it instead (I mean, who wouldn't, after all!). I worked on my sock.

I didn't have a pattern book with me, so she got to learn the "real way." I had her start a swatch, and she did both knit and purl, to test her mad knitting skillz. She actually did really, really well and seemed comfy with it, so I went bold and after we measured her test swatch and head, had her do a little cabled hat. Cables! In the round! Look at the girl go!

It took her two days, and we stayed up until about midnight, finishing it with a twisted rope and tassle (both her idea, because she wanted the rope to repeat the cables--brilliant!)

When we were just about finished, she looked at me and said that she hadn't been this excited by something in a long time. Woot! A knitter is born!
Kodi, meanwhile, spent nearly all his time outside, completely in his element. He even stayed the night outside (he wouldn't come in at night--although I suspect he didn't sleep, and hasn't gotten up since we came home last night!). He even caught a Pine Grouse, much to the admiration of the other three dogs (don't worry, it got away and only left a couple of feathers behind).
Here he is, waiting for the kids to come out so he can chase them down the hill on the sleds. I love it when he gets all squinty-eyed in the snow. Such a handsome boy. He was actually even sleeping--not under any shelter, mind you, but in the snow, with more snow falling on him. The other dogs are a bit more fair-weathered types, and stayed indoors as much as we'd let them.
So on to the hot part...tomorrow, we're off to the Bahamas! Yea! I picked up a couple of new swimsuits and some sunscreen today at Tahr-jhay, and have been frantically trying to find my shorts, tank tops, and sandals. I'll post some sun-and-sand when I get back, since the resort doesn't have wireless Internet. I kept joking that the best part about a trip to the Bahamas is that all you have to do is run home, grab your bikini bottoms, throw 'em in your purse and you're off! My husband laughed and said that as long as you have your passport and a credit card, all you have to do is get on the plane. Good point, I suppose. But what about lip gloss? Hmmm...