Snow!

     We finally have snow!  After an unusually mild winter, it has turned cold and snowy.  The kids are ecstatic, and I have to admit that I am happy about it too.  The endless rain and mud was getting me a little down.
     Yesterday, we had what the kids call "snowman snow"; wet and sticky. They built a snowman, went sledding, and had snowball fights, until Samuel started dropping giant snowballs off the deck onto Abriel and Anna. They came in soaked and crying, and had to have a warm bath. 

     Today, after the snow we received last night, everything was powdery, cold, and crunchy.   The snowman's face had been obliterated.  Samuel and Abriel tried to spruce it up, but found that even the hat was frozen to it.

      They decided that today was a good snow ice-cream day, so Anna made a big batch after she had tended to the chickens.

    I am trying to ignore the fact that snow ice-cream is just dirty ice crystals.  I just hope she was really careful about where she got the snow. There's a lot of chicken poo around, hidden by the snow.  Hazards of free-range chickens.

Little Moomins

      I've been doing a little post Christmas crafting, now that I no longer have project deadlines looming over me.  I decided to make something that I've been wanting to for awhile; something just for fun.
     I loved the Moomintroll books as a teen, and still love reading them occasionally. I've always wanting to make little dolls of the characters.  There is something so endearing about them. I never could figure out how to make them, until I discovered needle felting,but it's only been recently that I felt my skill level was up to doing anything more than birds and mushrooms.
     So, here are my three favorite moomins, Moomintroll, Snufkin, and Little My.  Little My has always been my favorite, despite her naughtiness.

      Moomintroll is the only one who is completely needle felted. For the other two, I used a combination of techniques.  Other than the felted heads, they are made very similar to Sally Mavor's wee folk.

      Snufkins hands were particularly challenging.  I would have liked to have made Little My's the same, but it wouldn't have worked out, with her being so small. 
      It was a fun little project, but I'm not sure what I'll use them for. Maybe I'll attach strings to their heads, and use them as ornaments.