Waiting for Spring

What I've learned about rug weaving so far: I'm still not ready for prime time. In fact, I'm not even actually weaving the rug yet. I am still correcting mistakes I made in threading the loom. Loom weaving is not for sissies.

We're having another cold snap here -- 7 degrees this morning. Tom has the day off for President's Day, and is out in the back yard in his tent, testing the performance of his really, really cold weather camping gear. Seriously.

I may go shopping  (!) today, just to see if I can find myself a new pair of boots on sale.

It seems like this winter is going by much faster than last winter. Maybe we're just busier now than we were last winter. I've started plotting out my garden (on paper). Square foot gardening worked well for me last summer,  and I'm going to stick with it.  Hanging strawberries might be fun to try, too.   Community gardens will be expanding this year as well, with the new project at JCC ready to go.

I've been added as a coordinator for the Furniture City Foods buying club, and I'm going to be exploring ways of using communication and customer service to improve the ordering process for members. As much as we love Wegman's, it feels really good to be tapped into a distribution system for locally and regionally sourced foods. There's peace of mind in knowing where your food comes from and how it is produced. Unless you don't mind poisoning yourself and your family, of course.

Speaking of which, we became aware last week of two sites across the lake in Ellery where fracking permits will be issued when the statewide moratorium is lifted. This is alarmingly close to one of the wells which provide the water for the city of Jamestown.  Reading through the comments on pro-fracking sites online, it is apparent that people are woefully ignorant of what fracking will mean for our area. This is NOT the same kind of well drilling that has been happening since 1947. This is a process that will industrialize what are now quiet rural areas and bring in an incredible amount of truck traffic, noise, and of course deadly pollution.  It is important for people to learn the facts.  There will be two opportunities next week when Dr. Anthony Ingraffea, shale oil expert from Cornell, presents facts at SUNY Fredonia and at the Cornell Extension Facilities in Portland. Do yourselves a favor and give him a listen.