"Prints" Charming

More snow in South Carolina!

I love it.

One interesting aspect of snowfall is how it displays the secret lives of the animals around us, told to us through the footprints left behind.  The smaller print here shows a squirrel.

I followed his prints to his secret stash, where he dug up and consumed a buried nut.

Here's a fox.

Deer...

Raccoon.

They all have very distinct "lopes".  Here is a squirrel (similar to a raccoon print but without the extra toe) that's been bounding across the surface.  Back paws and front paws touch in the same area, like a bounding house cat, and not in a long lope...

...like this deer.

This pair of foxes loped easily alongside each other for a while, but then got in a great fight...with a small animal?  with each other?...before taking off in separate directions.

One clue for fox identification:  you can see tail drag marks by the footprints.

I'm no expert or even close, but it was nice to have a confirmed sighting...even if I was completely sure about the hoof prints!  :)

Many of the camellias are still doing well...

...and the snowdrops are coming up!  I can't wait!

More snow necessitates warm gloves, but I was upset to see yet another pair of hand knitted gloves with a big moth-eaten spot.  I kept my yarn in an open cabinet at our Indianapolis house and both the yarn and my wool sweaters are untouched, but strangely, most of Todd's wool sweaters and my winter woolens, stored in a big cedar chest, are affected.

I thought perhaps I could patch them by cutting away the frayed strands, picking up the live stitches, and knitting a neat white square.

I knitted a bit of fabric to stretch over the opening...

...but ended up with...a giant barnacle.

Sigh.  I will have to re-knit this glove.  I consoled myself by dipping into my precious cinnamon chip stash and making cinnamon chip scones.  The original recipe is at this site, and my only modification would be to add MORE cinnamon chips.  Now, I've heard about cinnamon chips for a long time, but they aren't sold in South Carolina (that I've found).  I had some in Portland over the Christmas holiday and they've rapidly replaced chocolate chips as my favorite mix-in.  I placed a wish for cinnamon chips on my Ravelry "wish list", and two kind strangers sent bags.  I now have three bags of cinnamon chips, and I am carefully rationing them out. 

This was a good splurge.

Cinnamon chips are a mystery.  Why are they so much better than plain cinnamon?  Why don't they taste very good plain?  Why are they so fattening?  I don't know the answers to these questions, but I do know that when added to scone or cookie batter, they turn into something otherworldly.  If you are one of the lucky people with easy access to cinnamon chips...make these! 

Have a great week!