Just back from spending the weekend skiing over the border at Whistler Blackcomb. We visited briefly last year during our trip to Vancouver, so it was great to get back and see some familiar sights blanketed in snow!

We joined the ski club at work last year, so this trip was part of an organised weekend tour through the company. Instead of spending 5+ hours in the car each way, we were able to relax in a bus ... well worth the little extra we paid for the convenience! We did cause a bit of a delay at the border, as we were the only non-Americans on the bus and the border guards insisted on seeing our passports in person ... then we discovered the guard grew up in Sydney, I think he was a bit lonely and wanted a chat! We arrived at the village around 11pm and found our room.

We spent the next three days up and down the green runs on the Whistler side of the resort - Andy's knee isn't quite up to the black stuff anymore . On Saturday I discovered how much powder was around by promptly disappearing waist-deep in a hole, much to Andy's amusement - quite disconcerting to suddenly be eye level with his knees! Couldn't haul myself out, so Andy had to drag me out ... glad he was laughing too much to grab the camera from his backpack.

We had wonderful weather all weekend - even a bit of sun on Sunday, and more snow on our last day on Monday. The bottom half of the mountain got pretty icy as the weather improved, so we stayed a little higher up where the powder was still thick on the ground - much easier to ski, and a little easier on our joints!

We headed back on Monday afternoon, a slow trip out of Whistler itself as it was snowing heavily but we were back home by about 11pm. Back to work tomorrow ... at least it's Tuesday!

Lots of coverage in the news at the moment about the current run of rainy days - rain itself isn't unusual for Seattle, but we've now had 24 consecutive days of rain. It's rained every day since 19th December ... apparently the record is 33 consecutive days back in 1953. Rather than get depressed, it's time to get behind the weather and make the most of it - let's go for the record, we can do it!!!

Normal average annual rainfall in Seattle is about 37 inches - we've had about 12 inches so far in this current spell. The local river near work is close to breaking its banks, and a couple of guys have had to find new routes to work around some local flooding!

Hey, at least this means lots of snow for the weekend .

Most of the folk in the office are back at work this week, so we were able to distribute the last of our holiday gifts - and publish the photos without fear of being sprung!

The first one was a christmas present for Jack - he's been a wonderful friend to us both, and a fellow classic Mustang restorer to boot during the year. We found this pattern featuring nautical signal flags, just the thing to go with the view to the coast from his apartment window! Also had fun trying to find just the right fringe pattern to suit the design - Andy helped with the alignment and the knot tying, must have been something he learned with the Army cadets in high school .

The second one was a late baby shower gift for Nathan and Jo, expecting their second bub in a couple of weeks. We missed the baby shower due to work, but still managed to beat the baby! They've been keeping quiet about whether it's a boy or a girl, so I had to go for a 'unisex' design - they're not really 'pastel' people anyway . Really enjoyed this one - much smaller than a full size afghan so it works up really quickly, plus I've finally got the hang of this 'intarsia' technique. No more cutting the yarn at each colour change ... and lots less ends to darn in at the end!

Phew! Think I achieved some sort of record this year for finished projects ... at least for me. Might not be quite so ambitious next Christmas - or I need to start much earlier in the year!!