Thursday, February 26, 2009
Itty Bitty Daisy like flower
Oh course, it is just a little winter weed but it has a pretty little flower. And, I may have actually figured out how to take a close up!
King of the Rock is about to be challenged.
The baby tortoises take turns on this rock. I think they like to play some sort of game involving dominance. In Truth, since it's Milagro up there, it should be Queen of the Rock. She eats more, it consistently bigger, and usually gets her way.
Here are the Tulip bulbs sending up leaves
These are the same ones that were only supposed to come up one year. This is about the 12th year they have braved the world.
They are dwarfs, were free from Burpee one year, and have appeared in other flower posts, too. This is for Kemulvy and Sandy and for BKL. :)
They are dwarfs, were free from Burpee one year, and have appeared in other flower posts, too. This is for Kemulvy and Sandy and for BKL. :)
Monday, February 23, 2009
Post Script...
I just picked this up off of a Washington Post article...
"Senior U.S. government officials were deeply disappointed -- they had hoped that Kuwait, an American ally, would find a way to detain Ajmi for years -- but they refrained from any public criticism. At the very least, the officials figured, Kuwaiti authorities would keep a close watch on him. And they expected Ajmi to move on, to put his Guantanamo experience behind him, to get a job and settle down after his time in one of the toughest prisons on the planet."
This is where the article is.
Do those State department idiots really think that people can be put through what we have never admitted to, but which some of those detained have not LIVED through, and come out anything but insane?
What would their OWN reactions be to such treatment, particularly when innocent as charge and locked away in some hell hole?
If this is all some insane sort of Karma, then these people need another planet to "practice" on each other. Right now, I want them ALL off the planet for the sake of the rest of us.
Thank you Magnusmog for your comment on the first post. Yes, a lot needs to be answered. We can start out with the cretins in this country's Mutant Department of State!!
"Senior U.S. government officials were deeply disappointed -- they had hoped that Kuwait, an American ally, would find a way to detain Ajmi for years -- but they refrained from any public criticism. At the very least, the officials figured, Kuwaiti authorities would keep a close watch on him. And they expected Ajmi to move on, to put his Guantanamo experience behind him, to get a job and settle down after his time in one of the toughest prisons on the planet."
This is where the article is.
Do those State department idiots really think that people can be put through what we have never admitted to, but which some of those detained have not LIVED through, and come out anything but insane?
What would their OWN reactions be to such treatment, particularly when innocent as charge and locked away in some hell hole?
If this is all some insane sort of Karma, then these people need another planet to "practice" on each other. Right now, I want them ALL off the planet for the sake of the rest of us.
Thank you Magnusmog for your comment on the first post. Yes, a lot needs to be answered. We can start out with the cretins in this country's Mutant Department of State!!
Thank you Britain. Thank you, President Obama...
Wings of Freedom.
This news source won't be up for long.
I just wanted to publicly say, "Thank you!", to those responsible for helping to start the process of putting an end to an untenable (though most likely not unprecedented) smoldering road to hell our country has been going down the past eight years.
Thank you Mr. Obama. Thank you Britain.
This news source won't be up for long.
I just wanted to publicly say, "Thank you!", to those responsible for helping to start the process of putting an end to an untenable (though most likely not unprecedented) smoldering road to hell our country has been going down the past eight years.
Thank you Mr. Obama. Thank you Britain.
Big kitty pug mark?
We now have a monster of a black cat that is hanging around the garden. The little calico cat has been gone since before the big rains. Is this, in any of your experiences, an exceptionally large paw print? That's a dime next to one of the prints. The cat is very large as cats go. (click to enlarge the pug picture)
Nothing else has been happening. I'm still trying to balance the protein in my diet. And trying to find some motivations to do some knitting.. Anything, really. I just want to watch the crab boats in Alaska catch Alaskan crab in the Bering Sea. Mostly what I'm trying to do is find out if I can customize a color for the blog that will be the exact shade of blue green that is in cold deep water waves.
The blog list was never changed. It's too convenient to do the list the way it is. I swing through it and read then as often as possible,some days reading more than others. Cooking and knitting blogs are terrifically interesting. But, there are also Quaker bloggers. Who knew?!!
love to all who read here.
PS. The color is pea soup green. I just have to change it!
Z
Nothing else has been happening. I'm still trying to balance the protein in my diet. And trying to find some motivations to do some knitting.. Anything, really. I just want to watch the crab boats in Alaska catch Alaskan crab in the Bering Sea. Mostly what I'm trying to do is find out if I can customize a color for the blog that will be the exact shade of blue green that is in cold deep water waves.
The blog list was never changed. It's too convenient to do the list the way it is. I swing through it and read then as often as possible,some days reading more than others. Cooking and knitting blogs are terrifically interesting. But, there are also Quaker bloggers. Who knew?!!
love to all who read here.
PS. The color is pea soup green. I just have to change it!
Z
Saturday, February 21, 2009
A video from an Iraeli Lady who lives it all and wants change and Peace.
I just had to post this.
I'm really not going to debate this Peace loving person's views. She just offers them in the hope that change will happen for the best, and in her lifetime. She has a heart of loving kindness.
You all know what it's about, so just don't watch it if you don't want to know how 60% of the people in Irael used to feel before the right wing murdered the Prime Minister to be. I feel for the Peace makers, they are getting a raw deal in this this militaristic Post Viet Nam war zone.
I'm really not going to debate this Peace loving person's views. She just offers them in the hope that change will happen for the best, and in her lifetime. She has a heart of loving kindness.
You all know what it's about, so just don't watch it if you don't want to know how 60% of the people in Irael used to feel before the right wing murdered the Prime Minister to be. I feel for the Peace makers, they are getting a raw deal in this this militaristic Post Viet Nam war zone.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Yes, you guessed it, I am bored.
Anyway, there is this neat, tiny site HERE that's called, "Barry's Free Photos". I stole one of his onions, and made a button for the ONION....
Ayand, then I stole all the new progress bars and their code strands from HERE even though it's so seldom visited it's shown as a risk rating. EEEEEEEEEEK! Abby Sue has since moved to THIS place. She has some beautiful earrings up for you to gaze upon, there. Anyway, there is no risk at all to go to the first link, to the bars that is.
So BEWARE more than the Onion, M'friend. Beware boredom and the Great Gnashing of Teeth that occurs when someone whom you put your hopes on steps on your heart. See earlier post.
Dayammm!
Ayand, then I stole all the new progress bars and their code strands from HERE even though it's so seldom visited it's shown as a risk rating. EEEEEEEEEEK! Abby Sue has since moved to THIS place. She has some beautiful earrings up for you to gaze upon, there. Anyway, there is no risk at all to go to the first link, to the bars that is.
So BEWARE more than the Onion, M'friend. Beware boredom and the Great Gnashing of Teeth that occurs when someone whom you put your hopes on steps on your heart. See earlier post.
Dayammm!
Mr President, I don't like this. Can I lodge a complaint?
This was from Democracy Now!, and since I supported Obama for his stance on HUMAN RIGHTS mostly, I am putting this here so that it does not get buried, as happens far too often.
I am Quoting from an email received today from Democracy!Now:
"AMY GOODMAN: Jane Mayer, we’re also joined by Glenn Greenwald.
After a month in office, the Obama administration has surprised many of its supporters by embracing key parts of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism strategy. Obama’s nominee for Solicitor General, Elena Kagan, has publicly endorsed Bush’s policy of indefinitely detaining suspected al-Qaeda members, regardless of where they’re captured. And CIA Director Leon Panetta has said the CIA might continue its extraordinary rendition program. The Obama administration has used the state secrets doctrine, as you were saying, Jane, to urge a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit by former CIA detainees and to prevent a federal court from reviewing the Bush administration’s warrantless spying program.
To discuss this, we’re joined by Glenn Greenwald, constitutional law attorney and political and legal blogger for Salon.com, author of three books. His latest, Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics. He’s joining us by video chat from his home in Brazil. We hope the audio is good enough.
Hi, Glenn. I don’t know if you’ve heard Jane Mayer speaking, but talking about the issue of state secrets, can you talk about your concerns?
GLENN GREENWALD: Well, I think that the biggest concern is not so much that the Obama administration thought there might be legitimate secrets to protect in this case, whether it’s specific rendition agreements with Morocco, as Jane alluded to. The problem is that there are two ways to use the state secrets privilege.
One is the traditional way that had been used since before the Bush administration, since 1953, which is to assert, on a document by document basis, that specific pieces of information are too classified and too secret to be allowed to be used in a judicial proceeding, and therefore they ought to be deemed privileged, the way that, say, attorney-client documents are or doctor-patient communications are, very specific and focused assertions of privilege over a specific document. I don’t think anybody—the ACLU or civil libertarians—have a problem with the assertion of privilege when it’s used in that way.
The problem is, is that what the Bush administration did was they converted that state secrets privilege from a document-specific means of excluding pieces of evidence to a shield of immunity to compel courts to dismiss entire lawsuits before there’s any proceedings at all, any effort to find out whether specific documents really are classified, whether there’s a way that will allow the plaintiffs to proceed and have their day in court without using classified information. That’s been the controversy, over the use of the privilege as a shield of immunity to protect the President from judicial accountability.
And if the Obama administration’s embrace of that theory, of that use of the privilege as a weapon that has been so disserving—had they really been concerned about specific agreements with Morocco, they could have simply said, “Well, send the case back to the district court, and with regard to specific documents, we will assert the privilege over them.” That’s not what they did. They embraced what they had long said was the abuse of the privilege when in the hands of the Bush administration.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And in the case of Binyam Mohamed, you’ve written how specifically the Obama administration has even joined in in threatening Britain, in terms of its possible release of information about activities that have occurred in the past. Could you talk about that?
GLENN GREENWALD: Yeah. That might actually be the most disturbing episode yet. I mean, the British government has acknowledged that it has in its possession what it calls exculpatory evidence with regard to Mohamed, namely information that it obtained from the CIA that the confessions, on which the Bush administration previously was relying to prosecute Mohamed in the military commission, was—were concessions that were obtained by very brutal torture, not waterboarding, not forced nudity or hypothermia, but hardcore, violent, brutal torture, including things like having his *Edit: substituting a word.. nether parts* sliced and being severely beaten and threatened at gunpoint.
And the British government said that they had this in their possession, but they refused to turn it over. The American government had refused to give him access to any of the information so that he could defend himself. And so, Mohamed went to the British court, and the British court said that he’s absolutely entitled to these documents, that international law and British common law do not allow countries to conceal evidence of torture and to send somebody into a military commission, where the death penalty might be imposed, and conceal documents that they might use to defend themselves."
And I say, we had better get our stuff together here my, fellow Americans, and not allow anyone, however popular, to make anymore moves along this highly illegal road that Bush started us down. Don't forget this, they are acting in our names. All our names. Well, I don't like that. I'd rather not be connected to this sort of brutality anymore. No thank you Barack Obama!
I am Quoting from an email received today from Democracy!Now:
"AMY GOODMAN: Jane Mayer, we’re also joined by Glenn Greenwald.
After a month in office, the Obama administration has surprised many of its supporters by embracing key parts of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism strategy. Obama’s nominee for Solicitor General, Elena Kagan, has publicly endorsed Bush’s policy of indefinitely detaining suspected al-Qaeda members, regardless of where they’re captured. And CIA Director Leon Panetta has said the CIA might continue its extraordinary rendition program. The Obama administration has used the state secrets doctrine, as you were saying, Jane, to urge a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit by former CIA detainees and to prevent a federal court from reviewing the Bush administration’s warrantless spying program.
To discuss this, we’re joined by Glenn Greenwald, constitutional law attorney and political and legal blogger for Salon.com, author of three books. His latest, Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics. He’s joining us by video chat from his home in Brazil. We hope the audio is good enough.
Hi, Glenn. I don’t know if you’ve heard Jane Mayer speaking, but talking about the issue of state secrets, can you talk about your concerns?
GLENN GREENWALD: Well, I think that the biggest concern is not so much that the Obama administration thought there might be legitimate secrets to protect in this case, whether it’s specific rendition agreements with Morocco, as Jane alluded to. The problem is that there are two ways to use the state secrets privilege.
One is the traditional way that had been used since before the Bush administration, since 1953, which is to assert, on a document by document basis, that specific pieces of information are too classified and too secret to be allowed to be used in a judicial proceeding, and therefore they ought to be deemed privileged, the way that, say, attorney-client documents are or doctor-patient communications are, very specific and focused assertions of privilege over a specific document. I don’t think anybody—the ACLU or civil libertarians—have a problem with the assertion of privilege when it’s used in that way.
The problem is, is that what the Bush administration did was they converted that state secrets privilege from a document-specific means of excluding pieces of evidence to a shield of immunity to compel courts to dismiss entire lawsuits before there’s any proceedings at all, any effort to find out whether specific documents really are classified, whether there’s a way that will allow the plaintiffs to proceed and have their day in court without using classified information. That’s been the controversy, over the use of the privilege as a shield of immunity to protect the President from judicial accountability.
And if the Obama administration’s embrace of that theory, of that use of the privilege as a weapon that has been so disserving—had they really been concerned about specific agreements with Morocco, they could have simply said, “Well, send the case back to the district court, and with regard to specific documents, we will assert the privilege over them.” That’s not what they did. They embraced what they had long said was the abuse of the privilege when in the hands of the Bush administration.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And in the case of Binyam Mohamed, you’ve written how specifically the Obama administration has even joined in in threatening Britain, in terms of its possible release of information about activities that have occurred in the past. Could you talk about that?
GLENN GREENWALD: Yeah. That might actually be the most disturbing episode yet. I mean, the British government has acknowledged that it has in its possession what it calls exculpatory evidence with regard to Mohamed, namely information that it obtained from the CIA that the confessions, on which the Bush administration previously was relying to prosecute Mohamed in the military commission, was—were concessions that were obtained by very brutal torture, not waterboarding, not forced nudity or hypothermia, but hardcore, violent, brutal torture, including things like having his *Edit: substituting a word.. nether parts* sliced and being severely beaten and threatened at gunpoint.
And the British government said that they had this in their possession, but they refused to turn it over. The American government had refused to give him access to any of the information so that he could defend himself. And so, Mohamed went to the British court, and the British court said that he’s absolutely entitled to these documents, that international law and British common law do not allow countries to conceal evidence of torture and to send somebody into a military commission, where the death penalty might be imposed, and conceal documents that they might use to defend themselves."
And I say, we had better get our stuff together here my, fellow Americans, and not allow anyone, however popular, to make anymore moves along this highly illegal road that Bush started us down. Don't forget this, they are acting in our names. All our names. Well, I don't like that. I'd rather not be connected to this sort of brutality anymore. No thank you Barack Obama!
Indian Fry bread, several recipes.
This Group of Recipes for Indian Frybread is from the Manataka American Indian Council Site. I liked it because it had many recipes on it.
If you are wondering, "why milk?" this site explains why that milk is in it, at the bottom of the page.
I like the non-milk recipe because I can't have any milk products, which is probably true for many people who are more Native American than I am.
If you are wondering, "why milk?" this site explains why that milk is in it, at the bottom of the page.
I like the non-milk recipe because I can't have any milk products, which is probably true for many people who are more Native American than I am.
The corruption of the Justice Department
This is a very important documentary which shows the reasons why Karl Rove must testify, without any immunity from prosecution, before the House Judiciary Committee.
This, making sure that Karl Rove confesses his crimes against the country, is probably the most important thing that needs to be done, immediately, to rebuild our constitutional democracy. Karl Rove is a genius in the use of political terror, and he is as ruthless as any of the monsters of the past.
This, making sure that Karl Rove confesses his crimes against the country, is probably the most important thing that needs to be done, immediately, to rebuild our constitutional democracy. Karl Rove is a genius in the use of political terror, and he is as ruthless as any of the monsters of the past.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
This is very good chili powder
Make it as hot as you like by mixing the ground chili from the market that comes in little packets, just buy some of the mild and hot ones. Then, be sure to put in some cayenne, and if you want, put enough cayenne in it to lift your ears off the side of your head as far as you want them to go.
I double this recipe. It's my own, and I'm proud of it. We saved a lot of money over the years.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Recipe for Tortillas for Two
It's pretty old and torn up because it was taken down suddenly from the old cabinet door just before they were hauled away. I used to make a huge recipe that made two dozen large tortillas but this was developed to make about a half dozen. It's a good recipe to have some and some for breakfast the next day.
My recipe says MIX, and means, in a bowl, stir all the dry ingredients together with your fingers. And then in a measuring cup, MIX the wet ingredients, then MIX those into the dry ones, just like making breads, but you mix them in well, like bread. When it is in one lump, dust your hands with a little flour, and turn out onto a floured surface, and KNEAD about 15 times only. BREAK into egg sized pieces. Let rest in the bowl, covered with a towel. This is a lot like the Indian Bread from an earlier post as far as rolling out and cooking them in a stick free pan. I never use a non-stick, but iron or Stainless steel, heated to medium heat.
This LINK to Indian Roti bread, from an earlier post, shows a tortilla like rolling out.
When each is done cooking, I slip that into a gallon ziplock bag that's nestled between two thick face towels, just stack the tortillas up on top of each other. That way they stay soft and warm until you eat them. Any left overs can go into the freezer to be quickly thawed out before eating, and will be just like fresh. If you put bread of any kind in a refrigerator, it makes it tough. Same with rice.
Enjoy!
My recipe says MIX, and means, in a bowl, stir all the dry ingredients together with your fingers. And then in a measuring cup, MIX the wet ingredients, then MIX those into the dry ones, just like making breads, but you mix them in well, like bread. When it is in one lump, dust your hands with a little flour, and turn out onto a floured surface, and KNEAD about 15 times only. BREAK into egg sized pieces. Let rest in the bowl, covered with a towel. This is a lot like the Indian Bread from an earlier post as far as rolling out and cooking them in a stick free pan. I never use a non-stick, but iron or Stainless steel, heated to medium heat.
This LINK to Indian Roti bread, from an earlier post, shows a tortilla like rolling out.
When each is done cooking, I slip that into a gallon ziplock bag that's nestled between two thick face towels, just stack the tortillas up on top of each other. That way they stay soft and warm until you eat them. Any left overs can go into the freezer to be quickly thawed out before eating, and will be just like fresh. If you put bread of any kind in a refrigerator, it makes it tough. Same with rice.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
What's happened to the jobs at Burger Joints?
A few weeks ago, I was in the middle of a Ceramics class, and got caught in a racist funfest. It started with black history month, and ended with "Kids used to be able to get jobs at a burger joint, now you go in and all you see in there are Mexican illegals.
Well here's an answer to that second stupid, and racist remark. The first one I still would like to find a way to hurt that person, but they do the firing. When I can, I'll get even. I still can't stand to go back there; maybe I'll go with my Ipod.
Well here's an answer to that second stupid, and racist remark. The first one I still would like to find a way to hurt that person, but they do the firing. When I can, I'll get even. I still can't stand to go back there; maybe I'll go with my Ipod.
Baby Tortoise weigh in...
Milagro was a little fussy and wanted to walk off the scale, so, this is Milagro upside down.
And here is their standing, as of today:
Mosquito at 38.0 grams
Dusty at 40.6 grams
Milagro at 41.6 grams
You can see that Milagro is still the best eater. hehe
If there was a way to film a race between them all, and make it exciting, I'd do it for you Baby Luann. They are very pokey!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Small Victories
No one wants to see yarn doing this on a swift. It started doing that right away. I was not familiar with the tie offs and got into a heap of problems right away.
So, rambling on a few more twirls it was getting worse and worse, so I started another ball from an end that was tied inside the hank. That one was smoother rolling but the damage was done. Loops were hanging off all over the place and I was trying to pass an increasingly larger ball of yarn through every snag. Let's just say it was close to that time when you cut loose, which I did, and figured another strategy.
This lampshade saved the yarn. Whoever it was that suggested it in Knitter's Review a couple of years ago, THANK YOU! I'd send you a box of chocolates if I could remember who you were.
Now, this lovely ice colored yarn, the color of the arctic ocean froth in a storm, is in three balls and waiting to be spliced and knit into some socks. Probably they will be Spring Forward from Knitty, but I just might go ahead and make them into Jane's Hedgerows. I'm so happy not to be putting this yarn out for the birds, in little bitty pieces, for nest materials. It's a beautiful yarn. Thank you, Jeanine!
So, rambling on a few more twirls it was getting worse and worse, so I started another ball from an end that was tied inside the hank. That one was smoother rolling but the damage was done. Loops were hanging off all over the place and I was trying to pass an increasingly larger ball of yarn through every snag. Let's just say it was close to that time when you cut loose, which I did, and figured another strategy.
This lampshade saved the yarn. Whoever it was that suggested it in Knitter's Review a couple of years ago, THANK YOU! I'd send you a box of chocolates if I could remember who you were.
Now, this lovely ice colored yarn, the color of the arctic ocean froth in a storm, is in three balls and waiting to be spliced and knit into some socks. Probably they will be Spring Forward from Knitty, but I just might go ahead and make them into Jane's Hedgerows. I'm so happy not to be putting this yarn out for the birds, in little bitty pieces, for nest materials. It's a beautiful yarn. Thank you, Jeanine!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Watch this tiny gal tumble.
Kiara Knowlin. She's a dolly! And she's amazing.
The only thing I'll say about knitting is that I've gotten stuck into a mess on the swift. This was the oddest tie off I've ever seen, and it just about fell apart on me. I'm winding and passing two balls of yarns around the swift trying to salvage this nice Sundara yarn while it keeps doing it's best to fall off the swift in little drapes. I've never had a single problem finding the ends or the right way to set up a hank for winding off, doing at least 50 of these things in the past few years, but I guess there is always a first time. ONE GOOD THING! I found the buttons that the twins picked out for the coats in a container that I put one of the winding balls into, to keep them from rolling off on the floor and really messing things up. Serendipity! Oh.. that reminds me. Must get the new projects on the pathetic thing called the WIPS bars. Work, work, work!
I'm reading Chalmers Johnson's book, Sorrows of Empire, and maybe my hands are just shaking too much. LOL.
Happy Valentine's Day!
A Cure for the Chronically Cheerful
L found this and thought that it needed a much wider audience. So, though she didn't send it to me to get that, she did send it to me because she thinks I was once ill with it!
L has made claims in the past that I just wasn't in touch with reality. She has said that I am doing so much better now because of the whole last eight years of treatment under the Bush Administration, watching the Democracy being eaten alive. I think I'll do more research on something that Chalmers Johnson calls "The Sorrows of Empire". Perhaps this will finally cure me of my Fatal Cheeriness. ;o) Where in the hell is a really perky smilie when you need one?
L has made claims in the past that I just wasn't in touch with reality. She has said that I am doing so much better now because of the whole last eight years of treatment under the Bush Administration, watching the Democracy being eaten alive. I think I'll do more research on something that Chalmers Johnson calls "The Sorrows of Empire". Perhaps this will finally cure me of my Fatal Cheeriness. ;o) Where in the hell is a really perky smilie when you need one?
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Check out the Onion...
I know, I know, the link is in the side bar, but sometimes there's something so special that it's worth a mention in the upfront and personal columns.
Cheney Dunk Tank earns the Nation 800 Billion Dollars
I so wanted to be there!
Cheney Dunk Tank earns the Nation 800 Billion Dollars
I so wanted to be there!
Knitting blah blah.. no piccies
I posted this on Ravelry, and I'm just too doggone tired to re-write a rant for here so here it is. I was up all last night with a sick little dog, thinking he would kick before the clock struck 6 am this morning. He's now fine and recovering so we are glad but I'm soooo tired I'll go watch a video through my eye lids.
This is the post from Ravelry..
Ok, I will tell you all about this Knitpicks yarn experience I’m having. When I bought the yarn I was pleased with it. Then I tried to open the package only to discover that one of the skeins was trapped and burnt through on a loop by the plastic wrap hot sealer. There were three ends dangling.
I thought, no problem, I’ll just discard that piece and that will be that. Well, it was sort of in the middle of the second series of wraps into the middle. I kept winding off and winding off, and ended up with a ball about 2.5 inches in diameter. So….. NP.. says I. I spit welded those two ends back together.
Not wanting to use that weld until it was thoroughly dry, I poked around in the center of the ball and found the other end. I started to cast on, and knit the swatch, and out popped this strange length with some twirly bits flying loose. I whipped out my spit welder machine and did that one TOO. By now I could feel the theme song for True Grit playing in the background.
I walked away, came back, knit the swatch test, saw it was 9 st per inch, and recalculated the mitt, etc etc… and cast on. I started knitting the first row and got to within two stitches of the end of the first row, and, BAM!, the two stitches were off the needles and only the last one had retained any integrity of form. Grrrrrr. I am eating some chocolate and the mitt can wait until tomorrow to be started.
And that’s what I am working on, True Grit.
This is the post from Ravelry..
Ok, I will tell you all about this Knitpicks yarn experience I’m having. When I bought the yarn I was pleased with it. Then I tried to open the package only to discover that one of the skeins was trapped and burnt through on a loop by the plastic wrap hot sealer. There were three ends dangling.
I thought, no problem, I’ll just discard that piece and that will be that. Well, it was sort of in the middle of the second series of wraps into the middle. I kept winding off and winding off, and ended up with a ball about 2.5 inches in diameter. So….. NP.. says I. I spit welded those two ends back together.
Not wanting to use that weld until it was thoroughly dry, I poked around in the center of the ball and found the other end. I started to cast on, and knit the swatch, and out popped this strange length with some twirly bits flying loose. I whipped out my spit welder machine and did that one TOO. By now I could feel the theme song for True Grit playing in the background.
I walked away, came back, knit the swatch test, saw it was 9 st per inch, and recalculated the mitt, etc etc… and cast on. I started knitting the first row and got to within two stitches of the end of the first row, and, BAM!, the two stitches were off the needles and only the last one had retained any integrity of form. Grrrrrr. I am eating some chocolate and the mitt can wait until tomorrow to be started.
And that’s what I am working on, True Grit.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Picture MEME
Ok, I've been romping through the blog list and at AR's Blog, she had just done a MEME, and threw it up into the air at the end to all who were interested. So here goes.
This is the fourth picture in the fourth folder. And here follows the four facts about it:
1. It is a series picture. I'm the unlucky pole sitter at that spot.
2. S was making a topping for her french onion soup on Christmas Eve, and she had burnt the pine nuts.
3. R decided to take a series of pictures of us showing true Horror at the burnt nuts.
4. I am giving my most horrified look. It wasn't easy because I was hungry enough to eat an old boot by this time.
There you have it. Horror on Christmas Eve, according to R.
PS. You should see the face she can make. She's been to the Middle East!
I will leave this up to anyone who would like to do this, it's fun, and who hasn't already done The Photo MEME. Cheers!
This is the fourth picture in the fourth folder. And here follows the four facts about it:
1. It is a series picture. I'm the unlucky pole sitter at that spot.
2. S was making a topping for her french onion soup on Christmas Eve, and she had burnt the pine nuts.
3. R decided to take a series of pictures of us showing true Horror at the burnt nuts.
4. I am giving my most horrified look. It wasn't easy because I was hungry enough to eat an old boot by this time.
There you have it. Horror on Christmas Eve, according to R.
PS. You should see the face she can make. She's been to the Middle East!
I will leave this up to anyone who would like to do this, it's fun, and who hasn't already done The Photo MEME. Cheers!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Bottle of Wine..story from a friend
THE BOTTLE OF WINE
For all of us who are married, were married, wish you were married,
or wish you weren't married, this is something to smile about the next
time you see a bottle of wine:
Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern
Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road.
As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the woman if she would like a ride.
With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car.
Resuming the journey, Sally tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo woman. The old woman just sat silently, looking intently at everything she saw, studying every little detail, until she noticed a brown bag on the seat next to Sally.
'What in bag?' asked the old woman
Sally looked down at the brown bag and said, 'It's a bottle of wine.
I got it for my husband.'
The Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two.
Then speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she said:
'Good trade'.
For all of us who are married, were married, wish you were married,
or wish you weren't married, this is something to smile about the next
time you see a bottle of wine:
Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern
Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road.
As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the woman if she would like a ride.
With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car.
Resuming the journey, Sally tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo woman. The old woman just sat silently, looking intently at everything she saw, studying every little detail, until she noticed a brown bag on the seat next to Sally.
'What in bag?' asked the old woman
Sally looked down at the brown bag and said, 'It's a bottle of wine.
I got it for my husband.'
The Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two.
Then speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she said:
'Good trade'.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Another
This one is cropped, auto contrast and soft focus, in picasa. I can tell you it's very hard to take a great photo of drips, of the sort that you see in really good photographer's portfolios. lol
End of Storm
This is not the rainbow I had hoped for, but a drip of water from the eaves into a puddle that reflects me, in a black sweater coat, in the bubble as well as reflecting, in rings, the beautiful blue sky.
I liked the soft focus - well, to be strictly honest, the out of focus- of this, and all that was done to it was to use picasa's auto-contrast and sharpen tabs.
I did play around with the idea of colors, like yellow tints and magenta but the natural colors won out in the end.
I liked the soft focus - well, to be strictly honest, the out of focus- of this, and all that was done to it was to use picasa's auto-contrast and sharpen tabs.
I did play around with the idea of colors, like yellow tints and magenta but the natural colors won out in the end.
70's Afghan Mending Project ongoing
The top photo is of the spit mend, worked back into the fabric of the afghan. The place of the mend is three up from the bottom of the fans. You can hardly see that the yarn's just a little thicker there on the one leg of the yarn overs.
The next picture is of a hole made by another moth or maybe a weak spot that came apart after long years of use. The yarn is wonderful yarn that's really held up to wear but not to being stored away with a flitting critter or two in the vicinity.
The third picture is the hardest spot to mend. It will have to be re-knit somehow, but there is a yarn that almost matches. I'm almost tempted to use a dark brown Lamb's Pride or something, but I'm going to stick with trying to get as good a match as possible.
It's been fun to approach something like this with restoration in mind. We'll see how it goes. :)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Top Ten Coast Guard Rescues
This is a tribute to the Coast Guard, and to a dear friend who spent her life in it. She was stationed in our city, and I wish that I could have met her face to face when she was here. For you Trish, where ever you may be, you will never be forgotten.
Pillow Slips on their way to VA
These were mailed out today to make the Valentine's Day deadline. But I'll be making more. They go to the troops, who are issued pillows but no pillow slips. Now, thanks to many seamstresses and THIS kind lady, truly a Heart of Loving Kindness, that is being changed. It was a fun project that a kind friend, who is also doing this, made me aware of. Thanks, SQ!
Cute "Yarn" Related B.C. Cartoon.
I cannot resist the knitting/spinning related cartoons that are showing up in the comics, just about all I read in the daily rag. Enjoy!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Freedom of Religion, Quakers..
I've never sworn to anything. It is against my Quaker beliefs, which are, by the way, older than the United States itself.
Now it seems that some hard nosed know nothings at a California State College, who apparently don't know we have Soldiers, under arms and in two wars, who are fighting for just the freedoms that they have trashed.
Read about it HERE if you care to.
I think this is outrageous! We Quakers have a right to not pledge to fight! It's our religious right! Wake up, Eunice Chan! Why do we have armies defending Democracy??? Have you checked lately? Read the constitution!
Now it seems that some hard nosed know nothings at a California State College, who apparently don't know we have Soldiers, under arms and in two wars, who are fighting for just the freedoms that they have trashed.
Read about it HERE if you care to.
I think this is outrageous! We Quakers have a right to not pledge to fight! It's our religious right! Wake up, Eunice Chan! Why do we have armies defending Democracy??? Have you checked lately? Read the constitution!
AIG Implodes and someone gets stuck with 3 worthless cows.
DH sent me the link.
This whole and complete easy English version was posted HERE
I decided to post it here because things have a way of disappearing off the web, especially when it's in (do do do dooo) BETA..
--------------
"AIG Implodes: The Two Cows Version
John Carney | Feb 5, 09 11:25 AM
Still confused about how AIG lost its shirt by going into the securities lending business big time? We understand. It's terribly complex and full of words that make your eyes glaze over.
So we decided to break it down into the simplest terms Wall Street transactions can be explained: the two cows story.
You have two cows.
John Paulson borrows one cow so he can sell it for $100. He gives you $10 as collateral.
You buy your neighbors cow for $100, which you finance by taking out a $90 loan from the bank and use John's $10 to make up the rest.
You brag to everyone about your financial health. You have assets--two cows you own, plus one Paulson owes you--worth $300, and liabilities of just $100.
A third of the country goes vegetarian.
You thought your two cows were worth $200 and now they are worth $140.
You express confidence in your financial health. Your assets are now worth only $200--your two cows plus the one John owes you--but your liabilities are still only $100. If necessary, you could sell the assets at this distressed price and pay off all your loans.
You hold onto your cows because you are sure the market is "dislocated." Some day someone will want to eat beef again.
The rest of the country goes vegetarian. Your two cows are now worth $2 each to guys who want to make dog food.
John Paulson buys a cow in the market for $2 and he gives it to you as repayment of the loan. You now have three cows worth six bucks.
John wants his $10 back.
The bank calls. It wants its $90 back.
You call the Federal Reserve and ask for a bailout."
------------------
Makes sense to me!
This whole and complete easy English version was posted HERE
I decided to post it here because things have a way of disappearing off the web, especially when it's in (do do do dooo) BETA..
--------------
"AIG Implodes: The Two Cows Version
John Carney | Feb 5, 09 11:25 AM
Still confused about how AIG lost its shirt by going into the securities lending business big time? We understand. It's terribly complex and full of words that make your eyes glaze over.
So we decided to break it down into the simplest terms Wall Street transactions can be explained: the two cows story.
You have two cows.
John Paulson borrows one cow so he can sell it for $100. He gives you $10 as collateral.
You buy your neighbors cow for $100, which you finance by taking out a $90 loan from the bank and use John's $10 to make up the rest.
You brag to everyone about your financial health. You have assets--two cows you own, plus one Paulson owes you--worth $300, and liabilities of just $100.
A third of the country goes vegetarian.
You thought your two cows were worth $200 and now they are worth $140.
You express confidence in your financial health. Your assets are now worth only $200--your two cows plus the one John owes you--but your liabilities are still only $100. If necessary, you could sell the assets at this distressed price and pay off all your loans.
You hold onto your cows because you are sure the market is "dislocated." Some day someone will want to eat beef again.
The rest of the country goes vegetarian. Your two cows are now worth $2 each to guys who want to make dog food.
John Paulson buys a cow in the market for $2 and he gives it to you as repayment of the loan. You now have three cows worth six bucks.
John wants his $10 back.
The bank calls. It wants its $90 back.
You call the Federal Reserve and ask for a bailout."
------------------
Makes sense to me!
Storm moving in, Kearny Mesa
Sky watcher post. This was taken yesterday late afternoon, the color of the sky is dark because of the shot into the sun. By 4 pm it was raining, and when I got home it was REALLY raining. It rained off and on all night; one gulley washer woke us up at 4:30am. It was wonderful to hear that much rain coming down here, believe me. We need this sort of rain until May to get us through to next winter. Yesterday, coming home, I realized that the Carolina Cherries are all in bloom. We have Spring. It has arrived. I'll try to get some pictures of them.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Blog rolls change and Happy Valentine's Day
A borrowed heart from a sweet friend. Happy Valentine's Day J, and everyone!
The Blog Roll:
It's gotten so long that the nifty new gadget for Followers is going to replace it. I will put the blogs that are now on the Blog List ( ones that are still active)into the "Following" list.
So, what used to be here on the side column will be, I presume from other blogs I've seen using it, under what is called "A Little Bit About Me". You will have to click through that to see it, but... all the links will still be active.
If this works well, I'll try it with the Foodie list another day. I'm trying to simplify things without losing a single good buddy.
Today Ceramics. And, it's supposed to rain. Ha! It rains practically everyday that I go there. Tomorrow will be great day to sew some pillowcases and they can go out Saturday. It's going to be close!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
To Sew or not to Sew, who really cares?
It was a very nice day, and then I decided to sit down and sew. Only I didn't want to use the ancient, creaking Pfaff, I wanted the machine that I'm more used to, even though I haven't used it for about a year. So, DH got out my Bernina, and I sat down to sew up a seam on some jeans of his. This was a labor of love for the kindness he has shown me in letting me litter the house with my businesses and hobbies. And so, I could NOT remember how to reset the needle position on the machine.
No problem, get out the manual. Look it up! After owning this machine for some 14 years, I was about to discover two interesting things about this manual, and the first one was that it HAD no page 14, even though that page was in the index as explaining, IN FULL, exactly HOW to use the zipper foot. You know, the all important settings for not snapping three needles in a row in half as you tried to sew with a zipper foot. I had never used the manual because I had, ONE, sewn an awful lot before, and TWO, I had taken LESSONS!
The needle position problem was harder to solve. What it says and what it shows are on two pages, the all important page being the one NOT mentioned as a source in the back of the book.
Finally, after spending an hour getting the needle position correct, so that the needle didn't swing back and forth across the zipper foot, and very firmly sew IT in place, and also taking time figuring out how to raise the feed dogs again (which had gotten put down while I was fiddling with every KNOB in the thing) I was ready to sew. I am reminded of the story about, given enough time, and a type writer, a monkey could reproduce the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica. I think that Bernina should hire some proof readers.
Tomorrow, I will race through a half dozen pillowcases, box them up and send them off to this sweet lady, who is trying for a 1,000 pillowcases to send to the troops on St. Valentine's Day.
Happy Sewing!
No problem, get out the manual. Look it up! After owning this machine for some 14 years, I was about to discover two interesting things about this manual, and the first one was that it HAD no page 14, even though that page was in the index as explaining, IN FULL, exactly HOW to use the zipper foot. You know, the all important settings for not snapping three needles in a row in half as you tried to sew with a zipper foot. I had never used the manual because I had, ONE, sewn an awful lot before, and TWO, I had taken LESSONS!
The needle position problem was harder to solve. What it says and what it shows are on two pages, the all important page being the one NOT mentioned as a source in the back of the book.
Finally, after spending an hour getting the needle position correct, so that the needle didn't swing back and forth across the zipper foot, and very firmly sew IT in place, and also taking time figuring out how to raise the feed dogs again (which had gotten put down while I was fiddling with every KNOB in the thing) I was ready to sew. I am reminded of the story about, given enough time, and a type writer, a monkey could reproduce the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica. I think that Bernina should hire some proof readers.
Tomorrow, I will race through a half dozen pillowcases, box them up and send them off to this sweet lady, who is trying for a 1,000 pillowcases to send to the troops on St. Valentine's Day.
Happy Sewing!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Surprise Blossoms
These were under a table in the shade patio, burning up with the low winter sun. It was a shock to pull the plant pot out from under the table, and find that it had two stalks of lovely little trumpet flowers, all of an inch and a half long.
EDIT I think that the picture looks better at the enlarged size. Google has really done something to photo sizing now. It's pathetic.
I'm sorry these two posts got so mixed up but the other picture was just too awful for words.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Tranquil MidWinter Jade Blossoms
The jade Plant blooms in the winter here, a very showy display of hundreds of tiny individual flowers across the whole crest of the plant.
Fixing an old Old woolen Afghan:beginning Sprint on Super Bowl Sunday
I put some self explanatory captions in these three photos.
These seem to be in order. I'll edit to make it make sense if it clearly does not.
As for the Super Bowl, YAY! We watched the game, and just are so happy! In a game that seemed like anything could happen, in which anything was possible, it did happen and was possible. "Twinkle toes" Alworth is now not the only "Twinkle toes", as Holmes tapped down in the end zone to show his stylish rendition of Lance Alworth's trademark footwork. QB Ben, Steeler Nation, You Rock!
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