I belong to IRC, which does amazing international work. I didn't know that the local chapter also did community work. If I was healthy enough to trust my body to be "available" all the time, I'd be working for them. I love this group!
Rescue Me: Tables Turn for IRC Coordinator | Speak City Heights
Thanks to DH who sent this link to me. Thanks to Firefox for the app they offered, so that I can get away from Facebook and Twitter, or Google+, to share neat things. Thanks to God for the internet! Yes, I know, humans invented it, but then others sniffed the winds, and started trying to control and sell it off. So far they haven't been able to completely hobble the internet.
Oddly, God made both of these packs,clans, "what-evers", both the Academics, who created the internet, and the Sniffers, who tried to tie it up, haul it away and stuff it down a hidey hole to sell at a half crown per day! Yay for freedom!!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
More about the wonderful Bees, and all the other pollenators
First, a Late Friday Fill in, which got overtaken by my getting the Saturday post up and running.
1. Spring is a lovely song sung to Life with a Capital "L"!
2. The words are strong and sweet.
3. I forgot to say that they are bird song!
4. The odor of citrus blossoms is delicious!
5. Heads, shoulders, knees and arms move to the music.
6. Gardening is my favorite form of exercise when it's warm enough out not to wear a coat!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to resting, tomorrow my plans include reading my new book and knitting the second sock, and Sunday, I want to eat pineapple!
And now, for "The Beauty of Pollination."
I told Judi that I was going to steal this one. I will link her blog HERE but she's gone all facebook on me. Well, at least she still blogs, sometimes. She's a wonderful Quilter!
Enjoy the TED!
Today I helped trim the flowering bushes around my MIL's house, and the bees were there doing their jobs. I got really close to one and said, "Hello, little girl." I was happy to see them busily gathering pollen and nectar. So Sweet.
A Saturday Sky Post:
Today there was a White Crowned Sparrow singing for hours in the Cape Honey Suckle bush. I think the rest have moved on, towards the mountains. I can see the sunrises from this window.
I really meant to wear the sock today, but that's for tomorrow. I can't do it. I went to the gym, then stood for a long enjoyable bush trimming session with my Love of a sister in law, and went trotting in and out of JoAnn's and Michaels stores in search of all the 40% pots of Wilton's dyes that I could garner in one day. I'm too tired to go to sleep and am thinking of having a BIG "gin & it" to help things. My doctor would kill me if I did that, providing I actually lived through it, but I want to sleep tonight!
I've gotten scads of papers and old cards organized for crafting. My sister wants to learn how to make the tiny boxes so that is a craft we can both enjoy. I really have got to go to bed now, sleepy or not. I worked too hard and too long today. I hope the rest of you are asleep and having very sweet dreams.
Someone rescued a little, blind poodle mix from a trash heap, and a video was posted of the rescue and care. I cried my eyes out watching the video. I'm so grateful that I went looking at the pound dogs when I did. Wolfie looked like that little poodle when he was caught. He was a tiny curled up dog with a great big head and enormous brown eyes in his photo, with no hair on his body. He was starving to death and so sick that he'd have died if he hadn't been caught and brought in. He's such a happy, wonderful little guy. Horrible to think how close he came to having his little life, so full of the joy of existence now, ended in a gas chamber.
Wolfie had a lovely time today running like a maniac in the fenced yard at DH's mom's house. I can't really describe the feelings I have for this little being that saved me and brought me back to life. It's love forever.
Saturday Komeekz
1. Spring is a lovely song sung to Life with a Capital "L"!
2. The words are strong and sweet.
3. I forgot to say that they are bird song!
4. The odor of citrus blossoms is delicious!
5. Heads, shoulders, knees and arms move to the music.
6. Gardening is my favorite form of exercise when it's warm enough out not to wear a coat!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to resting, tomorrow my plans include reading my new book and knitting the second sock, and Sunday, I want to eat pineapple!
And now, for "The Beauty of Pollination."
I told Judi that I was going to steal this one. I will link her blog HERE but she's gone all facebook on me. Well, at least she still blogs, sometimes. She's a wonderful Quilter!
Enjoy the TED!
Today I helped trim the flowering bushes around my MIL's house, and the bees were there doing their jobs. I got really close to one and said, "Hello, little girl." I was happy to see them busily gathering pollen and nectar. So Sweet.
A Saturday Sky Post:
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| View out a back window looking to the East. |
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| Beaver Tail |
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| Today, the Mammillaria elongata was blooming. |
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| First ever Blossoms on the baby Barrel cactus from my mother's Seeds. |
I've gotten scads of papers and old cards organized for crafting. My sister wants to learn how to make the tiny boxes so that is a craft we can both enjoy. I really have got to go to bed now, sleepy or not. I worked too hard and too long today. I hope the rest of you are asleep and having very sweet dreams.
Someone rescued a little, blind poodle mix from a trash heap, and a video was posted of the rescue and care. I cried my eyes out watching the video. I'm so grateful that I went looking at the pound dogs when I did. Wolfie looked like that little poodle when he was caught. He was a tiny curled up dog with a great big head and enormous brown eyes in his photo, with no hair on his body. He was starving to death and so sick that he'd have died if he hadn't been caught and brought in. He's such a happy, wonderful little guy. Horrible to think how close he came to having his little life, so full of the joy of existence now, ended in a gas chamber.
Wolfie had a lovely time today running like a maniac in the fenced yard at DH's mom's house. I can't really describe the feelings I have for this little being that saved me and brought me back to life. It's love forever.
Saturday Komeekz
Friday, March 30, 2012
In the Olden Days
I don't think I've told this before.
When I was a kid, no more than 11 years old, I tried to make a pet out of anything I could catch. Well, one day I caught a hummingbird.
I was weeding under a hedge in my mother's garden, and there was a aerial fight going on around me between a couple of hummingbirds. The hedge was a fence with a thick honeysuckle vine growing on it, the old kind with yellow flowers. The two birds were really at it, when suddenly one of them fell to the ground. Just as quickly it flew up to a vine that was about two foot from my head. It sat there, sort of stunned, probably falling into torpor or something.. I learned about torpor much later. I carefully reached up and picked it gently off it's perch, and as calmly as I could, carried it into the house. By the time I got inside with it, I'd mapped out a plan of how I was going to take care of it.
Among my many plastic purses of the era, I had a clear one, consisting of two rounded halves that snapped together to form a sort of flattened sphere with lattice like bars, in other words it looked like a perfect bird cage. It was also very soft and flexible so I thought this would be best for "my" bird. Over the next few hours, I fed "my" new pet sugar water, first from a spoon and then from a white flower from the garden. The little bird was very willing to eat!
I called a pet store to find out what sort of cage I needed. They advised me to bring the bird in. It was the best advice to give as it turns out, because even if what happened next hadn't happened, they would have talked me out of my ridiculous idea.
I was carrying the plastic purse with my very precious hummingbird inside out across our huge lawn - we lived by a river - and I tripped. I fell with arms outstretched like a wide receiver getting a ball across the goal line, and ,thus, squeezed the (very flexible) purse open. Instantaneously, out flew the hummingbird, which made a bee line for the tallest eucalyptus tree it could find. It was probably saying something like, "thank you for all the sugar water", for all I knew as I picked myself up off the ground. My little brother was crestfallen, too. Our mother was too far away to have tripped me, though she had probably wanted to.
Later in life, when I am over my childhood regrets, there now floats a happiness for the one that got away. Over time, as I learned more, I realized that hummingbirds have Guardian Angels, too, and those Angels will trip up the ignorant child who makes off with one of "their" hummingbirds.
When I was a kid, no more than 11 years old, I tried to make a pet out of anything I could catch. Well, one day I caught a hummingbird.
I was weeding under a hedge in my mother's garden, and there was a aerial fight going on around me between a couple of hummingbirds. The hedge was a fence with a thick honeysuckle vine growing on it, the old kind with yellow flowers. The two birds were really at it, when suddenly one of them fell to the ground. Just as quickly it flew up to a vine that was about two foot from my head. It sat there, sort of stunned, probably falling into torpor or something.. I learned about torpor much later. I carefully reached up and picked it gently off it's perch, and as calmly as I could, carried it into the house. By the time I got inside with it, I'd mapped out a plan of how I was going to take care of it.
Among my many plastic purses of the era, I had a clear one, consisting of two rounded halves that snapped together to form a sort of flattened sphere with lattice like bars, in other words it looked like a perfect bird cage. It was also very soft and flexible so I thought this would be best for "my" bird. Over the next few hours, I fed "my" new pet sugar water, first from a spoon and then from a white flower from the garden. The little bird was very willing to eat!
I called a pet store to find out what sort of cage I needed. They advised me to bring the bird in. It was the best advice to give as it turns out, because even if what happened next hadn't happened, they would have talked me out of my ridiculous idea.
I was carrying the plastic purse with my very precious hummingbird inside out across our huge lawn - we lived by a river - and I tripped. I fell with arms outstretched like a wide receiver getting a ball across the goal line, and ,thus, squeezed the (very flexible) purse open. Instantaneously, out flew the hummingbird, which made a bee line for the tallest eucalyptus tree it could find. It was probably saying something like, "thank you for all the sugar water", for all I knew as I picked myself up off the ground. My little brother was crestfallen, too. Our mother was too far away to have tripped me, though she had probably wanted to.
Later in life, when I am over my childhood regrets, there now floats a happiness for the one that got away. Over time, as I learned more, I realized that hummingbirds have Guardian Angels, too, and those Angels will trip up the ignorant child who makes off with one of "their" hummingbirds.
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| And a first blossoming, ever, for a little succulent from June. Those babies really grew over the winter! |
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Red-tail Hawk Nest Bird Cam. Audubon article on tree cutting
DH, another avid birder, found this on the web at Cornell Labs. It's a live bird cam, a nest of a red tailed hawk, with a sitting hen:
Red-tailed Hawk Nest
Yesterday, in our Cape Honeysuckle I saw several species occupied in feeding and all at the same time: Scrub Jay solitary; House Finch male and Female- male in breeding plumage; Flock of 5 to 7 White Crown Sparrows; Wilson's Warbler; Audubon Warbler- somewhat in a hurry; Anna's hummingbird, male and a female, Alan's hummingbird, male.
Every year, right at the wrong time, trees get trimmed. Tree trimming times to save birds are from September to February.
In California, at least, there are laws in place to protect nesting birds, eggs, babies, and fledglings. If you are planning to trim trees, please look for nests first, and if you see any nesting activity, call your local Audubon for advice. If you see tree trimmers, ask them if they have checked for nests. Ask them to allow you to check for nests, which they may have done but you can request as well.
A few years ago, I was gone when several trees were ordered cut down by a bank who owned the house next door, and I know for a certainty that there was a California Towhee nest in those trees. I would have stopped them if I'd been here, and the disregard for the law, by a bank, was disgusting.
Audubon LA Tree Trimming Guidlines
Red-tailed Hawk Nest
Yesterday, in our Cape Honeysuckle I saw several species occupied in feeding and all at the same time: Scrub Jay solitary; House Finch male and Female- male in breeding plumage; Flock of 5 to 7 White Crown Sparrows; Wilson's Warbler; Audubon Warbler- somewhat in a hurry; Anna's hummingbird, male and a female, Alan's hummingbird, male.
Every year, right at the wrong time, trees get trimmed. Tree trimming times to save birds are from September to February.
In California, at least, there are laws in place to protect nesting birds, eggs, babies, and fledglings. If you are planning to trim trees, please look for nests first, and if you see any nesting activity, call your local Audubon for advice. If you see tree trimmers, ask them if they have checked for nests. Ask them to allow you to check for nests, which they may have done but you can request as well.
A few years ago, I was gone when several trees were ordered cut down by a bank who owned the house next door, and I know for a certainty that there was a California Towhee nest in those trees. I would have stopped them if I'd been here, and the disregard for the law, by a bank, was disgusting.
Audubon LA Tree Trimming Guidlines
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Up in the Air? Up for Grabs! Air travelers find out the hard way.
In the 70's, a selected collection of Bulgari Jewelry, destined for a charity Exhibition in La Jolla, rode in the belly of the jet. That would not happen today!
Exclusive: The Stunning John F. Kennedy International Airport Baggage Scandal; 200 Thefts Per Day « CBS New York
Exclusive: The Stunning John F. Kennedy International Airport Baggage Scandal; 200 Thefts Per Day « CBS New York
Three months of Changes, Disorderly Conduct, and Disorganization.
First! I must say, this (the link below) is what I want to do next year. This and this alone! But first, I have to BUY a Smart Car. That's the tricky part.
Smart Car Cozy
Secondly, the New Year's Resolutions I enthusiastically rolled out and embraced in December of 2011, have been limping along for the first three months of 2012. This is both good and bad. I had another three days chopped out of my week's worth of "spoon" management" - see the side bar for definitions- but with that came great rewards in the mental, physiological, and spiritual regimes. I joined a gym, was talked into a personal trainer by DH- the knee dictated it- and this has become a God Send. And, I'm helping my sister to cope.
The change was that I started a weekly routine of exercises that has the potential to, and regularly does, take away far too many spoons. People who use Spoon Theory to calculate how much they have to rest to compensate for their body's rebellions and all out wars when it's forced to do ANYTHING, are familiar with all of this. My body is throwing the proverbial book at my head!
But, the good news is that, with the help of a trainer a couple times a week, I'm regaining abilities that I thought were gone forever. G. keeps me on track and thinking positively about lots of stuff besides strength training. I think of him as my Zen Sensei, and wise beyond his years - an Old Soul.
The Thirteen Resolutions-Quarterly Report. A "Reality Sucks Play" in thirteen Acts:
Spelling is the property of the brain, and the brain is not working. We must all cope with these big blobs of fat from time to time, and treat them as daintily as we would two year olds, which is what they really are. It's the brain. The fingers are innocent!
Good night!
Smart Car Cozy
Secondly, the New Year's Resolutions I enthusiastically rolled out and embraced in December of 2011, have been limping along for the first three months of 2012. This is both good and bad. I had another three days chopped out of my week's worth of "spoon" management" - see the side bar for definitions- but with that came great rewards in the mental, physiological, and spiritual regimes. I joined a gym, was talked into a personal trainer by DH- the knee dictated it- and this has become a God Send. And, I'm helping my sister to cope.
The change was that I started a weekly routine of exercises that has the potential to, and regularly does, take away far too many spoons. People who use Spoon Theory to calculate how much they have to rest to compensate for their body's rebellions and all out wars when it's forced to do ANYTHING, are familiar with all of this. My body is throwing the proverbial book at my head!
But, the good news is that, with the help of a trainer a couple times a week, I'm regaining abilities that I thought were gone forever. G. keeps me on track and thinking positively about lots of stuff besides strength training. I think of him as my Zen Sensei, and wise beyond his years - an Old Soul.
The Thirteen Resolutions-Quarterly Report. A "Reality Sucks Play" in thirteen Acts:
- I’m not going to get those sweaters done by June. It’s just not going to happen. But, I might get the Noro Silk Gardens sweater done, just barely. Besides some little bitty rabbits, the Noro is the next project WIP to get my full attention after Hedgerow socks. Then comes the Manly/ Beastly overlap. All this is just a guess right now, as long as life doesn’t lead me down the primrose path or something. You know, take me behind the bleachers and beat me up or any of the other things Life does on a whim. To be honest, I'll be lucky to get a pair of socks done out those patterns packs I made up.
- I have got all the materials together for the quilt but have not done a stitch. Since I want to make curtains for my sewing room that look like THESE, I have to at least get the sewing machine set back up and clear both the way to it and the desk it sits on. Things got out of hand in that corner..again! This is what happens when a limb gets a replacement joint and a normally comfortable tight spot feels like a very tiny closet.
- I’ve not got anything done to organize more than a single set of metal shelves in the main part of the SR, and re-organize the stuff on top of the craft table in the small part of the room.
- Haven’t started the needlepoint but I have the products and materials all IN SIGHT. I've even located the tiny light table! Gor Blimey!!!
- I've Moved the chair and spinning wheel to a better place for light, and then started going to the gym.
*tosses hands into the air, filled with her own hair. *Looking down. Wonders aloud, "Can I spin this?" *
- I always look for "Beauty" but, more importantly, I've have stopped looking for “Ugly”. "Ugly" is ubiquitous, and usually screaming for attention, but I don’t want to see it anymore. So, I intend to step over and around it to get to "Beauty". If "Ugly" stubs it's toe and does a comedic pratfall, I'll Post about that after stepping over or around it.
- I have not started any new knitting except for a pair of Jane’s Hedgerows. But I’m not knitting the WIPs either. Found new cat toys but haven’t knitted them yet. I've down loaded some Alan Darts. Does this count!?? Please say it does! And adorably cute mochimochi bunnies? Do They?
- I’ve made the sock kits, ala Helen of Troy, and have nearly got a half sock knit of the first kit. Never you mind that this was also heralded as a sock of the month Thinga! *puffs out her feathers and clucks menacingly*
- Cards? I said I would make cards? *hysterical laughter ensues, followed by hiccuping * The table, mentioned in the original Manifesto for 2012, is neatly organized but still piled about two and a half feet high with supplies for a multiplicity of crafts that have NOTHING whatsoever to do with crafting cards. I joined Jacquie Lawson’s site instead. *slaps self over the audacity of this move!*
- I've ended discussions with The Man about the side yard and am pushing with all my pent-up dissatisfaction to get that project marked “Done” and X off by the end of this year. Yay me!
- I’ve picked colors for the hall way, and color for the dining area. My next step is to wash the walls and buy the paint, which I WILL do, and with or without permission to go Mild Orange somewhere Big like the Central room. The Central room is the old part of the house before the Big Room got added.
- I am listening to my body more, and it tells me in this squeeky, whining voice that it needs lots and LOTS of rest now. "Now" meaning "right Now!" since I've dragged it to the gym twice a week, to my sister’s and to ceramics, it now needs more rest - as in flat out inertia! My body rebels by pitching Charley Horses and Sciatica fits, and I just keep push back when I have to, and go comatose the rest of the time. I feel like one of those shaggy haired old ladies who just wander from room to room inside their house, mumbling to themselves about the old days when "I had all this ENERGY!", or they sit and doze in the comfy chair as their tea gets cold and their book falls to the floor, bouncing past their fuzzy slippers and scaring the Bejesus out of the dog.
- Weight, Oh My. My weight goes up a couple and down a couple of pounds but I’m not losing anything. I’ve discovered that I like pretzels very much. (Too much, apparently!) I’m sure that the Spark People have kicked me out. Haven’t been there in something like five months. I need to get back there to remind me that there IS life after the Election! There is, right? I hate politics, it infests everything in life now, even Health care is political. Having a tooth ache is not, so be sure to visit your dentist. Eat all the sugar you can find. It might save you. Good night.
Spelling is the property of the brain, and the brain is not working. We must all cope with these big blobs of fat from time to time, and treat them as daintily as we would two year olds, which is what they really are. It's the brain. The fingers are innocent!
Good night!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Really. How Low Can They Go?
This has GOT to be a joke!
God Bless The Bee...
It's some outrageous political rubbishing of a person's accomplishment of becoming a real life Astronaut.
*shakes her head* Such Sad little people.
Now, These are pictures of our lovely weedy garden in the late afternoon. The birds love this weedy haven, and I just close my ears and think of England, or even Vermont. All of it is gone by the time that Spring Migration is over with, about June, but right now it's so beautiful to me.
I hope you like this tiny album of Glam shots. Click them for bigger ones.
God Bless The Bee...
It's some outrageous political rubbishing of a person's accomplishment of becoming a real life Astronaut.
*shakes her head* Such Sad little people.
Now, These are pictures of our lovely weedy garden in the late afternoon. The birds love this weedy haven, and I just close my ears and think of England, or even Vermont. All of it is gone by the time that Spring Migration is over with, about June, but right now it's so beautiful to me.
I hope you like this tiny album of Glam shots. Click them for bigger ones.
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| I was going to shop out the surf board, but then how would you know it was Cali? |
Monday, March 26, 2012
Obscure Holidays
Lest We Forget! St. Urho's Day!
Linkies:
Finland to Grow Grapes and make Wine
Why they probably should not
Go Vile NILE Green and Purple!
Out, out, and stay out, Damn Hoppers!
The page of Rules.
Thanks, in part, to a very funny lady in Ravelry. With a wink and a nod....
Good Night! Good Knitting. Happy Spring, if we get one. Let's keep an unofficial tally on when or even IF there IS a Spring this year.
Linkies:
Finland to Grow Grapes and make Wine
Why they probably should not
 |
| The Official Banner |
Out, out, and stay out, Damn Hoppers!
The page of Rules.
Thanks, in part, to a very funny lady in Ravelry. With a wink and a nod....
Good Night! Good Knitting. Happy Spring, if we get one. Let's keep an unofficial tally on when or even IF there IS a Spring this year.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Inexplicable, Elephant's journey to their savior's home place.
Thank you to DD1 for sharing this beautiful story:
Rescued Elephants Mourn South African Known as an Elephant Whisperer
These sort of happenings can heal a heart.
Rescued Elephants Mourn South African Known as an Elephant Whisperer
These sort of happenings can heal a heart.
Catching up here...new book, knitting etc. LONG!
I'm turning this back into an Arts, Books, Cinema, Beauty, Flowers, and Knitting blog. Except, that is, for Health care, Environmental issues, and Economics - my hobby. Well, let's say Animal Rights, too. I get pretty pissed off about negative impacts by Human on the other Earthlings, rooted, or the ones with eyeballs.
I've been reading First Draft and some of the blogs on her side bar. They are Masters of the Art of Word Wars. If you like fine writing about just about anything political, let me introduce you to her blog. Prepare to die.
The day I went to my sister's house, we went shopping for findings and beads. We couldn't find Blue Moon Beads at Michaels, and so if they have disappeared at JoAnns, we are going to be sad. The product that has replaced Blue moon at the former establishment is, simply, inferior. The findings are not smooth surfaced, and there are other problems. So, we will go to the net from now on, with respected suppliers, and share costs.
At the gym yesterday, I wrenched my shoulder and neck. Several years ago I fell off a deck and slammed into the house wall, bruising the whole side of my face and jamming my neck and shoulder. This required a trip to Rheumatology for a cortisone shot, a temporary fix but one that has lasted a couple of decades, or so. I'm trying to make this shoulder stronger now, Kung Fu strong. It is resisting this attempt with all it has at it's disposal, meaning the ability to make me very sorry indeed for having such pretensions at my age! The battle is taking shape, and the shoulder cannot be allowed to win!
Special for my trainer:
I wore most inappropriate foot ware on Friday, so we couldn't go to my favorite machine where guys, mostly, are always dropping weights! Naughty muscle men. The funny part of this cartoon is that it is from a paper used in Ceramics to cover my table last Tuesday. I grabbed the section because it was about science, and had a couple of articles about a book in it I wanted to read. But it also had the Comics where the shoe thing by Isabella Bannerman was. Serendipity strikes again! I'm grinning from ear to ear about this happenstance.
About those papers: since we don't get a newspaper save for three days of the week, I miss much that is good in the UT. So, I forgive it for being a rag most of the time. There are good writers doing work for it. I just wish they didn't have to follow a Fox News format when reporting on anything subjective.
Book report: The Spiral Road by Jan de Hartog, is a Wordsmith's paradise. The spiral road is an analogy of the journey of a soul to enlightenment, or not. Black humor seems to be the Genre but it's not all that black. The writing is more of a non - science fictional, hilarious (though sometimes serious) romp in the jungles of Malaysia at the time of Dutch "pacification", almost antique and very charming, too.
The plot is intricate and involving. The characters develop mostly through the eyes of other characters, or through their musings. Yes, this is probably a better description of character development. The Spiral Road is not exactly easy reading but so funny that it will have you spitting tea on the pages, if you aren't careful, as it's also cleverly satirical.
My copy was purchased in February 1962 and may well have spent most of it's time in storage. What a pity because this author is a hell of a lot easier to read than James Joyce, and all of Hartog's books are extremely well written. Jan de Hartog is one of my favorite authors, living or dead, which, sadly, he now is -dead that is.
My next book is this one:
Coral Reefs of the Microbial Seas by Forest Rohwer, and written down/organized/spiced up mostly by Merry Youle. The paper that I brought home from Ceramics had two pieces about this young scientist and included the reasons why he decided to write a book that was for, as he puts it, "everyone to read."
Here's a funny bit about the Captain and his ship:
"Captain Bracken, like all ship's captains, secretly wished that he did not have to share his ship with outsiders. His love of the White Holly was sullied by the necessity of having to hire her out in order to support her expensive habits. The Holly's lines were not beautiful. Still Captain Bracken loved her. In particular he loved her engines, twin 353 Cats. They were immaculately maintained, and even the most impractical of scientists was aware that a ship's engines are sacred. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, they must always work."
More fun:
The Landlubber's Glossary of Nautical Terms
Also, may I present a YouTube - made about some adventures in the book:
Knitting report: sock number one is almost to the Fo'c's'le (the toe). I'm so happy that, between reading and laundry today (or perhaps tomorrow, slug that I have become), I'm knitting my sock though I have got to make marmalade on Monday before the lemons shrivel!
Cinema: I watched a foreign film about illegal immigrants in Belgium. An humane people should never EVER follow Belgium's example. The film won a director's award at Cannes last year. "Illegal" We can't let what has started in our detention centers get as bad. We are, after all, all the same species and highly intelligent creatures. Further more, we have been nomadic animals for far, far, longer than we have been stuck inside "national" borders. There is a good reason for this being true.
I leave you with something treacley cute:
Can't you just see that feathery little tail wagging away on this darling little white version of Wolfie Dog?
I've been reading First Draft and some of the blogs on her side bar. They are Masters of the Art of Word Wars. If you like fine writing about just about anything political, let me introduce you to her blog. Prepare to die.
The day I went to my sister's house, we went shopping for findings and beads. We couldn't find Blue Moon Beads at Michaels, and so if they have disappeared at JoAnns, we are going to be sad. The product that has replaced Blue moon at the former establishment is, simply, inferior. The findings are not smooth surfaced, and there are other problems. So, we will go to the net from now on, with respected suppliers, and share costs.
At the gym yesterday, I wrenched my shoulder and neck. Several years ago I fell off a deck and slammed into the house wall, bruising the whole side of my face and jamming my neck and shoulder. This required a trip to Rheumatology for a cortisone shot, a temporary fix but one that has lasted a couple of decades, or so. I'm trying to make this shoulder stronger now, Kung Fu strong. It is resisting this attempt with all it has at it's disposal, meaning the ability to make me very sorry indeed for having such pretensions at my age! The battle is taking shape, and the shoulder cannot be allowed to win!
Special for my trainer:
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| Thank you Isabella Bannerman of Six Chix |
About those papers: since we don't get a newspaper save for three days of the week, I miss much that is good in the UT. So, I forgive it for being a rag most of the time. There are good writers doing work for it. I just wish they didn't have to follow a Fox News format when reporting on anything subjective.
Book report: The Spiral Road by Jan de Hartog, is a Wordsmith's paradise. The spiral road is an analogy of the journey of a soul to enlightenment, or not. Black humor seems to be the Genre but it's not all that black. The writing is more of a non - science fictional, hilarious (though sometimes serious) romp in the jungles of Malaysia at the time of Dutch "pacification", almost antique and very charming, too.
The plot is intricate and involving. The characters develop mostly through the eyes of other characters, or through their musings. Yes, this is probably a better description of character development. The Spiral Road is not exactly easy reading but so funny that it will have you spitting tea on the pages, if you aren't careful, as it's also cleverly satirical.
My copy was purchased in February 1962 and may well have spent most of it's time in storage. What a pity because this author is a hell of a lot easier to read than James Joyce, and all of Hartog's books are extremely well written. Jan de Hartog is one of my favorite authors, living or dead, which, sadly, he now is -dead that is.
My next book is this one:
Here's a funny bit about the Captain and his ship:
"Captain Bracken, like all ship's captains, secretly wished that he did not have to share his ship with outsiders. His love of the White Holly was sullied by the necessity of having to hire her out in order to support her expensive habits. The Holly's lines were not beautiful. Still Captain Bracken loved her. In particular he loved her engines, twin 353 Cats. They were immaculately maintained, and even the most impractical of scientists was aware that a ship's engines are sacred. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, they must always work."
More fun:
The Landlubber's Glossary of Nautical Terms
Also, may I present a YouTube - made about some adventures in the book:
Knitting report: sock number one is almost to the Fo'c's'le (the toe). I'm so happy that, between reading and laundry today (or perhaps tomorrow, slug that I have become), I'm knitting my sock though I have got to make marmalade on Monday before the lemons shrivel!
Cinema: I watched a foreign film about illegal immigrants in Belgium. An humane people should never EVER follow Belgium's example. The film won a director's award at Cannes last year. "Illegal" We can't let what has started in our detention centers get as bad. We are, after all, all the same species and highly intelligent creatures. Further more, we have been nomadic animals for far, far, longer than we have been stuck inside "national" borders. There is a good reason for this being true.
I leave you with something treacley cute:
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| I'm making this for Wolfie as practice for a full sized sweater for Bee! |
Can't you just see that feathery little tail wagging away on this darling little white version of Wolfie Dog?
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Skywatcher Post, Saturday Sky post
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| Painter's Sky over Cowles Mountain in the distance |
I'm going to try to put up a sky shot every Saturday again. This was something that was started by another blogger ages and ages ago until Facebook ran us all off the road.
She is HERE but no longer updates her blog. Maybe she has got another place?
Going fishing! I need to catch stone crabs. Catch you guys Later....
Friday Fill in.. Dang! I missed the day!! Got ahead of myself !!
1. Spring is here, I really think so?
2. The indications are strong but the nights are still cold.
3. I forgot to watch for Woolly Bears last year!
4. The windy sea breeze is delicious!
5. Heads, shoulders, knees and neck are aching.
6. Walking is my favorite form of exercise when it's warm enough out not to wear a coat!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching mysteries, tomorrow my plans include washing laundry and Sunday, I want to knit, make marmalade, and eat chocolate!
2. The indications are strong but the nights are still cold.
3. I forgot to watch for Woolly Bears last year!
4. The windy sea breeze is delicious!
5. Heads, shoulders, knees and neck are aching.
6. Walking is my favorite form of exercise when it's warm enough out not to wear a coat!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching mysteries, tomorrow my plans include washing laundry and Sunday, I want to knit, make marmalade, and eat chocolate!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Saturday Komeekz And Knitting a Womb project
Speaking of Rogue "Elephants".....
And have you heard of this? It's about how to make knitted wombs to send to your Congressman, and you can bet I'm sending one to mine! Mine is a complete bassackward dolt.
itty bitty bunnies to knit
Cute enough to cause a mock death spiral....
Knitting news:
Mochimochi Land has a free itty bitty baby bunny pattern to knit for kids.
And a contest that ends April 2nd so you better hurry!
They are so small that they are unsuitable for small children but would delight any kid who doesn't try to eat everything, even 70 year old ones, who might receive them in a plastic egg. See them in the side bar at her blog. CUTE Overload! Squeeee!
The Gnomes Infestation Story is very funny!
At dinner tonight, I foolishly had some wine, a tiny glass, and we are talking very tiny here - the smallest stemware you've ever seen. So I'm paying for it. No more wine for me! When I go to Gym tomorrow I will probably look like a raccoon that has been up all night fighting with it mate!
Should I Twitter that? Ha!
Knitting news:
Mochimochi Land has a free itty bitty baby bunny pattern to knit for kids.
And a contest that ends April 2nd so you better hurry!
They are so small that they are unsuitable for small children but would delight any kid who doesn't try to eat everything, even 70 year old ones, who might receive them in a plastic egg. See them in the side bar at her blog. CUTE Overload! Squeeee!
The Gnomes Infestation Story is very funny!
At dinner tonight, I foolishly had some wine, a tiny glass, and we are talking very tiny here - the smallest stemware you've ever seen. So I'm paying for it. No more wine for me! When I go to Gym tomorrow I will probably look like a raccoon that has been up all night fighting with it mate!
Should I Twitter that? Ha!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
NASA North America map of Climate change.
NASA, who should know best, issued this map For March 2012.
THIS is the article that accompanied the map. A few days ago, in a documentary, I watched a two year old polar bear being shot to death because it was starving to death and got into trouble in some way. It ran to the end of a tiny ice flow it was deposited on and was shot. As it's body tumbled into the water, I was struck by a great sadness.
This change is not going to have a happy ending for the Great Polar Bear, or any other creature. The next time some jerk of a politician opens his or her mouth about this not being real, this rapid climate change the earth is enduring, I hope someone hits them with a cow pie.
THIS is the article that accompanied the map. A few days ago, in a documentary, I watched a two year old polar bear being shot to death because it was starving to death and got into trouble in some way. It ran to the end of a tiny ice flow it was deposited on and was shot. As it's body tumbled into the water, I was struck by a great sadness.
This change is not going to have a happy ending for the Great Polar Bear, or any other creature. The next time some jerk of a politician opens his or her mouth about this not being real, this rapid climate change the earth is enduring, I hope someone hits them with a cow pie.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Critical Race Theory
I just recently found out about this, so pardon me while I catch up. A few weeks ago my trainer asked if I'd ever heard of Critical Race Theory, and apparently I'm not the only yokel who thought it actually had something to do with Racial Studies in the field of Cultural Anthropology, which I dearly love.
Au courant I am not. However, ignorance is not bliss. I'm slowly reading the PDF on CRT posted at a website run by UCLA. You can read the latest flap about this theory in a Slate article HERE.
Apparently, somewhere, way back in the Archives of some Conservatives' personal Backwards Machines, Obama had warmly shaken the hand of the founder of the theory. Shall we all now faint?
And now for something completely different: I would like to know if game # 617 in Free Cell is actually winnable. Please advise?
Monday, March 19, 2012
Picasa3 can now take this:
To this gorgeous thing!....
I am lovin' Life today!
Today was a gym day, and believe me, when you have only so many spoons, the adrenalin keeps you going but when you get home the only spoon left in the drawer is the one that stirs the honey into you lemon ginger tea! But then, I found out how amazingly Picasa3 has been updated. Hot Hot stuff for a color maniac!
The lovely sock and the book reading are chugging along, but I didn't make any marmalade yet. And I'm still waiting on my coconut bacon. If I wasn't the only one eating marmalade, I could go on strike, eh?
Wolfie had to wear his sweater out on the late night walk. It's been down into the 40's at night here. Will you guys in the North and East please take back your winter weather?
Oh, pretty rocks found in the weeds.
You never know what you'll find after a rain.
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| Taken today out my slider |
I am lovin' Life today!
Today was a gym day, and believe me, when you have only so many spoons, the adrenalin keeps you going but when you get home the only spoon left in the drawer is the one that stirs the honey into you lemon ginger tea! But then, I found out how amazingly Picasa3 has been updated. Hot Hot stuff for a color maniac!
The lovely sock and the book reading are chugging along, but I didn't make any marmalade yet. And I'm still waiting on my coconut bacon. If I wasn't the only one eating marmalade, I could go on strike, eh?
Wolfie had to wear his sweater out on the late night walk. It's been down into the 40's at night here. Will you guys in the North and East please take back your winter weather?
Oh, pretty rocks found in the weeds.
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| Flame agate |
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| small citrine agate |
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sky Watcher Post,
I also talk about a new sweater pattern for the purple yarn, and introduce an article about a critically important development to save school progress in low performing schools in California.
AND.... There was snow in the mountains! This photo is one taken between showers, about 5pm tonight.
It is cold for March, maybe only 47 degrees out there with some sort of windchill to factor in. Brrrr! I'm so glad that we didn't take the tortoises out of their garage slumber party where they've been since last November. The wind was biting, and Wolfie wore his little red sweater fora walk late this afternoon.
Earlier today, the wind twirled the big wind chime, and it looked like an umbrella without any fabric on it, being spun around. That's a lot of excitement for a stick in the mud like me!
What a hoot!
I'm plugging in a hat pattern for later. It's called a Lotus Hat, and is from a knitter in Ravelry.
The linen yarn will be turned into THIS beauty, from Caron.com. I found it late one night while poking around at their web site. Immediately she saw it, my DD said she was in love. The sock is racing to the toe, I mean that I'm working on it as much as I can while reading THIS book, Hand dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan. It's worth every centavo spent. Thanks to Clara, I found out about it. I'm really looking forward to having a yarn dyeing session this summer for the blank and two hanks I bought last year from Knitpicks. I belong to a forum of sock yarn dyers on Ravelry, and they have made some beautiful things. I'm excited to try my hand when the weather is warmer.
DH sent this to me because of my interest in low income schools and their very important roll in lifting children out of the affects of poverty and into a brighter future.
First, a word about the critics:
"The critics of this approach argue that it will force layoffs onto other schools. These same critics often like to point out that the real problem with student and school performance is poverty. Well, if poverty is the problem, then what could be more important than creating stable learning environments for our highest-poverty students? And wouldn’t we want to make sure, in the name of equity, that we gave our low-income students every advantage they needed to beat the odds, close achievement gaps, and succeed?"
And HERE is the article from which the quote was extracted.
With the Middle Class being squeezed out and many families dropping into poverty, we really have to be looking not to expand the problems, but to solve them. This forward thinking School Board is addressing educational issues, and we all have been brought up to believe that education is the key to improving lives, not just in material ways, but in ways that enrich us all as a People.
I really want to see all children reach their big dreams in life. I want to see little seven year old children in inner city schools, or rural schools, realize their dreams of being doctors or nurses or scientists, whatever their dream is. This is not something that can be brushed aside in an iniquitous and dismissive manner by Americans who are better off. We can't abandon our children or our poor. It's just too late to be selfish anymore.
Has someone ( us maybe?) started another big war somewhere? Everything is so darned quiet.
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| The clouds today were just gorgeous! |
It is cold for March, maybe only 47 degrees out there with some sort of windchill to factor in. Brrrr! I'm so glad that we didn't take the tortoises out of their garage slumber party where they've been since last November. The wind was biting, and Wolfie wore his little red sweater fora walk late this afternoon.
Earlier today, the wind twirled the big wind chime, and it looked like an umbrella without any fabric on it, being spun around. That's a lot of excitement for a stick in the mud like me!
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| Here we go! |
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| Picking up speed... |
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| In full rotation! |
I'm plugging in a hat pattern for later. It's called a Lotus Hat, and is from a knitter in Ravelry.
The linen yarn will be turned into THIS beauty, from Caron.com. I found it late one night while poking around at their web site. Immediately she saw it, my DD said she was in love. The sock is racing to the toe, I mean that I'm working on it as much as I can while reading THIS book, Hand dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan. It's worth every centavo spent. Thanks to Clara, I found out about it. I'm really looking forward to having a yarn dyeing session this summer for the blank and two hanks I bought last year from Knitpicks. I belong to a forum of sock yarn dyers on Ravelry, and they have made some beautiful things. I'm excited to try my hand when the weather is warmer.
DH sent this to me because of my interest in low income schools and their very important roll in lifting children out of the affects of poverty and into a brighter future.
First, a word about the critics:
"The critics of this approach argue that it will force layoffs onto other schools. These same critics often like to point out that the real problem with student and school performance is poverty. Well, if poverty is the problem, then what could be more important than creating stable learning environments for our highest-poverty students? And wouldn’t we want to make sure, in the name of equity, that we gave our low-income students every advantage they needed to beat the odds, close achievement gaps, and succeed?"
And HERE is the article from which the quote was extracted.
With the Middle Class being squeezed out and many families dropping into poverty, we really have to be looking not to expand the problems, but to solve them. This forward thinking School Board is addressing educational issues, and we all have been brought up to believe that education is the key to improving lives, not just in material ways, but in ways that enrich us all as a People.
I really want to see all children reach their big dreams in life. I want to see little seven year old children in inner city schools, or rural schools, realize their dreams of being doctors or nurses or scientists, whatever their dream is. This is not something that can be brushed aside in an iniquitous and dismissive manner by Americans who are better off. We can't abandon our children or our poor. It's just too late to be selfish anymore.
Has someone ( us maybe?) started another big war somewhere? Everything is so darned quiet.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Tocky, this little rascal is CUTE! But beware.. dark message lurks at the end.
I want a pink one, of course.
Incidentally, I've fallen off the wagon and gotten Twitter. What can a Luddite say? God made them do it? Heehee Well, almost.
Finishing up one sock and casting on for the second as soon as the short needles are free. The Brain is back in it's socket and all is well.
Slate has all of Doonesbury series up.
We can not, for the sake of our fragile democracy, have Medieval minded males ruling the lives of women because once that mind set gets a toe hold it's going to be the Rule of Rushdoony , which is a dreadful backward movement into hatred and mind control.
But don't take my word for it. Read about that Great Guru of the very far right reactionary religious groups. It's not about Love; it's hate he preached, disguised as correctness in God's eyes, as revealed in "scripture". And what's love got to do with the message of Christ? Everything! The gentle Christ lives in hearts that receive Him and His words. He doesn't force his way in with a bayonet! Only His unruly followers do that.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Beautiful new viewing tool, Friday fill-in, and something fun..stickman
Something Beautiful - thanks to B - for the eyes and heart: Flickr River
And....
Something Cute, thanks to Pina : Draw a Stickman -interactive
(link now works)
And, the knit goes on.
Friday Fill-in :
1. Welcome to my mania.
2. Pretzels and coke makes me jump for joy
3. There's a slight mania for movies, too!
4. Knitting is the thing I love most about crafting right now.
5. Eyes intrigue me.
6. Resting is what I'm eagerly awaiting.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to rain ; tomorrow my plans include knitting and making lemon marmalade, and Sunday, I want to knit more!
And....
Something Cute, thanks to Pina : Draw a Stickman -interactive
(link now works)
And, the knit goes on.
Friday Fill-in :
1. Welcome to my mania.
2. Pretzels and coke makes me jump for joy
3. There's a slight mania for movies, too!
4. Knitting is the thing I love most about crafting right now.
5. Eyes intrigue me.
6. Resting is what I'm eagerly awaiting.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to rain ; tomorrow my plans include knitting and making lemon marmalade, and Sunday, I want to knit more!
Doonsebury - In your face Union Tribune.. you fish wrapper!
The comic editor got in my face. He censored this strip as "inappropriate". I think it was a foolish move because there are other cartoons that are blatantly political and even some which contain "language".
So, the editor is singling this out for "inappropriate" reasons. This is censoring freedom of speech.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Cute Frog Double play.
This gets a lot of hits in youTube. So Funny! Be sure to turn on the sound and also, watch "Cry Baby Frog" Hilarious!
A new sock knitter and I are doing socks together today. Yay! Film at 11!! This will be so fun!
A new sock knitter and I are doing socks together today. Yay! Film at 11!! This will be so fun!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Ceramics was fun today, but not as much fun as a few weeks ago when Paula came for a visit and helped to clean some green ware. She got an A++ for that, too! Brave Grrrl!
DH snapped this picture of us on that day. I've held back posting it because I've been hoping to get a better picture of me with Paula because, let's face it, she's gorgeous, and I. well, look like I'm getting over something dreadful. With my aviator glasses on, I would have looked just like Maxine! TBH, I'm loving it!
As one of my teacher friends once said, "Flash photos are not kind to little old ladies". She was talking about herself and how she looked in the school photos. I laughed with her, but my time was coming. hehe
The ceramic piece in front of me is a snowman holding a birdcage. Next time we will have a sock knitting day, but the days for her are very busy from here on out. I will miss being able to get together and knit with my new friend. She's wonderful, and if you get a chance to meet up with her, take it! She's a lovely person.
DH snapped this picture of us on that day. I've held back posting it because I've been hoping to get a better picture of me with Paula because, let's face it, she's gorgeous, and I. well, look like I'm getting over something dreadful. With my aviator glasses on, I would have looked just like Maxine! TBH, I'm loving it!
As one of my teacher friends once said, "Flash photos are not kind to little old ladies". She was talking about herself and how she looked in the school photos. I laughed with her, but my time was coming. hehe
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| I wish I'd have winked. But my hair isn't as gray anymore. Wow! |
Horoscope for the day
Capricorn:
"Sometimes the world ignores accomplishment and you just have to reward yourself for everything you’ve done. In simpler terms, please go throw yourself down a few flights of stairs."
Well! that smarts! hehehe god bless the Onion!
Now, it's a semi blue sky day, so you just know it's colder than the hobs outside. I know, Californians are always semi PO'd when the weather is not either raining, or there is blazing SUN! And, speaking of cold -BRRR!- the ceramic room is no exception! Plus the camera batteries are dying and there are no spares, and ... I have 10 skeins of LINEN yarn to fight with wind into balls, AND, I feel like the Universe is out to get me, but that's alright because I intend to FIGHT BACK! So, Universe, you have had your warning! There will be NO OTHER. The great news is that the netflix packet is coming today. Yippy! And, I ate all the jelly bellies yesterday. *sobbing sounds ensue!*
Yesterday, while walking Wolfie with DH, we came across some lovely Monkey flowers growing in the Riverwalk sanctuary. These cheery little native gals just gladden the heart.
Now I will go knit those socks. I'm already sick of the color but that's normal. And, Hooray! It's not a sweater!
"Sometimes the world ignores accomplishment and you just have to reward yourself for everything you’ve done. In simpler terms, please go throw yourself down a few flights of stairs."
Well! that smarts! hehehe god bless the Onion!
Now, it's a semi blue sky day, so you just know it's colder than the hobs outside. I know, Californians are always semi PO'd when the weather is not either raining, or there is blazing SUN! And, speaking of cold -BRRR!- the ceramic room is no exception! Plus the camera batteries are dying and there are no spares, and ... I have 10 skeins of LINEN yarn to
Yesterday, while walking Wolfie with DH, we came across some lovely Monkey flowers growing in the Riverwalk sanctuary. These cheery little native gals just gladden the heart.
Now I will go knit those socks. I'm already sick of the color but that's normal. And, Hooray! It's not a sweater!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Pinkie katydid
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| Find the story on the link below. I'm on my stupid netbook which gives me fits so I can say no more. Lots of links in Jim's blog to his other postings and pictures of this rare form. |
Ohio Biodiversity Blogger
Linen Yarn, One Rock, Many Rocks.
The Beautiful Linen yarn from Little Knits came today. And I think it's going to be a short cardi rather than a scarf. The Hanami stole really needs to be made in a wool or at least a silk, something with a better chance at splicing properly. I went to Knitting Paradise with a "splicing linen" question in mind and found THIS . There are going to be LOTS and LOTS of Russian joins in my future, I suppose. There IS always fabric glue. hehe
My sister made the decorations on the top of the basket. I'm afraid the camera is going south. I hope it can be fixed because I love this little mid-sized Canon.
Today, while outside for the yarn's photo op, I looked down an Lo, there were two rock pile elements that caught my eye, both things for jewelry making
There was a long, beautiful agate to slice into wire wrapping bits, or just to admire
on a shelf in some sort of stand after a really good scrubbing. This piece was collected in the desert in Southern Arizona - way out there by Locomotive
Mountain on the Lazy B Ranch. It's a fun four wheel drive sort of place.
These are very small pieces of Peridot. The dark piece at the base of the fingers is a large, dark crystal of Peridot. I have a smallish hand, so these are pretty small. When cleaned up and polished a little, they will make bright elements for
an ornament to hang in a winter window. I've been looking for these for awhile. They were a Quartzsite find.
Today was a quiet day but cold outside; to Californians, used to 75° March weather, it was cold. Brrrr! But it was sunny. A very nice day as long as you had a sweater handy.
I excavated the sock heel pattern, and will work on that until I'm past the gussets. I love gussets but don't really like turning the heel. I'm always sure something will slip off the needles ( though nothing ever has), and I won't see it until all the gusset part is done. Rho loves to knit heels but she knits toe up,which is an art I can't bring myself to try. It's a prejudice, I know. Knitting may be the new Zen, but heel cups have to be watched with the eye of an eagle!
Last night we watched an amazing movie! It's called "Snow Falling on Cedars". It was the most beautiful American film I have seen in years. The cinematography is evocative and stunning! The acting is superb, the score is beautiful, and the story is emotionally complex and completely believable. I'm still under it's spell a day later. I just can't say how much it affected my mind and heart. "Snow Falling on Cedars", from the book.
Sweet Dreams!
My sister made the decorations on the top of the basket. I'm afraid the camera is going south. I hope it can be fixed because I love this little mid-sized Canon.
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| The color was almost perfectly, still too Blue, reproduced once we got outside on the patio |
Today, while outside for the yarn's photo op, I looked down an Lo, there were two rock pile elements that caught my eye, both things for jewelry making
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| Agate inclusion weathered free from matrix |
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Today was a quiet day but cold outside; to Californians, used to 75° March weather, it was cold. Brrrr! But it was sunny. A very nice day as long as you had a sweater handy.
I excavated the sock heel pattern, and will work on that until I'm past the gussets. I love gussets but don't really like turning the heel. I'm always sure something will slip off the needles ( though nothing ever has), and I won't see it until all the gusset part is done. Rho loves to knit heels but she knits toe up,which is an art I can't bring myself to try. It's a prejudice, I know. Knitting may be the new Zen, but heel cups have to be watched with the eye of an eagle!
Last night we watched an amazing movie! It's called "Snow Falling on Cedars". It was the most beautiful American film I have seen in years. The cinematography is evocative and stunning! The acting is superb, the score is beautiful, and the story is emotionally complex and completely believable. I'm still under it's spell a day later. I just can't say how much it affected my mind and heart. "Snow Falling on Cedars", from the book.
Sweet Dreams!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Yes, a post disappeared.
A very upsetting email came in from someone that I fully respect as a human being, and as a tough, honest researcher. That someone is Greg Palast. Anyway, I shared it here. Upon second thought, I took it down. I'll put a link in the side bar because it's something we just can't afford to turn a blind eye to.
This is how the Birds in Japan are affected by the Fukushima melt down, caused by misconduct, not of people who worked there but of others responsible for the reactor design.
But I also remember that *Abie Hoffman isn't with us anymore because he just gave up. Don't give up. Do what you can, always, and keep looking at what others are doing.
There is so much going on under the radar by hate groups and power merchants and others who fell in love with money. But there is so much else going on. too. Organic food movements, local foods movements. A group here and a group there working to put the Mississippi valley back together for the Central flyway. Read about it at AudubonMagazine.org. The article I'm talking about is in the latest edition. While you are there at their site, please be sure to read The Perch , Audubon Magazine's Blog.
There are a lot of people working hard to save what we still have a chance to save. Every little bit helps in so many ways, not the least of which is the power of numbers. There's actually a whole lot more people who care about the Earth than those who do not. Do whatever you can, and let your heart and mind dwell on the millions of people, just like you out there, who are doing that "right stuff" by your side; even if they are half a world away, there's a connection made.
One of my favorite pictures of Wolfie was taken when he was helping me get better. From Pound Pup to "therapy dog". It's a blurry picture but I love it anyway. There is so much love in those little round, brown eyes.
Peace and Love! Sweet Dreams!
*"It's embarrassing when you try to overthrow the government and you wind up on the Best-Sellers list." On the success of his book, "Steal this Book"
This is how the Birds in Japan are affected by the Fukushima melt down, caused by misconduct, not of people who worked there but of others responsible for the reactor design.
But I also remember that *Abie Hoffman isn't with us anymore because he just gave up. Don't give up. Do what you can, always, and keep looking at what others are doing.
There is so much going on under the radar by hate groups and power merchants and others who fell in love with money. But there is so much else going on. too. Organic food movements, local foods movements. A group here and a group there working to put the Mississippi valley back together for the Central flyway. Read about it at AudubonMagazine.org. The article I'm talking about is in the latest edition. While you are there at their site, please be sure to read The Perch , Audubon Magazine's Blog.
There are a lot of people working hard to save what we still have a chance to save. Every little bit helps in so many ways, not the least of which is the power of numbers. There's actually a whole lot more people who care about the Earth than those who do not. Do whatever you can, and let your heart and mind dwell on the millions of people, just like you out there, who are doing that "right stuff" by your side; even if they are half a world away, there's a connection made.
One of my favorite pictures of Wolfie was taken when he was helping me get better. From Pound Pup to "therapy dog". It's a blurry picture but I love it anyway. There is so much love in those little round, brown eyes.
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| "But Mom, I'm only trying to do my job and lick your wounds" |
Peace and Love! Sweet Dreams!
*"It's embarrassing when you try to overthrow the government and you wind up on the Best-Sellers list." On the success of his book, "Steal this Book"
Something cute to look at
B sent this link, and her comment was, "What's not to love?" I'm just going to have to get that little owl if she sells them.
Major Cuteness to take home and SMOOSH!
I hope you enjoy these as much as I have, and thank you, B!
Today was a gym day. I got on the step machine for the first time and if I'm very, very careful I can use it on the lowest speed. I'm THOROUGHLY jazzed about this though not really ready to build on it, yet! One thing that I've learned about steps is that going down them is something that most knee replacement patients have trouble with. I can see why, too. Though the leg is strong, some the elements are not as strong as they once were, like the quadriceps. Until that muscle can do all that it used to be able to do, it will have to be embarrassing weak and reedy when it really wants to be "ready!". The PT says that I have to give all my muscles a job so that they can have a reason to live. Well, he didn't say that exactly, but it's close to what he said.
Today I bought a used book, one that Clara mentioned in Knitter's Review newsletter, Gail Callahan's book, Hand Dyeing Wool and Fleece. I'm so happy to have it that you can probably see me dancing in the kitchen. I hope by this summer to have enough cleared out of the big room to set up a yarn dyeing operation on the big craft table.
And, the linen yarn has shipped from Little Knits. It's for a Hanami scarf , or a sweater, for L. I included the link for the pattern so you could see it. Ahem, correction: I bought this scarf three-at least - years ago. So, my knitting plans now are starting to exceed my expected life time, and though that's a little scary, I'll just soldier on.
Good night. I bid you Peace and Love back. Love back is a good thing to get, too. If you give Love it doesn't always mean it will come back to you, but hopefully if we all wish this for each other, more of it will come back. We all need more of it.
Fingers crossed for you Kara. Big Hugs for this day! See you Sunday, maybe.
Oh oh! Wait! Here's a blurry picture of my little Buddha statuette on a shelf. The Dalai Lama is in town but I cannot go see him. But I'll be there is spirit. A friend gave me this when she'd made two, and mine went missing, and my sister made the strand of hearts. My statuette has such a happy face that he cheers me up.
We just watched "Seven Years in Tibet" which is based on the life (and friendship) of the young Dalai Lama and his life long friend Heinrich Harrer. Very interesting movie, though I still like "Kundun" best.
If you want to see another uplifting documentary type film, there's one called "My Dog". It very fun and endearing and in really fresh ways. It's different! Try it. You could fall in love with a few celebs for very different reasons than their popularity on the stage.
Good night for real!
Major Cuteness to take home and SMOOSH!
I hope you enjoy these as much as I have, and thank you, B!
Today was a gym day. I got on the step machine for the first time and if I'm very, very careful I can use it on the lowest speed. I'm THOROUGHLY jazzed about this though not really ready to build on it, yet! One thing that I've learned about steps is that going down them is something that most knee replacement patients have trouble with. I can see why, too. Though the leg is strong, some the elements are not as strong as they once were, like the quadriceps. Until that muscle can do all that it used to be able to do, it will have to be embarrassing weak and reedy when it really wants to be "ready!". The PT says that I have to give all my muscles a job so that they can have a reason to live. Well, he didn't say that exactly, but it's close to what he said.
Today I bought a used book, one that Clara mentioned in Knitter's Review newsletter, Gail Callahan's book, Hand Dyeing Wool and Fleece. I'm so happy to have it that you can probably see me dancing in the kitchen. I hope by this summer to have enough cleared out of the big room to set up a yarn dyeing operation on the big craft table.
And, the linen yarn has shipped from Little Knits. It's for a Hanami scarf , or a sweater, for L. I included the link for the pattern so you could see it. Ahem, correction: I bought this scarf three-at least - years ago. So, my knitting plans now are starting to exceed my expected life time, and though that's a little scary, I'll just soldier on.
Good night. I bid you Peace and Love back. Love back is a good thing to get, too. If you give Love it doesn't always mean it will come back to you, but hopefully if we all wish this for each other, more of it will come back. We all need more of it.
Fingers crossed for you Kara. Big Hugs for this day! See you Sunday, maybe.
Oh oh! Wait! Here's a blurry picture of my little Buddha statuette on a shelf. The Dalai Lama is in town but I cannot go see him. But I'll be there is spirit. A friend gave me this when she'd made two, and mine went missing, and my sister made the strand of hearts. My statuette has such a happy face that he cheers me up.
We just watched "Seven Years in Tibet" which is based on the life (and friendship) of the young Dalai Lama and his life long friend Heinrich Harrer. Very interesting movie, though I still like "Kundun" best.
If you want to see another uplifting documentary type film, there's one called "My Dog". It very fun and endearing and in really fresh ways. It's different! Try it. You could fall in love with a few celebs for very different reasons than their popularity on the stage.
Good night for real!
Friday, March 9, 2012
An interesting looking thing, a Cactus Heart
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| Wish I would have seen this when it was just forming. It would have not been a puff heart then. |
Yesterday, at the dentist's office, I saw a purple mountain with a cloud across it, and a lake in front with little reeds growing on one side, and two islands in the lake. And this was inside the light that dentists have over the patient's head. My dentist is a very cool fellow and humored me. It might be that my glasses are polarized. But I really did see all that! If I could have taken a picture of it, which was very unlikely given the fact that it was the light itself that contained it, I could have shared it with you.
But, remember to look for the beauty all around you. You'll find it in the strangest places! Train your eyes and double your joy!
Good night! Sweet Dreams! Remember that you are loved by people you've never met, and that flip side saying of, "Everyone is someone else's weirdo". So, if someone calls you a weirdo, you've found that person. hehehe Hugs!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
OOOO Polar Bear Cam!
Linkie!
And the world's smallest Chameleon.
Scroll down the page for this amazingly tiny fellow!
Now I will go do something (eat more jelly Bellies?) besides watch Penguins and Polar Bears and little teensy Sloth bébés!
And the world's smallest Chameleon.
Scroll down the page for this amazingly tiny fellow!
Now I will go do something (eat more jelly Bellies?) besides watch Penguins and Polar Bears and little teensy Sloth bébés!
The sock heel is too long, and Baby Sloth gets PJs
The pattern, which sock knitters know to be more like "guide lines", is too long for my heel. So! Like the scrappy knitter I am (or was) I'll poke in a different heel and then knit the thing. The first move I must do is excavate the booklet within the pages of which is buried the favorite sock heel pattern.
OooO, Jelly Bellies and Chocolate Animal crackers!
Yesterday was a long tiring day, with a very early visit to my sister's, and then a tooth cleaning in the afternoon requiring 2000 mg of antibiotic which I'm sure messed with the brain. Actually I feel like biting someone but lucky DH is in the garden pulling weeds. Well, there's always Wolfie. At least my teeth are clean!
Something that reminds me of Wolfie when he came home with us. He had such a terrible skin condition. He wasn't this tiny though. I'm not sure how I found this as I've lost this post TWICE trying to update it. I blame that massive dose of Antibiotics!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Talk by Dr. Nancy Klimas on the latest clinical Advances on ME/CFS
Click on the link underneath the Vimeo if you're having trouble loading this. I may just rework this to have ONLY a link so that it's easier to use, plus there are other links to more current talks. Information on this and it's connection to orthostatic intolerance is a big step to understanding just how this disease works. Thanks to a forum in Ravelry, and thanks for reading ..
Dr Nancy Klimas on the latest clinical advances on ME/CFS from ME-CFSCommunity.com on Vimeo.
I want to keep track of this research, and I guess a blog post is the best way. Of major importance to myself is that lack of aerobic exercise can lead to many many changes in the body up to and including a little something called orthostatic intolerance. This is not something that can be taken lightly. It's that crashing into walls when you stand up and try to walk out a doorway sort of thing. I'm finding Dr. Klimas' talks to be very beneficial and enlightening.
I got a sock heel knit. Yay! At ceramics today we had a great time, slapping glazes on the bisque and telling each other what to think of what this world is coming to. The fearless leader brought jelly bellies and chocolate animal crackers to share. We wrote our club name on the broom to keep it from being permanently borrowed by persons unknown, never to be returned. After all, it's the little things that count, you know? And it was cold today.. Brrr. On hotter days I've had to endure the heater, and this day, when it was freezing, not a single person asked for the heat. Why is that? I feel like I'm living in another dimension from time to time. The Cold Zone.
Oh and something of interest. They've figured out how to make artificial cabbage. I know not why! (it's not to be eaten- it's just for fun). HERE'S a YouTube. It really does look like fun to make. I think you could probably try this at home if you are not under 13.
By the way, if you try to log out of YouTube whilst trying to work with YouTube inside of Blogger, Google's Giant arm will reach out and snatch you bald i.e., Google will keep setting up nagging little yellow windows asking you if you don't want to sign back into something you just signed out of. Try it! See how grabby and anal the great Google's gotten. Next thing they will do is to send someone to your door at 1 am to ask you if you want to switch to Chrome as a browser. Just watch. That's the next thing coming.
Dr Nancy Klimas on the latest clinical advances on ME/CFS from ME-CFSCommunity.com on Vimeo.
I want to keep track of this research, and I guess a blog post is the best way. Of major importance to myself is that lack of aerobic exercise can lead to many many changes in the body up to and including a little something called orthostatic intolerance. This is not something that can be taken lightly. It's that crashing into walls when you stand up and try to walk out a doorway sort of thing. I'm finding Dr. Klimas' talks to be very beneficial and enlightening.
I got a sock heel knit. Yay! At ceramics today we had a great time, slapping glazes on the bisque and telling each other what to think of what this world is coming to. The fearless leader brought jelly bellies and chocolate animal crackers to share. We wrote our club name on the broom to keep it from being permanently borrowed by persons unknown, never to be returned. After all, it's the little things that count, you know? And it was cold today.. Brrr. On hotter days I've had to endure the heater, and this day, when it was freezing, not a single person asked for the heat. Why is that? I feel like I'm living in another dimension from time to time. The Cold Zone.
Oh and something of interest. They've figured out how to make artificial cabbage. I know not why! (it's not to be eaten- it's just for fun). HERE'S a YouTube. It really does look like fun to make. I think you could probably try this at home if you are not under 13.
 |
| Real Cabbage at the West End Market, Santa Cruz. Why would anyone want to fake it? |
Monday, March 5, 2012
70 Congress Members: Gas Prices Spiked By Speculators
Gasoline in mainland California, with 18 operating refineries , is more expensive than gasoline in Hawaii which has only two operating refineries. Now we know why? I think the Dalai Lama is right. It's money sickness. A form of insanity.
BP Settlement Sells Out Victims – Buries Evidence of Oil Company’s Willful Negligence
This is, well, absolutely monstrous. And, you can bet not a single oil baron cares what we think. Not a single one.
If worms really turn, and "he who is first will later be last" and all that, I hope that these odious people get sent to a steel and concrete planet with no other life, not a blade of grass or a single paramecium. May it have filthy black water that must be filtered by hand-held device to drink. And, I hope that they have to wear a mask that is completely irritating, every second, in order breathe. May they also have to be constantly hungry but never die from the lack of food but unable to eat each other.
May this planet they've been sent to also have inky black sunsets from a tiny sun, and no color anywhere so that, though they crave colors with all their hearts, they are unable to escape this longing. May they also remember the Earth, as the paradise they've lost forever.
I may add more later but for now, I am done.
BP Settlement Sells Out Victims – Buries Evidence of Oil Company’s Willful Negligence
If worms really turn, and "he who is first will later be last" and all that, I hope that these odious people get sent to a steel and concrete planet with no other life, not a blade of grass or a single paramecium. May it have filthy black water that must be filtered by hand-held device to drink. And, I hope that they have to wear a mask that is completely irritating, every second, in order breathe. May they also have to be constantly hungry but never die from the lack of food but unable to eat each other.
May this planet they've been sent to also have inky black sunsets from a tiny sun, and no color anywhere so that, though they crave colors with all their hearts, they are unable to escape this longing. May they also remember the Earth, as the paradise they've lost forever.
I may add more later but for now, I am done.
BP Settlement Sells Out Victims – Buries Evidence of Oil Company’s Willful Negligence
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Flowers- Scented Geranuim, Mysteries, and Naturalized Echeveria
Though true wild geranium is a Native American remedy for many ills, scented geranium is also praise worthy. Brewed in tea it's delicate flavor and scent is a treat for the senses. In South Africa the wild Pelargonium was used in much the same way. I'm never too sure about the differences in these two plants but I do know some of them.
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| Scented Geranium- smells like lemon flowers and flowers are good to eat in salads. I eat a lot of stuff called weeds, too. |
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| Flowers against a house in Santa Cruz. The white flowering plant reminds me of Oleander, a bit. |
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| Hillside (Cliff ) in Santa Cruz, of Naturalized Echeveria plants. This was truly a lovely site ( meaning "place"). |
Today was a quiet day though I walked nearly a half mile and gave the knee a good work out. Yay! It's better now. Tomorrow I'll put on my boots and go hike out into the tall grass in the side yard, and have a look around for good places to let the torts come out to play. They love the garden now, when it's full of food plants for themselves and places to hide out. It's time for them to come out of hibernation. They need to eat, and it's been pretty warm some of the days. The winter weeds give them good things for their bodies.
My knitting .. pfffft! It's terrible, I'm just not doing any. I'd rather go tramp around in the garden and try to form it up in my mind as to how I want it to look, and what needs to be done.
Good night! Sweet Dreams! Wolfie is happy, DH is happy, and I'm doing A-OK.
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