Tea and (Questions) Sympathy.. Sunday stealing

This is from a questionnaire called "Tea and Q&A" that I found on SwapBot

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on the WTIT Blog with Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from, if possible. We also provide a link to the victim's questions in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from recently asked questions from a previously post. 

Cheers to all of us thieves!

Tea and Q&A

1. What is your middle name and what is a middle name you'd rather have instead? Why?

I have no middle name.  But when I married, I took my grandfather's surname as a middle name.  So I have the one I want to keep.  And it's because, outside of my husband, my grandfather was the best man I've ever had in my personal life.

2. How would you spend $1MM (you have to spend every penny!)
I'd buy two houses, or rather put down payments on two houses, in Santa Cruz for my family to live in.  And believe me, it would take every penny to do it.

3. Yellow light - speed up or slow down??
For me, it's slow down.  You never know, do you, what person going the other way may just want to jump the red light to green thingie, do you?

4. What was the last movie you saw and what did you like/dislike about it?
The last movie I saw was "Prometheus".  I like some futuristic Sci-Fi, and this was one I liked.
Leslie Theron played a lead.  She was great.  Just the right amount of valor to be annoying, and rather chicken livered at the same time.  I loved the mechanical man.  Dislike?  It borrowed from other Sci-Fi films and brazenly.  Whole sets it seems.

5. If a movie was made about you, who would portray you in that movie?
Since my life is a B movie, it would have to be some faded "has been".  Let's see..... 
Can't think of just who that might be...  certainly not Meryl  Streep.  But she's the one I'd like to have the job.

6. What is the strangest thing you've eaten and what did it taste like?
I once picked a tiny fruit thing off a cactus in the San Diego Cactus garden, bit into it expecting a sweet taste,  and it was HOTTER than the HOBS OF HELL.  Ouch!

7. What color is your bathroom?
Both of them are green but different shades.  It's a crime that a color my hubby cannot see is my favorite one to look at inside (and out of) a house. Six rooms and the outside are all shades of green.  

8. If you could vacation anywhere in the world RIGHT NOW, where would it be and why?
I'd go to the north pole with a group that operates an ecotourism to that area. Why?  Because it is disappearing, it's dying, and I'd like to see it before everything is gone.

9. What is your least favorite thing to cook?
I like baking the best.  I love to make bread ALL kinds of it.  I made all our bread until the twins were born, and then for special occasions after that,  for my family.  I used to make all our tortillas, though never corn ones.    

10. What is the dish you make that your family rolls their eyes at?
My kids liked everything I made, or so they told me.  But then, we had similar tastes and probably that accounts for it.

11. What are three things on your (kick) bucket list?
Number1 is to make a LOT (a literal TON) of short fingered gloves and booties for cancer patients.  Their hands and feet get so cold!  My daughter said, "forget the hats, there are plenty of hats, make those gloves you made me, and some booties."  She asked me to do this, and I set my heart and soul on accomplishing this with my stash.  I have nothing else on any bucket list anywhere.  I've become a total homebody.

12. How many skeins of yarn do you think you are currently hoarding?
About three of four hundred skeins.  I didn't count them up but there's a lot, and maybe likely there's even more.  I've given away a lot but now I'll knit them all up if I live long enough and don't go gaga.

13. Today is my birthday.  What virtual gift are you going to give me?
Since I can be a fairy godmother, I would give you happy dreams, and forever.

14. What is your favorite candy?
I love, LOVE chocolate covered nut candies.

15. What is your favorite time of the day and why?
I love sunrise.  I wish that I could see it on days that I've slept all night though.  And because?  Because it's beautiful, quiet and fresh...

16. If you could call in sick for a day, what would you do with the time?
I don't go to work, but if it's a day to do anything I want, I'd like to go bird watching.

17. How much did your last crafting run cost you?
I just bought two sets of 5 inch US5 Knitter's Pride Naturalz double pointed needles from WEBs for 17 bucks.  No local store had them.  What gives with that????

18. Can you play a musical instrument and if so, which one?
I used to play guitar, and now I try to play the Uke when I'm reminded that it's out there.....just waiting patiently for me to remember.... no, I don't sing along with it, just play it. My voice is now totally crappy.  

FROM THIS NUTTY PAGE

19. What is your least favorite craft that you still do? Why?
I never met a craft I didn't like.  Why?  Why would anyone waste time doing a craft they didn't like?  OH!  Here...  THE LINK  I found a site for people who hate crafting.. Moms no less.  She's a total NUT!


20. If you could have any job for just one day, what would it be and what would you do?
I'd like to take care of baby animals, especially the lemurs, at the zoo.  

If you'd like to see other answers or join in go HERE

Just another Thursday...

I'll be sooooo glad when the weekend is over.

Maybe I'll knit, or maybe not.  But, I did get my arse out the door to visit my sister.  We always have a tech session, over lunch, about the beauties of the iPad and androids devices.  Sometimes we talk plants, which we are both heavily into, as well.

I'm taking a weekend off for sanity, and hopefully some knitting. I have been copying a TON of photos and photo shopping them, so that's that for the eyes for awhile.  

Pinterest

Now to upload all the photos to some cloud thinga somewhere.  No, Google, you are my second choice because you don't seem to give a rat's ass how carefully I put them into folders, or all of my mods.  ;p

Anyway, I anticipate that this will take the most time but the programs are smarter than I am, so I must respect them for that.  

  So far, this is what I would have shown you on Friday, which is a day I won't be on line.   

Unnatural light.. Shroom form

The aqua blue marker is a tiny
memorial from a friend's knit stash
This photo is in Natural light

And this little button, from the Wildlife Federation, is something I found while cleaning out a drawer.  Yes, it is getting done but glacially.  

The button might just be featured in the side bar as a linkable button at some later date.  I've been trying to clean up that side bar, and make things load faster.  

See you in a few!  Sorry to miss out on the meme fun but I need to attend to things around here in the worst way.

Tuesday tales: saving street dogs, Wolfie, Tort report

Tuesday Tails:  First, a video of a saved street dog.  They save him and he fully recovers and plays.
This is where a lot of the Real Human Beings are, in animal welfare, rescuing and caring, 7/24.  We really can change things if enough of us "just do something".



Wolfie report: Wolfie met a little pooffy, ten year old  female Shizu on the trail the other day,  She was adorable, and she was the aggressor.  Wolfie may be becoming a true gentleman.  Anyway it was a shock to me, and to him.  She was adorable and maybe it's "gone to her head"  Just kidding.  I have a feeling they are both "only   dogs"

We went Geocaching yesterday, on a long gravel strewn trail which was a tad less than 3 tenths of a mile - Mr.Z thinks less- but my body tells me that all my step counting is right.  Next time I'm "booting up", taking a walking stick, and going bushwacking with my pedometer on and a pack on my back.
But this tiny, pretty shaped stone showed up along the way.  So, the day became a day of heart's ease.

Looking down, sometimes there's a nice surprise.

The knitting:
Those new  progress bars that I found are a great little bit of code.  I'm so happy with them.  If  "repeats" are created in their own Gadgets/widgets and customized they work great.  It's very easy to follow the directions at Lena's Frugal and Thankful's blog.  They will require some tweaking as the percentage goes up.  And......The bars don't seem to like anything less than 15 displayed but if you count the yarn and pattern search as 5% and the casting on as 10, you're there!  ;-)

I've done this before, with different bars, so no sweat, there.  It was foolish to blow away the widget for the Ravelry bars, but that's life.  Anyway, this is all easy stuff.  I only know enough Basic to get into trouble but this worked out well.  Fear not, you too can make them.  Wine afterwards though, to celebrate, eh?

Now to get some photo worthy progress made on the sleeve.  So far, I've done nothing but try to get stitch markers at the beginning of all of the seven patterns in the sequence.  Oh, one increase is now in.  I cannot WAIT to get this thing on a circular needle.  So far I've knit to the end of the ribbing and two rows of  garter, and it looks like a little green standing rib roast.  Windows ten blew away most of my pictures.
So, here's a hat I would like to make which is the one shown way back when.  In fact I'm going to make two.

No one wanted the machine knitting yarn so I'll experiment with it in making a few things.  Experimenting and using the neurons is good for a person.  I've found that a person can make some pretty amazing things with this thin yarn.

The Tort Report:  I'm about ready to give them all away.  For the half day that the last of my pink day lilies, the tiny ones, were not protected by a wire cage, the little herd  ate them clear to the ground.

The last of the tiny day lilies last week

Like petite, grazing cattle, they trim the under-story of the two roses, and eat everything, including cactus paddles, thorns and all from any cacti that cross their paths.  But, will they eat Lamb's Quarter or any other weed except mallow?  No, they will not!

Lucky, our first baby who is now bigger than his daddy

I do love them when they are babies.   Only a baby rabbit is cuter.

SOURCE

But a tortoise will eat a bromeliad right down to the base if  they aren't stopped.  Maybe I could be wicked and let them eat tomato plants. We have some, and the cage that protected the day lilies, now protects the tortoises from the deadly effects of a tomato plant's genes.

To help with the mood of the last two days, we watched, "The Shipping News"... again.  We're such Hell raisers in this house.

I wish you all a thoroughly complete Love Bombing!  Happy Tuesday!

Saturday Sweater update. The sleeve.... actual knitting content.

Those are size one double points and what a pain to knit a worsted weight yarn on ones let me tell you. I have to knit two more inches and then put on about 30 more increases and will finally get away from the double points and onto a circular 4. I cannot wait!

I will update the progress every Saturday afternoon, because this is a love sweater, I obviously need the motivation to finish it before it should get too late or something, God help us, I could go gaga or something, too. One never knows. I think it's been about five years and counting?

Going Back to mostly knitting

I'm regrouping because that HUGE wave in my Early adult dreams finally engulfed my life.  It feels like the time to wobble off and make stuff on the needles.

Anyway, In 2004 that's what was going on here- a knitting blog.  Joining Knitter's Review that year, well before Ravelry came on line and took off like a rocket - sock knitting and KR were the most fun I'd had for ages!

And then there is this, for mental health....Good Old Yarn Bombing!

SOURCE  i think

And, sock knitting turned out to be a purple passion for me.  The welcome in the forums was warm and cozy,and several people greeted almost every new sock knitter with,"Welcome to the dark side!"

There's been a sea change in life for Mr. Z and I, so much that I don't care what the "World of Puttzez" are doing.  I'll trust that, "time wounds all heels", and that their time will come.

OK then....First comes finishing the pink Stardust.  Then I'm going to be making a couple of hats, beanies, really, and I've ordered two colors of Italian Cashmere from Webs to do that -  Aqua and a deep purple.

The long languishing pink Stardust sweater is inching toward the finish line, and I'll be using up the stashed sock yarns. It's freaking time to knit! Yes, you may expect fotos.

What ever hits my little "eye" in the way of beauty, I will post as well - unexpected hearts, see it?  Right next to the wedding ring....it's really just a bottle cap.  :-)

Heart Embedded in Asphalt in the Middle of a Street 

Pretty much that's where my heart feels like it is- out there, flattened in the road..  Like Smellyann before me,, no one better say "this too shall pass" or I'm not responsible for what happens next. It may well be true for some things, like angst handed out by teenagers, but grief lasts until you take your last breath on this Earth.. Anyway, back to Smelleyann.... If you aren't reading there, you are missing out on a shed load of fun.  She's brilliant fun.  In fact, you should hang with the 9ers and Thieves to stay sane.  I'm going to do the memes of the week but I'll pass for Thursday.  No thanks for now.

Toodles!  See you soon but, I know, not if you see me first!  I'm down with that.  ;-)

Sodahead.com

Thankful Thursday: Entertaining your brain whilst under the influence of Fate.

I'm doing this over several days.  It could be rough, rambling and choppy as well as riddled with complicated errors of both syntax and grammar.

 Thankful Thursday, and beyond...

I'm thankful and grateful for my four DD's, Mr. Z, my sister, and the little Wolfie,and last but not least, for friends, far and wide.
 Wolfie, I'm especially grateful for in that he has stayed charming and buoyant even when the Alpha Female snapped, snarled, and howled her way through the past week and a half. Actually, Mr.Z gets some kudos for that, too.

Wolfie, sleeping on the old chair.

In Truth, a preternatural calm overcame me a few days after learning what that Prankster, Fate, had shuffled out of his dark little corner to bestow.  This was only riven, from one hour to the next, by the purest form of unmitigated grief and dread....Thus the howling.

I'm grateful for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  Thank you, President Obama.  I'm sorry, Republicans, I think the man has big Golden Wings.

Alas, before this time, when it could have been caught by an indifferent HMO, it was not.  I'll just say that I think that any healthcare organisation which dismisses women as hypochondriacs is a thief, of dollars and of lives.

Also, we, as Americans, need to get the protocol changed for screenings before 50 years of age because there are so many cases turning up in younger people. And, it's a silent killer.

I'm still mostly Wildly Howling inside.  Those little Peace Bells just didn't cut it.

Later......

Of course it seemed like a good time to start knitting, yes?  What mood swinging, sometimes catatonic, wildly howling person ever thinks straight?  You can guess that I started my bargaining with God right away, too.  I've been through all five stages already.  If I weren't so emotional this might not be the case, but there you have it.  I'm Certifiably Emotional.

Ah, but back to knitting.  I started working, once more, on the sleeves of DD's pink Stardust sweater. Everything else is finished. The first thing that I did was rip out all that was done because, in my highly focused in state - bordering on blind  insanity-  I thought there was a mistake in the ribbing.  duh.  There wasn't.  I read my notes far too tardily, and E, voila!  There it was in black and white.

Knitting is still very calming.  I think it works better than the peace bell at the moment.

So, it's back to knitting with fran's ten minute rule. Oh, and I just hand washed all the woolie socks but spun dried them to hang.

As to mistakes, mistaken or not, eyes that Glare for days at heartless FATE ,and wish it DEAD, can get awfully sore.

So, anyway,  trudging right along in my narrowly focused little pit of angst, now four rows are back. Nine is a lucky number, yes?  According to THIS Chinese New Year page, it is...

The Nine

Later still:
I have been entertaining my brain in other ways, too.  Happily the eyeballs did not fall out and roll around in the detritus on the floor, so they healed up enough for pretty good focus on knitting projects.  Crying a river is over.

Now for something else, another entertain the brain part.

If you don't like the clear (or plain white) that your soft soaps come in  - including the gallon jugs from Costco/Walmart/CVS - you should hie on down and garner yourself some icing dyes at Michaels, JoAnna or perhaps Harbor Freight, with coupons that will go to waste otherwise.  This is because you probably do, like me, also have every other thing you ever wanted from a fabric/craft/cheap Hardware store and then some!  But I am starting to ramble again.

Taking those usually useless coupons with you ( even though you know these places put EVERYTHING that sells well on sale) and now, I suggest you fool them and score some cake icing dyes of your favorite colors.  You know, slip on under their radar.

Now, my friends,  make changes to your soft soap when you refill.  Next time when you walk into the powder room -  which is just a fancy word for bathroom but daintier sounding - you can get an instant HIGH on the colors of your soaps!  Extravagance happens if you also put some essential oils in, maybe ten drops.  Be sure to buy unscented soft soap in it's mega bottles somewhere, maybe at Costco, or wherever.

The pink is a Wilton: One smidgen only, as the color goes a long ways.
The purple is one drop of left over Neon Pink Egg dye.
It's those dyes that come in cute little bottles with pointed tops

I know that there are fifteen (at least) different and excellent Videos on You Tube dealing with making foaming soap.  I've posted one in the past.
 Mr. Z. has a "He-man" colored, dark green bottle and needs no colors, "thankyouverymuch", so I'm pretty much done at my house.

You can also make your own clear soap refilling liquid but meh.  Soap chips do make good liquid soap, just save them in a jar of water.  This is economical and fun.  If you are a quilter or seamstress, soap chips have a more useful application.  They make great markers!  Waste not, want not, and you also don't have to worry about birds at the land fill eating them and getting sick.  If you aren't worried, shame on you you can always give the chips to a friend who would use them.  Home use only!

I've also spent time contemplating "plant biology".  For instance, I've started studying my breakfast oranges to see if they have an equal or unequal number of segments, and why.  Some oranges have a tiny segment stuck to a big one, that sort of thing.  This one had ten, and yesterday, the orange had eleven.  I can't read a book, you see.  My mind wanders abruptly into dark thoughts and other alley ways.

So, this biology will have to remain a mystery.  I'm not reading anymore.  I wonder if fractals have anything to do with it?  Who doesn't like fractals?

Breakfast orange slices

I have, however, done dozens and dozens of App puzzles, this is one of them:

Isn't it Gorgeous?  From Kris

Even Later:

That puzzle up there reminded me of the Kogi tribe documentary we watched.  It looks a quite a lot like their vision of their Goddess, the one who made the Earth and the Universe.

The Kogi live in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Bolivia, and started it all, by "all" I mean the interest in the tribes of the Andes and the alto plano.  The tribe's story is told, once again, by the same man who first filmed them in the late 1980's. I went looking for them last year, but couldn't remember what they were called.  Then I found them again!  All I could remember was that the tribe dressed all in white and they said they repeated the tribal stories everyday because they believed that the earth and universe would disappear if they didn't.

 "Aluna", the newer Documentary of the two, is HERE in this link.  The Kogi's story was riveting in the first documentary, and now it's absolutely compelling.  We are running out of time here.

These Indians have known about dark energy, but for centuries.  This nebula (see above) reminds me of the description of the Goddess, Aluna.   The Kogi may not know the modern science of Physics, but they do know about the universe.  Their knowledge of it they could not have gotten anywhere but from where they say they did, from their ancestors who were entrusted with the Knowledge centuries ago.  I am grateful to them to have shared their story, over 36 years ago, with a then young documentary maker from the BBC.  He has gone back to them and followed them on a journey they undertook to try to change the way the Earth was being treated in the land both inside and outside their mountain home.  I'm not sure that the Pachomama Alliance has got anything to do with this group, so be aware.  Just Sayin...

Even Later Still!

Wishing you Kittens and Puppies!

From JigsawBug

More from K

I do wish that you may walk with Beauty all around you.  If it could heal warriors, the Beauty Way can heal you, too.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far.  

Tuesday tails... Mother Dove on nest under the shade patio; the tort report; Sweet Wolfie; Knitting Report UPDATED; Seahorse that imitates seaweed.

Mother Dove, this morning...

The big torts are soaked* and have been let loose in the garden.  These pictures are from summer before last summer... Last summer the snaps are from in front of the garage and not nearly as interesting, artistically.  You know, all cement and cement colored shells.  Very DULL!  Their noted weights are from right after hibernation last week.

* this means that they get put into trays of warmish water, and let drink as much as they like.  They absorb water through their skins at the same time that they drink.  This operation in Tortoise care takes the place of coming out of burrows in the desert in Spring and all piling into big puddles that form when a cloud bursts.

Lucky weighs 9 and a half Pounds
but this little boy, a 23 year old from October 1991, is growing very fast.  He will easily be bigger than his Dad or Mother.  Yes, I finally did the math.

Sweet, Old Brown-eyed Churchy
weighing in at 9 and 7/8th Pounds
approximately 65 years old, give or take

Poko Ono - weight: 10 and 7/8ths Pounds
approximately 56 years old.  She was approx. 23 years old
when we got her from Project Wildlife.  

Baby Torts!

This February.  No weight yet.  I'll weigh them and plug it in.
They are too small to hibernate so we feed them all winter.  They are now out in their little cage in the garden, if they haven't dug out.  We may find other babies out there because a neighbor now has one that came through to HIS garden from ours.

Last but not least, the Wolfie report:

Wolfie has re-learned to whine when he wants anything, and if ignored long enough, he does a tiny growl.  Jazzie did this little growl, too.  I'm not sure how dogs learn this but they certainly do!
HERE IS A PAGE from the Daily Pup that explains what it all means.

I think this sweet, little dog was very suppressed when we got him.  He absolutely did not bark or growl for two weeks - until Halloween - two weeks after he came to our home.  At the pound, the only sound we heard from him at all, was a tiny whine when he looked at the door to the rear of his cage, as if to say, "Please rescue me from these people."  We were offering him treats of dog food and trying to coax him to the wire fence.

At the time, we were alone in the room full of cages, just outside the enclosure where he was being kept, and he obviously wanted someone to come through that door and save him.  This made me think that whomever had previously had possession of his little Self had him de-barked, or taught him not to bark.

Adorable Wolfie, Santa Cruz, 2012

Updated Knitting Report:  Though I thought the left front was finished, it isn't.  I have to decrease for the arm syce.  When it's fully done (!!!!) I'll do a snap.  I'll be casting on for the Right Front tonight tomorrow morning; then there will be a test run of a sleeve, in the round, on hat needles.  Everything depends on what my hands can stand.

A Seahorse at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Little Tricksters

Have a great Evening!

Thankful Thursday

Like Amarante, the "Old Lawman" in the movie, "Milagro Beanfield War",  I'm down for thanking God for letting me live another day. Lol

Here's a nice picture for and after all the DRAMA days like yesterday!  I meant to post it on Valentine's Day but Life, with a capital L, got in the way...

Make it BIG! Some hearts are mine, and some, obviously, belong to others.

Did I post this on Valentine's Day?  I can't remember anything anymore, or more popularly spoken, I suffer from CRS Syndrome, now.  I caught it after the knee surgery.  And they told me it would go away, humph!

But, back to Thankfulness!  I'm thankful that of all the things I've lost one of them wasn't my mind!

See you for friday5 and FMF.  I will also put the non offensive - it wasn't it's fault - button back in the side bar.

Yes, I'm still knitting each day, and thankfully, the left front is now almost complete.  The pattern is so easy now but I'm not taking the back apart and re-doing the booboos.  They aren't too bad - you know, from the back of a speeding horse at 40 yards they won't be apparent.  I think that is an  Elizabeth Zimmermannism.

Tuesday Tails, Pretty flowers, Wolfie's raincoat, Knitting progress

Rho sent some cuter than cute dogs, and some cats, sleeping.  So,here, for your delight, I present a couple, or three, or maybe four?  Enjoy!

Protecting his food supply

Double Decker

Triple Decker

Doggie Yoga: Pretzel Pose

And of course, Wolfie, sleeping.   He turned his back on me because I had put his raincoat on him for a Photo-Op.

He does not like his Raincoat, but tolerates it because, being a feral dog who can grow extremely long, curly body hair, he remembers what it was like to be out in the rain and wet for days on end.  This, while all the hours of the day trying to convince humans to give him something to eat.  He must have been quite a sight, looking like a walking, matted, mohair wool snarl and smelling just as bad.  This wee fellow doesn't even want so much as a mist falling upon his back, and he'll not even  step one foot into a puddle.  Wolfie no longer does this but he used to lick dew off the long grass.

He hates rain and all it's permutations!

An amazing guy we know sent some flower snaps from the Rhodie garden he and his wife volunteer garden at.  The Rhododendrons and Azaleas and other spring flowers are blooming.  I don't know which this is but it's gorgeous!  Thank you's to Coz!  If you've ever seen "Raising Arizona", and watched the Biker slam to a stop to pick a flower growing in the middle of the road, you know how delightful any guy's love of the beauty of flowers can be to a female of the species.

Make it BIG and dive in!

And, some other pretty harbingers of Spring
from the same garden, same Photographer.

And a Rose from my sister's garden complex

This picture is somewhat diminished by
"Photographer's Thumb" Syndrome.
Mine, Oooops!

And, Tiny succulent blossoms from the Itty Bitty Crowd.

Teensy Succulent not sure of the type

Well, this is a real Cactus, Beaver's Tail, I thought.
Now I'm just not sure!

All the succulents and Bromies are blooming, but you've seen them enough already! Ad nauseam!  These are new.

Knitting progress...
One thing I won't present, ad nauseam, is the knitting of sweaters.  When I get each piece done, with the Fran's Ten Minute Rule, I'll post it.  After today that is....

The pink left front of Stardust, so far:

When it's off the needles, and I've started the right front, I'll post again about knitting.  It won't be long since it's a short cardi.

Have a great week!

Thankful Thursday.. Knitting, Surf, and Accidental Art!

I'm so very thankful that I was around when fran was still alive, and that she gave such good advice to all the readers at Knitter's Review (Somewhere in the side bar is another link to this wonderful place).

Knowing her rule- Fran's 10 Minute Rule - and taking it seriously, I've now got four whole rows (38 stitches, down to 36) on the left front pattern part) just in the last two little ten minute sessions.  It's inching along but it's Moooooving!

Surf.  I could watch surf for hours and hours, and it would be bliss!

Source

And the happy accident of Accidental Art.  This happened two days ago when I was attempting to take a picture with the hail stones through the slider glass.  This is a small portion of a phone cam shot.  I think it's very lovely, soft and "painterly".

Make this big to see how two layers of glass effected the focus.

Take your joy where you can.  The world, meaning that which is created by Man, if fairly stingy about supplying "Joy".  We who are trying to heal from the damage caused by all the malfeasance of humans, can find our tiny joys where we may.  Let's keep sharing them, too.

Baby, It's cold outside by the Great Lakes.....

Terrible Beauty
Source

Wendy, you can appreciate this, I am sure.  Brrrr!

Everyone:  I apologize for being so slow to return visit your blogs.  I've just finished knitting a hat that I now hate, and it's because it doesn't look right to me.  My hands are complaining about it all, telling me how ungrateful I am that they did all this work and now I don't like it.

Here it is..

This is what it looks like on my head..

Somehow, I think the villain is that models, in the fullness of youth, have SO much hair that they can expand a hat to twice it's normal size.  My dreads have long since been thinned and humbled, so they no longer have what it takes to "full" a hat.

Saturday Nine and Saturday Matinee bit's of knitting blah blah.

Dancing with Myself

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to
 our readers is that we will post 9 questions every

Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!



Saturday 9: Dancing with Myself (1980)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.


1) This song is one of Billy Idol's biggest hits. Can you name another?  "Rebel Yell" and "White Wedding"  They all sound amazingly the same to me now.  I've had enough of Billy Idol's "music".

2) When is the last time you danced around your home?  Just a couple of days ago.  I used to dance around with tiny 6 pound Jazzie all the time but, at 17 pounds, Wolfie is just too heavy.

3) In this song, Billy says he dances with his own reflection. Is there a mirror in the room you're in right now? Not in this room.

4) "Dancing with Myself" is also the name of Billy Idol's 2014 autobiography. Let's say you're going to write your life story. What do you title it?  Following the Rough Road to Enlightenment

5) This month, Billy resumes his 2014-15 concert tour in New Orleans. Have you ever been to Louisiana?  No, never, though I've wanted to see the swamps, and have a chance to search for a
the probably extinct Ivory billed woodpecker.

6) In 1980, when "Dancing with Myself" was first popular, VHS players were all the rage. Do you still have yours?  Yes.  We have a lot of tapes still.

7) In 1980, The Love Boat was getting good ratings. Have you ever taken a cruise?  No.  I've water skied on Lake Mead though.  More fun!

8) Sally Field won her first Oscar in 1980 for the movie Norma Rae. Five years later she won a second Oscar for Places in the Heart and delivered one of the most quoted acceptance speeches in Academy history. Do you remember what she said?  I remember that she was awe struck and said, "You like me!  You really like me!".  She's just an adorable little gal.  Of course we liked her.

9) In 1980, People magazine named Stephen King one of the most intriguing people of the year because he had two big paperback bestsellers -- The Dead Zone and The Shining. Do you have a favorite Stephen King book?  I liked his short story, "Lawn mower man".. Everything else was just too strange for me.  Middle Earth Meets Psycho.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!


Saturday Matinee

Anyone looking for an alternative to run of the mill Christmas movies might want to check out this one.  It's an adaptation of a stage play, and called, "We're No Angels"

Little kids won't get it, and it's not from Disney, but it's set up like a stage play and it hilarious. Guess what's in the little box in the middle.

We watched tonight after trotting off to the vet with Wolfie to have his peeper checked.

Wolfie report: All is well. He has a severely dry eye and we have to watch it.. and hold him down for a drop in it twice a day.  We have been feeding him a little too much so he has a bound to drop.  More maniac runs on the beach would surely help but San Diego's beaches are off limits to dogs a lot of the time.  It's fine to take them at the crack of dawn though!  I love Santa Cruz for yet another reason!

I've almost knit the hat.  I might run out of yarn but it would be very fitting for a hat that - apparently- didn't really want to be knit in the first place, as it's fought me every inch of the way!  I'm off tomorrow on a quest to find left over Christmas cards-we waited rather late on this- and a pair of the fattest double points I'll have ever seen,  - 13mm's.  Pictures tomorrow.  They're on the camera but I forgot to upload them!  It has been a busy day with some snags of chrismas junk from Tuesday Morning.  DH said no to the tin lanterns, DAM!

Ok. good night!  I'm nearly blind at this time of night on a tiny
screen,  typos are not uncommon on these two memes, eh?
Love you all!  It's the meds by ow but the sentiment is always there....hehehe