This Just In...

...I'm knitting again. 

Well, it's been quite hectic here, and because of a few things that went a tad pear-shaped, I hurt my left thumb. Not badly, but enough so that I didn't want to practice for the upcoming Christmas service, nor knit. 

But I'm back. Finally. I'm almost 6" into the foot of the second blue striped sock, and so of course, I set aside the shawl and the sock and started...another sock. 

This was in time-out. For about 3 years now. I was nearly done with the first sock with this yarn, back when I was doing the iron infusions (that would be FOUR years ago, actually). When the nurse called me, for some idiotic reason, the yarn slipped right off one needle and raveled irretrievably. It was a ribbed sock. I mean, I was truly about 6 rows from the toe decrease. 

I was so upset that I frogged it and set it aside. For a long, long time. So of course, I started again. This time, I'm using size 1 needles, which is a bit different, but I think the yarn can take it. I'll know in about 2" or so. The yarn is Lorna's Laces in the colorway St. Charles. It's so "fall" that it just about smells of pumpkin spice. As I recall, it whorls around nicely with the colors. I'm doing a 2x2 rib on the cuff, and then a 6x3 rib on the leg. I've cast on 72, figuring that with a size 1, I needed the circumference without stretching too much. 

Will try a new heel, maybe. Not sure. Maybe Eye of Partridge or maybe I'll take a fly at the Strong Heel again. I don't know. I'm very attached to my double-knitted heel. It wears well and it's almost where I can do it in my sleep. 

My goal is to be able to knit a pair of socks on auto-pilot. I'd love to have that skill in my bag. I'm quite close. Maybe a few more pair.

The Theatre...

Why do production folks feel compelled, in an acoustically perfect environment, to crank it up to about 40??

My sister and I took my mom to the Paramount Theatre in Aurora to see "Million Dollar Quartet." It was a great show. And yeah, I know - rock n' roll is supposed to be loud. But this was pretty darned ridiculous. 

We weren't supposed to take pictures, but I'm such a rebel... The actors were really playing their instruments, which was cool. And the speaking was at the right volume. But the music - the instruments in particular - was wayyyyyyyy too loud. Even my mom, with her hearing aids, was a little blown back in the seat. 

And why is it that short people are ALWAYS seated behind huge guys? Who are then compelled to "bop along" with the music, so you're swaying back and forth like a crazed pendulum just to see the show. 

I enjoyed the play, all that aside. And the migraine I had... Which wasn't helped by the incredible volume. 

We'll find another show and do that again. Found a great pub to have lunch in, and maybe next year, we won't be dodging raindrops. 

Speaking of acoustics...

Our church hall is getting new windows. These are them. They're actually a 2-part thing. At the very front of the hall, on either side of the front door, the BOTTOM part of the windows is what you see. Which is fine. Otherwise, they'd have had to cut the wall up. 

But this variation is along both sides. It's a nice window, and you can tilt in the bottom part to wash it. 

The contractor and I had a long discussion about politics. He's not extremely conservative, but believes we need to "give him a chance," and I do not. This isn't a job you can "intern" at... And I don't think he's qualified to do what he thinks is "presidential." What he IS qualified to do is just what he's doing. 

Wrecking the country. 

THAT is going quite well. The politics are so corrupt that it's almost unfathomable. This is how a Democratic Republic ends...not necessarily with a bang, but with a whimper from the people who really do care, but are so overwhelmed that they can't function anymore. 

Keep us occupied with the tweets. Keep us occupied with everything scurrilous and heinous that he's doing or has done. That keeps us distracted from the budget just passed which (wait for it...) gives tax breaks to the 1%. And guts Medicare and Medicaid. 

Because, you know, poor and elderly people can just pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Just like he did. With his daddy's money. 

I don't have any answers. But I do know we need them now. 

Don't think they meant this...

So I was in the post office the other day. Of course, it's October, so everything's pink. I'm pretty sure that the placement of the balloons wasn't intentional. 

Or maybe it was. But they distinctly look like bosoms. 

I'm almost certain that, once you see this, you can't un-see it. 

I know they mean well. And for what it's worth, it was my "laugh of the day."

It's Howl-O-Ween...

Tippi entered the contest for Howl-O-Ween, the annual fundraiser for the John Nelsen Moosdog Rescue Foundation. She's got quite a number of votes, and I haven't even put my votes in. This isn't the costume she entered with. This is her at her last visit to Lewis University. Not "last" last... just the most recent one. 

I have to send her paperwork in to TDI. I saw that the vet now has her on the "elderly" vaccination rotation. Thankfully, TDI allows the vets discretion because our vet believes that as dogs get older they can space out the vaccines for distemper and rabies. Which is nice. 

I'm not "anti-vax" but I do worry about the flea protection and heartworm, because I believe that in some instances, it's a toxic overload for the dogs. No matter that it's dosed according to size. 

When Hubby has to tell me, "I've just put flea stuff on, so don't pet them," it bothers me. 

Start my morning...

This is how I start my morning every day. A shot (about 2 oz) of Ningxia Red with a drop of Carrot Vitality oil. It gives me a nice burst of antioxidants and tastes good, too. 

I'm trying something and I'm not sure it's going to work, but I think it's worth a shot. As you know, I get migraines, and I think they've been exacerbated by the braces on my teeth. So perhaps they'll be going away when the braces are done. In the meantime, for several years, on the advice of my neurologist, I've been taking magnesium. Since I'm on a prescription for GERD, which tends to deplete your magnesium levels, I've been doing that, and it's helped to mitigate some of the migraines. 

Well. I've been reading that coconut water is high in magnesium and potassium, which is good for you anyway. It's pricey, but if you shop on sale, you can get these "terra packs" and they last nicely. I buy the unflavored stuff, and I've finally found a brand that I like. So I stick a little bottle in the fridge and drink a couple ounces a day. 

I'm also trying the CORE water; more balanced pH. So far, aside from taste, can't tell the difference...

End my day...

Tonight, I didn't feel like leftovers. So Hubby ate the last of the chili, which is fine with me. It was good chili. I just didn't want it. I'm getting toward the end of my "food tolerance." I can go for long periods of time, and eat the same thing over and over. 

The weather is starting to get more seasonable, so tonight, for the first time this season, I made oat meal. I don't do instant, unless it's an emergency. These are the Old-Fashioned oats. Golden raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon, three slices of candied ginger, diced. And a banana. With a little Montana honey. 

It was pretty good. I have to get some golden flax seed, which I like on oatmeal. Also, sometimes I put in a chopped apple, or some unsweetened applesauce. 

Oh, and I forgot: I stuck some unsweetened coconut on top, and stirred it in. 

That was how I ended my evening, and I'm finishing up my chamomile tea. It's a nice way to just have a "ritual" to signal that the day is done and I can get in my jammies and wind down. 

Sunrise...

So today we had a sub for the doc in the office, and it was my turn to bring muffins. It's been insane, so I didn't bake (which I usually do). I went to Dunkin... Anyway, it was "zero dark:thirty" and the sun was barely up. My new favorite picture spot didn't disappoint. 

This was sunrise. 

Sometimes, in our busyness, we don't stop to look at where we're at and the beauty we're handed each day. Not that I like getting up that early, but on days like this, Mother Nature rewards me. 

Autumn in the Studio...

I took my African Violets home; I have to repot them, and I'll end up lopping them off and re-rooting them. They'll look ragged for a while, and if they survive the lopping off, I will bring them back to the studio. But till then... I have autumn in the studio. 

The color of the salt lamp plays off the baby pumpkins and the yellow/green gourd really well. And it mimics the shape of the ghost pumpkin. The knobby gourd on the middle shelf just adds texture. 

I didn't want to do anything insane for Halloween. I mean, we've only got the Great Pumpkin on the porch, yard flags and the bat wreath on the back door. I should probably have stuck up a few more decorations, but it just didn't feel like it was going to happen. It's not only me...even the folks who usually go all out? This year, they're not. It's a phenomenon I've seen a lot this year. 

We're all hunkering down and trying to get through whatever lunacy is hitting us. 

Random Picture...

So I've been missing a capo or two. I absolutely couldn't find one, and my guitar teacher tore apart his studio. I'm still missing one. As I was reorganizing my office for the zillionth time, I glanced at my Sigma...

Apologies to Clement Moore:... And what to my wondering eyes should appear? 

My capo. On the headstock. Just where I left it. 

One down. One in the bag. Now I have to find the other one. 

I texted the picture to my guitar teacher and said, "Where would YOU expect to find a capo?" He thought it was funny. I'm still looking for the nice slim one. 

Tomorrow: tackle the music bag and the spare guitar case. It's gotta be there somewhere. They don't (usually) just get up and walk away.