Paying It Forward...

We all talk about "paying it forward." At least I hope we do. And we all like to think we're doing our bit to make our society a better place. 

At least I hope we do. 

But here's a guy who's put his wallet where his mouth is:  he paid up some kids' lunches in a local school after hearing about that school in Utah that tossed lunches for kids who had outstanding lunch ticket debt.

I love the comment he made: "These kids need to worry about the grade they get in spelling."

I wonder how many of us will take his lead and do something like this? It doesn't have to be a forever thing. It doesn't have to be EVERY kid... When we help one person, we create a ripple effect. So help one kid and pass this on to a friend. 

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/02/06/houston-man-pays-school-lunch-debts/

I don't normally post entire links, but I found the headline compelling, as I hope you do. If you are fortunate, you should feel easy enough to share your good with others. 

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pass this link on. The good that man did is really beyond compare. No, it's not finding the cure for cancer.

But maybe he helped a kid get lunch and THAT KID might be the one who finds that cure. 

I think I'm going to call our local grade school... we have a school that's pretty poor, and my kids went there - and got an excellent education, by the way! So maybe I can help another kid out...

Knitting...

Cup Cozy

Was going to go with the super-easy-instant-gratification cup cozy today at lunch, but it's been a busy day at work. Suffice to say that I've got about 1" more on it. And about 40 more rows on the Nephew Afghan. I'll be working on that one tonight. 

Sad news at Le Mouton Rouge Knittery... She was robbed! The good news is that they did catch the young man. The bad news is that it happened at all. I hope that the young man wakes up -- he's headed down a very wrong path.

The afghan pic is my "super-lovely yarn bowl." Also known as one of my steel mixing bowls. You can get cutesy, but when you're working with what's essentially "bulky" yarn, you go with efficiency, right? This is the last 2 hanks and honestly, all kidding aside: I want this thing DONE. Where are the Yarn Fairies when you need them???

It's now too big to haul to my knitting group. I think I'll have to suss out one of the Second Socks to finish instead of taking this beast out. I believe I can lay my hands on them. Will look tonight. 

Free Yarn Bowl!

I have set aside the February Lady Sweater. I could bring that to knitting. It would probably help because I believe I'm at the juncture where I might need some expert help. But for right now, maybe a mindless sock is just about all I need. 

Angel...

I will often tell people, "I'll light a candle for you" when they need prayer or good thoughts. In the church we now attend, I can't figure out whether they actually USE the candle section!! And anyway, it's a small spot just inside the door, which to my mind isn't ideal. Heaven knows I don't want to burn the place down! I have never seen it lit, so I don't want to commit a churchy faux pas. 

So I have this angel. I usually will light this up. It's a lovely bit of stained glass I purchased - oh gosh - about 25 years ago?? Maybe more?? I can't remember. But she sits on my bookshelf. I don't use her as a night light. But I do use her as my "prayer light."

It's a little hard to see from this angle, but she has a pearly white body, her wings are all rainbow-y when she's lit or in the light, and her head is a faceted crystal. 

So if you ever need prayers, let me know - and I'll turn on the angel for you. 

Honestly, some folks feel all quibby about "prayers" - because perhaps they are private about their own beliefs; they have no specific church; they're atheists - no matter what. It's just a thing. 

Myself, I've found lately that "you have my prayers" makes me uncomfortable. I feel better telling someone that I'm holding them in my thoughts. 

This little angel is a good way to hold someone in those thoughts. Every time I see her in my home office, I pause and think about someone. 

I have a Himalayan salt candle in my work office. Not only is it good for the air (removing impurities) but it also takes a little tea light, which takes about 4 hours to burn through - I don't have to worry about inadvertently leaving a candle burning when I leave. I light that every day I'm in the office. It serves as a reminder to stop and think of people or even stop and breathe. 

Whatever works - that's the way I feel about it. What are your devices to remember people and acknowledge them? I would be interested to hear about them. 

Weather...

Baby, it's COLD outside!

Yes, it's cold. Yes, this is a cheesy dash-temp shot at 8:44 a.m. today. And yes, we're in for more on Saturday. And of course I work. I worked LAST Saturday and the instructor called the class off. After I got there. But it was actually a good thing I was there, because one of the HVAC units on the roof had fizzled and the back of the campus was about 50*. Great for August. Not so great when it's 1* outside!! 

So this weekend, Saturday will again be the big snow. Well, "will be ANOTHER BIG SNOW" is probably the better way to put it. 

This time, I will check my work e-mail -- last week, I was thinking that our school would cancel classes. Silly me... I also gave the instructor my cell phone number. Hopefully, (a) the class won't be cancelled; or (b) I'll know about it before I drive out there!

I am waiting for the temps to be a tad more... well, temperate! I loaned my cross-country skis to my friend G - she wants to get back into it and I can't ski for crap. I love to snow shoe, and if it gets a little less chilly - i.e. you can breathe without freezing your lungs - perhaps Hubby and I can get out onto one of the easier trails. 

I would do it, by the way, WITHOUT the dogs. I'm still building back my endurance, which may seem strange to you what with all that yoga training. But these heart meds - they're making it harder for me to get my heart rate up (a good thing for arrhythmia but a bad thing when you get chilled outside; it's harder to warm up) and they've sucked my endurance out the window. At least this way, we won't have the Three Beasts dragging us in search of deer. 

In point of exercise, by the way, I have pulled the weighted hula hoop from behind my door. I can only do the thing for about 2 or 3 minutes. But it's also got knobs on the inside, so my ribs feel a bit "pummeled" when I get done. I'm trying to move more and perhaps this will help in the long run. 

And speaking of that, I've renewed my commitment to a "cleaner" diet way of eating. If I use better language, it helps me stay on track!! The reason this is appropriate here is because the "clean-up" involves lots of salads! And it's cold outside. 

I'm craving mac & cheese and butternut squash soup. Not kale salad. But - I went into a comfort-food tailspin this summer and I need to drag myself, kicking and screaming, out of it. 

The worst part is the first part because it's just dumping the sugar. You don't realize how much sugar you really eat! But I'm hanging in there and I know it'll pay off in more energy, better "numbers" during my check-ups and frankly, yeah: I'll weigh a lot less. When I weigh less, I hurt less. Believe me, it's only partly vanity. The other part is just being fed up with hurting. Arthritis - at least at this stage - is a "hidden" ailment. I just hurt. A lot. And it's no fun. 

I mean, I know people have it a lot worse than I do. I can still shovel snow. I can still do a lot of yoga. I can still knit, play guitar, walk without assistance - crikey, I'm VERY lucky. I have all of my original joints. But I want to be better. I want to get back to being able to do stuff with Hubby without him worrying that I'm going to keel over. 

And I'd like to take a Level 2 yoga class - of course I still can't invert, but a nice flow yoga sequence would be good. 

Autherine Lucy...

Autherine Lucy

I found this as part of a FB page I manage. I try to put something up there every day or so on Women's History and today we have a two-fer - Ms. Lucy was the first black student admitted to the University of Alabama. She was expelled because she accused administrators of conspiring in riots. Hers was a court-ordered admittance. She did not go back right away, but later did earn a Master's Degree.

The point of this is that there are "rights" and these rights should not be viewed through the lens of race, the lens of gender, or the lens of anything else you can see. 

Women's rights are essentially HUMAN rights. The recent "anniversary" and sturm-und-drang about Roe v. Wade is OLD NEWS, folks. As Kid #2 asked, "Didn't you fight that fight?" - and he can't see why there's such a determination to overturn a lawful decision of SCOTUS. To be honest, no, I didn't fight that fight. I was in high school. A Catholic high school, to boot. But I have taught the boys to use their brains and to see that really, each person should be able to make his or her own health decisions. When you're part of a couple, it's reasonable to expect that you would certainly discuss this with your partner.

But really - I don't want anyone else in my uterus. 

My personal feeling? (I know y'all are waiting for it...) If you want to overturn a decision of SCOTUS, how'z about that Citizens United ruling? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm??? We get all that Koch Kash out of our elections??? 

There's a thought. 

Random Picture...

This is a card that I bought for a fundraiser for John Nelsen Moosedog Rescue Fund. It's made by Mandy Smithers - Google her, she makes fantastic cards!!

Anway, this is what I plan to do tonight. In between rows of the Nephew Afghan!

I bought a couple of these and used one for a thank-you note for a gift Tippi got from one of our therapy partners. 

Mandy's cards are suitable for any occasion and they're works of art in and of themselves. I'm going to frame the extra one I bought. Pink is Tippi's color. Each dog has her color. Quinn's is red and Raisa's is purple. 

The cards are blank inside for your own sentiment. Help out a woman-owned enterprise if you're interested in some special cards!

Socks From All Angles

My friend Doris tells me there are some FANTASTIC new MadelineTosh sock yarn colors. I may have to dive into that pool, though I have Opel and some Trekker to work on first. 

And she says madtosh Light is better for shawls than the sock yarn; doesn't stretch as much.

Anyway. The Robin's Nest Socks are complete. And modeled here for your pleasure. 

Head-on

Not bad for having photographed them myself. I give myself credit for being a yogi - I'm flexible! I wanted to show various looks at the swirls. And yeah, the decreases on the toes is slightly "elfin." I think I'd like to try a swirled decrease for my next pair. Or maybe just any other decrease. This is a Kitchener grafting, too. Maybe 3-needle bind-off next time? I know a knitter who uses 3-needle bind-offs on all her sweaters. She says it's more comfortable. I'll have to give it a shot on a sock. Not as much to bind off if I don't like it. 

And yeah, my feet are shaped funny; so the elfin thing kinda works! One foot is a full size smaller than the other, which makes shoes interesting. Oh well. None of us are perfectly even on both sides. I can live with it! 

Swirls

This is lovely yarn that was a treat to work with. I think that I didn't need to match the start exactly; it really is close enough. They're definitely clog socks, though. I'm not sure it's as sturdy as the hiking socks. Which reminds me, I don't think I actually took a set of pics with those socks. Will have to add that to my list.

Side view

Like I said, I'd do a "Doris Heel" or maybe the Strong Heel next time. Just because (a) I really like the Doris, which is her version of the Eye of the Partridge Heel with a set of K3 on each end. And (b) I want to have some alternate skills when I'm on this Sock Journey. Helps to learn new stuff. Not that you'd always tell which pattern or whatever I'm using because the yarns are so vastly different. With the Opel, I'm sticking to a fairly straightforward leg; the yarn patterns itself and there's no sense fighting it. After all, you're buying it because of its self-patterning colorway. Why would you put a complex pattern of stitches in there? Kind of over-kill, in my opinion. 

In the midst of the knit-fest, I have to confess that I screwed up a yarn-over on the Chandelier Lace. I have nothing to show you because I frogged it. I was 1" in and I tried to backtrack. That didn't work, and I figured it would be easier on my blood pressure if I just took it all out and started over.

Other side view

And I found something at Hobby Lobby for my student workers. I was going to knit them a scarf each (they're both girls) but I wasn't interested in spending a ton of money. Not because they're  not gems. They are. But because they're students. If the scarf doesn't get left somewhere, it'll be washed and perhaps turned into Barbie clothes. I just want easy, simple yarn that nobody has to think about. I was going for a ribbon/DK kind of match, but then I stumbled upon Paton's Lace with Sequins. 

Heels

They didn't have many colors left. I didn't like the navy or the peach. I don't like knitting with dark colors if I can help it, and the peach was blah. So I ended up with one white and one red. There was a free cowl pattern. One ball each. Done. The cowl is knit in the round on size 4 or 6 needles; I can't remember. But it should go fairly quickly; the yarn does the work and I'm hoping the little bit of mohair won't make me insane. 

Also bought some half-pint canning jars. The ones I have are pints, and that's cool, but the 1/2-pints are good sizes when you have small batches. My friend Sue usually gives me peaches for a French-style soft jam, but never enough for say 3 or 4 pints. I find that the 1/2-pint jars for this type of soft jam are actually better anyway. 

Speaking of jam, I finished the Rosemary (see picture) and yeah, it does have food coloring in it. I was going to leave it plain but it reminded me of the medium you find in petri dishes. Ick. It's worth 3 drops of green. And there's a small sprig of Rosemary in there. 

Rosemary Jelly

I had to re-do the Basil because it didn't jell after 24 hours. It did this time. And I also re-did some Cranberry-Pineapple Jam. That's cooling now. Good thing; it's a sticky one today! 

I'm hoping to maybe do some other savory jellies. I'd love to do a Shallot relish or something like that. I love jams and preserves. Don't like the sugar. 

I have a fairly robust Rosemary plant, so there will be more of that in the future. It's a skimpy recipe (note the head space?) so I could double it and use those nice 1/2-pint jars. There's also a nice garlic and rosemary preserve. Yummmmmmmmm - as a spread on some crunchy bread??