For the love of GOD...

...just for ONCE could we be like the Repubs? Could we make a plan and stick with it? Can we have consistent messaging? Can we rein in our rogues who think it's fine to just blather away without regard to the fallout from their word-vomit? 

I'm so over the Dems getting thisclose to something and then blowing themselves up. We are going to be fine. Fine, I tell you. Because we outnumber them. We are angry. We are passionate about human rights, and we do NOT want to be ruled by a king. Or a madman. 

Get out, check your registration, and vote. Work the polls, become an election judge, work for a candidate. Write postcards. Show up for candidate forums. Join the League of Women Voters (it's not just for women) -- a grassroots organization which empowers voters and specializes in voter education and registration. While the tagline says "defending democracy," it's the idea that this country was founded as a democratic republic, not to be ruled over but to have a participatory government of, for, and by the people. 

Is it perfect, this democratic republic? Nope. But is it better than a fascist country run by a dictator? Um, yeah...especially for women and those who are not conforming to the "white guys rule everything" scenario that's been our lot for far too many generations. 

Women especially: If you haven't looked up Project 2025, do it now. Read it. Because the MAGA whack-jobs that want to put a demented orange fart into the most powerful (thanks SCOTUS, we wanted to get AWAY from a king...) position in the world, and while they're at it, they want to strip everyone of their rights, get rid of a free press, and allow a president to act with impunity. They plan to use the Comstock Act to restrict our rights to our own reproductive freedom. This act was made law in 1873. Quoting Bette Davis in her memorable film Jezebel, "EIGHTEEN SEVENTY THREE, dumpling!"

And it gets worse from there. It's time to get up off your butt and be that change. This is NOT the year to figure that "someone else" is going to do something. You know what? WE are "someone else" here. 

The Knitting...

I bit the bullet. I am currently knitting an Emotional Support Chicken, the latest knitting craze. I'm not a "craze" kind of person, but this one? I think maybe I need one. In any event, I'm making them for Xmas gifts. 

I have a bunch of yarn that I had stashed from making all the baby stuff, mostly Encore Worsted, which is what this chicken calls for. You can do just about anything - any color combo, any arrangement of the colors of the yarn in the different parts of the chicken. All you have to know is short rows - or wrap + turn. There are a LOT of w+t parts here. 

The above is just a bit of my Encore leftovers. Though I did buy the pink variegated and the red sparkly. I need the red for the comb & wattle, and the pink is for one of the gift chickens. I have safety eyes coming from Amazon. And I'm now kind of sad that I got rid of a boat-load of Polyfil because each chicken takes about a pound and a bit. 

My first impression was that I should have been paying attention. I ended up grabbing some grey worsted, but it wasn't worsted. It came from my friend's stash, and was going to make a nice base color - except that it was bulky. And I started knitting anyway. I wasn't quite paying attention to how you attach both sides of the tail bits, so that got frogged. I figured it out as I was trying to pick up and knit on the long side - which didn't look very long. Duh. So I decided, since I also don't have as much of that bulky grey as I thought I had, that this chicken was going to be more pink variegated. I'm doing the part from the body to the neck in the pink. Then instead of stripes at the neck, we'll switch to the grey for the head. 

It's going to be as big as a regular chicken, to be honest. The pattern is written clearly, and there's a really comprehensive tutorial on YouTube that I've been working with as I move through each section of the pattern. 

Knitting hurts... After I finished that beaded Qiviut cowl, I knew I had "over-knitted" on the left hand. It's always had a tad bit less strength than the right one - not because I'm dominant in the right hand, but because the thumb fusion causes me to use my hand slightly differently than I would if the thumb was fully mobile. 

I ended up going back to Dr. Mass, who put both my hands back together, and thankfully, I caught him between retirements... I ended up with a Kenalog shot - basically thick steroids that usually last longer than cortisone. If this doesn't help (and knock wood, so far it has), I need an MRI and he said, "we'll see what's going on."

Funny story (well, it wasn't funny at the time): I had had a cortisone shot (which I believe I talked about here) about 3 months before this, and the doctor at that time said I was "very brave," but yeah - you're sticking a needle into my VERY numbed hand. It's easy enough to sit still. 

Dr. Mass doesn't do numbing. Yes, he is actually THAT good, but his assistant/intern handed him the wrong needle. We went thru the whole shot thing, and no Kenalog was coming out. It's very viscous and takes a larger needle (sorry - I'm just as squeamish and I lived to tell about it!). He hands the needle back to his assistant, and says, "get me the bigger one." Apologizes to me, fusses at the intern, and gets the bigger needle. And does it all again. With no lidocaine and a LOT of Lamaze breathing. I felt it going in. I mean, like felt it spreading into the area he was aiming the needle into. I told the intern that he was not getting Xmas cookies... There was also a lot of ice and liberal use of compression gloves. Tommy Copper for the win, I have to say. So far, it's been doing its job and I'm not swelled as bad as I was. I can at least sleep in peace, use my hand mostly as normal for my yoga practice, and I can knit for a reasonable amount of time without pain. 

It occasionally comes back, but not as bad. And then I set the knitting aside and read a book. You really have to do that. Hand health is a thing. I do regular hand yoga and I make sure that I stop what I'm doing periodically and get up and stretch, flex and extend my fingers, make a fist and let go, and rotate my shoulders. It all helps. Set a timer if you have to, to make sure that you set aside your keyboard, put aside your needles, or whatever you need to do to make sure you give your hands a rest. 

The BlendJet Saga...

Ok, so this is such a First World problem. But it was an issue and I had to get obnoxious. Shocking, I know. 

Last November(ish), I bought two BlendJet blenders. One for my friend J in a Minnie Mouse design, and one for me, in a garnet red design. Gave J her blender and then got an email that the blenders "may" be under a Consumer Protection Agency recall due to a safety issue. So we checked our serial numbers, and yes, they were. I sent them both back as per their instructions. And waited. 

I did ask them to replace J's unit with a matching one, since it was a gift, and about 3 weeks later, she got her base back. 

Not me. First, they had "supply chain issues," which was a common excuse post-Covid. Then it was "first in, first out" - which I thought I was since it was literally 2 days after the recall notice that I sent the forms in saying our units were under the serial numbers listed. I sent them in not a week after receiving the notice. 

Months went by. Months with no communication, and only 1 more email saying, "We understand, but you'll get yours when we get to you." I looked at Facebook and found a BlendJet group where I found I wasn't the only one left hanging. 

Cut to June. Seriously, 6 months. To get a base for a blender. I wrote an email. It was quite a scorcher, in which I asked them to either replace the entire unit or give me a refund so I could go buy a Ninja, which seemed to have far fewer problems and better customer service. I told them that if they just left us all hanging, they'd experience just the drop in customer service ratings as they had and that they essentially did it to themselves. 

I got an email back saying that they apologized, and "knew that you were anxious to start blending again," and lo and behold... 2 weeks later, I had a brand new blender lid and base -- in the lovely Galaxy color, since the ruby red was out of stock... I think if they'd have sent me ANYTHING at that point, I'd have been shocked. And there were additional concerns that people had expressed that, once they got their replacement bases, the entire unit still didn't work. 

Luckily, mine works. I keep it at the office so that I can do a quick breakfast shake or lunch shake when I don't want to have a heavy lunch. 

I have a perfectly fine VitaMix (refurbished) at home, but it's clunky and hard to clean. And for some reason, I haven't been on the usual vegetable smoothie kick. I need to get back to making a batch of smoothies so that I don't have to fuss a lot. But for now, the BlendJet is doing nicely. The point is, that since I'm not making batches of smoothies, the big blender is a pain for just one breakfast smoothie. I was in the habit of making 4-6 servings and consuming them during the course of a week. But when I started doing singles, the "shaker jar" was ok, till I wanted to add more bulk to the smoothies. Then, the shakers just weren't powerful enough. I thought the BlendJet would work, and so far it has. Recall aside!

Mind you, I didn't swear or threaten in my email. I just gave them a lesson in customer service and used a healthy dose of snark. Worked for me!

The Garden...

Well. The wildflower garden is succeeding beyond my wildest dreams! The three different varieties of lavender are spectacular. I can't smell a thing, but every bee in the neighborhood has found our house. The coneflowers, Prairie Blazing Star, chives (that we let go to flowers) and the hanging baskets have all provided a haven for bees -- and my SECOND batch of caterpillars on the parsley. The black swallowtails are visiting their abundant "nursery" and laying more eggs. As I was taking pictures tonight, there must've been 6 or 8 bumblebees whizzing past and around me as if to say, "excuse me, I have a flower I need to get to!" as they swarmed around the lavender and the chives. They seem to have left the coneflowers to the butterflies, but they do enjoy the purple salvia too!

I've been out with the "big camera" - the 35mm Canon Rebel - and taking some pictures and having a blast refining my ability to play with depth of field. It was quite rusty - or *I* was quite rusty, but somehow, it's all falling into place this time. I have to do some judicious editing - cropping and expanding to get the full picture of the bees, but I do have some great shots. 

We had a storm blow up. And I mean BLOW up. I had gotten up for work, and was sitting in my chair near the picture window. It didn't seem right, though, and I looked outside. It was like it was 9:15 p.m. outside. I took a few quick snaps with my phone, but they looked "normal" since my phone has pretty much automated settings in the camera app. 

I brought out the Canon and this is what I saw - which is what my eyeballs saw... Yeah. Luckily, it was
just black, and not green. Those of us in Tornado Alley know the difference. The temperature dropped a good fifteen degrees, and while I was in my bathrobe (drives Hubby nuts, but I'm more covered than most people are...), I felt the first big raindrops. 

I know this looks like a black blob - but blow it up and you'll see how dramatic it was. The "edge" on the right is my white gutter. 

The rain and wind came fast and furious. The streets flooded, the water had whitecaps as it rolled down the street. I thought we'd lose the hanging baskets and hummingbird feeders. And the garden flags were definitely horizontal on their flag stands. And then the hail came. At least dime-sized. 

But thankfully, it eased up in about an hour and I was able to get to work. It rained all day off and on that day and the streets at my office did the same thing - it was a pretty good soaking rain, which we needed, but it would've been nice without it looking like the sky was falling. 

For those NOT in Tornado Alley, when the sky turns green - and we're talking "split pea and ham soup" green, with that yellow-ish cast, and the air gets still and the hair on your arms starts to stand up -- you're about to get hit by a tornado, so you need to take cover. A blue-black sky is simply Mother Nature having a ginormous hissy fit. 

Random Picture...

This is our first 4th with no doggos. I'm sad. And I do want another one - which is strange. But I do. But I'm glad, listening to the neighborhood pyromaniacs, that we don't have one right now. 

The neighborhood is hopping, though I know it'll be worse tomorrow - probably all day tomorrow. 

These same people will scream bloody murder at the cost of gas and the cost of groceries. They'll blame Biden and the Dems for jacking up prices, instead of handing it back to the big corporations who are gouging prices and getting away with that AND not paying their fair share of taxes. But they're blowing up hundreds of dollars. Seems like their priorities are a bit ... off. 

Anyway, I had a late night - or early morning - last week. We had a film crew out shooting at the church. I was the "onsite coordinator," which wasn't necessarily on my career radar, but hey - I'm a Liberal Arts graduate, I can do anything. 

The crew needed night shots, so they started at 4 p.m. and went ostensibly till midnight, but they ran over, as one does in the movie business. I got up out of my chair around midnight to see how the boys were doing, and they were doing the final outside shots. I took this picture of our church, as it was all lit up from the inside. We have a beautiful building, and you can feel the history in it. It's a magical place. 

They were extraordinarily thankful and respectful of our space. When they were outside in the front, all the lights were turned the way they were needed and a few of the crew were maybe a bit louder than normal for midnight, and the producer said, "Hey, this is a neighborhood and people are sleeping!" They quieted right down and got down to business. 

The director said they'd be another "little bit," which turned out to be closer to 2 a.m. They were all standing outside in their hoodies and freezing, and I'm standing there in shorts and a shirt, since it's a lovely 68 degrees outside. I don't know what they were feeling, but seeing as they were from north of Chicago, I was a little perplexed. 

After we cleaned up the church (I helped because it was just easier), I left about 2:30 a.m. and got home at 2:45 a.m. It's not uncommon for Hubby to get up at 3 a.m. to get into the office at 4 a.m. -- so I honestly thought I'd run into him coming out to go to work! Needless to say, I took the next day off. 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the preview of the movie, and when I can share, I will do so. This isn't our first go-round with the film industry, and we're happy to be the site for films as long as they're respectful of our space and our neighborhood. 

Bit by Bit and Piece by Piece...

...just about sums up my approach to cleaning the house. 

Yes, I know. It's only Hubby and me. And 3 large hairy beasts (the dogs, a/k/a "The Girls"). And the occasional Kid who comes back. But only for a visit. 

Except now, Kid #2 is moving and is "temporarily storing" some stuff in our already-overflowing basement. 

Kid #1 has already informed me that, upon our demise, he's putting a large dumpster out in the front yard and sticking a "For Sale As Is" sign in the yard. Lest you think he's joking? He's not. And please - don't misunderstand. We're hardly in the category of "hoarders." It's not as clean as my mother or grandmother would want it, but it's not "Let's call the health department" bad. 

So today, after a couple hours at work, I tackled my Aunt Mary's sewing machine, a cabinet model that used to be the table for Arlo the now-dead canary. He moved from Aunt Mary's to the front window daily. So I also did his front window table. I also dusted the bookshelf and rearranged some stuff, dusted pictures, and lit a candle for a friend's daughter who's having surgery. 

The stuff on the sewing machine has been disbursed to various other locations, including the back room. Which, of course, is where Kid #2 is storing MORE of his stuff... (sigh).

Rocks in My Head...

So I went to the gem/rock show this weekend. As I may NOT have mentioned -- in my new job, my office is next to the X-ray room. Now, I'm not superstitious. But I don't want to glow; nor do I want to wear a lead apron all day! 

There are some rocks and crystals which, because of their properties, do protect against EMF. So I went looking. I bought a few pendants, and I have some to set on my desk. As you can see, I have a nice haul here. I had already had a bunch of tumbled amethyst. But I added a few nice ones to my stash. 

Crystals and stones are used in alternative healing, as meditation devices, and there are even people who "infuse essential oils with the power of crystals." Now, that's a step too far for me. My Young Living Essential Oils are pure enough, thanks!

The Rock Guy said to me, "Oh, there's black tourmaline (I knew that one), and hematite (ditto), and then there's shungite - the hottest thing out of Russia."

You mean aside from Nectarine Nemesis and his kid?? No, seriously - I had heard of the properties of shungite, and I found a few really pretty examples, so I got them. As far as EMF protection, the kyanite is also on the same order and it comes in a couple of different colors. I love black stones, and I love clear quartz. I also found a nice chunk of Iolite, a "water stone." 

I also couldn't pass up the lovely jade rock, nor the tumbled and ever-so-slightly faceted garnet. 

I did buy 2 rough stones for meditation, to put by my little Buddha. So, right in front of Buddha, on the left, is a cluster of citrine. Right - the November birthstone that's usually depicted as (so says Hubby) "urine yellow." It can actually range from nearly clear to a deep brown. This, even though it's hard to see, is a rich orange/rust. He couldn't believe it. And next to that is a rough green opal. 

On either side are the rocks from Lake Michigan. They're similar to the kinds of rocks we'll be painting at the studio for our "Yoga and Peace Rocks" workshop. I got a little bit of a head start on that with a painting project (see below). What I like about one of the rocks here is that, even though you can't see it - on the rock at the farthest left point? There's a heart-shaped lighter area. That was one I spotted right away and couldn't wait to grab it up and bring it home. I don't even care about the geological properties. I just think it's really neat. 

Peace Rocks...

I don't know if you've noticed them in your area, but around here, we're seeing "peace rocks" or "kindness rocks" around the trails. There's a local organization that's coordinating painting dates and you take your rocks home after they've sprayed them - and drop them where you want to. Usually, it's on the trails so someone else can find them and take the word or words to heart. And then they pass them on. 

Naive? Maybe. But it brings a smile to your face, and Heaven knows we can use more of that. And who knows? Kindness ripples. It's gotta start somewhere. 

So in August, we're going to hold a workshop. I'll lead the students in a short yoga practice (just some really basic stretches), a Metta meditation - which is lovingkindness, and then we set up to paint. Renee and Joy will bring both shale-type rocks and river rocks. And some will be pre-painted with a base color, so that all we need to do is use permanent markers and/or paints to write or draw what we want on them. They have a little "short affirmations" book that you can use to draw some quotes from, and obviously - small rocks, so small quotes! 

One of my students says she's already found a rock. She picked it up and placed it somewhere else. 

That's the idea. Simple. Perhaps incredibly naive, given what's going on in the world and especially in this country. But we have to make ourselves more mindful. We have to make ourselves more civil. One representative in Illinois is proposing "National Civility Day."

Oy... Everyone: news flash.... Be a nice human. That should cover it. 

Orchids...

I have twice been given orchid plants. One is in the studio, and it's having a bit of a rough go. I may have to move it, because it might be too warm where it is. This one is the one I had in my old office. I just repotted it today. I had to buy the orchid mix online because all we get around here is the soil - and I prefer to pot them in bark. I stick a couple ice cubes in there about once a week or so, and then we're good to go. I know that some folks put them on a large tray with pea gravel and keep it wet - "constant humidity" they say. In my experience, it doesn't matter one way or the other. It's mostly temperature, remembering to water it and having good growing medium. 

So this one is sitting on Aunt Mary's sewing chest, because the instructions recommended letting it be in a little less light for a few days. We'll see how this goes. But it looks lovely, doesn't it? 

This is really 2 pots in one. Each are stand-alone, but I noticed that the darker brown plastic one, which has holes in the bottom, fit nicely inside the copper-ish one, which is advertised as an "orchid pot." But with no drain holes. Together, though - they make one very nice container. As I recall, this is a white one. The stalk, though you can't see it, has another shoot on the end of it. We'll see if it blooms again. The one in the studio did re-bloom, so I wonder if it needs fresh bark. I'll be bringing it home and hopefully getting it freshened up. Maybe that'll give it a boost. Need to dig out Orchids for Dummies to see what's going on.

Knitting...

So you see it's a heel, and you see the gusset there. I'm liking it. Just a few more rows till I can just whip along on the foot. 

I haven't done anything with the sweater, which is fine right now. It's going to move along quickly - at least this body section. The sleeves may be interesting, but I don't know. It's been a long, long time since I did sleeves, especially set-in sleeves. These are also 3/4 length. And I'm the queen of short arms - so Heaven only knows what I'll have to do to finagle them. They "bell" out with the lace, so I'd prefer to keep them at the 3/4 length. 

I've been drooling over some shawls and shawlettes. I have some lovely sock yarn - fingering weight - that I really don't want to use for socks. I have a mulberry silk blend that - really -- I do not want to stick in a shoe! It's in an amethyst color-way with shades of blue, so if I do this right, and can find both a simple + complex enough pattern? Beautiful biggish scarf/shawlette thingie. I'd like to find something solid bodied, with a lace edge because I'm afraid that if the yarn flows like I think it will, the lace will muddle the color, or the other way round. It'll be too busy. 

For what I paid for the yarn, I want it to be the star of the show. I have 3 of those skeins (different colors and different dyers) - just so gorgeous that you don't want to make a pair of, let's face it, "disposable" items like socks. 

I also want to do a little "medicine bag" for my other loose stones. I'm going to see if I have more of Sonda's blue/white hand-dyed. I did a hat with that, even though it was fingering-weight (socks). It's a very light hat, and not suitable for heavy winter weather. But it's a nice one for Fall and early winter. I made a mala bag out of some of the leftover, and I think I may have enough for a medicine bag for the stones. 

Reading...

As always, re-reading the classics! So I was griping about Murder on the Church Council. And the ending was not cool. I mean, it made sense. But it was like, read-read-read, story-story-story and then, "Oh my God, we have to END this sucker" and BOOM! Denoument and over. What??

And seriously, as crazy as it may seem, the typos and inconsistencies bothered my enjoyment(?) of the book. 

So in between reading a book on the Episcopal Church, I started re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird. I want to see how they sanitized the movie. If you read it, Go Set A Watchman, the "missing" Harper Lee book, had Atticus as quite the racist. And that was purportedly the first draft of Mockingbird. And the movie? 

Well, Gregory Peck. Even though he was an incredibly versatile actor, I wonder if he wanted to be best-known for a role in which he was a virulent racist? 

I don't know, but much like Hitchcock's Suspicion - they changed the original ending because Cary Grant couldn't be seen as a villain. The original ending was purported to have had him killing off Joan Fontaine. But the ending was changed by studio bosses. 

I read that Cary Grant REALLY wanted to kill off Joan Fontaine, because he was tired of "always" being the good guy. But the studio didn't want to mess with his pristine reputation as the hero. 

And I don't know - maybe Gregory Peck said, "Let me do this - I have the chops and I need to do it." Maybe - it could happen - he said, "No, let's clean this up a bit." I haven't seen anything to lead me to believe anything either way. It's just a thought because I know that the book is never like the movie. 

But I have a theory. Everyone should re-read the things they read in high school English class, when they've got some living and some years behind them. That's the only way really (unless you were born an English teacher) to really appreciate what you read when you were a teenager. Even if you loved them the first time - read them again. 

You'll have a whole new experience when you do. 

Random Picture...

Where I went for the rock painting project was at a park. I had some time, since I had put the wrong time on my calendar and I was a whole hour early. It was ok - I had a book, though I wish I had brought my knitting! So I read and I sat. Turns out that I was in the wrong section of the park anyway, which I figured out about 10 minutes before it was supposed to start.

I found them. But in the meantime, I got this shot of the little lake there. People were fishing, and some folks were walking around the path. I have no idea what kind of fish are in there, though I suspect perch. 

It was a pleasant evening for nearly-August. Actually, it was nippy! At least for us in summer. The breeze ruffled the water, and the willow tree was skimming the surface. 

I didn't see any little fishes breaking the surface, but that's ok. I was more intent on framing a decent shot in the fading light. I only had my phone with me, so this is the best I could do.