Guinness Book of World Records...

...That's gonna be me. Because I will most certainly beat the "oldest woman still menstruating." 

Here's the thing. Saw the hematologist. Who looks about 12 years old, but is a very nice, intelligent man. I was, however, a little creeped out because he's in a cancer center, and I was surrounded with folks in various stages of treatment. I felt like I was bringing germs into their space...

So the doc says that my case is "easy to fix." The anemia is likely something I was born with, called Thalassemia - an inherited condition from somewhere in the gene pool. It's common, apparently, in both Middle-European and Mediterranean heritages. Often called Mediterranean Anemia. 

Strangely enough, he says that iron infusions are one method that he would use. But according to the Mayo Clinic - one should avoid iron supplements. 

In the meantime (and I didn't know this before I saw him, so now I'm confused) - he says "Take your iron and B-complex; come to see me in a month, because it won't help, and then I can do the iron infusion. That's good for at least a year.

"And it would help if you weren't menstruating." 

Yeah. I know that. Trust me. 

I did The Google and saw that on one website, it states that women "in their 60s" can still be menstruating. 

Shoot me now. I'm 56. I don't want another four years of playing footsie with my hormones. 

The only GOOD thing is that the hematologist says "You will likely never have osteoporosis, since you've still got enough estrogen running through your system to keep your bones healthy." 

But the periods. They're getting old. As am I, I suppose. Hubby will be delirious at the prospect of me having periods for another 4 years. Delirious, I tell you.

Reading...

So, working my way through P.D. James' autobiography - which is a diary she kept for one year. I want to write like her! It's both mundane and soaring in some spots, when she gets her descriptions on. I have to go back and see if I've got her works. They're marvelous mysteries. 

And while I'm at it, a little church-reading... I went to the Episcopal Book Store (online) and found a couple of books to read up on. This one is very nicely done - not overly deep, and with enough information that you end up knowing more than you thought you would. It's nice to have answers to some of the questions. 

And it's nice to see that some of the answers, I already had.

Also catching up on a bunch of Mother Jones magazines. Wondering, if I really do have to reinvent myself yet again, how hard it would be for me to learn to code. As in, learn computer code? Apparently, the US lags far, far behind in educating kids in Code - which may well be the next "second language" we all need to know. 

Hubby, who I thought knew how to do this, says he has no clue, other than some simple HTML stuff he figured out himself. I'm just curious. I mean, I'm not an idiot. What I actually AM, though, is tired of reinvention. 

Maybe that's the secret to Eternal Youth or somesuch concept - but I've already got a resume that most people don't believe, so why add more to it??

I have a couple other books in the queue, so we'll catch up soon enough. 

Knitting...

We have BABY SOCKS! And yeah, my hands are hurting a bit. Wee little socks; 3" cuff and 3" foot, and they're adorable. I still have to work up the courage to start the hat. Then the cardigan.

And I had a brainstorm! Since we have 2 different shades of blue, I want to use both of them. See, the hat and cardigan have snowflakes embroidered on them. And in the picture, it's the same color yarn - they did the entire layette in a color called Bleach. It's a cream-ish white. 

I'm doing these clothing items in Atlantic and the afghan in Ice. So I propose to use Ice to embroider the snowflakes. "Ice." Snowflakes. Whaddaya think?? I kind of like the idea and we'll see how it goes. 


In the meantime, I set aside my striped socks for this yarn, which was calling my name... It's Lorna's Laces, and the colorway is St. Charles. There's a hook here, too.

Anyway, the pattern I'm using is Vanilla Latte, available on Ravelry, and I can't link to it - join Ravelry if you would like the pattern. 

The KAL I'm sort of working on is a "stripes" theme. And I wasn't sure how this would work out, but (a) I'm enamored of the color; and (b) there's a cosmic thing to all of this.

And (c) -- it's freakin' awesome! I love the bold purple stripe. I love the autumnal colors. I love the feel of this yarn. 

And I think it'll work for the KAL by virtue of this wide purple swirl. The orange bracketing it could also qualify as a "stripe" - and if it doesn't, then I don't care. I really like these. 

I did something funky on the cuff; started off at K3, P1, and then went to K2, P2. Then the pattern, which is pretty simple, K6, P2. It's shaping up really nice, except I have to remember to knit the alternate rows! I'm using my row counter, thanks. 

Anyway the "cosmic" angle is that my assistant and I are hoping that, since our campus is being closed, we'll be moved with "the operations" to the new place: the St. Charles Center. See? The YARN is called St. Charles. I found this while I was searching for some TARDIS-colored yarn on the Jimmy Beans website. 

Must be fate. At least that's what I'm telling myself. We should know soon. I hope they don't string us along till December, because that would be cruel. 

Would I like to not have to work? Yeah. Am I going to retire? Nope. It's just the facts. I need to work. At least to keep myself in yarn!

Still Pickled...

Yes, we think we MAY have finished pickling. At least we hope so. The tomatoes are coming in now, so we hope to switch to tomato sauce. 

This weekend, 17 more jars; these are dill (with sugar) and about half are spears, and half are chips. I added some garlic cloves to a few jars, and then 1/4 teaspoon of pre-packaged roasted garlic to some of the chips. We shall see. 

We're pickled out. 

In today's Chicago Tribune FOOD section, there are recipes to freeze your "garden excess" and except for the pesto starters (which have olive oil in them), I think I can do the water bath for the roasted tomato puree. I wouldn't mind doing the pesto starters, if we can find enough basil left in the garden. 

Harvest Moon/Super Moon...

On the way home from yoga on Monday, I was FINALLY able to get the Harvest (or Super) moon. The last few times, we had clouds. 

This is from my phone, so it's not perfect, but it's an amazing image all the same. 

Love the way the moon floats above the clouds and colors them with a light that's both mesmerizing and beautiful. I stopped several times on the 7-minute drive home to catch different angles with the phone. I wish we would have had time to get the telescope out or the nice camera.

But it being Monday and Hubby having to work on Tuesday - that's not conducive to getting out into the country to take a really good shot of this moon. 

It's in my head, though, so I'll remember it. 

Our weather has been slightly nuts. As I type, the clouds are rolling in again. We've had tons of rain and I know that if folks are reading this in certain parts of the world, they may well say, "send it our way." I would if I could! 

I'm supposed to go to a United Way dinner for our Free Clinic. And the Google maps optimistically says "It'll take you 11 minutes to get there." Ha. 

If I take Rt. 80, at anytime after 4 p.m., it's likely it'll be a parking lot. Same with Rt. 55. So I'm taking River Road, which Google says takes "17 minutes." I'm not sure how they figure that, but I'm sure it's with no other cars on the road. 

My phone has Cortana on it, and in spite of the TV commercials, I haven't figured out how to get traffic updates. It translated "Minooka" into "Tim Ocka." So we may have a failure to communicate. I'll check both the weather and the maps again before I leave. 

Random Picture...

Ok, one thing the phone does really well is manipulate pictures. So here's a close-up, cropped of Quinn resting. She twists and hangs her head off the couch and I swear she's going to fall off. But she never does. 

And in a dog update, we had a 3-dog fight yesterday. Which I did not need. 

No blood, thank goodness, but man - they were hard to separate. They confirm what happens in humans: females fight more fiercely and are buggers to stop. 

It started with antlers. They'd been playing with trading of antlers till Raisa decided she wanted the one Tippi had. The one Tippi had and had walked away from. 

Before I could get the 2 steps to them, there was a growl and then a pile-up. Quinn had no dog in the fight, so to speak, but she's never one to let a confrontation escape her. My clipboard was a tool used to avoid getting bitten. My knitting went flying, my notebook went in the other direction. 

I used my COMMAND voice, and finally got Quinn to back off, but Tippi wouldn't do that. Finally threw everyone in their crates for a huge time-out. Luckily, no blood from either the dogs or me! Removed the antlers and then this happened...

This morning, as every morning, the girls get their cow ears. Tippi is usually the last one to finish. 

And I see Raisa eyeballing her. After a shout of "How STUPID are you??" I got her distracted. I know - she's only 1 year old. She's feeling her oats. 

But you don't mess with the big dog. And at this point, I don't mean Tippi. I mean ME. 

Sort of Started...

...another KAL - this one for striped socks. So I have my favorite Opal yarn, another in the Little Prince colorway. And I have my favorite needles. Color is 7767 and dye lot is 822. Let's just say it's festive and bright, and it'll be very pretty. 


And I figured I'd start out with something different, because while I love a plain sock, that's what my last several have been. So I checked out the Vanilla Latte pattern on Ravelry. So you can't get to Ravelry from here, unless you're a member. 

Vanilla Latte Sock

Therefore, here's a picture of what a Vanilla Latte sock looks like. Actually, the sock pattern is more of a "recipe" - you have your choice of cast on, ribbing, size (circumference) and heel. All with suggestions, but then basic construction elements.

I thought, "I'd like to shake this latte up a bit." So I cast on 72 stitches. I know - seems huge. But since Fluro was that size and it fits well, I figured I'd give this a go. Got my usual 6 rows of knitting knocked out and read in the directions, the following:

"If you want a bit more caffeine, knit through the back loops of the knit stitches for a twisted rib."

How hard can that be, right? Well, THIS is now what my Vanilla Latte looks like. First off, I started the rib on Needle 4. And yeah, at that point, I could have just moved the stitch marker, right? Well, that might have caused the earth to tip on its axis. So I thought, "Well how hard can that be? I'll just have one extra row of ribbing." 

Frogged....

Ha. 

Ha again. Somehow, I don't know how -- I ended up ENDING one needle with the K stitches and the next one would have STARTED with the K stitches. That, my knitterly (and non-knitterly) readers, is NOT how ribbing goes. And on top of that, the K through back loop looked weird. So..... THIS --> is what my sock now looks like. 

Yeppers... Frogged. I'm going to let the yarn rest a bit and start again. I'm not all peeved at the screw-up. Screw-ups happen, especially in knitting. I'm not even annoyed that the KAL is from 9/1 - 10/1 -- I have baby knitting due in November. Coincidentally the month the BABY is due. So if I make the KAL, I make it. If I don't? Well, either way, I have socks. And I love socks as a take-along project. It's probably a good idea, given the size of my sock-yarn stash, that I always have a pair on the needles. That or hats...

But let me explain my "oh well" attitude...

Bleeding socks

It's like the Fluro socks. See the bucket here? This is AFTER a 10-minute vinegar+ water soak, a microwaving and steaming to supposedly set the hot pink. After that, you can wash them, but suggestions are made that you should use baby shampoo. 

So, not having babies, I went to the now smoke-less CVS (see below) and purchased a couple of bottles of Burt's Bees baby shampoo. I had forgotten how much I loved the smell!! Anyway, the bucket holds lukewarm water plus the shampoo and socks. 

And look at all the pink. I'm told by a couple of folks who dye yarn, that "eventually" the hot pink won't bleed. But you know what? I'm not really upset about that, either. 

They're socks, people. The most disposable of all knitting projects. I don't have a photo of the "bleeding socks" but I may take one. It's not a huge deal to me. I will know now that I have to vinegar wash all the Fluro colors, and maybe if I did a pattern on the leg and foot, it would have "hidden" the bleeding. 

I would have been more upset had it been a sweater or even a scarf. I can always wear shoes.

Baby Deadline...

So, speaking of the baby deadline, look at the CUTEST sock you'll ever lay eyes on. It's done. Well, the "bootie" part of the layette is 50% completed. 

I will tell you that the cotton, on size 6 needles, is a stinker. The first picture here is while working on the heel flap. You have to tug and tug to get it nice and flat. But then you wonder if you've "overstretched" it. And then you remember (because your hands are now cramping up) that it's COTTON. No worries about stretching, because it doesn't stretch. 

So the KAL mentioned above is an excuse to change up from the unforgiving cotton. And yeah, Fr. Matt will have to bless this thing... 

I'm so sorry, Susan. I'm trying to impart good vibes as I knit this for your baby!! 

Anyway, the bootie took me TWO days. Period. Wowza. Of course, Hubby was kind enough to give me a nice hand massage - that left one (see the death grip on the needle??) really was hurting. 

Turning the heel was a cinch. Just 4 rounds. And the gusset was a piece of cake as well. You can see my notebook - that's the one that I'm committed to only using for baby stuff. That way, I won't be plundering other notebooks for info. 

So since this was a relative breeze, I figure I can just whip the second one out in a few days, then move on to the hat. Then the cardigan. 

And I'm still whirling away on the blanket, too. Fingers (and needles) crossed - this should all be done by the time the little one arrives. 

At first, I thought the cuff was "awfully long" - but upon completion, it looks squishy-adorable when it's cuffed down. And I'm just imagining a chubby baby's little toes in there. 

Now watch. She'll birth a linebacker!

CVS Now Smokeless...

Read it here. Or watch it... CVS is the #2 drugstore in the US. And it just went smokeless. As in: we are not selling tobacco, tobacco products, smokeless tobacco - nothing. 

And in a shameless plug, it's also changing its name to CVS Health. And I'm ok with that. 

I don't smoke, but my dad did. So does my sister. And my mom - who never smoked a day in her life - has emphysema. 

So. I'm actually tickled to see how this will play out. 

Don't Forget...

...when you make a green smoothie and forget it in your office fridge?? Well. Not nice. 

Smelly, explosive, and if it wasn't a good Mason jar, I'd have tossed it. Anyway, I managed to not spew smelly green stuff all over the office kitchen. But not by much! 

So. Write notes! Green smoothies are really, REALLY nasty when they're fermented. 

Just a word to the wise. 

Random Picture...

Wonder who's hoarding all the bones.

Hoarding

Well, you shouldn't. It's Raisa, the bone-hog. She sneaks up and takes them and hoards them. Well, she tried when Tippi was chewing one and in true bone-head husky fashion, she was ignoring the basso profundo growling. I probably should have let Tippi teach her a lesson, but I stopped it in their tracks and shooed Raisa away. 

Till Tippi got tired of it and left it. 

For the Bone Hoarder... 

I'm NOT Kathryn Budig...

...and that's not a complaint (specifically, I guess) - just a fact. 

In just about every issue of Yoga Journal, you can see Ms. Budig, an international figure in the yoga scene, and also a philanthropist. You see her mostly unclothed, except for a pair of Toe Sox. At first, clothed - some of the older ads had her in remarkable poses, and fully clothed. 

Lately, not so much. Actually, once she got to "showing butt crack" my own teacher cancelled her subscription to YJ. 

It sells socks. 

But it also pretty much destroys a normal person's concept of themselves. And yeah, you always try to be strong. But let's face it.

As women, we are bombarded, almost hourly, it seems. We're not good enough; not thin enough; not pretty enough. The fashion mags would have you believe that if you are anywhere near a double-digit size, you're fat. And God help you if you're over a size 10...because now size 12 is considered a "plus" size. 

And Yoga Journal is not immune to that either. For all their preaching of "acceptance" and "living in the moment," their recent cover model was Hilaria Baldwin, and they're calling her an "up and coming yogi." Uh-huh. She's most famous for marrying Alec Baldwin and having a baby. And not in that order. Oh, and crap-loads of "yoga selfies" in the oddest places. 

So YJ does a cover story. And it seems like it's more a fashion shoot. Just as an example, check out her Virabhadrasana III at the left. Yeah. The one in 4" heels on a cobblestone road. Full disclosure: I found this on Google; it's not one of the shots in the magazine. 

To the right, you can see my slightly chubbier, barefoot version - in my back yard. In no way am I saying mine is right and hers is wrong. Many of her poses (when she's not wearing haute couture) are lovely. 

I'm just saying that this isn't promoting a healthy look at yoga. 

First off, there are many of us who are qualified teachers who do NOT look like either of these women. Of course, there are many qualified teachers who DO - and I teach with several of them. 

Second, yoga is meant to be done a certain way, and I'm not being a hide-bound traditionalist stick-in-the-mud. High heels? Really?

As my very wise yoga teacher once said to me, "Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD."

Anyway, there's a backlash to Hilaria et al. Heck, you can barely see a YJ cover featuring a male, much less a realistic look at what a lot of us yogis and yoginis look like. And so I submitted a shot of myself to the FB page "My Real Yoga Body." Check them out. You'll see some awesome yogis and yoginis in every shape and size. And in just about every pose you can imagine. 

Just as it should be. 

I mean, realistically, I'm 56 years old, recovering from some significant health challenges, and I gained back some of the weight I lost. I do find, yes, even in my "wisdom," that things like 'picture perfect' yoginis make me miserable. In fact, the photo of myself up above there makes me miserable. It wasn't what I thought I saw in my head. 

And maybe I need to take that to heart. Didn't some scientist once prove that technically, bumblebees can't fly? They should be, because of their larger bodies and smaller wings, totally unable to fly.

Somehow, the bumblebees never got that message. Maybe that's the message we all need to "not get."

Knitting...

The Fluro socks are done. D-O-N-E. And there's a bit of an issue. They run. I did a 10 minute soak in a vinegar + water bath, then nuked them in a plastic bag for 2 minutes (to help steam and set the color). Then, I swished them with some Burt's Bees baby shampoo to get the vinegar out. 

And they still ran. See the pink? Well, not only did it run in the basin, but some of the hot pink ran into the green. 

Does it annoy me? Yeah. Will it continue? Yeah. But it won't continue to annoy me. 


They're socks. Frankly, had this been a scarf, a shawl, or a sweater?

I'd be spitting stitch markers. 

But they're socks. Wear 'em out and move on.

That's the point of socks. 

Speaking of which, here's a picture of the itty-bitty bootie!! I got the Atlantic colorway in, and started on the booties. I'm at just about 3" for the cuff and then I can turn the heel. 

Yes, knitting a "newborn" size layette will likely bite me in the rear end. But at least the baby can use the blanket till it falls apart. 

The booties are on size 6 DPNs and in the same yarn: Rowan Handknit 100% cotton. 

So far, no frogging or cursing. Check with me when I get to the toe...

Yes, I still have to do a few rows on the Teal Monster, but I wanted to get a jump on the baby layette. The baby has a deadline. The Teal Sock has not. 

This is what I've spent my afternoon on. This morning we took a bike ride, and did a little over 6 miles. 

The headwind was a stinker, but the overcast really helped, since it was a prairie path with no trees. 

Labor Day...

Hubby has been laboring in the "Room of Doom" - which is what he's taken to calling Kid #2's room. Since he's procrastinating, we decided to start boxing his stuff up. We'll give the walls a scrubbing (he likes candles) and then probably repaint it. 

Also have to figure out if we want a ceiling fan in there or just a light fixture. I changed out the nasty ceiling fan in Kid #1's room (was there when we moved in) and just have a light fixture. It's enough, especially with central air. There's a stand fan if I need it. And I usually don't. 

And yes, we still have more pickles. Probably just one more batch. That'll be later on this week. Hopefully they'll hold out till my next day off, but you never can tell. 

Random Picture...

And this is how Raisa & Quinn are spending "Lazy Day." Didn't you know that EVERY day is "lazy day" for dogs? In our house it is! 

Raisa will be going to the vet on Tuesday; we think she's got a tummy upset, but you'd have to really pay attention to notice. She's her usual bouncy self, except for a few accidents in the house. She's about 3 days from being 1 year old, so that's not normal. 

We shall see what the vet says. We did a blood panel, and they're checking for Cushing's though it's doubtful in a young dog. But Huskies are prone to that, so we need to know. 

All Kinds of Interesting...

...weather, that is. Yesterday. 

The only good thing was that it was an awesome picture-taking experience. I'm terrified of thunderstorms. Oh, it's better than it used to be. But I'm still scared. 

TV antenna alongside house

When I was about 9 or so, lightning hit either our house or our TV antenna. For the uninitiated (or the young), TVs usually were restricted to a handful of channels: 2, 5, 7, 9, and 13. That was it, kiddies... 

Rabbit ears

And we had an antenna alongside the house, usually bracketed to the house and extending way up above the trees. I'm not talking rabbit ears on a TV, but an outside one. The picture here is NOT my house - it's a stock pic I pulled off Google, but this is as close as I could get. Ours was very similar to this. 

Rabbit ears, on the other hand? I had those when I lived in VA and my first "grown-up" TV was a 13" black and white. Yeah, go ahead. Fan yourself... But it worked, and I was too broke to be able to afford cable at the time. 

Anyway, it was summer, and we had had a round of pretty nasty storms. Way before the days of weather radios, you usually got an alert from the TV set, provided you still had power. And anyway, most of the time, the TV was off by 10 p.m. in our house. 

We all are in bed, and the next thing I know, my dad is hauling me out of the house onto the lawn. The living room - a corner of it - is on fire... He tried to flag the firemen down, but even though the fire barn was across the street from our house, they somehow managed to go down the street in the other direction...

Flooded parking lot

Anyway - that's why I'm really not fond of thunderstorms. Of course, I was at work yesterday afternoon when all heck broke loose. It started suddenly - we were supposed to get some storms, but not as quickly as these blew up. I mean, I was on the road to work, looked north and thought, "Whaaaaaat???" - it was getting that dark, that fast... And then: KA-BOOM!! It all hit at once. 

I was half expecting to see locusts, floods, cats and dogs. At one point, I could barely see the bank across the lot from us. And it all included pretty nasty lightning and thunder. 

The campus has high ceilings, plus about 3.5' between the drop ceiling and the actual roof deck. It was thunderous in the place. You couldn't hear yourself think. And we're also surrounded by windows, which totally freaks me out. 

The nice thing, if you can get past the scary parts, is that I work on top of a hill. I have some phenomenal views of incoming storms. Here are a few pictures, with the various cloud formations during the day and evening. 

I keep thinking of the Judy Collins song, "Clouds," though it's an entirely different subject. As storms continued to blow in, I kept an eye on the radar and figured it was going to be interesting with classes starting last night.

It was. One of our instructors was on the road for over 2 hours to get here. He came in, like a drowned rat, about 1 minute to 6 p.m., when they were supposed to start. 

As the afternoon and evening progressed, I was able to pop out and get pictures. I love the cloud formations. And I know people who love clouds as much as I do (dang - now that song's in my head!!). And I have looked at clouds from both sides now...

Look at this cool "V" formation as the next batch started to come in. The layers in the one picture were also pretty amazing. 

The light was interesting. At times, of course, when the storms were in full fury, it was dark as night. But when the sun broke through, it was really amazing. 

I got an interesting shot of the area beyond the bank building - it looks almost like a funnel, but it wasn't. It was just a weird twist to the clouds once they had passed over and dumped all the rain on us. 

The weather alarm actually went off after Storm #2... But that's ok. I have eyes. 

Huzzah - no roof leaks! Though the hail wasn't nice. No car damage; it was only pea-sized. Today, except for the fact that the ground is totally saturated, you wouldn't know it had even rained. 

And it rained again this morning before I left for work. Tippi was terrified. I battened down the house and brought most of the feeders onto the porch. In the middle of the storm, the silly female hummingbird was buzzing the front window asking what the heck I had done with her feeder! 

I like this shot; later in the afternoon, with the clouds pierced by a shot of sunlight. I was able to get some good shots southwest-ish, and the light was interesting. 

Here's another one almost worth a painting - doesn't it look like brush-strokes across the blue? It was very majestic looking, for certain. And then there's the one below, which looks like the clouds were truly pillows dipping down beneath the grey to show us that they were still friendly little things wanting to put on a show for the humans.  Yeah, after the sound and fury scared the heck out of me! 

Then came the weird light. I was sitting at my desk trying to get some work done and I saw it - it was piercing and very odd. At first, I thought, "Oh no... green!" 

See, in August, every person who's lived in Illinois for a decent part of their life knows that a green sky is not a good thing. It generally means there's a tornado either on the way or already touched down. Funny enough, in spite of the storms lowering the temperature by almost 20 degrees, we had no tornado warnings. I guess we got off lucky. See what I mean by weird light? Look how bright the green in the trees appears, and it's backed up by those blue-grey heavy clouds? 

Oh, and did I mention that I had a hot breaker? Well, you know we've had HVAC problems at the campus. We have the one breaker which apparently tried to trip, but got stuck. And it heated up. To the point where you couldn't touch it. 

I know next to nothing about electricity. But I do know that hot breaker = trouble... So we shut it off. 

Back-tracking though, the electricians came out and came through our back door - I had disabled the alarm because I needed to change the battery. They didn't knock. They're lucky I only yelled at them! They scared me!!

Anyway, so we had only 2 of the 3 units working last night, and I had fans running. Today, it's back to normal (i.e. a blast chiller). I mean, really, I could wear mitts. I'm in a jacket already. 

I feel as if the building is falling down around us. Since they announced that we're closing the campus at the end of Fall (basically, December), I've been trying to get things fixed and as fast as I get one thing done, the next happens. However, the building is 8 years old, and they don't make 'em like they used to. 

Happily, no roof leaks with all this rain. 

And another happy thing: we were rewarded for the crappy weather. Feast your eyes. It's a double rainbow. 

I almost tripped myself. I had come from the back of the campus and caught a glimpse as I headed to my office. I sprang to my desk, caught up my keys and camera phone and headed out the door.  The taller pic is a close-up. The landscape-oriented one just shows how brilliant the main rainbow was. 

Alas, in about 5 minutes, as is common with the elusive rainbow, it was soon gone. 

But while it lasted, it was fantastic. 

And before the night was over, Mother Nature had another surprise in store for us. 

You know that saying, "Red skies at morning, sailors take warning; red sky at night, sailor's delight" -- well, this morning wasn't EXACTLY a "sailor's delight" but the sky last night was.  Try to ignore the obnoxious parking lot light. Focus on the pinks and blues. Isn't it gorgeous? 

Knitting...

Not a stitch yesterday. Not even brought out of the bag, actually. It was that kind of day. That being said, I'm working the noon - 10 p.m. shift (well, should be 2 - 10, but I usually get here way too early and end up with way more comp time than I'll use...), and I already have a knitting project on my desk. 

Not the afghan. Though I did get the yarn in for the hat, cardigan and booties. No pic - tomorrow, probably. 

I'm only on the first-to-second pattern repeat. Cotton is a stinker. I have found that I can knit a couple of rows with this and then I have to go do something else. 

And I admit to a little peevishness with the Kollage circulars. This is the soft cable. And I'm almost thinking it's too soft. It kinks up there (see the top needle?) and it sometimes takes me some fidgeting to get the yarn up and over. 

Of course, it may be because this is 100% cotton yarn. And it's entirely unforgiving. I can't imagine doing anything adult-sized with this stuff. I'd have to scream. Or drink. Or cuss. Or some combination thereof. 

I do think the ladders are less noticeable. And it's helpful that I'm tugging like crazy when I switch from K to P. 

So the Rory socks are coming along. That's Roman Rib pattern, in case you didn't get the Dr. Who reference.  I finally remembered to stash some stitch markers in the bag, so on the next round of ribbing I can ditch the rubber band.

Hey, whatever works in a pinch... So it's the time of the "interminable" ribbing. Why does 1x1 ribbing take forever? It's only 1.5" or so. If I make it that far. 

I think Elizabeth Zimmerman got it right: "do the ribbing till you're sick of it." And for me, that's about 1.5" or so...

Crafty Stuff...

This would be amazing for Kid #2. Or either kid. Or me. We are all bookworms. 

I'd have to raid the bookshelves for classics. And of course, right now, since these are bricks, all the "books" are the same size. 

But it's cool. I can see them stacked by the front stoop. Or in Kid #1's case, on his deck, maybe. And for Kid #2, on the porch. 

Such a nifty idea. 

I'm not much on crafts like this, though I did make a wind chime using those small terra cotta pots. I should finish the one I have in the basement; it's got all the pots and the string. I just need to get it painted and assembled. 

I don't know who I'd give it to. But it would be nice to finish a project. 

Ahem. I do so finish projects. I have just about finished canning pickles. 

Random Picture...

This morning, fire, flood, locusts and squirrels. A storm broke out pretty quickly and pretty fiercely. Quinn was in her cave. Tippi was shaking on the couch next to me. And before she climbed up to join me on the other side, this was Raisa's reaction. 

She's not scared. Truly, she's oblivious, thankfully. Don't know if we could take THREE deranged dogs.  She was just all, "I'm sooooooooo over this weather!"

She climbed up on my other side and we sat out the worst of it while listening to an old movie plus the weather alarm giving us updates. 

So far, aside from the fact that the grass seems to have sprouted another 6" overnight, I think we're done. It'll get cloudy, and Weather Channel says "widely scattered showers or thunderstorm this evening" but it's only 30% thankfully. 

Who's New.... (WARNING: SPOILERS!!)

LAST WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!

Don't say you haven't been warned. Twice. 

Well. Welcome Peter Capaldi. By the way, it's Ca-PAL (as in "he's a pal of mine")-di, not what I first assumed, which was "pall" - live and learn, right?

Twelfth Doctor

So what did you all think? I have to admit that the Scottish accent was a bit thick for me - and I think it was just a part of the acting; I mean, we all know the Doctor is usually discombobulated after a regeneration, so I'm thinking that confusion + Scottish = wow, I can't understand half of what he's saying!

Love, LOVE the costume, by the way. Puts me in mind of The Master's look, if you recall. And as one of the BBC costume folks mentioned, "it'll be easy for kids to imitate this costume" and thus increase the number of Whovians! Actually, if I were to be invited to a costume party this Halloween, I might attempt this myself! It's a great look, though I do need a sonic screwdriver...

The TARDIS? Well, I think it's interesting. Do love the bookshelf. I like that it seems to be "cleaner" than the past 2 of them -- didn't like the "grunge" look of past TARDIS incarnations. 

There's been a lot of angst on the message boards and on FaceBook about how everyone feels. And really? Let's put it in perspective - at least a perspective that I understand: When NCIS (one of my other favorites) replaced Ziva, the explosions!! Wow - you'd have thought that the world was ending! 

We need to get over it. In order for any TV series to continue to prosper, occasionally changes will be made to major characters. 

Ninth Doctor

And really? The REGENERATION is what has kept Dr. Who on TV for so long! 

As far as the last scene (let's call it The Phone Call) --- well, I'm of 2 minds. It seemed as if Peter C. was pleading for all of us to "see me in this body." I mean, let's go back to the scene with Clara and Jenny when Clara bemoans the "new" Doctor. Jenny, looking wise beyond her years, says in so many words, "My wife is a lizard." 

It's a real "get over it" moment. And I'm almost inclined to think The Phone Call was a bit too much. It showed the immaturity of Clara's character. I remember Rose's relative equanimity when Eccleston changed to Tennant. She was a bit nonplussed at first, but she rolled with it. There wasn't any of this "I don't know who the Doctor is" stuff. 

And if you caught it, during the part of the episode in the basement of the restaurant, Peter C's doctor muttered, "This is when I miss Amy!" Did you catch that one? Priceless. 

In terms of companions, it'll also be interesting to see who the new companion is. Clara leaves in the upcoming Christmas special. There is a rumor here that she "may or may not" be leaving, but definitely a second companion has been selected. 

And for those folks on the message boards who are snarking about "Where has Matt Smith been now that he's not The Doctor?" Well, if you look - he's been on stage. And really, aside from a few little flashbacks, I think that each Doctor who's been there before needs a short cameo and then needs to step aside to let the new Doctor begin to be who he is. 

I rather think I'm going to like this newer, "ruder" Doctor. He's a nice link back to the original Doctor, plus a dash of Doctor Number Nine - his first episode with Rose wasn't exactly as dashing as it could have been. If I remember correctly, he told her to "shut up." 

Anyway, keep watching. It'll be worth it, no matter who is Who!

Random Picture...

Passing your Canine Good Citizen test is hard work! Downright exhausting, as a matter of fact! Raisa passed. Can you believe it?? At 11 months old, she managed to hold it together enough to pass her CGC. I have to get her PALS registration going and then we're going to work with her a bit more before we take her to the TDI exam. 

I'm now a Canine Good Citizen!

She's still a puppy. This morning, when I was doing my yoga, and coming in and out of Chair Pose (Uttkatasana, if you want the Sanskrit), when I would come down into the squat, she'd put both paws into my hands. Cute, but we have to work on her "grabbiness" and a bit of her mouthing still happening. 

All in all, though, she's going to be a good one. Once she starts maturing a bit. 

But then again, don't we all seem to gain wisdom as we mature? Or at least hope we do?

Likely to Be a Quickie...

...for lots of reasons. Maybe even time to go into a few of them...

Knitting...

I'm on The Endless Foot. I swear, I've been knitting on this sock for 3 days, and my tape measure still says 6.5"... And yes, I'm knitting at least 2 or 3 rounds before I measure. 

It's never gonna end. The Teal Sock will haunt me all of my days. Remember, this is the pair with the mis-matched heels. And it's Trekking, on size 2, I think. So it's loose besides. 

I'm sure "A Nice Ribbed Sock" is a lovely pattern. I just have a hate on for it at the moment. 

What I'm NOT hating are the new bags from Chicken Soup Designs. Lookeee!!!! Just in time for the new Doctor! These were a special order, limited edition, and I got all 3. Really. What? You expected I wouldn't?

I've got a Dr. Who remix on my phone as my ringtone. Yes, I'm a "modern" doctor person, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the fact that a SciFi series from the UK has been around longer than our Star Trek conglomeration. Just that Dr. Who hasn't made many movies. 

Love that the lining is about "wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey" -- Not so sure about the purple Tardis, but since purple is my favorite color, I'm going with it. 

Health...

I could just spit. However, I'll take care of it in October. Apparently, there's an issue of my possibly being anemic for YEARS. And my GP didn't pick up on it. And he's an internist. But my cardiologist, who WAS an internist before he became an EP guy? He's not a happy camper.

And the non-constipating iron supplement appears to be wreaking havoc on my tummy. Not sure if it's helping, but I'm sort of committed to at least finishing the bottle. 

So the follow-up for the cardiologist, to see when I can come off the heart Rx is in October. Funny - the day AFTER my appointment for my annual physical with my GP. We shall have lots to discuss.

Random Picture...

See? I said this would be a quickie. I absolutely CANNOT wait to wear this. You have to have a passing familiarity with hip-hop to get this. Kid #2 says it's "awesome" and wants me to wear it the next time I come to visit him. 

Gotta love me some Ruth Bader Ginsburg. You know she's made the big time when there are hip hop references to her. You go, Ruthie - many more years, I hope!

How many other Supremes have had their faces on t-shirts?