Knitting Update!

I know.

I go through phases. Sometimes, all you get out of me is science fiction stuff, and lately, all I've talked about is knitting. But I have more knitting because I'm trying to finish some projects and get on with the Christmas present knitting.

First of all, we have a partially finished neckwarmer in Bernat Mosaic yarn (colorway is mosaic). This looks a little odd at the moment because I've gone crazy for patchwork, and I'm knitting  a section in one direction, and then picking up stitches and adding another shape in a different direction. I started with a band around one end to establish a size and with a matching border at the other end, too, it will look a bit more finished, planned, and less haphazard.

This is slow going because the yarn is less even and more thick-and-thin than I first thought, and even though I can work out how many increases and decreases at the edge of a given patch will give me the right shape, it means that I may have to pick up more or fewer stitches to match up. So, I frequently do it wrong and wind up ripping it all out. I'm going to use some yarn in either off white, or a very pale grey to whip-stitch over all the joins between shapes.

There will be a hat and mitts to match this, and then I will finish the Celtic sweater and I'll have some things I can wear together to look good, even though it will be too cold by then to wear them as outerwear. The neckwarmer, hat and mitts will work with a coat, though, and that's why I want to do them first.

Since this is the third time around for the Celtic sweater, I just want to get it done!

After all that, I'm going to get back to the hood I started for Jeff. You may recall that the Mosaic yarn hadn't arrived, and I wanted something to knit, and instead of finishing something that I'd already started (which would be sensible), I chose to start a whole new project. Being even earlier into my patchwork phase at that time, here's what I have so far on the hood:

I want to get some chocolate brown yarn to go with this for some patches, and some more of the lighter brown. So, it will have some patches that look like Fair Isle, and some in solid shades of brown. For the lighter solid colors, I plan to use simple textural stitch patterns like the seed stitch shown to set off the Fair Isle look. I found some really nice medium blue yarn that I'm going to use to whip stitch the joins in the patches. I think this is going to look really fabulous when it's done! It will also get a matching patchwork hat and mitts for a complete set.

After all that, I'll be switching to Christmas stockings for all except Malaia and John because I already made stockings for them. I've been collecting sparkly yarn in various colors that are popular with my family and friends, and can't wait to make stockings for everyone.

Besides, if I make something else for each person, I can stuff them in the stocking and not have to wrap them!

Then, it's onward and upward with just finishing projects that I've already started!

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For all you non-knitters out there, if you're thinking about obtaining Christmas presents for your friends and family, I can make custom knits for them! Yes, folks, I'm trying (once again) to make some "extra" money so that I'll have enough to continue being able to eat through the end of the month! So I'm very open to creating a fabulous one-of-a-kind item for Christmas gifting.

Some ideas include: Christmas stockings, a Doctor Who scarf, almost any knitted garment you've seen in a science fiction movie or TV show, a Weasley sweater for a Harry Potter fan, a rune bag with runes knitted in, or almost anything your imagination can come up with. Some of the Christmas presents I have planned to make are: a pair of stigmata mitts with a matching crown-of-thorns hat, and much more.

Exercise your imagination and have me make something truly spectacular for a loved one!

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The new season of Sanctuary starts tonight on Syfy! There's a new episode of Supernatural, too, and an episode of Medium which may or may not be new. It sounds a lot like one I've seen.

Tomorrow night, BBC in America will be rerunning episodes of Torchwood, and I'm wondering if that means that they're building up to the new season.

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Franklin has done it again, and put up the funniest blog post of his that I've ever seen. You have to check it out! Somebody asked him for help in retouching a photo.

Have a fabulous weekend! I'll be spending the weekend knitting, and you may not hear from me!

Yarn Imagination Contest!

I hadn't planned on posting today, but I came across this Yarn Imagination Contest by Lion Brand Yarn, and wanted to let you know.

I'm seriously thinking about entering, but don't have an idea of what to knit. You might say I'm waiting on inspiration.

It's all right, because I'll wake up in the middle of the night or tomorrow with a smashing idea.

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Sanctuary marathon is on SyFy today!

Not a lot on TV other than that, though.  We have to wait until next month for sweeps, then all the good stuff will be back on TV. A few series will be back late this month, though. I'll keep you up to date.

That doesn't help us much right now, though.

What might help me soon is the new (refurbished) TiVo I ordered last Friday. It shipped yesterday, and they estimate that it'll be here tommorrow. Then I just have to get the card(s) installed, and I can get special programming from TiVo, even if there's nothing I want to watch on TV.

I might have been satisfied to keep my Comcast DVR, but it's still having severe problems accessing the digital TV guide. I do have to say that since the repairman came last week, the picture and sound been much better, but it still doesn't want to let me know what's on. I tried to find out which Sanctuary episodes were on today, and in spite of the fact that one of them was on, it wouldn't tell me about any of them. And it's been refusing to let me know what's coming on tomorrow, like the other one did. Judging by the two I've tried, Comcast DVRs seem to have to choose a Wednesday during which they will not display any guide info! I have to fight with the DVR to get it to display any information more than two days ahead, and sometimes it won't display information for now, let alone two hours from now.

I hope you're having a great week!

It's supposed to display programming info for the coming week, but usually doesn't. TiVo is supposed to display info for the coming two weeks! And it's supposed to have lots of programming available through TiVo, too! I can't wait!

TGIF!

As you can probably tell from the title, this post was actually posted on Friday, but Blogger messed up!

Let me get you all caught up on what's been happening around here.

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Tuesday, I went back to the dentist for what I thought was the last time. I was almost right about that.

He gave me a shot of Novocaine, removed the temporary front teeth and filled a cavity on a tooth next to the ones he was replacing. The cavity was so small it was almost nonexistent, and now that I know that, I wish he'd skipped the shot.

He then put on the new caps, so I have my permanent caps at last. I can now bite into a sandwich or cookie if I want! I'm planning to get some corn on the cob next time I go to the supermarket.

At this point, the area that the shot affected is not hurting as much, and in a day or two (hopefully) I won't be able to feel the ache anymore.

I have to go back in two weeks just so that they can check out how the new teeth are working with my existing teeth, the alignment, etc. There may be a few minutes of adjustment, but that's all.

Corn on the cob! I've missed it!

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Wednesday was a nightmare of trying to get my computer to work properly again. John was an enormous help, and after reloading the last upgrade to the system, some of the problem seemed to be fixed. My browser still wouldn't open. I tried to use Software Update to update it, but it said I wasn't connected to the internet, and I couldn't do it. Then it asked if I'd like to update my software. I said yes, and it informed me that I had a big problem with my browser and asked me if I'd like to fix it. I clicked yes, and it's fixed. Well, it's still a little slow and glitchy, but at least it works somewhat.

I still have some other programs that I have to repair or replace before I'm back to where I was before it all crashed.

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Thursday I saw the doctor again. She told me that I need to do more walking, and I told her I've been discouraged about doing that because I feel so bad after even a little walking. She looked at me like I was crazy.

So, after thinking about it for a bit, it finally occurred to me that if she thought it was that weird, maybe there is something wrong. She thinks I'm not getting enough vitamin D, and I'll be getting a test for that. I should mention that I'm taking lots of vitamin D supplement, but the gastroenterologist did say that I probably have big problems absorbing certain kinds of nutrition.

I went to JoAnn Fabrics and (finally!) got the yarn for Everett's Christmas present!

Yes, I know how late it is.

Getting to the store involves what is a lot of walking for me, and I felt terrible last night, and still feel like someone beat me up yesterday. I had planned to go to the post office today to return the yarn I bought that looks very different in real life than it does in the photo, but in light of how I feel, I think it's going to happen Monday instead.

I feel bad enough that I don't intend to be on the computer for very long today. I just hurt everywhere!

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There's a new post on the Steve Canyon blog! John recorded a new interview for the next and last of the Steve Canyon DVDs! All the information on it is on the blog. It's very exciting!

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January is Thyroid Awareness Month! I see people all around me almost all the time with very obvious hypothyroid symptoms, and their doctors insist that there's nothing wrong with them and won't even test them, so I feel that this is an issue that people need to know more about because I can promise you that your doctor doesn't know much about it. And if that doctor is an endocrinologist, he probably knows even less about it than a GP, but thinks he knows everything (from my personal experience), and therefore won't listen to anything you have to say.

By the way, there was a study done where they sent out questionnaires to patients with hypothyroidism, and they discovered that, out of patients who had hypothyroidism for two years or more, 95% of them knew more about hypothyroidism and it's treatment than the doctors who were treating them!

The problem with this is compounded by the really bad tests available for it, and most doctors' misinformation on the subject of thyroid testing. Not only are the tests bad (as in not giving accurate results, especially the TSH), but what's considered "normal" is skewed so that it misses all but the worst cases. If the drug companies can keep you sick, they can sell you osteoporosis, cholesterol, and other medicines and make more money from it.

Check out the symptoms here, and if you suffer from many of them, see your doctor! If you actually do see your doctor, print out the list, and check off all your symptoms. He probably won't listen to you unless you do that.

Wow! I just read that list and I have 41 of the symptoms! I knew that I wasn't getting enough natural dessicated thyroid because Armor Thyroid (which is what I'm taking) was reformulated about a year ago, and although the stated amount of hormone is in each pill, the filler that they changed makes it difficult or impossible to absorb the medicine, and everyone who's been taking it has had hypothyroid symptoms. I'll be switching to Naturethroid as soon as the drug store gets it in, and that should solve the problem or at least help the situation. But I didn't realize how bad it really was!

If you have many of the symptoms, check the sidebar for more info.

And don't let your doctor prescribe Synthroid! Ask for Naturethroid or West Throid! Or even Armor Thyroid, once it's available again. They're reformulating it again to make it the same as it was before last year. Doctors keep telling me that some people get along fine on Synthroid, but it's really hard for me to believe because I feel so bad when I take it. Taking Synthroid is like being short on sleep every night. When you fist take it, it's an improvement, but over time, you just feel a little worse every day until it's even worse than not taking anything at all. Switching to Armor Thyroid was like waking up from a nightmare for me!

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Sanctuary has been on SyFy all day today, and there will be a two hour season finale on tonight!

The next-to-the-last episode of Dollhouse is still scheduled to be on Fox tonight according the electronic TV guide on Comcast, but somebody on Twitter was tweeting that it will be bumped to put on a program about the earthquake in Hati. So, at this point, I just don't know.

Other new episodes on tonight include: Ghost Whisperer and Medium.

Tomorrow, BBC in America will be showing the Doctor Who episode The Shakespeare Code, and a new episode of Demons.

Have a fabulous evening, and a wonderful weekend!

Hi! Sorry to ignore you for the last two days, but I've been busy trying to finish up the Christmas presents.

Yes, I know how late it all is, but they're not done yet. Once I finish them all, I plan to start knitting for next Christmas almost right away.

Anyway, I have to get back to finishing them and, more important, packing stuff up to go to the Post Office.

I apologize to almost everyone. I've been trying to get to the post office for two weeks, now, and there's been either bad (snow, sleet, ice) weather, or intense cold accompanied by gale force winds! Since going to the post office involves waiting for a bus (and it seems that when I come home, they always have a bus out of service and I have to wait for at least an hour and a half) and a lot of walking. Please note that when I'm leaving, there are places to sit and places to get out of the wind and cold, but on the way back, it's out in the open with no place to sit, so that's where the bus doesn't come.

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I hope you all got to see the Chuck Marathon last night!

Here's a list of SF stuff that will be either premiering or coming back to TV all new in thee next few months. Enjoy!

There will be a new Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Sanctuary and, best of all, Dollhouse tonight! Only two more Dollhouses to go after tonight!

Have a great evening, and a wonderful weekend!

Christmas Is One Week from Today!

There's only one week until Christmas!

I can't believe that time has snuck by and that there's only one week until Christmas!

I'm not even anywhere near done with making Christmas presents!

So, I'm going back to making presents, and you won't be hearing much from me until after Christmas, when I will still be making Christmas presents!

Don't forget that the newest Doctor Who episode (for us here in the USA) will be on tomorrow on BBC in America! They'll be showing The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, and The Waters of Mars, along with two "making of" programs and a Graham Norton Doctor Who Special. Check your local listings.

And tonight, there will be two brand-new Dollhouse episodes! Oh, and also a new Sanctuary.

I'll try to get photos of the stuff I'm knitting for presents up on the internet soon after Christmas.

Have fun until I get back on the internet!

Christmas Is Two Weeks from Today!

Yeah, I know. Yesterday was two weeks until Christmas eve, so it stands to reason that today is two weeks until Christmas.

It's arriving so fast! I'm having serious doubts about whether I'm going to be able to finish all the Christmas stuff!

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I've intended to go get those shoes all week, but it's been raining every day. Today it cleared out and was beautiful! It was also 22 degrees out and windy!

I gave up and tried to order the shoes over the internet, but even on backorder, they didn't have any in my size that weren't black.

I was hoping to get a spiffy pair, plus a comfortable pair to wear when I'm doing real walking (for me), and maybe a pair of warm boots.

So I went through all the bookmarks I'd filed under "shoes" and reviewed everything available. I sent for a pair of walking shoes and a pair of warm boots. I haven't found shoes that really look good and look like they'd be comfortable, too.

Now the major clothing items are jeans and maybe some turtleneck shirts, if I can find some at a good price. Hopefully, Holly and I will be going out on Saturday and I can get the jeans at WalMart and look around at shirts.

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There's two hours of Dollhouse on again tonight! I'm excited! The last two hours had me on the edge of my seat! I'm so sad they're canceled!

And, speaking of good news: there will be another episode of Eastwick on this coming Wednesday! With any luck, ABC will at least show the rest of the season's episodes. I'm even sadder that Eastwick is canceled!

They're not even putting on a rerun of Ghost Whisperer tonight, but they are putting on an episode of The Big Bang Theory on during the second half of it's time slot!

Sanctuary is new tonight, although Stargate Universe is a rerun.

Sorry I'm so boring today. You can probably tell that my mind is on getting back to making Christmas presents.

So have a great evening and a wonderful weekend! Good luck with getting together all the Christmas presents you need to get!

TGIF!

I've had a week full of getting up early or earlier than usual, and I just want some sleep!

For all you knitters out there, here's a collection of great patterns to make Christmas gifts. These are, for the most part, smaller projects that have lots of WOW appeal. If you don't see what you like, click on one anyway because each project has photos of other projects below it that are good ideas. One of the links is messed up, but if you click random other links, you'll find it below the featured pattern.

If you dig a few layers under all the links they provide, you'll find the Cinchy Hat, which I think would look great in a solid color, too.

Oh, and there are other pattern links on the side. I like this page so much that I'm putting a link to it in the sidebar.

There are only 35 days until Christmas!

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For any of you that live in the LA area, there's a Serenity and Firefly convention this weekend! There will be stars from the show! Enjoy! I envy you!

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I went to the Comcast meeting yesterday. It was basically to sell stuff to the people here. The representative didn't know anything about TiVo for use with Comcast.

She said I had to call and talk to a representative over the phone. I did exactly that, and found out that if I trade in my Scientific Atlanta DVR for the newest Cisco model, I'll get a more reliable box, and a hard drive that's several times larger! Since the box is free, I'm leaning toward that option at the moment.

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The usual (mostly) Friday night line up is on tonight. We have a new Ghost Whisperer and Medium on CBS, new Sanctuary and Stargate Universe on SyFy, and new White Collar and Monk on USA. That should keep your DVR busy!

Have a great Friday night and a wonderful weekend!

Books

Holly asked me the other day when the next Dresden Files book would be out. Well, after doing some checking, I'm not so sure that she's gotten the latest book that's already out, called Turn Coat. And, as usual, it's a fabulous book.

The next book is Changes, and it'll be available on the 6th of April.

And now for the big news in new books!

There is a whole new book to add to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series! It's called And Another Thing... and it's by Eoin Colfer.

You didn't really think it was going to be written by Douglas Adams, did you?

I already have a copy of Turn Coat (and I've enjoyed immensely, just like I always do with Dresden Files books), but in hope, I've started a Christmas Wish List at Amazon for anyone who might want to buy a Christmas present for me. There are a few pricey items on the list (because I live in hope), but for others who are as broke as I am, there are a few books on the list that are under $5! I have no problem with getting used books as presents, and would love to have anything on the list! One of them is so cheap, in fact, that I'll probably buy it for myself at the beginning of the month!

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There's a new Dollhouse on Fox tonight. After saying that they planned to show the whole series, they're now saying that tonight will be the last one. Fox seems to always be pretty schizophrenic, and I don't really know which thing I should believe, but Fox is so good at messing up good shows that I tend to believe that they've really cancelled it. They've caught on to the fact that if they get 1,000 emails begging them not to cancel Dollhouse, it doesn't mean that it has 5 million viewers. It's more likely to mean that it has 2,000 viewers. So, they don't seem to be listening to viewers anymore. They say it has a small group of very vocal and enthusiastic fans.

But they are listening to ratings. So make sure that you watch it tonight if you want to see the rest of them! I plan to watch it and record it both. I hope that counts!

There's also a new Ghost Whisperer, and they've scheduled Medium to show at the same time as Dollhouse and Ugly Betty, giving me a hard choice.

And then, of course, there's SyFy, which is showing a rerun of last week's Stargate Universe, followed by the new episode, which is a very nice way to watch them. And let's not forget Sanctuary.

All in all, it's a great night for SF on TV!

Got to go! Lots to do! Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, Heather!

It's my daughter's sister's birthday today.

Happy birthday, Heather!

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There's so much to do for Christmas, and I don't want to post photos here, so you'll have to wait for them until after people get their gifts.

I'm still waiting for the rest of the yarn and the needles I need to do the stockings,  along with a batch of other things to make Christmas presents and cards with.

I hope to have a wonderful, quick Christmas pattern up on my blog in the next day of two.

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I've installed some new software, and I'm hoping it will help me print from System 9 on my computer. I'm excited to get Christmas Cards out this year (if I can print them). My new printer is a Kodak 5500, and it appears to be a marvelous printer. The hardware is so lovable! I haven't tried everything on it yet, but I can already tell you that they don't include a operator's manual, and the online documentation leaves a lot to be desired. Like operating instructions.

Some of it is intuitive. There's a "copy" button, a "scan" button, a "fax" button (although I haven't got it plugged into a phone line), a few other self-explanatory buttons and a "start" button. Some of the things I want to print are pattern booklets and I'd like to be able to print two-sided (which it advertises it will do). The sum total of the instructions are to use the booklet setting, and it claims it will print a booklet ready to saddle stitch.

Oh, and I found a cheap saddle stitcher online, so next month (when I have another influx of money) I'll get it. Providing, of course, that I can get the "booklet" feature up and running.

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The SciFi Channel's schedule has been fixed and is now back up on the site, just in time to let us know about some great stuff on the daytime rotation this week. 

Today, Haunted is on. This was a very short-lived show on SciFi about a year ago, and apparently created in 2002. It stars Mathew Fox, and was obviously pre-Lost. I noticed that throughout Haunted, he has part of the tattoo we've all grown to know and love from Lost. What you can see is the 5 and stars, with a dirty smudge above it, so I suspect that Mr. Fox may actually have that tattoo.

Appropriately, it's followed by Lost itself at 2:00 (here). They've moved it up in it's time slot today so they can show some movies this evening.

The daytime this week will include: Tuesday, a Doctor Who episode (The Runaway Bride), followed by the Sarah Jane Adventures; Wednesday, The Outer Limits; Thursday, Friday the 13th; and Friday, an assortment of movies followed by reruns of Sanctuary in the evening.

Legend of the Seeker moved in it's time slot on Saturday, and they showed the first episode at it's new time. Sorry if you missed it, I had no idea that they were going to show the first one.

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It's sunny once again today. We had such a long, unbroken stretch of overcast weather that I've really wanted to get out these past few days because of the sun. I have to get out and do some stuff today because the weather forecast says it'll be rainy all the rest of the week, starting with possible showers this afternoon.

Have a great day!

Fun Day!

I woke up later than I intended yesterday, and scrambled out of here to get to the dentist.

Once I was in the chair, he said it was going to be a "fun day." What he meant by that was that he was going to clean my teeth.

Well, maybe I missed something along the way, but tooth cleaning was never very high on my list of fun things to do. I can never imagine myself saying "Hey, guys, let's cancel that tour or Europe! My dentist has agreed to clean my teeth!"

The other fun thing he had in store was letting me in on his plan for getting my teeth in shape. This will take four visits. He'll start with fixing all the teeth on one side. Then it's time for all the teeth on the other side. Finally, he's going to get around to doing the work that's going to be more and more unlikely to be successful the longer it gets put off. This doesn't seem very logical to me. It seems to me that it would be more constructive to do it in the opposite order.

He will be taking out some (but not all) of my metal fillings and replacing them with a composite material. This may turn out to be a really good thing. The dentist keeps insisting that the metal fillings (including mercury) could not possibly have a negative impact on my health. I really don't understand why dentists do that. It seems to me that putting something toxic in your mouth isn't a good idea, and I don't need an "expert" telling me that it's OK to realize that it's got to be bad for me.

So, anyway, I got a flu shot on Wednesday, then followed it up by getting up early, going to the dentist (after taking a Valium plus some antibiotic) and getting my teeth cleaned. By the time I got home on the bus, it was about the time that I usually wake up. I was in a daze. I went back to sleep.

I still feel like I'm dazed from it all.

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But I do have some more photos from last weekend's trip to Baltimore, courtesy of my sister, Lynn.

Here I am at the train museum.

And another photo of me on the water taxi.

 Holly's turn for a photo at the train museum.

Holly and I on the dock, waiting for the water taxi.

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I've gotten back to the Celtic sweater, and am now down to the bottom of the pockets on the front. I still have to do the back and sides to catch up to the front. The pockets are diagonal, and the two front sections are knit, followed by the pocket linings, sides and back in one piece. When I get all three pieces to the bottom of the pockets, it will be joined again, and then all I'll have is to knit down to the bottom. Well, and then the pocket linings, which won't be knit below the join. Sewing involved will include sewing down the pocket linings and tacking the button loops down. The way it's knit, the loop crosses itself, which makes it want to pop up three dimensionally rather than lay flat. There will be a few stitches to flatten it. Then there will be only blocking and sewing the buttons on. If I do actually sew them on. I'm thinking that I might prefer to sew them to backer buttons and put them through the knit. Then they'll be removable for washing. 

It'll be good to have this finished. Finally.

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I got a call from John last night, and helped him make decisions about the appearance of the menus for the DVD. It was fun.

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Tonight we have a new Ghost Whisperer, Stargate Atlantis, and Sanctuary. The last two are on SciFi. Check your local listings!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Medicare!

Today, the place I live in had a special presentation of information on Medicare.

Well, that's what the information posted about it lead me to believe, anyway.

In reality, it turned out to be a sign-over-the-money-you're-already-paying-to-Medicare-to-us,-give-us-some-extra,-too,-and-we'll-improve-your-coverage event.

I have Medicare at this point, and I can't get much info about it from anyone.

Oh, sure, they sent me a whole book to explain the coverage, but everything that actually says something is followed by a note explaining that this may or may not apply to you, and may be different from the description if it does apply to you due to circumstances too numerous to mention. So, it really doesn't tell me anything. 

And calling them up doesn't help. Everything they tell me is preceded  or followed by a disclaimer that this may not apply to me. So, why did I have to give you my Social Security number, name, address and phone number before you could tell me all this stunning information that "may not apply to me?"

The meeting started at 2 pm, and I managed to escape at just after 4 pm. The gentleman who made the presentation was a very nice person, but he had a style that was as fascinating as Grunthos the Flatulent. I was considering gnawing off my own leg in an attempt to survive! I'm thankful I took along my knitting!

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I had planned to go to the grocery store after the meeting, but it was late, and there was a drizzle outside with a prediction of more rain possible off and on. So, I decided to do it tomorrow.

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Tonight, there will be Ghost Whisperer, and on SciFi, Stargate Atlantis, and Sanctuary!

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Here's a little something to make you happy:

Have a great weekend!

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PS

You have to see these great Halloween Pumpkins on io9!

I Found a Good Doctor!

I went (after a little searching) to an almost brand new clinic in Woodbridge. I had a little trouble finding it. but once I did, the rest of the experience went very well!

The doctor not only gave me a 6 month prescription for thyroid medicine, but quizzed me on my hearing problem and the problems I'm having with my bones, and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and a Medrol dosepack to clear up my ear. 

I could weep from happiness!

Then, I went over to CVS to get my prescriptions filled, and they told me that all of it was going to cost nothing!

I came home about an hour ago, and have loaded up on all the prescriptions, and plan to feel very well real soon now.

For those of you who have never had steroids (which is what the dosepack is), it's not really good for you, but it will make you feel soooo good, soooo fast you wouldn't believe it. At least if it's something that you really need to take.

The good thing about the dosepack is that they give you a heavy dose the first day, and a bit less each succeeding day for a week. Because it's done that way, you get the same benefit you would if you took a decent dose every day for a month, but you take a lot less actual medicine. 

The goal is to clear out all the inflammation and blockage in my ear, hopefully permanently. If it does that, I will be so happy about it!

I expect to feel very well tomorrow.

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I got a copy of the confirmation for the room in Baltimore for Stitches East yesterday, and an email from Lynn. I'm starting to get really excited about it!

I'm going to get to go to Stitches East!

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Tonight, we have all the usual Friday night stuff on TV: Ghost Whisperer, Stargate Atlantis, and Sanctuary.

Tomorrow sometime, Dragon Sword will be on SciFi again. I really love that movie!

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And tomorrow, I'll be getting some Jersey tomatoes for the first time in about three years!

And, speaking of food, there's this:

Have a great weekend, and don't expect a post from me tomorrow!

Renfair Tomorrow!

Friday the Thirteenth is on the daytime rotation at SciFi today.

Tonight, they'll be having a new episode of Sanctuary, plus a new episode of Stargate Atlantis, preceeded by last week's episode, which was continued to this week, so if you missed it last week, you might want to watch it tonight.

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Renfair is tomorrow! Holly, Malaia and I will be going, and I assume that John, Everett, Jeff and Ashton will go, too. You can expect no post tomorrow.

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I have a lot of work to do on the bedroom today if I want to have any hope of being ready for inspection on Tuesday, so you may notice that this is a very short, quick post. So, here's another photo John sent me for your entertainment.

Have a great Friday and weekend!

Beautiful Day!

this is what it looks like out my window right now.



This is what it looked like about this time yesterday.

I don't really have a lot going on today to talk about, so I thought I'd let you look at something really nice.

I did, however, manage to decide what to do with the sleeves on my Celtic sweater.

The choices were having the sleeve bell out a bit to look kind of Medieval, or to do something that would be close to the wrist, and therefore warmer.

Well, I suddenly realized that I can have both. I plan to put a partial Saint John's cross on the lower part of the sleeve as I did for the top of the hood, but instead of running into a cable around the cuff, I'm going to take two of the cable ends from the cross right off the surface and into two I-cords which I'm going to thread through some holes I'll put in the cuff. That way, I can have the loose sleeve I wanted, and pull the  I-cord tighter and knot it to make a more fitted cuff.

Wait until you see it! It's going to be neat!

Tonight, the most fun thing on is a rerun of Sanctuary on the SciFi Channel, starting in a couple of minutes.

Have to run!

Have a great evening!

Two Days to the Fall Fiber Fest!

OK, it's not as good as the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, but the Fall Fiber Fest is the thing that keeps me going in between Sheep and Wool Festivals.

I just checked the weather forecast for the area in question instead of Northern Virginia, and it couldn't be better if we had been able to choose! I just need to know if there's a mud advisory, which the weather people have not judged to be important enough to report.

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It's a good thing that I put the schedule up yesterday, because I was notified of a change in it last night. The trip to the Renfair will not be on the 18th as scheduled, but on the 11th due to a change in schedule where Malaia works.

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I am currently in the middle of binding off on the light blue poncho I've been working on. It's turning out nice.

This is what it looked like yesterday. It's now a bit longer, and the border is a smidge over seven inches rather than the five inches shown here. Bind off is in progress, and it should be finished by tomorrow.

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Yesterday, John and I put some more finishing touches on the cover for the first of the new Steve Canyon DVDs. We have some alternate colors in contention for the color of the title. There was some loose talk about showing all three colorways and asking people to vote, but it's not up on the blog yet, and I'm wondering if it's going to happen. John has already warned me about telling people what he's going to do.

John has not been feeling his best, and had most of yesterday get sucked away by a doctor's appointment (with a multi-hour wait), getting prescriptions filled, and then collapsing in exhaustion. If the poll goes up on the blog, it may not be until later today. Maybe even tomorrow.

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As mentioned yesterday, Supernatural (the CW) will be on tonight, and Sanctuary will premier on the SciFi Channel.

Have a great day!