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 Veterans Day!

Happy Veterans Day!

For some reason, when I went to sleep last night, I really checked out. Usually I wake up at least three times and get a drink/run to the bathroom/whatever, and then go back to sleep. I barely woke up at 7 am, and then was out cold until 1 pm. But I feel much better than I have for a while. It really helped me get over all the walking this past weekend.

When I woke, I checked my phone and found a message from John. There was one more tiny change on the DVD art. Apparently, when you have something round and flat, it's called a disK. Unless it's a DVD. Then, it's called a disC. So all the PDFs had to be done over again and uploaded again, which is very time consuming, even though the actual change only took a couple of minutes.

But it's really done! 

And if you've been able to keep track of how many times I've said that and been wrong, you're better than me.

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Now, to get back to the topic of yesterday which was the Stitches East trip!

Actually, the part that's left, Sunday, didn't include Stitches, but the first photo is from Saturday, of a ship in dock next to the Tourist Center.

Spiffy, huh?

After a big breakfast, we went to the B&O Railroad Museum,  as you can easily see from the photo below.

We had a ride on one of the trains, and walked around the museum, which is mostly in the old roundhouse.

After the train ride, we stopped to check out the model railroad in back of the roundhouse.

And here's Lynn walking around the grounds.

I think mostly that we just didn't want to say goodbye to each other, but we did.

So, all in all, it was a wonderful trip!

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Wow! As usual on Monday night, there was a boatload of good stuff on TV! There's still stuff on my DVR that I haven't watched.

Tonight, we have Fringe (it's NEW!) and The Mentalist (naturally, on at the same time), followed by Eli Stone! Check your TV guide.

Have a great Tuesday!

Stitches Was a Blast!

What a trip!

I'll start from the beginning, and only cover Saturday because I have so many photos! You'll get more photos tomorrow.

Holly and I were severely delayed by traffic on Friday afternoon and evening. Lynn waited for us before having dinner, and was starving. Sorry, Lynn!

But we had delicious food and, best of all, great company for dinner. Holly just got a new G1 phone, and showed it off to both of us. She handed it to me when I got in the car, and made me get it to give her directions to the hotel (with some stiff help from Lynn, who said that we really wanted to drive to the parking garage, not the hotel). The garage entrance was on the other side of the building, and with so many one-way streets, it involved some driving to get there.

I got to show off the new set of Options needles that Holly bought me for my birthday, too.

We went back to our suite, which was really a small apartment, complete with kitchen! A great place to stay! We watched some TV and talked a bit, and generally had a good time.

Saturday morning, we had breakfast, and caught the water taxi.


This was just so much fun, and a wonderful way to see the inner harbor!

Here are some photos of Holly and Lynn on the water taxi:





And here is a photo of one of  the sights we saw and took photos of:

Blogger is being stingy with letting me upload photos, so there will be more later.

When we arrived at Stitches Marketplace, we sat and watched the fashion show witch was just beginning, and then wandered the market and saw the sights. Wow! So many neat things to buy. I could've spent $1,000 there, if I'd had it.

There were so many places that had great shawl pins (penannulars), I would have loved to buy several. And I finally got to see and feel some Malabrigo yarn up close. I'm in love! I loved all their yarns, but couldn't walk away from the silky merino. More on that coming up.

As it was, my loot was much more modest. I lost my ugly pink counter, and replaced it from the Mannings. 

Holly bought some square single point wooden needles last year at Stitches and some at the Sheep and Wool Festival, and reported that she liked them. I don't really seem to like wooden needles, and all the ones I'd seen were in larger sizes than I usually knit with. Although the square shape intrigued me, and I wanted to try them, the wood and size discouraged me. At Stitches, I saw some small, square, metal, sock needles, and thought about buying them, but thought it was a shame that they didn't have them in circular needles. Well, a few shops later, I found them in circular needles! I bought a pair of size three needles in the 24 inch length. They have a copper finish, and the cables are absolutely floppy! I haven't tried them yet. The points don't look like they're a sharp as I usually like, but I'm reserving judgement until I try them.


And I just couldn't resist the silky wool. The color is called London Sky, and is not quite as bright as the photo makes it look on my screen. It's a softer color, a bit grayer and more lavender than it looks on the screen. I have several ideas for what I might want to make with it, and haven't decided yet.

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I'll leave Sunday during the day for tomorrow, but I finally finished all the art for volume one of the Complete Steve Canyon on TV DVD last night, and got it all sent off to John.

I expect to start on volume two real soon, now, but for just a few breaths, it's done and caught up. John is getting the last little bit of the extras finished, and will be scrambling to get it all to the printer, but as soon as he gets a moment to catch his breath, he'll be putting up a post with more information. Check for it at the above link later.

This is so exciting!

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There will be the usual four hours of Lost on the SciFi Channel tonight, and Chuck, Heroes and My Own Worst Enemy on NBC tonight.

Have a great day!

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PS-- John just called and said we forgot something on the cover. It's not over!

Leaving Today for Stitches East!

Well, I finished all the artwork for the new Steve Canyon DVD, and I suspect that John will be putting up something on the blog about it. There was some loose talk about letting you see what some of the art will look like, but I'm making no promises. Go check it out over the weekend!

I've been packing, and getting ready for Stitches, and I'm more and more excited about it.

But there's not much that's newsworthy around here.

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Doctor Who is on the daytime rotation on SciFi, but that's almost over. They're showing the season with Martha Jones. Otherwise, it's standard Friday night stuff this evening.

Tomorrow, the BBC in America has finished Primeval, and will be switching to Doctor Who in the evening. They'll be starting the season that has Catherine Tate, so all you Donna Noble fans won't want to miss it!

Have a great weekend! I know I will!

Hello, and 'Bye for Now

I'm desperately trying to pull myself together and get ready to leave for Stitches East tomorrow!

I also need to get all the stuff together for the first volume of the Steve Canyon DVD!

So, this will be a short post. Really short!

And I've been trying to order a new camera, specifically, a Canon Powershot SX10.

It seems that the places on the internet that advertise the low prices will only sell you a camera if you buy extra-expensive accessories at the same time. The first one I tried, Prestige Camera, asked me to call them to confirm the order. They said the camera was in stock and would ship the same day. But I didn't want to spend $175 for a memory card that was half the size of the one I could buy for $8, and, in fact, later got free (from Amazon) with the camera. Then they decided that the camera wasn't in stock! They just were refusing to sell at the advertised price because I wouldn't buy the card or some batteries and charger at grossly inflated prices.

I tried another place, and they tried to do the same thing, and then finally said that they would sell me one at the advertised price, but it would be the European version (?), and it wouldn't have a warranty.

I finally ordered from Amazon and got the free memory card.

I have the disk labels to do on the DVD, and some left on the inside cover, and I still have to do laundry!

Have a great weekend!

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!

September Charms Homework

You may or may not be aware that I have joined a Harry Potter House Cup KAL on Ravelry.

Each month (or in one case, each week) there is a homework assignment posted for any members who care to participate.

The September Charms assignment was to choose either Lumos or Wingardium Leviosa to knit something for.

For Wingardium Leviosa, we need to make something that shows something that flies, or, for extra points, is something that flies itself, like a kite. The sweater I did for an earlier HP KAL would have been perfect. One year, for Christmas, Harry gets a blue sweater from Mrs. Weasley with a snitch on the front of it. Of course, since I did this for a previous KAL, it's not eligible.



For Lumos, you need to make something that shows something that lights up, or, better yet, something that actually lights up.

I made this Christmas stocking with beads (some of them star shaped) and white yarn that are glow-in-the-dark, so that when the lights go out, the stocking lights up by itself.

You can see other finished projects here.

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Yesterday, I planned to do a lot of things, but then reality intruded with it's own plans, and very little of the the things I planned actually got done.

I'm finding that the current second great depression is causing a lot of the same effects as the first one There was a discussion I heard on the radio about it because of a book that had been written on the the great depression. 

The author said that it tended to separate people by their reaction to it. Some people became very nasty and treated others badly because those others could no longer afford to pay their debts. Some of these people went so far as to abandon their children.

In other cases, whole communities banded together to help each other survive in the best way possible.

Yesterday, annoyed that my bank had imposed fees that they previously had told me they wouldn't do, I went to close an account with them. I was amazed to find that they refunded some of the fees, changed my account to one without fees, and added in several nice things I hadn't even thought to ask for! So, now, according to the new set-up, I not only have a little money to spend at the Fall Fiber Fest, that money shouldn't be spent on anything but fiberarts, and I really need to spend it to avoid bank fees! This is the first time in my life that somebody else wanted me to spend money at a fiberarts sale!

So, now I'm really excited about the Fall Fiber Fest on Saturday! There has been some rain last week, and it looks like it might rain now, so I'm not sure about the footing we'll find this weekend. I'm taking my Wellies. But the weather sounds like it would not be better if we were given an air conditioning controller to set it up! The high for the day will be about 70, so we may want a little something to keep warm at some point, but it will not be too hot, even in the sun that is expected!

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So, here is the schedule coming up for a while:

4 Sep 08  Fall Fiber Festival

18 Sep 08  Maryland Renaissance Festival

6-9 Nov 08  Stitches East

And then, of course, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and Twelfth Night.

Wow! What a lot of wonderful stuff to do!

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John and I are getting down to the end on the front cover of the New Steve Canyon DVD. We are pretty much agreed on the cover except for the colors for the title. We worked on it for a while yesterday.

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Tonight, Pushing Daisies is back on ABC for it's season premier!

In non-SF TV news tonight, it will be followed by Private Practice,  and Bones will be on at the same time.

Knight Rider will also be on (NBC) at the same time, which creates a conflict for me. I found the premier sufficiently intriguing to want to watch some more, but it will not be on again later in the week on the SciFi Channel, so I'll have to make some hard choices in order to see it.

Tomorrow evening, get set for another new episode of Supernatural, which has developed into the best spooky show on TV for a long time.

And on Friday, the premier of Sanctuary will be lighting up the SciFi Channel.

Have a great rest-of-the-week!