Store customer cards.

I have a whole extra keychain that has a ton of store loyalty cards on it.  Most of the time, since I rarely have my purse with me, I have to remember which phone number is attached to the card so they can look it up.  (In the case of Best Buy - I haven't lived at the phone number attached to our card in 13 years, have tried changing it repeatedly - you would think a company selling technology would be able to take care of it.. but NO. They say it's fixed... and it isn't... reason number 1,238,336 I won't be buying any more tech products from them) Anyway, this isn't about them - it's about my local supermarket.  Almost a year ago-ish they stopped carrying the shampoo, conditioner and split end repair cream I like to use.  Ok, not thrilled, I stop in either Ulta or Harmon's to get it. Slightly less convenient, because it's an extra stop - but not annoying enough to get mad or shop online.

Since THEY stopped carrying it, I keep getting coupons at the register :



I know this one is expired, but I think I threw out the "we miss you" coupon from a couple days ago.

This is what is on their shelf:



I have never bought these.  I don't have dry hair!  I have chemically treated hair - very different!!  I use this line:

 If they would put this on the shelf - I would keep buying it for convenience at Shop Rite!!  If they want to track my usage and realize I have stopped buying Pantene Expert - they should look at what product I stopped buying!!  They are annoying me now!

Eden Wristers

I cast on from Three Irish Girls yarn Adorn in colorway Aiden earlier in the month at the Pocono Raceway. At a few rows at a time it took this long to get enough to be able to photograph.

Benjamin sweater

I've been working on the sleeve.

A Holiday Yarn.. Sally Goldenbaum

Cute book,  good for lazy reading when you can't knit.  Two murders in town now? Over the holidays.  I really am never visiting this town!! People must stay because all this crime drives real estate prices down and they can't afford to leave..  I totally had the murderer wrong. Of course that's really nothing new.

I wish along with the patterns (that I'm never going to knit) the author would include some recipes.  Nell's Thursday Knit Night suppers sound so yummy, her Friday night suppers on the deck with her friends sound soooo good, and now Kevin the chef at the new bed n breakfast is making breakfasts that make my mouth water!!  If you can describe the food this well add some recipes!!

My One Hundredth Post for the Year

I made 100 posts!!  Not bad for a comeback and it's not halfway through the year yet!  I'm trying for 100 random thoughts, so this post may actually not post until tomorrow... and may not have 100 thoughts ...

1. Really glad Curt and I met a second time - and the second time it stuck.

2. Very proud of the person the Angie has turned out to be.

3. I wish my brother lived on this side of the continent.

4. I worry about how Christopher is going to turn out.

5. Curt turns 50 this fall, if I throw him an evil birthday party he will have a year to plot his revenge... well 51 weeks anyway.

6.  I'm totally beating my mom and father in law on the gardening front.

7.  It's Braun's Day!!

8.  I hate summer... it's too freakin hot!

9.  I must really find a way to make amends to the sports gods.. they are KILLING me!

10. It's been "forever" since I've had brunch with Grace.

11. I hope Felix likes the Christmas pressie I got him (yes I have one Christmas present purchased!!)

12. I wish I could get Curt to tell me why he's in such a funk lately.

13. I wonder if the post will be too long if I throw pictures with some of these thoughts.. I could use little ones..

14. I'm going to have to help Fred this week.

15. I want to finish the giraffe this week, elbow be damned!

16. I want to finish the Benjamin sweater this month! 

17. I have special edition yarn "Live Long and Prosper" in sock and sport weight.  I am really itching to cast at least one on - but need a pattern.

18.  Looked at a preview of this post at 17 thoughts - definitely not enough room for pictures ... may need to go with smaller font.

19. The only redeeming quality Don has is he shows up for work, and that can go both ways - he irritates the hell out of me when he's there.

20. Why is there a yield to giraffe sign somewhere in Norway??

21. Too much rain last week has some of the leaves on my plants turning yellow.

22. I need to remember to add some epsom salts to my tomatoes and peppers tomorrow.

23. Can't believe I have to help the Angie move again...

24. The 24th is my brother's birthday.. also the birthday of John T.. most useless human ever.

25. If I had telekinesis I would mostly use it to refill my coffee mug.

26. And drop heavy things on Don and John T.

27. Why do I attract crazy people?

28. I'm hungry

29. Self washing clothes should be a thing... but I guess teflon wouldn't breathe in the summer.

30. The trouble with ordering on line is the wait.

31. whole grain & oat with flax seed blueberry pancakes ... yes on a Tuesday.

32. want bacon too...

33. I guess I don't have 100 thoughts floating around my head.

34. Had to fill out a district court juror survey.  This doesn't bode well.

35. There are some geocaches listed for my town, if it doesn't rain maybe I'll try to find one instead of run later.

36. These cubital stretches make my whole forearm sore.

37. I ordered a sippy cup for my nephew... he's past 2 for heaven's sake!!

38. I want something deep dark fudgy chocolate soooo bad..

39. I have to prune my houseplants

40.  I always feel bad pruning my houseplants.

41.  I almost wrote husband instead of ouseplants.

42.  I wish I could filter the new pattern list on Ravelry by English.. I don't see me learning dutch just to knit, or german just to crochet.

43. I'm pretty sure everyone has stopped reading this post.

44. Why can't I find a bra in emerald?? or real green? not lime or greenish yellow?

45. Google has spoiled me - I get disappointed when there isn't a doodle..

46. I tried looking up a Google doodle for my birthday. Lebanon's independence day is the only one I found.

47. At least it wasn't the Kennedy assasination.

48. Something else cool must of happened at some point on my birthday..

49. Frederick II was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1220..

50. In 1794 Strasbourg Alsace-Lorraine, prohibits circumcision & wearing of beards... that wouldn't of worked for me.. I have a thing for both.. well goatees, not full out beards.

51. Mount St Helens erupted in 1842.

52. The NHL formed with 5 teams in 1917.

53. Kirk and Uhura have TVs first interracial kiss..

54. That's pretty much it for my birthday.

55. Finished another book.  Not knitting is killing me.

56. These mini naan breads are so freakin cute..

57. Have I mentioned I hate summer?

58. Banks are a pain in the ass. Even the good ones.

59. Wouldn't you know, I'll probably be in Chicago the weekend BEFORE Vogue Live! Sigh.

60. The inquisition, the inquisition...

61. Thunder..all through the night... yup that's my current weather induced earworm. 

62. How can I be thirsty and have to pee at the same time?

63. Got the laundry in just in the nick of time.

64. I can't believe with all the rain we've had, I had to water my plants earlier.. that tells you just how hot it is.

65. If it's currently 93 degrees - how can today's high still be posted as 87?

66. Am I nuts for taking a Coursera and an EdX class on pretty close to the same topic simultaneously?

67. By simultaneous, I do not mean watching the video at the same time.

68. I'm jonesing to cast on a pair of socks... but shouldn't

69. ok - 69 still makes me laugh.

70. One side of my house is dark, one side is still light .. weird

71. Yes I happen to be on the dark side... what of it?

72. Why do people text/im me when my phone is on the other side of the room??

73. How do people cook without cast iron pans???

74. Best Buy thinks I'm getting my next phone from them??? after the hell I went through last time???  I'd rather show up at the Dem National convention in an elephant costume!!


75. I can't believe it's been 3 days I'm working on this post!

76. Braun's Day again!

77. I'd love to hang out for a weekend with Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.

78. How do you know when it's time to let go?

79. My fictitious summer lover for when Curt bowls is going to be Argentinian this year.  An Argentinian cowboy,  need a name

80. I was at the library Tuesday. Tuesday evening I get an e-mail that 2 books I requested are ready for pick up.

81. Guinness

82. I have one tomato that is no longer green, not red yet but still...

83. I'm restless and don't know why.

84. Quick healing thoughts out to my sister in law ( John's wife) she had foot surgery.

85. JOhn offered to help come up with an evil party scheme for Curt's 50th... BUT won't promise to help Curt with his revenge 51 weeks later.

86. I'm thinking, Curt, me, hotel room with room service.. make him walk funny...

87. Hmmm an Argentinian cowboy would walk funny from the start...

88. I want a pedicure, but my ankles haven't healed yet.

89. By next week, I'll need a pedicure

90. Hey I'm up to 90!!

91. I guess it wouldn't be funny if I said I'm up to 91 now would it?

92. I finished a book for Wednesday Words.. I should work on that post....

93. I want a pair of red polka dot shoes... 

94. Haven't seen any to purchase, just want a pair..

95. I'm back to looking at fitness watches... 

96. I'm pretty sure no one is still reading..

97. I'm going to end up going all Bill Murray on this one insane squirrel soon.

98. I really hate people.

99.  Why don't villains ever get to win??  In really life they usually do.

100.  I made it to 100!!! woot!!



 

Survive the solstice

Six months until winter!!

Body done

So the body is done on Christopher's Benjamin pullover.  Good thing I'm making a bigger size - at 10 minutes of knitting at a time I got an inch and a half of sleeve done last night. 

Infinite Worlds:

The People and Places of Space Exploration.

 

Michael Soluri had an amazing opportunity to take pictures behind the scenes as NASA prepped, launched and executed STS-125 the 2 week shuttle mission that serviced the Hubble Telescope for the fourth and final time.  (OK I'm the geek that gets teary eyed thinking about the slow freezing death that the Hubble will experience when it's power packs are depleted) Some of the amazing pictures can be seen here. The book also showcases many of the incredible images taken by the Hubble.  (I'm going to need a thesaurus by the end of this) 

The book itself was larger than I thought it would be- would make an awesome coffee table book, and when I started reading it the pages were like this:



Sorry for the bad picture - I took it with my phone. I started getting nervous.  A picture book, no matter how good the pictures with a sentence a page was not going to entertain me for long.  Fortunately this was not what the rest of the book was like.  

There were essays, by all of the astronauts on the mission, by many of the people behind the scenes, the launch director, the EVA director, the guy who serviced the heat shield tiles, the guy who maintains the airplanes the astronauts use to get around.  Many of the essays were about what drew these people into the science/engineering/tech jobs that eventually led them to NASA and this mission.  John Grunsfeld takes you from his Childhood in Chicago, his adolescence in the suburbs, leading to his scientific education and pursuits.  Many describe how the early space missions of the 60's inspired them as children.  Soluri's pictures go with the essays, brilliant color and dramatic black and white.

The section that most  touched me however, was in an essay written by Launch Director Michael Leinbach. 

" A final thought.  My wish is for future policy makers to adopt a long-term, sustainable goal for manned spaceflight. ....... Accept no long gaps in manned spaceflight missions, such as the one we are experiencing now.  The team dynamic is lost; the people move on.  To rebuild a team on paper is easy, but to make it happen in real life takes years.  The shuttle launch team was together for thirty years.  The relationships established, the trust built, the in-depth knowledge of the hardware gained , and the earned efficiency of the team cannot be dictated.  It is nourished and sharpened over years.  That is all gone from manned space flight right now....... America's manned spaceflight program is in a hiatus that grows longer and longer. Sad."

The only thing  I disagree with in that quote is the use of manned.  I think enough women have flown that they should change it to crewed. (some say peopled, I like crewed)

If you get the chance to read this book, read it.       

Moon Spinners by Sally Goldenbaum

A nice quick summer read (it's been too hot for anything else since I can't knit or crochet for more than 10 minutes at a time and need to keep my elbow mostly straight)  It's book 3 in the Seaside Knitters series, so as you know I love series where you can follow the characters from book to book.  

I really, really love Birdie the elder matriarch of the group, she has so much spunk and goes after things, I want to be like her when I get old.  The Endicott's remind me of a couple - Nancy and Wil I knew when the Angie was younger. And even though I get seasick at the drop of a hat - I really love Cass - the lobersterwoman.  I really want Sam and Izzy to hook up in a book soon!

The only thing is that after 3 murders in 3 years- you would think the town would get a handle on things and stop acting like ostriches with their heads in the sand or just plain shocked.  Clearly, not a town to visit or move to if you've potentially pissed people off.  

I've already ordered book 4 from the library - so we'll see who gets the axe next!

 

Haven't updated the balconey container garden

Since about 2 weeks ago - a lot has been happening in the containers!

May 26th:
 

Two in the corner last Thursday:



coyote tomato last Thur:



One of the Kermit's was the size of a golf ball on Saturday:



Some Early Wonder on Saturday:



it's a little hard to see - but I have cowhorn's about 4" long already!
 

 

Roses and a Question?

I was worried about the rose bush - it had a lot of damage when the roof was re-done and I had to prune it back a LOT.  There are still a couple of dead canes I have to get to, but I'm leaving well enough alone for now.

I bought this plant because it looked almost succulent and I thought it would look good as a trailer with my portulacas, but they weren't labeled and the guy in the garden center didn't know what they were.  They now have these bright pink flowers on them... any ideas of what they are??

 

The Liar

There were a lot of mixed reviews on this book.  I enjoyed reading it.  The way I see it, we all know the girl and the guy are going to get together by the end of the book.  We are pretty sure the bad guy will get caught by the end of the book. That being said, if you are looking for classic literature that will be taught in a boring English class someday this is not your book.  If you are looking for a good book to escape into, with characters you feel like you know and care about, a bit of suspense and action, with a happy ending, this is your book. 

Choose Your Own Autobiography

I just finished reading this and it really is a fun book. Harris wrote it like a choose your own adventure book, so at the end of every chapter it gives you a couple choices and the corresponding pages. Some choices are blatantly wrong, and you get a clearly made up story, others are less obviously wrong but leads to "THE END"

The book covers his youth and his discovery of his love of performance, his fascination with the magic of back stage tricks and how props made of basically crap come magically alive on stage.

How he discovered his sexuality and met his husband. I really loved the cross country scavenger hunt surprise birthday party his husband came up with that led to a lot of locations where pivotal moments happened.

Overall I highly recommend it (and I usually don't read biographies) I'm not sure how it would translate into a audio book though

Life Update.

 I know I've been quiet lately - tried to blog the other day from my phone but it didn't go through - some error message with the picture.  My father in law needed some stents put in -I know he's had cholesterol issues, and despite the issues he's had with cholesterol meds they put him back on.  Me, I've just learned I have cubital tunnel, pretty bad on the left arm, less of a problem in my right elbow.  My left elbow has gotten so bad, I have pretty much constant "electric shocks" from my elbow to my outer fingers, have weird feelings in my pinky and ring fingers, and  pins and needles that wake me up at night.  So limiting the time knitting, need splints that make it hard to sleep at night and braces that prevent bending my elbow to much during the day. UGH. Also need to figure out how to use my phone - I tend to hold it with my left hand and swipe with my right. 

I'll be posting a few  of the posts my phone didn't send later, I can send them to the computer and hopefully post from there.  But recapping, I read a few books, created a new shelf --  "Life is Too Short" because I have been just deleting them off of the Goodreads site, but I almost got the same book again!

Went to Pocono Speedway for the race weekend - there is a rant about that. Serious rant. and Garden pics of course!!