I don’t have any photos to prove it, but Ric and Zooey are going out every morning on the leash. They love checking out the yard, even if they have to drag a human along. It’s demanding enough to keep up with them that there’s no way I can take pictures. Zooey slipped off the vest this morning, partly because I kept holding the leash taut. At other times, I’ve let the leash go, and he always heads for the house. He did this time, too, and stopped at the top of the driveway to allow me to pick him up and take him into the house.
Here’s the picture that will probably go in the Christmas letter.
At Elizabelle’s request (and mine – I was thinking of something like this too), this is an open thread for talk about pets, garden, crafts, recipes, music, or anything that isn’t today’s news.
Elizabelle
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Cheryl.
Fine looking kitties. With or without vests. Maybe we can use this thread to put up some non-shooter or Trump stories (although they’re OK too) and keep Tom Petty in our hearts.
ETA: hearts, not “thoughts and prayers.” Fuck those. I think they’re all diverted to the latest victims of all too preventable violence. Except not in the exceptional US of A. No sirree.
Major Major Major Major
Thanks!
Very pretty kitties. Here is a bad picture of Samwise.
debbie
@Major Major Major Major:
Does your cat match your color scheme, or does your color scheme match your cat?
A Ghost to Most
@Elizabelle: Thank you for that eta.
MomSense
I’ve been obsessively working on a knitting project. I had the idea a while ago and finally bought the yarn and started trying to work out the design. I feel like a little kid with a new box of crayons. All weekend I was staying up sooo late just to work one more row.
The founders of the yarn company have just retired. During the Cold War they traveled to the Soviet Union making friends with craftspeople and farmers. They brought wool back to the states where it was blended with US sourced wool to make incredible yarn.
the peace fleece story
Major Major Major Major
@debbie: I think the futon used to be black before it got a bunch of sun.
LAO
Yesterday, we celebrated Maggie’s first adoptiversary. her instagram account
And yes, I know how insane it is for my dog to have an Instagram account. There is really no good excuse.
ETA: link doesn’t work. https://www.instagram.com/maggie_the_peagle/
MomSense
@Major Major Major Major:
There are no bad pics of Samwise. He’s a beautiful cat.
CaseyL
Craft news: I’m setting up a studio in my house to do fused glass. I’ve been into fused glass pretty intensely over the past year, working with an artist in her studio. But I can only get over there about once per week, and if I really want to seriously pursue this, I really need to have more studio time than that. So I finally cleared out the spare bedroom – got rid of an elliptical that had been gathering dust for lo these many years – and set up a work table, a kiln table, and a space for the glass supplies.
I ordered a kiln about a week ago, and it should get here by mid-November. The shipping weight is given as 125 pounds, so getting it upstairs should be interesting!
Very excited about being able to do glass all the time. I’m taking extended time off from my day job because it’s just too damn stressful. So I’m also engaged in rethinking the whole job thing. At the moment, I’m considering making way less money for a more congenial day job. Trouble is figuring out just what that would be…
Baud
@LAO: Nice.
MomSense
@CaseyL:
I’m happy you are going to be able to work with glass more. Hope you will share some of your creations with us.
SiubhanDuinne
Ricccc. Anddd Zooeeeyyyy. Are bbbbotthhhhhhh ggvgorrrrgfeeeeeous
Tucccck. I have. No idea. What’s. Ggggoinggg on with. Myyy ipadddd. Tyyypingggg.
Mel
@Major Major Major Major: Samwise is a very regal and handsome kitty.
LAO
@Major Major Major Major: majestic!
SiubhanDuinne
I am not. Ddddrrunk. Myyyy ipadddd is going very bbberrrrrsetrrrk.
BBBBBERRRRSERTK
Bbbbbberrrrrserrrrk
Major Major Major Major
@LAO: that’s not insane at all. What if I only want pictures of the dog and not your lattes or whatever?
@MomSense: aw shucks.
dmsilev
Recipes: I’m in my annual mode of researching and testing chocolate cake recipes (practice for Thanksgiving; I use my coworkers as guinea pigs, and hence am quite popular this time of year). Anyway, I made this last week and it was pretty good. Anyone have any suggestions for others to try? Should serve 12-16 and preferably only take a couple of hours max of prep time (lots of other cooking to do at the same time).
SiubhanDuinne
Bbbbbb
E
R
S
E
R
K
Mel
I love it thst Ric and Zooey are essentially holding hands while snuggling. They are lovely.
Elizabelle
@CaseyL: Fused glass. Don’t know anything about that. What a fun thing to learn more about.
I love sea glass/beach glass. It’s treasure. Still remember that day, when Alain told us what beloved and missed Green Not Green’s name really was — Carol — and being at a beach above Barcelona, with soothing green mediterranean water and then finding all manner of green sea glass. I have really thought about sending the sea glass to Carol’s sister, because the whole day was dedicated to her. I was floating in the green, cool and refreshing water, thinking of her. Gone too soon.
The Mediterranean is clear enough to see the rocks and sea glass at your feet. I love Spain, and what I have seen of Europe.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@LAO: ZOMG, she’s so cute! Her head is showing her pibble lineage and her body is so beagle. Happy belated gotcha day Maggie.
Ric and Zooey are lovely, and no doubt enjoying their outdoor adventures. And Samwise is indeed regal.
I’m sure many Juicers have seen this, but for any who haven’t, it’s very cool. I can’t find the original, but it’s easy enough to watch from the link.
LAO
@Major Major Major Major: it’s all dog, 24/7. I don’t want to see my lattes either!
MomSense
@LAO:
Maggie is adorable and I love the pup IG accounts. Mine is mostly the dog and crafty or garden things.
dmsilev
@SiubhanDuinne: Your iPad’s version of Siri is evolving into Skynet. Be afraid.
LAO
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: how’s your big boy doing?
CaseyL
@LAO: What a cutie! Can almost smell the puppy breath, just looking at her. So funny to see the pittie head on the beagle body.
JMG
What a wonderful photograph. My happy news is I’m headed to the Cape for at least two weeks, my last two weeks of golf before wrist surgery (to remove hardware from previous surgery). I know golf is a retrograde activity, but I’ve loved it all my life. Not gonna change now.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@LAO: he’s as goofy as ever. I told the shelter trainer that there’s a new issue with the gentle leader – we don’t put it on fast enough! Nobody saw that one coming. I think he needs an instagram, though he might include other critters also too.
jill tasker
Will there be a Balloon Juice calendar this year?
Gravenstone
@SiubhanDuinne: Maybe it’s telling you to change your name back? =P
LAO
@CaseyL: she’s a funny looking little thing, but she has her moments.
SiubhanDuinne
Quickly from the phone to say that I’m fine and am not stroking out but my iPad has been going berserk recently and now it seems to be affecting the keyboard.
debbie
@dmsilev:
I can’t find the Bon Appetit recipe online, but this looks very similar. No baking, made ahead of time. It was always very much liked.
SiubhanDuinne
@Gravenstone:which as you see I have done
LAO
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: Do it and send me the link! Milo (the mellow yellow lab) occasionally makes an appearance, as well.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@SiubhanDuinne: Cool.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
Restart?
Gravenstone
Asking about music? I tossed this out in another thread a few days back, but will trot it out again because it’s a new favorite. The fourth album from Black Country Communion came out a couple of weeks ago, and it’s fantastic (if that musical genre is to your taste). Give it a browse and see if you might agree.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: Downloaded too much porn again?
Elizabelle
Louis Armstrong used to sign his letters “Red Beans and Ricely Yours.” I learned that in Rima and Richard Collin’s wonderful New Orleans cookbook. Told you about them when we were discussing donut recipes and Paramus. They have a foolproof beignets recipe.
NPR: The Culinary Habits of Louis Armstrong
And a 1977 WaPost story: Red Beans and Ricely Yours
Ken Ringle. People used to write better, assuming a longer attention span.
Repatriated
@SiubhanDuinne: turn the screen off, clean it with glass cleaner (carefully, avoid getting liquid into the speaker or the gap around the main front button), dry thoroughly, and try again. If that doesn’t fix it, restart.
That’s all I’ve got.
Baud
@Repatriated: Good call. I’ve had substances get on my screen which messes up the touch detection.
Elizabelle
@LAO: Maggie is gorgeous. Gets stubbornness from both sides of the lineage.
ETA: For being a Southern dog: is she Magnolia?
Gravenstone
@SiubhanDuinne: No, I meant maybe it liked the longer version.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
So we went to Mexico after all. Rained and rained and rained some more yesterday and today in Playa del Carmen (Saturday was nice). Playa was, quite frankly, annoying as shit – it’s a boom burg, nobody is from there, and everybody is either trying to hustle you into their restaurant or shop OR tip grubbing – all of it aggressive. Made our way back to my favorite town (Puerto Morelos) and wondered why we went to Playa, even for free. Here in this village, there are no hustles – nobody shouts at you to buy useless shit you don’t need.
About the only thing I’d use Playa for is a jumping off point for Cozumel dives – I found a dive shop there I really like. Owner was honest about conditions yesterday, his equipment was immaculate and he had endeavored to learn our qualifications and experience to create what would have been a lovely dive day (you don’t want a long boat ride in 1.5 meter seas, heavy rains and 10-15 mph wind – plus, boating after a dive in those conditions is a recipe for misery and injury).
So we got over to this place, the sun came out, nobody was hawking anything.
Had some great ceviche this afternoon – mixto is my thing (octopus, fish, shrimp). Been drinking beer with a shot of reposado. We had a delightful beach afternoon at a beach bar where they were playing Petty.
Tonight, we walked from the beach bar to the square, got to see a fisherman arguing with both municipal and state cops over his catch, had lionfish carpaccio, wood-fired seafood risotto and grilled Panela cheese with house made pesto (the Countess had wood-fired shrimp tacos and a wood-fired chaya pizza). Followed it up with a Nutella and cheese marquesita. Now laying in bed, stuffed like ticks – we did bring back boxes of leftovers.
Baud
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Sounds lovely.
SiubhanDuinne
Is makinggg. Me cccccrazyyy. Whattt. In. The ffucccck is. Even hhhhappeninfgg.@dmsilev: it
Elizabelle
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: But you know we all want to know:
What is going on with daughter and the loser ex- boyfriend?** What do you hear?
** Please still be the ex-BF.
raven
@Elizabelle: When I went to the New Orleans School of Cooking 34 years ago I mentioned the Collins’ book and almost got thrown out of the joint. Chef Joe raged at how many live they had ruined with their reviews. I like the book but damn!!!
Steeplejack
Daniel Perez, “Across the Crystal Sea.”
SiubhanDuinne
@Gravenstone:
Than ittt will bbbbbe a. Gigggggghttt tutti the death with. Sttttteeeplejack.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Sorry your iPad is driving you batty, but may I commend you for returning to your very sensible (and short, dammit, short — albeit unpronounceable) name. That and the cats on a bed soothe me.
NotMax
FYI: First Monday in October – what did the Supreme Court hear?
And what’s already set to come? (emphasis added)
Elizabelle
@raven: Funny. It seems to be a well regarded cookbook. Were they ragging on the chefs, to excess? LOL.
Plz give Lil Bit and Bohdi a hug from us.
Baud
@Steeplejack: Oh, that sounds wonderful. Saved it for later.
Tim C.
It took about seven years, but we had a major breakthrough between the cat and the kids. The cat finally finally realized how desperate my daughter (age 5) was to pet him and allowed her to get close enough. So much purring later all was well and she was covered in cat hair. A good thing from today.
Villago Delenda Est
Her Serene Highness Princess Mocha is resting in a ball about 10 feet from me now after a busy day of interacting with neighbor cats. She has a little red spot on her nose.
Baud
@Tim C.: Glad you didn’t have to return the kid.
raven
@Elizabelle: I think they did food reviews for the New Orleans States-Item.
chris
@Elizabelle: I replied to your last comment in the previous thread because I didn’t get it. At all.
Major Major Major Major
@SiubhanDuinne: Sorry, I might have snuck some code targeting you into the last pie filter update.
Laura
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: The spouse and I honeymooned on Cozumel in 96. Spouse had worked as a commercial diver before we met and so he dove the reef for a week and we explored the sleepy island and were embarrassed nightly by the antics of too young, uncouth white privileged teens.
Happy memories -thanks Compte!
I hope that you return to peaceful quiet at home after the trevails that preceded your trip.
raven
@Elizabelle:
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: way to post today’s news.
Laura
@NotMax: The Janus case will destroy my career. Fuck Samuel Alito and his desire to overturn a 1977 case with a unanimous decision in order to destroy what is left of Unions in America.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Elizabelle:
Still ex.
Eldest daughter and her high school friend are keeping her occupied. High school friend had her spend a couple of nights – her partner is a great guy and good part time musician (gets paying gigs), and works the line at a local Ford plant. I want errant daughter to see how working musicians keep things going, as an example. We could be over a hump, particularly if shithead continues to stay away.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Damn autocorrect. Danilo Perez. Whole album is good.
Eric S.
I always feel like somebody’s watching me.
Shana
I’m making slow cooker lamb stock because I noticed I have a lot of lamb chop bones in the freezer, enough for a batch of stock. I usually use it to make Joy of Cooking’s Scotch Broth but I don’t have any actual lamb meat so I’m not sure what to do with it. FYI, we keep kosher and getting more lamb for soup tomorrow isn’t an easy thing to do. There might be enough meat left on the bones I’m using for a light bunch for soup. I think I may just use some ground chicken or turkey.
Does the BJ collective have any suggestions?
Corner Stone
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: For someone with such a hard ass judgy meter for everyone else, you are remarkably consistent in your ability to snow yourself.
Elizabelle
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Lionfish risotto. Way to go! I acquired a lionfish cookbook a while back. Closing sale at the National Aquarium, in the Commerce Building in DC.
Beautiful fish, but don’t belong in Florida/Gulf waters. Cook those suckers.
Mediterranean Sea having a problem with jellyfish. People are trying to come up with jellyfish recipes. The Chinese, of course, have been eating them for centuries, but it would seem they will eat anything.
FTF NY Times: Jellyfish Seek Italy’s Warming Seas. Can’t Beat ’Em? Eat ’Em.
I was stung badly by a jellyfish the summer before last. In Nice. Very close to shore. I say, cuisine those suckers. But penguins are doing their part. Is there anything we don’t like about penguins?
NY Times: Who’s Eating Jellyfish? Penguins, That’s Who
Bring on the penguins. Eat up, little buddies.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Baud:
I admit to feeling a little guilty about the octopus – I love seeing them when diving, as they’re interesting and smart (I also feel the same way about grouper – they have great personalities). I won’t eat them at home, because I dislike hitting them like a harvest, although I’ll have a limited amount in tropical locations mainly because the catch is limited.
NotMax
@Shana
Use some of the stock to prepare couscous and/or rice. Freeze the rest. (Spray an ice cube tray with Pam, fill with stock – voila, frozen stock cubes which can all be stored loose in a freezer bag).
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Elizabelle:
I got a moon jelly up a swimsuit leg a few years back when boating after a dive. Yes, it stung me there, in part.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
I would believe you except that every app on my iPad is going intermittently wacky — FB, Kindle, BJ of course, other blogs, email, a whole bunch of word games and solitaire card games, newspapers, both free and fee — for the moment it appears things have calmed down, but could start up again any minute. Really weird.
jeffreyw
Gabe’s World
Shana
@NotMax: Nice idea.
Major Major Major Major
@SiubhanDuinne: I am a little sad that you would believe me.
chris
@chris: Never mind, got it. The title has changed.
Gin & Tonic
Thankfully was away from all sources of news today. It was our wedding anniversary, so we went on a whale watching cruise. The subtext to that is we’ve had several false starts, so this has been kind of a running joke in the family for many years. Well, no more. The weather was spectacular, and the sightings were plentiful. Ate some seafood afterward, a couple of glasses of wine. Couldn’t get much better, and reminds me once again of the pleasures of being married to this woman.
Elizabelle
@chris: Oh. I see. Imgur was including a roundup of “most viral images” at top right of your beautiful photo. “Fuck this particular person” was top of the recap. And it was not Trump.
Your photo was wonderful. Where was it taken?
Elizabelle
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: And that was the last thing that moon jelly ever did.
Jellyfish are so beautiful in aquariums, and so upsetting in real life.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
Could be a problem similar to what I had when I first got my Asus Chromebook. Try going into the keyboard settings and lengthening the “delay before repeat” time. At least from what’s showing here, it looks like your keyboard is spraying out multiple letters on one keypress.
Sorry I don’t know how to tell you to get to that setting on an iPad, but if you can’t do it somebody here probably can tell you.
BethanyAnne
I adopted 2 cats from a shelter here in Houston 3 years ago, Clio and Louie. They have been wonderful. I follow our own Way of Cats’ blog, and Clio is a big fluffy Beta – very interested in telling you what has happened recently, and getting you to fix any problems in her life, like a lack of brushing. Pic here. Louie is a small ball of energy. When I got them, Special Pals, the shelter, told me that he would probably just hang out and chill. Ha! He wasn’t chill, he was *bored*. He’s an Alpha all the way – he wants his paw in everything that is going on in the apartment. If he doesn’t get some time with the Evil Red Dot every day, he starts to get twitchy. His pic is here. They are nominally brother and sister, but I have no real way of knowing. They do like to sleep on one another regularly.
I can’t believe that people say cats are aloof. I think that’s just owners not knowing how cats communicate. Mine come up and hang out with me so often. They want to be involved, just on their own terms, which seems fair. Yay, cat thread!
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
I have saved every one of your BJ Analytics bar charts and star charts. Also your wonderful Raven. Why wouldn’t I believe you?
SiubhanDuinne
@Steeplejack:
Thanks, will give that a try.
Elizabelle
@jeffreyw: That’s so Japanese landscape looking.
efgoldman
Granddaughter (and her parents) went back to DC on Saturday. She is sweet and wonderful and we had a great time with her – and she attached herself to Grammy like a barnacle. We miss the hell out of her, but it’s nice to have our lives and our (pretty small) house back, too.
They’ll be back for Thanksgiving, but SIL’s North Carolina family gets xmas this year. :::sob:::
I think I’ve said before that 3-5 is what I always saw in my mind’s eye when I thought “grandchild.”
“Granddaughter, what’s Grandpa’s job?”
“To spoil me rotten.”
delk
My husband is going to China for a couple of weeks which means Gav will be absolutely miserable waiting by the doorfor him to come home. He’ll start at 6 pm and every 20 minutes or so move closer and closer to the door.
Major Major Major Major
@SiubhanDuinne: why would I do something bad ☹️
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Elizabelle:
In May, on the scuba liveaboard in the Coral Sea, bluebottles attached themselves to the tag lines that we were working across. First dive, I didn’t know what they were and thought they were some sort of colorful glass line ornaments. I wasn’t wearing gloves, and the little bastards stung like blazes.
Wore gloves every dive after.
Elizabelle
@raven: Tell us what you think, Mr. Collin. That one was brutal.
Shana
@Gin & Tonic: Mazel tov. Finding the right person is indeed a wonderful thing. Treasure it.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
Also, maybe try a hard power down and reboot. (Apologies if that’s insultingly obvious.)
chris
@Elizabelle: Thanks, it was a lucky shot with my phone in an untended part of what I like to think of as my garden. It’s a two mile walk from where I live in the backwoods of Nova Scotia.
AMM
@dmsilev:
This is probably old-hat for someone with a chocolate cake-making habit, but just in case:
Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Guinness Cake
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1875-chocolate-guinness-cake
NotMax
Seemed there were more than a few here who appreciated Richard Feynman. Turns out some of his lectures on physics are available for perusal free online.
amygdala
@Shana: Mushroom-barley soup (and freezing, as was suggested, any leftover stock in an ice cube tray).
Elizabelle
@chris: Oh that’s right. You have mentioned Nova Scotia previously.
How are the leaves up there?
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@jeffreyw: Gabe! An adorable guy.
Elizabelle
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Nature is red, in tooth and claw. Or just plain aggravating.
Good to hear the ex has not shown. I hope he never does. Scram.
Brooklyn Dodger
@LAO: the very best kind of insane – just followed you and Maggie is a doll. Whattaface!
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic: Romantic. With whales. I heart whales.
NotMax
@dmsilev
Reliable old standby, Chocolate Vinegar Cake.
jeffreyw
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: He’s a rascally youngster.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
Cosign. Plz to add many scritches.
chris
@Elizabelle: Those pics are two weeks old and September was really hot so the leaves are just getting started. There’s a splash of red in the upper right quadrant of the last pic, maples start early. I’ll go back to that spot on the river with the “real” camera this week.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steeplejack:
Have done that several times. It seems to work for an hour or two and then, without warning, everything goes batshit.
LAO
@jeffreyw: Gabe is fantastic.
@Brooklyn Dodger: thank you. We’re just back from a walk and she’s got a case of the zoomies. I’m trying not to kill her. ?
CaseyL
@MomSense: I should do that, should set up a flickr account or some such thing.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
I don’t think it’s bad OR good, I think your analytics are morally neutral. At least that’s how I take them.
Shana
@amygdala: I like that idea better than freezing the stock. Now that the weather has a nip in the air here in the DC area, that’s more appropriate.
Major Major Major Major
@SiubhanDuinne: I meant why would I put in code to make the site malfunction for you, that would be awfully rude and get me, for lack of a better term, fired.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
How long have you had this iPad?
SiubhanDuinne
@debbie:
Three years almost? Or four? Honestly don’t recall. I know it was January but I have no notion what year it was.
Amir Khalid
Tom Petty is not dead, although there has been no new information on his condition. He was found at home in cardiac arrest and taken to hospital; as of now, that seems to be as much anyone knows about him.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
Well, I know you have a quirky sense of humour, and I don’t totally mind being the brunt of your, uh, experiments.
chris
My cats, Steve over Pumpkin. Pumpkin is a dignified old lady who does not play with the riffraff. Steve thinks this is just wrong and keeps trying. The funniest is when he swings by and play bites her and then has to sit making faces while he tries to deal with the mouthful of cat fluff.
khead
So, it turns out Tom Petty is still alive. In other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
It may be that time. ?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
hmm…. Rachel Maddow, who I believe is six feet tall, is the shortest MSNBC prime time host
Feathers
I cast on a sweater last week and am up to the sleeve cap on the first sleeve. I do the sleeves first to make sure the gauge an sizing is right. Very happily doing miles of stockinette. I blew out my knitting making four garter stitch Doctor Who scarves. My stockinette got all rowed out and I was miserable. Took a fantastic workshop with Patty Lyons and she fixed my technique and now I’m good to go.
It’s an Amy Herzog custom fit. You take a tone of measurements, do a swatch to measure your gauge, and then the software calculates a pattern to your measurements. I’ve seen others that look great, I’ll let you know how it goes.
chopper
@SiubhanDuinne:
I think you’re having a stroke. get under a table and put a wet rag on your neck.
Omnes Omnibus
@Feathers: I have no idea what you just said, but go you.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Michelle Bachmann once tried to use American Girl at her campaign rallies
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
And Chris Hayes appears to be preggers.
BruceFromOhio
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s knitting season!
Gotta have something to do when seasonal affective disorder comes knocking.
Omnes Omnibus
@BruceFromOhio: One could ski, no? Or drink brandy and read Dickens? Or both.
efgoldman
I don’t like franchise fast food.
I know it’s all (without exception) bad for me.
For some reason, tonight, every commercial for every crappy burger, chicken, or pizza placel is giving me a Pavlovian reaction. I want to get dressed, get in the car, and go from store to store pigging out.
I’m not going to; inertia. sloth, and basic laziness always win out, but it’s a real craving.
Mnemosyne
@Feathers:
I’m very jealous of you and Momsense. My carpal tunnels forced me to choose between knitting and writing. It’s very annoying, but the novel comes first. ?
Steeplejack (phone)
@chopper:
LOL.
NotMax
@BruceFrom Ohio
Knitters en masse are a feisty group.
Elizabelle
@Amir Khalid: I know. I wish he could recover. Sounds like he was without oxygen for too long, but who knows.
You’re in our hearts, Tom Petty.
chris
More cats. They belong to no one and are adorable and a wee bit dangerous.
Mnemosyne
@NotMax:
I knew the Women’s March was gonna be huge once the knitters got involved. You do NOT fuck with pissed-off knitters.
randy khan
@NotMax:
Ooooo. His physics lectures are legendary.
Cheryl Rofer
@efgoldman: I have been self-medicating with chocolate today.
Elizabelle
@Amir Khalid: You will have to practice some Petty riffs tonight. With The Girl.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne:
I dunno why you meatbags don’t just get those things removed.
Sab
@Feathers: I’missed impressed. Sleeves first is a useful idea. Trying to psych myself to start the sweater I promised my spouse three years ago. Knitting isn’t like riding a bicycle. You do forget how to do the trickier stuff.
Mnemosyne
@chris:
I don’t feel like reposting the whole story here, but when I was in Lake Arrowhead (CA) a couple of weeks ago, I turned around in the woods to find a bobcat trotting along behind me. Sadly, I did not get a picture, because I didn’t want him to feel threatened.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@chopper: I think her ipad is having a stroke, probably time for a nice Samsung S3*.
*It has a stylus.
randy khan
On the cat front, our recently radioactive kitty* is lying next to me on the sofa, alternating between washing and napping, in the spot where my wife’s lap usually is, except that my wife is in upstate New York tonight.
*She was treated for hyperthyroid with an Iodine-131 injection three weeks ago. We had to wash our hands after touching her until just a few days ago.
Sab
@Feathers: I’m impressed. Sleeves first is a useful idea. Trying to psych myself to start the sweater I promised my spouse three years ago. Knitting isn’t like riding a bicycle. You do forget how to do the trickier stuff.
efgoldman
@Cheryl Rofer:
I like my chocolate (always dark), but my real ought to know better but on the other hand my kidneys are already fried, is salty.
Cheryl Rofer
@Sab: There are multiple videos available on YouTube for every knitting technique.
rikyrah
Please give us pictures of them?
Omnes Omnibus
Christ, I am in a knitting thread.
Major Major Major Major
@Omnes Omnibus: we can talk about ghosts if you want.
zhena gogolia
@jill tasker:
GOOD QUESTION. The pages are dwindling down to a precious few.
MomSense
@Feathers:
I love Amy Herzog and her approach. Her designs always look good on.
Omnes Omnibus
@Major Major Major Major: Ghost are actually interesting.* Go.
*Comparatively.
Corner Stone
After a few hundred viewings of the commercial, I still have yet to see why Aaron Rodgers needs to buy a new truck?
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: His dog wants a new truck for new smells.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: His dog seems majorly pissed when Clay Matthews shows up with an RC handheld.
burnspbesq
@Elizabelle:
Hardly anyone touched a Rickenbacker 12-string for at least a 10-year period after Younger than Yesterday, so when Petty brought one out of mothballs it sounded fresh and new to folks for whom the Byrds were their parents’ music.
Major Major Major Major
@Omnes Omnibus: restless spirits trapped between worlds? People that just didn’t want to go? A convenient label we attach to a certain class of angel or demon so we don’t have to think too hard about the true nature of things? Taking all bets! I also offer ‘fake/none of the above’ but the odds are pretty lame.
burnspbesq
If Petty’s last credit turns out to be producing Chris Hillman’s new album, that’s a hell of a way to go out. A great, great record.
Corner Stone
Dotson straight dropped that. Jeebus cracker.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: Some dogs just get O and D but are iffy about teams.
Omnes Omnibus
@Major Major Major Major: I call weird shit we can’t explain.
Sab
@Omnes Omnibus: You made me laugh for the first time today.
Omnes Omnibus
@Sab: Imagine my horror….
Sab
@Omnes Omnibus: I can’t begin to.
Omnes Omnibus
@Sab: No one can. Don’t be distracted.
Major Major Major Major
@Omnes Omnibus: i see you like to play it safe.
Corner Stone
Ice Cold!
Omnes Omnibus
I’ll close me now.
randy khan
@Corner Stone:
I just looked at it on YouTube. In the first two seconds, you can see a drone that’s lying on the windshield that it’s smashed. If you’re not watching the commercial closely from the start (which I wasn’t when I saw it on TV) it’s unlikely you’d see it.
randy khan
I know that the rule is that you do the point after try following every touchdown except in overtime, but it seems pretty stupid to require it when the leading team scores on the last play of the game.
Corner Stone
@randy khan: It always looks like they are trying to say some large animal smashed the rear quarter panel. But it looks fine. I am always baffled why he needs a new truck.
ETA Ok, I just watched it on YouTube and you are right. He has a windshield issue with some weird spaghetti drone.
Czanne
@CaseyL: if we could get 5 feet long, 150 pounds of wide format printer & stand up 4 flights including 3 switchback landings… you’ll be fine. Your kiln sounds really fun.
I have cranked out the fabric for 3.5 sweaters and want to finish up the sleeves for the last one tomorrow. Then I can put away the knitting machine and pull out the sewing machines.
Also, I have finished the extended preview for my series. It’s available for free and it’s not a big commitment as series go; novella territory. Just ping me at my linked site. It’s female protagonist epic fantasy about a coup and the resultant civil war. The world building DNA is about 1/3 West Wing, 1/3 Westeros(or Novgorod or Charlemagne), and 1/3 Republic to Imperial Rome.
Mnemosyne
@Feathers:
@MomSense:
Funny Amy Herzog story: I took a class with her at my local Vogue Knitting conference that was one of her Knit to Fit classes, so she brought along a ton of example sweaters. The AC in the conference center was SO FRICKIN’ COLD that she distributed sweaters for everyone to wear during the class. In Los Angeles. In August.
Suzanne
@CaseyL: I have some questions about glass kilns. Do you have to have the electrician come in to put in the higher voltage outlet? 208 or 240? How big are they? What about venting or a hood?
Mnemosyne
@Czanne:
I’ve been vaguely considering a knitting machine because of my carpal tunnel problems, but they seem like a lot of work to get right. Apparently quite a few big-name knitters (like Ysolda Teague) use them to do the tedious stockinette parts of their fancy yoked sweaters.
Mary G
Since the Comte has been talking about diving, here is my pretty for today – Winners of the Scuba Diving Magazine’s underwater photography contest. Beautiful creatures, beautifully shot. I think the coconut octopus is my fave, although the cleaner fish around the sea turtle’s eye is close.
Suzanne
@Mnemosyne: I have been learning how to knit. No one’s showing me how, I’m learning from books and web videos. Do you have any tips for keeping good counts of stitches?
Sab
@Mnemosyne: I am distressed to read about your carpel tunnel. I have osteoarthritis in my hands and knitting has been amazing in loosening things up.
Keep us posted (when Oo is sleeping) about how it goes if you get a knitting machine.
Another Scott
@SiubhanDuinne: There may be some intermittent connections inside that open up after it gets hot. If so, you probably can’t do anything about it unless an Apple store (or similar) is willing to open it up.
You can get a BlueTooth keyboard for just $20 or so that might let you extend the life – if the major issue is the on-screen keyboard. I got one for a Samsung tablet a couple of years ago and it was fine.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
ET
My Meezer Bean has decided he want to know about the “room” on the other side if the kitchen outside door. I had an emergency leash/harness left fromy last cat whom I couldn’t get it onto, so I tried. Bean sat still for the leash and walked outside. It wasn’t a stride but he went. We have out for several nights for our Evening Constitutional – some nights have been more successful than others. Sometimes he gets scared and wants back in but one night he yeowled when after being a mosquito buffet, I carried him back in. I have managed a few pictures though.
Mnemosyne
@Suzanne:
Honestly, especially when I was first starting out, I would re-count the number of stitches after every couple of rows or rounds just to make sure I hadn’t accidentally dropped or added any. I usually count 2 at a time, but people who are more math-minded than me can count 3 at a time (so 3, 6, 9, etc).
The biggest noob mistakes to watch out for are dropped stitches, accidental yarnovers, and splitting the yarn so you end up with 2 stitches instead of 1. And, honestly, you will ALWAYS make mistakes like that, you’ll just make fewer and get better at fixing them. There’s a reason that “it’s not a mistake, it’s a design element!” is a popular catchphrase.
ETA: Also, when you start doing things like lace or cables, stitch markers will be your best friends in the whole damn world for keeping track of the pattern. Start buying them now.
Mike in NC
Petty dead, yet Trump lives.
Brooklyn Dodger
@LAO: Esme is too old for extended zoomies but does a pretty snappy play bow. The tips of her paws levitate. Right now she’s mixed in with lattes and meringues.
Sab
@Mnemosyne: Yes stitch markers!
My mother was an amazing knitter. I have an Aran Island style cardigan that she knit for me when I went off to college and she was empty nesting. I am still wearing it fifty years later. I couldn’t begin to do the weird cables. Every year I remove the leather buttons , hand wash it, and sew the buttons back on.
efgoldman
@Sab:
mrs efg, not a knitter, made me a heavy, variegated crew neck pullover cable knit right around the time we were married, ~40 years ago. Unfortunately I don’t, and didn’t have that much occasion to wear it – it’s awfully heavy and warm – especially because i don’t stand outside waiting for as bus or train and haven’t for years.
She made it just to see if she could. She started a couple other projects but never finished them.
Mnemosyne
@Sab:
Sorry, had a cat on my lap and couldn’t type. ? I’m actually pretty good with cables, but they really require you to keep track of your rows and stitches. You can’t just zoom along like you can with stockinette or ribbing.
Amir Khalid
Woke up and checked the news again. So Tom Petty’s passed on after all. Damn. I loved The Waiting.
Sab
@Mnemosyne: Hopefully someday you will persuade the cat to take dictation.I have gotten nowhere with mine, but I am hopeful about the tuxedo. The others not so much. They are compliant but they cannot read and don’t have opposable thumbs to write.
The tuxedo has the same disabilities, but somehow I never thought that would slow him down. He can open catfood cans with his claws. Our rottweiler is terrified of him and he only weighs 15 pounds.
I’ll keep plugging on the knitting. My current goal is Sox. Every idiot should be able to knit Sox, but I can’t, yet.
CaseyL
@Suzanne: You can get a kiln that works on 120 (regular household) wiring, and that’s what I got. Those kilns tend to be smaller, but the one I bought has a decent sized interior chamber, 14 x 14 x 6. I’ll be putting it on a table – I think it comes with a stand, but I’m not sure if I also need to put something fireproof under the stand.
The room the kiln is in should have good ventilation. I’ll fire it with the window open. I’m more concerned about ventilation in regards to working with powder frit (colored glass ground to powder) – so I’ll also put an exhaust fan in the window, and wear a mask while I’m working.
The first time I fire it, I’ll likely be checking the room every five minutes to make sure nothing has burst into flames!
Sab
@Amir Khalid: Sorry for your loss. Lots of others also feel it. Thus a life well,spent.
patrick II
@efgoldman:
McDelivery
Just trying to help.
Kayla Rudbek
@dmsilev: there’s a vegan Guinness chocolate cake recipe that I like: google reveals this
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: As George Harrison told Tom Petty, You can never have too many ukuleles.
Gian
one of the dead is a 20 year old lady who volunteered for the theater my daughter (age 8 loves)
when we told her the young lady was shot, she asked “on purpose?”
that young lady had more empathy and goodness than the entire trump family, yes including the excommunicated Tiffany
Sorry lurk mode back on
Mnemosyne
@Sab:
Before you tackle socks, make a hat in the round using either a circular needle or double-pointed needles. A sock is just a hat for your foot, and every modern pattern will walk you through the heel part step-by-step.
And if you really, really can’t get the hang of knitting in the round, there are people who knit socks flat. If you want to make socks with an argyle or other intarsia pattern, knitting flat is the only way that works.
Kayla Rudbek
@Suzanne: I always count stitches in groups of two and three: so two,five, seven, ten,twelve, etc. and I use tons of stitch markers, varying the colors so things are different and I have an idea as to which side I’m on. Locking stitch markers are good for keeping track of increase rows on sleeves or a sweater body – put a marker in on each increase row so I know what I’ve already done.
Texasboyshaun
I picked up a couple of decent steaks for dinner. My sister cooked them with some mashed potatoes and mushrooms. After dinner all 3 of our dogs pinned me under a blanket on the couch. Tomorrow sis goes back for a 2nd epidural for pain (she’s got RA). But at least tonight we had a good end to a crappy Monday. Baby steps.
Major Major Major Major
Man, what a weird and garbage day.
But, well… Nothing else to do at work so I started making a bespoke site for my webcomic in the new framework I’m exploring, which was very educational; and I got some good video gaming in; and I drew a panel; and I read.
Not a total loss. Time for a Psych before bed.
danielx
Because thread needs kittehs and I just got around to downloading these…..Boris caught in a (wait for it) pas de chat while engaged with a new catnip mouse.
They grow so fast.
Major Major Major Major
@danielx: Oh, that’s hilarious.
prostratedragon
“Windswept”
danielx
@Major Major Major Major: couple of the best pics i have ever taken, aside from the out of focus part.
SgrAstar
@Major Major Major Major: wow! What a sensational-looking cat.
Debbie(aussie)
@CaseyL:
You may miss this. I had no idea what fused glass was, googled and oh my, beautiful. I wish you well in your craft and could we please see the results. Would love to see pics of juicers craftiness. I have no ability on that forefront except as an appreciator.
Suzanne are you still working with clay? And all the knitters. What a talented bunch, and wordsmiths besides ?
CarolDuhart2
My Site. After a weekend of changing everything on the site to match the new domain, I wonder if people can’t find it anymore. I was getting a few visitors before. But what really stings is that I announced it elsewhere, and the comment was that it was a site of YouTube videos. But considering the sites that are nothing but a slideshow and ads (and comeon headlines). I think my site at least has content and a lame attempt at commentary.
Matt McIrvin
A couple days after doubling the dose, our kitty Radka’s insulin shots seemed to suddenly start working. Excess drinking and peeing just stopped. Her energy’s back too, at least to a normal level for an aged cat, which makes her harder to catch for the shots. But I think I’m getting better at it, which probably is more comfortable for her.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Corner Stone:
Of greater urgency, what brainiac thought it would be a good idea for Samuel L. Jackson to butcher an Al Green song? Or sing at all?
J R in WV
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho:
Wow! That’s wonderful, how interesting, I don’t care for deer much, too many of them. They become giant rodents infestating the woods.
barb 2
@randy khan:
My cat had that done last Nov (radiation treatment for malfunctioning thyroid). He didn’t develop all the symptoms, just hyper and demanding and loud. It was worth every penny. I’ve been ill, slowly getting better — and my cat is with me purring his heart out. We figured that it was cheaper to have the radiation treatment than the daily medications and blood work and travel to the Vet. He likes to be covered, he’s trained me to cover him — just like the Chihuahuas like to be covered. Could be because he lives with a Chihuahua?
Anyone else have a cat that insists on having his own blankie?
Steeplejack (phone)
@CarolDuhart2:
Just visited your site. It looks pretty interesting, but there are some problems with links not working: the Zodiac ones on the left and the “2017inauguration” one, for example. A problem with the address not being resolved correctly. Can’t really tell more on my phone.
CarolDuhart2
@Steeplejack (phone): The new front page has been composed with new links, but my FTP isn’t being configured properly, so I can’t yet upload it. The blogs should be fine:
Carol Duhart’s Slow Lane Lounge
Steeplejack
@CarolDuhart2:
Thanks, I’ll give it a look.
bemused
Our two all black, long-hair kitties look so sweet sleeping cuddled up together. I believe I have a photo of them sleeping head to head, their bodies forming a recognizable heart.
J R in WV
@chris:
Lynx, what the hell is the plural of this critters? Look at the feet on those cubs!!! They’re awfully skinny, maybe too many for mom to raise. Hope they do well. Awfully cute.
BethanyAnne
@barb 2: My last 2 cats loved to be under covers. Cheyenne would sleep under the comforter during the day while I was at work. Suli loved when I would lay on the futon reading. She’d sneak up to a comfy place to cuddle between me and the blanket.
Matt McIrvin
@J R in WV: That’s just what lynxes look like. Skinny, huge paws.