Fall Back

I don't mind the end or even the beginning of daylight savings time . . . . once I get used to it. It's now light at 7am, however, it's pretty much dark at 6pm. We're now going to spend the next 4 or so months doing all the "after work" errands in the dark. Good thing I'm not working so I can run all those pesky errands like grocery shopping & the library during the day. Hah!

This weekend & today the weather was marvelous. Temps in the mid 70's! And Spray is out of the water. Saturday we had a lovely drive looking for OUR apple stand. We didn't find it. We didn't drive far enough. When we got home we had the great idea to Google for apple stands in our area as we both remembered OUR stand had a website. Well, we found it. Maybe next weekend.

Sunday, we did boat-on-the-trailer-for-the-winter housekeeping. We took the mainsail off the boom, took it home & folded it. Sweetie pumped up the very low trailer tire. I folded & put away the working jib & our genoa & otherwise tidied up the main saloon. We took the tiller handle off as I'm going to sand it down & re-do it.

Friday Sweetie had no calls so he was home all day. Today, he was home by 10am. I dumped the rest of the Chocolate Gingerbread cake today. It's good, but not what we were hungry for. We like our comfort food. So I baked a boxed marble cake. I pumped up the volume on the chocolate part. I ground a whole clove & a couple allspice berries in my coffee/spice grinder & mixed those into the chocolate. I iced it with, what else, home-style chocolate icing. This is giving us the comfort.

I began knitting again today. My thumb area still has issues but if I go slowly & not try to set a knitting speed record, I'm OK. I knit about a ½ a row on CIL's sock, then ripped it out. I cast on again with the variegated denim then switched to the dark blue. The Whine was just not doing it. I may throw a couple of rounds in randomly, later. We'll see. If I keep up I may even have some pics to post by weeks end.

If I don't post tomorrow

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We usually get a pretty good crowd so I stocked up on the good candy. Mounds ~ Almond Joy ~ 3 Musketeers ~ KitKats!

reading: Indian Pipes by Cynthia Riggs

Halloween Parting Shot: Why was the skeleton afraid to cross the road? It had no guts.

Vicarious Rhinebeck & Knitting

During this last week (since I can't knit) I've been reading lots posts & clicking lots of links from many of the bloggers who went to Rhinebeck. I think I've almost doubled my knitting bloggers bookmarks! If you want to play, too, start with The Harlot over there in my side bar, scroll down to her Rhinebeck post & just start clicking the links from each blog to other blogs & it's a Rhinebeck chain reaction. I enjoy seeing all the photos & reading about their experiences. I'm still not halfway thru my regular knitting bookmarks. I just keep on a clickin'!

And while I'm waitin' for the photo-heavy posts to load, I work on my recipes. Gotta love dial-up, but the price is right!

Slack 11 arrived Thursday so Sweetie's been very happy. He's been compiling kernels & reading & enjoying the new Slack. When he's satisfied that it works OK on LuLu (it's a lulu of a computer, hence the name) then he'll compile a kernel for Xena (my computer) & load it.

I hope we're busy this weekend because my hand/thumb is feeling better & better & I am longing to knit. I haven't knit steadily for a while now, over a week. Knitting is like an addiction. My mental processes (OK you can quit laughing now) are not as calm. Although I've never meditated, I would liken it to someone who meditates regularly & then for some reason can't for a while. My inner base is not as accessible. Cooking & baking & recipes are nice, but they aren't knitting.

We're thinking about heading to an apple orchard/stand a couple of hours from here one of the weekend days. Many years ago, when Sweetie & I used to ride motorcycles (well, he drove & I was up behind) we found this great place by accident. We used to ride back roads all over. We remembered that we stopped & bought a few apples then rode up the road to a park or rest area along the side of the road & ate our apples. the year before we bought before Spray [our 23' sailboat] we drove back up to that area & found the same orchard/stand. We bought a sack of Braeburn apples, a couple of apple wood logs for the fireplace & some other things.

One of the other things we would like to get done this weekend is go out to the boat yard where Spray is & unload & tidy somethings. We want to fold all the sails, take the boom off & stow it below. Take off all the crap that drifted there over the summer that doesn't need to be on there. Take the outboard off, empty & clean the porta-potty so that it's ready for next year. Yeah, you REALLY needed to know that, right?! We took all the bedding & extra clothing off last weekend so that's done. We're not going to clean anything. It'll just get dirty sitting on the trailer over the winter but we'll prep Spray for the projects we want to get done by March. More about that in a future post.

Reading: Dead Center by Collin Wilcox

Halloween Parting Shot: What did the skeleton say while riding his Harley? I'm bone to be wild.

The short bus vs "When Harry Met Sally

I'm still not knitting, babying my left thumb area. Yes, it's improved greatly. I've canceled tomorrow's doctor appt. I hope to begin knitting again after this weekend. I plan to pick it up again slowly, not OD & knit 8 hours the 1st day!



As I go about my daily existence, usually when I'm out & about to the grocery store, or the library or wherever, driving along by myself I get flashes of inspiration for blog topics. They're not Save The World topics but just little things that at the time are interesting in a passing way . . . blog fodder. And then usually when I get home or get ready to blog, all these really great blog ideas . . . . . are . . . . . just . . . . gone. Pffft! Oh, well.

But, every once in a while, one comes floating back & I grab it QUICK! before it evaporates. In the movie When Harry Met Sally, Sally is particular (notice I did not say picky) about how she wants her food. A line she utters somewhere in the movie is "I just want it how I want it."

Today, I was making myself a cup of coffee at home. I'm one of those folks who has to have milk (cream is always a treat) & sugar in my coffee. How much of each depends on how strong the coffee is. Lately, I've been making Cafe Borgia's. Panera's used to offer them & they will still make it if you ask but it's no longer on their coffee menu. It's coffee (or maybe espresso, I just use coffee) with a touch of orange extract & a shot of chocolate syrup with a dollop of whipped cream. On top of that I add milk & sugar to taste. At home I can live without the whipped cream. [Imagine that!]

When we have vanilla ice cream in the house, Sweetie either chucks a handful of the tiny chocolate chips on his or squirts a couple of shots of chocolate syrup on it. I get out a pan & toss in a handful of slivered almonds & lightly toast them. I lay 'em out to cool on a paper towel, then I roll the paper towel up & crunch 'em up. I squirt (a lot) of chocolate syrup over my ice cream & sprinkle the crunched up toasted almonds over it. Yum! I just want it how I want it.

I don't do this when we go out, tho, just at home. I'm equally particular about my knitting tools, too. As you know, I knit mostly socks. I prefer wooden needles — rosewood, ebony or bamboo dpns. I like soft yarn — Koigu, Socks That Rock, Claudia's handpainted yarn, etc. I found a bag I really liked earlier this year after searching a long time. Having tools that you love to use makes a pleasurable experience that much more enjoyable.

Some folks think I'm strange, but . . . . I kind of like that. Keeps 'em on their toes!

I got a knitting notice yesterday. I had a dentist appt & the dental tech complimented me on my sweater, asking if I had knit it. I told her no, but that I HAD knit my socks. I was wearing my Socks That Rock Seal Rock socks. She thought they were fabulous!

I've been working on my recipes. I've whittled down the over 1,000 recipes in my temporary file to just over 200 & I've got over ¼ of the recipes in my main recipe file "fixed." At least I'm moving ahead in one area.

This is the cake I baked yesterday.

CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD CAKE

From: The Basic Gourmet

cooking spray, optional
2½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
1½ cups strong coffee*
2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup dark molasses*
1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar*
2 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten to blend
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn baking powder
½ tspn salt
2 tspn ground ginger
1½ tspn ground cinnamon
¼ tspn grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350°F. Position rack 1/3 up from bottom. Spray a 9" x 13" baking pan with cooking spray or generously grease. Shake flour [I used cocoa powder] all over bottom & sides of pan, then turn pan over & rap it firmly on counter to knock out excess flour [or cocoa].

In 1½-2 quart saucepan over medium-low heat, combine coffee, chocolate & butter, stirring until chocolate & butter are melted. Remove pan from heat & stir in molasses, brown sugar & eggs. Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl.

Sift flour with baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon & nutmeg into a medium bowl. With a large rubber spatula stir flour mixture into liquids, mixing only until most of flour mixture has been absorbed by the liquid. . Use a whisk to break up lumps of flour.

Pour into prepared pan & bake, 30-35 minutes or until cake tests done. Allow to cool a few minutes before cutting into pieces.

* Coffee used in baking may be freshly brewed or made using instant powder or granules stirred into hot water. Dark molasses & brown sugar have more flavor, but using a light variety of each is acceptable. You may also use a food processor fitted with the metal blade to mix ingredients. Can also be topped with whipped cream sweetened with a liqueur such as Grand Mariner or Kahlua.

This turned out really good. It's not real gingerbready or chocolatey but I think a good combo of both. The house smells wonderful for hours after it bakes!

reading: Twelve Mile Limit by Randy Wayne White

Parting Shot: "If the shoe fits, it's too expensive" ~ Adrienne Gusoff

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Non-knitting update

Thanks for the good wishes. I really miss knitting but I'm getting a huge amount done on my recipes.

I'm trying the hot, wet wraps or sometimes just smearing Ben Gay on the area & putting on an old glove or putting on the glove & folding my hand up in a heating pad set on low & then I just sit & read. When I'm watchin' TV, I'll also sit & gently massage around the base of my thumb to try to loosen or relax whatever's sprung in there. But the heat treatments seem to work the best magic.

I've been really babying it these last few days & I can tell difference. My Dr appt is for Friday afternoon. If it improves quite a bit by Thursday, I think I'll cancel. He would probably to tell me to do what I'm already doing anyway.

Typing doesn't seem to bother it now but I've noticed anything where I have to use my opposable thumb to pick something up & apply pressure with my thumb to hold the object, it twinges & seems it aggravate the injury. I try to mainly use my right hand & my whole left hand for support or to balance something that I'm carrying. As I'm a 2 or 3 things at once kind of gal, that is really slowin' me down.

At least I have the recipes to keep my occupied. The 2 WIP socks remain out & I've noticed that when I'm reading in the living room (with no Ben Gay around), I'll pick up a hank of soft yarn & just fondle it as I read. Strange, but comforting.

reading: Jest and Die by Stella Whitelaw

Parting Shot: 'I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed-reading accident. I hit a bookmark." ~ Steven Wright
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If recipes were yarn . . . .

No, I haven't been to the doctor, yet but my left hand/thumb is better. I've been careful with it & also not knitting. Well, OK, I knit about 2 rounds on the Mermaid sock last night & just under 1 round on CIL's sock today. So mostly not knitting & being very careful & protective of my left hand. I have an appointment next week, so yes, I am still going to the doctor.

I've been working on my recipes. Right, now I'm either

• moving & massaging recipes (now under 300 from over 1,000) in my own special anal way that I'd saved previously in a temp file to my main recipe file OR
  

• going thru my main recipe file (over 3,000) & doing anal things to it.

Waaay back when I started this recipe saving thing, we didn't have a computer & Al Gore hadn't invented the internets yet (this was back in the early '80's folks) & we didn't have a typewriter either. So I would save & clip recipes from magazines & newspapers & type them up before & after work on a typewriter on recipe cards. At time I worked downtown in a big city & Sweetie would drop me off about 20 minutes early then pick me up when he got off work, which was about 45 minutes after I did. So I had about an hour each day if I wanted it.

Eventually, we got a computer (Commodore 64) & a [Gemini] printer & I began putting my recipes into a word processor at home. For a while, I printed them off in recipe card size & filed them in the (at that time 2+ large shoe boxes). Then Sweetie got the idea that if I saved the files in a text mode, no fancy fonts, no fancy formatting, no magic fraction thing like this ¼ but like this 1/4, we could someday get a terminal & put it in the kitchen.

And I revised the recipes I'd already put into computer to be plain & that's how I've been doing it. Along the way I gave up printing the recipes out as if I needed one I just printed off a copy. And somewhere else along the way (5 or 6 years ago) I kind of stopped working on my recipes. As I mentioned in an earlier post, when I'd stopped, I was comparing my index files to what I actually had. The files have been thru a couple of hard drive fender benders & recovered so there may have been some fallout & I'm sure I sometimes forgot to add a recipe to the index.

Anyway, when I started up again THIS time. I decided just to do the 2 things above & then compare the indexes (category & alpha) with the main file. [Have I mentioned that I'm anal about this??].

What I'm doing to the main file, is converting all these fractions like 1/4, which I don't like so much to these fractions ¼ which I like ever so much better. I've even got a couple of fraction fonts for those fractions that the word processors don't convert like 2/3 to the format I like so the fraction font does it. Any there are other little changes I'm making along the way..

I'm touching each recipe so it's kind of neat to go thru it that way.

So for a while, not much knitting content. I'm doing a lot of reading, blog reading / surfing & recipie file wrangling.

Oh, & Spray's been pulled for the winter. BUMMER!!!! We were told this year we can't have it done late [last year they pulled it the 1st week of Dec] so we were put down to be pulled Wednesday, Oct 18. As it was rainy & windy that day we were hoping it wouldn't happen but it did. On the positive side, I'm hoping that we can get all the work done well before we want to launch next year. More about that in another post.

reading: My Sweet Untraceable You by Sandra Scoppettone

Parting Shot: "Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble." ~ William Shakespeare in Macbeth

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Wounded Inaction

And the worst part is, I can't knit or rather it hurts to knit & typing is awkward, too, so this will be a short post.

The inside base of my left thumb has been stressed or strained or sprained — uh, injured — & now I can't bend my thumb & there's a hard knot of tissue or muscle or something at the base of it that is very tender. I can bend my thumb with my right hand & it doesn't hurt but I can't bend it using my thumb tendons or muscles or whatever. And now it just aches.

I've Googled around & it looks like the treatment is going to be imobilization & ice to keep the swelling down. Just to be sure it's not something else or in case there's a better, faster solution out there so I can knit sooner, I'm taking myself off to the doctor. It just sucks that I have to go to the doctor & can't knit while I'm waiting. Well, at least I can hold a book & read. It could be worse.

I think it all started way back on one of our canoe adventures. The paddle rests about there where it hurts but it could have been something else. My other hand is fine & if knitting were a one-handed thing, I'd be great as I'm right handed.

And just when I'd gotten a handle on the Mermaid sock & CIL's sock was taking shape. Oh, well. I can still read knitting blogs.

reading: Stalking the Puzzle Lady by Parnell Hall

Parting Shot: "Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that." ~ George Carlin
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Knitting by the tips of my needles

Sweetie's on call 24/7 for those fast-food places until next Monday at 8am, then it's back to normal, which is 8am-midnight Monday thru Friday. & no fast food. Sweetie had 1 regular call this morning & then came home & has been home since 10am this morning. Yea!

I sanded the tips of the 5 needles that I am knitting with on the Mermaid sock this evening. I used some of the 200 grit sandpaper that we used to sand the teak trim on Spray. The k2tog's are knitting together a lot better as I can slide the tip of the needle in easier. For 1 round I was over-doing the yarn over wraps. They were too tight & I could hardly move the stitches on the needles but I've think I've overcome that problem, too. If I get some TV time tomorrow I should get some serious knitting done. I'm on round 24.

I've gotten a little more done on CIL's sock. Little, being the operative word. I'm on round 6. I did the cast on & the 1st round in the whine color then switched to the dark slate blue. It's not a true navy as seen in the daylight & under my Ott lamp. I don't know, yet when I'll switch back to the whine or how many rows I'll do or what. I'm literally makin' it up as I knit. Knitting by the seat of my pants or . . . see today's post title!!

Now that I've got the pattern established, this one will be the mindless knitting one as it's k3, p3 for 4 rounds. On the 5th round, I only k2, then p3, k3, p3, etc. until the last stitch on the last needle makes up the other k. I slide that one onto the 1st needle so the knits are all together. When I get to round 9, it'll be k1, p3, k3, p3, etc until the last stitch on the last needle. Again, I'll slip that extra knit stitch onto the 1st needle. I do that with each needle, slip the extra stitch, which WAS a purl, but will now be a KNIT stitch onto the next needle. That way I start each needle (even the 1st one) with k3. Makes it easier to find my place if I get confused. Yeah & somewhere in there I'll change colors. Hopefully, I'll be far enough along on something to post a pic tomorrow.

So what did I spend all my time on today? My recipe files again.

Sweetie's been workin' on our knotmeter. When we bought Spray in March of last year the knotmeter didn't work. No biggie. We figured we'd either fix it or replace it. Last year we just ignored it. We were so happy to be sailing again. This spring we removed it & all it's wire & fittings from the boat. Sweetie had determined that the problem wasn't in wiring or the thru hull paddle wheel, which would have been way simple for Sweetie. It was in the electronics, which is not simple but do-able for Sweetie. He's been tinkering with it off & on all summer & thinks he now has a handle on fixing it. It's still in pieces but the pieces are getting fixed.

He's replaced all the components on the little circuit board (not that many) & now he's trouble-shooting the part way deep inside that measures the millivolts (millionths of a volt, or thereabouts) that are generated when the water rushes past the tiny paddle wheel in the water under boat (when the boat is moving). The knotmeter works somewhat like a speedometer on a car. Somehow the electronics convert those little millivolts into something that can be read on (in our case) an analog dial. It measures the speed in knots rather than statute miles or kilometers. A knot is a nautical mile. A nautical mile is 6,076 feet & a statute mile is 5,280 feet & a kilometer is 3,280.84 feet.

Anyway, he's having great success at getting it fixed & enjoying the process.

reading: Fire Sale by Sara Parestsky

Parting Shot: "Everyone is gifted. Some open the package sooner." ~ unknown

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2 Socks on 10 needles

Now that the Mermaid sock & I have learned to play nicely together (heh!), I have moved on . . . to finally start CIL's Cascade Fixation socks. Do I have a pattern? Sort of. Hey! Some of my favorite & best socks have been here's the yarn. Here's the needles. OK, mingle.

I'm casting on with my favorite cable cast on with the Whine-colored yarn (yeah, I like that term so much better than wine as I am still kind of whiney about the color) on 3mm dpns so that next to the dark blue (which I have 2 balls of) it will really show off. I am doing a tube sock so that cuts the actual number of sock fittings to probably 1. Once I'm done with the cast on I'll switch to 2.5mm needles for the actual sock. That way my cast-on edge won't choke. I'm still leaning toward a spiral pattern. I've done 2 of those & the pattern is really subtle but there if you look. It's more interesting to knit than ribbing as it changes every 3 or 4 rounds, depending on what you decide.

I had a bit of a panic when I thought I misplaced the tracing of CIL's foot & her calf measurement. I e-mailed her & asked for the measurements again. I've since found it but I've decided I want a few more measurements that I didn't get. Now I've got to figure out how many stitches to cast on. Her calf is only 12½" round. Mine is 13" so I think I can get that going. Yeah, I know there's a whole math thing having to do with stitches per inch but I won't resort to that unless I have to.

As to the Mermaid socks & why things are all of a sudden going so well. Thanks to a tip from Gail at Gail's Good Yarn I took a good look at my yarn overs & how I was doing them. I've since come to the conclusion that the 2 holes were actually probably really loose yarn overs. I noticed today that when I get a little speed goin' that I would sometimes wrap the yarn around the stitches already on the needles & not the bare needles, which would make the hole from the yarn over larger. If I did that all the time, all the holes would be large & so no problems. But now I'm taking extra care to make sure that I'm wrapping that yarn over around the needles & not the stitches on the needles. I'm on round 21 so things are progressing.

The Mermaid socks take extra concentration because of the k2tog. I'm going to hunt up some sandpaper & sand the tips of my needles a bit to make them a little sharper. I think that'll help the k2tog situation. As I've mentioned before, the tips of my new Suzanne's rosewood needles are noticeably more blunt that my old ones. When I chose the needles for this sock I started out on the ebony ones but the dark purple was just too hard to see on the black needles. So I selected the 5 palest of my rosewood needles & knit the socks onto those.

I've been blog-surfing around today on food blogs. I found a great site, Food Porn Watch. It lists links to lots & lots of food blogs. You could scroll & click around for hours.

reading: Fire Sale by Sara Parestsky

Parting Shot: "Do not be afraid of cooking as your ingredients will know and misbehave." ~ Fergus Henderson
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Possibilities

I've got CIL's Cascade Fixation yarn possibilities lined up where I can see them from my computer as I type & read blogs & forums. I'm hoping to get inspired for the stripes in the next day or so. When I add the definitely purple ball I bought for me several weeks ago, the Whine yarn does look more winey but it's not burgundy or cranberry. But I think I can come up with something using some combination of these yarns. And, yes, the one at the bottom is the PERFECT yarn except that it's wool.

The Mermaid sock is back on the needles & maybe will be knit on when I'm done bloggin' here. I will find my knitting Zen again. (Did I file it under K or Z???)

Deck Muffin & I went sailing or rather I should say floating or ghosting this afternoon. The wind was very light, everything from calm looking water (but we were moving) to cats paws (tiny ripples) to ruffles (bigger ripples). The wind was cold. When we had the calm looking water & the cats paws it was warm & nice with the sun shining on us. We sat in the cockpit bunched up together on the coaming on the lee side (giving the boat a bit of a lee heel in very light airs helps the boat to go a little faster). When it was warm, we'd spread out, the arm not next to the other person would be stretched out on the lifeline & our legs would be extended, soaking up the warmth but when the wind got to the ruffle stage we'd scrunch up our arms, tuck in our legs to conserve our warmth & scootch closer together. Most of the sail was more calm looking water & cats paws than ruffles.

As it was so calm, we sailed into our slip. We've only done that a handful of times in all the years we've been sailing or around sailing. I like sailing into our slip but I want to be able to choose when. I've had to sail in probably 2 or 3 times because of a dead engine & usually the wind's from the wrong direction &/or it's strong. But today was great. There was even a stinkpotter (aka powerboat) who was impressed that we sailed into our slip!

It's supposed to be wet & rainy tomorrow. Boo! No sailing. But there will be knitting of some kind on someone's sock.

These are the date bars I made Sweetie yesterday. I don't like dates & this was a recipe I'd not tried before but he loved 'em. He also said they are very rich & better the 2nd day. They smell wonderful baking, however.

LAYERED DATE BARS

From: "Good HouseKeeping", December 1996
recipe courtesy of Mary Beth Roltick, Munroe Falls, OH
Makes: 32 bars ❂ 155 calories ❅ 2g fat ❅ 2g protein

10 oz pkg pitted dates, 2 cups, coarsely chopped (I used 2 8oz pkgs chopped dates)
½ cup walnuts, finely chopped
¼ cup granulated sugar (as the dates I used were already sugared I didn't add any extra)
1¼ cups water
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups uncooked old-fashioned oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tspn baking soda
1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In 2 quart saucepan, heat dates, walnuts, sugar & water to boiling over high heat then reduce heat to low & simmer uncovered, 10-15 minutes, until dates are soft & mixture is thick, stirring occasionally then set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar & baking soda. With hand, knead in butter until dough forms. Press half the dough in bottom of 13" x 9" metal baking pan & bake, 15 minutes or until pale golden. Spread date mixture evenly over hot crust then sprinkle remaining oat mixture over dates. Bake, 25 minutes longer or until golden. Cool completely on wire rack then when cool, cut lengthwise into 4 strips then cut each strip crosswise into 8 pieces.

reading: Fire Sale by Sara Parestsky

Parting Shot: "An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys."
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The 13th day of October 2006 falls on a Friday

edited this post slightly on Saturday for all the typing errors I made Friday. I apologize if you had to wade thru this before I fixed it.

Just remembered / figured out what my problem is today. Friday the 13th!!

I'm having troubles with the mermaid sock. I got my yarn today for CIL's sock & it is & it isn't what I want. AND I'm to make SIL's principal [SIL is a teacher] a pair of socks. And I'm having troubles with the size of the holes in the Mermaid sock & just plain holes in another sock. [sigh].

I am not feeling the knitting love today. Too many distractions ~ like cooking & laundry & grocery shopping & Sweetie. Love you to pieces, Sweetie, but some days you drive me to, well, not knitting. But after trying to nap I came into the office to play Spider & decided to read some knitting blogs instead & after reading about the knitting other folks are doing I feel more heartened about mine or a lack thereof.

I frogged 6 rounds the other night right after my post because there was a larger than normal hole in the lace. Still can't figure out how to fix it by laddering down. [sigh.] I was on the last of the re-done rounds last night when by-golly there is the same or or another hole just like the first one! So either I didn't frog back far enough to fix the hole or this is a new hole. I don't remember what needle the 1st hole was on.

When I was re-doing the 1st 6 round frog I was trying to pay attention to the stitches below the row I was working on. Where do they go? How did they relate to the stitches below them & on either side of them? Trying to physco-analyze my knitting. Since I'd been studying the knitting I decided to try to ladder down & fix the hole. I decided if I could I'd be ahead. If I couldn't I'd have to frog it back anyway.

Well, I couldn't figure out how to fix it so I frogged back 7 rounds this time. One round below the hole (I hope). And I only got 1 needle put back in last night & I've been staring at the mess every time I sit down at the computer today.

Yesterday, I met SIL at her house & we went to lunch. I gave her her re-done socks from the Great Sock Repair Project. She wore her Conway's yesterday. That was neat, seeing socks I'd knit on someone else's feet out in public. And she wasn't shy about showing them off. My SIL has been teaching for decades. And unlike Mr Hermit & me, she is very social. You cannot take my SIL anywhere & her not know someone from somewhere. She'd introduce me to whomever then stick out her foot & show off the socks.

We had a great lunch & then we went to a yarn shop to pick out yarn for me to make her principal a pair of socks. [sigh.] That's the candy/rainbow-colored yarn in the pic. She says her principal's foot is "about the same size has yours". So I'm going to e-mail SIL in a week or so & ask her to get a couple of measurements from the future sock recipient. It's going to be another tube sock so no heels. The yarn is the same yarn as SIL's Pastoral socks, Sockotta. I do like the colors. It'll be interesting to see how it looks knit up.

The other yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in the Mountain Creek colorway. I have a similar Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn that's just 2 colors, aqua & green called Fresh Stripe. I guess I gotta start carrying a list of my stash when I go out, now as I almost duplicated a color I already have. heh! This yarn shop would not be so easy to get to to switch out my duplicate as it's over an hour away.

I got the yarn for CIL's socks today. I am thrilled with the one that won't work because it's wool & I evidently missed that vital piece of info because I was so taken with the navy & burgundy stripes. It would be PERFECT if she could wear wool. It's very soft. It's obvious from the skein that there is about twice as much navy as there is burgundy but ah, well. Pics on that one tomorrow.

The cotton yarns that WILL work?? — Not so happy with the colors. The color in the pic on the website that said Wine & looked cranberry & is causing me to Whine. It's purple / lavender / lilac / grape. So I have 1 ball of GRAPE wine & 2 balls of a dark denim & 1 ball of a variegated denim. I'll think of a Wowie-Zowie stripey pattern & it'll be fine. The important thing is that I now have the yarn, I can start the socks for CIL & maybe the Mermaid sock will get jealous & behave.

And the other holes. The 2nd & 3rd sock & ever made I put on this morning As I mentioned a few days ago in my Soctoberfest questions post, these are my 1st pair. So I decided to wear them today. When I came back from the grocery store this morning & kicked off my shoes (as I am wont to do) I saw a large hole & a couple of small holes on the top of my left foot. [sigh.]. So off they came & have been put aside to fix. Oh, & that reminds me. SIL said the heels of her green socks (my sock #1 & sock #6) are almost out. I asked her to hunt them up & next time I see her, I'll put in the afterthought heels for her. Since I am into the sock repair thing.

I decided to do a BBQ in the oven brisket for us so I won't have to worry about cooking all weekend. We can heat it up & have dinner or slice it & have sandwiches. Should be cool this weekend but windy & dry. Sweetie was working today but as he received no pages, he was home all day. Oh, & when I went to put the brisket in the oven (Sweetie was already napping at this point) the handle on the oven door broke. I think the screw fell out & is now inside the oven door. [sigh.]

Well, the brisket is now out of the oven (Sweetie is napping) & I'll see if I can't get the rest of the Mermaid sock back on the needles for the next round.

reading: Fire Sale by Sara Parestsky

Parting Shot: "Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still." ~ Chinese Proverb

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The Heat is On

Literally. It's supposed to get down to 32°F. (freezing) overnight. It was a typical fall day, rainy, cold, windy & now the sun has broken thru & the sky has big blue patches but it's still cold & windy. About a month ago we gave away the last huge tropical plant we had. All the rest are small stay-insides. So I haven't had to wrestle a huge & unwieldy (barely fit thru the door) plant in & out this fall. Our droopy morning glories are fairly well protected. So I'm not even going to bother covering anything up.

With the yarn order other the other day for CIL's sock, Sweetie & I have 2 reasons to hustle down to the mailbox everyday. Over the weekend, Slackware 11 was released & eventually it will end up in our mailbox along with 2 Slackware t-shirts. We could download it, but we're on dial-up & beside you can't download t-shirts!! If you want Slack 11 also & maybe the t-shirts, too, see my sidebar near the bottom under The Convert heading, Get Your Slack Here. If you can do a Windows load & configure it, you can do Linux. Maybe not Slack at first, but Fedora (used to be Redhat) or one of the other distros.

Progress has been slow on the Mermaid socks. It's that %$#^!! k2tog. It slows me down on gusset decreases & toe decreases but I want the socks in the pattern so I am plodding on. I have to stop reading & concentrate on the k2tog. As it's every 5 stitches, that's a lot of stopping & concentrating & not as much knitting. But I know that every single stitch that I put on the needles is 1 stitch closer to the wearin' of the socks. For some reason, cables don't affect me that way, just decreases. Well, I am likin' the socks, anyway.

Tomorrow I get to lunch with SIL & give her back her socks. I hope they fit! We're meeting for lunch. I'm also going to be good & not go to any yarn stores, unless she wants to go, of course, & pick out more sock yarn for herself! I do plan to go to Penzey's & replenish some of my spices. I'm low on the Four Peppercorn blend, granulated garlic & allspice.

I've been working more on my recipe file. I found another favorite. We always called them Red Apples & this is based on a recipe from my Mom. I didn't have Mom's recipe but this recipe is how I remember them tasting.

Red Apples
6 or 7 apples, peeled & cored
1 cup water
1/4 to 1/2 tspn cinnamon oil, or to taste
2 cups granulated sugar
several drops red food coloring.

Leave apples whole or quarter. [I cut mine into 8ths.] Heat water, cinnamon oil, sugar, & food coloring in a large saucepan until sugar dissolves. Add apples & cook very slowly on medium low heat, turning apples frequently (every 5-10 minutes) in syrup. This could take over an hour. If mixture is too spicy, add more sugar &/or water. When apples are tender turn into a bowl & serve well chilled.

I like the apple slices red all the way through. That's how I remember them at home. We always had them at Thanksgiving. To get them red all the way thru, I think the last time I did it it took about 2 hours. I'm going to do them up in the next week or so.

reading: School Days by Robert B Parker

Parting Shot: 'Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.' ~ unknown
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Soctoberfest

I am so not a public joiner. But somehow Soctoberfest sucked me in. There was no way I was going to answer Grumpernia's 10 knitterly things you don't know about me. I pretty much put it out there for you knitting-wise. I don't do meme's. I take the silly quizzes but I don't post the results. As this is an anonymous blog I don't want to put too many personal things out there. I'm just strange like that.

But this Soctoberfest thing. I like makin' socks & ya'll know that I can get pretty boringly wordy about that [yeah, & other things, too) but the socks. I'm even going to figure out how to put a Soctoberfest button over on the side bar. Anyway, here are my answers to the Sock Knitting History Questions.

When did you start making socks?
I began my 1st sock in April 2004.

Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
I taught myself with some on-line help. The previous December I made a couple of watch caps with 5mm dpns so I'd used dpn's before. However, there is a big difference between 5mm dpns & alpaca & 3mm dpns & thread — or so it seemed to me at the time. It was like using anorexic toothpicks. Of course, now I sometimes knit with 2mm dpns which seem fragile but not so bad.

What was your first pair?
My first sock was knit from a Koigu pattern with green Koigu handpainted yarn, on 3mm dpns in stockinette It was way too big. My 2nd & 3rd socks, same pattern & yarn, I adjusted to fit me. When my SIL was over that August for her birthday I happened to bring out the big sock. She tried it on & it fit. So as I had yarn left, I knit her the mate.

How have they "held up" over time?
The 1st & 6th socks that went to my SIL "blew out" last winter so they are no more. She wore them often as for awhile they were the only handknit socks she had. However, I still have & occasionally wear the 2nd & 3rd sock. Why don't I wear them more? I dunno. Boring (even to wear) stockinette & there are others I like so much better.

What would you have done differently?
Just made them smaller & maybe not stockinette .

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
My favorite is Claudia's handpainted yarn. It is so soft. I've only knit 1 pair of socks with it but it's my favorite. My 2nd favorite would have to be Socks That Rock yarn. Again, very soft. #3 is my old stand-by handpainted Koigu. I probably have more Kougi on my sock yarn stash than any other simply because my LYS stocks it. Can you tell I'm partial to the handpainted yarns?

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
I knit my wool socks on either ebony or rosewood 2.5mm dpns, cuff down. The cotton socks I knit on 2mm bamboo dpns.

What kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)
I've always done the heel flap but I'm currently knitting a pair of Mermaid socks from Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks, Warm Feet & that sock has the short-row heel so the jury's still out.

How many pairs have you made?
17 pair. I hope to get a scanned pic of the ones I have here (not given as gifts) in the next day or so.

So there is my sock info for ya'll. The above pic is of my Mermaid sock. The cuff looks rather overpowering but I'm sure it'll even out as the leg gets longer. Not so much color contrast that would show off the scales in my sock, but I'm pleased. That's up to round 15.

Oh, & you'll be so happy to know that I have FINALLY ordered CIL's sock yarn. Yea me! I couldn't find the Cascade Fixation shade of cranberry anywhere on the web so I mulled (aka procrastinated) until this morning when I decided I HAD to order something. I went to Simply Socks Yarn Co & ordered 3 balls of Cascade Sassy Stripes in Navy & Burgundy, 3 balls of Cascade Fixation solids, 1 in wine & 2 in blueberry.

I didn't know that Cascade had the stripes. We'll see. What I don't use for CIL's sock I can use for socks for me as I like those colors, too. I chose Simply Socks because they seemed to have a large selection of Cascade Fixation available. It was very difficult NOT to order anything else. I wanted at least 1 or 2 hanks or balls or skeins of every kind of sock yarn she had. Anyway when the yarns come, I'll knit up a swatch with each one, scan them & e-mail them to my CIL & let her pick which one she wants. I'm thinking about doing a spiral tube sock. No heel to size, just length & width.

Sweetie & I had a very relaxing day. We lounged around this morning & I knit on my Mermaid sock. We went sailing this afternoon. Chilly & breezy, but fun. We were the only sailboat on the lake. Sailing downwind was warm (as you're moving with the wind, you don't feel the wind) but beating upwind or even beam reaching was cold. We stayed out only a couple of hours. We like to stroll down the other sailboat docks occasionally & today we chose "A" dock. It's the 1st dock, has the smallest slips, gets ALL the wave action from the lake & is mostly populated by small sailboats, pontoon & powerboats.

I baked a white cake with homemade chocolate buttercream icing this evening. I followed the directions, (that's probably what I did wrong!) but the cake was bland & the icing was waaay too sweet so I'm dumping whatever's left of the cake come trash day.

reading: Till Death Do Us Part by Kate White

Parting Shot: “Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands --- and then eat just one of the pieces.” ~ Judith Viorst
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1 2 3 4 5 6 & 1 2 3 4 5 6

Yes, that's my new mantra when knitting Lucy Neatby's Mermaid sock. I started off reciting each stitch as I knit it. But I think what happened last time is I forgot a yarn over. If it's not in front me to knit I'll forget to knit it.

There were several times the 1st time when I would be about to knit the yarn over from the previous round & "Oh, I forgot the yarn over [from this round]. Gotta remember the yarn over." And I'd be OK for another couple of repeats then before you know it ""Oh, crap! I forgot the yarn over again. Yarn over! Yarn over! Third stitch is a yarn over." Funny, I never forgot the k2tog!

And so about the middle of the 2nd time around for the 1st round I began counting & assigning 3 as the YO. Once I began physically & mentally counting 6 it was somehow easier & I began to get a little cocky & build up some speed. So far, no problems. I'm way up on round 5, why?

The pattern is just beginning to show if you stretch the knitting out on the needle so no picture yet.

I can't believe it. I'm knitting lace!! A very rudimentary lace if any knitting with an on purpose hole & an on purpose pattern can be considered lace, then I am a lace knitter. Gee, maybe I should start reading the Lace sections on the Knitter's Review forum. OK, maybe not yet!

Usually, I like my sock knitting, well, not mindless, but not real complicated either. I like a pattern I can sit & knit & read blogs with. That being said, I did knit a lot of Nancy Bush's Conway while reading blogs & that has cables. I guess I just haven't fallen into this particular pattern's rhythm yet. It's kind of neat. The little holes are just so distinct. I have the little sock sitting on it's cuff next to my keyboard in such a way that I can see thru a couple of the holes.

We went sailing yesterday. The wind & temperature combined to make a great day. I love fall sailing. The leaves on the trees are beginning to change. Boats are disappearing from the slips as they are pulled out for dry storage for the winter. As with last year, we're going to request that we be pulled out around Thanksgiving, toward the end of their regular pull-outs.

Tomorrow Sweetie is "working" but as banks are closed (& all his big customers are banks) it should be a working holiday. Not counted as a holiday but I bet he won't get any service calls. We plan to go out for breakfast. It's fun. Eating breakfast out when a lot of other folks are working.

edited to add: I just signed up [officially] for Soctoberfest. Soctobertfest participants are here. You can also sign up there. My Soctoberfest post will be up tomorrow with the answers to all the buring Soctoberfest questions.

reading: Till Death Do Us Part by Kate White

Parting Shot: "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower" ~ Albert Camus

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Blog Update

I've updated the links in my side bar & added some NEW knitting blogs. Well, new to my side bar, anyway. Some I've been reading a while & others I've haven't been reading as long but they're on my list to read every time I'm on line.

I also added a couple more links to my book blogs under The Quill is Mightier. And I got rid of Outrageous E-Bay Auctions because now it seems to link to something that's not Outrageous E-Bay Auctions. As always, if anyone finds a dead link, please let me know.

I've posted here before that I write this blog for myself. I'm just weird enough to be absurdly pleased when someone comments or puts a link to my blog in their side bar. Thanks!

OK ~ the Mermaid sock. You don't really know a sock pattern or any pattern until you can ladder down & fix stuff. This is my 1st lace. I really didn't even consider this lace because although Lucy Neatly says (& I did know this — I just kinda forgot) that the yarn over makes a hole — so at that point I should have known * * * LACE * * *. And in the photos of the knitted sock in the book & on other knitters blogs, I've not seen ANY lace-type fabric in this sock. The stitch pattern & the yarn coloring must disguise it.

Anyway, I think I made an error on the 4th round, 3rd needle (it just didn't look right) but when I tried to fix it, it just got worse & in the end I was missing a stitch that I couldn't find & I think also a hole was missing & so I frogged back to the knit row. It's all back on the needles now & I'll start again with the pattern tomorrow.

It always works best for me if I can get away from it for awhile if I had a problem so mowing the lawn this morning & then a nap this afternoon pretty much took care of that! Oh, I love being off work!

I like reading knitting blogs. And sometimes (sometimes?!!?) I'm rather dense but here are a couple of ways to find more knitting blogs.

• Of course, you can click on the links in side bars & be carried far away from where you started. I've also found some good non-knitting blogs that way, too.

• You can click on the blog urls at the bottom of the posts on Knitters Review or click on their name & sometimes they have a blog listed there. You have to register to do that, tho.

• You can click on random, next or previous on the web-rings out there.

• And this one I just discovered. You can go to a "popular" knitting blog such as The Yarn Harlot & stroll the comments. Many commentors names link to their blog. when you move your mouse over the name you can tell by what pops up whether it's an e-mail addy or a blog.

reading: The Dry White Tea by Stephen F Wilcox
browsing: The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Bryn

Parting Shot: "Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits." ~ Mark Twain
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Cuff is done!

I know ya'lll have been hangin' out here all day, waitin' for a progress post.

I did use the cuff I knit. I didn't do it the way Lucy Neatby says in her instructions but the end result is the same. When I got right down to doing it, matching up the ends & folding over the knitted waste yarn . . . it just seemed like a lot of fuss when I knew there was an easier (for me) way.

I cut & picked out the waste yarn on each end so that I had live stitches that I put on 2mm dpns. Then I kitchnered the 2 ends together. There is a slight bump where the seam is, on the wrong side, but I'm happy with it. From the right side you can't tell there's a seam. It looks like it was somehow, knit in the round.

Picking up the stitches from the bottom of the cuff: I'm sure Lucy Neatby meant for one edge to be the bottom & the other to be the top. However, I can't find in the directions where she says. You knit the cuff on right side, 15 stitches. But on the wrong side, you knit 14 & then purl the last stitch. So I don't know. I just picked the best looking edge & made that the top of the cuff. Then using my repair crochet hook (2mm or US4) I picked up a stitch for each garter ridge — more or less. Anyway there are no gaps which is what counts.

For the Fishtail pattern you need to have a multiple of 6. Evidently, Ms Neatby expects you not to be able to pick up a multiple of 6 (which I didn't) so she throws in some purl & knit rounds so you can either increase or decrease before you start the actual pattern. When I was picking the the stitches on the 1st needle, I know I skipped some ridges & I was able to make up my 3 stitch deficit there. The other needles were OK.

Her directions on what to do after you picked up the stitches (I didn't knit them up the way she wanted as I couldn't figure that out either) were confusing to me. So I followed what you do to when you make a tiny sock, {the directions in the curly braces} which worked for me. I purled 2 rounds & then knit 2 rounds. I made up my 3 stitches on the 1st purl round by using my trusty crochet hook to pick up the float from the previous round where I wanted to add the stitches so all was good there.

I'm on round 2 of the Fishtail pattern. Too soon to see any pattern. As soon as something does become obvious I'll scan a pic.

It feels good to be knitting again. I know the 15 stitch garter cuff was knitting but every 15 stitches I had to stop & mark down what row I just finished so it was a lot of knitting-interruptus happening which does not make me a content knitter.

Now I'm home free until I get to the heel. So I'll be reading that over & over & over.

I was blog reading & one of my new regular reads is Chocolate & Raspberries. It's always fun to discover a knitter who talks about knitting in her blog but doesn't have a knitting blog, per say. Hers is a work blog & mostly about nursing. Anyway, I was reading today & she has a post on Sept 30 & a picture of a Cascade Fixation sock that looks like it was done in the same yarn as the ones in this Aug 30 post. And if that's not unusual enough I am wearing the Mother socks (the 1st picture) today.

Yesterday, it was in the mid 90'sF/30'sC here & we had the air on. Today, I don't even think it hit 70°F./21°C. I had all the windows open earlier, but by mid-afternoon they were all closed. I've been drinking hot tea all afternoon. Of course, I would probably feel warmer I changed out of my shorts & short sleeved shirt.

reading: Some Welcome Home by Sharon Wildwind

Parting Shot: "Success is a journey, not a destination." ~ Ben Sweetland
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Overachiever or Insane. I blog. You decide.

I couldn't wait until tomorrow to post this so 2 posts in 1 day. Lucky you!

The garter stitch cuff is done. 188 rows of 15 stitches. Well, I actually did 200 rows as I was trying to fit the **$%!! thing around my calf instead of my ankle. It helps if you read the directions AGAIN when you are getting close. This pic is the finished cuff with the oh-so-lovely curled stockinette waste yarn on either end. Those are quarters for scale. Remember this whole thing is knit on 2mm bamboo dpns & both yarns are Koigu.

I've decided that if the cuff (or my technique) sucks when I try to a) invisibly weave the 2 ends together as per Lucy Neatby's directions or b) when try to pick up waaay to many stitches on the bottom (which way is the bottom?? — and does it matter???) for this sock that it's going to be a nice book mark. NO WAY am I ripping out 188 rows of 15 across garter stitch that has taken me a week to knit & re-knit & re-knit.

I'm not going to even attempt the grating until tomorrow when I have daylight, a good nights sleep & coffee. Some white flour, refined sugar & chocolate wouldn't be a bad idea either. If the whole thing tanks, I do have wine.

It will be nice to actually get some "socknitting done"

Parting Shot: "When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane." ~ Hermann Hesse
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Little or no progress

Oh, my. It's October already. The summer flew by in a flash. Why does time off go by so much faster than working time?

The leaves are changing. The old needles on our Eastern White Pine are turning yellow & preparing for their annual needle drop. It was scary the first time it happened. We thought the tree was dying! We've had many more pinecones this year than we've ever had. Same with our Burr Oak. It was loaded with acorns, too! Either the trees are mature enough to begin setting lots of pinecones & acorns or it was a very good year, last year.

I'm listening to, American Horizons by Tim Janis. It sounds like it was inspired by some of the Hobbit music from the Lord of the Rings movies.

I haven't progressed very far on my garter stitch sock cuff. I'm on round 160. Keep in mind this is flat knitting, only 15 stitches wide on 2mm needles.

During this knit I have so far ripped back 40 & then later 20 rows when I've noticed a glaring error. The 40 row frog was a tiny hole on row 113 where I remembered I had dropped a stitch & fixed it. Evidently I fixed it the wrong way so I had to frog back from row 153. The other time was when I picked up an extra stitch somewhere & I thought, oh, I'll just k2tog here near the end of row 160. Well, that made a bump out on one side of the strip. And I didn't notice until I'd knitted 20 rows past, on row 184. In the amount of stitches ripped, 300 & 600 it sounds like a lot but you figure a regular sock round (for me) of say 72 stitches & that was only a little over 8 rounds. Ripping back 8 rounds doesn't sound as bad as ripping back 40 rows but it's the same amount of stitches. And there have been minor rip outs when I've noticed sooner.

Yeah, I've been distracted during this knit. I've been working pretty hard on my recipe file. I haven't messed with them in a significant way for 3 or 4 years. But for some reason, now I want to so I am. When I wasn't actively working the file, I'd find an interesting recipe on the net or in a magazine & copy or type it into a temporary file. I have my recipes set up a certain way & the ones copied from the net wouldn't be in the same format so I'd have to re-arrange some things. Anyway, I'd amassed a 2nd file of almost 1,000 pages of recipes not in my main file. About half of those had been massaged into the proper format but not moved over to the main file.

When I'd quit working on the main recipe file, I was in the process of comparing an alphabetical list of the recipes with the main file on the hard drive & a paper copy of each recipe that I also kept. Well, I've decided that I NEVER look at the paper copies so I'm not printing them out anymore. I knew where I'd stopped on the comparison between my alphabetical list & the recipes in the file so that was no problem. So now the recipes I've massaged are getting put into the main file & also added to the alphabetical list. When I get them all added, then I can work 1 of 2 ways depending what I want to do.

• I still need to massage over 500 pages of recipes into my special way & then add them to the main file & the alphabetical file

• I still want to compare the recipes in my main file with my alphabetical list & clean that up.
  

When I was working on that before there were some discrepancies I'd have a recipe name in the alpha file but I wouldn't have it in the main file or visa versa. So that's what I've been doing there. As the main file is so large, over 3,000 pages in a word processor it takes a while to save.

While it's saving, I knit a row or 2 on the cuff! That's why I've had errors that I haven't noticed for rows & rows. I'll post a pic of my progress (or lack thereof) later. I've probably got about 3" to go, depending on where I want the cuff to be on my calf.

No progress on the acquisition of CIL's sock yarn. The 2 Cascade Fixation colors I've chosen are proving hard to come by. My LYS can order the colors, but by the bag only. Many of the other sites I've been to don't carry all the colors. I haven't been searching that diligently yet but I will. I want 2 balls of #9245 (cranberry variegated) & 2 balls of #9030 (dark blue variegated) I picked up a ball of white & a ball of solid purple the other day when I picked up my needles.

And it's been hot here, lately, in the 90's. After all this wonderful cool weather, it feels really hot.

reading: Some Welcome Home by Sharon Wildwind

Parting Shot: "The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man." ~ Euripides
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