The Figs, They Are A-Fallin'

There is a massive fig tree in my backyard.  Colossal.  We brought it over from my husband's family's yard, well, when he was still alive and able to travel.  About a quarter of it has bent into these beautiful and graceful limbs.

For all its beauty, and the fantastic shade it provides, this tree produces fruit that I've never gotten that excited about.  (I honestly don't remember Dale even caring about figs that much.  Why he was so eager to get the tree here is still a mystery.)  Every year, there are pounds of figs that go uneaten, even unpicked, because I can't/won't eat that many.  I've come up with a fictitious restaurant called The Fallen Fig, and am talking about it over on Facebook.  Birds, squirrels, deer, raccoons, and opossums are eating well.

These are those curving branches, with Tap for scale.

Keeping a Promise

I've been asked to do my daughter a favor.  She's hesitant to post on Facebook because there are some people there who don't need to know her plans.  I told her I'd put her link here, but please understand that there is absolutely no pressure on any of you to contribute.  

Go Fund Me 

Thanks.

When Ordinary Shows Back Up

This morning, I woke up with a strange ache in my head.  While taking Tap on his morning walk, I began going through symptoms.  This wasn't sinus pain.  This wasn't from tension.  It was not a migraine.  Definitely not cluster.

Then it hit me.

This was a plain ol' run of the mill ordinary headache!  I haven't had one of those in so long that I had forgotten how it feels!

Whee!!!!

'Cause I Said I Would

The shawl made from the Knitting Short Rows is hereby photographically presented:

One end had to be folded back so it would all fit in the picture, but you can certainly get the idea.  It was truly fun to knit  I used two skeins of Deborah Norville yarn, which is nice and soft, and actually ran out of yarn before the pattern was over.  It's an excellent size as it is, but imagine how much more cozy it would be at full size.  The wedges grow, then go back down in size.  Ingenious and striking.

One of the best thing about a weekend full of watching sports --- British Open golf and NASCAR --- is that re-supplying your kitchen with new cloths is easy.

Since they're only for me, errors in knitting, or using up odds and ends of cotton, don't matter.  Eight done, with many more to come, I'm sure. 

Recomendations

I may go with "Dude," I may keep "Hunk."  It's all still rolling around in my head. Considering Twinnie's recent experience, "Dude" may be a good choice for this year.

Speaking of the Twinster, a while ago, she mentioned a show she had been watching on Amazon: "Dickensian."  It sounded like it might be fun for me, so I gave it a shot.  It's terrific. The idea (bringing together characters from many of Charles Dickens' novels) is magic, the mystery (who killed Jacob Marley?) spins out nicely, and Stephen Rea as Detective Bucket (Bleak House) is marvelous.  

Then Briton told me about a Netflix show he was watching called "Zoo."  It's based on a James Patterson novel, and is just ridiculously silly.  Don't misunderstand --- the people involved are serious (I suppose) about making the show, but it is crazy.  Briton is finished, and I'm on season two of three.  We text back and forth about what happens, as in, "Did you see the evil buffalo?"  or "She's using a flare like Sam Neill in 'Jurassic Park'!"

Lastly, if you're watching the third season of "Stranger Things," know that all the mall filming was done in what was "the" mall around here before Mall of Georgia opened.  Watching the scenes in the food court, know that there used to be a tiny Chinese place there whose hot and sour soup I craved deeply when pregnant with Briton.

Looking for Mr. Newname

As I begin to tune up for Knitters' Hunk and Knitters' Chick this year, something has been bothering me.  Why it bothers now, and hasn't really for more than a decade, I do not know.  But I am suddenly uncomfortable with "Hunk."

There are several dozen more important things going on around us at the moment, but this insignificant little brainworm won't leave me alone.

If we look to balance "Chick," we go to "Dude," and

"Man" takes us to "Woman," both of which are boring.

"Gentleman" and "Lady" imply behavior, manners.

"Person / Male" and "Person / Female" is awful.

"Companion / Male" and "Companion / Female"?

Leave it be and just move on with the dang contests?

Off the Needles

Thank you for responding to my B-I-N-G-O quandary.  I'm plowing ahead with The Library Book, which is quite compelling.

I finished my striped shawlette.

 It isn't much bigger than a shrug.  It may be a bit hard to keep on, but that means I can pull out brooches or pins when I wear it.  Rolled collars always appeal to me, and this one has an added bonus of having an eyelet detail.

Also finished and blocked is the My Friend Gloria:

I'm sincerely super-fond of this colorway.  The constant adding of stitches on each end of each row led to some puckering, which I have decided to call "ruching" and introduce as a "design element."

In amidst everything, I also made a shawl from Knitting Short Rows, which has pretty and interesting patterns.  I'll try to get a picture of it here before long.

Otherwise, I'm knitting myself dishcloths.  A few days ago, I realized my supply of kitchen linens was thinning, and what gives more instant knitting satisfaction than dishcloths?

Also, it's bloody hot here.

You?

B-I-N-G-O?

Last night, I made myself a Summer Reading Bingo card.  It's the third or fourth year I've done it, and have yet to collect a full ("winning") line of reads.  It's fun to do, though.

One question, however.  Does one choose books specifically to mark off the squares on the card, or does one simply read what one wants, letting the marks fall (or not) as they may?

I lean strongly toward the latter.  It makes the "game" more exciting, plus, you read books you really want to, not ones you have to.

Right now, I'm reading The Library Book.  It will allow me to mark off "Non-fiction."

Kathy Saves My Bacon

I had absolutely nothing to post about today.  Then I visited Kathy's blog and saw her questions about Summer.  Therefore, today's content brought to you entirely by the goodwill and interesting queries of Compassionknit.

My favorite Summer flower is: Gardenia.

My favorite Summer drink is: Dr Pepper.

My favorite summer dessert is: An ice cream sandwich.

My favorite place to camp is (was): The backyard.

My favorite place to nap in summer: (hammock, sofa, futon, lazyboy, bed or???) Bed.

My favorite summer Festival: None.

My favorite summer toenail polish color: I don't polish my toenails.

My favorite thing to knit in Summer: Baby things.

My favorite time of the day in Summer is: Just before it gets completely dark at night.

I Hate It When This Happens

My fingernails have been looking really good the past several weeks.  They've been a great length to polish, and I've just been tickled with them.

You know where I'm headed, don't you?

Broke the nail on the left index finger putting stuff in the recycling bin this morning.  It made me so mad, as it meant all the others were going to have to be cut, too, so that they could all resume growing together.

AARRGGHH!

I was looking so cute!

Moving Right Along

I'm finally making knitting progress again.  The projects are simple, I grant you, but they are moving ahead.  Still going on the Knit-a-Day calendar pattern in the Madeline Tosh colorway, and have now begun this shawl(ette)

in this yarn.

That's a Premier "Sweet Roll" yarn.  Yes, it's acrylic, and yes, it's scratchy and stiff, but the colors are pretty and it's striping up nicely.  Pictures of my own when I remember to take them.

A Couple of Feels

One of the most prodigious bloggers out there is Kathy.  She posts six days a week, which I find amazing.  Anyway, she has a survey about pets up right now, if you're interested.

Along the line of surveys, I've been looking at the calendar for when to start Knitters' Hunk and Knitters' Chick.  Y'all still want to do that?  I've got an idea about when and how long to nominate, and I'm still gathering up prizes.

Briton was feeling a little puny the other day, so cozied up in his onesie and posted this photo:

That small scar next to his left eye is all that's left of his fainting/hospitalization episode.  So, so lucky.

Not for Tender Tummies

Tap is a chewer.  He always has been.  I cannot keep this dog in Dingo Goofballs.  (This is how Goofballs go in our house:  he chews off all of the red strips he can, then brings the ball to me, and I untangle it.  He then chews the long strips. It's our thing.)

At any rate, those of you with dogs know that there are all kinds of things you can buy for chewers: rawhide, jerky, cow hooves (filled and unfilled), various antlers, bones (real and synthetic), and an assortment of dried, smoked or otherwise preserved animal parts.  Ears, snouts (no, thank you), ears, trachea, kneecaps. etc.  I'm not too terribly squeamish about this type of thing (except the snouts), but the other day at PetSmart, I picked up what looked like any ordinary rolled rawhide or tendon, and could not put it down fast enough.  It was a "bladder stick."

First, who thinks of this?

Second, eew, eew, eew, eeeewwwww.