Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

 

 Knitting Friday

 

Really fast posting today because I am intrigued by this pattern:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/loop-teufelszwirn

 

which is a German pattern which someone kindly translated into English. It's a knit-in-the-round cowl which I want to work as a flat knitted scarf and I think the pattern is very adaptable except the directions (while easy) are quirky for an English-speaking brain and I think Row 9 has an error; you need a second YO to balance the increases and decreases.

 

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about working a swatch. The excitement coming from the fact that I got my first good night's sleep in a week last night so I'm not feeling like a limp dish rag. (Just what does that mean? Dish rags are limp.)

 

Plus the fact that my diet is working and the mirror no longer shows me the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Less food, more energy.

 

So I'm a little hyper instead. Who can blame me? DM got a Nebulizer treatment yesterday to combat her coughing which leads to her inability to breathe. The treatment went well but minutes after it ended, she went into shock. Thank goodness the hospice nurse was here; I provided the blankets and oxygen; she got the benadryl. Unfortunately, medication is like "if you give a mouse a cookie" but not in a good way.

 

But I did manage to tweak my scarf pattern and made two versions of it. The first was with Wool Ease and on US 9 needles.

#1 My scarf in Wool Ease

Since I didn't know how much yarn I would need, I only cast on 26 stitches with 6 of them being edge stitches so it's pretty thin. On this one I worked the pattern in stockinette and then in garter (as I described last week), alternating the two at random. You can see the right and wrong side of it done this way in #1. I think it's presentable especially with a shawl pin but I learned you need a much wider K edge for this pattern to prevent curling.

 

On the second one, I used Red Heart with Wool which is DK weight and a US 11 needle. With this much wider scarf, (but only 34 stitches with a 5 stitch garter border each side),  I only worked the stockinette version of the pattern because, though I thought stockinette would curl badly, it doesn't. Due to the larger needles and larger side borders? Also, all the decreases were in K2tog unlike the pattern I posted last week; so much easier.

#2 RS of Change Scarf

I'm pretty pleased with both sides of this scarf (#2 & 3) probably because the pattern (including the edging) gives you 16 stitches in knit on the wrong side. Maybe that stops the curl. Here's the pattern as I used in pictures #2 and 3:

 

Change Scarf:

Cast on: Multiple of 4 + edge stitches (I did 5 K stitches each side.) as a Picot Cast On (see last week for directions.) Needle size: US 11 but you decide. As you can see from my examples, needle size does change the look. Needle type: Sharp points as with Lace Tools: Row counter

#3 WS of Change Scarf

R1: edge sts, *K2tog (2xs), YO (2x)* edge sts

R 2 & 4: edge sts *P* but at the double YO, P the 1st one and K the 2nd; edge sts.

R 3: edge sts, *YO (2xs), K2tog (2xs)* edge sts

 

Work these 4 rows to length and then bind off with a Picot Cast Off. (See last week.)

 

You'll find that you memorize this pattern quickly and it's a very good pattern for laying down/picking up without any problems.

 

And finally, this is what the red/cooper yarn, which I used last week as a prototype for my Change Scarf, morphed into:

#4 No Beginning Chain Lace Scarf.

This is a good "marriage" for it, finally.

Here's the pattern:

http://blogs.thetucker.com/knit/2013/04/29/no-beginning-chain-quick-shell-and-lace-blanket/

 

As you can see, it says "blanket" but just cast on fewer stitches for a scarf.

That's it for this week. See you next Friday. Happy Knitting.

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

Been sleeping on an indoor/outdoor chair (with ottoman) for the past few days. It can be done if you lower the chair to a bed position and then place bed pillows just like you would on a normal bed. And now I know when I never went into nursing; because while I don't sleep much, when I do you can explode bombs next to me and I'll sleep through that right into eternity.

 

Obama gave the State of the Union last night and I didn't listen. You can just kick a dog so many times before he knows his "master's" intents. (Oh, pup, I just tripped. Dog: Yeah, right. Woof! Woof!) Promises, promises, promises, oh, so many promises. And in this divergence into politics, let me ask: Why did the new US senator from NJ, Cory Booker, who has absolutely no foreign affairs experience (except for running the war zone called Newark, NJ) join fellow renegade Democrats to call for harsh sanctions against Iran? A call which is so very controversial and confrontational just as the world is entering into meaningful negotiations with Iran? Are we looking at the fine Machiavellian hand of AIPAC money behind Booker? He's attractive, articulate and black. Is this part of the grooming of a possible future president of the US who, if elected, will look very favorable on AIPAC goals? Just asking.

 

Not looking to make Americans into geniuses, I still think this site:

http://ceriousproductions.com/25-websites-will-make-look-like-genius/

 

will help all of us stretch our brains if we wish. You get all sorts of mind stretching websites here, ranging from the Khan Academy to Cooking for Engineers to guitar playing. I'm interesting in exploring Quora and Couchsurfing and also I'll take another look at MIT Open Courses. (I like Yale's free courses better.)

 

Bookmark this page for future visits. I think it will be worth it.

http://l0l.co/3491

The next site, above, is just a very short video; but I think you'll be impressed.

And below may cause a lot of people to say: See, I told you prices have gone up:

http://www.aag.com/1963-vs-now/

 

I want the 5 cent candy bar back!

 

Now, some reading:

 

http://manybooks.net/_scripts/bookshelf_display.php?shelf=8221

 

OK, I've used lists of books before but the above list has you click onto a "private" summary/review site (not an Amazon sales site.) Also, if you click "Origin" you get sent to Project Gutenberg where you can read the book. (You have to work slightly to get there, but it's all free.)

 

 And finally, a game because we all need to relax:

http://www.shockwave.com/content/shuffle/sis/shuffle.swf?_notoolbar

 

I usually don't like this type of game (I'm more of the "Escape this Place" player where I get hopelessly stuck and have to cheat with a walk-through) but this one grows on you. Good interface.

That's it for today. See you next week.

 

 

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday

 

I have two sagas today: my diet and my first originally designed knitted scarf/shawl pattern.

First, the diet. With my current level of stress I have fooled myself for close to 6 months by saying: Once hospice is over for DM, I will go on a diet in earnest. My thinking being: carbohydrates do soothe the nerve endings in the midst of stress.

Two nights ago, I really, really decided, that I was blowing smoke with such thinking and if I was serious on losing my many extra pounds I had to start ASAP. 

 

I'm starting in baby steps by going back to my typical daily diet before hospice started. Yesterday's meals: breakfast was coffee, fruit and a protein power bar (No bagel, no cinnabon, nothing.); lunch was a biscuit, chicken noodle soup (homemade) and dinner was Greek yogurt. Really boring but at least half the calories of a typical hospice eating day. I'll let you know how it works; you can say that this is a continuing saga.

Now on to my first designed lace scarf, which I have already frogged. OK, so I've given you the spoiler up front. The story:

Recently, I found a caplet I had knitted in hues of red and a lot of burnt copper. Of course, since I've never worn a knitted cape in my life, I frogged it, washed it, soaked it in conditioner of hours, and then hung in with plastic hanger weights until it dried. I wanted to make a long Lenny Kravitz style scarf from it:

 

 http://imgur.com/3X8Jk

 

 (OK, I am not making one that wide nor long but LK and I are the small height so I use him as a model for the length and width of scarves I want long and wide.) So I had the design concept but I knew, working with this reused yarn, I had to work in a stitch to hide the kinkiness which no amount of soaking could remove. I also knew that I wanted big holes but not dropped stitches, a garter stitch because I didn't want to block, and a pattern which was easily memorized and could be a travel pattern.

 

First, I worked on the big holes which would not be created by dropped stitches. (With dropped stitches, you can work a *YO, K1* on one row, doubling you stitch count and then drop the YOs on the second row to return to your original stitch count. I've always found this procedure tedious.) So I decided on a YO 2xs (a double yarn over) on the first row and then working the YOs on the next row as P the first YO and K the second or vica versa. (You can not only K or only P the double YO stitches on the next row without a big mess.)

 

Now, since I wasn't dropping the YOs on the next row, these YO rows would always be increase rows but I didn't want any increases so for every YO 2x in a row I would have to place 2 decreasing stitches ( a SSK  and a K2tog). I could have just used either SSK or K2tog but one leans to the right, the other to the left. Since the YO row would always start from the same side, using only either K2tog or SSK would have the scarf skew to the right or left. Using both would keep the scarve straight.

 

Since I wanted the scarf to be in garter, the "WS" row would have to be all K except for the double YOs which would be: K the first YO, P the second.

So far, so good by now the real thinking started. Should I make a simple 2 row pattern? How should I space my double YOs and corresponding SSKs and K2tog? Should I work it: SSK, YO 2z, K2tog or K2tog, YO 2x, SSK or SSK, YO 2x, K2tog, etc.? I settled for R1 as: Sl1, K1 *SSK, K2tog, YO 2x.* K2 and R2 as:
Sl1P, K1*YO 2x, SSK, K2tog* K2 so that each side of the pattern would have a lacy, "holey" look.

 

#1 My 1st designed scarf

In picture #1, you can see the "right side" of this pattern and in #2, the "wrong side."

#2, "WS" w/obvious color change

And finally, the pattern:

 

 

 

 

My 1st designed No Name As Yet Scarf:

DK weight, US 9 lace needles, 4x stitches + edging stitches

SSK = Sl 1 st as K, sl1 st as K, K them together back loop

K2tog = Treat the next 2 stitches as one and K together

YO 2x = wrap yarn around needle two times; when you get to this YO 2x on the next row, K the 1st YO and P the 2nd

Sl1P = with the yarn in front, slip the stitch

Picot Cast-On (*CO 4, BO 2, RN stitch back to LN* - this adds 2 stitches each time) a multiple of 4 stitches for the pattern plus your edge stitches (Note: All knit designs pull so you may want to CO extra repeats of the multiple to get you desired width.)
R1: Sl1P, K1, *SSK, K2tog, YO 2x* K2
R 2 & 4: Sl1P, K1 *K but at YO 2x (K 1st YO, P 2nd YO)* , K 2
R3:  Sl1P, K1* YO 2x, SSK, K2tog* K2
Work rows 1 - 4 to length and then: Picot Bind Off as: *CO 2, BO 4, sl RN st to LN*
No need to block

Special notes:
1: Use a stitch counter and mark the side where you work R 1 & R3. While this is not a shawl/scarf to work on during a nuclear physics discussion, you could work it in a company setting as long as you remember whether you are on R1 or R3.
2. Use lace needles since you can easily miss a loop on a K2tog. (A safety pin will help to hold the missed loop till you tink back to it.) I didn't have lace needles with my swatch and I lost K2togs frequently.
3. If you don't have lace needles in the size you need, change all the K2tog to SSK. (Haven't tried this and you will get a different look.) I find SSK more tedious that K2tog, but I never missed a loop on SSK.
4. Use the slickest needles you can (metal is slicker than wood/plastic). Slickest is usually not recommended for lace (the complicated stitches tend to fly off the needle) but with the double YO, plastic (and I assume wood) is too grabby.
5. I know the K into the 1st YO, P into the 2nd is cumbersome but I don't think you can treat a double YO any other way such as: K into the front of the 1st YO, K into the back of the 2nd, etc.
6: How to work a double YO on the next row: K into the 1st loop of the double YO and drop it from the LN, bring your yarn to the front and P into the 2nd loop, then drop that from the needle. Be sure not to add an extra stitch here.

7. Be sure you remember that R1 ends with the YO 2x while R3 ends with SSK, K2tog. You can easily add or decrease 2 stitches if you forget.

8. Do not eliminate the K edging on the garter version. You must work at least 2 K stitches each side for the edging. Why? Because if you only work 1 K stitch ES for the edging, R3 will pull at the beginning since you Slip 1 as purl, and then start with a YO. Adding the extra edging stitch (Sl1P, K1 *YO 2x...........) will eliminate this. Of course you can add more than 2 or 3 edge stitches, your choice.

#3 Now in a stockinette stitch version

As you can see from pic #1 and #2, I had worked pretty fast on the knit version of this scarf so I did have an investment in it when I decided to frog it. Yes, the K version of this scarf is no more because I decided that this pattern should have a right and wrong side. Here's a picture of this in #3. Surprisingly this version was easier to work and although the WS is in purl, it doesn't curl in. Here's the adjusted pattern for it:

 

My 1st designed No Name As Yet Scarf, Version 2:

(Changes are in red.)

DK weight, US 9 lace needles, 4x stitches + edging stitches

SSK = Sl 1 st as K, sl1 st as K, K them together back loop

K2tog = Treat the next 2 stitches as one and K together

YO 2x = wrap yarn around needle two times; when you get to this YO 2x on the next row, P the 1st YO and K the 2nd YO

Sl1P = with the yarn in front, slip the stitch

Picot Cast-On (*CO 4, BO 2, RN stitch back to LN* - this adds 2 stitches each time) a multiple of 4 for the pattern plus your edge stitches
R1: Sl1P, K2, *SSK, K2tog, YO 2x* K3
R 2 & 4: Sl1P, K2 *P but at YO 2x (P 1st YO, K 2nd YO)* K 3
R3:  Sl1P, K2 * YO 2x, SSK, K2tog* K3
Work rows 1 - 4 to length and then: Picot Bind Off as: *CO 2, BO 4, sl RN st to LN*

No need to block. (Looks like this version doesn't need blocking either.)

 

But this design saga is far from over. I really like this pattern but, as many knitters say: it was not a good marriage between yarn and pattern. So Version 1 and Version 2 returned to the frog pond and the yarn has re-emerged in this pattern:

 

http://blogs.thetucker.com/knit/2013/04/29/no-beginning-chain-quick-shell-and-lace-blanket/

 

I know it's a blanket pattern but just size it down. I love this no chain concept and it works well with any yarn. In case this pattern catches your fancy, I'm using DK weight on an N hook. Love the results. Pictures next week.

 

That's it for today. What have I learned: I have a greater respect for designers (always respected them but now it's greater) and I learned that designing a pattern takes a lot of twists and turns, and thinking. 

 

That's it for today. See you next week. Happy knitting.  

 

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

Once again, I'm starting WW late in the morning (for me) so let's get started:

 

(Note: with the peripatetic nature of my life lately, I haven't been checking if I have recommended these web sites before. Sorry about that. But I do think, all my picks are new pages.)

 

http://geeknation.com/best-of-the-meanwhile-in-meme/ 

 

I thought these picture/memes were funny. Then click on "Articles" for some more interesting stuff.

 

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/01/21/japanese-experts-and-expats-react-to-parenting-norms-from-around-the-world/ 

Rocket News ("Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today." - Now that's a logo.) has an interesting article on parenting styles around the world. Take a look.

 

Elena Shumilova's touching photos of her children in Russia are all over the web right now and they should be. She's a great photographer and her kids and their animal friends really know how to make the shot:

 

http://www.demilked.com/animal-children-photography-elena-shumilova 

 

And as a knitter, I have to say: Take a look at the cabled knit hat. Did Elena knit it? Wow!

 

OK, here's a jigsaw puzzle for you:

 

http://www.jigidi.com/solve.php?id=ZIN831AH

 

Nice lunch time fun. Suitable for the office.

 

 And finally, vintage photos:

 

http://www.vintag.es/ 

 

Click on the heading for each for more photos. And be sure to scroll way down for the photo of JFK and civil rights leaders in 1963

 

What makes this photo interesting? In the back on the right is a very partial shot of LBJ (recognized by his height.) During JFK's term, he tolerated his VP, LBJ, while his brother, Robert, his Attorney General, humiliated the VP whenever he could. It was probably politically necessary for LBJ to appear with the civil rights leaders but it's very likely that the White House photographer knew a "bad " shot of him would be appreciated. The irony of course is that it was LBJ, not JFK, who was able to muscle the Civil Rights Act of 1965 through Congress. Whether JFK could have done this/would have done this will never to known.

 

That's it. Waiting for the hospice nurse. See you next week.

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday

#1 Mr. Bear in circular shawl

 I've been hawking Paton's crochet circular shawl for a long time now:

http://www.antiquecrochetpatterns.com/circular-shawl.html

 

#2 As a throw

so I think it's time to show some good pictures of it. #1 is the shawl in wool and a god-awful gold color. This is tapestry wool from an LYS which was going out of business. I bought two big skeins of it (yes, it was cheap) and was able to make a shawl to reach past my elbows. In #1, that looks like a lot of yarn left to use but this shawl is a folded over circle so it eats up yarn fast.

 

In picture 2, you see the second use of this shawl as a throw.

 

#3 The Pillsbury Dough Boy

I originally started this pattern in white acrylic to re-work a big afghan into a very warm, big shawl. You can see this is #3 and notice the difference in lengths from #1 to #3. The shawl is so very warm. Unfortunately, you look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy in it which for a house shawl is OK .

#4 PDB as a throw

As you can see from #4, the PDB shawl makes a really large throw. This does become very repetitive crochet but it's a great TV, talking to others, project.

A few tips if you're interested in making this:

1. This pattern uses UK terminology.

2. Once you get to your width, just DC, ch1, in every space. No more increases of Loop TR, ch1, Loop TR, ch1 in every nth space. (The Loop TR in American terms is a *YO and put hook through designated st, YO again and pull hook through stitch. [3 loops on hook], YO and draw through 2 loops on hook* 2xs in the same stitch,  With 3 loops left on hook, YO and draw through all loops on hook - 1 loop left on hook.)

3. Once you start working the no-increase stage, you may find yourself still increasing. If it's 2 DC in one space instead of just one, treat that increase as one stitch and work around it. However, if you really zone out and make a Loop TR increase described above, you should tink that since that's too bulky to fudge.

3. If you change the pattern, (as I described above) and end long after you stopped the increases, you won't have the right configuration for the elaborate border given. I don't think you even need a border or you can use any crochet border you want.

#5 What is this pattern?

 

 Now on to some knitting stuff. In #5, you see the swatch for a half circle shawl, all in K. Here you work an increase row (where you double your stitch count between your 2 K edge stitches) after a number of knit rows, which are multiples of 2. So, after your CO, you K 2 rows, work an increase row**, K 4 rows, another increase row, K 8 rows, an increase row, K 16 rows, another increase row. You see the pattern.  I'm thinking that like the crocheted circular shawl above, once you get to your width you could work a mock increase row to keep the lace look by working a row of: *K2tog, YO* at intervals.

 

**Sorry I can't find the pattern right now but I think the increases were *K1, YO*, though you could work your increases any way you like. But watch your gauge if you do.

 

As you know, I got back to crocheting because I love to buy lace-weight yarn and lace is so tricky (for me) when I knit it. But I think I may tackle pattern #5 with lace because it is so simple.

 

And finally a plug for Lion Brand because I really think they have improved their free patterns enormously. (Plus, they made all their patterns free which was a very nice gift.) So with my warm feelings for LB, I went back to this crochet half-circle Sea Shell shawl:

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80701AD.html?noImages=

 

#6 Sea Shell Shawl

which is ubiquitous but which I had been ignoring. In #5, you see a swatch for it. It's so easy and I'm thinking with a much larger hook and finer yarn, it'll be a winner.

That's it for today. I have loads more ideas for knitting and crocheting but my little fingers are tired.

See you next week. Happy Knitting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday 

Let's just do a straight WW today. 

http://www.boreddaddy.com/how-our-world-would-look-if-you-were-a-bird/ 

These pictures have been making their way through the web but as you start scrolling through them, they grab you. How did they attach tiny cameras to their feet? 

Bored Daddy offers itself as your Daily news and entertainment magazine. 

Be sure to go to their home page: http://www.boreddaddy.com/  and look around. Interesting stuff here.

You knew I had to have a decorating/remodeling site: Here, they make an old mill very livable.

http://www.homeadore.com/2012/10/17/mill-reconstruction/ 

One again, go to the home page: http://www.homeadore.com/ for more makeover ideas.

Now let me digress for a sec and tell you (hope you're interested) that the one furniture item I would love to buy is a loft bed with stairs.

Here are some pictures for you:

https://www.google.com/search?q=loft+beds+with+stairs+for+adults&client=firefox-a&hs=gq8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=eaHWUp32H8G0sASQ_oDQCQ&ved=0CEUQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=749 

I would not have an additional bed on the bottom but I would use that area for a comfy chair with a TV of a comfy chair and computer with a small desk. It would be my hide-a-way.

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/746/cache/cougars-teton-winter_74612_990x742.jpg 

The above is just a throw-away pic. I just like it.

Let's end with movie trivia:

http://inktank.fi/82-mind-blowing-movies-facts-you-probably-didnt-know/ 

Don't know if it's all accurate but it's interesting: like #10 on how Samuel Jackson used expletives as therapy.

Here's their home page: http://inktank.fi/blog/ 

and I plan to cruise it once I finish typing.

That's it for WW. Hospice nurse will be here soon. See you next week.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday - Oh, no it's not!

 

Let's talk about the NJ Gov, Chris Christie, a bully of a man. And I mean as a consummate bully. My theory (and don't I have theories?) is that he got elected and then re-elected in a very Democratic and Independent state because thousands of frustrated voters thought: Hey! This guy will talk back to all those bozos who are making my life miserable. And lower my taxes. Well, he hasn't done either because bullies only "bully" for their own agenda, not yours. Also, many Democratic politicians have been eerily unwilling to take him on.

 

Until now, perhaps. For it seems that the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee (the town from which the George Washington Bridge - apparently the most traveled in the world! - starts its span from NJ into NYC) did not endorse Christie for reelection last November (Mr. Mayor is not one of our spineless Dems) and the Gov was not pleased.

So in retaliation, this September the bridge had lane closures for a "traffic study" causing a myriad of stand-still traffic for days. From September to just yesterday, the Gov denied any punitive action in this: His office was not involved. It was a traffic study. I know nothing.

Even after e-mails from his top aides (and these gals/guys had to think their backs were well-covered to write so blatantly) were discovered where one top aide e-mails 3 weeks before the "traffic study": Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee., and another writes back: Got it., the Gov was in denial mode.

But only fools think that e-mails are private. And, now that the scandal is out and there's nowhere to hide, the Gov is in his best Claude Rains mode from Casablanca: Gambling is going on in here. I am shocked!, as he throws his aides on the sword by firing them and hopes his I'm so sorry mea culpa will be believed.

 

Boing Boing's picture on 1/8 says it all:

http://boingboing.net/2014/01/08/who-will-gov-christie-pick-as.html

 

Maybe this will all blow over and Christie will continue on his dream trajectory to the GOP presidential nomination in 2016 because people are so somafied (Brave New World drug: "By this time the soma had begun to work. Eyes shone, cheeks were flushed, the inner light of universal benevolence broke out on every face in happy, friendly smiles. Even Bernard felt himself a little melted.") that they won't get/won't care that top aides do the bidding of the governor. They are chosen by the governor to watch his back. They are not recruited for their rogue talents in bringing down an administration. You're looking at a vindictive administration, starting from the top; which got caught. Bullies are never your friends.

And back to other things. My cell phone is still in rice. Yesterday, it received a text message and said it was 88% charged. When DH returns today, we may turn it on. My life is Zen-like without my cell. I no longer have to worry: Where's my phone? It's in the rice! Bliss!

For next week in knitting: The frigid weather on Monday convinced me that I have to make a warm shawl, like the Irish women used to wear (still wear?) so I can run out for the mail without layers of clothes. I'll have patterns for you. Maybe pictures, but I'm such a liar about pictures. 

See you next week. Happy Knitting.

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

Wanta hear my woes? Should I start small with the fact that I can now access my blog on my early-morning, drink-my-coffee computer but the e-mail has stopped working on that computer so unless I'm just palavering, I can't get to my web picks, which I e-mail to myself, until I arrive at my work-day computer.

Boo-hoo, you say Complain! Complain! OK, I get it. How about this one: Not even realizing it, I brought my iPhone upstairs on top of the laundry and only after the machine started the agitating stage did I think: Where did I put that phone?

Yes, I put it in the machine with the water and the soap and the sheets Good news: it was protected from the machine sides by a mother load of laundry. Bad news: it's been sitting in rice for over 48 hours and when the charger is put in (phone is not turned on) all I get is the apple icon appearing sporadically.

So now, I've heated the rice, put it and the phone in a paper bag, put the bag in a big metal bowl, covered by another metal bowl (metal will prevent the phone from trying to connect if someone calls it). Now, we wait.

On the bright side, I'm not the stupidest woman on the planet; a Google search shows that I have a lot of 'friends.' As the hospice nurse quipped: You're not under any stress. 

My web picks are two weeks old but I hope they're still good:

http://www.artfido.com/blog/the-top-75-pictures-of-the-year-for-2013/ 

I don't know why these pictures are the top 75 of last year and there are a lot of such lists out there, but, as you know, I'm a sucker for pictures. Take a look.

 http://www.picklee.com/
 
I like Picklee. It's probably a "girlie" (No! I don't mean girlie pictures; I mean womanly interests, like decorating, recipes.) Boy, does that sound sexist! Anyway, I like the effort put into this blog. It's a good one to bookmark.

http://www.fullpunch.com/random/26-brilliant-cooking-facts-revealed.html/

And in keeping with my interest in food (I must exercise!), the above site has helpful cooking tips. Click around this site. It looks sweetly funny. And witty.

And finally, one from The Huffington Post, UK:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/17/91-pictures-that-amazed-us-during-2013-_n_4459155.html

Take a look and find out what amazes liberals.

That's it. The hospice nurse will be here very soon. See you next week.