John's Socks (and mine)

John's socks. Regia Color. Shade 1933. 2 x 2 ribbing for 90 rows, 20 rows st st then short row heel then the rest of foot.

Fortissima Socks Cotton Color Shade 6538 45% cotton, 42%, superwash virgin 13% nylon.

80 rib rows(2x2), 10 rows st st and then the short row heel, then rest of foot.

Showing

I have had my dogs since 1972. It has always been my dream to breed and show them. I have not been able to until recently and this last year has been my first full year of showing.

I have enjoyed it immensely. The UK is the hardest place to show dogs as our competition is high in quality and numbers. We get on average 150 at a show.

I have shown three dogs that I have bred and have rarely gone unplaced (meaning in the first 5, usually in the first 3). All three have qualified for Cruft's.

Anyway, to the point of this post: I am getting very tired. I don't know if I am so exhausted because I am in the middle of a flare(bad pain/inflammation) or I am like this because I am doing so much. I am doing a show a week now, long distance driving, getting up at 2am and leaving by 4am and usually home again by late afternoon.

I have to attend the shows to find out for myself which judges are worthy of my entry and which are not. Also by keeping going, one becomes part of the show scenery.

I don't quite know where I am leading to in this post. I have another show, short distance, this Sunday and then next Thursday a show 250 miles away. I am thinking I maybe won't go to that one. Yes, I will lose the entry money but save more than that by not going.

There is also this to consider: if I just ignore how I feel right now and keep going, I might end up missing more shows because I wreck myself...

Between shows I do little. I swim half a mile at the pool at least 4 times a week. It gives me relief from the joint pain whilst I am in the pool and gives my a CV workout the only way I can.

I knit and watch tv all other times, apart from doing what I need to with the dogs.

So I don't think I am overstretched in any way, in fact written down it seems I don't do much at all!

Normally it helps to think 'aloud' and maybe if I read this again, I'll come up with a solution.....

Hip Hip ..... Oh Bother Or Words To That Effect

Unfortunately the duvet hasn't continued to help. The pain is back and not just when I am asleep now.

Just got back from the Dr who thinks I should now have steroid injected into my hips. I said I would think about it. He said it wouldn't hurt. Umm, right, I believe that. (My Dr is a her but she wasn't available so I saw John's Dr who is a he.)

I have a dog show tomorrow and if I have this jab in my hips, I'll have it Friday, not today just before a show in case it causes something worse...

He says it won't make me fat and hungry only oral steroids do that....

Hip Hip Hooray

I was speaking with Carole yesterday. Carole is the mother of my friend Vanessa. She gave me a suggestion - place a duvet over the mattress topper on top of my bed.

Couldn't harm so John got the single duvet out of the loft for me and last night I slept on top of that which was on top of the memory foam mattress which was on top of the mattress. (Perhaps I ought to have place a pea under it all too....)

Lats night I slept through with no pain in my hips, at least none so much it woke me. Just the normal stiffness.

Phew.

Hip Hip Boo Hoo

So now I am getting really pissed off. I can cope very well with pain. I can even take my mind away from it and I knit or even walk the dogs, if I can, or I go and swim or I meditate or I read or listen to music. Whatever, I can leave pain behind far enough to either not feel it or have it just rumble quietly .

Night pain is a different matter altogether. I can't get away from it. My hips are really painful at night and have been for a couple of weeks now. I thought maybe the Memory Foam Mattress Topper I bought was to blame. I took it off and last night the pain was worse.

I am getting about 3-4 hours sleep and then I am waking every 20 mins or so because I am in so much pain and have to move. I have to switch sides. This morning I took pain meds as soon as I was out of bed and it still took from 7.30 am till gone 2pm(after second does) before it eased off.

Anyway, I went to the pool and swam half a mile which helped in that whilst I am doing it, I am weightless and feel no joint pain. It also helps dissipate the ratty feeling.

Right now I just feel tired, not sore.

I am past the heel on John's toe up socks. They are okay but not the style I would have chosen. He doesn't like them tight so they aren't. The toe is too wide and I'd have the body tighter but.....they are for him so he must have them the way he wants them. It is just difficult to make something that one feels is not well made.

Full Moon

This was taken with my Sony Alpha SLR Digital. Using flash.This was taken with same camera, no flash. Shutter stayed open for ages. My hands were not steady of course. I think this one is much better. More drama here I think. In fact i could lie and say it was a UFO or an explosion or something.

Micah

This Tantra's Micah ready for tomorrow's show at Windsor.

Texture

My own design knitted using the Garter Carriage on the Brother 940. I used 2 x 2/15's Merino 50% Cashmere 25% Silk 25%. 375m per 100gms
Neck detail
Pattern detail

Mocha Gansey Style

My own design done on a Brother 940 with the GC. I used 2 x 2/15's merino 50 %cashmere 25%, silk 25%. In hand knitting terms this yarn equates to 375m per 100gms.
Neck detail
Pattern detail
Pattern detail

Sherman Heel Adaptation

Since I have been asked several times, here it is:

When you get to where you want heel: (my example is over 30 sts)

knit 29 turn

sl1, purl 27 turn

carry on this fashion till you have 10 sts in the middle unworked.

Then go backwards, doing the 'encroachments'.

You will have finished on a knit row bar the last and will now knit the instep row . Before you do, pick up the bar between the first two stitches on the instep needles and knit that together with the last stitch on the heel needle, then proceed. When you get around to the heel sts again, before you knit the last instep stitch, pick up the bar between the first two sts on heel needle and knit with the last instep stitch. Continue to knit as normal now.

Sherman Heel Instructions

Please note: i slip the first stitch on the way back as well.

How I Knit

Look here .

Choose SLIDESHOW and set to 1 second. That will give you an idea of how I form the stitches.

Tantra's Shilpa

This my little Shilpa. She is 11 weeks old this Monday(25th). She still looks very promising.

Knitivity Sock

There is a man in Texas named Ray who dyes his own yarn. You can see his stuff here.

This is my first Toe Up sock.

I split the 100gm hank (which was actually 105 gms) into two balls. I knit until I got fed up basically! Seriously, I did 160 rows for the cuff. I normally only do 70 when knitting top down and when knitting top down I get loads left over. This sock weighs in at 50 gms, the heaviest I have knit so far. It fits beautifully.

I did the foot on 2.25mm needles and the garter ribbing on 2mm.

Now, the yarn is soft. Out of all the sock yarns I have used, this is the softest by far.

Ray is very reliable and pleasant to deal with. There was a hiccup with the first order, which was not his fault at all. The post for some reason took a month to get to me. In the meantime he had sent a second hank. Now he doesn't know me from Adam yet he trusted me when i said the yarn had not arrived. Of course I ended up with two hanks, which is fine by me.

The yarn that chose is called Doberman.

Thank you to Lisa who was the first to tell me about the Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn cast off.

And here is my trusted adapted Sherman heel.

Blackpool Show

It was a beautiful warm day. Clear skies. All hell broke loose on the way home though. This is my friend Linda, the woman I sleep with when I go to Scottish shows. Linda works with the disadvantaged. She is what I call good people. I admire her greatly. She has suffered the worst grief possible yet she hasn't stopped giving.
Minor Puppy Dog class(the boys).
Now if my blog was not public(what would be the point?) and if people here didn't know who I was, I would say a lot more about this show. I choose not to! ;-)

Oh Pigs

Home safe and sound, just about.

Saw a funnel cloud form! Then it dissipated. Thankfully.

Torrential rain and thunderstorm almost washed my car off the A1 on the way home.

Dogs behaved really well but not their day today.

Hips been thoroughly told off and warned I shall replace them if they don't behave.

As regards the last para in previous post, I think the humour is more understood by Brits. Offence giving not on menu.

Pig's Bum

Pig's bum! * It's been that sort of day. Which started yesterday......

First off, our fridge freezer broke down. Okay, so I call the service centre. The computerised voice thinks I have a cooker. It keeps me hanging on for 20 minutes and then hangs up. I call back. Another computerised voice tells the centre is now closed. ARRGGHHH!!!!

Now I have show tomorrow 220 miles away in Blackpool. I am thinking I won't be able to go. One because someone needs to be here from early morning Friday to let the service man. Yes, John will be here to dog sit but he will not get here till 9.30am as he has to come from London, where he works Mon-Fri. Anyhow, got that sorted.

Then I wondered how I was going to take my food. Not being able to eat certain foods-mainly wheat- can be a real bind at times. The food I do eat, salads and meats when I go away, needs to be kept cold.

During all this quandary, sometime during the late evening, the fridge comes to life again. So no problem now as regards taking good food.

I opened my passes for the show and it says, amongst other things, Disabled Passes Nil. What???

So I go and look at the schedule. Under Car Parking it says FREE. Nothing at all about disabled drivers nor about special passes. Until you get to page five that is. Then it tells you. Now why is the information for disabled drivers not in the same paragraph, or at least on the same F****** page! ARRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!

Yes, and before you ask, I am sore today, hardly slept because of my hips and I have got the hump big time. Hence the bitching.

And it you don't like that, f*** off and read someone else's blog who is all sweetness and light with no sense of humour.

* PIG'S BUM - Oz expression.

Why Respect A Belief?

You know, I can see why we need to respect people. I do - and I expect them to respect me.

Respect is not like or love and I think it is what is meant when we say we ought to 'love each other'.

To me this means do no harm at the least and be positive in our regard of others and helpful where we can. Treat another well. Simple.

However, I do not, and will not be told to, respect people's ideas and beliefs. How can I? if I think a belief is stupid, silly or wicked, how can I lie and say I respect it?

On the other hand, how dare you demand that your ideas or beliefs be respected? Who are you to demand such a thing?

If you believe the Pope is infallible and a true mouthpiece of God, let that be your privilege to believe anything you want. You do not have the right to demand that I or anyone else join you in this belief. If we choose to ridicule this belief, we have that privilege.

Today it seems that people are willing to kill those who mock their beliefs or refuse to bow to them. It is these people who are committing the evil not those who reject the beliefs.

I think that eating only fish on a Friday, not eating pork or shellfish, dressing in certain clothing, not wearing certain clothing, not working on specific days, not eating during specific periods and many other such beliefs are stupid, ridiculous and silly beyond belief.

None of these things make you a better person and none of them make you any closer to God.

However, I respect your right to believe these things and to follow them. I do not respect the belief, obviously, and you do not have the right to force me or others to follow them.

World gone mad: now one way which beliefs are forced upon others. I enquired as to how (in London) the council run swimming pool was legally allowed to hold women only sessions when they did not hold men only sessions. the answer I was given fudged the legal issue. One reason though was this: that women of a certain religion were not allowed to swim with men so they needed these sessions!

This is an example of people forcing their beliefs upon others. If you want to believe something so daft, that is up to you, but do not force your ridiculousness upon others. How dare you dictate how others can live or behave just to suit your idea?

(The other reasons had nothing to do with religion but with 'women's sensitivities', not feeling comfortable around men!!! So these women only sessions are offensive to men, and offensive to women in that they demonstrated a belief that women are indeed emotionally weak and need protection because they are not adult enough on their own. Not to mention the offense caused to men by the acceptable, it seems, assumption that all men are a danger to women. Needless to say they do not have men only sessions for those of us men who feel vulnerable and uncomfortable around women nor for those men whose religious beliefs preclude being with women in such a circumstance. Interestingly, there are no 'children and guardian' only sessions, yet children are the group most needing protection!)

We are letting religious nutters destroy us. We have got into the stupendously stupid position of having to respect by law utter idiocy!!!!

Believe what will but do not force our schools to accept it, our workforce, our government. Keep your beliefs out of our daily lives. Keep them to yourself, live by then if you must, but do not take away the liberty of others to think for themselves and live as they choose and to decide for themselves.

If you want to believe unprovable ideas, fine. If you want to exercise your right to be stupid, fine.

Yet when you start to want your ideas forced upon others, it becomes evil.

And we must fight evil not bury our heads in the sand.

And once again, if we truly care for our children, we will protect them from this evil and not force our ideas upon them nor allow anyone else to. We must teach them how to think not what to think.

Kelso

Micah was 2nd in Post Grad and Shameless 3rd in MPB. Both qualifying again fro Cruft's 08. You have to place 1st 2nd or 3rd in specific classes in order to qualify. They both achieved it for the second time today.

Kelso was beautiful, I could tell, but the weather was crap so not seen at it's best.

Second visit to Scotland in my lifetime, the first just a couple of weeks ago. Crap weather the first time too.

Two old men in kilts the first time, none at all this time.

I have gone off Scotland.

Angels of The North

This sculpture is called The Angel Of The North. It caused much controversy a few years ago when it was erected in the North East alongside the A1 trunk road. I have always rather liked it in pictures. Seeing it 'in the flesh' is even better. I am not sure how to describe how I feel when i see it. Awe struck maybe. I took these too pictures from a car moving fast. Not bad. I hasten to add that I was not driving.

This is Olwen. I 'know' Olwen from the knitting lists. I met her yesterday in her house. I met someone as nuts about knitting as me! She has many machines and loads and loads of yarn-enough for a shop. Just like me!

Olwen also hand knits.

Her home is amazing. Built around 1890 and with the original features. On 3 floors and jam packed with her life-books,ornaments,photo's, pictures, yarn, etc. I would love to have stayed ages and been really nosy and could easily have nosed for weeks!

I got Olwen to sit at the machine and ignore the camera. It worked well I think.

Thank you very much Olwen. You made me feel welcome. I was very pleased to meet you.

Good Morning

The sun is shining.

According to the weather people, this is God's equivalent of pretending there is nothing in the hand hidden behind his back.

They forecast more and more rain. But Sunday will be dry. So they say....

We have had loads and people have been flooded and lives lost.

However, tomorrow there is a dog show in Kelso, Scotland and nothing (almost) stops dog people going to dog shows. ( I do hope that my 2nd visit to Scotland will be less disappointing . On the first visit the only 2 men I saw in kilts were about 90 yrs old. )

Soooo.....I am off to Hartlepool today. Yes I know Hartlepool isn't Scotland, much less Kelso, and today is not tomorrow but if you are patient, all will be clear.

My friend Linda lives in Hartlepool. Her house is exactly 200 miles form mine. (Thank Garmin for the sat nav. At least for my Street Pilot 2720.) Kelso is 100 miles from her house.

Kelso is 285 miles from my house and I had considered leaving here at 2am to get there but thought that as I had paid the high entry fee, and would be paying about £60 ($120) in diesel, I would quite like to be able to show my dogs when I get there. (scuse me-bathroom break now.....back feeling much relieved thank you) Not to mention that I would like to able to drive home without killing myself or other road users.

So staying with Linda seemed the sensible option. I did it before in May when there was a dog show in Edinburgh. Cold and wet and windy it was. The show not Linda.

On that occasion Linda cooked me a lovely meal and behaved like a lady. No seduction attempt. Hopefully tonight I shall be just as safe. I think my walking sticks are a great help in protecting my virtue. Prior to me using those, I was really very unsafe from people's passions. I tell you. being irresistible is a curse. Don't wish it upon yourself. Be satisfied with what you were born with. Being gorgeous is not a joy but a sorrow. No one cares about your mind or your soul.

Oh dear, where was I?

Oh yes, Kelso. Not been there before either. Our judge is Zena Thorn Andrews, she who judged Best In Show at Cruft's this year, 2007. I have no idea what I think as I have not been under her before (wipe that thought now). I'll tell you what i think later....

Kelso by all accounts is a beautiful place and some people I know have been there and they have told me so and suggested all sorts of places to see.

Of course they are not dog people or they would not be so ******* stupid! I am going to a dog show. This means I am showing a dog. I do not have time for sight seeing!

Plus I can't get around, other than a minute or so walking up and down that ring, without a wheelchair and I will have no helper and are you blind? Have you noticed the sticks? The legs that don't work well? How long have you known me?

How am I going to get to that beautiful restaurant up that hill? Are my legs going work just because I am in Scotland and we all know that Scotland is the best country in the world and my legs will be miraculously healed the minute I cross the border. Not only that but the show committee will alter arrangements for the dog show to allow me the time to go and have lunch at this place. I am special you see so I am sure they will oblige me.

I digressed again...so easy to do when one multitasks the way I do..during the writing of this I have had a good scratch, fed the dogs, let them out, had a good scratch, drunk a coffee, been to the loo, seat up, checked my banking, had a good scratch, saved a couple of lost souls, healed another couple, had another good scratch ( I think I need to spray myself) and now this is the end for now. Even I can only do so much and I need to rest.

Spoke Too Soon

I really ought to know better. Having boasted about not having had an acid attack for 10 weeks, I had a bad one this morning. Frightened me as it was so sudden and painful.

Oh, and I can't believe I need to say so, but the 'The Facts About Dripping' post was very much tongue in cheek.(ie not serious, humourous, a joke, not to be read as gospel, not be taken so seriously. Hope that clears it up!)

The Facts About Dripping

Okay, here are the facts about dripping.

Women are always complaining about it.

First off they complain about the seat and lid being left up. Why? Just what is the big deal? Is it more aesthetically pleasing to have the seat and lid down? It is just a loo for god's sake!

Now the dripping. Let me tell you, it may seem a really simple thing but it isn't. It is in fact a very difficult thing to pee with entirely good aim and with no dripping. In fact it is impossible.

First of all, the instrument thru which one pee's is not always str8. Yes you read write. Sometimes it gets scrunched up, or it is leaning to the left or right. Natural one's, those that haven't had the end cruelly and unnecessarily hacked off at some point, can be even more challenging as one has no idea which direction the flow will go until it starts, by which time it is too late...

Then there is the middle of the night pee. It is dark. One is still asleep but one gets up anyway and sleepwalks to the loo. (Now you know why the seat needs to be up -you're expecting too much of a sleeping man.) One pee's and goes back to bed. No, sleepwalking men do not look for any spillage. They don't even notice if the seat is up or down....

Then there is the morning, just awake, pee. You try pointing downwards with an instrument that resolutely points upwards! And no, having just woken up, we do not have time to wipe down the seat or the walls....in fact, if like me, one is very short sighted, one can't even see the drips.

Besides, when one is done, it is time for the hand shake. It really is too much to expect these flying drips to be well aimed. And one doesn't want drips dripping into ones' clothes or down one's leg.

So, ladies, now you know. Please be more compassionate and understanding. You have no excuse now. You have been told. You have had it fully explained.

Peeing is NOT that easy. If you had to shake your fanny whenever you pee'd , I am sure you'd be a tad more understanding. Mind you for all I know, maybe you do shake. Perhaps that is why you spend so long in there and prefer to go in pairs. The second person needed to steady you after the shake?

Edit: as reminded by AJ (see comments section in the post above this one) I always used to keep the loo seat down when I bred Persian cats. Never forgot after having a couple land in it. Wet Persian pussy running around the house is not funny. Oh, okay it is but the clearing up isn't.

All Going Swimmingly

I am up to half a mile a time now. That is 32 lengths. I have done that 4 times this week(Sat, Tue, Wed, and Thur).

I don't get at all breathless now but i do take my GTN spray before I get in the pool.

The relief I get from the bone pain is wonderful. My upper body hurts for the first 10 or so lengths but then stops.

Getting out of the pool is not so easy. My legs just won't do as I wish them to. Yet I have not fallen over and my walking stick is only a couple of feet from the stairs I use to get out.

My weight has started to shift again. I lost nearly 100lbs 3 years ago and have kept it off. I still need to lose another 30.

PS: since I have stopped smoking ( 10 weeks now) I have not had any acid attacks and am not taking the Protium. I am still taking anti-inflammatories which we thought was the cause.....

Aran Work

The yarn is Jaeger Shetland, 80% wool 20% Alpaca. My own design on 4.5mm needles. I have frogged this so many times now, but am happy with this final simple, design.
This is part of a sock I have designed. It might well be frogged and re - knit with a 2.5mm instead of the present 2.25mm. The yarn is an 80% wool 20% nylon. Beige colour.

How To Not What To

I have said a few times on this blog that I think the teaching of religion, other than comparative, to children is child abuse and of the worst kind.

I certainly know that being taught what to think was far more damaging to me than the physical and sexual abuse.

The thinking took many years to overcome.

Apart from being taught to believe without question, which in itself is abusive, but also being taught that faith is a virtue , an even worse abuse. Any questions were met with 'that is the Devil making you question'.

I was taught that the evidence that the world is NOT as is written in the bible, was planted there by Satan. Yes, that is right, the fossil records, were planted by Satan to make us turn away from the truth!

Of course as a thinking adult person, this is clearly stupid. To a child it is not. Adults are teaching this to them so they believe it. Why wouldn't they?

Children are hot wired to believe adults, their parents, without question. Why? Because it would save their lives. An adult yelling 'stop' just as a child is about to step over a cliff would be taken heed of without question by the child. If not, the child would die and genes would be lost. It's a survival thing.

Adults, parents, know this even if they haven't thought of it in those terms. It is why adults teach their religious beliefs to children. They know that as an adult, they are likely to carry on believing the crap they were taught no matter the consequences.

The Middle East. The American Taliban, Afghan Taliban. Suicide Bombers. It WORKS!!!!

The Amish. The Hasidim . Other cults. It WORKS.

It is why otherwise intelligent beings, doctors, teachers, lawyers, Presidents, Prime Ministers believe the most idiotic stuff and billions suffer as a result.

Power, anyone?

The right thing to do, that will lead to peace for all, but not to POWER for a few, is to teach children HOW to think. Not what to think.

Trip 97

This was in New Hampshire, if my memory serves me well. Now, doesn't this look like the Overlook Hotel from Stephen King's The Shining?
This was the Chinese food place I saw in the distance as I was driving along Rte 7 from Ottawa to Toronto. I think it was rte 7 anyway. Although you can't see any here, there was snow all over the place. This road seemed to go on forever in a str8 line from Ottawa to Toronto.
This is Montreal. I drove into Montreal the night before in a snow blizzard. God knows where the snow went.
This was Vermont. I think.

The American Taliban

Oh my oh my, here they go again. The American Taliban has opened a 'creation museum' in Kentucky.

If their ideas were not so evil and their desires for the rest of us so monstrous, they would be funny.

For people who 'believe in God' it apparently has not occurred to them to use their most precious gift -their brain. Or perhaps their God didn't bless them with one.

These bright sparks, the American Taliban, believe that the teaching of evolution is what caused the Columbine tragedy.

"In groping for answers to this and other tragedies, more and more people are expressing surprise and concern at the increasing glee with which many teenagers approach depictions of violence. However, this fixation with death is hardly surprising given that most public schools in Western nations now teach that violence and death are ‘natural’ evolutionary mechanisms that have operated with chance processes to produce man over millions of years.

Having been told since childhood that man is just an animal, that death and violence are a natural part of evolution, and that ‘only the fittest survive,’ it is no wonder that this generation of young people are wallowing in utter hopelessness. Even when they hear ‘Jesus loves you,’ many either do not understand what this can possibly mean in a ‘world of death and randomness,’ or it makes them more angry and bitter that such a beautiful possibility seems denied by the ‘facts’ of science. Many of these people are ‘walking time-bombs,’ without fear of any judgment after death, and primed to explode in anger and hatred at any time." Link

Is it not surprising that the rest of the world fears the USA? Rightly or wrongly, it fears the USA above all? Maybe we have no need to.

However when the likes of Jesse Helm are voted into government, when the likes of Pat Robertson spouts his evil and is cheered by millions of USA citizens and made rich by them. When the evil Phelps is free to spread his filth and his children and grandchildren abused by this evil without any legal reproach.

When Matthew Shepherd is crucified and barely a hair is turned.

Is it any wonder the rest of the world has reservations about this country that professes to be the leader of the free world, yet is not free itself.

Where the American Taliban is gaining more and more power and their desire is to take freedom away from all who do not think as they do.

Evil is right in their faces, screaming, LOOK!!! LOOK!!! EVIL HERE. LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU. And the majority of nearly 300 million are deaf and blind.

No wonder they teach fundamentalist views to innocent children. They know that if they do, they will corrupt them and warp them in such a way that it will be extremely difficult for them to ever think or feel for themselves, and the American Taliban will have it's way.

The teaching of religion, other than it's history, is an appalling abuse of children. No matter what the religion or how 'liberal' it appears to be. Children are not 'Catholic', 'Jewish', 'Hindu' , Muslim'. They are children and only abusive adults label them as such.

Unless people find the courage to stand firm, to not allow themselves to told what to think, to not allow reason to become a dirty word, to not allow tolerance, compassion, love to become qualities to be spit upon, this great country will be sunk and maybe take the rest of us down with it.

I am well aware that not all Xtians, Muslims, Jews, Hindu's etc are fundamentalist. Just because some follow a watered down version doesn't make it any the less corrupting.

The X - Files

Okay I am well aware that I am way behind, so no need to tell me so.

I watched the final episode last night. I am sad about it. Pity there is no more.

I never got into it when it was on the TV but did see a dvd that belonged to someone else and I decided I liked it. Of course by that time it had already finished as a series.

Amazon were selling the whole 9 series at a very good price so I bought it a few months ago. Now I have seen the whole 9 years worth.

I think the whole thing was very clever. Very well made. Very well acted. And I think the reason it worked so well was because it was taken so seriously by all involved. No matter how out there the episode subject was, it was acted as if this was real and not out there. Which made it excellent.

The writer / creator was very clever. How he did this I'll never know. The last double episode wrapped it all up and explained it all. Thank fully! I was beginning to think it may end without explaining!

Because I watched 9 years of it in a few months, the change in the appearance of the actors was marked. Gillian Anderson developed into a beautiful woman. I love her giggle. David Duchovny - yes he is good looking and improved with age though not my cup of tea. I am sure he will be disappointed to know that...

There was great humour in these programs. There was also great drama. Some of them moved me to tears, others to laughter. Often in the same episode.

Surprisingly for me, the one thing I have never liked is movies or programs where much of the drama takes place in the near dark. It really didn't bother me which is just as well as most of the 9 series did take place in near darkness.

I shall miss The X-Files. I shall miss Mulder and Scully.

Strange that I would miss two non existent people but there we are. I have read books and later wondered to myself what the characters were up to now! Now either that says that the author was really good or I am prone to delusions.....

Oh and Ms Anderson lives and works in the UK and she naturally speaks with an English accent. I can't recall if this is because she is originally English or if it was because she was brought up here. (Okay, I just went and looked it up-she was born in Chicago and raised in Peurto Rico and England, and then settle din Grand Rapids, Michigan.)

Bonnie Gave Me An idea

Bonnie's accusation of this blog being full of political diatribe has given me an idea-to fill my blog with diatribe!

Well 'fill' is a bit strong, as I need room for my dogs, my knitting and my other rants .

My target though will be religion, not politics. Religion is at the root of most of the suffering and evil in this world. It is hardly surprising when the 3 major religions all have the same root and all are filled with the most terrible role models and evil acts and a God so wicked only a human being could have made him up! It promotes racism, genocide, child abuse, woman abuse, murder, cultism, fear, and idiocy.

So when the mood takes me, I shall be giving examples of such evil str8 out of the Book.

Just remember, this blog is mine, I don't write it to please you. I don't write it to be liked. If someone pointing out the idiocy and evil inherent in your religion bothers you....well....good....maybe it will bother you so much that you will set your fear aside and really think....

Just a little morsel---ever wondered why there is so much animosity between the Xtian Fundamentalists(especially of the USA )and the Islamic Fundamentalists of the Middle East and the Fundamentalist Jews?

Because they are pretty much the same. Each of their 'books' teaches them to hate the other. Each are filled with stories of such immorality and evil it boggles the mind. And the followers of all all three perform intellectual somersaults to justify their incomprehensible beliefs which lead to such evil as we witness daily and is in very real danger of destroying us all.

Religion is clearly NOT our moral compass and human beings are clearly able to be good and moral despite the teachings of religion which tells us that without their evil doctrines human beings would be evil!!!!!

Sad To Report

I am sorry to say I no longer keep Dachshunds. It pains me to say so and have avoided even thinking about it let alone telling it on here.

Dachshunds have a thing for grooming each other. In the process they chew off great clumps of hair. Not so much of a problem on each other but a dangerous problem on the Lhasa Apso that I also keep.

Now, Tilly came very close to choking herself to death, or getting a blocked intestine. Fortunately for her after much retching and running around she managed to bring up a HUGE lump of matted together icky Lhasa Apso hair. (If you look, you would swear that a razor did the job of removing the coat)

We started to keep the LA and Dax apart. this soon palled and was clearly unfair to both sets of dogs, especially Tilly the Dax who had to kept alternately in a cage.

I had already parted with her offspring and Alice. I couldn't part with her. She was 5 and adorable. One day, just the right home came up and after soul searching realised this was the perfect home for Tilly and the right thing to do by her. She would be totally free again.

With heavy heart I let her go. I warned that Dax were one person dogs, that she would pine, that she wouldn't eat, she would howl. And if she could speak she would beg to be brought back to her man.

Well.....that first night, she laid herself across the lap of the new man in her life and watched tv.
She stuffed her face with food. She played with the child and promptly made her self comfy in that armchair with the man again.

Ungrateful, fickle, little madam she turned out to be.....

Let's Be Friends

If you like aaah factor pictures go here

Flashback

Wow! That took me by surprise.

I had dragged myself out of bed, let the dogs out, fed the dogs, got my coffee and came up here to the PC. I needed to go to the bathroom. On the way, I got a sharp flash of pain in my right side.

The next thing I knew I was back reliving a particularly horrid and vivid scene from my childhood. For a few moments I thought I was going to collapse. I felt the grief and pain rise up to swamp me. It then all settled down again and that was that.

It doesn't matter how long ago it was, how well and together and happy one is now, this stuff still happens!

Yes, it happens less frequently, less severely but it still happens.

The worst is when one is out - at the shops, the pool, a dog show....

Gosh it just dawned on me....the pool.....no wonder I have had troubled sleep and nightmares this last week since I started swimming again....I hadn't given it any conscious thought....but the pool will bring stuff up for me. My flashback had nothing to do with the pool, in fact there is no trauma related to the pool but the swimming and pools are very much a part of my past. So my mind has been going back just because of the link between the pool and my memories.

Trip 97

Somewhere in New Hampshire.
Niagra.


On Rte 7 (I think it was called that) en route between Ottawa and Toronto.

Trip 97

This was either on the way up or on the way down the White Mountains, New Hampshire.
I am fairly certain this was Maine.
This was taken somewhere in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I think. I found it amusing.

Fortissima Colori

This a sock made from Fortissima Colori Socka Color ( no. 9048 ). I knit it over 76 sts using 3.25 for the cast on, 2mm for the ribbing and 2.25mm for the main sock. This is slightly thicker at 420m per 100gm than Opal which is 425m per 100gm. So i am glad I knit over 76sts!

I really like the handle of this yarn. I also really like this colourway. The yarn is perhaps slightly harsher than Opal but that adds to it's visual appeal I think.
My own take on the Sherman Heel again. I never know when I start whether I shall do a gusset and flap or this.

Eight And A Half Weeks

It has been 8.5 weeks since I stopped smoking.

Do I feel better? No, not physically.

Am I glad to be out of the control of a substance? Very much so! I LOVE not being controlled by my addiction to nicotine. I am free of it at last.

Now I have no vices left all, not even drink, unless you count w*****g.

I have discovered that people who smoke STINK!!!! Seriously, they smell awful.

Not smoking has played havoc with my taste buds. No, it has not made everything taste better at all! It has made some things taste better, other things taste awful and caused me to spend ages trying to get the taste I like!

Coffee - didn't taste strong enough. Then I realised that it was the milk, as it has lactose in it, that I needed to cut back on. I only used a little anyway! Mind you even my morning black coffee is stronger now. I adore coffee and have one of these bean to cup machines. Wonderful. I drink real coffee or decaff depending on time of day and whether or not I have had my quota of 2 real ones.

I stole a spoon full of John's Baked Beans. YUK! Ickity ick! So sweet!

I made a stir fry chicken with chilly. Too HOT!!!!! Yyet I had used only one green chilly where I would normally had used 2 or 3.

I can't eat my favourite cheese at all now -Gruyere- far too salty.

However, am I sorry? NO WAY. Not smoking is wonderful.

Yes, every now and then I could murder for a fag. But it passes, usually very quickly. My worst times, for some reason, are at dogs shows.

I did 20 lengths at the pool last evening. I have dropped 3 lbs. I am very very tired today, in fact fatigued and in pain, especially my hips, so will not do anything today and will go to the pool tomorrow. Being in the water is lovely. Of course it really helps re the arthritis in my joints and spine but I forgot I also have a neurological problem and that effects my muscles and coordination and tiredness just makes it worse. It isn't tiredness, it is fatigue which is worse than pain in my book. And if you don't know the difference between feeling tired and being fatigued, be thankful.

Speed / Yarn Harlot

I was sent this link ( Yarn Harlot ) to show me someone who knits really fast.

Until I saw this video, I had thought I was a slow knitter. It seems I am a really fast knitter! Cos I knit faster than the YH appears to on this video. You could knock me over with a feather. I seriously had no idea I knit fast.

Also, this video shows how I knit. Almost. I do not have my middle finger up in the air like the YH does. I have the yarn over the tip of my index finger. However, my movements are the same. I am just not giving the finger all the time ;-)

(oops) I Did It Again

Fourteen times to be exact. All at once. All this evening. All in the pool.

This time I took my GTN first. It really was better.

I was tempted to do more than 14 lengths but was grown up about it and didn't.

I love the way it feels in the water. And love the way my skin feels now.

Amazingly, not in a good way, I can feel how heavy I become, and the pain creeping back, as I pull myself up the stairs and out of the water.

However, the swimming itself is lovely. Heaven in fact.

I Want To Love You Tender

Micah and Shameless

Tantra's Micah and his daughter, Tantra's Shameless both qualified for Cruft's today.

Micah won second place in Post Graduate.

Shameless won first place in Minor Puppy Bitch.