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This is Regia Cotton Java Color (yes USA spelling). Colourway I used is 1176. 400m per 100gm
It is 41% wool, 34% cotton and 25% nylon. It weighs 46gms.
I used 80sts. I knit 18 rows in 1x1 rib using 2mm needles and then 70 rows using 2.25mm. I did the heel and then knit 70 rows. I started to decrease on row 71 and then on row 74 until row 96. Knit one more row and cast off. 97 rows in total after heel. I got approx 36s x 48r per 10cm.
I used one long circular needle using Magic Loop method.
If you look below you can see why I prefer the Sherman Heel, with my minor adjustments.
The puppies are 15 days old today. Fat slugs doing very well.
I have just started the first sleeve of this sweater. The back and front and neckband have been done. It is a simple garter rib pattern using the garter carriage on a Brother 940. The yarn is 50% merino, 25% cashmere and 25% silk.
My scan was fine. I get to keep my balls.
I am exhausted and off to bed now.
This is Opal's Feeling, colour number 1704. The colour shown here is very close to reality.
Anyway, 24 rib rows on 2mm, 60 leg rows on 2.25mm and then the gusset and heel, picking up 20 sts either side and then decreased. Once decreased, start row count again and finished on row 86. Weighs 34gms. Tension was 10sts and 14 rows to 1" or 2.54 cms.
Dutch (square) Heel.
I have the ultrasound scan on the lump tomorrow morning at 10.15am.
I will have more to say after that.
Suffice to say that for now meditation has really been of great use. I have remained calm and slept well.
I am also now a non smoker. 3 weeks today.
"I AM a childhood victim/survivor, and I DON'T think "The Secret" is pushing that if you only think positive, no bad will happen. They also said to examine negative behaviours/experiences for the lessons you can learn from them. Maybe you missed that part, it was near the end of the part with the young woman with money troubles.
I do believe in "The Secret" and I don't think what happened to me happened because I thought bad thoughts. I'm also not a millionaire, happily/lovey-dovey married, perfect family, etc. But I use my life experiences to teach me, and I believe that when we project positive energy, we are much more likely to receive positive energy back. I've thought that for a long time, almost as long as Oprah's been on the air (since 1785, LOL)."
I listened carefully to all of the program. Also I have been aware of this New Age 'philosophy' for about 30 years. I think it is dangerous precisely for the reason you give. You only heard the part about positvie thinking, it seems from your comment. Perhaps that is all many hear. What about the part where we 'attract' stuff to us by our thinking? This is a very important part of their 'message'. That the bad stuff in our lives is there becasue we brought it into being by our thinking? THIS is where the lie is and where the danger is and where it is no different from other Fundy forms of thinking. The Secret is indeed pushing this type of thinking and we ignore it at our peril.
The Secret was the subject of Oprah today, probably a while ago in the USA.
Now I am one of Oprah's admirers but I really do not agree with her on this subject . In fact, I am pretty much appalled to hear her pushing this New Age rubbish.
It is no different in it's message to that of the Westboro Baptist Church and other Fundamentalist religions.
HUH???!!! I hear you choke.
Okay. The Westboro Baptists and other Fundy belief pushers, believe that bad things only happen to bad people. If you get cancer, or murdered, or go broke or whatever, it is a sure sign that God is angry with and you will rot in hell.
Now the pushers of The Secret say that if you are good enough, nothing bad will happen to you. If bad things do happen to you, it is because attracted it yourself.
How?
By your thinking.
Your thinking was negative so therefore negative stuff will happen to you.
So when Oprah was sexually molested as a child, it was her thinking that caused this to happen.
When a parent watches their child die of cancer, their thinking brought this upon them.
Okay, maybe I am dense but I cannot see the difference between the Westboro Baptist message and that of The Secret.
One thing we as people are fearful of is lack of control. If we feel we can control events, we tend to feel happier and more secure. So victims of abuse, for instance,hang on to the guilt for what was done TO them because it is less painful than realising how powerless they were.
We tell ourselves that if we think right, eat right, pray right, or in short are good enough, we will not get cancer and die.
We will not get divorced, will not lose our children, jobs, money, homes. We can convince ourselves of this and walk around with that annoying smile those who are certain have.
Until the day something bad happens.....
Then what? Well, we either blame ourselves-
we weren't good enough, didn't pray enough, didn't think positively enough, didn't pay enough for enough seminars run by these people with The Secret
OR
we examine our thinking and belief system.
We might come to realise that bad things happen to good people all the time.
Much happens that is random. People die because we are have physical bodies that malfunction and do not live forever. People often suffer at the hands of others. Many times we can do nothing about it. Did the victims, yes they were victims, of Sept 11, attract that appalling death to themselves? Was their thinking to blame? Or were they victims of circumstance?
So do we just cower in the corner and fear to live? NO!!!!
What we do is love ourselves, value ourselves and realise that we have the strength within in us to cope with whatever life brings us. We can tap this strength thru prayer and meditation. You do not have to have a religion or even a belief in a God for this to work.
Yes, we can change our lives and much of that change can be brought about by changing our thinking. but do not be fooled into thinking you can think way EVERYTHING. You cannot.
It reminds of this prayer:
GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY
TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE
THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN
AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
I think Oprah and these pushers of The Secret could do worse than to look at the meaning of this prayer. I really am disappointed to find that Oprah is pushing a belief system that ultimately blames the victim.
Okay, I think this colourway is odd. It is Opal 625. From the ball band, it would seem that socks can also be knit sideways. There are instructions for this but in German so...
Being concerned I would not get a man sized pair, I ended up having loads left over! Anyhow, I used 2mm for the cuff, and 2.25mm for the rest. I knit 22 rows in 2x2 rib, then 50 rws st st, then did the heel, then knit 100 rws for the foot, including the decrease rows.
This is the Sherman Heel. My own adaptation of it anyway. I think it is neat.
Luna and her 5 pups born lst night between 10pm and midnight. 2 boys and 3 girls. Her first litter. Micah is the father (Shameless' dad)
Shameless at 18 weeks. Still hates the camera being pointed at her.
This Amaryllis was given to us by Leive. It has had nothing done to it at all. Just sits on the window sill. This is it's third and best flowering. It went from nothing to this in 2 weeks. It has 4 heads this time.
Dawn-50 something. I have known Dawn 20 years. We hated each other on sight. After about 6 years we became very good friends. She really was there for me when the shit hit the fan and my other 'friends' disappeared. Dawn is President of the Manor Park Spiritualist Church (SNU). Moon has gone to live with Dawn and Ron.
Ron, 60 something, Dawn's husband. Has a droll sense of humour. Needs it living with Dawn.....
(This 'church' was the subject of a Louis Theroux documentary on BBC2)
THE CHURCH OF HATE
Having watched a documentary regarding these people, I cannot decide if the adults are evil or insane.
What I really want to know is why the mother of those 11 children has not been charged with child abuse? Why have the children not been removed to a place of safety?
This group pratices the worst aspects of child abuse: they destroy their minds and spirits.
And the authroities are just letting them get away with it.
No matter how they protest that they are preaching God's word, they are clearly not. All they are is vile child abusers with hubris so intrenched in them they are beyond anything loving or sane.
Their leader, Phelps, oozes evil. Just his eyes leave you in no doubt at all of the vileness swilling inside him.
OF COURSE, THE ONE THING THEY DO NOT REALISE IS THEIR FAITH IS NOT IN GOD'S JUDGEMENT BUT IN THEIR OWN!!! THEIR FAITH IS IN THEIR OWN INTERPRETATIONS. THEIR FAITH IS IN THEMSELVES. THEY DO NOT DOUBT THEMSELVES. THEY DO NOT BELIEVE THEY ARE CAPABLE OF BEING WRONG. SO DO NOT BE FOOLED, THESE ARE NOT RIGHTEOUS GOD LOVING PEOPLE. THESE ARE PEOPLE ROTTEN WITH SELF LOVE.
Just been to the supermarket.
As John and I were leaving the checkout, I looked up to see John was being verbally harangued by a shaved headed thuggish looking man. I was in my wheelchair. I caught just a word or two and realised immediately that this was the husband of the woman I had sworn at outside the chemist!
I told him to leave John alone, and that it was I who had the run in with his wife.
So he starts on me.
Of course his wife had told him a pack of lies about what had happened. I told him that the incident was over and that I had apologised and that was that. I did not expect his wife to apologise for her appalling attitude. He got really narked at that and related more of what his wife had told him. Of course she didn't tell him anything that resembled the truth. He demanded that I go with him to apologise to her which I of course refused to do. I told him I had already done so - twice - and that was the end of it.
I pushed myself off to customer services and when I turned around I saw this man was still haranguing John. I pushed myself back and told him to go away. It had nothing to do with John, and he did not need to be bullied by a thug. He of course spluttered thru his red angry face and the security guard came and told him to leave us alone.
Hopefully, this is the end of the matter.
....gay s&m porn comes to mainstream cinema.......
I was with the characters CJ and the President in an episode of The West Wing (at least I assume it was an episode).
The President was addressing a large group of people and CJ was standing by his side. I appeared to be standing behind them both tho I am sure I was not visible to anyone.
A man in the crowd, who was seated and dressed differently to everyone else, suddenly called out, very calmly. 'I love you'.
Switch to another scene. The President is relating this story and is very moved by it. I could feel how moved he was. It was as if I was feeling his feelings.
I asked him if this was real or was he acting? (Because I knew it was Martin Sheen and not the President).
At that moment, a group of people could be heard giggiling and making fun of this 'I love you' incident.
I was about to do something or other when I awoke and I heard very clearly:
'I am a Buddhist monk and I love you.'
Now what was that all about? I have my own view. Maybe you have yours?
I used Subeam's St Ives, a 4ply yarn(sock) giving 200yds (182mt) to 50gm.
The gauge is 8.5sts and 12 rows to 1 inch or 34st 48 rw to 10cm(4") using 2.5mm needle.
I used 1 long circular needle.
This sock fits me well and I have a 10" long and round foot. Even my ankle is 10".
Cast on 72 sts using Continental Cast On and 3.25mm circular needle. Make join when cast on done.
Switch to 2.5mm needles and knit 24 rows of 2x2 ribbing.
Using one long circular you have 36 sts on each 'side'. You knit the pattern on each side. It is a ten row repeat.
Round 1:
K1tb, P 15 TB2B(place next st onto cable needle, hold at back, knit next stitch thru back of stp, p 1st), K2TB, TB2F(place next st onto cable needle sand hold at front, P1st, then K1st thru back of st), P15 K1TB.
Repeat above for second 'side'
Round 2: K1TB, P15, K1TB,P1, K2TB, P1, K1TB, P15 K1TB.
Round 3: K1TB, P14, TB2B, P1 K2TB, TB2F, K1TB
Round 4: K1TB, P14, K1TB, P2, K2TB, P2, K1TB, P14, K1TB.
Round 5: K1TB, P13, TB2B, P2, K2TB, P2, TB2F, P2, K1TB
Round 6: K1TB, P13, K1TB, P3, K2TB, P3, K1TB, P13, K1TB
Continue in this manner until 10 rounds have been knit.
You can see that the TB2B and TB2F are moved over one stitch on every odd round(1,3,5 etc) and not moved on every even(2,4, 6 etc) round.
Knit 6 repeats, ie. 60 rows.
Now knit a Sherman Heel.
My version differs from both Mary and Janine. I do as Janine does in that I also slip the 1st sticth after the pivot row. However, I leave my 36 sts on each side as they are and I do not do any wrapping whatsoever.
Once the heel is complete, I continue knitting st st on the sole side, and the pattern on the top side.
Knit 70 rounds.
Shape toe: quit knitting pattern and knit in st st only. No purling!
Round 1: (first side)
k1, SSK, knit 30, k2tog, k1.
Repeat for 2nd side.
Round 2 and 3; knit all sts
Round 4: (1st side) K1, SSK, K28,K2tog, K1 Repeat for second side.
From round 10, decrease on every other row until you have knit 24 rows and have 11 st on each needle. Knit one more row.
Turn sock inside out and cast off as follows:
Place needles side by side, with sts right up near tip of each needle.
Using a 3 rd needle, take 1st st from needle nearest you, onto 3rd needle.
Now take 1st stitch off second needle onto 3rd needle. Now pass the 1st stitch over the 2nd stitch.
Continue in this manner until all stitches are on needle 3.
You should only have 11 sts on needle 3.
Using a larger needle, cast off as usual.
NOTE: There will be 'ladders' up the sides. These are part of the pattern, they ought to be there!
* The climate is changing! The 10 hottest years on record have
occurred since 1990. In fact 2005 was the hottest year since record
keeping
began.*And it always will change. Why should the earth stop being the earth just because it inconveniences us?
Man, in his typical arrogance, now thinks he can control the climate.
Bollocks!
Anyone who has done even the smallest study of geography/science at school knows that our climate has always changed.
Pollution is another matter entirely, and yes we need to change the way we do things. But don't lets kid ourselves that we can stop the way the earth works!
Why are we all not thinking about this? Why can't we see that we are being lied to?
More tax anyone?
Knitted with 2.5mm circular needle. Pattern made up as I went. Yarn is 80%wool 20% nylon, 4ply by Sirdar. Less than 50 gms for this sock.
I normally knit the ribibng on 2mm and the body on 2.25mm but I boobed and was half way thru the ribbing when I realised I was using 2.5mm. So I stuck with that and didn't change for the body.
Top view. Heel, sole and toe knit in st st only.
Or in this case, one man, namely me.
I have been so good too. Thru prayer and meditation I have kept myself calm. Not allowed my mind to escalate things regarding my lump. No panic. Sleeping well. Getting on with my stuff. Pretty amazing really. I was a frightened wreck when the Dr looked so seriouly upon examining my lump but I have handled it thru the above mentioned means.
Until today that is.
I had to go to the dr's surgery to pick up a prescription. I got there, with difficulty due to traffic, to find all the disabled bays taken by non disabled drivers. I kept quiet. I asked for my prescription and was told the chemist had it on the other side of town. I left and as I was doing so, I saw one of the non disabled people getting into their car. I resisted saying anything.
I arrive at the chemist. Now outside the chemist there are two parking bays. On one side is a driveway and on the other a pedestrian crossing. As I arrived, a woman was in front of me and she just stopped her car so that she was parked in the middle of these two bays, leaving no room for another car.
I rolled down my window, and politely asked;
'Would you move forward, please?'
Out of the car got this 'footballer's wife' type, fake tan, streaks, high heels, the works. She looked at me as if I were something she had just trodden in and said:
'No.'
Before I even had time to think, I had exploded and yelled at her.
'You selfish ****!!!!!'
I hobbled off to the chemist and there she was bold as brass, mouthing off at me about having sworn at her. I apologised. Twice in fact.
'You are quite right, I should not have spoken to you in that manner, I apologise. However, I did ask you politely to move your car forward and you refused point blank. I was angry at your selfishness. However, I should not have sworn at you.'
'I have never been called **** in my life, ' she wailed.
I resisted the urge to say the words that came into my mind, namely;
'I bet you have!'
She just went on.
'I can do no more than apologise,' I say. 'All you had to do was move your car a few feet before you got of it.'
'Well I am not apologising. If my husband was here.....'
By this time I had been given my drugs by a chemist who was trying hard not to laugh and I left thinking how good her husband would look beating up on a cripple! And if he was like her , he would not have given that any thought.
I should not have sworn at this woman, that is clear. I behaved badly. I am so taken aback by how quickly I went into one. I had no time to catch myself, or think, or anything. I wasn't even feeling bad. However, lose it I did. Up I went like volcano. It was the way she looked ta me and said no that did it.
And I was so good to have kept my thought to myself when she wailed about no one ever having called her a **** before.....
A handful of prawn/shrimp
1 salmon steak
2 eggs(free range for preference)
a small onion/shallot
a little garlic
a little black peper
a little Parmesan cheese
10ml oil
Heat the oil in pan. Put in the onion, garlic, salmon(which you have cut into small pieces), and the shrimp. Cook through.
Beat up the two eggs and pour over the mixture (pan should be HOT). Make sure it has spread through. Now grate a little parmesan on top.
Ready when Parmesan has melted.
I went to the doctor this afternoon becasue I found a lump on my right testicle. I will be having a scan on it next week
I have been feeling frozen since and can't seem to get warm.
Anonymous wrote:
Accepting the fact that abuse in your childhood is not your fault is challenging enough by itself. How does one deal with dreams of the abusers that continue to resurface year after year? If I could find some resolution to this I will have succeeded in my life overcome the abuse.
In my experience such dreams will never go away. In the five years I spent in therapy, I learned that I would not be cured but that i would learn to live with my past and live well. I was also told that the bad periods and bad dreams would become less intense and less frequent. I have found that to be the case.
I still get nightmares/terrors. Not so often and not so brutal. I do find they can be triggered by something I see or hear or by just seeing someone that reminds me or by being teated in a similar fashion. Hence my reactions to events today can be overblown because it triggers the past.
I have days, not so frequent, when I feel vulnerable, afraid and sad. On those days, I have little interaction with others. Not because I wish to hide but because I need to take care of myself and also because being in that space can cause my thinking and reactions to be shaky. Everybody can become the enemy. I have especially learned, mostly, to keep email responses to the minimum!!!
And in response to the person who wrote that accpeting the abuse was not their fault made them feel helpless.
YES!!! Which is why many of us carry the blame. As long as we blame ourselves we can believe that we had power and if only we had been different or done somthing different the abuse would not have happened. Of course, this is a necessary defence mechanism for the child. As children we cannot cope with the knowledge that we are powerless. As adults, such thinking harms us greatly. The realisation of our powerlessness is of such enormity that the grief it produces is almost overpowering.
To recap, this is made from 100% Alpaca, Drops by Garnstudio.
I used 4mm needles for the body with the yarn doubled. I used 3mm needles for the 4x4 ribbing. I used ADDI turbo circulars. The garment weighs 980 grams or 2lb 3 oz's.
The design is my own. Very simple. I knit the body up to the colour change in the round. The sleeves were also knit in the round using the Magic Loop method. I picked up along armhole and knit down.
I knit the cuffs separately as I cannot abide cast off edges. I used my own way of doing a three needle cast off. I have two needles side by side, right sides of garment facing each other. I then use a 3rd thinner needle to take off one stitch from each needle onto the 3rd needle. I then slip one st over the other. Once this is done, I use a much larger needle (6mm) to cast off in the usual way. I do shoulders in the same way. In fact, I use this any time I need to join, like on arm bands or cardigan front bands.
This sweater was one of the easiest to knit and one of my favourites. I 'made it up' as I went along. I had cast on and started to knit it in the round, with no idea where I would be going with it. I am pleased with the direction it took. The tension was 22sts and 37 rows to 10cm.
It seems to me that, in general, people do not get what abuse does to a child.
Not only that, they don't realise that the damage is permanent.
When a child is abused, his or her sense of innocence is gone for good.
When a child is abused, his or her sense of security is gone for good.
When a child is abused, his or her childhood is gone for good.
When a child is not loved their sense of wholeness is gone for good.
It is not something that can be altered, changed, or lessened.
No.
The effects can be lived with and lived with well.
The hole remains.Added:And hopefully sometime in your life, you accept what happened, and recognize you were a child and not in control. It was not your fault, but the fault of the abuser(s).
Oh the years I've missed in not learning that. May my remaining ones be better for the learning.
I agree completely with the person who wrote this in the comments section.
My point is that no matter what the work done on oneself, no matter how one understands that abuse is never the victims fault, some things cannot be undone.
Put in another way: say someone chops off your leg.
You can come to terms with it.
You can learn to live very well with just one leg.
You can even get a prosthetic leg.
You can forgive the chopper.
You can fully understand that the chopping off of your leg was not your fault.
However, you are still minus a leg!
And you will never, ever, not ever, be the person you might have been with two legs.
I did something odd today.
It is Mother's Day and I bought flowers for my mum. They are on the bay window sill in a nice new glass vase.
My mum died April 10th 2004 and I hadn't seen her for many years. She wasn't a good mum. I never bought her flowers whilst she was alive. I didn't even know where she was for 10 years. I didn't know she had died until July 05 . I found out one night whilst surfing the net.
Place your choice of meat in the slow cooker. Beef brisket is good.
In a fry pan place 30 mls (2 table spoons) of oil, Olive is good. Heat on low. Add to this the following:
1tsp ground corriander
1tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground tumeric
.5 tsp ground nutmeg
.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tblesp of fresh ginger or one tsp of ground.
2 tble spoon of fine chopped garlic
4 whole cardoman seeds and 4 whole cloves.
Put in fresh red or green chillies according to taste.
Let this fry gently till well mixed up.
Now back to the meat in the slow cooker. Put in veggies, celery, green peppers, courgette(zucchini), leeks, onions and I would use some frozen mixxed veggies, the small kind, that mixes peas and sweetcorn and carrot.
Cover with half a cup red wine and water. Now put in the stuff from the frying pan. Add a couple of bay leaves. Also add about half a pint of sieved tomatoes. Salt to taste.
Stir up and leave to cook all day or overnight.
What I do is make a few dishes this way, and I place them in those plastic boxes that are airtight, and freeze them. I get about 7 meals from each cooking.
Take one whole chicken. Stick it in a slow cooker(6.5 litre one i.e. large). Chuck in celery, onions, leeks, loads of garlic, a handful of herbs, courgettes(zuchini), and a couple of green peppers. A cup full of red wine. A little sea salt and some black pepper. Cover with water and leave to cook for many hours(at least 6hrs).
You can do this in a large saucepan or a pressure cooker. You will then have to watch it! In the pressure cooker you will need to let it cook for 2hrs and you will need to top up the water. In a suacepan you will need to simmer for about 6 hours and you will have to top up with water.
This will serve 7 meals. It is cheap too.
Slow cookers and much more convenient and also energy saving, both for you and fuel.
Are you a fat git? Do you struggle constantly with food?
I did for many many years too. I read all sorts of stuff about how to eat normally and remain healthy. I took all sorts of medical advice. None of it helped. In fact, much of it was ignorant clap trap.
This is how I deal with it now and what I found out. I do not intend to get into discussion about it. If it helps you fine, if it makes you angry, deal with it. This works for me.
Until i was 30, I kept slim by starving and binging. I'd go as long as possible without eating(maybe 3 days) and then I would gorge. Then I'd starve again.
Why? Because I knew that if I ate, I would not be able to stop until I had eaten far too much food. I knew once I started to eat, I would eat until I was sick. if I had a slice of bread, I knew I would eat the whole loaf. One biscuit, and the packet would be gone.
What i didn't know was this: it was the eating of carbs that caused this. I didn't know that I didn't eat carbs in the first place, such cravings would disappear. It does NOT matter for my body whether the carbs are refined or not, the effect is the same.
I discovered this because I complained that I always felt tired, hungry, and bloated. I complained that when I ate, I wanted more and then I fell asleep. Even if I had eaten a normal portion of food, if it contained carbs, I would fall asleep. I was very moody. I would get the 'shakes'. I also had constant diarrhoea and acid reflux.
Thru email, it suggested to me to try the Atkins diet. My doctor recommend it when i spoke with her. It seems my surgery's doctors all recommended it.
I DO NOT follow the Atkins diet but I did at first and discovered a way to eat that suits me.
Firstly, I followed the Atkins diet. Even though I felt absolutely awful the first week, I kept at it because I knew there was no other way for me. I could not continue the way I was before.
After a week, I awoke feeling the best i had ever felt. John, who did not know what I was doing, noticed I looked really well and my complexion had changed. He said I was 'glowing'.
The tiredness, the bloat, the diarrhoea, the acid all stopped. This I did not expect. By the way, I had been a vegetarian for over 20 years so this was a big step for me.
After a while, I had lost 100lbs in weight. I felt much better in every way. I also dropped the Atkins diet in it's pure form. Oh and I dropped from 8.8 to 4.7 in my cholesterol count. Which is from 325 to 174 for the USA.
AND THE CONSTANT HUNGER WENT AWAY.
I eat loads of veggies. At least 1lb a day.(no potato, corn, parsnip, etc) I eat any meat and fish. I do not eat much fat. I eat a little dairy.
It is the protein that keeps one satisfied, not the fat.
Of course, I sometime find my self wanting to eat the foods I know will make me ill. And I have slipped and eaten them and payed the price.
Most importantly, I quit making excuses and feeling resentful that I could not eat those foods I like and that others seem to eat and have no problems with.
From experience I know that many people will not follow this eating pattern. They will make excuses. They will balk at the idea of not eating bread or cake or rice or pasta. I have heard all the excuses. I know the excuses well cos I made them myself! These excuses just mean that for the sake of eating some pasta or bread, we'd be happy to die or live miserably!
Eating this way is not boring! Not at all. It doesn't mean plain food. The food is good, nutritious and appetizing and very tasty. It is up to you. And it is NOT expensive, in fact it is cheaper.
Bear in mind that man used to eat like this as a matter or normalcy! Those people who declare that we must eat carbs are talking rubbish.
This is not a carb free eating plan anyway, just a low carb one. There are carbs in veggies.
Do you like chocolate? So do I. And I eat it every so often. I eat 75% to 85% dark choc. It is low carb. It satisfies with just one or two squares. However, it is high fat so I don't have it often. Before I cleared my system of sweet stuff, I could not face eating this chocolate. Now I couldn't eat the normal kind-far too sweet.
So for the many people who have a problem with weight this may be the way for you. It is the only way for me. It requires desire, honesty,determination and a willingness to accept that we can't eat the way we want to without suffering. It also means we have to deal with our emotions in a way that doesn't involve eating!
I will publish recipes here from time to time.
The sun is shining so I won't need to sit for 30 mins in front of my 10,000 lux light today. I soon won't need to use it all. If any one out there also suffers due to lack of light, I thoroughly recommend you get one. It consists of a box with 4 strip lights in giving out a total of 10,000 lux light. Nothing less will do. One day light bulb will not do! Since I started to use mine, I have not had the awful black depressions and lack of motivation that winter brings on. It really works and for me it worked from the first day.
Luna and Micah got it together 4 weeks ago and she is now 4 weeks pregnant. Micah is such a good boy. Luna is taller than he so he needed my help in the form of two throws folded so that he could stand on top of them. This way he was able to reach. After the first time, he came up to me and 'asked' for the throws!
Moon has been on honeymoon for a whole month! Normally, the 10-12th day of a season is the mating day. Not with her. She didn't mate until the 28th day! Thankfully she went to a good friend so it has not been a hassle. She just stayed there until she was ready. I will collect her on Saturday.
Micah attended his first show, a breed club open show and he won 2nd in his Junior class. I was very pleased with that. The dog placed first is a good dog.
I am in the process of knitting a variation of the sweater I posted last week.
I managed to get John to the doctor on Monday. I insisted. It was not good news. It seems he has a serious lung condition, though not a tumour as I feared. Why do some people hate dr's and leave things till they are really sick? He couldn't breath 150 in the breathing tube he had to breathe into.
My own thoughts and feelings have been all over the place this last month. Feeling nothing, then feeling happy, then feeling like I want to cry all the time. And I have started having night terrors again. Although I hate them more when I am on my own, it is better cos then I don't wake John up! He has learned over the years to wake me from a distance and not to touch me until I am fully awake again.
Shameless is growing up nicely. She is so intelligent and well behaved but still with loads of 'look at me' character.
I have almost completed the body and neck of my hand knit Alpaca sweater, just finishing the left side of neck and it will be done. Then on to the sleeves. I have stuck to hand knitting just one sweater at a time, leaving my Aran alone until this is complete. I find it easier as it doesn't seem to take so long to complete one sweater!
I don't normally care for these emails that are supposedly full of meaningful stuff. However, this one is good:One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
Yes, I know it has been a while since I wrote on my blog. Things have been tough recently, More pain and fatigue than usual. This time especially in my hands. I allowed this to get me depressed, as I prejected like a crazy person , envisioning me not able to knit or groom my dogs and before long I was imagining being unable to move, being bedridden and thinking of ways I could end my pathettic bed ridden life! It doesn't do to let your inamgination free! I am sure this wasn't helped by John being in the USA and me running into that evil bitch I told you about last September. How I didn't pick up my sticks and beat her silly with them I don't know, but I didn't. I walked away(or hobbled away) with dignity. At least she had the good grace to keep her eyes on the floor, unable to look at me. So that brought on some obessive anger for a few days. Somewhere or other I recall reading that when one is confronted by such anger, the best thing to do was to pray that the object of your anger to receive all you wish to receive. I balked at the idea but realised it was me that suffered from the rage I felt so I prayed that she find peace. It works. Not perfectly but it does. Whenever I think of her, I just 'bless' her. And sometimes I manage to think that before I think of running her down.... 
I used 3 different colours of a 2/15 merino, cashmere, silk mix(50%, 25% and 25%). Knittied on tension 4* on the SR 830 fine gauge. 36sts and 68 rows to 10cm(4ins). I sewed the sleeves onto the body instead of joining on the machine. It was much easier! I'll leave you to guess which type of stich pattern I used.
1x1 rib neckband, joined on machine and then folded to inside and sewn down.
This is a close up of the pattern I used. My own creation, very simple.
This is Regia Cotton Java Color (yes USA spelling). Colourway I used is 1176. 400m per 100gm
