Down to the ocean

Some friends have a family beach house in Virginia Beach, and they were kind enough to invite us to join them. We went a few years ago but this year it was a full week. A full week of awesome. The house was beautiful. I spent a lot of time sitting on the roof or the main balcony and just watching the ocean and reading. It was peaceful and relaxing. The weather could not have been more perfect, except for the day we woke up to the smell of smoke and learned that wildfires in North Carolina had sent massive smoke clouds up the coast. The forecast for that day literally read "Smokey", but by the afternoon it had cleared out. Now, for pictures!






I didn't take many pictures of the inside of the house but I had to take one of the custom dolphin light box. Magnificent!





I finished this beautiful shawl on the fourth day. The yarn is called Chesapeake, by Blue Heron. It is the color of the ocean and the pattern edges look like waves.





While we were there I read the book "Never Let me Go". It was a great read and the story was very sad and thought provoking.



We played Mini golf and walked the board walk. On Wednesday I wanted to find something to do so we found a tattoo place and I got an industrial ear piercing


Group picture


There was only one day that I didn't go down to the beach to lay in the sand and swim. We ate in a few nights. One night I made crab cakes with hush puppies and the last night before the long drive we grilled out on the patio.


In the evenings after dinner we would walk on the beach. The last night we actually made it out there before dark. Two nights while I was out on the balcony I caught some fireworks from the hotels down toward the boardwalk. We ran up to the roof and watched the show. I had such a wonderful trip and coming home was such a downer. Coming home after some vacations was a welcome relief but this trip was different. I wanted to stay there and live on the beach.



Tomorrow I'm returning to work. Back to the grind.

Hat 2.0

Working the same pattern back to back is painfully boring. One would think it would be faster but no, it took longer, because I knew what it would look like finished and working on it was just..boring. No challenge at all. However, I don't love this finished product any less...


I could probably knit 10 more of these before it even starts to get cold, but now I'm on to bigger (better?) things

with this




Sparkle sparkle! I bought this yarn with the last of a gift card I had been hoarding since last Christmas. I love splurging on something that I wouldn't normally buy.



I am currently working on a shawl. I was having some difficulty lining up a spine pattern on it but I think I found some helpful advice on a forum. I started it and ripped out my progress 3 times already so I hope the 4th time will be it.

Finished hat

This knitted up quickly. I started on a Thursday and was binding off by Sunday.

I'm making another one with different yarn, then I will be starting a lace project with something sparkly!

Rios

I love this yarn





Finished this last weekend, it is 6 feet long.






I started something yesterday with this color, same yarn.

We can’t plead ignorance, only indifference.

I have had a busy month preparing for a party, hosting the party, and being lazy after the party. We don't have people over very often and before last weekend I don't think we had ever had more than 4 people in our house at one time, so 20 was a new thing for me. Cooking for 20 people was also new. Cooking 13 lbs of pork for these people after reading this book was an ethical nightmare.



So, cooking that much pork after not eating meat for a month was interesting. I learned that whole foods rolled out a humane meat rating system, and that gave me a little peace. The meat I bought was a 3. I would have paid as much as I had to in order to buy a step 4 or 5 but this option was not available to me and I was short on time.

While I was reading this book and planning a menu I really couldn't figure out which opinion I take on this whole thing. Am I a vegetarian? No. Do I really enjoy meat enough to join a club for it, purchase quarters of animals and freeze them in the basement? No, not really. Can I live without it? Yes. Do I want to? ...eh? I don't know. sure. Will I miss it? No. But I still don't want to fully commit to anything and start calling myself a vegetarian. I don't want a label.

I am still feeling out this entire thing and figuring out what I can live without. This is a dietary decision as well as a social one. I admit that I enjoy the convenience and simplicity of being an omnivore. I don't think much about what I'm eating when I am eating alone but when I make meals for others or when I eat with people it becomes a larger issue of what to feed and what to say. I think a dialogue about where our food comes from and where it was before it was on the table is an important one. I think people have become willfully ignorant about it because we know it is wrong but we don't know how to change it.

The O's

Natural beauty products

I have been trying to adopt a more "natural" beauty routine. I guess I'm doing it because I try to think about what kind of food I put in my body, so I suppose I should also consider the fact that I slather myself with chemicals on a daily basis. The beauty industry is almost completley unregulated and it's pretty scary when you start to read ingredients and research them. Here are a few of the big offenders



1) Methyl, Propyl, Butyl, and Ethyl Paraben- Some combination of these synthetic ingredients are in almost EVERY skin and hair product made today. Widely known to be highly toxic and cause allergic/skin reactions. Companies use this dangerous ingredient, because it is extremely cheap and extends the shelf life of the product by inhibiting microbial growth.

2) Propylene Glycol -This Petroleum by-product is a synthetic ingredient used as a humectant. Also used as an INDUSTRIAL ANTI-FREEZE to de-ice airplanes. This toxic ingredient causes many allergic reactions. Research data states that through skin contact it can cause "liver abnormalities and kidney damage."

3) Synthetic Fragrances - Most Products will simply say "Fragrance" which means any combination of the cheapest 200 synthetic, toxic ingredients the company can find. Causes headaches, dizziness, rashes, violent coughing, vomiting, skin irritations etc... 4) Triethanolamine (TEA)/Diethanolamine (DEA) - Used to adjust the pH balance, but toxic and causes eye problems, and dryness of skin and hair. DEA has been linked with kidney, liver and other organ damage according to several government-funded research. One study found that the topical application of DEA in rodents resulted in anemia, kidney degeneration, and nerve damage to the brain and spinal cord. (Melnick et al., 1994) Even more disturbing was that several animals died before the study ended. Approximately 200 million pounds of DEA are produced annually in the U.S., most of which goes into personal care products. (USITC, 1990).

5) Imidazolidinyl Urea and Diazolidinyl Urea - Used as a a preservative, but a primary cause of contact dermatitis. You might see these toxic chemicals under the names Germall II and Germall 115, which release formaldehyde at just over 10°.

6)Phthalates: Some studies have shown compelling evidence of the dangers of specific phthalates. Environment California, a California based environmental advocacy group, reports that one of the dangers of phthalates includes early puberty in girls. As reported by them, a Puerto Rico study concluded that young girls who experienced premature breast development had seven times higher concentrations of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) in their bodies than the control group. DEHP is a common plasticizer used in the hospital setting in medical tubing and blood bags.

Other studies have linked DEHP to male reproductive problems such as genital defects and reduced testosterone production. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified DEHP as a possible carcinogen based on animal studies.

Sounds awesome.

One of my first transitions has been deodorant. This is a bold move because I sweat a lot and it's gross. Natural deodorants do not prevent perspiration so they do nothing for moisture and are mainly for blocking the smell of body odor. My first product trial was Tom's of maine unscented deodorant. NO. No no no no a thousand times no. 3 hours into it I am soaking wet and I stink. I'm glad I was working from home that day.

Next product has been successful so far. It smells fantastic and works! Love it. Do not love the price tag so I hope it lasts a while.





Lavanilla healthy deodorant.

I will continue to try different products as I swap out my old products. I have never really worn lipstick so I did try some of the burts bees tinted lip products and I love them

I think the biggest challenge will be hair products, concealer, and foundation.