Koolhaas

This is a really neat looking hat and a real bitch to knit. It was definitely one of those projects that get a huge sigh of relief after I weave in the ends.

The crown is not great but it will do.

7 years together

Last Friday I made the difficult decision to euthanize Ichabod, a bearded dragon I have had for 7 years.

I took him to the vet, for the third time in two months. Hoping whatever was wrong could be treated. The first vet I saw gave me the impression that it was something that could be fixed. Simple, like an eye infection. When he kept getting worse and I requested ending his suffering I was treated as if I had not done enough, that I was not willing to do more for him. I left that place angry and in tears, but I continued to force feed him daily so he would not slowly starve to death before I could get a second opinion.

The next vet I saw said it was either his heart or some other catastrophic organ problem. He told me there were tests that could be done but he was very honest with me when I asked if he would recover. He told me that it was very unlikely and even if he did turn around a little that it would be short. He was around 8 years old, maybe a little older than that.

This is his story. He was so special to me.

In 2004 a friend came over and said "Hey, you like lizards! I know someone trying to get rid of a big one"

I got a little more information about him (all of it was wrong)

My roommate and I went to go check him out and once we saw how he was being kept we immediately agreed to take him. We only had basic knowledge of their care at the time, but he was clearly in need of assistance.

They had him living in an old coca cola refrigerator with no ventilation or appropriate lighting. He was deformed. The enclosure STUNK of feces and was full of it. He was dirty and skinny. We took him to a vet and the vet was pretty horrified at his condition, he was full of parasites and his bones were rubbery and malformed from MBD. He had never seen a UV source in his life. He never even had a bulb for warmth to bask.

Anyway, I have had him since then. For a long time he was my only pet. I doted on him and made sure he had everything he needed. I built him special ramps to make his tank more interactive. I grew greens for him at home. My boyfriend built him an amazing custom tank stand. He swam and I know it's rare, but he actually drank from standing water. He loved it. I always had to put water in the bottom of his salads so he could drink and he would puff up and flatten out his body while he lapped up the water.



I have a few pictures of him from over the years that I've been looking at today. It makes me happy to remember him healthy, and not like he has been lately.



My favorite picture of him. Healthy and FAT, after his first (and only) brumation





Holding him in the animal hospital. Sharing a moment before I let him go





He will be missed.

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.