Dear Mom,
I sort of took your advice. You gave me "permission" to start a new knitting project, and I thought it would be good to knit the pattern I had picked out for that super bulky rowan yarn you bought me at Webs while the weather is still appropriate. The pattern I like calls for 11 (I think) balls, and I have 10, but I think I can shorten the sweater. It looks like it goes to the model's knees, and I think I can live with it shorter. The thing was I had a half-done sweater already on my gigantor needles. I know it won't take long to get it done (I mean, c'mon, it's like 9sts over 4 inches, and I'm knitting it in the round to avoid super thick seams) so I figured out where I had left off in the pattern, finished the body, and knit 3/4 of a sleeve while watching the season premiere of America's Next Top Model. It's silly bulky, but the yarn is so fluffy and light; hopefully with slim black jeans I won't look too much like a football player. Even if I do, I'll be warm.
Love,
Ruth
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Dear Mom,
Today Ron brought me to his favorite store out here, Farm and Tractor Supply. They have a bit of everything, even bunnies. The I convinced him to let me go in the pet supply store in the same plaza that I had never been in--as you know, things are so hard to find around here you need to have a running list of what has what in your head. Mom, this was the most twilight zone pet store I had ever been in. It was like when people have that disorder where they hoard things. There was merchandise that must have been in there since 1987. We looked for a bigger collar for Tucker (meh, didn't like anything), but we did find cheap skateboarding helmets, one very large (pet) rat, a whole bunch of hair salon products, an assortment of small sized fragrances, collectible coins, baseball cards, bowling cards (who would want trading cards of bowlers?) and a whole bunch of birds, but many weren't for sale. They were just for looking at. There were signs that the bottom row of birds were Jack's Personal Birds for Display Only Not For Sale. Then we had to go because there wasn't one molecule of oxygen left in the place.
Love,
Ruth
Today Ron brought me to his favorite store out here, Farm and Tractor Supply. They have a bit of everything, even bunnies. The I convinced him to let me go in the pet supply store in the same plaza that I had never been in--as you know, things are so hard to find around here you need to have a running list of what has what in your head. Mom, this was the most twilight zone pet store I had ever been in. It was like when people have that disorder where they hoard things. There was merchandise that must have been in there since 1987. We looked for a bigger collar for Tucker (meh, didn't like anything), but we did find cheap skateboarding helmets, one very large (pet) rat, a whole bunch of hair salon products, an assortment of small sized fragrances, collectible coins, baseball cards, bowling cards (who would want trading cards of bowlers?) and a whole bunch of birds, but many weren't for sale. They were just for looking at. There were signs that the bottom row of birds were Jack's Personal Birds for Display Only Not For Sale. Then we had to go because there wasn't one molecule of oxygen left in the place.
Love,
Ruth
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Dear Mom,
Felt well enough today to work in the studio. I'll finish up a couple orders tomorrow to send out Monday; one is for a new store: an online boutique called Orange Button. That's pretty much it for right now.
Jack's numbers had been slowly sliding down every time I tested, with this morning the lowest pre-shot number in a long long time, and then tonight the number was high again. The company where I order his b-12 supplements sent a catalog this time, and I was looking through it, and found a couple things that are supposed to be good for people with diabetes. I am tempted to try low doses on Jack. This week was a frustrating one with the local vets--Jacks' vet stocks the insulin I am using but not the right size syringe. They won't order me the right size, but aren't supposed to write prescriptions for other vets to fill, even when the other vet in the area has the right needles in stock. And none of these vets know what to do with the supplies they have on hand, as none of them have ever treated diabetic cats. I got it all worked out, but it's weird to have these doctors know nothing about diabetes.
Anyway, I'm going to take a shower now.
More tomorrow.
Love,
Ruth
Felt well enough today to work in the studio. I'll finish up a couple orders tomorrow to send out Monday; one is for a new store: an online boutique called Orange Button. That's pretty much it for right now.
Jack's numbers had been slowly sliding down every time I tested, with this morning the lowest pre-shot number in a long long time, and then tonight the number was high again. The company where I order his b-12 supplements sent a catalog this time, and I was looking through it, and found a couple things that are supposed to be good for people with diabetes. I am tempted to try low doses on Jack. This week was a frustrating one with the local vets--Jacks' vet stocks the insulin I am using but not the right size syringe. They won't order me the right size, but aren't supposed to write prescriptions for other vets to fill, even when the other vet in the area has the right needles in stock. And none of these vets know what to do with the supplies they have on hand, as none of them have ever treated diabetic cats. I got it all worked out, but it's weird to have these doctors know nothing about diabetes.
Anyway, I'm going to take a shower now.
More tomorrow.
Love,
Ruth
Friday, February 23, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Dear Mom,
We just watched a show on PBS about research on animals and their emotions, and basically how animal behaviorists are now accepting a level of anthropomorphism in the science of animals. There was a doctor from Bowling Green University who is studying the origin of joy. (Do you think he's a glass-half-full kind of guy?) They hooked up sensors that could pick up very high pitched noises that rats make when they play, and he said that the researchers came to believe it was laughter. The rats liked human interaction, especially being "tickled", which consisted of exactly that--flipping the rat over, tickling their tummies. You couldn't see their mouths moving, but you could hear them squeeking like crazy. The hand moves, the rat follows. In a very elaborate scientific experiment (led by the very dry doctor), they determined the rats liked to be tickled because if you put a rat at one end of a long straight pathway, and a person's hand at the other end, the rat ran faster to a hand that tickled than one that just pet them.
Love,
Ruth
We just watched a show on PBS about research on animals and their emotions, and basically how animal behaviorists are now accepting a level of anthropomorphism in the science of animals. There was a doctor from Bowling Green University who is studying the origin of joy. (Do you think he's a glass-half-full kind of guy?) They hooked up sensors that could pick up very high pitched noises that rats make when they play, and he said that the researchers came to believe it was laughter. The rats liked human interaction, especially being "tickled", which consisted of exactly that--flipping the rat over, tickling their tummies. You couldn't see their mouths moving, but you could hear them squeeking like crazy. The hand moves, the rat follows. In a very elaborate scientific experiment (led by the very dry doctor), they determined the rats liked to be tickled because if you put a rat at one end of a long straight pathway, and a person's hand at the other end, the rat ran faster to a hand that tickled than one that just pet them.
Love,
Ruth
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Dear Mom,
One by one my tires get nails in them and have slow leaks, and today I finally went to the tire place to get the current leaky one fixed. The people that run the business are Mennonite, which means they are very nice people but have a poor selection of reading materials in the waiting area. So I brought a lot to keep me occupied, expecting it would take about an hour. So I sat there reading Diane Ackerman's Natural History of Love, in which I happened to be in a particularly erotic section, one with erotic in the chapter title so it's at the top of every page. I was trying to be inconspicuous. After 25 minutes they told me they were done, and I was really surprised. Wow, that was quick, I said. Then they told me it would be 8 dollars (last time for Ron it was around 20), and that was when I told the Mennonites that they were fast and cheap. And I couldn't take it back once it came out.
Love,
Ruth
One by one my tires get nails in them and have slow leaks, and today I finally went to the tire place to get the current leaky one fixed. The people that run the business are Mennonite, which means they are very nice people but have a poor selection of reading materials in the waiting area. So I brought a lot to keep me occupied, expecting it would take about an hour. So I sat there reading Diane Ackerman's Natural History of Love, in which I happened to be in a particularly erotic section, one with erotic in the chapter title so it's at the top of every page. I was trying to be inconspicuous. After 25 minutes they told me they were done, and I was really surprised. Wow, that was quick, I said. Then they told me it would be 8 dollars (last time for Ron it was around 20), and that was when I told the Mennonites that they were fast and cheap. And I couldn't take it back once it came out.
Love,
Ruth
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Dear Mom,
This morning a couple of our friends came over for breakfast, and stayed for a couple hours until one had to go to work. It was a nice morning, and then Ron and I went with a walk in the snowy woods with the dog. I didn't bring the camera, because the snow is so dry and slippery and it makes it twice as hard to walk when you're worried about falling with expensive electronics. As I followed Ron, each one of his footprints would immediately fill back in with snow like we were walking through loose sand. It would have made nice video. The parts of the hill that had been getting a lot of wind had hardened over so we could walk on top of the crust. Until you fall in up to your thigh and have to crawl back out.
I spent a few hours today sending out my new catalog, so keep your fingers crossed.
I hope you had a good day with your sister, although Dad will be glad to get some undivided attention. Do you know how many emails he sent me "Just to tell you I love you"? Heck, one day he even called. Finally I asked, "are you feeling a little left out?" He said, "yep." Please tell Aunt K that I hope she has smooth travels. I hope you can adjust back off the high of GoGoGo.
I wish you were here to rub my feet with your hot dry hands. I would even put up with some nagging to change my socks.
I don't have any new pictures to show, so here's one you saw a long time ago. Spring has to come eventually.
Love,
Ruth
p.s. I know the enlarged photo is still small. I uploaded it a long time ago into the photo sharing web site you have to use with blogs, and at that point I needed the file smaller.
This morning a couple of our friends came over for breakfast, and stayed for a couple hours until one had to go to work. It was a nice morning, and then Ron and I went with a walk in the snowy woods with the dog. I didn't bring the camera, because the snow is so dry and slippery and it makes it twice as hard to walk when you're worried about falling with expensive electronics. As I followed Ron, each one of his footprints would immediately fill back in with snow like we were walking through loose sand. It would have made nice video. The parts of the hill that had been getting a lot of wind had hardened over so we could walk on top of the crust. Until you fall in up to your thigh and have to crawl back out.
I spent a few hours today sending out my new catalog, so keep your fingers crossed.
I hope you had a good day with your sister, although Dad will be glad to get some undivided attention. Do you know how many emails he sent me "Just to tell you I love you"? Heck, one day he even called. Finally I asked, "are you feeling a little left out?" He said, "yep." Please tell Aunt K that I hope she has smooth travels. I hope you can adjust back off the high of GoGoGo.
I wish you were here to rub my feet with your hot dry hands. I would even put up with some nagging to change my socks.
I don't have any new pictures to show, so here's one you saw a long time ago. Spring has to come eventually.
Love,
Ruth
p.s. I know the enlarged photo is still small. I uploaded it a long time ago into the photo sharing web site you have to use with blogs, and at that point I needed the file smaller.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Dear Mom,
I'm all about the retouching, as you know. No need to immortalize spots, that's my philosophy. Or the million goose bumps that were on my chest in this picture. Jennifer said people wouldn't be looking at that, but rather at the jewelry, but when the goose bumps are as big as the jewelry, it's a little distracting.
Love,
Ruth
I'm all about the retouching, as you know. No need to immortalize spots, that's my philosophy. Or the million goose bumps that were on my chest in this picture. Jennifer said people wouldn't be looking at that, but rather at the jewelry, but when the goose bumps are as big as the jewelry, it's a little distracting.
Love,
Ruth
Friday, February 9, 2007
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Dear Mom,
Still cold here. So cold that towns near Buffalo are basically shutting down, and there is constant closure listings on our network television stations. Among all the expected closings, the Immaculate Conception schools and the Holy Blood schools, yesterday I saw one unexpected one. Head Start Rubby Butts. Hahahaha, who do you think sent that one in? Ben? Ben Dover?
Love,
Ruth
Still cold here. So cold that towns near Buffalo are basically shutting down, and there is constant closure listings on our network television stations. Among all the expected closings, the Immaculate Conception schools and the Holy Blood schools, yesterday I saw one unexpected one. Head Start Rubby Butts. Hahahaha, who do you think sent that one in? Ben? Ben Dover?
Love,
Ruth
Monday, February 5, 2007
Dear Mom,
Dad is right.
It is too cold to go outside.
It is inhuman out there. (Even with those wool boot socks on over my gloves, and a hat that ties under my chin, my clapotis and the handspun/handknit scarf you made a couple years ago, long johns and two pairs of socks, one of which is wool.)
Still too cold.
Love,
Ruth
Dad is right.
It is too cold to go outside.
It is inhuman out there. (Even with those wool boot socks on over my gloves, and a hat that ties under my chin, my clapotis and the handspun/handknit scarf you made a couple years ago, long johns and two pairs of socks, one of which is wool.)
Still too cold.
Love,
Ruth
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Dear Mom,
I do not know who those women are in yesterday's photo. I found a stack of old snapshots at the nearby antique/junk shop, and I thought that one was interesting, but put it back. Then I kept thinking about it, so I got it again, and the guy that owns the place gave it to me for free.
Sunday mornings start out kind of slow, with watching Sunday Morning and lazing about. I was debating whether or not to go grocery shopping (still kinda stir crazy) but found the right ingredients in the pantry for black bean soup, so I started that up in the crock-pot this morning. This afternoon, Animal Planet was showing Puppy Bowl III. Yes, exactly. Three hours of puppies in a room that looked like a football stadium going crazy. And half-time? Kittens. Now can you see why it was hard to go outside? So I did some planning on how to resolve stuff in the studio, and generally procrastinated on getting out in the cold. I paced it out--it is 150 feet to the studio door. Right now it's only One Degree outside. It's freakin cold here. Anyway, got bundled up, went out to the studio and ended up not only coming to a resolution for the Vine necklace, but came up with something cool that will be in the next wave of designs. Not too bad, even though it was a little frustrating getting to that point.
Love, Ruth
I do not know who those women are in yesterday's photo. I found a stack of old snapshots at the nearby antique/junk shop, and I thought that one was interesting, but put it back. Then I kept thinking about it, so I got it again, and the guy that owns the place gave it to me for free.
Sunday mornings start out kind of slow, with watching Sunday Morning and lazing about. I was debating whether or not to go grocery shopping (still kinda stir crazy) but found the right ingredients in the pantry for black bean soup, so I started that up in the crock-pot this morning. This afternoon, Animal Planet was showing Puppy Bowl III. Yes, exactly. Three hours of puppies in a room that looked like a football stadium going crazy. And half-time? Kittens. Now can you see why it was hard to go outside? So I did some planning on how to resolve stuff in the studio, and generally procrastinated on getting out in the cold. I paced it out--it is 150 feet to the studio door. Right now it's only One Degree outside. It's freakin cold here. Anyway, got bundled up, went out to the studio and ended up not only coming to a resolution for the Vine necklace, but came up with something cool that will be in the next wave of designs. Not too bad, even though it was a little frustrating getting to that point.
Love, Ruth
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Dear Mom,
You know those days when you're really restless and stir-crazy, but you have stuff to get done, so you stay home to work? Well, I had one of those days, and then everything turned to poo, and I should have taken the day off. Instead, I got a lot of the crankies. I called it quits around 5:30, and came inside. I finished the first half of my yellow shrug (it's knit in two halves and grafted together and then there's a really pretty scalloped crochet border) and put it on the holder, Ron and I made pretty good dinner, and we watched a couple movies on the movie channels. One was called Rize, which is a documentary on a style of street dancing called Krumping. It was good. Then we just finished watching The Benchwarmers, a movie that was supposed to be a comedy but was probably the worst movie ever made. It was just terrible. I was in the mood for a silly entertaining movie, but I guess I'm just following through on today's theme of Everything Turns to Shit.
Tomorrow is destined to be better.
Love,
Ruth
You know those days when you're really restless and stir-crazy, but you have stuff to get done, so you stay home to work? Well, I had one of those days, and then everything turned to poo, and I should have taken the day off. Instead, I got a lot of the crankies. I called it quits around 5:30, and came inside. I finished the first half of my yellow shrug (it's knit in two halves and grafted together and then there's a really pretty scalloped crochet border) and put it on the holder, Ron and I made pretty good dinner, and we watched a couple movies on the movie channels. One was called Rize, which is a documentary on a style of street dancing called Krumping. It was good. Then we just finished watching The Benchwarmers, a movie that was supposed to be a comedy but was probably the worst movie ever made. It was just terrible. I was in the mood for a silly entertaining movie, but I guess I'm just following through on today's theme of Everything Turns to Shit.
Tomorrow is destined to be better.
Love,
Ruth
Friday, February 2, 2007
Dear Mom,
Lord, do I have a lot to get done today, and Ron needs me to proofread some stuff. I was expecting a couple pages, as usual, but it's like half a ream of paper. *gritting teeth* And crap, the morning's half done already.
Here's the dress. It's supposed to have elastic around the bottom, as I said yesterday, and also an edging around the top edge with a small bow in the back. My material is pretty thick, and I really didn't think it looked unfinished without it, so I skipped that part. The sleeves are 3/4 length and the overall length is mid-thigh.
Have a super fun day today.
Love,
Ruth
Lord, do I have a lot to get done today, and Ron needs me to proofread some stuff. I was expecting a couple pages, as usual, but it's like half a ream of paper. *gritting teeth* And crap, the morning's half done already.
Here's the dress. It's supposed to have elastic around the bottom, as I said yesterday, and also an edging around the top edge with a small bow in the back. My material is pretty thick, and I really didn't think it looked unfinished without it, so I skipped that part. The sleeves are 3/4 length and the overall length is mid-thigh.
Have a super fun day today.
Love,
Ruth
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Dear Mom,
Last night I watched a documentary on the photographer, Sally Mann. It was really good; insightful and touching. She has the most beautiful hands and gestures, the way artist women move when they have spent years working the land. Today I sewed a dress from some of the material we had bought a hundred years ago at the one day sale thing in Manchester, remember? I figured I should just go for it, rather than hoarding things forever. When I was laying out the pieces, I noticed they told you how much ease was designed in to the dress, and it seemed like a lot, so I cut out a much smaller size (size 4) than I would have going by the envelope standards (size 10-14). I was really nervous today that the arm holes were going to be too tight, but Ron pointed out that I could leave off the sleeves and make the armholes bigger. I kept telling myself, One More Half Hour, then out to the studio, but then I also told myself, I Just Want To See If This Next Part Works, and before you know it, I hadn't gone to the studio but I FINISHED AN ENTIRE DRESS EVEN THE HEM and could wear it to stitch n bitch tonight. It's a tent dress ("maternity" my friend Chelsea called it), so it was much more forgiving than a shift. WHATEVER, IT'S SUPER CUTE. I think it fits pretty damn perfect. Pictures tomorrow. Then I went to SnB, and man, we talked about everything girlie humanly possible: periods, boobs, injuries you can get from being a stripper, you name it. It was a lot of fun, although I did have to tink back a row of that mohair, which almost killed me.
Hope you're having fun being girlie with aunt karen.
Love,
Ruth
Last night I watched a documentary on the photographer, Sally Mann. It was really good; insightful and touching. She has the most beautiful hands and gestures, the way artist women move when they have spent years working the land. Today I sewed a dress from some of the material we had bought a hundred years ago at the one day sale thing in Manchester, remember? I figured I should just go for it, rather than hoarding things forever. When I was laying out the pieces, I noticed they told you how much ease was designed in to the dress, and it seemed like a lot, so I cut out a much smaller size (size 4) than I would have going by the envelope standards (size 10-14). I was really nervous today that the arm holes were going to be too tight, but Ron pointed out that I could leave off the sleeves and make the armholes bigger. I kept telling myself, One More Half Hour, then out to the studio, but then I also told myself, I Just Want To See If This Next Part Works, and before you know it, I hadn't gone to the studio but I FINISHED AN ENTIRE DRESS EVEN THE HEM and could wear it to stitch n bitch tonight. It's a tent dress ("maternity" my friend Chelsea called it), so it was much more forgiving than a shift. WHATEVER, IT'S SUPER CUTE. I think it fits pretty damn perfect. Pictures tomorrow. Then I went to SnB, and man, we talked about everything girlie humanly possible: periods, boobs, injuries you can get from being a stripper, you name it. It was a lot of fun, although I did have to tink back a row of that mohair, which almost killed me.
Hope you're having fun being girlie with aunt karen.
Love,
Ruth
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)