Sunday morning, 2/15

I am very pleased with the progress I am making on Ralph's chullo. I've just finished row 17 (out of 28) of the second deer repeat. That leaves 9 rows of the deer, followed by another 12-row circle motif. I will have to check the pattern to be sure, but I'm fairly certain at that point I start the earflaps. After that comes a new technique for me to learn: attached i-cord. I've done regular but never attached. It then gets topped with a tassel, and then there will only be the blocking left to be done. These pictures are from a yesterday morning before I did any knitting, so you can't really see how far I've gotten.

Had moderate success with the clothes shopping. Didn't find any skirts that looked decent on me, although I did get three pairs of very nice black slacks and three tops: a lavender cotton sweater with short sleeves and a sort of a cowl neck; a bright blue satin-y top, and a black knit with a string of metal circles at the neckline. Not quite as many clothes as I had hoped for, however we only went to one shop & I tried on soooooo many items that I was sick of it by the time we checked out. Ralph hemmed all three pairs of pants for me, since I hate to sew & clothing manufacturers always assume a woman is going to be wearing 3" heels with any article of clothing.

We had thought about going to see Inkheart yesterday, but ended up hanging around the house instead (which is part of the reason I've made such good progress on the hat). We did go to archery for about an hour in the morning. We had intended on grilling a steak for dinner, but pigged out on our fancy Taco Bell lunch that neither of us were hungry.



Today we are going to Medieval Times with our friends PH2 & MH2. I haven't been there in *ages*; I think I might still have been dating Satan when I went, so that has to be at least 18 years ago & probably a couple more than that. Should be a lot of fun.

Been having some pain lately in my TMJ. Well, not pain so much as ache, especially if I close my jaw all the way. It feels like I've been clenching my jaw for a couple hours. I suspect I might be grinding my teeth in my sleep again, a habit that I stopped doing a very long time ago. Stress, no doubt, with all the changes at work. Hopefully this will clear up soon.

Speaking of clearing up, Sadie's head looks much better. The wounds are healed over, and the hair is starting to grow back in. We'll be keeping a close eye on it to make sure she doesn't start digging at it again, and I'm going to see if Ralph can bring her in for her follow-up on Wednesday. Not sure he will, because frankly he doesn't like the dog much, so I might end up doing it myself next Saturday instead. I think if we get the antihistamines she will not start clawing at it again.

My "experiment" with using two bowls to feed the cats seems to be working, too. Hoover still growls a bit, however since they aren't actually sharing a bowl Mudgie seems less intimidated by it and has been able to eat in relative peace. I'm really glad about this, as he was starting to get quite thin.