Dog Days

Another heat wave has set in. I say "another" like we've had so many of them. Actually it has been a mercifully pleasant summer. And now a third AC-weather episode is on its way. Kady was so hot this evening that I took a big bag of frozen vegetables and put it between her hind legs. I know there are some big arteries in her thighs, so I figured that would help her cool off. I have no idea if it really works, but she did stop panting. It's also getting cooler outside.

Tomorrow Kady has her fourth of four vaccines at the vet school. I have some worries about lumps and bumps, and she is definitely suffering in the hot weather (I know it's not like southern Iraq or Cairo or Singapore, my friends).

We had a lovely weekend. Farmers Market Saturday was fine; we visited with Baby Lucy and Jack and lots of grown ups. On Sunday we went over to Patty's house for knitting, and Kady had the entire backyard to hang out in. She walked around and sniffed and checked things out and then she came back to the patio and slept near the door where she could hear my voice. When the sun came to her, she moved over to a shady spot under a chair. It was so nice of Patty to invite us.

We watched "Little Miss Sunshine," which I thought was fantastic. I didn't laugh as hard as some people probably did, because it was so very poignant. It really spoke to a lot of things: Body image, depression, boosterism, etc.... But the bottom line message was that these odd people really cared for each other. Very nice.

Kady and Grandma

BIG CHEESE!

Real Aunt B

Kady Offers Advice

Game Boy

More scenes from our Saturday mornings.

Girls in Pink

Saturday at the Farmer's Market with our friends. What could be better?

celebrity

Elgas

There were three Indian elephants. the biggest one had a lovely hat of hay :) and the second one came out with a hunk of hay in her trunk. The baby came out last.

Our National Zoo

I have conflicted feelings about zoos. I guess my final answer (for now) is that they are a necessary evil. The good ones are good. Because we've screwed up the earth so much that zoos are the last chance of many species.

I used "photo stitch" to make these panorama photos. I wanted to get a sense of what the backyard would look like with the privacy fence I've been thinking about.

A Knitting Post!

I have learned how to knit backwards! It's the craziest thing, but I was doing some short-row experiments, and I thought to my slef, I wonder if there's a way to knit back and forth without turning the work around and purling. And then I just did it! I held the yarn in my right hand and knit from the right needle onto the left needle. So I'm knitting continental style, but backwards. It was one of those right brain/left brain things; I can't even tell you how I did it, it just happened. Anyway, it's very very cool for bobbles and short row stuff, or just to give my hands a break.