Beans, Beagles and Burgundy

Canis

Canis is now 16 years old, best as we know from the adoption paperwork, and we've been able to see for a while that his hindquarters were going to be the first thing to go. There's a definite right sag to them, which leads him to shuffle his legs to the right to keep them under his hips -- until he comes to rest against a wall, or door, or wheelchair.  He'll break out of a slow, faltering amble only for Very Important things -- like, perhaps, another dog walking through the yard.  And then he'll try to walk fast without falling over.  Sigh.

The Print O' The Wave stole is a rich, wine red.  Not that you can tell it from this photo, but it is.  I blocked a nice chunk of it to get an idea of dimensions and yarn usage and the like, and have come to the conclusion that if I use a narrower edging that Eunny Jang's Print O' The Wave Stole (which is only reasonable, considering that I've not followed much of her pattern yet -- I cast on a different number of stitches and am using the chart from Heirloom Knitting), I can probably squeak 42 repeats of the main pattern in without running out of yarn.  I might try knitting the edging from the outside of the ball, starting by working across the cast on edge, then up one side.  I'll be able to see how much yarn is left then, having done 2 sides of edging, and will know if I need to undo some of the center or not.  Maybe?  Apart from tangled yarn, I'm not seeing any pitfalls.  (Which might be like saying, "apart from Florence, the Carolinas aren't expected to get any rain this weekend.")

Speaking of rain, I think we must have been having a wet summer.  My shelling beans are sprouting in the shell! Bean sprouts are a thing, I know, but not in my shelling beans. I wonder if they're still edible?

Mother Stallard Bean Sprouts

 

 

Jacob's Cattle Beans

My pole beans this year are FAR from sprouting in the pods (bean pods? Bean shells?  Bean _____?)  They're barely beginning to dry.  We're still enjoying peppers, and I'm enjoying chard and kale.  Butternut squash is ripening - including the odd dark green ones, which are acquiring a butternut squashy color - and that's about all that's going on in the garden these days. 

I discovered that my wonderful bike light disables my speedometer (aka 'bike computer').  Drat.  Supposedly, wrapping the entire light in tin foil will help.  Except the lens has to be wrapped too, and then it's pretty much useless.  Still, I did get to use the lights on Tuesday when my ride went a bit beyond sundown. 

Adieu!

Fall!

September is here, and with it, the promise of fall weather.  The promise is being realized today, so my planned morning bike ride has shifted to the afternoon when the temps are supposed to be out of the 50s and into the 60s.  Ahhhh. 

The bike tail light (and front light) have been added to my collection of cycling gear.  Next up will no doubt be something with long sleeves.  Ganseys, while perfect for staying warm at home and walking around the town, are probably not going to be my go-to top when it's 40-50 degrees on a bike.

I've taken care of the 'everyone who has pedals with clips goes over at some time' business.  A week ago Tuesday, as a matter of fact, I decided I would try clipping in with my right foot first.  Bad idea.  It was also a bad idea to continue down the driveway for a ride after I got back up.  Shortest.Ride.Ever!  0.1 miles was enough to tell me that I really shouldn't expect a bit more use to ease the ouch, so I circled round the block, UNclipped carefully, and got an ice pack. 

And two days ago, I - by the grace of God - came to a safe, rapid stop along a US Highway when a piece of wire got tangled up between my front tire and pedals.  Clankety clankety clankety cling!  Brake-unclip-stop safely. The change in speed was enough to let the wire sink to the pavement and be left behind me.  So I got going and clipped in again, came home, tried something new on the unclipping side of things ... and plunk - learned something else that doesn't work!  Ahem.  Today's ride will be a medium-for-me-distance, exploring some new roads. 

The cyber world has been busy this week, from hunting down accounting items to testing workflows and LOTS of stuff in between. And there was an imponderable.  What *is* the non-printing character that looks like a small, hollow circle, sitting just above mid-line? 

Another buzz cropped up on my harp.  I'm not sure if it's going to be a persistent buzz, or just a 'Friday the 7th of September, 2018' buzz.  Time will tell. 

Knitting is proceeding apace.  I haven't stopped to figure out how large I can make my Print O' The Wave stole yet, but I expect I'm about half done with the body.  One of these days I will have to stop knitting and make some calculations.  I'm at the stage of the project where I'd normally be plotting my next project - but that's the counterpane, so I've nothing to plot.  A sad, sad state of affairs.  

The rest of my day is calling -- adieu!