Don't sugar-coat it, Dave!

Our local meteorologist, Dave Bender, is very knowledgeable and usually pretty accurate, not to mention being easy on the eyes to boot! He's also very kind and honest, so last night when he was giving the forecast for today's weather, he gave it to us straight. He even admitted he was going to play a little mind trick on the viewers and put down 99 degrees, even though he said it is more than likely going to be at least 100 (farenheit). I'm not one of those bothered too much by heat, but I do feel for those that have to work out in it!! As we have been advised in the past, please make sure to check on elderly relatives and neighbors, especially those that you know don't have air conditioning, or don't want to use it for fear of not being able to afford the bill when it comes. My daughter was headed up to spend the weekend on a friend's houseboat for her birthday, but her and her fiance have decided not to because of the heat. I don't blame her...you have to close the cabin up at night because of all the bugs, and it gets miserable in the extreme heat. So, they will find something else to do, I'm sure!

Before I get to any knitting or spinning news, I wanted to share with y'all something my little Maggie does that cracks me up. I have no explanation for it, but maybe one of you canine experts out there might? In the picture, you can see a dark blue glass bowl. This is hers and while we have tried your typical doggie dishes, she refuses to eat out of anything other than this particular bowl. It's hysterical when it runs dry. She picks it up and lugs it about the house, even though it probably weighs as much as she does. She usually makes sure it lands somewhere in our proximity. Just a subtle hint you see. I find it even more amusing how she eats her food though. Do you see those two little dark spots on the floor? There are actually three others missing in the photo, but she spaces them out too far for me to capture them all. She takes several little niblets of her food and drops them on the floor, almost as though she is arranging them in a particular order. She does come back and eat them, but it's the most peculiar thing I think I've ever seen a dog do. She's a funny little critter to watch!

About that knitting and spinning....I'm still on the black Ishbel, but it is nearing the end. I promise this time. I'm on the last eight rows of about 370 stitches or so, which is the trim. I also promise better pics of it once it's been blocked. And the spinning...well, I have a dvd a friend loaned me that I want to watch before I go any further. In a Spinner's Toolbox, Judith MacKenzie says she can show me how to spin a "full suite of yarn styles". I'm looking forward to seeing what she has to offer, and then I hear another one that is a must-see is by Maggie Casey. I believe I've already watched it once before, but now that I have a few hours of spinning under my belt, I'm sure it will make more sense to me. I'm thinking both of these videos might be worth ordering to have in my library, so I'm going to see about doing that today.

Have a wonderful weekend!!