Saleris' Craftworks, Thoughts and Writings

I like this journal. Unfortunately, I forget to post even sporadically.

I'm not knitting right now - it's kind of unfortunate because I've many projects that need finishing. I just needed a break for 2016.

I am, however, working on cross-stitching and beading. I'm happy.

I'm also reading and trying to keep ahead of a reading goal on Goodreads. I'm doing well, and about 4 books ahead. I'm hoping to keep it that way.

That's about all for this post today. We'll see what happens next month....

Well, it's been a while. I have been lazy, lets face it. But, to make myself feel better, I have a tablet (a Samsung Tab 2 7.0), which I've had since roughly April, *and* a new toy for the tablet - a bluetooth keyboard. It'll make posting entries on the fly much easier, and with this little keyboard, I'll be more inclined to make them.
. . . It's not certain I'll make them in a timely manner, but they'll definitely be more frequent than they have been.

Ok. I'm still proceeding with knitting, reading and other crafting. I'm not going to make a long list in here of what I've done since the last entry, as I don't really feel like it, but their appearances should come eventually.

Suffice it to say, I'm still getting used to the peculiarities of my little keyboard (. . .and I *really* like it, even with its annoying connection foibles) as I've only had it for a few weeks, but I've not really had much chance to use it, so right now, I'm just typing for typing's sake.

. . . I'll quit now . . .

Until the next time.

I'm still ticking along on the knitting, and I work on something (sometimes multiple somethings) every day. I'm surprised, as there's been days that I haven't initially wanted to knit on anything, but something internal nudges me and I start knitting on something. So far, in March, I've finished 2 shawls and a cowl. I've cast on another shawl and I'm planning to knit either a beret or a hat to go along with the cowl, but it's been a bit difficult finding a pattern in chunky yarn that I like. I'm sure that I'll find one eventually.

The reading of books is also coming along nicely. I'm reading enough (13 books so far this year) that I've updated my goodreads widget from a target of 64 to a target of 72 books. I might, depending if I keep to my present reading speed, increase it to 100 books. I'm not holding my breath on that one, though. It does mean, however, that I can seriously start looking at books in my overflowing house library to winnow out and donate to "others". Others meaning family, friends, or charity organizations. I'm actually pleased about that. I never thought I would be, being a bookworm.

I'm recovering from a particularly evil and persistant cold that I had for two and 1/2 weeks. I'm still "suffering" with an insidious cough/post nasal drip, but I can live with that. I'm not contagious anymore, so I can finally get back to my exercise classes and the choir. Just to be clear. I don't, as a rule, get colds, so when I do,they're virulent. I don't go and be sociable in those cases as I see a lot of people over 50. If I catch it and find it hard to deal with, then I figure there's a good chance anyone over 50 will end up in hospital. Not a good thing.

I'm starting on a 15 minute clean-up regime. To put it bluntly, the house is a dump. I can't do a blast clean-up, as my brain will just implode at the amount of work that needs doing, but I can handle a chunk of 15 minutes at a time. I can, as the days pass, do multiple 15 minute chunks, but the limited time frame will enable me to accomplish more than moving a few things around and getting overwhelmed.

The garden (container garden) might possibly be cleared out and re-started this spring. I've done nothing with it for 3 years, it's completely overgrown and exhausted and I know there's things that I want to accomplish with it that are easy and minimally invasive (no mint, violets, ferns or bamboo). I just want a nice food-frendly garden that I can eat things from all-year-round. I'll at least get a start on it this year, even if it means I only do 2 boxes.


Ok, that's enough of an entry.

Later.

I'm awake at 3:30am, and I need to do something, so typing it is. I've been knitting, eating, surfing and watching TV, often two things at once and once three of them at once. I don't know how I did it. Something must have been half-assed.

Anyway, the knitting is moderately back on track. I've gotten the netbook connected up to the wireless router and running (thank god, it's freezing upstairs, and that computer's off-line -but running- due to a trojan) *sigh*.

I've been attending Tai Chi and Yoga classes that are taking a break for Christmas/New Year's, and I'm feeling the benefits greatly. I'll be adding some Aerobics classes in January to get me even healthier. *rar*.

I'm also confirmed as being lactose intolerant and that's helping me lose inches of fat. *whoo*. As said somewhere before, I'm missing the dairy stuff, but not enough to find substitutes.

The soft white stuff (snow) has been falling recently, and it's lovely, but people forget this happened last year, and treat it as if their tyres will fall off if they drive too fast. *sigh*.

I'm now getting tired of thinking of things to write about and I want to watch programs about vetrinarians (Bionic Vet) and nibble on blocks of marzipan. . .

Later

Ok, I've been reading about the LJ crossposting debacle. I'm not happy about it.
But do I really want to import in my LiveJournal?
I'm not sure about that, seeing that the vast majority was written in a different "phase" of my life, It's not something I really want to be able to access here in Dreamwidth. Therefore, I've been giving thought to trashing some of the content in my LJ.

Obviously I'm not decided. Maybe that'll happen by the end of the month. Not that I have to worry that any people will make comments to my LiveJournal entries, that is.
*wry grin*.

Later. Possibly.

Well, I went to Photobucket. I don't know if it's the best place for what I want, but I know it works for the most part.

So, here's a photo of one of the (many) Cross Stitch pieces I'm periodically working on. . .





I haven't been using a hoop on this piece, as the only ones I have large enough have metal in them, and I know from past experience that I'll eventually have non-removable rust stains on the piece from the metal. So I'm working on it free in the hand. It's working so long as I stick to my rigid rule of washing my hands before even picking up the bag that everything is in, never mind actually working on the piece itsself.

I'm also planning, albeit slowly, to load up photos of all of the cross stitch pieces I have/have not been working on.

Later.

I've been thinking about the swine 'flu. Worrying a little about it. I caught the 'flu bug a few years ago when my immune system was in the toilet and I'm not convinced it's back to it's usual virility. I could be wrong.
I've been frequently downtown via the train and every time I visited both the bank and a public toilet. So I know I've been subjected to the swine flu "bug". So far I've been missed (well, I make sure to wash my hands when I've been to the toilet). I'm crossing fingers all will be well. We shall see during this winter - if swine 'flu does re-appear with the stronger varient, that is.

Forget the other stuff. I'm not into typing out my knitting projects right now. I've got to visit other journals right now.

Later.

Well, let's start form the beginning.
I'm on WinXP. It works for me, ok.
I have the windows updates set for automatic. I have a choice to install the SP3 update, and so far, I've said no.
I occasionally read other blogs, and I came across a blog entry (I forget where or when, so I have no idea how to find it again.)
that gave dire warnings about Internet Explorer 8 (IE8).
I didn't think much about it, since I hadn't recieved it yet, but those warnings percolated and made me a bit jittery. This computer is mine. I have no other computers with which to look at the 'net, so if this one goes 'poof' in any form, I'm going to be a bit upset. But, it's only a thing, when all is said and done. I'll cope. Maybe. *wry grin*.
Now, tonight, I recieved an update.
It was IE8. I stopped it installing. I went onto the 'net and read about other bugs and problems in IE8.
But, luckily for me, I also read that if you don't have SP3 installed, you can uninstall IE8. I'll do that.
I'm a bit scared, to say the least. But, unfortunately, I've got no choice but to re-boot the computer every so often, and either tonight or tomorrow, I'll have to re-boot.
IE8 might install (might not, according to some reports). If there's no problems installing IE8 and/or re-booting, I'll then uninstall IE8.
Here's crossing fingers my computer re-boots with no problems, and that all goes well with other things. *whew*

I'll be back with an post if/when all is well.
Anyway, who knows, IE8 might work just fine on here.

Later.

Well, here I finally am. Not much to say about myself. I've got other journals (obviously, or I wouldn't have known about Dreamwidth).

I'm not a prolific (or constant) poster, but I will be here irregularly during the month. I don't know what I'll talk about, but I'll make an effort to post at least twice a month on something.

Later.