REALLY Nice Biosphere
It is SO HOT around here, and also SO HUMID, that not only do I not have any knitting to tell you about -- came home from a party yesterday and sorta halfheartedly fixed one row on the "Cecily of York" I started the other day; that's IT, big deal -- that I'm also not going to go drag out one of the Sweaters From the Past so as to provide knitting content via that route.
No knitting. Sorry.
Tonight, after the child's birthday dinner, I'm going to work on one of my reproduction samplers. Cotton's much nicer to work with in this heat than wool.
Or, God, knows, acrylic. During the softball game at the party yesterday (and for those of you who missed the sight of an English department -- kids, professors, grad students -- all running around at amazingly varied levels of expertise, well, too bad), one of the Faithful Readers was actually knitting on the front of a sweater she'd like to get done by October. It was acrylic. I admired her guts, but she only made it for about 10 minutes.
Do not attempt to knit acrylic yarn in a sauna.
Today, anyway, the child is officially 8, and therefore has the official birthday dinner, so I need to go make a cake.
He already had one birthday dinner, on Friday, when Really Beloved Friends came over and brought him a biosphere, as a Home for the Earthworms.
By that time, one of the earthworms was dead -- we don't know which one -- so Sam had to go get another out of the fishbait earthworm pile. I do not know where he's keeping this. I'm not going to go look for it. I more or less hope I don't run across it by mistake.
It's not in the refrigerator, though, I'm pretty sure. The refrigerator is where he kept the fishbait in England -- that would be the Live Multicolored Maggots. Which you can buy, he tells, me, out of big bins in England. Each bin with a different color of maggot. Lots of maggots.
There's a piece of me that would like to see this, but its kinda small.
Anyway. We got two earthworms into the biosphere -- which, I have been informed by the child about 94 times since then, is the best, absolutely THE BEST present he EVER got in his LIFE -- and one of them -- I think the relic of Peachy, though maybe it was the relic of Seagull, promptly dragged itself on over to the pond and attempted to commit suicide.
We saved it, and it did it again, and I told the child that we were not going to be able to spend the entire night performing suicide watch on the earthworm, whichever it was, and he should be prepared to find a drowned earthworm in the morning, and we would pray for its happiness in earthworm heaven, where it would maybe be reunited with Peachy. Or Seagull.
And indeed, the worm was drowned in the morning, so Sam took it out.
And then later they found the earthworm all lively on the floor, though rather dusty, and pronounced the worm resurrected.
Although, the child informs me, it might not be Peachy -- or Seagull -- at all, but the new worm from out of the fish bait pile (you know, the one that replaced Seagull -- or Peachy), who might still be hiding under the earth in the biosphere, but might actually have gotten out of the biosphere altogether.
Well, I don't see how that could happen, I said, unless you left the biosphere open.
Well, I did leave it open for a while yesterday, the child told me.
Great.
Now he has a slug -- named Slice -- who seems to be very happy in the biosphere. I guess. Slice is not emoting too much. He hasn't tried to drown himself in the pond yet, though, which I consider a Good Sign.
Later, the child intends to change the biosphere from rainforest to desert. I'm looking forward to that. I grew up in the desert, a piece of the biosphere wherein one can find some really nice creatures. REALLY nice creatures.
I figure we can get my brother Jim to mail us some. Then later it can be explained to me that, though we can't actually FIND Rocky the Scorpion, and indeed, he might not be IN the biosphere any more, he's here somewhere and will survive nicely unless the cats get him.
In the meantime. Christmas is coming, isn't it? And the Really Beloved Friends are going to need presents, aren't they? REALLY nice presents. Made from REALLY nice yarn.
I'm starting soon. Just as soon as this heat lets up.
No knitting. Sorry.
Tonight, after the child's birthday dinner, I'm going to work on one of my reproduction samplers. Cotton's much nicer to work with in this heat than wool.
Or, God, knows, acrylic. During the softball game at the party yesterday (and for those of you who missed the sight of an English department -- kids, professors, grad students -- all running around at amazingly varied levels of expertise, well, too bad), one of the Faithful Readers was actually knitting on the front of a sweater she'd like to get done by October. It was acrylic. I admired her guts, but she only made it for about 10 minutes.
Do not attempt to knit acrylic yarn in a sauna.
Today, anyway, the child is officially 8, and therefore has the official birthday dinner, so I need to go make a cake.
He already had one birthday dinner, on Friday, when Really Beloved Friends came over and brought him a biosphere, as a Home for the Earthworms.
By that time, one of the earthworms was dead -- we don't know which one -- so Sam had to go get another out of the fishbait earthworm pile. I do not know where he's keeping this. I'm not going to go look for it. I more or less hope I don't run across it by mistake.
It's not in the refrigerator, though, I'm pretty sure. The refrigerator is where he kept the fishbait in England -- that would be the Live Multicolored Maggots. Which you can buy, he tells, me, out of big bins in England. Each bin with a different color of maggot. Lots of maggots.
There's a piece of me that would like to see this, but its kinda small.
Anyway. We got two earthworms into the biosphere -- which, I have been informed by the child about 94 times since then, is the best, absolutely THE BEST present he EVER got in his LIFE -- and one of them -- I think the relic of Peachy, though maybe it was the relic of Seagull, promptly dragged itself on over to the pond and attempted to commit suicide.
We saved it, and it did it again, and I told the child that we were not going to be able to spend the entire night performing suicide watch on the earthworm, whichever it was, and he should be prepared to find a drowned earthworm in the morning, and we would pray for its happiness in earthworm heaven, where it would maybe be reunited with Peachy. Or Seagull.
And indeed, the worm was drowned in the morning, so Sam took it out.
And then later they found the earthworm all lively on the floor, though rather dusty, and pronounced the worm resurrected.
Although, the child informs me, it might not be Peachy -- or Seagull -- at all, but the new worm from out of the fish bait pile (you know, the one that replaced Seagull -- or Peachy), who might still be hiding under the earth in the biosphere, but might actually have gotten out of the biosphere altogether.
Well, I don't see how that could happen, I said, unless you left the biosphere open.
Well, I did leave it open for a while yesterday, the child told me.
Great.
Now he has a slug -- named Slice -- who seems to be very happy in the biosphere. I guess. Slice is not emoting too much. He hasn't tried to drown himself in the pond yet, though, which I consider a Good Sign.
Later, the child intends to change the biosphere from rainforest to desert. I'm looking forward to that. I grew up in the desert, a piece of the biosphere wherein one can find some really nice creatures. REALLY nice creatures.
I figure we can get my brother Jim to mail us some. Then later it can be explained to me that, though we can't actually FIND Rocky the Scorpion, and indeed, he might not be IN the biosphere any more, he's here somewhere and will survive nicely unless the cats get him.
In the meantime. Christmas is coming, isn't it? And the Really Beloved Friends are going to need presents, aren't they? REALLY nice presents. Made from REALLY nice yarn.
I'm starting soon. Just as soon as this heat lets up.
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