Summer's Over . . .

I hope you are keeping up with my health and wellness journey on my other blog.  I definitely post there much more regularly than here, of late.  But here I am with a catchup post.

Some knitting has occurred!  This is the Ara Shawl, by Andrea Mowry.  I used Gale's Art Wonder Sock, in the Graffiti and Asphalt colorway.  For the edging I used Seven Sisters Arts Meridian, in the Beltran colorway.  Why do people keep designing shawl patterns that need about a quarter more yarn than is in one skein?!  Makes it hard on those of us who would stash dive rather than buy new yarn for a project.

Fall is on its way.  This photo was taken a few days ago, and you can see that lushness of spring and summer are just giving way to what will be the colors of early autumn.  I don't know that we'll have much of a show of color this fall - it's been awfully dry this year. 

But the fall is truly on its way.  The cottonwoods are early droppers.

And the sumacs are early turners. 

It's been really hot and humid here - it is mid-August in Chicagoland, after all - with heat advisories, and thunderstorm warnings.  We got quite a bit of needed rain last night, but no let-up in heat.

My summer reading program has been progressing.  I found a couple of fun series that I've enjoyed.  First, B.A. Trimmer's Scottsdale series, and second, K.F. Breene's Leveling Up series.  Links are over in the sidebar on the left.  And I have to say that I am reminded, once again, why I am contemplating shifting completely over to WordPress.  Blogger changes stuff up all the time without notice.  It took me some time to figure out the best way to update my reading progress, because it was definitely not the previous process (which was much easier to navigate . . . ).  Mostly I've been reading from my Kindle app, and mostly books that I got for "free" through Kindle Unlimited.  Since I've finished both the series (both were on Kindle Unlimited), I'm considering not renewing it.  I get a free book every month as part of Amazon Prime, and there are still actual books on my To-Read shelf.  It's 10 bucks a month I could be saving or spending on something else. 

I've been getting out early for walks before it gets hot this week, but I picked up this puzzle again - one that I started quite some time ago.  

 

It's not wood and it has a guide picture - both new experiences for me!  It's very beautiful with all the butterflies, and it's a good thing to work on when even the doorknob on the inside of the screen door is hot to the touch . . . 

I took a trip!  I went to visit my bestie in Connecticut!  It was a great trip, but I got bit by a dog!  Ugh!  Thankfully the dog was up on its shots so I only had to get a tetanus booster (and not the rabies series).  I am a good healer  :-) 

 

 

I thought it was just a puncture, but once I was at urgent care, it was clear that it had ripped up my finger.  

 

But, like I said, I'm a good healer.  This photo was taken today, 2+ weeks after the incident.

 

I wasn't doing anything - the dog belonged to a friend of my bestie.  I thought it was going to sniff my hand, but instead it bit me.  It was a pretty big dog.  Anyway, I'm healed - and if you didn't know where to look you might not see the scar at all.  Prolly my fingerprint will be a little altered, though.  

We are back in the trenches with the Delta Variant of COVID.  I confess that this pisses me off.  If enough people had gotten vaccinated, we might have made it to herd immunity before Delta got here.  But no.  There are still people who refuse to get vaccinated.  People who would ingest a large animal de-wormer rather than get a vaccine that is proven. You really can't fix stupid, I guess . . .  (tell us what you really think, A . . . ).  I will be ready, willing, and able to get my Pfizer booster as soon as I'm eligible, that's for sure.  

Charlie Watts, died yesterday.  I wonder what the Rolling Stones will do without him . . .  Here he is with his quintet - as the jazz drummer he really was - with Stones backup singer Bernard Fowler.