One thing I forgot to say about the research stuff yesterday is that even though it was not hot (it got hot later on, but I headed out to the site before the sun was up), it was close to 100% humidity.

My body does not like humidity. Especially my lungs. Carrying the buckets (one by one) back to the car, I had to stop every ten paces or so (partly to shift hands so the bucket handles didn't cut off my circulation, but also partly to try to pull enough oxygen out of that thick air).

And whoa, am I sore today. My lower back (all that digging and lifting) but also my bum ankle. (I thought the ankle was just some early-onset arthritis - I have that pronation thing where sometimes one of my feet will just roll out on its side, spontaneously. It used to be a lot worse before I got orthotics - it would actually trip me sometimes. So I thought it was sort of RSI-induced arthritis. Now I wonder if it's some kind of a damaged tendon or ligament - I COULD NOT WALK when I first got out of bed this morning, but as I hobbled around the house, it finally loosened back up to "normal." This was the foot I was using to put weight on the shovel and I guess it didn't like that.

Yeah, yeah, I COULD go to a doctor, but as I said before, I once went to a podiatrist who basically told me to lose 20 pounds and THEN come back, so I'm often a little leery of going to "les medecins" for something that's not really that big of a deal. Also, a lot of the doctors around here have sidelines in "bariatrics," which I assume means either referring people for stomach-alteration surgery or putting them on scary drugs. And you know? As much as I dislike being fat*, I'm unwilling to risk side effects of surgery OR drugs in order to maybe become LESS fat.

And anyway: I may be fat but I was able to dig up and tote roughly 200 pounds of soil in about an hour's time yesterday, and after a little stretching I can still walk and move normally today. So THAT should count for something.

*The truth? I don't DISLIKE being fat so much; what I DISLIKE are the societal attitudes that say unless you're willing to starve yourself [if you have a naturally slower metabolism] and devote hours to worrying about the state of your body, you're somehow a slacker or lacking in self-control and you're "polluting the landscape" for the pretty thin people. Or that it's assumed we all sit on our rumps all day long eating Big Macs and Krispy Kremes.)

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Anyway. On to happier things.

I got one of those little salmon-colored "package slips" in my box the other day. I didn't see that it was for two packages - I was expecting one; I broke the "no buy new things" edict to order a skein of the new "Rainforest III" Opal because I REALLY liked the "Kasimir" color (red, blue, and yellow) and wanted to be sure to get one in case they sold out.

But there was another package waiting for me - one I didn't expect.

It was this book. Dragon knitter - saying it was Buy A Friend a Book Week - had ordered it for me and had it sent to me.

Yay! Thank you. Especially since yesterday was a hardworking day with its share of frustrations (like - difficulty in finding pea gravel, which I needed for the experiment, and then when I found it, all the bags had torn and leaked out a certain percentage of their gravel, but the bags were still full price).

I especially like the unicorn and may be making a version sometime. And the pirate is pretty funny, too - I might alter the design a little and make a GIRL pirate (well, the pirate doll as given is a little girly-looking, despite the embroidered five-o-clock shadow.)

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Bloom is progressing. I have two "wedges" left to do, and the crochet edging, and it will be ready to block. I'm really happy with how the color blocking is coming out on it - it looks really nice. The yarn is a bit more "rustic" than what I normally use for shawls - this is going to be a "casual" shawl, I guess.

The colors are pretty, but to be honest, I'm not sure I'd work with Noro Blossom again - I don't mind thick-and-thin yarns, or yarns that look kind of "rustic," but this one is sort of EXTREME "rustic."