So where's fall?

It's still kind of warm and muggy here. We had thunder and lightning last night, and then finally rain (I think the rain came a solid half-hour after I first heard the thunder). It's been warm but dreary all day here. (Supposedly the end of this week it is going to cool down). Tuesday looks like a fieldwork wash-out, but that's okay, I have my paper to revise. And I have some soil samples to test; one of the groundskeepers wanted a quick estimate of NPK content of the soil and I can do it faster (if with less precision) than the Extension Agency.

He offered a "bribe" but I suspect my terms of employment would prohibit even some kind of in-kind thing like extra bedding plants from the greenhouse, so I told him I'd just consider it part of my job (And by golly, I'm putting it on my big-list-of-things-I-did-to-"benefit-the-cause" for next year's post-tenure review. It'll probably take me about an hour to do so it's not a big whoop.

(I wouldn't write a science blog for free* but I will analyze soil for the friendly groundscrew for free)

(*There's a minor scandal going on in the science blog world right now concerning this. I'm waiting to see the outcome and the full story but at this point it looks to me like someone used a very rude word with someone else to try to bully them into doing something, and it may backfire very badly on the person who was rude. As it should.)

 I finished the prayer shawl. I have to get it to my friend sometime soon.

I also worked more on the Pink Fluffy Mystery Project. I'm using a ball pattern for the base body but will have to figure out how to design the various appendages it gets. I kind of have an idea on how to do the feet and the nose and the nubby "tail" and forelock...it's kind of fun just to be making something silly and tactiley-pleasing again. The various yarns are not much fun to knit with (Boa tangles like crazy) but they make a pleasing finished fabric.

At some point I want to get back to the sweaters also. I kind of put them on hold during the push to finish the prayer shawl.

I think I need to continue using the argan oil on my hair; it's a lot less tangle prone with the oil in it like a pomade, and I think it looks better - certainly, it's shinier, and it feels less dry. I know some people with curly hair have experimented with various "no shampoo" methods where they use vinegar and/or baking soda as a cleanser instead of shampoo, and I'm sure it works for them, but I can't quite bring myself to do that.