Pedicure virgin

Today I had my first pedicure. The woman who runs the fitness center gave free pedicures to her staff (I'm the T'ai Chi Chuan instructor). We all carpooled over the a nail place in AG that she selected and had a pedicure party. What fun!

On knitting

My next door neighbor's daughter, J, has just finished all her college requirements and graduates at the end of January. Her mother mentioned one day that she has always wanted to learn how to knit. A couple of year ago the mother gave everyone in the family a little knitting kit but no one has knit anything. Well, I volunteered to teach J how to knit.

I have been knitting for over 50 years and have taught a number of people how to knit. I thought I would just look up on the 'net for their tips on how to knit. After 50 years of knitting I discovered that there are 8 ways of casting on!

The long tail, the thumb method (this is the one I normally use), single cast on (also know as backward loop), cable cast on, knitting-on, Norwegian cast on, invisible cast on (also known as looped cast on) and the alternate cable cast on! http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/cast-on

More shopping

Today, T and I went in search of our favorite almond farmer, a pig planter and some needed supplies at Costco. Here's the story behind the pig planter - a number of years ago my brother and sister-in-law, M and O, started giving me pig garden items, I suppose because I was born in the year of the pig. They gave me a ceramic pig which we brought with us and has had a little rose bush in it since shortly after we moved in. My sister, P gave us the rose bush as a housewarming gift when we moved in. This Christmas she gave us another little rose bush and we thought it would look very cute in the back garden beside the other one. So we drove up to Morro Bay where I thought I had seen them and lo and behold - there it was!

Then we went in search of the nut man. Over 90% of the almonds sold in the USA come from California and this guy makes the best smokehouse and honey roasted almonds we have ever tasted. He only comes as far as the north county farmers' markets so we head north when we run out.

Then we made our trek to Costco in SLO. It was a most amusing trip because today is the first day of the semester at Cal Poly a university with nearly 36,000 students. We must remember not to go to Costco at the beginning of the semesters. We particularly noticed the male students in packs doing major shopping with their carts piled high with every carb you can imagine - cereal, pizzas, bagels, breads, waffles, cookies and large packages of paper towels, toilet paper, detergent etc.

More wildlife

Today my daily walk took me to a neighborhood where there are many paddocks and pastures. At the end of the street I heard first than saw a flock of sheep being herded by a real working Australian shepherd dog. This sheep was being contrary and just wanted to graze. It had a tether around its neck so I think it might be a pet. The horse and pony are just 2 of the many horses that greeted me as I walked up and down the road.

On new sneakers

I bought a new pair of sneakers the other day. "So", one might say. Well the "so" is this. If you've ever been a runner, you know how important your sneakers are to you. Once you get a great fitting sneaker, you want to load up on the model because we all know that just when you have found the perfect sneaker they go and change it. Now that I no longer run, I don't need to buy sneakers anywhere near as often as I used to. Not that I do any less mileage as I used to run 6 miles a day and now I walk 6 miles a day. The difference is in the pounding. I'd say my sneakers last about 5 months where they used to last about 3.

Every time I need new sneakers I dread the hunt. I've gotten to the point where I instantly know whether a sneaker is the right fit as soon as I put on the shoe (mostly the right foot). Well, I started about a month ago and went to look for the most current successful model. Naturally, New Balance is no longer making the model! Surprise, surprise. I couldn't find another sneaker that fit right, so I gave up on that trip. I went hunting again as my current pair is pretty badly worn now. The salesperson brought me every sneaker in my size and none fit correctly. I was about ready to give up but just glanced through the "special sale of the day" rack - you know there's never anything there. Well, lo and behold, eureka! I found a pair by New Balance and they fit perfectly. You know you have the right fit when from the first step out in them you don't even notice your sneakers - ah...

So do I go and load up????

On having a cold

A wise man in Hartford once said that being first in line at a red traffic light carries with it more responsibility. I believe that when a cold visits you you also have more responsibility. I like to say that I don't own my maladies but that they come into my life for a short period of time (hopefully). Unfortunately colds are usually caused by the rhino virus and it spreads pretty viciously. It has been proven that these viruses actually can last a lot longer than initially thought - up to 2 days! The extra responsibility is to wash one's hands after each time one's hands touches any part of your face! It's amazing how often we touch our face and not just to blow our noses when we have a cold!

Happy 2009!

The cartoon "Mutts" today said "what you do on New Year's day, you'll do all year" http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mutts.asp so T and I went to the beach again. It was 70 degrees and being new year's day, there were lots of other people with the same idea. We had a hard time finding a place to park - almost like during the summertime. On the way to the beach we noticed that the RV parks were pretty full. I think that since many schools are off for another 10 days it makes sense to take a beach vacation, especially since it's warm and the rates are lower.

We stopped by the Monarch butterfly grove in Pismo Beach. They claim that there were 22,000 butterflies there today. I wonder how they know....

Here's what they say about the butterflies: "Monarch Butterflies begin to appear along the California Coast early in October, when the first chill of fall, and a decline in nectar signal the need to migrate to the south to escape the killing cold of northern winters. The Butterflies may travel over the Sierras and west of the Rockies as far away as Canada to seek protection here in the groves of Monterey Pine and Eucalyptus that offer shelter from the wind and a foliage that the Butterflies can clasp with their sharp tarsal claws.

The Butterflies will form dense clusters on the trees, each animal hanging with its wing down over the one below it to form a shingle effect, that gives shelter from the rain and warmth for the group. The weight of the clusters helps keep it from whipping in the wind and dislodging the Butterflies. If a Butterfly is dislodged it may fall victim to insects or field mice, since it cannot fly at temperatures much lower than 55 degrees, and at a temperature lower than 40 degrees, it is unable to move at all.

On warm, calm winter days, the Monarchs leave their cluster to search for flower nectar of about 90% water and 10% sugar. When the day cools the Butterflies again cluster, but not necessarily in the same groupings.

The Monarch remains in the more protected areas along California's coast in February, when warmer days of spring herald the north-easterly migration. The flight south is leisurely, but the return journey is swift; the Monarch's wings, beating rapidly through a 120 degree arc, propel them at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.

After mating, the females seek out the milkweed plant. This plant plays a crucial role in the life cycle of the Monarch, for it is only upon the milkweed that the female will deposit her eggs. The eggs are multi-faceted creamy, yellow spheres, the size of the head of a pin; they have been described as "priceless gems cut by a master craftsman." Within three or four days, depending on the temperature, the eggs turn a dark gray and very hungry larvae eat their way out of the casings. Each larvae, or caterpillar, eats milkweed non-stop for the next fifteen days, and its weight increases 2,700 times. By the 5th day of its life, the caterpillar has outgrown its skin and must shed it, or molt, in order to grow. The animal has to go through this process three more times before it reaches maturity.

Around the fifteenth day, the caterpillar feels a sense of urgency, It's skin is beginning to harden and internal changes are taking place; the miracles of metamorphosis is about to begin, and it is on a timetable. It must find a suitable protected place above the ground, before its hardening skin makes movement impossible.

Having found such a spot, the caterpillar lays down a mat of silk fibers, attaches itself upside down to the mar, curls its body into the shape of a letter "J" and sheds its skin one last time to replace it with a shell covering. During the next nine to fifteen days, extraordinary changes take place within this chrysalis; the leaf chewing caterpillar that disappeared into it emerges as a radiant, nectar-sipping Monarch Butterfly.

Clinging to the chrysalis, the animal pumps body fluid into its limp and useless wings, expanding them to 60 times in size. The new adult Monarch must spend several hours basking in the sun, hardening its wings and getting its body functioning, before it is ready to fly away.

Several generations of Monarchs will be born during the migration; but those that leave in March will never return. Monarch Butterflies have an average life span of about 6 weeks long, except during the winter when monarch can live for about six months.

So the cycle continues, north to south and back again, from egg to caterpillar to Butterfly, the elegant animals with the velvet wings going about the urgent business of living."