Advanced Style

This is awesome. This is a fashion blog featuring fashionable "older" ladies. It's nice to see them knock the fashion world out of the park, and it's nice to see fashion on ordinary people - not just on the runway or in a magazine and it's a nice break from seeing all the 20-something Kardashian/Snooky/fill-in-the-blank perfect little hot bodies running around town.

The bio on his blog states: My name is Ari Seth Cohen. I roam the streets of New York looking for the most stylish and creative older folks. Respect your elders and let these ladies and gents teach you a thing or two about living life to the fullest. Advanced Style offers proof from the wise and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age

If you'd like to see some real fashion, then check out this blog: Advanced Style. And tell me what you think!

In case you're wondering*...

...why I've slowed down on my projects - it has to do with the fact that my arms and hands keep going numb. Sometimes it's my whole arm, from the shoulder all the way to the fingers. Sometimes I try to work through the numbness but it doesn't go away so I must stop and flex my arm and my hand. My doctor sent me for an x-ray and confirmed that no nerves were pinched or compromised in my neck, so next he's sending me for a nerve conductivity test. This is like hitting your funny bone - except someone else has control of when it will happen and they do it multiple times. And, I really wanted to kick the technician in the head (I know! I'm not a violent person - except when someone causes me pain) but the last time I had it done, the ladies were so nice I couldn't do it, but boy I sure wanted to!!!

Two years ago I was told I had mild to moderate carpal tunnel and that my left hand was worse than my right. No one can figure out why the left is worse because I'm so very right handed. All I can think of is that I walk Eco on my left side and maybe all the leash handling is related to it, although I don't recall even getting numb during our daily walks. Holding the embroidery hoop seems to compress something in my thumb and so it goes numb, and both hands can go numb during knitting, somethings I can't even finish the row. I do wear splints at night which definitely seem to help me to sleep through the night and not wake up with numb arms.

When this subject first came up I wanted to do everything possible to avoid the surgery, and changed a bunch of things at my desk. Jp did some research and bought me a computer mouse that uses your thumb to move the curser around instead of your wrist and I think that's helped a lot. Since the initial diagnosis I've talked to several people who had the surgery and said it was a very good thing for them to have done and they were able to resume all the crafts and activities they used to enjoy without the numbness. Today I am more open to the option of surgery for this issue.

So now you know why I don't post as much about what I have been working on. Just in case you were wondering.

** and actually I'm pretty sure you weren't wondering about it since this quote is so very true: 

"You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” 

― Eleanor Roosevelt


PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001469/

Stitching Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek of what I'm working on:

That's all I can show you, because that's all I've done!!!

The gloves are off: doctors vs veterinarians

I was at the doctor's the other day and I asked the him to take a look at something on my neck. He has no problem with my request and puts on some gloves to take a look - now it was just my neck and I do take daily showers so I was a little surprised that he needed gloves but mentally moved on anyway until the next day when I took Eco to the vet for her annual check-up and shots. A nurse and the vet touched her all over the place, lifted up her big flappy Labrador lips and checked out her teeth, lifted up her big flappy Labrador ears to check inside her ears and check some other places and they did it all without gloves! Hmm, my dog gets washed once a month and is low to the ground and runs through all sorts of grasses and plants and my vet doesn't need gloves? But my doctor does?

Interesting isn't it?

I just read an article (I wish I could remember where so I could provide the source for you), which was about how doctors don't touch people anymore. Vet's don't have much choice with their patients since they have to rely on the observation skills of the animal guardian to provide important detail and from what I've seen so far, most people don't have necessarily have good observation skills when it comes to their pets - don't you agree?

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And I know.
To my brother, I acknowledge " it's not as simple as that and the answer is complex."
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To him I say "SNICKERDOODLE!" (he knows what that means)

PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.glovesmd.com/sc_images/content/iStock_000016633257XSmall.jpg

If you love animals..

.. you might not want to keep reading, but I feel I must 'talk' about this.

I want to know what is happening out there????  One of the stories going through many of the dog websites is about a poor little pug that was a victim of horrific abuse and another story that's closer to home is about a cat killer in Maple Ridge, BC.

I find these stories EXTREMELY disturbing and cannot fathom what type of person can and does this sort of thing. I don't know if these types of things have happened for years but because of the availability of news we hear more about these things or if society is getting crazier and people are losing their social mores?

straw - berry!

Have you ever looked at a recipe and thought it sounded really good but didn't seem to come together when you made it?

Well that's what happened to me when I made these roasted strawberry with browned butter pancakes:

Yup, they sounded good and looked good, but they weren't that remarkable. I think one of the biggest problems with fruit these days it how it comes to market and since it's being grown all over the world at all times of the year, sweetness and/or flavour is inconsistent if it's there at all. These strawberries were actually tart. They didn't taste like raw or I would've added sugar. In fact the recipe had me roast them in olive oil and salt but that didn't seem to help them at all.

The recipe also had me brown the butter first to be used instead of oil or plain old melted butter in the pancake batter. But we felt I that the browned butter couldn't be noticed and so my efforts were wasted. It probably would have been better to brown the butter to be poured on top of the finished pancakes just before serving.

I would consider remaking this with many variations - such as sweet strawberries and the change of use for the brown butter. Have you ever had a recipe go like this? Have you made something similar ? How did you make it better? 

today's Google doodle

Today is the 78th birthday of Robert Moog  a pioneer of electronic music so today's google doodle is a fully functional keyboard that you can play and record and playback etc. 

Take a little coffee break and give it a try.