Things I Learned This Weekend...

Here's a little, er...better make that a big, tidbit for you to share with your friends ... male barnacles have a, um, member that is many times the size of its owner. Indeed, its penis is "proportionally the longest possessed by any animal." So, comparatively the barnacle has got everyone beat. It is so, David Attenborough says so and I certainly believe him. So there you are, share that at the next potluck you go to and see what the men have got to say. ;-)


I also learned that I actually like a bit of a challenge now when knitting. I know, who'd've thought it, you can stop snorting and guffawing now ladies. It is true. I am almost done my fifth ball of yarn on my Einstein coat - that is 5 balls of garter stitch, garter stitch and more garter stitch, about 32 inches of same old, same old. Ugh! I am only up to one hundred and some ridges, so around 50 more ridges to make still, and that is just for the coat bottom. I've decided to cast on something else - more baby hats likely, so that I can have something to break up the monotony. I'd better quit my complaining though because I found a lovely shawl in Greetings From the Knit Cafe that I really would love to make and it looks like it's all stockinette stitch.




Just last night I learned that Bill Bryson (one of my favourite authors simply because he makes me laugh so hard I have to make sure I am never drinking tea when I read his books for fear of spewing tea on the library book) also likes to rant about American TV. He has written in his book, Notes From a Big Country , that "you don't watch television here to see what is on, you watch it to see what else is on" and I think this is very true. I have seen many a channel flipper in my time, always searching for something, always thinking - there must be something on we've got 78 channels for pity sake. Don't you believe it, by the time you work your way round through all those channels, it will be the beginning of the next hour and you will have to start all over. In this way you will pass many an evening without even your hands free to knit. Now that is a pity.

And finally, I think that I am really onto something here, why wait 'til Spring to do Spring cleaning? OK, other than the fact that it is much more pleasant to open doors and windows for fresh air then. I started my cleaning now, this way when it finally gets to be Spring and the weather is lovely, I will be out in the garden enjoying the weather. Now, when it is lousy and I am inside anyway, mightn't I be better off doing my cleaning now? Please tell me if I am missing something really obvious here otherwise I will continue on, feeling quite pleased with myself and looking forward to my extra pottering in the garden time.