stannum.net - reloaded

I’ve finished the center. In the fourth round after the rosettes, I ended up with 76, not 75 loops, so only had to increase by 4 loops in the sixth (pre-pinwheel) round. (Yes, I know most people aren’t going to understand this unless they’re familiar with the pattern. No, it’s not important, unless you mean to do your own Rose of Erin.)

Now for the outer pinwheel motifs. Don’t know how much more yarn I’ll be needing, but I stopped by the thread stall in Farmers Plaza this morning to get another ball of Monaco B10 (Ecru), just in case.

Also, thanks to Ravelry for sending my invite!

I’m happy to say I’ve survived my eBay Experiment, which I rate as a triple-E experience (Enjoyable, Educational, and Expensive). At least I managed to replenish my wardrobe, which badly needed the lift. Now to make it last for the next 3 years or so …

Also, having rediscovered the joys of crochet, I set my sights on making myself a black bolero. After almost a month, it’s just about done except for the edging, but I still need to find a way to make the shoulder seams lie flat when worn. After unravelling and repeating the seams twice, it was beginning to be more troublesome than fun, so I looked around for something else to work on.

Lo and behold: the Rose of Erin Doily, found through Crochet Pattern Central. I’ve been working on this for two weeks now. So far I’ve made it past the rosettes. I did note though that you only need to increase the last (pre-rosette) round by 1 loop, not by 5 as stated in the original pattern. Otherwise, instead of the original 13 rosettes, you will find yourself attaching 14. I’ll post more updates and try to add photos as I go along. As usual, OCD has kicked in and I submitted an application for Ravelry membership yesterday.

Hm. If I don’t lose interest in doilies anytime soon, I may have found the perfect Christmas presents for this year.

In the meantime, Daren’s birthday is coming up next week. And here I am, with last year’s entry still unwritten, last year’s photos still unposted! Ye gods.

I was on OB before I ever thought of getting this domain. It was the place where I was most at home on the Web. I don’t know how many hours I spent just posting there, playing forum games, talking to people .. heck, I even got to be a moderator.

I haven’t been there for a while. Too busy. Aren’t we all? But it never crossed my mind that it could cease to be.

Now it’s going, going, gone.

;___:

There. WordPress 2.5.1 is installed, Lifeblood is back up, and all the links to the Great Birthday Trip photos are working again. Note to self: Never ever be without the latest site backup.

The site is now hosted by Free-Space.Net. Bit of a brouhaha over at the former host due to a server reboot, so … here I am. Thanks again, James!

(The Lifeblood theme will be restored in all its glory sometime this week, probably on Labor Day.)

No time now to write. There are too many things that need immediate attention, too much to do, and see, and remember. I just want to share this article by Katrina Gabrielle Buganan — her tribute to Manong Tero, a Stella Maris security guard who passed away earlier this month.

Manong Tero really did know the names of all the children in the school. Whenever I picked up the girls, he always told me exactly where they had put their bags and where I could find them. Even before Diana started studying there, he would greet her whenever I brought her along, and tell her where her Ate was. We always gave him a goodbye smile, and he would always tell us to be careful on the way home.

Manong, Daren and Diana were so sad when they learned you were were gone. I know you will never read this, but thank you. Thank you for everything.

Godspeed.

By which I mean the site, not me.

Skin has cleared up, thanks to Ilog Maria Honey Face Scrub and Honey Glycerin Face Soap. (More detailed reviews later, I hope.)

Uric acid currently under control, thanks to Allopurinol. Am taking my daily dose of Centrum. Except for my back, which I strained a bit yesterday, am pretty much OK.

Now if only I had a spare day or five, I might actually get around to updating this journal. If those asterisks on the left were really flowers, they would have withered by now.

=======

Diana just saw our dæmons in an earlier entry, and wanted one of her own. So here’s Aeron:

(Aeron was a spider the first time around, but Dana-mee didn’t care to have an arachnid as her other self.)

The recent cold snap has wreaked havoc on our physical well-being. Daren and Diana were both sick, and missed a week of classes; I was sick too, but only for a day. Skin and scalp woes reared their unsightly heads, and were only aggravated by the use of commercial soap and shampoo. So it was with some relief that I found Ilog Maria, which carries locally-made organic health and skincare products.

While browsing the site, I realized the name was familiar. Dad had given me a jar of honey ages ago from a bee-farm called Ilog Maria (literally, River Mary) in Cavite, but I wasn’t sure if the farm and the site owner were one and the same. Hence the following SMS exchange:

Tin: Hi dad, u know someone in cavite who has a farm and sells honey products right? What was the name of the place again? Thanks
Dad: Ilog Maria, ownd by juju magsaysay. Hes close frnd of tito rey rosario. Its n silang
Tin: Thats it! Saw the ilogmaria website, want to order some of their products. Could u let me know if you go anywhere near silang?

(I would have ordered through the site, but these days I don’t have time to pay via bank deposit. Also, BPI charges an additional P100 for deposits to provincial accounts, and I’m still annoyed with them for making off with P200 of my hard-earned money.)

Dad: Not soon tho but let m knw wat u want padlvr ko d2
Tin: THANKS! Here: 1 Honey Propolis Shampoo Familysize, 1 Stingless Mosquito Repellant, 1 Honey Glycerin Face Soap Regular, 1 Honey Face Scrub. Total website price is 451 pesos
Dad: Copy, wil txt juju
Tin: Great! Thanks a lot!

Hope he doesn’t forget, and that the products are as effective as word-of-mouth claims. If they are, we’re jumping in the Ilog posthaste.

——

I’m done resizing/optimizing/etc. all the photos long-overdue for upload: Daren’s birthday, Diana’s birthday, the Tagaytay trip. Just need to link them properly with my journal entries. Since the girls will be busy with Family Day on Sunday and studying for next week’s exams, I’ll probably have the photos up by next weekend… IF we don’t need to make The Big Move Back™ just yet.

If you’re a fan of The Last Unicorn and would like to get the 25th Anniversary DVD, please buy it through Conlanpress.com. Otherwise, Mr. Beagle doesn’t see a cent from you.

I placed my order through PayPal a few minutes ago. I hope it arrives in time for Christmas, but that isn’t really the point. What’s important is that Mr. Beagle gets his due from every copy sold through Conlan Press.

For more information on how to help him out, click HERE.

His name is Andreas.

I bought Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy last weekend. I enjoyed The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife, and was writing a detailed review of the series when I got to The Amber Spyglass. Which was a letdown, to say the least. Characterization went down the tubes, particularly for Mrs. Coulter (180-degree turnaround) and Dr. Mary Malone (the serpent who wasn’t), and the spyglass of the title was next to useless. And now I have neither energy nor inclination to continue my original review post. Maybe later, when I get over the disappointment and can be more objective.

(Andreas agrees with me. Oh, and he would like me to emphasize that he is not of the same species as Mrs. Coulter’s golden monkey.)

UPDATE on November 17, 2007, 3:59PM: Daren met her dæmon as well: