We (at Innovative Tomato) released our second app recently, Yarn Crafter! Our office is full of knitters and crocheters, so everyone was pretty excited about it. We have so many features planned for the app–it’s going to be a really useful tool for yarn crafting hobbyists! If nothing else, I’m going to use it, but we’re hoping that everyone else finds it as useful as we do.
hostiles
This was a pretty good western. It told the story of an Army Captain who had to escort an Indian chief and his family back to their homeland, while going through enemy territory. It starred the always excellent Christian Bale and featured some stunning cinematography.
My rating: 3.5/5
r.i.p. lizzy
Lizzy turned 16 in January so we knew that there wasn’t much time left no matter how you looked at it. She developed numerous health problems over the course of the summer and we had to make the difficult decision to put her to sleep, which happened yesterday. It is always a tough decision to make–it always seems too soon or too late.
I like to think she had a great life with us. She’s been here since almost the beginning–she would have celebrated her 16th adoption anniversary in just a few weeks (September 7). Besides being a constant companion, she was also Jake’s first dog, which he picked out when he was only two! Not to mention she’s been around 1/3 of my life (and I’m not exactly young).
After Alice passed a few years ago, Lizzy became the office dog and went to work with us every day for a few years. We also took her on vacation with us in 2017 and she enjoyed it immensely. She was also my sidecar-riding partner. She enjoyed everything–even going to the vets. And she loved everyone. Brian took one last photo of her yesterday, while outside at the vet’s office and she was even smiling in that.
It’s going to be strange around the house for a long time.
the mechanic
Jake and a lot of his friends are really into cars, so he has been working on them for a few years now. He’s made a ton of modifications to his own and does all of the maintenance on it. He does occasional work on our vehicles, but we still take them to the garage for most things. I was recently lamenting the fact that we have to get new brakes/rotors on our car before it gets inspected again and he cheerfully offered to take on the task. He said the quality would be better and it cost about half as much (because there were no labor charges). While Brian has a lot of skills, working on cars is not one of them, so it’s nice to have a mechanic in the house!
the americans
For those not in the know, this show was about a pair of “married” Russian spies living and working in America in the 1980s. I wouldn’t have guessed I would like the show so much, but I was hooked from episode 1.
I finished watching this series last night and I have to say, it was on par with “Breaking Bad”. Every episode was excellent. Much like “Breaking Bad”, they had their story to tell and told it. While I’m sure they could have dragged things out for a bunch more seasons, they chose not to (take note, “The Walking Dead”). The whole show was like watching a chess match, but with way more bloodshed.
The finale was pretty good, too. It wrapped up most of the storylines, but left some stuff to ponder.
My rating: 5/5