Callie’s really a Tasmanian devil
So I have a kitten, 3 months old, and I have visual documentation that she likes to tease other animals. One animal being me.
Kitten-cat got taken to the vet for her first shots the other day, and there was much screaming and yowling (she got scruffed and held down for shots and a leukemia test). I believe this was a new and unprecedented experience in subjugation for the kitty, as the vets didn’t put up with her crap like Jeff and I do. I had no idea she could yell like that.
Anyway, here’s some evidence of Callie’s intentional irritation of others.
This first one is of our 15-year-old cat, Caper hiding in a box. Callie is reaching through the hole in the box punching Caper. Isn’t that awesome? That had to get stopped.
This second one is from my mother-in-law’s holiday visit. We put her two dogs Sadie (pug) and Maple (Lhasa Apso) in the front room so they could all get used to one another. So Callie decided to sit in front of the door staring and walking back and forth, teasing them. She really wasn’t sure what to do with the influx of dogs and people!
happy new year’s eve!
cheers, Miriam
Crafting for Charity: Something soft to lie on …
Have you ever owned a dog or a cat that didn’t prefer to have something soft to lie on? My dog finds the largest stack of pillows available. My cats prefer carpet to floor.
If you too have noticed this phenomenon, you’ll understand some of the inspiration behind Lily Pads. Lily Pads are knitted and crocheted (or quilted or sewn!) blankets that will be given to shelters and veterinary clinics for the animals to lie on.
Suggested sizes for the Lily Pads are as follows, but animals come in all sizes, so you can feel free to make your own. In case a full blanket seems like too much to take on, they also accept individual blocks that will be joined together.
Small: 14 X 14
Medium: 16 X 16
Large: 24 X 24
All yarn & the finished product should be machine washable and long-wearing. Just so long as the end product turns out to be a cushy place for an animal to rest their heads, the choice is yours. Please remember to tie off and weave in all your ends, and if you’re quilting, no tied or rag quilts since they won’t work out well.
There are some basic patterns and additional information over at the website, so please, check out the Lily Pads page. It’s a project of Lily’s Friends, which is a project of the Lily M. Foundation. The foundation was named after the foundation owner’s kitty - McKittycreek Lily McMunster, a Maine Coon who passed away in May 2006, a month short of her fifth birthday from undiagnosed HCM.
I’d also like to mention the Knitting Hope Yahoo! group. In December, Lily Pads are the featured monthly project for the group. They choose a cause every month, so if you’re feeling inspired you can get to know this great group better.
Action shot! My own kitty in a contest with some yarn. Callie loves to mess with my yarn. Audrey puppy actually has a crocheted blanket of her own. It surprises me, but Audrey often chooses to lie on the things that have been handmade. I don’t know how she knows, but she has a definite preference.
It’s Tuesday, so that must mean…
1) I’m watching House. Which I am. I love Hugh Laurie. I have a fascination with all things English. Sometimes I think I should have been born English. How it is that I ended up being born in Wyoming I’ll never understand.
2) I’m eating what turned out to good great chipotle chili. One of my cardinal rules of chili is that you should never, ever use chili powder or cayenne powder. Real peppers are crucial to real chili. Beer is also a good addition - in this case Rogue Dead Guy Ale as a small tribute to the recent Dia de los Muertos. Can you tell I’m from Texas? Sheesh - chilis, beer, chili…
You should also read the directions before using a new appliance. I make it a practice never to read the directions. As a result, I did not know that you don’t add extra liquid when you cook in a crock pot. Hence, this chili was finished on the stove. Meanwhile, I left it on today when I was at work, and lived in total fear the entire day that my house had burned down. Paranoid much?
3) I’m also getting a little nervous - in this case, about submitting anything to my holiday crochet along because I’m such a freakin’ slow crocheter. Nevertheless, the stripes are finished on one present - a scarf - but this is only partially comforting since it’s supposed to be plaid, not striped. Finishing would be greatly helped if I was certain about how to crochet in a plaid, but I’m still experimenting, you see.
In closing, I’ll say that kitty Callie’s now consenting to cuddle with her new people. She only bites sometimes.
