Lost, but not Forgotten

Last Tuesday, Glenn's male cat, Ace disappeared.  He was there that morning when we left for work and he wasn't there when we returned.  We have scoured our neighborhood, Glenn blanketed the place in Lost Cat posters, we have visited the animal shelter (a visit I would like never to repeat as it was really depressing) and looked everywhere we could think of and more.

It is as if he vanished....poof!

It is interesting how much I miss him.  He did not interact with me much.  He wasn't the type to cuddle, or even come beg to be petted. He rarely interjected himself in my daily life....unless I was carrying something that obstructed my view (like a laundry basket or big box) and then he loved to run in front of me and stop abruptly.  But, when I would come in and see him cuddled on the bed, I would pet him and love on him and he would tolerate it.  He frequently chose a spot on the floor in between the kitchen and living room to sleep (perhaps to keep an eye on what we humans were up to) which never seemed really comfy to me.  I could think of 100 better places, but that is the one he chose more often than not. He LOVED sleeping in my computer bag on the table. Best place ever in his book.  But when I bought him a bed, he shunned it as if it were going to EAT him alive.

Can't you just read his expression: "What do you mean I can't lay here, it is shaped perfectly for me and is up here on the table where I can see everything at once. Whatever lady...stop flashing that at me, I'm not moving."

So how come I miss him so much?  How come every time I hear the cat door flapping in the wind I go running? Why do I look for him every time I walk in the house?

These are the last two pictures taken of him before he disappeared?  Being very cuddly in both!  The cold weather seemed to bring it out in him. 



He and Abby had their share of fighting, but when it came time to sleep, he let her rest on him.



Almost every night he stood on, kneaded and purred loudly with Glenn.  He had the most distinct purr.  And have you ever seen a longer tail on a cat?  Glenn's vet said he got in the tail line twice.

I think I can now understand a tiny fraction of what parents of abducted children must feel.  It feels horrible not to know.  If you KNEW they were dead, you could mourn.  Instead, you hope...against hope. And at every strange sound, you jump, hoping it is them come home again.  The hoping hurts.  It's a little cut every time your hopes are dashed.  And yet....thinking they are alive and ok somewhere feels better too. 

Ace, come home now boy!  We miss you!  I promise I will feed you your favorite canned food every day, even though you only lick the gravy and never eat the vittles.  Just come home.

Christmas Elves

In September, I discovered, after years of resistance, the joys of knitting.  I went from terribly easy scarf to the next logical step, knitted felted slippers.  I was pretty sure I could do what the pattern called for, but I had never felted before and was trepidatious about what might come out.  But, they turned out wonderful, so I took the next logical step...make a pair for every person you know as Christmas gifts...in late October.  No pressure here. And of course, I got distracted in the middle and didn't work as diligently as I should have.  But still, I managed to make 5 pairs of slippers as gifts.  Here's how they turned out:

From left to right: the burnt orange pair are for my Longhorn loving friend Lisa, the blue and green with the dragon-fly buttons are for my friend Michelle, the green with skull and cross bones for my friend Bonita, who now refers to them as the death slippers, the purpley-blue pair with the Celtic knot buttons are for my friend Katie, and the navy blue ones with leather buttons are for my friend Sam.  Whew!

Now, if you are like me, you might wonder how these slippers started out as a skein of yarn and ended up looking like shoes.  So, here is a video timeline of Lisa's pair through the felting process:

Step 1: Fill Washer with HOT water and 4 tennis balls to help with agitation, turn to the heaviest agitation setting, put slipper pieces in a zippered pillowcase, throw in the washer for 5 minutes and you get:

Step 2: After flattening out slippers and putting them back in the pillowcase, agitate for 5 more minutes (the 5 minute intervals are imperative.  If you just felt for the whole time and don't manipulate them every 5 minutes, they fold up and don't felt evenly)

Step 3: After 5 more minutes, they have begun to shrink and are looking more felted, but not ready yet. Fit them to your foot and shape after each felting period.

Step 4: Now begin shaping the slippers and measuring them to make sure they shrink to the proper size.

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 Step 5: One more agitation session and they will be perfect:

Please note that colors bleed during the felting process...but the reds bleed far worse than others.  Believe it or not, this pillowcase started out white.  The water was an orange koolaid color, but I couldn't get a pic without the suds taking back over....and I was really afraid of dropping my camera in the water, so you will have to take my word for it:

Step 6: Let them dry, then sew on flaps...which felted along with this process, but weren't as easy to see in pictures) and whatever button you have chosen...and viola...slippers:

I actually made 5 more pair.  My mother, grandmother and three agility friends, but they have not all been given out yet, so pics will have to come later.  But look how much fun they all had together!

Perhaps next year I can either choose a project earlier and work on it all year long, or perhaps scale down the project.  I am just glad everyone enjoyed them.

Old Things are New Again

Recently there have been several things that I have tried after having written them off as not for me long ago.  One example of this is knitting.  In case you've never met me, I have an OCD streak.  I like things perfect and I will often redo them to get them just perfect.  This seems more true when crafting.  I like to cross stitch because there is no "gauge", you put the needle up in this spot and down in that and it never really changes.  And if you do it wrong, you rip it out and start again.  Crochet more easily hides mistakes, but I frequently rip out and start over.  In fact, a blanket I am currently working on I restarted so many times that my friends say I could have crocheted the whole thing twice.  That is perhaps a slight exaggeration.  Knitting always frustrated me because it is harder to rip out and fix mistakes.  But with the help and encouragement of my knitting buddies (and a good lesson on unknitting), I have gotten back on the knitting horse and am working on a basketweave scarf in burnt orange and white.  I am enjoying the change--and the small amount of yarn it uses!  And it is a good reminder that just because I didn't like something years ago, trying again won't hurt me.  After all, I can dislike it twice just as easily as once, or I can find out it isn't so bad after all. 

Perhaps we'll pay for the Vet's Kid's Masters Too

Revolting developments in the pet health situation at the Daniel house.  TH's cat Abby, the only one not recently at the vet, was attacked last Monday night.  She was badly bitten and within hours had a high fever.  After a night at the vet and more than an hour under anesthesia for debridement, she came home with a nasty frankenstein gash and a very sad face. 

Tonight we found another spot swelling that is most likely an abcess from an untreated bite.  We now have enough experience with them to know one when we feel one.  Sigh.  More vet bills.  And poor little girl who would rather chew off her foot than go to the vet. 

On the bright side, the scotties are being very protective of her.  They were even laying on both sides of her the other night.  I can only figure she must have been in a drug induced coma to allow that.  And I couldn't snap off a picture as Moxie has begun to regard the camera as "that dang lightning box that Mom keeps pointing at me when I am good and comfy somewhere." Note to self: cell phone camera pics are great, but puppies should experience flashes EARLY rather than later.  :-)

How to fund your child's college tuition--be the Daniel household's Vet

I swear that we haven't gone a single month since our marriage without a vet visit. Between yearly visits, vaccinations, Moxie getting spayed, both Emma and Ace getting absesses from bites and Moxie getting a nasty stomach bug, it's been quite a bill.  I could have bought a really nice computer with all that dough.

I am glad that I have relatively healthy animals--you wouldn't know it from this post, but I do. I have friends who have animals with cancer, bad injuries, hereditary problems and persistent lameness.  So I really should thank my lucky stars. 

This is where Moxie spent almost the entire day. Sick tummy sucks!

Limited Perfectionism

It's an interesting thing about my personality that I have very limited perfectionism.  I like for things to be straight.  I have a hanging picture that I straighten at least once a week.  I will move things into the rainbow color order.  But this level of perfection doesn't necessarily transfer to my housekeeping (umm, it doesn't transfer AT ALL), or my cube keeping (only about once every quarter). 

What it does transfer to is my crocheting.  I am constantly ridiculed from my habit of ripping out the beginning of an afghan MULTIPLE times.  I have resisted the stitching of a gauge as I don't want to waste the yarn.  Yet, if I would stitch a gauge, I would learn the stitches and get my gauge all in one (or maybe 6) fell swoop.  This proclivity for ripping out what I don't like is what is keeping me from pursuing knitting. I like the way the stitches look when knitted, but I am too O.C.D. to ignore errors.  So, I am beginning a new afghan and driving my husband and cats crazy stitching and then ripping.  His cat is eying my pile of ripped yarn with mischievous eyes.  She keeps swatting at the yarn as I rip it into a pile, then stitch it out, then rip it into a pile again. And she just cannot understand why I chide her for this.  Isn't that what yarn was invented for: the enjoyment of a cat? 

Perhaps the 7th time will be the charm!

What's in a Name--Attitude

I have always heard you should never name a dog something you don't want them to be.  Name a dog Crash and he will be a constant bar knocker.  Name one Psych and it will bark like a fiend.  Name a dog Moxie and don't expect her to sit in her crate quietly when you run her sister!

Moxie's first show was at Reliant in July.  Before that, I don't know that she realized that going to shows was agility, she just wasn't getting to do it.  We crated far enough from the ring that she didn't realize what was going on.  At Reliant it was like a big light bulb went off over her head.  When I took her out she would have a little dancing party.  And when I took Bailey out of her crate and left Moxie in, she vocally made her disapproval known. 

THEN she got spayed and had to sit through a whole show without running.  I have several videos of Bailey running where you can hear Moxie in the background whining and crying pitifully.  Well, this weekend, there was another show (same place as the one she couldn't play was held).  The first day she cried and was unhappy when Bailey ran and then when her runs came she was great.  The second day, I take Bailey for her first run and as I come out of the ring I hear "Loose Scottie" and I think "well, she's on leash, come on guys."  I hear my name and look up to see another competitor holding Moxie, who is paddling her legs and trying to get to me.  She had stuck her nose or paw between the zippers and pushed her way out of her crate, then run a good way to try to get in the ring before being caught. 

So, now I have to clip the crate zippers together and hope she figures out that she gets to play from now on before ripping through her mesh crate.  Sheez!  I really can't complain to have a dog that so obviously wants to run with me and is having a blast when we run. 

AND got the pics from Reliant from Tien Tran.  They are wonderful.  I do wish Moxie had her ears up and looked less scared.  Maybe I am the only one who thinks she looks scared.  Most people say she looks focused.  I looked back at pics of Bailey for a friend to compare and most of hers her mouth is open barking.  She is quite the loud mouth.  But it's hard to frown with your mouth open, so she always looks like she is grinning.  Anyway, Reliant objective accomplished--got Tien Tran pics of Moxie before Tien retired.