WOW

OMG...I have not posted here in over 2 years. I'm surprised it's still here. I'll be even more surprised if anyone reads this. Oh well.

Life has a way of doing that. Every once in a while I visit a few of my favorite blogs just to see what they are up to. I'm working a job now that once a month (unless someone is on vacation) that I work a midnight (3rd) shift, from 10pm to 6am. So I have time to burn on the internet. What better way to burn time than read blogs? :)

I don't have time otherwise to keep up with my blog(s) anymore. I actually thought about deleting them but I have a lot of pics and memories that I just can't let go of. Mostly my fur babies.

Speaking of.........I now have 2 inside cats and 5 outside cats. Nubby and Mister are inside, and outside I have Pretty Boy (who is totally feral), Minnie (not very feral), QueekyDeek (partially feral), Sophie (not feral but bites if she smells another cat on me), and Swinky (not feral) who goes between my house and a couple houses down the road.

I think Pretty Boy is one of my babies, that got run over out at the road last year, daddy. The markings and colorings are the same. And I am almost positive that he is partially blind and deaf. I can get almost right upon him before he knows I am there. Unless he smells me. Then he's trotting off into the woods just far enough so he can watch me to make sure I don't get close. He is a beautiful cat with beautiful blue eyes. I wish I could pet him.

Sophie came from NC. One of my friends has MS and she got to a point where she couldn't take care of herself, let alone a cat. Sophie is 14. I drove all the way to NC to get her and bring her here. I had her in the house with us and it caused nothing but chaos for Nubby, who was scared to death of her, and Mister, who disappeared for 5 days because of her. Mister is an inside/outside cat. Though lately I have not let him out because he plays hell getting back in the house. Between Minnie and Queeky chasing him, and Sophie being the bitch she is.  And Sophie bit me 4 times. After the last time I had had it. I put her butt outside. She doesn't like it, but I don't like being bit. Nubby was so scared of her that when I brought Sophie home, Nubby didn't pee for two days and then couldn't hold it anymore and peed on my brand new mattress that I had less than two weeks.  The litter box was in the bathroom next to the room that I had put Sophie in. She wouldn't use it. I had to move the litter box into the living room behind a chair so that she would start using it. I felt bad for Nubby AND Sophie. Both of their lives were upended. That's what happens when you try to do something nice.

ANYWAYS....on the crochet front.......not so much. I am getting arthritis in my hands and I can only crochet for so long. I haven't done a whole lot in the past year. I am still making things for the BG's to put at Warrior's Walk, but I think this may be my last year. Maybe. I have made some hats. Hats are quick and easy. I give them away for runs for the BG's and other organizations to use as door prizes. I've sold a few along the way. Not many.

On the sewing front.......well, Sophie was using that room for a while. When I put her out I got my sewing room back. But with work and other things going on it's hard to sit down and dedicate my time to making something. I love making animals/dolls. I wish I could retire and do more of that.

So, I won't make any promises of trying to keep this blog up. It occurs to me that I lied before about that. Maybe I'll make it back before another 2 years passes by. Maybe. :)

TTFN
Kat

TaDa

I hope this finds you well. Me? Well I have been sick bad with a bad stomach virus going around. I haven't been that sick in I can't remember when. It was coming out multiple orifices (that's saying it nicely). At the same time even. :( It was gross. Sick I was.

Then yesterday I had 4 crowns done at one sitting. Talk about hurt. My mouth is very sore this morning. But I has new teefs! lol. I go in two weeks for the permanents. That makes the total number of crowns in a one month period 6. I had 2 done 3 weeks ago and got the permanents for those yesterday before starting on the other 4. Not cheap, and not fun.

Anyways, enough about me and on to the tada!  I was commissioned by one of my friends' husband to make this for his wife for Mother's Day. Glad I finished it in time. It is huge!  When I saw the pattern on FB and then shared it and then he saw it and wanted me to make it, I did not think it was as big as it is in real life. But it is what it is. Of course I had to add my own touches and put a liner in it, and then the handles are not as the pattern calls for. But all in all I like how it turned out. I just hope she does too. You can find the pattern for this at this location. You might see something else in this shop that you like. :o)

A couple of my owls turned out straight up, like they should. The rest did not and I could not figure out what I did wrong because I followed it each time for each one, specially after I saw the first crooked one done. I dunno. But I'd actually like to try to make one on a much smaller scale in the future. We'll see. :o)

It's actually big enough to carry a laptop computer in it. I told you, it's huge!

Ok, here we go again with the sideways pics. I just don't understand why this is happening. Can anyone explain it to me and tell me what I need to do to fix this? :o(

So I'm guessing the next set of pics will be the same way. I'm sorry............this sux.

Today my next project should be showing up at the recipient's door. He is a birthday present for a special guy in my life, my girlfriend's husband. Sometimes I get an idea in my head and I just go with it. I guess those are the best projects as far as I'm concerned.

This project has no pattern whatsoever, just what came out of my head through my hands.  Meet Edward Big Hands!

This is crazy! I hate it. Hope you don't get a crick in your neck. :(

Lastly, I have been commissioned also by an acquaintance to crochet some rocks. She bought the rocks, #3 thread and also 2 Bates hooks (which I didn't use because I prefer Boye hooks). I have finished 2 of 4.

So that's pretty much all I have been up to lately. Besides work that is. I have been on pins and needles because it's pretty much a for sure thing that my office will be closing by June of next year. Where that leaves me I don't know. I don't know if I will be losing my job or have to relocate. They are supposed to let us know our fate around the end of summer, beginning of fall. Being the person I am I have already figured out Plans A, B, C & D. So I'm trying to prepare for which ever one it will be. Life is never dull.

May the ray of sunshine shining down on you fill you with the knowledge and peace you will need to navigate today.

TTFN
Kat
xoxox

Edited to add: I think I've figured out why the pics are doing the sideways thing. I googled it and what I found was that there is a setting on my phone for auto rotate. Blogger does not recognize the code for this. So I turned it off and hopefully that fixes it! I wish I still had the tote and Edward Big Hands so I could retake those pics but oh well. Yeehaw!

A Teaser

 

:o) I’ve been working on it for a while now. I work on it a bit, then I put it down. Can’t wait til it’s done but the tediousness of it gets to me. 

 

Til next time (when I hope to have it done).

 

TTFN
Kat
xoxo

Happy Valentines Day!

My Nubbie is at the vet today having her lady parts taken out. I'll miss her tonight but I get her in the morning. At least I won't be able to forget when it was done huh? :o)

Have a great weekend!

TTFN
Kat
xoxo
 

Smiles

Hello! Happy Hump Day!

So I told you last that I had six new babies that put smiles on my face. Well, you already know about one, Mister. I still have him and he is not happy with me today. I usually let him outside for the day while I am at work but today it is raining and cold, so I made him stay in. He'll get over it. :o)

A friend of mine has a lot of cats and back in July she told me about some babies that one of her outside cats had and three of the babies had no tails. One of the babies was an orange tabby female. That perked up my ears. Orange tabbies are normally males but there have been the exceptions of being female. She said her neighbor might want her. So I said aww, if your neighbor wasn't taking her I might. WELL...........the neighbor backed out. So at 8 weeks guess who found a new mama?? I fell in love with her. I ended up naming her Nubbin, Nubbie for short. She has quite the personality. If you've ever known a manx kitty (which I think she may be a Kurilian Bobtail) then you know how they are. She is quite unlike a cat in that she carries things around in her mouth like a dog. No lie. She is a paper thief also. If she hears the crumple of paper she comes running with a look in her eyes that you just know she wants it sooo bad. She will play with a piece of crumpled up paper for hours. Here's a baby pic of her that is pretty blurry but it was hard getting a pic of her staying still. And a current pic of her in my dryer. I cannot leave my dryer door open. She jumps in every time.

Nubbie is getting fixed on Valentines Day. She came into heat and OMG. It sux!!! The vet wanted me to wait with her til she was 6 months old. I got the babies outside fixed before that because I could not take a chance on the girls getting pregnated. Nubbie has not been outside since I brought her home. She is going to be a small kitty. The outside cats are already bigger than she is and they were born around September 7th. She was born around the 4th of July. 


Next up is babies not of my doing but of my irresponsible neighbors. They had a crap load of cats hanging out. One was a female that they neglected to get fixed. She got pregnant and came over to my house and had 5 babies underneath the ramp of my shed. What could I do? She obviously came over to me because she knew I would take care of those kittens. The runt of the litter (cats have litters??) had little flippers for front feet. I named her Flipper. I knew that was a big hurdle but I was ready to handle it. I loved that little baby. She propelled herself where she wanted to go. It wasn't until she started eating regular food that I knew there was a bigger problem. She couldn't swallow or digest regular food. I watched her in anguish over the course of a couple of weeks try to eat and she would choke, gag, throw up and heave. It was with a very heavy heart that I took her to have her put down. I cried. :( I had come to love her very much. There were a couple of times that she was down off the porch (probably fell down) and one day I came home and saw them all but her. I started asking the others, 'where's Flipper?' Next thing I know she is screaming to me because she heard me. She was all the way at the back of the house. As soon as she saw me she started propelling herself toward me, screaming the whole way until I got to her and picked her up. Any time she saw me she would start meowing at me. She has a special place in my heart and I grieved so bad after having her put down. Why is nature so cruel sometimes?

Beautiful little Flipper. Look at those blue eyes.

Mama and all 5 babies. Flipper is the gray one in the very front.

Thomas & Squeak

So that left 4 babies. 2 girls, 2 boys. 3 of them are black and white and the other, Thomas, looks like he is Himalayan. He has the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen in person on a kitty. Joker is the other male and the girls are Minnie (because she has a mouse on her back) and Squeak, which I call Queekie Deak. lol. I know, I'm weird. Squeak has little to no voice at all. When she was little she squeaked when she tried to talk, thus the name. I haven't heard her in a long time even try to talk. She is a tad skittish too. She will only let me pet her when she is eating or close by a sibling and doesn't see my hand coming. Thomas is the same in this regard as well. These two hang out together a lot.

Minnie. See the mouse? :o)

Minnie is the same as Squeak when it comes to the voice. Sometimes she squeaks and most of the time she is silent when meowing. It's funny to see her do that, her lips are moving but no sound. And Minnie has a kinked tail. At the base of the tail it goes to the side and then zigzag's back. She is very friendly and loves licking and gently biting my hands. Don't know what's up with that but it's funny to watch her do it. I originally named her Ling when she was born because of her face markings she looked Chinese. But when I saw the mouse on her back I renamed her because Ling just didn't fit anymore.

Thomas and Minnie

Joker is quite the character also. He is the loudest of the bunch and makes up for Squeak and Minnie not talking. He also is a love muffin and loves to be held and petted. I named him Joker because he looks like a Joker in the face. Minnie and Joker hang out a lot together.

Mama hung around for a while and then all of a sudden was gone and I have not seen her since. I got Mama and the 4 babies all fixed through Save-A-Life for $155. I think it was only a couple weeks or so after that that Mama disappeared. I had mama and the 3 black and whites ears' tipped. I did not get Thomas' ear tipped because originally he was moving to NY with my niece but that didn't work out. Tis ok. I love him and want to keep him. He's a gorgeous cat. I need to get updated pics of them. Thomas has filled out beautifully and doesn't have the adolescent look that he does in the pic above.

Joker

I have had to confront my neighbors because they now have 3 dogs, 2 of which are puppies. They've come over twice to my gate barking at me and the babies. The first confrontation was with the boyfriend/husband. He was nice and very apologetic. The second time was with the woman and she was a biotch and I told her at that time that I didn't appreciate her dogs on my property barking at me and that they needed to be contained per county law. I also informed her that I had 4 kitties because of her irresponsibility and that I had to have one put down and where was the mama kitty because I hadn't seen her in a long time. She said she had no idea that maybe coyotes got her because they are bad around here. Give me a frigging break. REALLY??? I don't think so. I think either she gave her away or something happened to her. Mama came over every day from their house and then back after she ate at my house. For a while the babies went over there with her and I was heartbroken. This was after I had them all fixed. But one day they came back and she was there a few more days then gone totally. Now the babies live on my front porch. And one day last week I had to get out of my car coming down the drive because a large limb had fallen and guess what? I stepped in dog poop. Was I ever po'd!!! So I got to the house, took my stuff in and came back out and she was in the back with the dogs and I yelled at her that they pooped in my driveway and she said there's other dogs that come around here. Funny, I haven't seen any. SO I told her that next time I was calling her landlord. Next after that will be animal control. It's funny (not haha) that where I stepped in poop happens to be in the part of my driveway right behind their pole barn. I'm not stupid. And they've had 3 chances. I'm done. I have 4 babies because of their irresponsibility and I'm not putting up with any more of it. Do you think I'm wrong? I think I've been pretty tolerant so far. No more.

On my crochet front....a couple things I've done and what I'm working on now. The afghan is the Never Ending Granny from The Crochet Crowd. I did the 7 strand. Those who know me know this was hard for me. I worked on it for almost a year. But it's done and my daughter loved it. It was her Christmas present. The doily I did for a friend for her birthday and the chapstick cozy was just because. The bag and wallet I am working on are for my sister. No pattern, just making it up as I go. I'm using Bernat Mosaic's Strange Magic. The fabric I had from Hobby Lobby, from the scraps that they sell from the end of the bolts. I had to pull out my sewing machine to do the linings. I think I want to get more into sewing but we'll see how that works out. It may or may not happen but I was pretty impressed with myself on these. :o) Specially for not knowing diddly about sewing.

 

Sorry for the sideways pics. I don't know why this is happening. I'm using FireFox because IE apparently was the culprit for having to use html. I can't use Chrome....not allowed here. :( May your hump in your day get you through it easily and with a smile on your face. :)

TTFN
Kat
xoxo

Long Time No Post

Well, I haven't been here in a long time. And of course the first thing I see is my post on Leo. How fitting since Jeff's birthday is only days away......the 16th. Sigh. I miss them both. Very much. Also, I'm having a problem with this blogger. It wouldn't let me compose so I'm doing it under html. What the heck?? So yes, long time no post. I miss you all terribly. I'm crocheting a little here and there. A lot more here recently. I went through a spell where I didn't do anything. I had totally lost all interese in crocheting. I kept looking at my very large stash wondering if it would ever come back. It has little by little. So maybe I will be back posting. Who knows. I hope this finds you all well. Here's hoping 2014 will be kind to us all. May the sun shine on your face and fill you with warmth and love! TTFN, Kat PS/I have 6 new additions to my family that I'll need to tell you about later. They put a smile on my face.

Checking In

 

Hey y’all!  Popping in to say hi. Sorry I don’t visit much anymore. My days are full. I sure haven’t been sleeping like you-know-who above. :o)  He’s so dang spoiled rotten it isn’t funny. On a serious  note I think he was abused before he found me. There have been many times that I’ve reached to pet him and he flinches.  That can only be because of abuse.

A few weekends ago it was nice one Saturday so I left the door open just to see what he would do. Well, he came out on the porch very cautiously and checked everything out. Then he came off the porch, sniffing and checking stuff out. I was in the yard watering and all of a sudden I heard this noise and there he was, on the other side of the fence. He had climbed the corner post. No reason to fret. If it was meant to be he would stick around. So he checked out the woods for about an hour. I kept coming out to see if I could see him. I finally clucked to him (that’s how he comes to me) and here he came. Climbed back up the post, jumped down in the yard and came up on the porch and laid down. So I left the door open, came in the house and about 10 minutes later he comes strolling in. So I shut the door and that was that. Mister took a stroll. :o)  The only bad thing was that later on he went over to the door and turned around to look at me (like a dog would) as if to say ‘Well, are you going to let me out again?’.  Uhhhhh……no.   :o)

As to the crochet front, not a lot has been going on. I don’t know whether I am losing my interest or what but I just don’t have a fancy to do a lot of crocheting. I’ve done some little stuff, but not as much as normal.

These are some headbands for a baby, that I was asked to make. I like the smaller one best. These were done with Reynolds Kids Sunday Best yarn and a B hook. It’s hard to tell but that is a lady bug in the front. Not some of my best work. It’s squishy so the baby can hold it in it’s hand. And large enough that it can’t be swallowed.

This coozy is a tad too big. I made it with an H hook and cotton yarn. I should have used a G. The skull was made out of the Sunday Best with a B hook. (Reynolds Kids Sunday Best is a discontinued yarn that I really like)  I like it because it is a tad stretchy but not too much.  This will be donated for an event in 2 weeks to help a friend down on their luck. He lost his job and his girlfriend/significant other just went through congestive heart failure, pneumonia & last week came home from having a mastectomy. So we are having a benefit for them. They don’t know it yet. He’s not going to be a happy camper but he’s going to have to live with it. He’s helped out many causes in the past and now it’s time for us to step up to help him. (Glad he doesn’t read this) The next coozy will be donated for this event also. I have made a few of these in the past. I always have a hard time putting the boobs on them. I made the left one twice, pulled the first one apart, because it didn’t match the right boob. So I said the heck with it……

I guess it’s not bad for not using a pattern, but still. I don’t like it when something I make doesn’t come out like I want it to.

On the home front I have been watching a nest of Carolina Wrens on my front porch. Mama made a nest in one of my plants. She laid her eggs one day at a time until there were 5 eggs. They hatched a couple weeks ago. I’m mad……the babies flew off yesterday. All this nurturing I did and that’s the thanks I get!  lol….actually I have a friend at the house doing some work for me and he was standing on the porch smoking when all these little birds were flitting on the porch and he didn’t know what was going on until after they had all taken off. He told me about it when I got home. I was soooooo darn bummed.  I guess at least now I can tear the nest out of my plant. :o(  I have ‘empty nest’ syndrome……..literally. lol

And lastly, I have to show you my booboo. It’s not bad now. This happened Sunday night. I slipped getting in the tub/shower. Did you know there ARE some disadvantages to living alone?  lol My phone was in the living room. I’d hate to think what would have happened had my leg snapped. Talk about hurt! It immediately raised up while I was in the shower crying. :o)  It’s not a laughing matter. It really did hurt. I hate this getting old stuff. My right leg and hip and lower back have been killing me ever since too. One of my friends on FB asked me did I think  it was time for Life Alert.  :o(  Perhaps it is. It’s just that I’m not that old.

My thoughts and prayers today are with the people in Oklahoma. What an awful, horrible tragedy. So many babies lost in that one school. So many people hurting and gone. I watched a video on FB earlier of a woman who was in the bathroom with her dog sitting on a stool. It happened so quick and when it was done she was on the floor and her dog was gone. As they were interviewing her someone said ‘A dog!’. She turned around and there was her baby, under debris and couldn’t get out until she helped it out. I cried. She said that God had answered one prayer for her, and now he had just answered the other. I wanted to reach through and give her the biggest hug. I just can’t imagine being in their shoes.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again…..tell those you love how much you love them. They can be gone in the blink of an eye.

TTFN
Kat
xoxox