It's a Girl!

I have spent some quality time with T.K. (formerly known as "Norbert"), and I have discovered that she is, in fact, a girl! This is particularly exciting news, since she is the only one of our seven animals who is female. All four of our dogs (Arlo, Waldo, Friskie, and Yoda) and both of our other cats (Tigger and Ludwig) are boys. I feel a little less outnumbered now, but there are still 7 males (including humans) to 4 females (including humans) in my family. But I digress.

I have named the kitten Audrey, after my grandmother's cousin. Both the cat and the cousin have bright red hair, and they are both strong, independent women. I have been spending time with Audrey in our basement storage room, which is where she is currently living. This room is filled with boxes and other items, and Audrey feels secure hiding in its many nooks and crannies. I never chase her out of her hiding places. Instead, I lure her out with a tempting bit of rope. She likes it so much that she will forget that I'm sitting about 2 feet away from her. I also tap my fingers on the floor to attract her attention. Her curiosity tells her to investigate the sound, but her survival instincts tell her to be wary of me.

However, last night I took a book into her room when I went to visit with her. I always sit next to her litter box, because she allows me to get that close to her so I can clean it. Last night, though, I just sat and read my book. Eventually, she laid down by her litter box while I was reading. She was just six inches away from me, which is the closest she has ever come to me voluntarily. As soon as she is familiar enough with people, we can take her to the vet, get her shots and any other medical care she may need. Hopefully, we will also be able to get her spayed. My goal is to be able to take her to the vet by the end of the week.

Kitten on the Loose!

You know that we caught the elusive "Third Kitten" on Monday night. However, it took less than 24 hours for T.K. (I've given up on Norbert) to escape from her enclosure. Fortunately, her enclosure was in our basement, which is sealed against kitten escapes in order to allow Tigger and Ludwig to explore. Consequently, T.K. found the room with the most nooks and crannies in which to hide and refuses to come out. However, she is still eating our food, drinking our water, and pooping in our litter. (I'm extraordinarily grateful for the litter part.) I suspect that she will rejoin us when she is ready. I just hope it doesn't take too long. She has not been to see the vet yet.

Kitten Tales

Back in May, my husband, Roy, discovered two tiny kittens in our front yard. They were under a small fishing boat (more like a Jon Boat) that is turned over next to our shed. There was no sign of a mother, so Roy brought the two kittens into our dining room, where I was eating breakfast, and asked if we could keep them. Of course, I said we could keep them. (He later confessed that he thought I would say we couldn't keep them, because I'm not much of a "cat person.")

It just so happened that we were already to take our aging dog, Arlo, to the vet that morning, so we loaded up the tiny kittens in a box and took them with us. I was not originally going to go to the vet with Roy and Arlo, since I had to go to work, but the addition of the kittens changed that. The vet told us that the kittens were about 6 weeks old (I told you they were tiny), and that they were close to being ready to be weaned. They had fleas, but they were otherwise healthy. The kittens received a flea bath, and I went home with a kitten care bag filled, mainly, with Science Diet kitten food. The kittens settled into life in the Van Neste household surprisingly quickly. They were weaned off of formula in less than two weeks, and they figured out the litter box right away. They are much bigger now. Here is a picture of them at the beginning of August.

Meanwhile...

About a week after we found the kittens, now named Tigger and Ludwig, we discovered that the mother cat and a third kitten were living in our shed. Judging by its size, the kitten was part of the same litter as Tigger and Ludwig. Roy and I decided to catch the mother and kitten, if at all possible. We tried unsuccessfully to catch them several times. They disappeared after one of those attempts. We were saddened by this, but we kept watching to see if they would return. All this time, we kept putting out cat food for them.

My younger daughter, Callie, spotted the third kitten one day while we were leaving our yard to go somewhere. On another occasion, we were returning home from an outing and saw the kitten under another car parked in our yard. We didn't see the kitten again for a while, until Roy saw it in the middle of the week last week. There was no sign of the mother cat this time. We decided to try to catch the kitten again, this time using a human animal trap that we purchased for just this reason. We set the trap up last night, and...

WE CAUGHT THE KITTEN!!!

We have not yet determined the gender, so we have not yet named him/her. I'm calling the cat Norbert for the time being. (Roy hates it, so the kitten will be getting a new name today or tomorrow.) Norbert is not feral, but he/she is very scared. We decided not to take him/her to the vet until tomorrow. Right now, he/she is in the basement with Tigger and Ludwig, although Norbert is separated from them by being in a large dog pen. We think this will help Norbert adjust to domestic life. Once Norbert has had his/her shots and anything else that needs to be done, then we can think about socializing the three of them. I'm excited about the days and weeks ahead!

Come to think of it, I don't really like the name Norbert either.

Staycation, Day 9

I finally felt emotionally stable enough to fix the gaping hole in my grandmother's shawl. I now present... the Super Secret Knitting Project!

My younger daughter, Callie, is modeling it.

This is the Shetland Tea Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. It is done in KnitPicks' Alpaca Cloud laceweight yarn in the Iris Heather colorway. This is my first lace project. It took me three times to get it right, but I did it. Yay me!

I also spent some time today decorating my newly-designated knitting space. It contains an antique rocking chair, an antique hall stand (to which I have attached my ball winder and yarn swift), and an Ott-Lite floor lamp that I purchased during our shopping spree yesterday. The only thing that I would like to add to my corner is a yarn basket for holding the yarn I am currently working.

Staycation, Day 8

I worked on the baby blanket some more, then we went shopping. We shopped for some camping gear, some knitting and crafting items, and some books. I don't usually like shopping very much, but I go out of my way to engage in this kind of shopping.

NO, I did not fix the hole in the shawl yet. I'm not yet ready.

Staycation, Day 7

Today was the day that I decided to block the shawl that I knit for my grandmother earlier this morning. Remember the Super Secret Knitting Project? Yeah, I finally got up the nerve to block it, and when I did, I was nearly crushed. It had come apart in one spot so that it had a GREAT BIG HOLE IN IT. I couldn't see straight. My husband made some wonderfully creative suggestions for fixing the gaping hole, none of which involved my being a total git for having joined alpaca yarn improperly. Anyhoo, I decided that I was not emotionally stable enough to attempt to fix the hole. It will wait for another day.

I also started knitting the baby blanket for my friend today. She is having a baby girl in October, so I have plenty of time to knit it. I spend a lot of my time on this today, especially after the shawl disaster. I am very grateful for a piece of easy, (nearly) mindless knitting to calm my nerves.

I finished the day by watching two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation with my family.

Staycation, Day 6

I mailed some books that I sold on Amazon. This involved a trip to Staples to buy mail supplies, followed by a stop at the Post Office to actually mail the items. My younger daughter, Callie, kept me company while I ran these errands.

I finished the sweater for Yoda the Chihuahua. Here he is modeling the sweater:

All in all, it was a quiet day.

Staycation, Day 5

I spent most of the day today installing my new printer. It took much longer than I thought it would. This was due to the fact that I had to clean up the pile of papers that had been sitting on top of the old printer. (I'm really bad about piling papers on flat surfaces, including the tops of printers.) One advantage of the new printer is that it does not have a flat surface on top of it, so I can't stack papers on it anymore. The second thing that took a lot of time is the software installation. My older computer installed the software at an excruciatingly slow rate. However, the print is now up and running, and it works great! I'm very happy with it.

I finished knitting the first sock in the pair that I started over the weekend, and I began to work on the second sock. I also finished knitting the front of the sweater I am making for my chihuahua, but I did not have the patience to fit it on him. I still have to determine where to sew the arm holes. Once that is done, the sweater will be finished.

Staycation, Day 4

Today began with a trip to the veterinarian. It was time to take our two kittens in for their second round of shots. Here are the kitties:

This is Tigger (left) and Ludwig (right). They are both male, and they are littermates. Roy found them in our yard on May 7, when they were six weeks old. Unfortunately, we have not been able to catch the mother cat or the third kitten from the litter. However, Tigger and Ludwig are thriving. They are a little over 4 months old, and they are definitely indoor kitties. We live in the country, where there are lots of wild animals who would like to make a snack of our kittens. I can't allow that. So, they live in our basement for now.

I also began the sweater for our chihuahua. I have completed the whole back. I will begin the front of it tomorrow morning. The front is much smaller than the back, so I should finish it tomorrow.

The family and I did some more shopping today. (It seems that we're on some sort of spending binge lately!) I discovered that my printer, which is 5 years old, has died. I went to Staples to buy a new one. I got an HP OfficeJet for under $100. Roy also spent some time at Dick's Sporting Goods looking at camping gear. He has this idea that we're going to buy a van and convert it into an RV. I love travelling and camping, so I'm really excited about it, too.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Staycation, Day 3

Today, I completed a couple of projects that sorely needed my attention.

I finished the sweater I started for my older daughter, Beth. The sweater is the Collegiate Pullover by KnitPicks. Unfortunately, I don't remember what yarn I used. The colors are Beth's school colors, but they also match the house colors I used when I knit her a Hufflepuff (from Harry Potter) house scarf. Here is the beautiful Beth to model the sweater:

And a close-up of the sweater's design:

I also addressed a problem with my old laptop computer. It has been running slowly since June. I took some time today to clear up the problem and brought the computer back up to speed. Of course, this is a 5-year-old computer, so its speed is slower than most.

I went shopping with the family in the afternoon. We mostly bought household items. I also took advantage of a sale at Joann's Craft Store. I bought several skeins of sock yarn and the yarn I'm going to use in making a dog sweater for my chihuahua, Yoda.

Staycation, Day 2

Yesterday, I worked on purging my library. Most of the books are old books that deal with religion or mythology, so I posted a list of them on Facebook where a lot of my friends are students in religious studies. Sure enough, all of the books have already been claimed. Now I just have to box them up for transfer.

I also spent some time knitting the sock and watching a couple of episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The staycation is off to a promising start.

Staycation, Day 1

The irony about my vacations is that I never seem to get time off from work without having a sick individual, whether human or canine, to nurse. This vacation is no different. I am on vacation for the next week (plus weekends), and one of our dogs requires constant supervision. He is recovering from surgery on his ear that was performed this past week. So, I have decided to use this time to get caught up on some projects around the house.

I finished knitting a sweater that I started a couple of years ago. Here is the finished sweater:

It is the "Heirloom Aran Sweater" by KnitPicks. It is knitted with Wool of the Andes yarn, also by KnitPicks, in "Hollyberry." Here is a picture of me wearing my newly finished sweater:

The family and I did manage to leave the dog (actually, all four dogs and both cats) long enough to do some needed shopping. I picked up the yarn I will use to make a baby blanket for my friend, Cate, who is expecting. The baby is a girl, and she is due in October. Plenty of time to make the blanket.

Currently on the needles: Plain sock in Deborah Norville's Serenity Sock Weight yarn in the "Purple Spice" colorway.

Currently reading: Streams of Silver: The Icewind Dale Trilogy, Part 2