How many is too many???

So DH and I are searching for a new kitty. Maddie just seems to be getting rather clingy and she seemed to be a happier kitty when we had Sissy too. We miss the kitties playing and racing through the house too. But there is a problem. How do you pick?? There are a LOT of kittens out there....wonderful, gorgeous, interesting, sweet ones. How many cats can you have and not be considered the crazy cat people? Because DH is just as nuts for cats or more so than I am. There are a couple kitties that he's interested in and he's started saying maybe we should get both of them.....Well I'm thinking the poop will be the deciding factor. Really now, how many litter pans are we willing to clean??

Out my back window

This is the view now from my back window. There is more snow forecast for tonight and for Monday night. We definitely are having a real winter again. That patio set won't see any use for a LONG time. :)





I haven't finished the other Fuzzy Foot for 3rd DS but maybe later today or tonight. I'll take a picture when I get it done and them both felted. 2nd DS said his fit and they are nice. Cool.

Actually what I should be working on is Christmas cards. I have pictures to put in them now and I have stamps and I maybe have time.....? It'll be a new years card or something. There are a bunch of movies that I like on TNT today though....they could distract me from accomplishing anything!

It's come and gone...

Well, Christmas is done. Didn't that go quickly once it finally got here? Same as every other year.

It was a wonderful time. Just 5 adults and 2 grandbabies but we had a good time and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I know we all ate too much. 1st DDIL & I are pretty good cooks if I do say so myself. We could have fed twice as many people.

I have no earthshake or awe inpiring comments. Just that we survived all the shopping and cooking and baking and knitting and the best part of it all was watching the little ones open gifts and DGD who is only 3 say "Oh this is what I've always wanted". Too sweet.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, whatever religion or nationality you may be. Today is the day to relax and catch our breath. And get back to those knitting projects that got set aside when we started our Christmas Knitting. So have a cuppa or a glass of your favorite something and sink into your favorite chair and chill!

Christmas is coming ready or not!

I got the caramel, fudge and snack mix made last night! The caramel and fudge turned out okay. The snack mix not so much. I'm hoping someone will like it and eat it because otherwise I'll have to pick out all the nuts and eat them and throw everything else away. Oh, the trials and tribulations of experimenting with a new recipe. Should have stuck with the old standby...Chex mix. :)















DH snuck a taste. Would you like to come and have some too? It's pretty nummy and zero calories.








One sad lonely Fuzzy Foot finished. It'll get wrapped all by it's lonesome and hopefully I'll get a matching one done soon after Christmas. Better late than never? On the other hand the road to he*l is paved with good intentions? Which saying do you like best??

So this is what I got done yesterday and this morning:








and yes they are in the closet because....













we live with Maddie the Hairy Helper that breaks land speed records in a mad dash to chew on bows! She LOVES bows and ribbon.

Dolly's Ensemble

Here is Dolly's complete ensemble. I sewed the jeans, top and blankie this afternoon. All leftover fabric from other projects so that is a good feeling. Just had to go fabric stash diving. Fun. I've got things in there that I'd forgotten about!

I've started the list in my head of what needs to be done before Wednesday. Wrap packages, make caramel, fudge and at least one batch of cookies, clean around the house, and I should go to work! Oh I forgot....I have one Fuzzy Foot done...so I've got that on the list too. But at least I'm getting closer. It could get wrapped with the needles still in it but I sorta hate to do that. :)

Okay, I've just got to decide what to do next today...maybe start wrapping?

Good & Bad

Yesterday was a good and bad day all at the same time. So do you want the good news first or the bad??

Well, here goes....The good is that I'm almost done shopping for Christmas. I think there is one more gift to get for 3rd DS. Other than that, stick a fork in me, I'm done! :) Of course there is all the wrapping and I should do a touch of baking and more than a touch of housecleaning but I refuse to go into that now. Well, also I have to finish the Fuzzy Feet for 3rd DS. I did pick them up again this morning after a couple 3 days of not touching them at all. And I am playing with the idea of sewing an outfit for DGD's dolly. A pair of blue jeans and a shirt. We'll see. But I really feel like I got a bunch accomplished yesterday. I was in both Fargo and Grand Forks and it was 12.5 hours from when I left home until I got back again.

Now the not so nice news. We got the autopsy report back from the vet on Sissy. Her liver died from a toxin or poison. So it appears that she ate something in the house that she shouldn't have. I'm feeling huge guilt/remorse/regret...all those awful painful feelings and then some. She was a wonderful spunky kitty with what should have been many years ahead of her and she is just gone. I'm struggling to get my head and heart around it. I'm hoping the saying applies...time heals all things.

Dolly's sweater is done already.

I got Dolly's sweater done! It should fit nicely. Can't try it on because Dolly is still in the packaging but just holding it up looks okay.

I had to crochet under the arms to make them big enough around to fit Dolly's chubby arms and big hands. The yarn matches the sweater I made for Dolly's mommy...DGD.

Yesterday was spent in GF doing some shopping. I had been planning on going to Fargo soon but now I have even more things to look for. GF was sadly lacking in the bathrobe department. Mainly for plus sizes. Uff. I'm thinking a trip to Fargo tomorrow is in order for me. Snow again later this week and I just don't feel like traveling for 2 hours each way in snow.

I HAVE to get 2nd DS & DDIL's Christmas gifts in the mail today and have an ironing job for 3rd DS. He is singing in the Christmas Cantata tonight and asked if I could iron shirts for him.

Okay gonna get off here. Looks like a busy day for me!

Sunny today but still cold. Zero for a high.

Lookie here!

Look at everything I got done yesterday!





Started Fuzzy Feet for 3rd DS.









Started the BlizzKAL hat.









Started the sweater for DGD's dolly.









Finished decorating the tree. Such as it is....










Finished DGD's cardigan.









Finished DGS's sweater.





I also washed clothes like I planned and did just enough cooking to keep DH happy. :)

It's COLD here today. We won't see the positive side of zero for a couple days. Brr.

I also want to add that it's very frustrating working with pictures in Blogger!

How's this for weather??

This is our local weather for the next 36 to 48 hours: (Check out those wind chills...)

Today: Snow and widespread blowing snow. The snow could be heavy at times. High near -13. Wind chill values as low as -46. Windy, with a north wind between 28 and 31 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Tonight: Snow likely and widespread blowing snow, mainly before 9pm. Cloudy, with a low around -19. Wind chill values as low as -47. Blustery, with a north northwest wind between 21 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Monday: Areas of blowing snow before noon. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny and cold, with a high near -13. Wind chill values as low as -47. Blustery, with a west northwest wind between 13 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

We are having a winter like we haven't had in years! An honest to goodness blizzard even!

Today I plan to knit, knit, knit and then knit some more. I'm about 1/2" away from being done with the sweater for DGS. It feels like it has taken forever to finish. I intend to cast on 3rd DS Fuzzy Feet and also cast on my hat for the BlizzKAL. I also have every intention to get the buttons on DGD's cardigan and if things go really really well I'd love to cast on her dolly's sweater too.

I'm starting to think there might not be enough time left to get all these things done. Of course it could help if I got off the computer and actually started doing these things. Oh yea, I maybe need to make a couple meals and wash some dishes and clothes too.

Bye Bye!

Blizzard

All of North Dakota is in a blizzard warning. I've never seen the noaa weather map look so colorful. It is windy already but the snow hasn't started and actually isn't supposed to until later this afternoon. So if there are things to be done we all better get to it this morning.

So I'm guessing that the Nodak Knitters (Ravelry group) Blizzard KAL will be starting today. I have my yarn, patterns, needles etc all ready to go but I also have to finish DGS's sweater and start on some Fuzzy Feet slippers for 3rd DS for Christmas. So there'll be lotsa knitting going on.

32 years ago yesterday, my DH & I lost a baby boy. He was born and passed away on the same day. He had a wonderful head of dark hair and looked so much like DH. It's such a sad time of year for us even all these years later. After seeing our 3 other boys grow into men I always wonder what Daniel would have done with his life, what personality he would have had, if he got married....all the simple but precious things in life.

Sadness

There is much sadness in our house tonight. Sissy didn't survive the surgery. Her heart stopped and they couldn't get it going again. She was only 8 months old and had gone in for constipation and that she might have eaten something that she wasn't supposed to. When they did surgery to find out, there wasn't anything in her....she hadn't eaten anything that she wasn't supposed to. The constipation had been cleared up by an enema yesterday. We decided to have an autopsy done. We need to know what took her and the vets really wanted to know also. We'll know next week sometime. Tears and emptiness are what we have now.

Back to Vet

So Sissy and I took another trip to the vet this morning. I'm home again but she stayed. They are going to do IV and enema on her and hope that helps her out....otherwise it will be surgery tomorrow morning. Poor kitty. I'm definitely going to have to find out what to do to prevent this from happening again. New food maybe or occasional laxative. She was miserable and refusing to eat. I hope to hear that she is better and can come home tomorrow.

It's 1st DS & DDIL's wedding anniversary today and so will be babysitting for them so they can go out for a nice supper.

The weather is windy but sunny.

Sissy still sick

Sissy isn't really feeling any better today and actually I think she is worse. She is drinking water but refuses food. She has used the litter box which is good. She isn't moving around except to find a comfortable position to lay in. I carried her upstairs and she had a huge drink of water. Meowed like something was hurting her and went back downstairs. She did walk the stairs but when she got down there it was flat on her side on the linoleum in the laundry room. I have an appointment for her tomorrow morning at 10:30. I had thought of taking her today but when she drank water this afternoon I decided against it.

I know I don't have much for readers but anyone out there that reads this give a little thought our way....

New yarn, Sick kitty

New yarn....what a wonderful thing. Love the internet and credit cards and computers. Swell inventions.

The yarn is for stocking hat and mittens for the BlizzKAL. Now I have a dilemma...I want to knit but don't want a blizzard. Uff. I love the yarn. I love the color. About all I'll get to do with it for now is wind it into balls. Maybe that will even be fun...

What wasn't so fun today is Sissy is sick. She looked off yesterday. I went shopping and DH said she acted normal and seemed fine but this morning she was feeling miserable again. So I called the vet and took her in this morning. After 2 Xrays the vet decided she is constipated for sure and possibly has something stuck in her intestines. For now we are using hairball treatment and see if that will get things moving. If not then she needs to go back to vet on Wednesday and then he was talking enema and after that surgery. Uff. Her and Maddie are constantly eating something that they shouldn't be so it is entirely possible that she has something stuck in her gut that isn't supposed to be there. We've never had a cat before that eats so much junk. It's a full time job just making sure they aren't into something that they aren't supposed to be. Worse than kids. She is at least eating again and had a drink after she got home so that is a good sign. Both cats could stand to drink more water so ran to Petco after the vet appointment and picked up a water fountain. It basically cost a young fortune for this trip but we knew what we were getting into when we got cats again. Anyway, Maddie is in love with the fountain and I'm thinking we'll have a water mess everywhere if she doesn't drown herself first!

Usual Saturday

So today there is vacuuming and clothes washing and I already did some knitting. Which reminds me. I must have been high on the tea leaves last night when I thought that I could finish the DGS sweater. I did knit the shoulders together and do the neckband which is a nice accomplishment but finish?? No way.

So I've started one of the sleeves on DGS sweater. I've found that I really dislike the decreasing and counting rows. It'd maybe help if I got my row counter out and used that but why make it easy on myself?? Ha.




I've got everything ready for the Nodak Knitters's BlizzKAL on Ravelry. Well, everything that is except the yarn. Still waiting on the Georgia Rose Peace Fleece. And I think we'll be waiting for a blizzard to start somewhere in ND before we can start knitting. That's okay with me considering I have Christmas Fuzzy Feet yet to do too! Augh. Notice how Maddie was so nice as to actually pose in the picture? She's such a smart kitty!

A night for knitting

Tonight I'll knit on DGS's Cameron Sweater. With just a touch of luck I might finish it. That is if I don't stay here too long trying to think of interesting things to write!!

My BIL is quite ill. He had surgery on his shoulder and now is in the hospital with a fever and possibly pneumonia or blood clots. He is constantly in my thoughts. He has been almost frail appearing anyway and this will be very hard for him to come back from.

The weather here is frightful. But is just right for snuggling under a blanket with a cuppa and just knitting the night away.

Not prepared

Well, my postpone-itivness has gotten me again. I would be going to our church's Ladies' Christmas party tonight if I had my act together. No gift purchased and no potluck ready. So there's no going for me. It's kinda a lame event and kinda fun at the same time. I'm blue. And it's all my own fault. Shoot....

Odds & Ends

So here is as far as I am on DGS's Christmas sweater. That's the back. It is done now and then some. I was knitting along and knitting along and first it was stuck at 5 1/2" then it was stuck at 6" and now it appears that I have shot right past the 6 1/2" that I was aiming for & am at 7". Uff. Well, I think I'll remeasure but no matter what, call it good. If it is a bit long, that's okay, he'll be growing this winter. Don'tcha love the stripes it's making? I think it looks exceptional but I'm not crazy about the way it seems to want to stretch. It's James C. Brett, Marble. DK weight.

I ordered 3 skeins of Georgia Rose from Peace Fleece yesterday morning. I hope it arrives in time for posting on the 6th for the BlizzKAL on Ravelry. We will be knitting hats and I don't have anything else that I want to use as much as that Peace Fleece. I'm crossing my fingers that I comes as quickly as my last order. That came in just 2 days. Super service!

We had a funeral at church today and so we did the lunch yet again. Just cake & coffee this time though. Much easier than the usual full meal. There were 6 of us ladies there to handle it. It worked out since it wasn't a large funeral.

I need to start supper. I have a roast beef but it's to late to get it done in time so I'm thinking pork chops and maybe some leftover sweet potatoes and cranberries. Sounds good to me but I don't know if DH will be thrilled. Oh well, sometimes that how it goes....

It is starting to snow and it turned quite cold today.

Over the weekend....A Birthday!

The sweetest little boy in the world had a birthday over the weekend. There was cake...as you can see...and ice cream and more presents than any 2 year old will know what to do with. But it was fun fun fun and so I say Happy Birthday DGS!

And now I have a miserable cold with a very painful sinus thingy going on. I'm going to try some Benydryl or something like that but I'm afraid I'll be napping on my desk today. I'm not even in the mood to knit and that is a dangerous thing. There aren't that many days left and I have lots of it to do!

Winter is here and it is a COLD one.