Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Crazy weather

Ice, sleet, and snow have been forecast for tonight and tomorrow. No big deal, right? This is a common winter thing, yes? Not in North Florida. I was wearing a tank top comfortably yesterday. Now there is (literally) freezing cold rain outside. FSU is closed until at least noon. It feels like the entire world has been turned upside down.

We snagged two less-feral-than-they-used-to-be kittens from outside and stuck them in the back room for the night. None of us could bear the idea of them being out in this weather.

Tonight is a night for wool socks and feather blankets.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Birthday fun

I'll post later about the amazing gifts a dear friend sent. For now I'll say that I have been treated quite well already today. Breakfast from Panera, gifts from a friend, birthday wishes from around the world.

And now.. I'll be spending the majority of my day doing this. Because I can.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Fuzzballs

Something happened to my back and I've been in excruciating pain for many days now. It's insane and nothing helps. Supporting my lower back with a pillow when I sit in chairs eases the pain a little. Because of that, B bought me a (rather expensive in my opinion) new chair for my birthday. When I'm using the computer I usually sit in a wooden kitchen chair, this one is a definite improvement.

I meant to post at least once a week but pain has a way of derailing plans. Better late than never, right? For better or worse, I mostly took pictures of some of our cats.


Three boys plus perler beads equals total happiness (or fighting over colors. It's a toss up).


My new chair, complete with Beast.


Eddy. His thirteenth birthday was on the 17th - ten days before mine. He's the only cat we have with a known birthday.


Erasmus James Flattery. Better known as Ras. This picture sums up how weird she is. Perching on small electronics? Totally normal.. right?


Pilot looking like a bobble head. The box my chair came in is wildly popular among all the critters.



Ramses. My old man. He's cross eyed, nearly toothless, and the sweetest cat I've ever known.


Faustus (though we just call him Faust) with a side of Pilot, Surreal, and Calcifer.


Ishtar. Neurotic and beautiful. Because cats are all weird in their own ways.

That's it. Beyond moaning in pain I've been reading books, carding fiber, and milking this "it's almost my birthday" thing for all it's worth (this mostly amounts to having extra coffee). Happy Friday!

Monday, January 13, 2014

Life lately.

It's been a while. Every time I reach for the camera or sit at the computer I feel this dread. There's nothing worth blogging about. I'm not homesteading, raising seven kids, writing a book, going on tour, taking my kids on interesting trips, changing the world. I'm at home, doing the things I always do. Who wants to read (or write) about that?

But today I was thinking.. that's who I am. I don't have to be the homesteader, the renowned artist, the whatever. I can be me. Wool obsessed, Rift addicted, coffee loving me. And with that, I'm going to try to get back in the swing of blogging. Even if it's just pictures here and there.

Here's a snippet of what we've been up to.


The Elf has been crafting with polymer clay again. He makes these amazing figures. Today's was a hellbug from Defiance/Rift. I think it looks really cool.


Wool and silk on the drying rack for Magic Missile rolags. February's Phat Fiber box is themed Geekery and that makes me very happy (I'm also making Eridium rolags).


This is Goblin. I expect she'll have a new name soon as she's off to her new home tonight. She's the once-feral kitten we've had in the back room for months. Not sure if her siblings (both still frequent our yard) are next on the list for rehabilitation. We can't "save" them all, unfortunately.


Pilot. My million dollar cat (not really, but he's working on it). His glucose levels are lower but not low enough. Or they weren't last Wednesday. He'll go back in another week and a half to check again. We're giving him six times the original dose of insulin that we thought would work. But he's gaining weight and acting really healthy.


I bought a few bags of wool. They've multiplied overnight (okay, it just looks that way). I really need to find a way to store this all. I see much dyeing in my future.


This was an early birthday gift to myself. I ordered a custom phone skin from DecalGirl. It's a screenshot of mine and B's characters from Rift (okay, two of the.. much higher number of characters). Yes. I'm that kind of dork. This sticker makes me insanely happy. Don't judge.

The Imp is well. His cast has been off for a long time and he can bend his fingers and is working on his "karate chop" exercises to stretch out the muscles in his arm. He doesn't have any pain and is improving every day. So yes. Life is good.