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!

FInal update of the night

The Imp finally went in for surgery at 8pm. Apparently he was done by 9pm (the boys and had left around 8:30) and B joined him in the recovery room shortly after. All reports are of the Imp doing really well. He's drinking huge amounts of water and munching on crackers. I'm even told that he's been laughing at the Pink Panther cartoons I'd dropped off (latest update from B is that he also ate half the Panera mac and cheese I brought him).

I haven't gotten to see him. And that bothers me. But I know he's with B and I still have to take care of my other two monsters. With luck he'll be home tomorrow and things will be easier. Or more normal. Or something.

Today is catching up with me and it's time I eat my dinner of garlic bread (don't judge) and go to sleep.

Imp update

It is broken. And not in a "slap a cast on it" kind of way. He needs surgery.

We (the Elf, the Beast, and I) just got back from the hospital. He's being such a brave little kid. The dose of morphine they gave him has helped to deal with the pain and he's been resting. He's very much not happy - not that I can blame him. We're still waiting to hear from the surgeon about what needs to be done. They aren't letting him eat or drink and the poor kid is desperately thirsty. It's been hours and hours and my nerves are wearing quite thin (as is, I'll admit, my patience).

I suspect that he and B will spend the night at the hospital. It will be the second night in the Imp's life that I've spent away from him (and the third since meeting B that I've spent away from *him*). We're a close little family and this is not an easy thing for us.

Neither B nor I have ever broken a bone. We have no experience with this. And it's our little boy. Our Imp who is hugely brave but also gentle and has his share of fears. I know that parents all over the world have dealt with this and much worse. But that doesn't make it any easier for me.

 UPDATE! (like five minute later)
The doctor has been talked to. The surgery is fairly common and they should have him underway in an hour or so. I'm told something about pins and a cast for three weeks and then the pins come out? I'm unclear and am thinking that Googling it might be a bad idea for me (I Googled diabetes in cats and it was both helpful and terrifying). B is actively texting my updates here, so it's all a little fuzzy.

UPDATE AGAIN!
It's been about two hours since B was told "an hour or so" about the surgery. The morphine is wearing off and my little boy is in pain. Am I allowed to be getting irked at this situation? I realize that there are emergencies and things. But in my world he's the most important thing right now and dammit why haven't they fixed him yet? Ugh. Okay. I feel better now (not really). Carry on.

Imps and Elbows

The Imp is officially our first child to require a trip in an ambulance. This morning he climbed onto the arm of a chair (totally normal despite repeatedly being told not to) and fell off (I'm not convinced he didn't jump - also, sadly normal). His elbow looked.. wrong. Swollen. No blood or bones showing. But I panicked. B came home and decided that we couldn't move him so he called the paramedics. I suspect he's made it to the hospital by now. We're thinking it's dislocated, but it's just speculation.

This is excitement that I just didn't need. The last time an ambulance came to my house I was twelve and my mother died. So yeah. Today has not been great. I was meant to be packaging two orders I had over the weekend. Now I'm not sure that the post office will be doable.

I keep telling people that I'm fine. I'm calm and fine. But inside I think I'm still shaking and scared.

Mayhaw Festival

Over the weekend I was at Golden Acres Ranch for their Mayhaw Festival. I was set up in a tent with my yarn and Dervish, my spinning wheel. People came to watch me spin, to learn how to clean raw fleece, to gather information. It was a great deal of fun. Saturday I went by myself. It was overcast and rained occasionally. There was still a pretty good turn out, regardless. I met a great many truly wonderful people.

Saturday it was sunny and beautiful. B and the boys came with me. I'm so grateful for B. He is truly amazing - to spend his birthday chasing our kids around a farm while I share my spinning with others. It seemed that despite the weather there were less people - more kids, but less of a crowd. I still managed to meet many people (a number of whom have recently had sheep sheared and wanted to know what to do next). Busy as I was, I didn't take any pictures. Here are a sprinkling of photographs that B too while he followed the boys around.


I'm told that when they went on the "hay ride" (I didn't see any hay, but you get the idea) this dog (Boo, I think) followed along with the stick. I can't tell you how overjoyed my kids were with this dog. They love our mutt, Cynddl, but he's less than willing to fetch.















This weekend left me wanting, more than ever, to move out of the city and onto some decent land. There were chickens running everywhere, calm farm dogs, bleating goats, sunshine, and open spaces. Despite being glad to be home, I found myself profoundly sad driving back into the city.

A third.

Yesterday was my third son's third birthday (the Beast). Three is fun.


Would you believe that this shirt was the biggest hit of all his presents? He's been wearing it since yesterday morning and shows no signs of letting me take it off. I have a purple shirt that I may put a cyberman on for him soon.


Rainbow dash was loved by everyone. Applejack lost her hat within the first thirty seconds of play. I'm going to sew elastic to it so that they can easily remove and replace it.


This is the extent of my cake decorating skills. A two layer brownie cake with buttercream frosting and peanut butter M&Ms. Classy, right? A suggestion: no matter whose birthday it is or how much they want it, toddlers should not be given cake thirty minutes before bedtime. It makes things more difficult than necessary.


This is what I did last week.

I've had the piece for this quilt top cut and sewn into strips for years.


I finally sewed the strips together. It's huge. I also sewed together the squares for a quilt for the Elf. I had one side sewn and the other just cut out. Right now it's half quilted. I've sort of lost momentum again.


The Imp's current favorite mama-made pants (mushrooms!). For my next trick, I'll add pockets.

Linking up with Nicole's Craft On. Because I can.

Random

Last Monday the Imp came to me, dressed like this:


Imp: Who do I look like?
Me: uhm.. I don't know, who do you look like?
Imp: Knitting guy! (note the sheer number of handmade items the kid is wearing. I think his mother may have a bit of a problem *ahem*)


He was quickly joined by the Beast and we had a photo session of super hero poses. I'll spare you.


A while ago I bought myself some of the metal fixed circular needles from KnitPicks in US size zero to use for sock knitting (purple cable, silver needles). May I take a moment here to tell you how frustrating they were to use? They aren't very pointy, they don't really taper at all, the cable isn't very bendy. Ugh. Fast forward to last Friday. I was knitting with the lovely ladies at Really Knit Stuff and I decided to take a look at the needles in the shop. I came home with Addi lace needles in the same size (gold cable and needles). Can you see the difference? My goodness they're a dream to use! I highly recommend them (I usually use what I have and deal with it - but these are worth the extra purchase).


I saw this bunny here and knew that I had to make one. (Ravelry details here)


Which quickly led to a cat. With plans for a dog, bear, mouse, Totoro, and more. (Ravelry details here)

Wow

Gosh. So. I disappeared.

The short is that we all got the flu. And now, more than a week later, we're all mostly better. We had a good Solstice and tomorrow we'll head to my father's house for the morning.

Now, pictures!

Saturday.

My favorite yarn shop.

My sheepy addition to the shop's yarn masterpiece. I'm hoping to add more. I have grand plans, friends. Grand plans.

A lion I finished this morning for the Imp. Again, I used one of Linda's amazing patterns.

Boys + legos = daily life around here

Other than that I'm working on an armadillo and an odette hoodie. We'll ignore that I've also been watching B play Assassin's Creed 3 for much of the evening. Next up, maybe Halo 3? Yes. We are addicts.

Outside

This is what our days look like a lot this week. These particular pictures were taken by B (he's an amazing photographer) while the Elf and I were running errands (including buying pvc pieces to make a skirting table).

Weekending - part two

Sunday we went to two farms - food not animal. The kids had a different kind of fun. We were all pretty worn out, though. I bought some rosemary infused honey from the first farm and wildflower honey from the second.


First we went to Turkey Hill Farm. The Elf amazed me by getting close to the beekeeper when she had the honey bees out (he's been terrified of bees for years). We saw surly geese - the boys were not amused.

After a stop for lunch we went to Orchard Pond Organics. The boys ran like crazy and B marveled at the okra plants (poor Northern boy that he is).

Every day since had felt like a Sunday. B is home for the week and it's flashing by so much quicker than I'd like. I haven't been spending much time at the computer, hence my lateness in posting. I missed Nicole's crafting on post and I'm not likely to get my act together before the end of the night for Ginny's yarn along. Ah well. Tomorrow I hope to share some more pictures of our week - the boys playing and the crafting that has kept me from the computer.

Weekending - part one

This has been the busiest weekend in a long time. Wow. But this post will only be about Saturday. B was in charge of the camera all weekend and there are just so very many pictures to choose from.

Saturday morning was the "yard sale" at my favorite local yarn store. I scored enough wool for a sweater for the littles, some pretty wool for longies for the shop, and some miscellaneous stuff that was too well priced to pass up.

After that we headed to Golden Acres ranch for the first day of the annual New Leaf Market Farm Tour. Oh man, it was so much fun.

We saw chickens, goats, sheep, guineas, and lots and lots of people. I met an amazing woman who spins and knits. Bought a fleece from her (the highlight of my day) and have plans to buy some more. The kids ran free and were comfortable around all of the animals (though the Beast was very startled by the rooster crowing).

And now I give you picture overload.

Later I'll post about Sunday and then another with all the goodies we brought home!