Farewell, April
It's been an unusually clement New England April: blue skies, mild temperatures, little rain — in fact not enough rain, which just goes to show you we New Englanders are hard to please. I took advantage of today's glorious weather to get some yellow and orange pictures in under the wire. What would spring in New England be without forsythia
and dandelions
and cats?
I've been meaning to introduce you to Ed. He came to us 19 years ago, a tiny, scrawny kitten with fleas, ear mites and ringworm. Grant's first reaction was "you're not keeping it!" I said no, just until we could find him a good home. That was before we discovered the various parasites and learned that the standard treatment for ringworm involves daily bathing. Once you've bathed a cat every day for a month, that cat has wormed (so to speak) its way into your life and is destined to remain there.
Ed has become quite frail in the last year or so. It's nice to see him enjoying the spring.
It was also perfect laundry weather today. I hung out three loads, including the Sockapaloooza socks with all their ends woven in. I can't tell you how exciting it is to be actually finished on time. They took me a little over three weeks, which shatters into microscopic bits all my previous speed records on similar patterns. Like its predecessors, the pattern is my own; this time I was actually smart enough to write everything down (what a concept!) as I worked the first sock, so that 1) the second one matches (another innovation!) as exactly as humanly possible 2) my sock pal permitting, I can share the pattern with all my avid readers.
I downloaded the official Sockapaloooza wrapper and worked on twiddling the color balance to get it more in tune with the socks. They will be wrapped and stamped and winging their way to my sock pal on Tuesday, along with a couple of little surprises.
Meanwhile, I've started swatching for a pair of socks for Miss B in the same cotton yarn. I do like the stretchy cotton, and it's finally cotton-sock weather. Welcome, May!
and dandelions
and cats?
I've been meaning to introduce you to Ed. He came to us 19 years ago, a tiny, scrawny kitten with fleas, ear mites and ringworm. Grant's first reaction was "you're not keeping it!" I said no, just until we could find him a good home. That was before we discovered the various parasites and learned that the standard treatment for ringworm involves daily bathing. Once you've bathed a cat every day for a month, that cat has wormed (so to speak) its way into your life and is destined to remain there.
Ed has become quite frail in the last year or so. It's nice to see him enjoying the spring.
It was also perfect laundry weather today. I hung out three loads, including the Sockapaloooza socks with all their ends woven in. I can't tell you how exciting it is to be actually finished on time. They took me a little over three weeks, which shatters into microscopic bits all my previous speed records on similar patterns. Like its predecessors, the pattern is my own; this time I was actually smart enough to write everything down (what a concept!) as I worked the first sock, so that 1) the second one matches (another innovation!) as exactly as humanly possible 2) my sock pal permitting, I can share the pattern with all my avid readers.
I downloaded the official Sockapaloooza wrapper and worked on twiddling the color balance to get it more in tune with the socks. They will be wrapped and stamped and winging their way to my sock pal on Tuesday, along with a couple of little surprises.
Meanwhile, I've started swatching for a pair of socks for Miss B in the same cotton yarn. I do like the stretchy cotton, and it's finally cotton-sock weather. Welcome, May!
posted by Lucia at
7:11 PM
9 Comments:
Congrats on the final stages of Sockapalooza work! They look wonderful, as I knew they would.
Ed is quite the distinguished looking fella!
By
Anonymous, at 9:58 PM
I need to download those wrappers too...thanks for remindin' me!
By
Annie, at 10:14 PM
Ed looks like such a sweetheart. And you've given him a great home for so many years! My Bambi-cat lived to be 20. He was born with a heart murmur, and the vet said he wouldn't live to be 6 months old. He lived for 20, so it shows what love will do! He has such wisdom in those eyes, they've seen a lot.
By
Anonymous, at 10:57 PM
Ed is beautiful. Our KiKi will turn 21 this year and I suspect he is suffering from a bit of cat-zheimer's. He has reverted to some real kitten-like behavior that just can't be good for his old bones. However, despite his claws and *three* fangs, he can't defend himself too well against the neighborhood bullies so his outside time is limited. Wishing Ed many more beautiful sunny days!
By
Anonymous, at 6:53 AM
Why is it that with age comes frailty? In humans and cats, it seems.
By
Carole Knits, at 11:10 AM
What a handsome kitty :) Forsythia--it reminds me of home, my mom loves those! Here's to a green May :)
By
Kim, at 11:45 AM
Oh wow! A nineteen-year-old cat. Clearly you've taken excellent care of him! The longest-lived of our cats was 17 when she passed on. I named her Charlotte because I was reading Charlotte's Web when we got her. We've had some wonderful cats, but none as legendary as Charlotte was.
Was Ed disturbed when your other cat temporarily became a tree-sitter? Or did he not even notice that she was gone? ;-)
By
Beth S., at 12:41 PM
Ed looks quite regal. Please scritch him under the chin and tell him it's from a cat loving stranger. The socks are beautiful.
By
Heide, at 9:13 AM
Our cat Puff is about 16 and has developed 'old cat rickety body' over the last year. Every day he's with us is a blessing.
I'm so glad you still have your Ed and I hope he has a great summer in the sunshine, with many perfect spots for napping.
By
Will Pillage For Yarn, at 10:53 AM
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