Réalta Thirteen Irwin

      This is the newest member of the family, Réalta Thirteen Irwin.  She was acquired in August to be a companion and therapy animal for my dad, who at that time had had a mini-stroke.  I went to the Four Paws Adoption Center in Rexburg and asked if they had any polydactyl cats.  As it happened, they had one; a gorgeous tortoiseshell.  We took her to Cedar Ridge Animal Hospital for a checkup, and she was microchipped and given a clean bill of health.  We brought her home to my dad, and told him that her job was to sit in his lap and listen to him practice talking. He of course protested, claiming he didn't like cats.  I ignored him, knowing it wasn't true.
      We named her Réalta which means "star" in Gaelic, to go along with her sister Ghealach which means "moon."  Her middle name comes from the fact that she has thirteen toes total on her front paws.  But the family ignores that and calls her Owl, MeowMeow,  Mrs Slocombe, and Cat.
       In September, Dad had a hemorrhagic stroke, which rendered him unable to speak, read, or write.     He spent a few weeks in hospital, then was moved to the Rexburg Nursing Center.  I went to visit in November, and I brought Réalta in to visit him.  She knew her job was to snuggle right in and purr.  He sat and stroked her, which they both loved.  I was able to bring her to visit a few times before I went home, and it sure seemed to help.  I know they both enjoyed their time together.

Ghealach Friday Irwin

How could you not love this adorable face? This lovely young lady showed up in our forest a week ago, dirty and emaciated. We fed her, brushed her, made her comfortable, and took her to the doctor. She weighed just 4 lbs and her bones were sticking out all over. She spends most of her time asleep on her warm and soft sheepskin, recuperating. She has to have antibiotics twice a day, but she gets yummy treats afterwards. We are still finding ticks and tick bites, but we deal with those as they come. I love this little thing, she's given me something to take care of.

Craving

Falling . . . . . .

. . . . .down the rabbit hole.

Birth Control?

Seen in a gas station in North Carolina.

WANT

www.pocket-wheel.com

Seen in ASDA

Clickety Biggety

De-Stashing

Barcelona (sold), Seacoast, Frolic (sold), Lilacs (sold), Maple Vanilla (sold), Jack Frost. $20 each via Paypal.

MD Sheep and Wool 2010

The VIP has been blogging this over at his blog for several days, and he took lots more pictures than I did, so check his out.

I am just here to show you the haul. First, pins from Zippy:
















Next is yarn from Creatively Dyed, Serendipitous Ewe, and Shelby B:
















Then we have six skeins of Adorn Sock from Three Irish Girls:
















And the desperately-desired Rainbow Bright bundle:
















And that's it! Well, except for the sidewalk broom, and the festival t-shirt.

New Digs

Yeah, yeah I know it's been three months since I've blogged. Bite me. Depression does nasty things to your calendar, such as totally erase weeks and weeks. So what have I/we been doing?

Endured Christmas. I didn't even decorate, except tape all the cards I received onto the wall. The DD always helps me put up the tree, and I didn't want to have anything to do with it this year with her not here. I watched Carson Daly ring in the New Year and decided that he is channeling Dick Clark. Pretty good trick, since Dick is still alive.

Watched The Who doing the Superbowl Halftime Show. They should have played Athena.

Took an impromptu trip to White Plains NY where we watched the Olympics Opening Ceremonies. Scored a vintage pair of Wiss sewing shears at a thrift store for two bucks.

Completed my Knitting Olympics/Ravelympics project. I chose the Sixteen Cable Hat and knit it in Three Irish Girls worsted-weight superwash yarn in the Waterlilies colourway. It turned out nice, and I mailed it to the DD last weekend.

Lived through the most snow Philadelphia/SJ has had in recorded history. I swear, it was like being in Idaho the winter of '88. Crazy.

Moved. Only ten miles from our previous location, but in another county and another ward. The rent is a third less than our last place, and there's no stairs for me to climb. My depression may have been exacerbated by the knee pain I've been having and I am much happier knowing I do not have to climb stairs just to enter or exit my house. We took the last load over here a week ago, and I have been spending a lot of time (and having lots of energy) unpacking and arranging. The VIP was gone all Saturday morning and in those short hours I managed to place about 15 bookshelves and emptied about a dozen boxes. There is still much to be done however. My goal is to have it look nice by the end of March. I want my house to look nice this time. Before it was just utilitarian and I had no desire or drive to keep it looking good enough for company. But now maybe I can manage it. I am also going to be more pro-active about de-cluttering my crafting/knitting/sewing supplies, books, and music. Why keep a whole CD, tape, or record for one song? Rip it or buy it off iTunes, and get rid of it. I am not going to keep piles of sewing projects out half-done. I am going to finish the UFOs and move on. Same with my knitting.

First thing to finish will be my scrap Koigu Clapotis. Since I have only three repeats left, I don't think that will take too long. Then I have two single socks that need mates. After that, I will reward myself and cast on another Sixteen Cable Hat.

Spring seems to be just around the corner. I've heard rumours it's to be almost 60* tomorrow. 60 is fine. Higher and I begin to suffer.

Make a little goal and work on it.