I'm Still Among the Living

Yes, I'm still here. In addition to my two regular at-home bookkeeping jobs, I'm about to start a third, and there are two more potentially out there. So, I'm staying plenty busy!

We finally had some fall-like weather last week, and it was nice to open the windows and turn on the attic fan. Blinky thought so, too. Remember this little bundle? I've had it for over eight months, and it is gradually becoming a quilt. I promise.The gooseneck lamp in my sewing room is great for keeping strips close by!
Although I'd like to finish it in the next few weeks, don't hold your breath!

Long Time, No See

Well, I keep thinking that I'll abandon this blog, and then it keeps coming back. If it were a cat, it's on about #4 of its nine lives.

About two weeks ago, we finally got James' parents' house on the market. Here and here are a couple of posts about some of the work I contributed. I haven't heard anything from the Realtor yet, and since the house is vacant, we don't really know if there are interested lookers or not. Let's hope so!

One of the last things James and I did was to clean out a few remaining things from the attic, where I found this item. I don't know what compelled me to bring it home, except that you just don't see these in green enamelware any more. There was also a 1950s/60s Halloween noisemaker toy that may have some small Ebay value.

There are chickens being kept at the property next door to my in-laws' house. I don't believe they are legal, because even outside the city limits, you are supposed to have two acres, and the fowl are supposed to be kept 10 feet from the property line. These birds wander across several adjacent properties. I picked up a large feather the other day, and you can see who thought that was a good gift.

Critter Getters

I could tell you this story without a picture, but it could conceivably end up being a 500-page book. So to make my storytelling a bit less cumbersome, here's the layout of my mother's house. I was there yesterday. I remember. We were just about to leave to go out for lunch. As I was coming out of the bathroom, I saw a squirrel run from the sliding glass doors where my mom was standing, across the den, and into the dining room. My first thought was, "What the....?!" and then my next thought was to close the hall door so that if the squirrel continued to run, she (yes, I'm sure of the gender as you will soon find out) wouldn't be able to go down the hall where the bedrooms are. Meanwhile, my mom followed the path of the squirrel, closing the door from the kitchen to the dining area behind her so that the squirrel couldn't leave that room. She also went across the room to open the front door so that the critter would have an escape hatch.

I kept hearing a loud chirping noise in the den so I went toward the glass doors to investigate and found a newborn baby squirrel. The umbilical cord was gone, but its little eyes weren't even open yet. Apparently its mama dropped it there, and there I left it.

I went into the living room to see how my mama was faring with shooing the squirrel mama outdoors. Mama didn't actually see the squirrel go out the front door, but we were both pretty sure that it was gone. I looked under the furniture and didn't see anything, so we closed the open front door before something else unwanted came in! As a precaution, we left the door from the dining room to the kitchen closed.

Well, my mom didn't know that she still had another squirrel in the house, so I showed her. She put on gloves and was going to pick it up, but I thought maybe she should scoop it up with something instead (it was very much alive). So, she scooped it up with a dustpan, and then we had the dilemma of what to do with it. She went out the sliding glass door, but she didn't just want to put the helpless little thing on the ground-level patio. So, she decided to go put it on the front porch that is rather high off the ground, and hope that the mama squirrel would hear its cries and come back for it.

At this point in time I asked how the squirrel had gotten into the house in the first place. I assumed that since Mama was standing by the sliding doors when I first saw her and the squirrel that it had come in that way. But it didn't. Mama had heard her dogs barking at something on the carport, so she opened the kitchen storm door to see what they were barking about. She didn't see anything, so she walked away. That door has a faulty pneumatic closer, and although the door will eventually close all the way, it takes a while. She thinks that the squirrel was under one of the cars and that when it saw the door hanging open behind her, it ran in to get away from the dogs.

So, we picked up where we left off and continued to get ready to go out to lunch. When we went out to the car, we discovered that her little dog had found the baby squirrel before its mama did. So brief a life, and so sad, but neither of us thought beforehand about that possibility. If the squirrel mama had been a better nest-builder the baby wouldn't have fallen out anyway. (At least that's what we surmised happened.) So, we went to lunch.

When we returned home and were sitting in the den, here came the squirrel mama to the sliding glass doors. She paced back and forth, peered inside, scratched at the door, then left. A few minutes later, she did it again. And again. She knew where she'd left that baby. I told Mama I was going to call her at 3 a.m. when I was having baby squirrel nightmares.

Woof!

We don't have a dog, but we enjoy watching the Westminster Kennel Club dog show each February and trying to predict the winner. Blinky's pick is the schnauzer.

Catty

I found this new plaque to add to my cat decor in the den. It cost me a whole seventy cents at Marshalls off the clearance shelf.And here it is surrounded my some of my other "cat stuff." It's a little hard to tell, but even the key rack mounted to the side of my desk is cats. The keys are hung from their tails.The cat in the rocking chair (far right) is part of my collection of small orange tabbies. He is actually a Pez dispenser.
The hand-carved spotted cat (not really a tabby, I know) came from Jamaica. The cat on the far right in this picture holds a picture of my grandmother. (And the patriotic cat doesn't fit the orange tabby theme, but that's where he lives.)

Soaking Up the Sun

Blinky has been keeping me company while I sew. You've heard of a cattle prod, but I have a cat prod that I use to keep her on her window shelf and off my sewing table. Today, she got a bit too relaxed and sort of drifted off the shelf. Since there's an inch or more gap between her shelf and the top of my very messy table, I don't see how she found this to be very comfortable.

Isn't it Nice to Have Help with the Laundry?

Blinky, Out of the Way

In addition to getting my beverage off my small sewing table, I now have Blinky off the table, too. I purchased this feline window seat that clips to the window sill. She was content to stay there and not on my table after I bonked her on the head with my plastic ruler a few times.

Surprisingly, I found her curled up the basket once this week. James says it's because with the doors and windows open and the attic fan running, our house is so cold that she's trying to find a place out of the draft. Gee, I thought it was quite comfortable in the house.

Zoom, Zoom

I wish that were the sound of my new dream machine flying across fabric, but alas, it is the sound of my keyboard and calculator as I continue to play catch-up with American Vision bookkeeping. I made one lonely postcard this week, for my young friend, Liz, and her husband, Joe, who welcomed baby Jude this week. It turned out cute, and they have a dachshund, too. (The dog's name is Aberdeen, in case any of you were wondering.) (Not my blue, spotted dog -- Liz's dog.)Last Saturday's birthday party for my father-in-law was a success, if I do say so myself. He seemed please with it, and I was thankful that so many family members were able to come. In the background of the picture is his sister, Frances, who lives in Canton.When most of the party-goers had left, Emily was sitting on the sofa with two or three of her cousins who are sisters. It was a little disconcerting to overhear my father-in-law asking his daughter who the girls were. He knew Emily, but he didn't know his other granddaughters. I don't know if he's seen them since Christmas or not, but I was still surprised by the inquiry. It also means that he probably didn't know his nieces and nephews either, although he didn't let on while they were there.

Today will be a zoom, zoom day. After an early morning haircut (pictures later, if the hair and the rest of me look OK), I'll head to the Cobb County Civic Center for the 2009 Georgia Celebrates Quilts exhibit. This is an every-other-year event that I wish were every year! It is like going to an art gallery, and I never cease to be amazed at the skill and creativity of the participants. I'm just a dabbler, but these people are quilters and artists.

When I leave there, I'm headed to the grounds of the North Georgia State Fair. The fair doesn't open until Thursday, but I've decided to enter the selvage purse I made. I may enter some homemade pralines too, but those don't get delivered until Wednesday.

The final event for the day is a Braves baseball game. We've apparently entered monsoon season this week (2.5" of rain on Wednesday, 1.5" on Thursday, and 0.7" on Friday) and two of the last three games have had initial rain delays of over two hours. That doesn't really sound like a good time to me, and since the tickets were free, I won't feel too badly if we don't see an entire game.

Finally, as I left the house yesterday for some errands, I realized that I hadn't seen Blinky for a while. When I leave the house, I always like to ascertain her whereabouts to be sure that she didn't accidentally get shut up in a closet. Finally, I found her. The sheets were off the bed for laundering and she burrowed her way inside the spread. Looks good to me, on a rainy day.

A Perfect Fit

I bought this basket a number of years ago, thinking that our cats would like sleeping in such a cozy space. Neither of them cared anything at all for the basket -- just like a cat! Blinky would get in it sometimes, especially after we sprinkled catnip inside, but that was about it. Caleb and Alexa like to play with the basket, so it's not a total loss.

A few days ago, I couldn't find Blinky anywhere. This is where I finally found her.See, it is nice and cozy. She hasn't been back in it since, though.

All Wet

We made an impromptu visit to the Georgia Aquarium on Thursday. It was our first visit, even
though the aquarium opened almost four years ago! (Wow! Time flies.) Anyway, James had some comp time coming and he decided to take off on Thursday; and I thought it might be a good time to go since school has just resumed but it's still to soon for field trips. It was not crowded at all and we had a great time. Since I've been to aquariums in Chattanooga, Charleston, and Tampa, the only really new thing for me was the beluga whales, and they were worth seeing. I think I could have sat and watched them for hours; they seemed so calm and peaceful.

But I enjoyed watching these not-exactly-calm otters, too.

A Summertime Cat

Here's my newest cat that Phillip gave me for Mother's Day. Watermelon, anyone?

I think they make an ointment for this type of problem.

Still a Good Thing

One of my early posts when I first started blogging was about a pet comb called the Furminator. My high praise for this product has not changed, nor has Blinky's enthusiasm for it.

Major Meow

Since I finally got my sewing room organized, I've also been able to bring some organization to my fabric stash. Here is my basket of cat fabrics in fat quarter cuts.

No two are alike.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but I like collecting them! Anyway, it's better to have 21 cat fabrics than 21 cats. I'm open to suggestions for cat-fabric projects.

You'll Never Work Alone

...if you have a cat like mine. Even though she doesn't like the vacuum cleaner, Blinky still won't leave the room. But she does stay out of the way.My washing machine sprung a leak on Saturday. I took the sheets out of the machine and then James started pulling the machine out from the wall and taking it apart. Since I wasn't sure if or when I could get to the dryer, I hung the sheets out on my clothesline -- no mean feat, since the line is only about five feet long. Here's Blinky coming in from "helping" me.Footnote on the washer: James found the source of the leak and I ordered a $30 part online. When it comes on Wednesday, he should be able to fix the machine, thus saving us potentially $200 for a service call. Gramps fix it.

Trying to Work

I was trying to work at home this week, but Blinky insisted on being in the middle of things. She walked all over my desk, even though I kept removing her time and time again. She even had to check out the box that I used to bring files home. Finally, I borrowed the "cat mat" from my sewing room and convinced her (with some difficulty) to stay atop the file cabinet next to my desk. Where she promptly fell asleep, tired from all her snoopervising.Speaking of my sewing room, I don't think I showed you my "new" lamp, bought from my friend, Liz.I like the snake arms because I can direct the lights exactly where I need them to be. They need to point downward where my work is, not up toward the ceiling like most stationary floor lamps. Blinky has to thoroughly inspect anything new that comes into the house.

Ever Hopeful

She's already been fed tonight and there's nothing left in the bowl. But in feline logic, staring long enough just might cause food to appear.
Notice how my cat and my blog are color-coordinated?

Opportunist

I was working away (in my pajamas) this morning, and I only left my chair for a minute.

Just Last Week

I've almost finished the project I've been working on using the selvage blocks I've made. A few folks have seen the real thing, but when it's totally finished, I'll show the world what it looks like as well as showing a few steps (and missteps) along the way.

Blinky was "helping" by cutting (biting through) my thread periodically. After the third or fourth time of having to rethread the needle, I made her a place to park on my sewing table. She stayed there until the patch of sunshine moved on, and then finished napping on the rug close by.

Here's another thing I made yesterday.

Yep, that's the end of my finger. I had a close encounter of the unfortunate kind with a rotary cutter. The big one. With the new blade.

Sewing With a Cat

Technically, the title should be attempting to sew with a cat. I'm working some more on selvage blocks. If all goes well, this will be a purse for me. If it doesn't go well, it will be a purse for someone else. .... :o)I don't mind Blinky being in the room while I sew. I don't even mind if she sits on the table. But does she have to sit slap in the middle of what I'm trying to do?!

The Miss Innocent/Who Me? look.