Wedding dress

Regular visitors to my blog know I'm just a little on the crazy side. I have always been so even as a wee child. But enough of that.  My current craziness is to knit my own wedding dress.  Not so crazy perhaps there are lots of by beautiful designs on ravelry and elsewhere on the interweb.  But when the date is the 12/12/12 then it gets a little loony. Knitted Wedding dress patterns are more common than I first thought and this one struck my eye. I'm planning on adapting the length and possibly not doing the sleeves but this coat instead. 

OH MY

I had forgotten how much work was involved in caring for one kitten, let alone two of them..  It seems that they are into everything.  They like to chew the laptop and my iPhone.  They especially love the cables,  they whizz from room to room at full pelt chasing and hiding, leaving a trail of debris behind them that is knocked over the second it is put right.

You can go nowhere without an audience of at least one if not three.  Pearl fell into the bath the other day after a tussle for space on the side where all three had perched to watch.  Jasper is constantly being shut in cupboards because an open door is an invitation right!

But they are so adorable and so much fun.
Thank goodness I have Amber who has slotted into her new role as surrogate mum as if she were born to it

The new arrivals

So Amber has proven just how mellow and adorable she really is by being totally unfazed by two new arrivals.

Not one hiss or spit came from Amber an when she realised the babies were scared of her, she hung back at the door, lay on her back and let them come to her. Such a sweetheart.

Meet Pearl and Jasper, nine week old Cornish Rex kittens. The both have sirex markings which basically means they are pointed like siamese. Jasper is the boy and he's a chocolate point. He's very sure of himself and struts down the hall.

His sister Pearl is a curly coat and looks like a sheep. She's a lilac point and a little smaller and quieter than her brother.

But I think she's as glad as me when they finally fall asleep.

Amber's House

It's hard to believe that Amber has only been with us for just over a week. It truly feels as though she has always been a part of the family. She caused major worries last Monday when she started sneezing and became lethargic and lost her appetite. A trip back to the SPCA confirmed that she had caught Cat Flu and was a poorly girl.

All Tuesday she was very sorry for herself and I fed her via syringe to ensure she didn't dehydrate on me. She was so gentle and submitted very willingly to being wrapped up like a baby in a towel and being fed cat milk.

The weekend saw a dramatic improvement in her health and she was even well enough to help the gruff man finish her play gym, which she promptly explored thoroughly and gave a huge thumbs up to.



She clearly had some ideas on how it should be built.



The man feels suitably pleased with himself.Everyone knows how hard cats are to please.

Meet Amber

Amber is a one year old Red point Burmese and even though I am her mummy and have to think she's gorgeous, she is in my opinion super pretty.



I didn't think I could even begin to love another cat after my darling Peri died and I certainly didn't expect it to happen so soon. I was talking to a very good friend who suggested I go and have a look around the SPCA. I thought he was mad, but on the way home the idea just kept nagging at me. I was down to my last thirty km of fuel, I had about two hundred dollars to my name and only an hour before needing to be at the school to collect the youngest daughter. It was madness, what was the point of even looking, I knew that I didn't want any old moggy, sweet and cute as tehy might be. I wanted Peri and there wasn't anyway that was going to happen.
But the idea wouldn't budge, so I ended up at the SPCA. I walked up the row of cages, sad that these beautiful creatures had experienced sadness at the hands of humans, but none moved me. There was a very friendly calico in the last cage and I was going to ask to stroke her. The volunteer was busy so I wandered back down the row and there suddenly was Peri, well not Peri but his eyes, stunningly blue and wise beyond cat knowledge.



So there she was, a Burmese with blue eyes. Peri was a Chocolate point Tonk, which means he was half Burmese and half Siamese. She had been handed in two days earlier because her owners were leaving the country and couldn't take her with them. The volunteer wasn't sure if Amber could be adopted because she hadn't eaten since arriving. The cage was opened and my heart melted. I knew I could love this sweet little girl. As she rubbed and told me how happy she was to see me, I saw flashes of Peri but different. As I stroked her silky creamy fur she began to eat her biscuits and that was the moment I knew she was coming home.



Her original name was Angel and I think Peri sent an angel to ease my sadness. I thought she was deserving of a more elegant name and so Amber it was.



From the moment she came home, it was as if she belonged there. She wasn't shy, she wasn't scared, she took it all in her stride and was quite adamant that she didn't need to be left alone in one room to get used to the place. She greeted everyone with warmth and affection and stole our hearts in one fell swoop.




Even the gruff man who claims to hate cats and have no heart spent Saturday afternoon building a cat gym that seriously is big enough for a tiger to play on.

Elijah

Ok so a little late, but better than never right, I've cast on for Elijah, the cute blue Elelphant by Ysolda Teague. The last one had a wee demonic slant to his eyes no doubt the reason Peri felt he had to be duly attacked and kept under guard. This one I swear is out to drive me insane. You start by casting on six stitches and joining in the round. I mean that's fairly simple even with small toothpicks. Seven times I tried and seven times those darn six stitches stitched me up. They twisted and turn and lumped together until I decided Elijah would have to live with a nipple in the middle of his head. Then we have the trunk. The trunk that everyone thought looked like a duck bill so now I've ripped it back to see if the second attempt can make it more pachydermy. How can a stuffed toy cause such angst? Maybe I'll have answers in the morning. If I survive the night.

On a completely different note, I found out last night that my eldest daughter has been reading my notebooks and journals for years. This makes me feel somewhat uneasy not because there's anything terrible in them but because the writing in them is my deepest soul revealed. I put the craziest thoughts down, for instance in 2004 I put that I wanted to walk up a mountain. I don't even remember writing that, but it was definitely my handwriting and not my evil twin, which I don't have but wish I did at times because then I could be bad and blame her. Sorry I digress a little. Anyway this year I did walk up a mountain. A big one.

This is an active volcano in the middle of the north island. It took six and a half hours to walk over the Tongariro Crossing but it was worth it.

Life goes on

I can believe how much I miss Peri. He was such a part of everything. He would wakes us up in the morning waiting at the bedroom door ready to be let inside, and then follow me around until it was time to take Daisy to school. He always greeted us with a purr and miaow when we came home although sometimes it was a bit cross because we'd been gone too long for him.
He's buried in a lovely sunny spot under the bathroom window which was his favourite perch.
I know we have to look forward because there is no going back but it's hard to get used to the new quet house.
Beloved Peri.
Prince amongst cats
14-2-2008 14-2-2012

My Beautiful Cat

Farewell Peri. I will miss you so much. You were the best cat In the world and I still can't beleive that you wont be miaowing at 4 O' clock for your meat. I am so sad that you've gone, five years was not long enough my precious boy.

So my wonderful Tonkinese Cat Peri died today tragically killed by some dogs. I'm heart broken he really was the love of my life.

Officially Unemployed

but actually rushed off my feet. Really how on earth did I manage to run a home and work full time. It seems almost impossible to imagine now that I seem to spend all day baking and cleaning and hardly a minute for myself. Did time expnd in order to allow everything to be accomplished. I don't understand it but I'm looking forard to finding employment outside the home so I can have a coffee break and a lunch hour again, oh and the money wouldn't go amiss either.