Feline Fridays

Three kitties in a tree.

The boys

The hoard of cat toys I found under the china cabinet.

Adorable Cecil.

Ten!

Ezra is been a part of our family, officially, for ten days now. She's such a sweet little addition to our group. Unfortunately she had a little bit of a set back with her post-surgery (spay) healing so she's been on bed rest for five days and will continue until she's had the all clear from the vet (hopefully on Friday). Her bed rest includes being crated when we cannot monitor her playing and absolutely zero jumping and running. On Wednesday I discovered a little lump under her incision sight so we took her to the vet to have it checked out and it turns out she popped an internal stitch and the lump is basically fat coming through the stitch opening. She'll be fine and heal normally, but if she pops a second stitch she'll have to have surgery to repair it. Bed rest it is!

Yesterday we had a lovely visit from Valerie and Dave. Valerie, as many of you know, is an extreme cat lover and she brought a present for Ezra ... a curl! Ezra LOVES it. Valerie told me it's the best scratcher around and I believe it given how quickly Ezra took to it. I also like it because we have an RV and Ezra will be joining us on our travels and it's nice and little so we'll be able to take it along with us.

I see you Mom

Under the tunnel

Be vewy vewy quiet Ezra is going to get'cha.

Playing with her mouse.

 Oh! And it's not much, but I have been knitting. I whipped up a few little toys for Ezra. Her favourite is the one on the top right. It's Wandering Cat Yarns Alley Cat.

Ezra's stash

Dozer and Moose are doing well too. They're trying their best to get along with their new little sister. Moose wants to just look at her and be close to her. Dozer is smart and knows how sharp the front end of a cat can be and refuses to make eye contact.

Photo by Valerie @ Wandering Cat Studio

Hoping to get some more knitting done ... perhaps cast on a pair of socks or something ... something. I haven't knit much in awhile and my fingers are getting itchy.

Run Streak 2015!

Today is the official start of the February Challenge I'm participating in. It's a Run Streak. I'm going to be running "every damn day" of February. ("Every damn day" is the motto of the group). I did this challenge last year and it was fabulous. Fun too, if you can believe it. My minimum distance for each day I have set for myself is 3km (last year it was 2km) but I'll be running a few longer distances. I'd like to get in 100km this month. Last year I did 83.5km. I know you think I'm crazy and that's okay. :)

My OCD loves February this year. It's a perfect month. It begins on a Sunday (in my world, this is the first day of the week) and ends on a Saturday (the last day of the week). So perfect. So pretty. So symmetrical.

Yesterday I knit up this cute little baby hat. I used Patons Kroy Sock on 3.75mm needles. It's so soft and stretchy. How cute is it that it's smaller than Dozer's ear? Granted the boy has giant ears, but still ... such a tiny hat. 

Another hat (same pattern) in Wandering Cat Yarns Alley Cat Sock. I forget the name of the colourway, but pinks! It's good to have a balance of boy/girl items in my baby knits stash.

Have a good one folks!

Touching

The other day Valerie and I were having a conversation about how our animals (her cats, my dogs) like to cuddle up, so I decided to take pictures at different times to document the constant touching and snuggling of my two labrador retrievers throughout the day.

Oh hi mom.

Does something smell?

Frog legs. Barely touching, but still touching.

My big brudder makes a good pillow.

Dozer isn't THAT much bigger, it just looks like it here.

Big spoon, little spoon.

As you can see, they're pretty much stuck together like glue on glue. 

Adorable, right?

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Good morning and Happy Family Day! Today is also the start of Tim Horton's annual Roll up the Rim to Win. If you're anything like me you rolled the r's in roll and rim. I don't drink Timmies coffee often, but when I do and it's Roll up the Rim time it's very likely I will win a donut (which I won't eat).

Dozer says "yawn, stretch"
A Photo A Day #47

So I won! I finished my Ravellenic Winter Games knit, ahead of schedule. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I got it finished, but I'm sort of disappointed too, because now I feel kind of naked and need to find a new project to cast on ... naked and idle. Never a good thing for a knitter.

It's finished!
A Photo A Day #48

I used four skeins of Wandering Cat Yarns Big Cat. The colour is a custom order called Sprout. The pictures don't do the colour justice. Maybe later I will get ambitious and go outside (in the freezing cold - 16C temps) to see if I can get a better picture of the colour.

The big picture. :)

Finished dimensions are 38" x 30" so it's a really good sized blanket. The pattern called for 158 stitches to be cast on and to use 5mm needles, but I cast on 122 stitches and used 5.5mm needles. I think the 5.5mm needles worked well with the yarn. I love how it turned out. There were variations in the skeins, two skiens were brighter and two were slightly darker. I started with the brighter one, did two darker ones and ended with the final brighter one. It gives it sort of a gradual look. I had thought about switching skiens every two rows to make it blend better but, honestly, couldn't be bothered. The difference in the yarns is so slight.

Waffle Blanket - Ta Da!

I think I may have to make another one of these ... perhaps a larger one for myself. I'm thinking 8 skeins of Big Cat would do it ... Hmmm.  Maybe a colour graduation from cream to dark blue or oooh crimson and back to cream again.  Hmmm.

Thursday Photos

Enjoy!

Team Canada Wins against the USA 3-2
A Photo A Day #43

Lily can get away with anything when it comes to Otis.

Otis likes her new hat.

Oh Moose. #facepalm

"I got stuck"

Clearly Dozer needs something ...

"Pay attention to ME!"

Apparently he likes speed skating too.

GO CANADA GO!
A Photo A Day #44

Have a great day! It's BFR run day today. YAY! Can't wait. I've been doing a run streak this month (run at least 2km every day) so today is day 13 for me. I've run 14 days in a row (counting today) because I ran on Jan 31st with Michael. Woohoo!

Plugging Along

Hello and happy Monday!! Yay!

Right now I'm watching hockey. Team Canada's Women ... it's a TOUGH game. We're in the 3rd period against Finland and the score is 0-0 ... TOUGH. COME ON LADIES! It's intense. Lucky my dogs are used to hearing me shout at the TV so it's not bothering their nap time at all.

My Ravellenic knit is coming along well. Today I have to wind two skeins into balls. I should have done it beforehand, but I didn't. It's not going to put me behind schedule at least. :)

Yesterday I couldn't find Moose ANYWHERE. I walked by Dozer laying on their bed 3 or 4 times ... yeah, I know. I think I need to get them a different coloured bed.

Moose is blendy.
A Photo A Day #40

Today is laundry day ... well, I started yesterday but got distracted by knitting. So today I'm getting it all finished up. Dozer is helping.

Laundry Helper
A Photo A Day #41

I never did get a picture of Owen's hat up. Today I finally took a picture of it. It's not a great picture, but it's a picture. LOL

Owen's Gryffindor Hat

I have more to say, but this hockey game is super distracting, so you're going to have to wait. :)

Cheers!

GO TEAM CANADA!

The Cutest Photo Bomb

Another snow storm, another dig out.

I've maintained a strict policy of "Do Not Complain About Winter" so far this season. It's been a tough winter so far and it's not even close to being over.

My strict policy is SO over.

I am SICK of winter, sick of snow, sick of it.

I was built for SUMMER; for heat and humidity.

This is me complaining. Officially.

Yesterday during the dig out I peeked out my window (well, it was technically before I started digging out) and saw that my neighbour and one of the work trucks from across the street had been involved in a slight fender bender. I didn't see what happened, but I'd wager the work truck was at fault. Those jackals think they own the road and zip and zoom like nobody's business. My nosey self got this as my first photo of the day (thus my photo #36).

Neighbours Boo Boo
A Photo A Day #36

Anyway ...

Remember the booties from my previous post. They didn't look like much, but I promise they turned out super cute.

While I was attempting to take a picture of them this morning I had a little helper. More like a little photo-bomber. Dozer thought, perhaps, he'd make a better picture and this is what I ended up with.

Cutest Photo Bomb
A Photo A Day #37

Once he was done helping I did manage to get another picture.

Biscotte Booties

The one on the right is upside down to show off the cute little bottom. I really like these booties and will probably make a couple more pairs for my stash of baby knits. I'm thinking bright colours stitched together with contrasting bright colours. So cute. :)

Snowpocalypse

Last night when I went to bed I hoped the weather forecast I'd heard wasn't going to come to fruition. I had hopes it was blown out of proportion and we weren't going to get dumped on by yet another snowpocalypse. I don't want to say my hopes were dashed or destroyed because it doesn't affect me that deeply. I'm just so done with snow and winter. It's pretty, yes, but this girl was built for warm temperatures and sunshine. Bring on the humidity too!

At least the dogs are happy about it.

Snowy Day Bitey Face
A Photo A Day #25

They're so happy about the snow they're even grinning!

It always snows when Michael is at work. Without failure the big stuff falls, not when he's home to help shovel, but when he's far far away. Yes, he has snow and cold of his own to deal with, but it'd be nice to have some help ... some efficient help (kids are not efficient at shovelling snow).

My hopes for efficient help came true this morning. I peeked out my window to see actually how deep it was in the driveway and I saw that my neighbour had not only ploughed the sidewalk, but he had done my driveway too. He only did to the back of my Tahoe, but 90% of the driveway is done and that's fantastic. What a swell guy! I'm going to head out later to clear off the truck and finish the driveway, that way it's done ... and hopefully the snow stops falling so I don't have to do it more than once.

Today's knitting project is a new hat for Owen to match his Gryffindor scarf. 

Tomorrow I have a running race. It's 8km, in celebration of Robbie Burns Day. I'm seriously hoping (lots of things hanging on hopes in this post!) the snow stops and the roads get clear because I don't want to have to cancel due to poor driving conditions. Running conditions be damned, my best-runner-friend and I are prepared for that. Oh we'll look silly all geared up with our faces covered, but we'll be warm!

Stay warm folks!

Something Something Something Title

Isn't it a beautiful day outside? The sun is shining so bright the snow is sparkling. It almost makes you forget how bloomin' cold it is out there ... until the dogs want out and the door gets opened and a gust of freezing hits you. However, with faces as sweet as Dozer and Moose have, how can you say no to anything they are asking for? Outside, treats, attention ... especially when they want attention it's impossible to say no, they get right in the way. For example ...

Dozer clearly needed my attention for something,
he put his face right on my laptop.
A Photo A Day #21

I finished Lily's hat on the weekend. She picked both colours. She LOVES it. But she lost it already. It's somewhere in her classroom, so hopefully she'll get it today. I know she's 10 and it happens, but geeze Louise. Anyway ... she designed the stripe pattern. She drew a picture for me and everything. Cute.

**EDITED TO ADD** She found it. Under her bed. Seriously, my daughter would lose her head (in a very obvious spot) should it ever become unattached. More good news, she found her old one (at school) that she had lost last week or something. Now she's all set to be warm.

Doesn't she look cute?!

Vintage Rose Earflat Hat
4.5mm needles
Bernat Satin Teal & Maitai

I still haven't got Pagona Too blocked. I'm a horrible blocker. It will be done by the end of this week because I have to deliver it to it's happy new home. :)

Pagona Too

I've joined up for Team Canada in the Ravellenic Winter Games (formerly known as the Knitting Olympics). If you don't know about it, you should totally check it out. There are a zillion different teams you can join, theme based teams, country based teams, etc. etc. Basically you pick a project, cast on when the flame is lit at the opening ceremonies and knit like crazy until the flame is put out at the closing ceremonies. Woot.

Choosing a project is the hard part.

Wish me luck.

Dawg Days

Today's post has been brought to you by the letters D and M.

The first picture cracks me up. Dozer is singing me his Chewbacca sounding song of "lemmeeeee iiiiiin" and Moose is looking as pathetic as possible. Please disregard the smudges on my window. It's on the outside of the window and it's not dirt, it's dog art.

Let us in!
A Photo A Day #19

By a quarter passed ten this morning Dozer was already settled in on his favourite teal blanket for a little snooze. The sign said "Do Not Disturb" but I disturbed anyway.

DND I'm napping.

Shortly after I disturbed Dozer I made an attempt to get a picture of Moose. Moose is impossible to photograph alone ... or pet or snuggle with or anything ... if Dozer knows you're giving attention to someone else. He's a jealous melon, that Dozer is. So I got a picture of them together. Moose kept creeping closer to me and Dozer is clearly unimpressed at Moose's creeping.

Creeeeeeeeeep

And there you have it.

Mooser the Birthday Boy!!

Today my little Moose turned a year old. He's come a long way in a year. From a little ball of squishy puppy to a handsome, sweet and gentle dog. Here's a picture I took of him this morning. You can see the deck boards behind him because he was wagging his tail at me and sweeping away the snow. Too cute!

Mr. Moose quite enjoys these cold temperatures!
It's -15C outside today!

Of course, with age comes wisdom and maybe a little laziness, because Dozer had to be literally pushed out the door this morning while Moose went out excited and happy. "Yay snow! Yay cold!" says Moose. "Just five more minutes Mom," says Dozer. 

I'm trying to use the first photo I take in a day as my Photo A Day photo, and the first picture I took this morning was freaking adorable!

Dozer, on the other hand, would rather stay inside snuggled with a blanket.
A Photo A Day #2

Teal is definitely a good colour on him.

Last night it snowed and it's still snowing. The driveway will need to be shovelled later ... maybe even tomorrow. My neighbour is kind when it comes to snow removal and usually snowblows the sidewalk along our entire block, so at least that will be done. Until I decide it is time to shovel I think I'll sit back, watch some episodes of Sons of Anarchy (my new Netflix addiction, however it isn't 100% up to date!!) and knit some fingerless mitts. Reading Mitts. I don't have any DK yarn so I'm going to use worsted and hope for the best. I think I'll go with size small and try it on a I go. I like a snug fitting fingerless mitt so as long as it doesn't cut off the circulation in my hands it's all good! Thanks to Valerie for the idea. :)