what else would i be posting about but kitties and yarn…

yup… kitties and yarn. sometimes they mix, most times they don’t. hehe.

in the past month during the wake of the loss of Oreo, i began to worry about Goliath being home alone all day. he’s a pretty social little guy, so being by himself for 10 hours a day made him a crazy kitty ready to pounce and play when i got home in the evenings. so, i started thinking about getting a new cat. i’d planned on getting another one anyway, i just made my plans happen a little sooner.

introducing Miles…

Miles has been with us for 2 weeks now and is beginning to settle into his new home. he is a very sweet boy, coming from one loving home and going into another. he and Goliath are beginning to get along… and even playing some, which makes me happy as that was part of the goal of finding another kitty. i feel better having both of them around and i’m glad i was able to help out Miles’ people and provide a home for him. he loves, loves, loves to play with his toys and he’s also a very snuggly, cuddly boy… as is Goliath. so i am never lacking in the fuzzy-love department.

now, about that yarn… i knitted like a mad-woman to get christmas gifts done and am actually still knitting (shame on me!) on a couple of them. but, the recipients understand and love me all the same. i did manage to knit a couple things for myself admist all the christmas knitting…

first, a chunky newsboy cap & scarf set (Ravelry project link)…

made with Lion Brand Jiffy Thick-n-Quick. i knit both items up in just two days, just in time to wear for a New Year’s Eve party. the hat pattern is from Earthly Fae’s blog, who also has an etsy shop full of beautiful hats, caps, berets and cowls. so, if you’re not a knitter, but love the cap and want one, head on over and check them out. the scarf is of my own imagination, but really wasn’t hard. it’s simple stockinette stitch with a bit of a horizontal ribbing look on the ends, done by simply switching stitches ever couple of rows.

second, my knucks! (Ravelry project link)

the knucks pattern is from Knitty… and i’ve had it in my queue to make for over a year now. i only have one done so far, so i need to get cracking on the second so i can maybe wear them *this* winter. i’m not sure yet if i’m going to leave them plain or “tattoo” the knuckles/hands. i think i want to embroider something on them, but i haven’t figured out what yet.

the pattern really is much easier than you’d think. i consider myself a beginning knitter still and had no problems figuring out the construction. i’m also in love with the green of the yarn, one reason i picked it up in the first place. it was on sale at some point at Lambikin’s and i snagged all 3 balls of it just because the color called to me. i <3 green. the color is most true to the first picture, the one of the entire glove. the second i didn’t use flash because i was trying to get a close-up of the stitches using the macro setting, so the color looks more subdued. the yarn is Karabella Aurora 8 color # 12… 100% extrafine merino wool…. yummy, soft and warm.

saying goodbye to a friend…

every pet owner knows that at some point, whether by natural causes or other, they will lose their pet. but, that doesn’t make it any easier when it happens.

the time came today to say goodbye to a dear friend. my little double stuffed oreo kitty had been failing over the last several months, slowly shrinking away to almost nothing. it came to the point last night where she couldn’t even make it to the litterbox she was so weak. so, as much as i didn’t want to do it… it was time to let go. Oreo was 16 1/2 years old… which is a good long time for a cat. i’ve had her since i was 13. she was always a sweet, friendly little cat, even if she did get to be a bit of a crotchety old woman sometimes – that was just part of her charm. i loved my little girl and she will always hold a special place in my heart. she was buried beneath a honeysuckle tree in my parent’s backyard… her home for most of her life.

some favorite pictures in memoriam of my baby:

picture post

i realized i have a lot of recent pictures i want to share, so that’s basically all this post is… pictures. lucky you!

all pics are clickable for a larger image.

Pumpkin Bread
first up is the pumpkin bread i made with some of the pumpkins mentioned in my last post. fresh from the oven… sliced up with cream cheese. oh, man! one of my favorite fall goodies. i used this recipe.

Re-Purposed Benches/Shelf
next are pics of the bookshelf dad, mom and i built from a couple of old benches they had. the benches came from a company my dad used to work for and they’ve been sitting around their house for a couple years now (i think maybe at once they were meant to be used as seating around the fire pit, but they never made it there – the paint was peeling like crazy on them.) mom was ready to get rid of them, but i convinced her to keep them and she and i would make them into a bookshelf (because i needed more shelving and why buy new if you can get it for cheap/free?) so, it took about 3 hours to do the first one on a saturday, then i came back over on sunday and we finished up the second one in about 2ish hours.

we saved the legs from the first bench and used it as-is after cutting the middle section out. we reinforced the legs to make them sturdy. when we did the second one, we realized the legs had termite damage (this one had been sitting on the ground with the other one on top of it) so we nixed using the legs from that one. with careful inspection of the remaining wood from this bench we determined they had only gotten into the bottom part of the legs so we could use the bench top. we used the middle section of both benches to make legs for the shelves from the second one.

after much scraping to get off all the loose paint, i decided to leave it as-is finish-wise… giving it a very rustic look. it looks like it belongs in someone’s cellar or pantry chocked full of home canned goods.

this is what the benches looked like before:

the first bench, after:

finished bookshelf:

and the shelf in my apartment (where it’s being used a bookshelf, at least until i get my own cellar/pantry for home canned goods

Halloween
i had no plans for Halloween last night, so i dressed up for work yesterday. nothing really crazy… i found a cute wig when i was out shopping the night before, so i decided to just goth up a bit. they were all shocked by my hair mostly. one of my co-workers saw me from a distance and thought i’d actually cut and colored it (all in one night too… hehehe.)

and…. that is all.

Pumpkin-ness

i’ve been having the urge for pumpkin-ness lately. so my favorite little girl, who spent the night with her Aunt Kelly friday night, and i made pumpkin pies from scratch. well, ok… mostly from scratch. i have to confess i used frozen pre-made pie crusts. :p friday night, we bought 6 pie pumpkins. pie pumpkins are much smaller than regular pumpkins you’d use to carve jack-o-lanterns. i’ve been told they’re better for pies because they’re sweeter than the large pumpkins. i have used a large pumpkin before and the pies tasted just as yummy, but i decided to do the smaller pumpkins this year.

after we got home, we cut the tops off 3 of the pumpkins and sliced them in half, then scraped out all of the pulp and seeds. you can save the seeds and roast them with some butter and salt for eating.

after the pulp was removed, we laid the pumpkins halfs, cut side down, onto a cookie sheet. then baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

after letting them cool just a little bit, enough so i could handle them, i scraped the flesh out from the rind and into the food processor. then ran the processor until the pumpkin was a nice smooth pureed consistency. 2 cups of pumpkin puree is the same as a 16 oz. can of pumpkin you’d buy in the store. so, at this point you can use the pumpkin puree in any pumpkin recipe.

we made pies from it… but i have plenty leftover, plus 3 more pumpkins to cook and puree, so i plan to make some pumpkin bread and pumpkin butter.

here’s the finished pumpkin pie. i took one to my church’s fall festival yesterday and it was well received.

some day… when i have land of my own… i want to have a pumpkin patch.

biking… or something that kind of looks like it…

i finally got on my bicycle tonight. about 2 or 3 weeks ago i went over to my friend’s house and helped her get it back in working order after hanging in my parents basement the past 12ish years. with lots of stuff going on the last couple of weeks and Cincinnati’s Blackout ‘08 i haven’t been able to get out on the bike. ok, and… i guess i can’t lie… i was also a little bit anxious about getting out on the streets in my neighborhood because i haven’t ridden in so long i was afraid of taking a nice tumble on my big bottom in front of someone.

but, i braved up tonight and got on it. i decided to go to a local bike/walking trail instead of being on the road, just so i could get the hang of things without having to worry about vehicles. so i threw (not, literally) the bike in the back of the truck and went on my way. i only manage to stay on it about half an hour. i’m sure i looked ridiculous too… i know i was all wobbly at first. and going downhills fast scared me… lol. so i was hitting the brakes a lot. i did try switching gears some, because after going down that hill i had to make it back up… lol. didn’t work so well. i just feel like the gears don’t switch that smoothly on it (i mean it *is* a 15ish year old bike… i’m sure something’s gotten to the point of needing replaced in that time). so, i made it about a mile then had to turn around and come back… i half walked half rode on the way back… partly because i thought the chain had slipped off. turns out it didn’t, it just sounded weird when i was trying to pedal. there was a couple who i passed on the way down the trail and then passed again on my way back. on the way back i was at a point where i was walking with the bike. he laughed and smiled and said that was no fair, i couldn’t ride it downhill only, i had to ride it uphill too. i laughed and said i was working on it. :p

so… i’m a bit torn on if i should keep riding the trail or not. i think i’d really like to find some level ground that’s not too busy with traffic to practice on for a while. there’s some hills in my neighborhood, so not sure that’ll work. i’ll figure something out though. and hopefully will be ready to really ride next spring.

my bicycle…

i have not ridden my bike since i was 16 years old. growing up we lived in a semi-rural area (it’s much more populated and developed now). we lived in a township, which is not a city as there’s no city center, no main drag or center of government or anything that makes a place a city, but it wasn’t quite “the country” either. we were within 10-15 minutes drive of stores, churches, etc. but, the road we lived on did not (and still doesn’t) have sidewalks and there’s almost no shoulder on this road. one day i biked down the road to the subdivision to ride on streets that had sidewalks. on my way back home, there was lots of traffic on our road, so i stopped and just stood over the bike on the side of the road waiting for the traffic to go past. i kept slowly inching my way to the edge of the road and before i realized it, i inched my way off the road and the bike and i fell down the steep hill in a neighbor’s front yard. i sprained my ankle in the fall and had to limp back home leaning on my bike. this was the last time i rode my bike. i hated riding on our road because of all the traffic. my bike was then stored in our garage and later hanging on hooks in our basement for years.

i wish i hadn’t given up so easily. i wish i had stuck with riding my bike and built up endurance to ride longer distances. but, my goals in my teenage years were nothing like my goals today, and i didn’t do that. with all of the push lately to be “green” and conserve energy, as well as the high gas prices, i’ve been feeling a pull to start riding a bike again. i originally wanted to see about buying a good used one. but then realized it would probably work just as well to get my old bike out and see about getting it in working order again. several weeks ago, i pulled it off its hooks in my parents’ basement and took it to a friend’s house… someone who is much more knowledgeable in the area of bike maintenance than i am. tonight… with me acting as assistant we pressure-washed it, lubed and adjusted gears and brakes, adjusted the seat and handlebars and pumped up the tires. i took it for a test drive and it is ready for me to ride.

it’s quite possible that the back brakes and possibly the inner tubes may need replaced, but both she and i felt confident that it would hold out for me to ride the rest of the season, until it gets too cold to ride. and then i can work on replacing anything that needs replaced next spring.

i am so excited to ride. i’ve been wanting to ride into town on the weekends to visit the farmer’s market and just to get out without spending money on gas and to get more exercise. and now i can!

i’ll try to take some pics of the bike soon. it’s a pink 10-speed Huffy Savannah – pretty similar to this one. (just a random page i found when Googling Huffy Savannah.)

one year…

it’s 20 minutes until September 1, 2008 as i start writing this post. September 1st marks the one year anniversary since i moved into my apartment. it’s really been a very quick year and so much has happened in it. i seem to go through seasons in life. before moving here, i lay dormant inside for quite a few years. i let it go so long that i almost became unbearably stagnant. but, thankfully with a little push and a shove and some faith in myself i’ve made it through one year on my own. can’t say that i’ve done everything perfectly (who ever does anyway)… but it’s been a much needed learning experience. i’m really looking forward to the next year and whatever it may bring.

this is a rather short ‘n sweet post, but i just wanted to say a quick something about the occasion.

an inner geek moment…

from time to time, i must let my inner geek show through. she must have her moments in the spotlight as much as my other inner personalities (inner hippie, inner child, inner diva, etc.) afterwards, she retreats back to her happy little cave, content to be backwards and introverted in her world of perfectly organized data and perfectly coded webpages until such time it’s appropriate for her to show her adorable little glasses-adorned face again.

this inner geek moment is brought to you by Amazon.

first of all, a fact you must know about me is that i love organization. i thrive on it. i love organizing things, categorizing them, putting things in their rightful place in the library of my mind. another fact about me, i love wishlists. since the first time i saw a website with a wishlist function and realized the potential for organizing all my impulse “wants” for future purchase (when i win the lottery, y’know) i’ve been enamoured with them. i <3 websites that provide wishlists for their customers.

i’ve had an Amazon wishlist going for a long time now… i’m thinking 6, 7 years maybe. when Amazon first introduced the ability to make multiple wishlists, i about peed my pants with joy. holycrapola-i-can-now-organize-my-impulse-wants-into-neat-little-categorized-lists!!! however, this only worked for items that were listed on Amazon.com. so, i as i continued to add to my Amazon wishlist i also searched for a way to add items to a central wishlist from any website, whether they provided a wishlist function or not. i explored the possibility of using something like delicious, but found it’s layout and the way it functions wasn’t very soothing to my organizational genes. so, in my searching i stumbled upon Wists, which provided the exact function i was hoping for. put the “Add to Wists” bookmarklet in your browser toolbar and bam! you can add any webpage to your wist along with a picture Wists slurps up from the page. you could tag each Wist entry so my organizational need was met. so, i’ve been using both Amazon and Wists for wishlists since.

then… today… i had another “peeing my pants” moment. (ok, maybe i should really get things checked out if i’m such a dork that online shopping wishlists make me this excited.) i discovered Amazon has added a “Universal Wishlist Button” – yay!!!!!! add the bookmarklet button to your toolbar and you can add any webpage to your Amazon wishlist(s). so…. Amazon now fulfills all of my wishlist needs. no more thinking about which site might contain the item i thought i had added to a wishlist somewhere. it’s all in one place now. and with Amazon’s ability to create a “private” wishlist, i’ve got my “gift lists” covered as well. i can wishlist things for people, so i can buy it for them without them ever knowing. i <3 u Amazon!

ok…. geek moment is over. you can go back to your regularly scheduled lives now. kthxbai

purr-babies…

i just had to share this pic i just snapped of my purr-babies. i have *never* seen them lay this close to each other. it’s so precious… makes me smile.

click for larger image

if you look closely in the pic, you’ll see that yes…. my movies are alphabetized… :p yes, i realize i have ocd tendencies… i accept it.

Goliath has been shedding like crazy this summer. i’m vacuuming at least every other day now just to keep the tufts of his fur up off the floor. i’m really hoping this gets better when fall comes. he shed a pretty “normal” amount over the winter, i thought. i mean, normal for a long haired cat. vacuuming once a week over the winter seemed to keep the flying fur fairly under control (look at that alliteration! beautiful! :p) i am so glad that i picked Goliath when i was looking for a kitty last year. he’s such a beautiful, friendly and loving cat. he was exactly what i was looking for.

Oreo is doing about the same as she has been the past couple years. she still has a frequent vomiting issue. but, it’s not as bad as it used to be. she’s not as frisky or playful as she used to be (though she does still play from time to time), but a 16 year old cat is apt to be a little more lazy. she’s still my pumpkin.

that is all for now… just a kitty update.

Twitter…

i have succumbed to the silliness of the innernets once again. i have joined Twitter. Twitter is “micro-blogging“… updated more regularly than a blog. every few hours if you want or i guess once a day would work too. anyway, it’s supposed to be up-to-the-minute updates of what you’re doing. and while i don’t know anyone who wants that kind of info on me, i figured it’s worth trying out.

so, if you’re a Tweeter (?) and would like to follow me… this is me…

i’ve discovered there are actually quite a few of these micro-blogging sites out there. Plurk is one i’ve heard of recently as well as Spoink. so why Twitter over these others? no particular reason other than i’ve read more and heard more about Twitter than the others.