Friday, Friday, Sis Boom Bah!

Perhaps when one has had TWO snow days in one work week, ecstatic joy over the weekend arriving is over the top, but I don't care.  Two whole days at home--yay!  My plans? Continuing to work on Linda's crocheted throw, doing some knitting...ya know what?  I MISS knitting!  Crocheting is different, and since it's a basic pattern, pretty easy...but I miss the click of the needles, the way knitting's rhythm soothes me.  So I need to have a knitting project going.  And there are a whole lot of balls in assorted colors that would love to be felted. The spinning wheel, in her state of disarray and disassembly, has co-opted the whole kitchen table in a quiet, genteel, richly stained way.  The path to her wholeness lies through a can of acrylic...so that's my top priority.
And there are couch snuggles with Yeti, playtime (and sneezy, itchy snuggles) with Elfkin.  The former is ready for the snow to be gone (poor thing--there are two more snow 'events' forecasted, one tomorrow and one mid-week). Miss Elf has made herself very much at home.  She's only confined to the office at night now, or when no one is home.  When we're home she has the run (so to speak) of the downstairs, and has claimed a toasty corner of the livingroom rug near the pellet stove as her own.  We're amazed to see her managing better with practice; the hardwood floors are challenging but when she gets up a head of steam she can make it all the way through the kitchen without flopping over.  A heavier food bowl has cut way back on the spilled kibble, and for a cat who uses her litter box laying down, she keeps herself very clean.  One reads and hears that cats with CH (cerebellar hypoplasia) are very sweet-natured, and it seems to be very true.  She's a loving, affectionate little sweetie who comes to greet me every morning and when I come home. She wants to be carried around in the morning while coffee is poured and sits on my lap as I read the morning news and emails online.  She naps in my arms many evenings, waking drowsily to watch us or bat at a feather toy before dozing again. She's a playful little girl who never met a ball she didn't like.  She met one of the other girls--Dottie--unexpectedly, and it went reasonably well.  Yeti is so careful around Elf, if a tad jealous; we make sure Yeti gets extra love and affection!
And of course...a few precious hours with my beloved during the weekend is icing on the cake.  Hope your weekend is just as delightful.

Christmas Elves, Part 2

My last post was a plea for some elves; who knew I'd actually get my wish?  Alas, no elves will be cleaning or decorating, or going to work for me....but next weekend one tiny little Elfkin will be joining our family.  She's a 7 month old 'feral' kitten, born in the wall of  a barn up past Greenville, with a condition called cerebellar hypoplasia.  CH in cats translates to very limited motor skills, tremors, falling over alot, being a very messy eater, etc. It's a long story, but I heard about her at work from someone who'd found a notice on their vet's bulletin board.  We did the research, and there are some helpful videos online that demonstrate cats with CH having full--if wobbly--lives. They have a normal lifespan, are no more disease/illness-prone than any other cat, and many people think CH cats are sweeter in nature as a rule.  One doesn't see alot of cats with this condition because the conventional 'wisdom' is to put them down when they're kittens.  Fortunately for us, the womon whose barn became a nursery didn't follow conventional wisdom when faced with two CH kittens, and yesterday we met them.  One was a roly-poly, big gray boy, and one was a very small-for-her-age, slightly-shy-until-she-started-playing-with-my-sweat-jacket-string, tuxedo with silky black and white fur.  It was love pretty quickly--for me anyway!  Arrangements had already been made for her to be spayed today, and there's a question whether she's been tested for feline leukemia, so she didn't come home with us, but assuming the test is negative, we'll be CH-kitten-proofing our large office (the only fully carpeted room in the house) where she'll spend her time until she's fully acclimated and we assess the full extent of her motor skills, and lack thereof.  Given the season, Elf seemed the only perfect name, and Linda formalized it as 'Elfkin' since all the other animals here have 2 syllables; we didn't want to shortchange this little girl.  So looks like I'm getting an Elf after all!

Decorating is painfully slow here, and becoming moot pretty quickly. But yesterday we went with quality over quantity and are so pleased with what we've done in the living room.  There are some finishing touches to be done in there--Linda is hanging white pine roping--and we need to finish the kitchen and do a few touches upstairs, but by the end of the week, with barely a week to spare, we'll be in as much holiday mode as is happening this hectic year.

And for the long, cold, post-holiday winter ahead?  My plans are already in place--staining and assembling the spinning wheel FINALLY, planning gardens with Linda, and researching all there is to know about raising backyard chickens.  Yes folks, while sensibility has led me to put angora goats on hold until at least Spring 2012, this coming year will be the year of the chicken.  I'll keep you posted!