A Tale of Two Kitties

Happy Monday. I think. Mondays are usually a bit fuzzy for me. Anyway.

This is picture heavy, so be patient! (Unless you don't like seeing adorable photos of two irresistably cute kitties, in which case don't be patient and go to http://www.msnbc.com/ or something else responsible and rather dull).



Kitties!



The kitties have been growing like crazy. Today was the day that they got their new collar tags, and they're now wearing their collars (very unhappily, I might add). The collars have little bells on them and the boys aren't used to wearing anything around their necks (or on any other part of their bodies!) so the collars are definitely throwing them for a loop.



However. They need to wear collars. It's not safe for them if they get out of the house, because they could get lost. Now their tags have their name, phone numbers, and the number for the animal hospital where they go (and an identification number). Just in case.



Also, it's helpful because the kitties are so big! They're hard to tell apart unless you're looking them right in the face! So without any further ado, here they are:

Can you tell who is who in that picture? That's Poe on the left and Loki on the right.

Poe (above) enjoys lounging on the sofa and clawing whatever piece of fabric he can drag around. Poe also has a penchant for stealing things when you're not looking. So far he's taken(allegedly - he's hard to pin down):

- 8 pens

- 5 chapsticks

- 1 pair of glasses (quickly re-confiscated & locked in drawer)

- 1 tomato-shaped pin cushion (panic set in when I looked up and saw it missing!)

- 1 Bettie Page refrigerator magnet

- 1 pair of earrings attached to the card from when they were purchased

- 1 To-Do list left carelessly on the living room ottoman

Moral of the story is, you really have to watch General Poereguard. He'll take anything.

Loki, on the other hand, is playful but generally will go with the flow, and is also the household bon vivant. Totally mellow and a complete love sponge, this one:

He loves napping in the sun. He loves napping anywhere. (That toy beside him is one that I crocheted for them - they love it!)

The little bald spot on his front leg is from the bloodwork they did for his little boy surgery. It's growing back fine, just looks a little weird on such a dark kitten!

So here are the boys modeling their new collars. Poe in the blue (because Edgar Allen Poe was nothing if not a little blue sometimes) and Loki in the red (because he's a little fireball!)

Poe is our household supermodel.

But can you argue with this type of charisma?

Still, I don't think they're too thrilled about the collars yet. I asked Loki to work the camera, and this is the face he gave to me:

SO CUTE I COULD EAT HIM. But not happy about the collar. Alas, they will have to suffer until they adjust. That's just all there is to it. Sorry boys!

By the way, some of you may have remembered my crappy rugby tournament photos. Yes, I bought a new camera - a GE A735 7.0 megapixel digital. The important thing to know is that it's red and very cute. :) It seems to take great pictures so far! Also, it doesn't seem to eat batteries like candy! Which is good. I'm liking it so far, and will keep on taking stupid photos to give you guys some modicum of entertainment. You're welcome. :)

Rugby Redux

So it's Thursday after St. Patrick's Day. This weekend is always a hectic time around here. We avoided as much of the crowds as possible, but did make it out to the rugby tournament. Fun for all sizes!

I took some photos for you. It was a gorgeous and sunny day (I even managed to get a little bit of a sunburn!). Noel really enjoyed learning about rugby and enjoying the sunshine and violence. Heh. He couldn't believe (1) how brutal it is, and (2) that I used to play it.

There was a lot of scrumming going on:

And men in kilts (how fun!). Let me apologize now for the crappy quality of some of these photos. For some reason my camera decided to bleach out every one of the pictures I took that day, but then any other pictures I took later were too dark. (There may be a new camera in the future, says Madame Xentoria).

Anyway, kilts! Fun stuff!

There were about 60 teams at this year's tournament (a bit smaller than past years, but with the economy and so on, blah blah talky no money blah blah).

One team that caught our attention was this team. (Prepare yourself for un-PC-ness, and I'm not kidding). I tried to get a good picture of their jerseys but again the camera bleached all the color out. These pics I doctored up bigtime with Picasa so they'd not look like we were in the middle of a nuclear holocaust.

Anyway. Back to it. The back of their jerseys looked like this:

A big caution sign that said "Caution: Slow Children At Play." Nice.

The front of the jerseys looked like this:

Why yes, you're right. It's a short bus.

Ladies and gents, I present to you a rugby team who called themselves...

The Retards.

Now before anyone sends me hate mail for putting this up, let me add that I found out later that Retards stands for something, but honestly I don't remember what now. Sorry. Anyway, I couldn't help but think it was a little funny, and they had a lot of people come out to watch their games. Rugby is nothing if it's not PC.

Also? These were some big boys.

This photo just makes me feel plumb svelte, I tell ya. I might put it on the fridge everyday to remind myself to eat more girl scout cookies.

Tomorrow is the first day of spring. Happy spring! Enjoy the pollen! I don't know where you guys live, but we've got a fine layer of yellow/green on everything. It's not an easy time of year for the allergy-ridden, particularly since it hasn't rained much at all and so the pollen is free to assault you with its itchiness.

Kittens Ok!

First off, let me happily report that the kittens are fine and playing joyfully and seem totally unphased that they're missing 2 little body parts each. They also ate like horses, despite the vet's comment that they might not feel like eating. Yeah right. She obviously hasn't seen these guys in action.

Loki has some gum swelling, which is odd, and had worms again (Aren't you thrilled to hear this? And shouldn't I have warned you because you might be eating? Sorry). Anyway, they're taking care of that, but it may explain his weight. He actually weighed a half pound LESS than he did about a month ago. So I'm giving him some new kitty treats that are supposed to help his teeth and gums to be healthy, and hopefully he'll get all healed up. Not that you could tell anything was wrong with him, the way he attacked his toys as soon as he got home.

I crocheted them another little yarn ball with a bell in it, and I tell you: it took about 20 minutes to make (at most) and they loved it. It's easy for them to pick up with their claws and throw, and then they can chase it like the jungle jaguars that they are, stalking an innocent springbok or other assorted 4-legged deer-like mammal. Grr!!! They're tough! Until it's naptime, then they want to be petted. :)

So! For all of you crocheters/cat owners/bored people, here is my basic recipe for a toy ball:

What you need:
- Regular old acrylic yarn (worsted weight - like Red Heart)
- Size G crochet hook
- polyfill stuffing
- jingle bell (1/2 inch size is good)
- scissors
- yarn needle

Chain 2.

Make 6 single crochets (sc) in the 1st chain stitch. This will turn it into a circle. Take a piece of scrap yarn to mark the beginning of the round (put the piece of scrap yarn right next to your last stitch and crochet over it when you start the next round. Then you can just pull it out and place it at the beginning of the next round).

First round: *2 sc in each stitch* repeat til the end of the round- 12 stitches

Second round: *2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in next stitch* repeat til the end of the round - 18 stitches

Third round: *2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in next 2 stitches* repeat til end of round - 24 stitches

Rounds 4-8: *1 sc in each stitch* repeat til end of round - 24 stitches (this is the part that starts to make your little circle into a cup shape)

Round 9: *dec next 2 stitches to 1 stitch, 1 sc in next 2 stitches* repeat til end of round - 18 stitches

At this point, you can start stuffing the filling into your ball. I like to wrap some of the filling around the bell and stuff it in, so that the bell is pretty much in the middle of the ball.

Round 10: *dc next 2 stitches into 1 stitch, 1 sc in next stitch* repeat til end of round - 12 stitches

Round 11: *dc next 2 stitches into 1 stitch* repeat til end of round - 6 stitches

Stuff any more filling you want into the ball to make it round and fairly full.

Cut working yarn about 5 inches away from your last stitch and thread it into your yarn needle. Stitch the needle through each of the remaining 6 stitches in order, and pull tight. This will tighten up the hole in the top. Tie a little knot and weave the end into the middle of the ball. Trim ends.

Throw at kitten and watch the fun!

So! I expect to see photos of the beautiful kitty play balls that you create! :)

It's another lovely day here again. Although the bugs are BAD. But it's a bit cooler, and the rain is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Just in time for the weekend! Hurrah!

Truck repair and so on.

Good morning everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a week! Wow. Time is flying by lately.


First off, let me say that the weather here has been gorgeous. Today it's supposed to get up to 84. It's sunny and bright out, and yes I'm stuck inside. But. At least I have a window. I can enjoy it from afar!


This weekend is the start of the St. Patrick's Day festivities here in the SAV. As per usual, I will be fastidiously avoiding downtown like the plague. It can be a mob scene down there, with too many drunk people weaving around and trying to give away their $1 beads to equally drunk exhibitionists. So! Yeah. Not going to that. Been there before, was designated driver. Boy is that fun, being DD in a crowd of 100,000 really drunk people. Don't bother to sign me up for that one again this year, thanks.


However! We will be attending the rugby tournament again this year, at least for a while. Noel wants to see what all the fuss is about (and probably to imagine little ole me being a rugby bruiser back in the day before my spine and knees told me NO! Bad Kelli!). Apparently this year there will be 2 teams of Irish prison guards flying in to play. HA! That should be fun! hee hee. I love me some rugby. It's such a gentle sport, a delicate ballet of strategy and grace. See?

HA! Just kidding.

Sersely though, the rugby tournament will be the only festivities I plan on attending. St. Patrick's Day is just getting out of hand here, and Noel said blithely the other day that he thinks it's only a matter of time before someone gets shot downtown during all the partying. I fear he's right. But. I might have some corned beef or a reuben or something, in honor of the Irish.

On a side note, I think I may have brought this up previously, but I have a dear friend who doesn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day at all, because it represents the stamping out of traditional pagan religion in Ireland and the dominance of the Catholic church. What's to celebrate? Good point. (I still might have a reuben though. Nothing personal).

On to other things now! Now some of you may know of (some of) my childhood career aspirations:

1. Long-haul truck driver with a pink truck and a kitten (I still think this would be fun)
2. Ballerina
3. Skating waitress
4. Sex symbol (at age 8. CREEPY)
5. Shoe salesperson (except the whole touching other people's feet thing dissuaded me of this)
6. Mechanic


Well, this past weekend I FINALLY got my first chance at #6. Noel wanted to do some work on his truck and offered to teach me some stuff about mechanic-ing. Cool! I jumped in and we replaced the shocks and the head valve gaskets (I think that's what they're called - obviously I didn't quite absorb EVERYTHING). Anyway. I helped! And we have photographic evidence!

Replacing the shocks on the front of the truck:






One must remember eye safety. And also safety glasses help with the whole Bono look:





(Also please note that the above photograph was a retake after the first photo showed a severe case of what I affectionately call Mechanic's Butt. It's like plumbers butt, but involves slightly more motor oil in a desperate attempt at keeping one's waistband pulled up with very dirty hands. Aren't you glad I shared that?)


Next up, replacing the gasket thingies (industry term). They're made of cork and form a seal around the heads (ahem, pretend I know what I'm talking about here). Anyway, the cork was old. This truck is old. 1971. So! Old cork. It had fused onto the metal on the head valve thing. So my job was to sit in the engine and take a scraper and get up the old cork so the new cork could be put on.





It was at this point that Noel commented that it's a good thing I'm small and agile, because most people couldn't work in this position. Or if they could they wouldn't be able to extract themselves out of the truck afterwards.


My hands got very dirty! I still have some residual grease stains on my cuticles, but I feel it makes me look utilitarian and tough and somehow sorta Mad Max. I like it. It was really fun working on the truck. I enjoyed the hands-on of it all, and the truck is running better and smoother now, which is very satisfying. This weekend we may be replacing the spark plugs or some wires or something. I dunno. But it'll also be fun!


I might not wear that shirt again for a while though. I never realized how bad my hair and that shirt clash. It's like Pretty in Pink. But not pretty. More like Colorblind Fashion No-No. But who cares. I was a mechanic for the day!


Also, (yet another) side note: Noel realized after we finished all this work that I hadn't taken a picture of him doing anything. He did. He really did work, I swear. He isn't forcing me into indentured mechanicship! :) Next time I'll try to get a pic of him in action.


In other (kitten-related) news, the boys are not having a good day today. Today is the day that they get their little special surgery that turns them from little boy kittens into....little kittens. If you catch my drift. They were NOT happy about seeing the crate this morning, and Poe decided to make like lightning and sprint every time I got near him. I cornered him under a chair and he hissed at me! ME! The one who gives him yummy tuna snacks and brushes his fur and scoops his box! And he didn't even know what was coming yet. It took me a solid 20 minutes to catch him. Meanwhile poor Loki was already in the crate and mewing pitifully because he was alone. Poor little guys.


Anyway, I dropped them off at the vet's this morning and will pick them up this afternoon. Loki weighed in at 3.9 lbs, which seems small to me considering he weighed about that last time we took him in. Poe, on the other hand, is HUGE. He was 6.9 lbs, and he's only about 8 months old. He's going to be a big kitty. I think they both will, but maybe Loki hasn't hit a big growing streak in a while yet. Poe just feels solid now, a clawing hissing little pile of muscle. Loki is still a love sponge and loves to sit on me and purrs so loud I have to turn up the tv. So cute.

In my attempts at making up to them for their imminent de-boying, I crocheted them a kitty bed out of my birthday yarn. Here's Loki posing for the camera (sorry it's so dark!):

I made it in a vaguely triangular shape, then knit the sides high. They were so floppy I went with Plan B, which was to make them even higher, fold them over, make a tube, and stuff it with some pillow fill. It makes a nice squishy pillow edge to the thing. I haven't actually seen them in it since this photo was taken, but I take comfort in the fact that they understand the hours of work that went into it and appreciate more than they can ever express to me. I am perhaps living in a state of denial.

I also knit them a kitten toy, but forgot to take a picture of it. Whoops! Maybe later. They seem to enjoy that thing a lot. It's a cute little bouncy toy ball on a spiral that hangs from a doorknob. Big hit. Might have to make a few more of those.

In honor of their impending surgery, I wrote a haiku:

Kittens getting snipped
What was there will now be gone -
licking not as fun.

I am, perhaps, not quite right.

March marcheth on

Hi all. Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I spent what feels like the last week in the dentist's chair, getting icky work done on some of my teeth.

Have any of you seen Alien? My dentist has this thing that he uses now that reminds me of those knuckly spider things that implant eggs into your chest in the movie. To prove my point, please see the following photos:

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Please also note that the comfort level is about the same on both. Except with Exhibit B, you have the addition of The Drill. Fun stuff! Also, I had to pay a lot of money for this!

Overpriced Sadism. That's what it is. I hope my dentist likes his Porsche.

So that's what's happening right now. Needless to say, my teeth are still a little sore. I have to go back in 3 weeks to have the final stuff done, and then I'm never going to a dentist again. EVER.

In other news, it snowed in Georgia this past week! But not here. Of course. So everyone else got to enjoy snow and I got to look up pictures of snow on weather.com.

The kittens are growing like crazy. It's gotten very hard to tell them apart, because Loki has almost caught up with Poe on size. Poe is now the size of a normal sized housecat, and he's still only about 7-8 months. Which means he's probably going to be a pretty big cat. Loki will probably be about the size of a small hippopotamus if he keeps eating like he has been. He eats like it's going out of style. He needs one of those vacuum tubey things above to just suck the food down with out the hassle of actually swallowing! Must look into that....