Meowy Christmas!

The kitties are getting curious about the goings on at our house. Won't they be surprised to see these under the tree on Christmas morning:

Yup! That's right! Those are DOG toys! At our house! It turns out that Maddy is coming home with Bird on Christmas Eve and she will be bringing Aslan with her. Aslan is a peppy little Cairn Terrier. Aslan spent the night here once before but he stayed in his crate in Bird's room all night. I don't have the heart to keep him shut in his crate while we are home so we will see how he does with the kitties. Actually, it will be more like this--we'll see how the kitties do with him. Quite honestly, Greg could take him out with little effort. I figured it Santa brought him some toys of his own, he might leave the kitties alone. For those who don't own cats--they do some nasty things when they get emotionally upset. I honestly believe that is where the expression "pissed off" comes from. Basically--that's what cats do when they get, well, pissed off! So I would like my cats to remain in their usual serene (?) environment!

I've been really bad lately. I haven't been to Curves in two weeks--and this after attending my knitting group's cookie exchange! Funny thing, I haven't been the one eating all the cookies--but that's probably a good thing!

We got our tree up and it is decorated to phase 2:

Phase 1 is the white lights which are quite profuse. Phase 2 includes the bubble lights and the treetop ornament. It took 2 nights to get this done. On the weekend, we will put on the ornaments. Speaking of the treetop ornament, I found this vintage one on Ebay:


And speaking of trees--this one in our side yard takes on special significance this time of year:

The reason? Here's a closeup:

I use a lot of fresh holly in my decorating. Unfortunately the drought has affected the quality this season. There aren't as many berries and the leaves are sort of olive green and very dry. Hopefully it will be better next year!

There have been yarn aquisitions this week! Some for gifts and some for gifts to me! First, I decided to try this brand new yarn at Elann called Incense. It is 50% merino, 25% Bamboo, 25% Silk worsted weight. How could anyone not love that! I got 8 skeins in Brick red to make Bella Paquita. I love this pattern but I will have to translate the charts into words. This yarn was a bargain! Only about $4 a skein! It's quite soft, though not nearly as soft as the Tahki Merino/Silk I've been using. It has a lovely sheen and should work out well for this pattern.


Then I got an order from Webs. I ordered 5 skeins of Reynolds Cottontail which is 60/40 cotton/microfiber in a bright grass green to make the Pea Pod baby sweater and hat for my nephew's baby boy who is due in March. Then there were 2 skeins of Malabrigo Chunky to make Hannah, which is a hat which allows long hair or a ponytail to poke through the back. That one is for me. I also got another yarn for a special project which cannot be divulged at this time!


I also ordered this which I have wanted since it came out. I haven't been able to find it at any LYS.

Here are some of my favorite designs from this book:



I have some washable wool on the way from an Ebay purchase to make a sweater for Aslan. What can I say! My cats don't want to wear clothes and Mokey, the one who tolerates them, doesn't live here anymore!

I'll be blocking Tree Jacket tomorrow night! Just in time to wear it over the holidays! Now--for that snow . . .

Bushism of the day:
"The public education system in America is one of the most important foundations of our democracy. After all, it is where children from all over America learn to be responsible citizens, and learn to have the skills necessary to take advantage of our fantastic opportunistic society." —George W. Bush, May 1, 2002

Kitty Cam:
Harley looks rather perplexed! He jumped on the bed and found a big lump!


Of course, further examination revealed the lump was the usual suspect!