Crafts are my passion, Cats are my obsession

My crafting adventures, my cats, my dogs, my opinons - I never did keep a diary as a child, but I'm doing it now!

Friday, October 03, 2008

Keeping the promise

Well, I promised to pop in and write again today, so here I am :)

I don't have a lot of time, but wanted to make sure I posted today, since my blog officially was launched on Oct. 3, 2005. So, today is the Official Birthday.

I've sure come a long way since then... I mean, I decided to start a blog, because of all the cute pets I'd seen on other blogs. I really needed another kitty for my collection, and figured I needed a blog to keep it on. Yes, "it", since I really haven't decided if Fuschia Kitty is male or female... Just 'cause I chose pink, doesn't automatically mean "her". Anyway - I found lots of pets to collect. Which you all know by now - so many cute critters!!! I apologize to those of you with speakers, who've mentioned to me the startling and often humourous incidents caused by the little chick. You can turn off the chirping; and it stays turned off (unless you are one of those who regularly toss your cookies {grin}) so you won't have to explain to your kitties that there isn't a bird hiding in your computer!! I've also found that the sheep's constant chewing can get annoying after awhile, too... But again, you can turn off the sound for her. Yes, the sheep is a her. I don't know why - I guess "just 'cause".

Anyway - My first few posts were kind of dull, lol. I mostly whined about not knowing how to add things to the side of my blog. You can tell, though, that I figured most of it out. Blogger has become more and more user-friendly over the years, too. I have been able to add a lot of cool stuff - clocks, weather reports, more pets. I still, on occassion, have to ask for a bit of help from people more computer savvy than me, but I'm learning :)

My next posting way back then was about the knitting group that I joined. The informal get together with other knitters in my city. I'm still meeting up with them - made some great friends. We still enjoy knitting and laughing together. I see also, re-reading my post of Oct. 6/05, that I mentioned something about being told once that I wasnt' a "real knitter" because I use acrylic yarn. Well, amazing how some things change.... Since working in a yarn store, I'm becoming a bit of a "yarn snob". I still will knit with acrylic, and would never ever presume to tell anyone they shouldn't - but I'm finding that I prefer to knit with wool, wool blends, higher quality acrylics (my stash of cheap acrylic might just find its way to a charity bin one day) and other luxury fibres... not to mention, I'm spinning my own yarn now... (Ok, I'm still making beginner yarn, but I *am* spinning)

Thanksgiving was a week earlier that year - and I posted pics of the four legged family. Boy, was Ashleigh tiny back then!! She's much sturdier now, though still pretty dainty. Ok, that seems to be an oxymoron, but - She and Mica are now the same size, but Mica is a hefty kitty. She's solid, not "fat", but muscular. Stocky? Yeah, I think that is the word. Ashleigh, on the other hand, is sleek. Slim and trim. Still a little on the shy reserved side about getting into trouble, but sometimes, she can start mischief just as well as her big sister. Bear is slowing down a bit now, at 10 years old (nearly 11 - his birthday is in January). Still loves to play frisbee, but takes a break much sooner. Also, seems to enjoy staying in the house more, especially in the cooler weather... Glad I made him a nice cushy blankie. :)

Of course, Roxy and Spud are now hanging out at the Rainbow Bridge. I do miss Rox, but somehow, not as much as I miss Spud. I'm not a dog person, really. But she just wormed her way into my heart.... We'll be burying her ashes this coming Thanksgiving (next weekend) out at our cabin. Roxy is already there...

Next blog post was about starting the Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl from the Gathering of Lace book. Wow. Didn't realize that FF&L was now a 3 yr old UFO. Yeah, UFO. I've made many more lace shawls since then, even designed one this year. BUT - I had some problems following the pattern at around round 19 or so - hm, now that I'm more experienced, maybe I should dig that out and finish it. I also talked about the sewing machine I bought - a "new to me" Singer. Still don't have it set up proper, either... Hm. Guess I should get busy... Cleaning my house --- seems to be a recurring theme on this blog. I'm taking another crack at it now even. OK, so back about nine years ago (Jan. 2000) I felt inspired to do a thorough proper cleaning of my house. Once I got it clean, I actually KEPT it clean. Every morning, I had a ritual, that started upstairs in the bedroom with making the bed... I came downstairs, cleaning on my way...tidying up, etc. Once a week, (or more often if it needed it) I did the "major" cleaning - washing floors, dragging the heavy vacuum upstairs to do the carpets, etc. Even the "major" cleaning was usually done by 10 am. Day to day stuff by 7 am. I had the whole day guilt free to craft or whatever I wanted.... Lasted a year. Then, something distracted me for a couple weeks, and I got behind.... Suffered an unrelated depression for a year...got further behind.... I am trying to get back to the life I had in 2000 ever since. Maybe this year....

My next post listed projects that were WIP`s.... I see that some of them became FO`s, others UFO`s. I`ve also started (and finished) a lot since then!!! I`m going to have to make a new list.... Picture album has changed. I used to use Yahoo photo album online - which no longer exists. They changed everyone to Flickr. Well, I do use Flickr, to host my blog buttons. And Ravelry is Flickr compatible. But I prefer Picasa web album for my pictures. Mind you, I see that I havn`t updated that in a long time... I need to find time to edit size on my pictures that I`ve taken lately, and get them uploaded. And saved to CD, so I don`t lose anything if something happens to the `puter...

Well, I see that I am improving on some house and packrattiness... I don`t save so many plastic tubs... (Ok, if you haven`t figured out by now, I have another browser open to my archive, and I`m commenting on each past post ;) ) And boy, has Nikoal grown!!! I would hope so, after three years, lol... One of my current WIP`s-cum-UFO`s is a crochet blanket for her third birthday, which was back in July. I`m nearly done...really I am.... Anyway - the cats and the kids still get along. Strange... for kitties who hardly are exposed to kids, they seem to not mind when the kids come over - the cats will allow themselves to be cuddled or played with. No running away and hiding for my girls....

And we are now at the final post for Oct of 2005... The Cat Holiday. I mentioned my witch costume... still working on finding a decent cauldron. I have the hat still, a new broom, and last year I added the cape.... previously, I used a long black coat; but since I don`t have the coat anymore, I had to get a cape.
I still like to look after Nikoal - she`s still my little sweetheart...
I`m still spinning - but should be getting busy on wheel practice. I`m getting fairly consist with the drop spindle, and making yarn that looks decent plied (instead of singles that are fat enough to be bulky yarn on their own, I can get some thin enough to ply together for about a 2-ply worsted weight)
I enjoy knitting with my sister still - and she is enjoying her newfound `yarn snobbery` too... :)
And, I do have all I need to make the sewing machine work, except time and space, lol....

Ok - so that is an update!!! I`ve come a long way, baby ;) in those three years... and I`ve done some back-sliding, too.

Well, I best get going here - we are going to the cabin this weekend, so I need to pack. And get ready to go to work today!!! I`ll post more next week! Promise.

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