I used to love cats. When the children were young we had the usual parade of pets. But after 4 children and an endless parade of litter boxes and accidents, and tom cat spray on my deck furniture, and dug up flowers in carefully neglected flower beds, the bloom is off the rose, so to speak. Now, we have an undeterminable number of cats around the farm, most of whom are wild, and who do a great job of rodent control. We have a mutual distant respect for one another.In the winter we feed them.
Since cat food is expensive, and we do not want to feed magpies, we feed the cats in the greenhouse. Normally, the cats vacate the premises in early spring. Not this year. There is still so much snow and it has been so cold,they do not want to venture out. Near as I can count, there are about 15 or so (they scatter as soon as we come in--7 don't scatter, they hang around). That's a higher population density than the local human population. We have a litter box for them but you know how that is with that many cats.
I just planted a large number of pots of grasses, at almost $4.00 per tiny plant, and all you cat lovers know what comes next: THEY ARE EATING THE GRASSES.
The first night I covered the pots with webbed trays--they ate the grass throught the webs. The next night I covered the plants with boxes, which worked, except DH forgot to uncover them. So that brings us to the Garlic and Pepper Flakes. I took a whole bunch of garlic and about 1/4 cup of red pepper flakes and blended it up well. Then, with gloves on, I dipped some 5" plastic marker labels in the solution and stuck one near each plant. Hope that works. (I thought about painting the pot rims, but I didn't want to repel the customers).
Several weeks ago, the night after I had planted the strawberry roots, they had a ball digging up the strawberries. I think they played badminton with them. That has stopped now.
I suggested to DH to stop feeding them all together (the tame cats get fed at the house anyways, since the wild ones don't let them eat in the greenhouse), but then I had the thought that they might start eating more plants. We're going to have to start spraying them frequently with cold water.
MY STASH: I don't have a huge stash of quality yarns--YET. I'll let you know when I post these on Ravelry. My huge stash consists mostly of Sayelle. You youngsters might not even recognize that name. Sayelle was a synthetic worsted weight yarn that came in a huge range of colors. It was attractive when knit, and indestructible--machine wash, in the dryer with other clothes--the perfect yarn for everyday and for kids. Eaton's and The Bay had the best quality, and they used to have it on sale for $0.79 or $0.99 per 50 g ball. I used to make and sell cute kids sweaters at craft shows, so when they came on sale I stocked up. (See grandkids' sweaters in my title picture). And then I stopped selling kids sweaters, and my children grew up. And the Grandchildren grew up. I won't be posting that stash on Ravelry, because today it doesn't seem cool to own polyester stash. Whenever I feel the need to excuse these purchases, I point out that household money was never used to pay for my hobbies--I always earned enough to cover my costs. (true) And Dear Heart, Dear Husband (DHDH) has such a cavalier attitude--he says it's good insulation and cuts down on the heating bills.
More about the stash and the organizational strategy (BR--Before Ravelry) on later posts, when I have a dearth of ideas to write about.
This is my fall Oregon sweater. I have a Jamieson and Smith shade card, and held it up to the Virtual Yarns on-line shade cards, largest views, and did my best to match the shades. Compared to the cost of J&S yarns in the LYS it was cost-effective to directly order even with exchange and exhorbitant postage.
I used the wrong shades in the first stripe after the ribbing, but the public won't notice.
AND MORE: I think I need a laptop. My computer is downstairs in the cutest, teal green- with- ivory trim (including wide crown moulding which I installed myself, and of which I am so proud) office, but which is so untidy (excuse: income tax time and sorting out my mother's papers since she has moved to a Nursing Home, and the bin on my cross-cut shredder exploded when I tried to empty it ), I can't show you a picture just now.
Why do I need a laptop? I design a sweaters for a friend who raises alpacas, has his fleece spun, knows nothing about knitting, and looks to me to create sweaters for him to sell. I am creating a lovely, large, large size man's cardigan with baby cables for ribbing and cables along the raglan shaping. The main body is a basketweave stitch. I've drawn myself templates for shapes and sizes, and have been happily knitting along. I keep calculations and notes on loose looseleafs all over the sofa. I don't have the sense to number the various drafts. So, to make a long story longer, everything went well with the back. The right front required only one frogging, because I just divided the back stitches in half, forgetting to allow for the button/buttonhole band which consists of 2 cables cast on with the ribbing. No big deal--I love knitting cables just as much as Fair Isle. Forgot to change the numbers on the first draft of the instructions. Made the second front, and when I got to the neck shaping and ran out of stitches many rows too soon, I realized what happened. But I really don't mind ripping. But ... if I had a laptop (I don't like running downstairs all the time), I could correct drafts immediately, there would only be one copy and I could find my sofa. (But then I'd have to vacuum it , I suppose). I plan multi-sizing the pattern when I have finished all the pieces to this sweater.
Even with the cold and the snow, I feel blessed to live here in Alberta--no volcanoes, only the odd tornado, no hurricanes. Today I heard the first geese, and I heard of an unconfirmed Robin sighting 2 hours south-east of here, in Wainwright.
Till next time: I don't go along with all this talk of a generation gap. We're all contemporaries. There is only a difference in memories, that's all. (WH Auden)
( I think that's particularly true for knitters. :)
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