Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sadie
Meet Sadie, the newest member of the family. Adopted today from the SPCA. Zach is fascinated. Clara is sulking.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Too busy with Christmas knitting for a proper post
During this busy holiday season we take time out for a gratuitous cat picture. Clara is, no doubt, dismayed by how fast Christmas is coming.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Puttering
I have been puttering along on a bunch of projects. It's been ever so hot here this summer, making it hard to concentrate on any one thing.
I am still hoping to paint the little vintage trailer before winter so I managed to run out at lunch one day to R&E Fasteners and purchased the first installment of 250 size 10, 3/4 inch panhead stainless steel screws. 
It is too hot to spend the day out in my driveway, so I have been working on screw replacement for about 45 minutes each day at dusk. This is not a quick process since most of the old 1953 screws are pretty much rusted into place. It does have a sortof meditative quality though, working one screw at a time. I've replaced somewhere around 100 screws at this point, and will have to buy more soon. Why so many? Because the aluminum skin of the trailer is made up of a series of panels that are screwed to a wood frame. Not only are the panels liberally tied down, but every seam has a seam cover that has screws every few inches. And every window has screws all around the frame plus a gutter piece that is screwed on above it. Lots and lots of screws. Anyone want to guess how many? I'll reveal the answer down the road when I find out.
During the weekend I got the urge to dye something and pulled out the tunis roving I bought from Becky. I used a method that is totally uncontrolled. I soaked the roving for about 20-25 minutes, then squeezed it lightly and layered it in a plastic container while pouring dry Kool-ade powder directly on it pretty much randomly. I put the lid loosely on the container and microwaved it on medium for about 10 minutes. Let it cool in the microwave, then rinsed it out. Almost no color rinsed out so it really soaked up the dye. The result was a bit different than my usual as it still has a lot of white. I am looking forward to seeing how it spins up. Intended destination: socks.
One more fibery note: The lace vest is coming along slowly with some surprises. At first my mind kept tripping up on the lace pattern, but with practice it has become enjoyable to work on. The fabric is turning out more stripy than I expected but I am liking it anyway. I just hope I have enough yarn for the project!
And here is a gratuitous cat picture.
I am still hoping to paint the little vintage trailer before winter so I managed to run out at lunch one day to R&E Fasteners and purchased the first installment of 250 size 10, 3/4 inch panhead stainless steel screws. 
It is too hot to spend the day out in my driveway, so I have been working on screw replacement for about 45 minutes each day at dusk. This is not a quick process since most of the old 1953 screws are pretty much rusted into place. It does have a sortof meditative quality though, working one screw at a time. I've replaced somewhere around 100 screws at this point, and will have to buy more soon. Why so many? Because the aluminum skin of the trailer is made up of a series of panels that are screwed to a wood frame. Not only are the panels liberally tied down, but every seam has a seam cover that has screws every few inches. And every window has screws all around the frame plus a gutter piece that is screwed on above it. Lots and lots of screws. Anyone want to guess how many? I'll reveal the answer down the road when I find out.
During the weekend I got the urge to dye something and pulled out the tunis roving I bought from Becky. I used a method that is totally uncontrolled. I soaked the roving for about 20-25 minutes, then squeezed it lightly and layered it in a plastic container while pouring dry Kool-ade powder directly on it pretty much randomly. I put the lid loosely on the container and microwaved it on medium for about 10 minutes. Let it cool in the microwave, then rinsed it out. Almost no color rinsed out so it really soaked up the dye. The result was a bit different than my usual as it still has a lot of white. I am looking forward to seeing how it spins up. Intended destination: socks.
One more fibery note: The lace vest is coming along slowly with some surprises. At first my mind kept tripping up on the lace pattern, but with practice it has become enjoyable to work on. The fabric is turning out more stripy than I expected but I am liking it anyway. I just hope I have enough yarn for the project!And here is a gratuitous cat picture.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Deceptive Packaging
In order to create a little more space for some of my many handthrown pottery mugs, I purchased a couple of corner shelf kits. The packaging showed the little white shelf happily holding up a few knick-knacks and the instructions said it would be a snap to install, all hardware included, quick and easy.
It lied.
Installation of these two little shelves took 3 hours, a drill and 8 drill bits, 6 screwdrivers, plyers, a rubber mallet, a 2-inch pallette knife, a level, assorted extra screws, washers and nuts, a pencil, a size 3 knitting needle, and lots of swearing. Somewhere in the process I lost one of the drill bits. Hopefully it didn't go down the drain, since most of the installation required sitting in the kitchen sink. It didn't help that I had to keep evicting the cat from the stepstool. Apparently she didn't mind the swearing.
So I say to you: if you buy a cute little shelf kit with simple instructions, be very skeptical.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Cat Gallery
Although I usually stick to the stated parameters of this blog, home (er..trailer) improvement, gardening and fiber crafts, I have had a specific request to include more pictures of the cats. What mother can resist such a request? So here is a gallery for your entertainment. Click on any picture to see a larger copy. Clara is the brown tabby and Zach is the black and white.
3/28 NOTE: For mysterious technical reasons, these photos are no longer available.
3/28 NOTE: For mysterious technical reasons, these photos are no longer available.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
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