The Giving Flower

Oh gosh, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?  I wonder if anyone is still around to read me.  Hmm  Well, it’s been one hell of a busy year and I’m determined to get back to blogging.

Where do I start?  How about telling you about my Hashimoto’s thyroiditis which was diagnosed in 2008 but just 6 months ago my doctor really pushed me to get medicine.  I couldn’t figure out why I was so exhausted and a bit down, my knitting mojo was gone and I found everything just horribly tiring.  Once I started medicine everything changed.  Now I’m back to jogging and knitting and feeling great once again.  Thank goodness for that!!

Do you remember this from one of my posts last summer?

Lookie here, now we have a yard with grass and a bigger pool for the kids to play in

and my kitchen curtain is finished and hanging in my window.

We’re working on our deck and it should be done soon so I’ll be posting pics of that too.  I never thought it would be so much fun working in the yard, digging in the dirt and shooing bugs away, but I just love it.

That’s enough for today and I’m hoping that if I keep my posts short I will be able to get back into blogging, I really do miss it and I miss you all.

Meet our new baby, Chiquita (that’s what the original owner named her so we kept it-I’ve changed the spelling because it was wrong and driving me crazy) .  We are assuming she’s a regular house cat, although the man we got her from claimed she was a British Short Hair.  We don’t really think she’s any breed but she was such a cutie and had such a wonderful personality that we decided to rescue her from the apartment full of cats and bring her home to be Pip’s new friend.  Pip had been walking around the house looking for Zindy and crying ever since she died which was absolutely breaking my heart, so we’d been on the look out for a new baby to keep him company.

She had flees and a stomach problems so we gave her a bath and kept her in the bathroom with food and a litter box for the first night.  At 8 o’clock the next morning, before I had to go to work, the kids and I took her to the vet and within 24 hours and plenty of medicine, the flees were gone and we’re hoping that her stomach gets better, it seems to be already.  I also bought some kitten food so she gets just what she needs to get her healthy.  Please keep your fingers crossed that it’s nothing serious with her digestive system and she gets better soon.  She’s the snuggliest kitten we’ve ever had and we all adore her.  Even Pip, who was a bit sceptical at first but has been playing with her and showing her how things operate here in this crazy place since she was allowed to roam free in the house.  He’s even sharing his prized pipe cleaners with her, I think this was a match meant to be.

I’m also excited because this is the first cat that even Alida has been able to hold and snuggle, all the other cats have been too overpowering while Chiquita loves to sleep on Alida’s lap and even lets her carry her around.  Did I mention how much we are all in love with her??

The little monster doesn’t have her own bed yet so I decided to raid my yarn supply and found 3 balls of Lopi that would make the perfect cat bed. I immediately set to work on a kitty pi with handles so it looks more like a basket.  It took 3 days to finish knitting and then I felted it in the washing machine.  She loved it before it was felted.

Luckily, she loved it after it was felted too.

Two days ago I came home to find Zindy (the pretty Maine Coon on the left) had fallen asleep on Martin’s chair in the guest room and never woke up again.  I’m still a bit in shock and miss her being with me all the time but she’s in a better place now and we had a wonderful ceremony for her in the backyard.  As soon as we have grass back there we’re going to put some flowers and a stone to remind us that she will always be with us and to show her how much we all love her.

I really miss you, Zindy!!!

The fourth time’s a charm.  At least that’s what I’ve been telling myself.  I’ve now casted on this curtain for the fourth time adding one extra repeat to make it just a bit wider.  I’m absolutely convinced that this one will be the right size and I shouldn’t make any more mistakes, after all I’ve knit this 3 times already.

Yesterday the weather was gorgeous so we filled up the blow-up pool in the back yard and while the kids ran in and out of it splashing all over to cool off, I was able to work on my curtain.  The casing is now done and I’m almost at the point where I stopped my 3rd try.

Oh and because you might like chocolate as much as much as I do and because it may land on your hips as it does on mine, I’m showing you the newest edition to my garden.

This lovely little flower is my new Choca Mocca plant.  My neighbor came home with one of these for her garden and just had to show me.  She’s velvety brownish red  and soo pretty but as you can imagine that’s now why I had to run out and buy one of my own.  No, it’s because when she’s out in the sun she smells just like chocolate.  Roses pale in comparison with this sweet smell, it’s really yummy.  Maybe smelling her off and on during the day and the fact that my running shoes have been back in action will keep those pounds from settling on my hips.