More cat stories....

I think the reason I love cats is because they change just like people do over the years. I always thought they disliked change, but after consideration of the cats I have now...or the cats who have me now....I think they do like change as long as they are the instigators of said changes.

Until April of 2007, I had three cats. My very special baby, Ferdi, who was a little black smoke Persian guy, and Booboo's roommate since I brought them both home, died in late April 2007. Booboo and Ferdi ruled the roost...well, actually, FERDI ruled the roost. He was my constant friend. He rarely left my side, which is a polite way of saying that he dominated my attention. Booboo never seemed to care. He liked people, but I never thought he liked me that much. He liked me when I was useful to him, but otherwise I was just an obstacle to him getting his way in all things.

Then we had to put Ferdi to sleep. He had lymphoma and I refuse to let him suffer. I make a deal with all the animals who come to live with me. I promise to love them and take care of them to the best of my ability (and yes, spoil them until they run the place), and when they get sick and are in pain, I promise to let them go peacefully.

Booboo mourned Ferdi. I'd never seen a cat do that before, but those two guys were really tight. Without a feline companion, because our female tabby hated both Booboo and Ferdi, Booboo turned to me as his new BFF. He now allows me to pick him up and carry him around. He NEVER allowed that before. He seemed to feel that he had more legs than I did, so why did I need to carry him around? Ferdi, on the other hand, knew he had more legs, but they were little short Persian cat legs and, oh, by the way, he was cute, so I should carry him everywhere.

Booboo sits near me all the time. He hates it when I do my Wii Fit exercises as he considers ALL my time when I am not laboring to earn money to get food, toys and litter for him, to be "our time" together. He has even trained me to let him drink out of my water glass, as MY water is actually HIS water and, besides, WE share everything.

He wakes me up in the morning, usually a couple hours before I HAVE to get up, but he thinks that I don't mind because soon I'll be at work with humans and I'll miss him desperately. He has gotten nicer to Jazzi, our female tabby, probably because she younger and bigger and can potentially beat the crap out of him.

In short, Booboo has changed dramatically in the last 2+ years. And that's ok with him because it's now the Booboo Show and that's change he can live with.

Mr. Boo boo

Our cat Boo boo is 13 years old. He's an oriental shorthair, which is basically a Siamese without the points. Boo traveled from Virginia to Maryland when I got him in 1997. Then in 2003 he traveled out to Hawaii. In 2007 we moved to Germany, exactly half way around the world from Hawaii. In 2009, we moved back to Hawaii. And Mr. Boo boo did all that with us. He's quite the world-traveled cat.

A few days ago, Mr Boo was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. Fortunately, that condition is very treatable. I have medication that I put in his ear twice a day and he's doing well. He was vomiting a lot; sometimes 3-4 times a day and losing weight because he couldn't keep anything down. He hasn't vomited in two days, since the medication started, and he seems much more comfortable.

The vet said he's in very good shape and we should have him around for many more years.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!

I turned 50 today! Had a nice quiet day, like I wanted. Began work on a series of quilts to commemorate my 5th decade. I've been making progress in my craft room, so that by next weekend, I should be able to put my sewing machine in there and actually sew. Have my first quilt planned and in progress and have ideas for my second one. I hope to have 6 or 7 small art quilts done by my 51st birthday!

Update on crafts

As I get more and more organized, I'm realizing that beading is the way I'm going to go for my major hobby. I want to do more jewelry, more beaded quilts and more bead weaving. Therefore, I'm getting rid of a lot of my "paper" stuff. Most of the paper ephemera and odds and ends are going to go. I'm keeping my beads and fabric and sewing supplies. I am also keeping the majority of my cross stitch supplies because I do like to relax and do cross stitch.

Some of my supplies will go to my sisters-in-law and some will go on eBay. Gotta downsize!

Here is a picture of a bead weaving I'm doing called Lady Jane Gray. She's destined to take up residence at my mom's house when she's done.

Here's a picture of what she'll look like when she is done:

1920's Diva Framed!

I finally framed the 1920's Diva bead woven tapestry that I made! I'm trying to be better about finishing my pieces. I can use a bit of color around the house.

I have three new projects started and I am looking forward to working on them. Bead weaving has really caught my fancy!

Mirrix Looms and a Couple of Pictures

Until about a year ago, I'd never heard of Mirrix Looms. These are upright looms that you can use for both bead weaving and tapestry weaving. I must confess I love these looms! I have three now: 12", 16" and a 32 inch. I am thinking of selling my 12" and eventually getting a 22". For the kinds of things I like to weave, the 12" is too small. I'd rather put two smaller pieces on a larger frame. Right now I have a 12" piece (240 warp threads) and a 8" piece (160 warp threads) on the 32 inch frame. The fit well with enough room in between to be able to weave comfortably. The only thing I've found about these looms that is disappointing is that you cannot weave a piece as big as they advertise. Not comfortably, anyway.

The 12" loom is supposed to have a 9" wide weaving area. I tried to warp mine for an 8" piece using the 14 dent spring. I was a few dents short and that was going end to end on the spring. Most of the pieces I weave are 8-9 inches wide. I've done two on the 12" that were only 6" and 5" wide. I have other cheapie looms that can weave pieces that size on, when I want to. I don't want to that often.

So, I'm going to list my 12" loom in my Etsy store for a bit and if doesn't sell there, I'll list it on Ebay. I think I'll ask for $180 for it with shedder and all original parts, plus a couple of extra coils.

If you happen to be out there reading this and you're interested email me at lynneambrosino@gmail.com .

Now, on to a couple of photos: First is the first, and largest, piece I finished on my 12" Mirrix loom: It is 6" by 15" and I had to get a custom frame to fit it. Still haven't gotten it into the frame, but I'm working on it.

The next piece I did for my long-suffering spousal unit, Bob. He puts up with the threads, beads and looms all over the house. He's a coffee and wine afficianado, so I made this for him:

So Many Topics...not enough time...

Gosh, a whole month has flown by since we've returned home! Lots of times I thought of things to blog, but, honestly, just never had the time. And you know I'm into "no obligation" blogging.

It is so good to be home. I had forgotten how laid back and gracious the people in the islands can be. Everywhere we've gone and told people that we were away and have come back to Hawaii, we've heard "Welcome Home!" I've even gotten that at work.

We've been working hard in the house to get things pulled together. It's coming along well. The main floor is almost there. The upstairs is a totally different story, but I made progress there as well this weekend. Some of the issue with my craft stuff is inefficient storage. I have drawers in my plastic cabinets that have one or two items in them. That's just bad.

Well, it's about 0430 and I have to feed my beasties and get the day going. It's Monday and it's bound to be busy!