Fruits Of My Labours

Well, I had a fairly productive day today. I managed to sew up 4 skirts, including one three tiered ruffle skirt. None were any great fashion miracle, but I only spent about $70 for all four. One of the skirts is very similar in both fabric and style to one I tried on at a small Halifax shop a few weeks ago, and the pricetag on that one was $110. I thought I had taken it off the sale rack, and when they were tallying up the bill, luckily I realized the price of it! Mine cost me under $30 for a beautiful eyelet linen blend.

Of course, no task is complete without Henry's help...he was fascinated by the sewing machine's movement and while he tempted fate often, he managed not to sew his paw to a skirt...he also wanted to shove his face into my sewing kit, under the fabric, through the tissue paper patterns, and as show here, through my sewing machine arm.

Of course the highlight of the day was when he jumped up on the ironing board and knocked the hot iron off onto the carpet. Nice move. Then I had a ragged melted patch of carpet in front of the hall closet, and carpet melted onto my iron. The carpet is not quite noticeable unless you know it's there, but you can certainly feel it with bare feet, much like burnt ends of nylon rope. fuck. I was able to get most of the carpet off my iron, by heating it up again and rubbing it over brown paper. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was killing someone by the roars that came out of me. I was quite ready to punt Henry off the balcony at that point. He got a time out in the bathroom until I felt that urge pass. Then he tiptoed around me for several hours, cowering whenever I spoke, so then I felt bad and had to snuggle him. He was pretty good for the rest of the sewing, with just a few gentle reminders.

Now the big decision is which one to wear tomorrow. Nice to have choices.

Boys On New Bedding

I went out for some retail therapy last night...started out for just potting soil and a few new pots...came home with new bedding for my bed...go figure. These are the boys on the new comforter...Henry looks like a tool in the first photo as I caught him just about to yawn...hahahaha

Weekend Musings

What a neglectful blogger I've become...and what a crackbook Facebook addict I have evolved into. There isn't a day that goes by that I am not checking out Facebook. And when I'm home and can access it (no access at work) there is hardly 10 minutes that go by where I am not refreshing the page to see if anything new happened. I know. Pathetic.

The power was off this afternoon for an hour or so, kind of an involuntary Earth Hour. The power goes off quite often up here, often once a week. Real pain in the ASS I might add. Not only do I have to reset all the clocks in the house (and microwave, stove, VCR etc) I have to record the outgoing message on my answering machine each time. Sometimes I forget and people call only to hear "We are unable to take your call. Please leave a message after the tone" by some unknown voice. It could be remedied by inserting a new 9v battery into the darn thing, but that would involve me remembering that I need one when I'm actually at the store.

I am "attending" Earth Hour tonight. For those who don't know what it is, you are simply asked to turn off the lights in your home for one hour, from 8-9pm, local time, in an effort to save energy.

Power being off also seems to mean people forgot that they passed their driver's exam. When I took it (and passed, no mistakes) I quite clearly recall that when the power is out, all traffic light intersections become a 4 way stop. Apparently not everyone remembers that one. I ran down to the video store to bring back some movies (thankfully they had a slot as everything is closed until the power comes back on) and in the space of time it took for me to park, slide the movies in, and then get back out to my car, some dumbass had an accident at the intersection I had just passed through. It was a cabbie, probably tearing off for a fare somewhere. Or more likely, he didn't know about the 4-way stop thing. Most of our cabbies in town are African immigrants (why, I do not know...we are in northern Canada) so maybe they don't do that in Africa....who knows?

Henry continues to improve behaviour wise...but still ever so slowly. His most annoying habit now is waking me up early. Sometimes that involves standing on my chest. Other times it involves rooting around in my room until he gets something he knows he isn't permitted to have, and then chew it up, and maybe even drop it on my head. He also enjoys playing the blinds like a piano too, however that has diminished somewhat. He is also a very vocal kitten, and thoroughly enjoys the sound of his own voice. I think he enjoys the sound of mine somewhat less, particularly when it is yelling at him to STOP IT. PUT THAT DOWN. LEAVE IT ALONE. GO AWAY. STOP TOUCHING THAT. NO. and so on...

Stormy, on the other hand, is his usual mellow self, initiating contact at his will. His dry skin winter itch has not subsided much, and I may have to break down and actually buy some fish oil capsules to stuff down his throat...ew...

I have been severely neglecting a course I'm taking through Athabasca University. I had signed up for it last summer when I was in my old job that required me to do basic counselling with clients. It took so very long to get the paperwork processed (a multitude of reasons, beginning with my then supervisor/boss ignoring the paperwork for weeks on end) that it didn't actually begin until January of this year. Now I'm not working in that job, and the course is somewhat irrelevant to my current job, so my interest has declined accordingly. However, the fact remains that since I have not withdrawn, I need to finish or face an incomplete/failure. And I can't have that...so today I hope to manage two chapters and the related notes/study questions. The big issue is that there are no specific deadlines, other than you need to complete the course by June, and even then you can get an extension. For me, that is too open...I will fuck around until the last minute if I can without that structure. There are online quizzes and assignments...none of which I have even peeked at. For shame...

I guess I should get back to the books again then...I miss the Dana Porter Library in Waterloo...it was much more conducive to studying...

When Cohabitating with Felines

Life is always interesting, when sharing your living space with cats. Stormy and Henry share my space. Interesting is a creative way to frame it, yeah, sure...

• Henry lets you know when he is ready to get up in the morning. How thoughtful! He even remembers to go and rattle the blinds in the bedroom window, and then climb up on top of the tv tower (dresser, tv, vcr, dvd player, trash bin - because he won't leave it alone on the floor) to get at the trash bin yet again...


• Stormy will leap onto your chest to let you know he is ready to be petted. Or else.


• Henry communicates easily. And often.


• Henry has strange fetishes...sponges, dusters, feathers, plastic thingys, and elastic thingys. He went after the swiffer duster yesterday...and won it's heart. Now I have to root out a new one.


• They don't want you to forget them, so thoughtfully leave fur in many forms around your apartment. There is often a hacked up furball incident once a week, particularly since Henry-Long-Fur's arrival.


• They are quite content to be indoor cats. They play in the litter box often, just to remind them of that giant sandbox outside my neighbor's garden, being sure to whip it all around the designated litter box room (my hall closet/storage space). Henry patiently waits for you to clean the box, just so he can go in and play again.


• They look devastatingly cute together - Henry's fair lambswool fur against Stormy's pantherlike coat.


• They love playing together. And wrestling. And making one another cry out loud. Stormy growls at Henry if he gets too close while he eats. So they are fed several feet apart. When Henry is in the bag (there is always a bag to play in) Stormy loves to run and jump on top of it, pinning Henry into the bag. One of his feet are usually in Henry's eye. They also love to chase one another around the apartment - there is a short wall that divides the kitchen/living room, and they like to go around this, and around, and around, and around...
• They will listen to any and all complaints at the end of my day, and ask for nothing in return. They will let me know when they are ready for affection, often while I am doing something else with my hands.
• At least they don't leave the toilet seat up...

Hiccupless Travels

Well, somehow or another, I managed to fly from Yellowknife to Halifax and back in the space of a few days and had NO REAL TRAVEL DELAYS! If anything, my flights arrived early! It was a whirlwind trip, packed with shopping with mother, and a ton for myself, putting furniture together, minor home repairs for them, installing some computer hardware and software, etc. We were both exhausted by the time I left, however we accomplished tons in the two days I was there. Imagine what I could accomplish this summer when I visit...

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming

Sorry for the absence - been busy this week, power shopping in Halifax after flying east to return a child (for work)...tomorrow there shall be a new post. Stay tuned.

Spring is on it's way.

I had my first bbq of the season last night. The thermometer read 0C so I was GAME! Then we

were treated to an awesome display in the northern skies. Today it was warm and I sat out for the first time on my balcony since moving in. My kayak will be the next thing I want to use...though that might be a while considering they are still driving on the ice here...

The summer tires may find their way onto my car now that I live in the city and can get it done. The bicycle is iffy...I have to put it back together again...movers always take the wheels off.

The butt pot is for my friend K. who smokes out there...with the warmer weather she may come over more...lol...right K.???

Crabs?

sent to me by my mother, and it gave me a hoot. I haven't heard man new ones, but I have to say, this one is new to me. Beware, it is somewhat risque.

One day an old lady went to the doctors because she had an itch in her crotch. She told the doctor her problem and he said, 'You have the crabs'. She informed the doctor that it could not be the crabs because she was an eighty year old virgin. She went to another doctor and explained her problem to him. The doctors aid, 'You probably have the crabs' 'No' she said, 'I am an eighty year old virgin.' Frustrated, she went to a third doctor. She said, 'Doctor can you help me? I have an itch in my crotch. Don't tell me that it is the crabs because I am an eighty year old virgin. It can not be the crabs.' The doctor said, 'Jump on the table and let's have a look.' After examining, the doctor proclaimed, 'Ma'am, your right, you do not have the crabs. This cherry is sooooo old, you have fruit flies.'

Okay, tasteless too...or is it...