Mason Dixon Handtowel

So, here's what I decided to make with the wonderful linen yarn that my OSP sent me.

I am having so much fun with this yarn! It's a little stiff (which is normal) but should soften up after it's been washed a few times. The yarn is Euroflax that's been handpainted. The colorway is Summer Rose and has gorgeous pinks and browns and greens in it. This is my first time really working with sport weight and with linen and I'm really liking it. The other colorway that Martha sent me is called Lemon Ice and is a gorgeous mix of greens and yellows and blues. I can't wait to make a towel out that one too! :)

Thank you Other Secret Pal!

I'm a little late in posting this (Sorry!) but I wanted to show all of you what I got from my Other Secret Pal.






What she sent was PERFECT!

I love the yarn (it's a linen! Yeah! I can make the Mason Dixon Towel now!!!) and the colors are gorgeous! I have managed to not eat the chocolate (yet!) and how did you know that I needed more darning needles?! I can't wait to use the bath fizz ball and I love the Calgon bath stuff!

Thank you Martha (aka DDancer)!

Life is crazy sometimes

The reason it's been so long since I've posted is I've been helping my friend find a place to live. We did find an apartment in Friendswood about 20 minutes from my house. We've been spending lots of time moving her stuff from my garage to her new place. I figure it will take a few weeks to get everything moved over. It's not like my garage is in high demand so I'm in no great hurry. Beth, of course, wants her stuff soon. The problem we're having is the lovely Houston weather. If it's not hotter than blazes it's raining. Neither one is fun to move stuff in.

What's nice about her new place is that it takes her about the same amount of time to get to work as it does me. We'll be carpooling soon. Now to convince a few other people to move down to my area so that we can expand the carpool. :) Right now it looks like we'll be able to carpool on Sat, Sun and Mon. She's off Tue/Wed and I'm off Thur/Fri. Three days isn't too bad.

Also, if all of you could think good thoughts for my old pup I'd appreciate it. We had to go to the vet this morning. He's had diarrhea and vomiting since yesterday and the diarrhea was bloody this morning. The vet and I suspect that it's related to a bout of bloody diarrhea that happened a few weeks ago. (Both Jack and Tori had it then, we're hoping only Jack will get it this time.) Once again, the fecal didn't show anything. So, Jack's on Metronidazole again and I have enough for Tori if she decides to join in the fun. We also decided (at my suggestion) to deworm both dogs. So, I brought home enough Panacur to dose each dog for three days. On top of all of this - Tori decided to cut her tail and kept flinging blood everywhere yesterday. It looked like a crime scene. I really hope CSI never has to come into my house. I'm sure there are traces of her blood everywhere.

And I'm pretty certain my carpet is beyond salvageable. It's wasn't that great to begin with but now, after two bouts of bloody diarrhea and the vomiting and blood flinging yesterday it's ready to give up. And, right now, after a pretty much sleepless night, I'm beyond caring.

So, that's what's going in my life. I hope all of yours are going well! :)

Funny cats

So...at work last Saturday we moved our young male jaguar from the jaguar building to Phase 2. This is in preparation for the jaguar building to be demolished to make room for the new African Forest exhibit (which is taking up about 1/3 of the facility). He crated right up for us and we loaded him up on the cart and let him out in his new quarters. He was mad. He didn't want to be in Phase 2 with the tigers, cougars, small cats, etc. He wanted to be back at the jaguar building. He wouldn't look at us all day Saturday, Sunday and most of Monday. He ate great for Carolyn on Tuesday but was still acting miffed at me. (I was the one who crated him. I was not the one who closed the door but I was the one he was looking at when it happened). So Wednesday comes around. He decided that he would eat for me. (Meaning I didn't have to just throw the food in the holding unit and walk away. He would actually come up and eat while I was standing there.) Yeah! Well, later in the morning I saw two of our volunteers hanging out in front of his holding unit laughing. Carolyn and I headed down to see what was so funny. Carolyn saw it first and started laughing also. I, of course, was extremely curious now. Here's what I found when I looked into Tuco's holding unit:
He had decided to explore the roof of the holding unit and had climbed up the mesh door.









Later, I found him like this.

Carolyn's comment was "I think you're cat's going to be fine!" Yeah, I think he will be. He's definitely adjusting to the new routine and is starting to feel comfortable in his new home. We should be able to let him outside soon. :)

Oh, and the only reason she referred to him as "my" cat is because I am his trainer. :)

Giraffes and Baseball

It's a girl! The zoo had a baby giraffe born Tuesday afternoon. And is she ever cute! We are having a naming contest for her. If you would like to vote for your favorite name, click here. For those interested - she weighed a whopping 143 pounds and stood 5' 11" at birth! The above website also has some extremely cute pictures of the new addition! :) (sorry for the poor picture quality on this picture...I had to use my camera phone! Go to the website to see better pics!)

Now for the baseball!

The Astros have teamed up with Saving Animals. They've agreed to do a calendar showing various Astros players with several animals currently in foster care. This will be a fundraiser and is something that other teams have done as well (the Seattle Mariners come to mind). The photo shoot is Monday. So far it looks like I'll be working from 630 to 1030 a.m. and then running home to grab the foster kitties and heading up to Minute Maid Park. We can start arriving with the animals around noon and the photo shoot will start around 2 p.m. This was all thrown together with very short notice. I have to thank my supervisor for being willing to let me have the time off. I figured I had to at least ask for the time off. It's not like this is something that gets offered every day! :) Though one of the guys that works for Saving Animals (both at the clinic and at the adoption center) did offer to meet me at the zoo at (the incredibly early time of) 6 ish on Monday morning if I couldn't get the time off. Talk about dedication! At least the kitties would have been able to go if I couldn't have gotten the time off. Thanks Max! (and I'll keep that offer in mind for future events!)

So, everyone, keep your eyes on this spot - I'll post the purchase info here as soon as I know! :)

Everything's broken...

So...my camera is going to have go to the doctor...I bought brand new batteries, put them in the camera and it still won't turn on...so, it's off to the repair shop. What is going on with my stuff lately? My lawn mower decided it wouldn't start the other day so it's in the repair shop too! And, meanwhile, my lawn is growing like there's no tomorrow. I just took the weedeater to the front yard to knock it down a peg or two. Oh well.

Also, my poor dogs both ended up with bloody diarrhea last week. Talk about fun. Lots and lots of fun...I took Tori to the vet last Wednesday and he couldn't find anything. He did a comprehensive fecal and tested for Giardia. Of course, there wasn't much fecal matter to be found. He said it could still be Giardia and, even if it's not we still have to stop the diarrhea. So, we decided to try Metronidazole. He even sent home enough for Jack (Thank GOD!!! because Jack woke me up with bloody diarrhea on Thursday morning!!!). Tori had her first semi normal poop this morning and, let me tell you, I was extremely happy! (I know, I'm odd. I'm just glad they can hold it while I'm at work and overnight now!). That Metronidazole is good stuff! Oh, and while I can't prove it - I'm pretty certain I tracked whatever this is home from BARC...I really really really hate that shelter. I will have to be much much much more careful next time. To the point of taking my shoes off when I get in my car and bleaching them when I get home. Anyone know who regulates shelters? Sigh...

Another swap

I just joined another swap. It is the Mason Dixon Swapcloth. There are two - the Warshrag and the Euro Towel. I decided to join both! I've made my first Warshrag from the book and I'm getting ready to make another.

Unfortunately, pictures will have to wait, as my camera has decided it does not want to turn on. Yes, I've changed the batteries - but will change them again (just in case the ones I put it were dead to, you never know) as soon as I remember to buy them. Hopefully it's just because the batteries I put in happened to be dead also (they weren't in a package). That would be annoying, wouldn't it? To take it to the repair shop only to have them change the batteries? :)

Yippee!! (Catch up)

I meant to post this last week but forgot...Sorry!

A friend of mine was just hired by the zoo!! She'll be working in the Reptile department here and I. Can't. Wait. :)

We've been friends for several years (met at another facility) and I'm pretty excited for us to be in the same city/area again!

Now, if only our other friend would move here we could wreak all sorts of havoc! :)

She'll be staying with me for a few days while she looks for a place to live. I suspect it'll be a little crowded (considering she has a couple of cats and some reptiles and I have all of my critters) but I think it'll be fun. And it won't be for long, I'm sure!

Speaking of my critters - the foster kitties are up at BARC now getting spayed and neutered! Again, Yippee!! They will go to the Adoption Center in Northwest Mall next week and, hopefully (fingers crossed, etc) they will find their new forever families. I love having them here. I just feel bad that they're stuck in my spare room (because of the dogs and a super possessive kitty (mostly the super possessive kitty). They deserve to have their own families and the full run of a house. :)

If anyone is interested in fostering dogs or cats from BARC - please contact me and I will put you in touch with the coordinator for Saving Animals. (Yes, you do need to be in the Houston area. However, if you are not but are still interested in fostering (or volunteering at the shelter or adopting a new friend), please contact your local shelter or rescue group and I'm sure they will put you to work!) Fostering is not hard and, despite what most people think, you don't want to keep them all. Trust me. I've fostered several and I've only kept one (Tori). You just keep in mind that they are FOSTERS and they will be adopted out to GOOD homes.

I also had my first volunteer day at the Animal Alliance of Galveston County Spay & Neuter Clinic in La Marque, Texas. This is a low cost spay and neuter clinic that is run by The Animal Alliance of Galveston and Saving Animals Across Borders. I got involved through Saving Animals. I spent most of the 4 hours making surgery packs and doing laundry. Two of the most important things that volunteers can do there! I was tired at the end but I had a lot of fun. Check out Saving Animals website for more info (the link is in my sidebar!).