Pass The Catch-Up Please...

I feel as if I've been in a fog for the past month or so. Between losing Miguel, general holiday madness and work being all-consuming, I've completely lost track of the blog. I kind of woke up this weekend to realize that damn I'm behind...apparently on everything! Good thing I have some time off to catch up. First of all:

and...

Slightly belated happy-whatever-it-is-you-do/don't-celebrate. I grew up Jewish but really like Christmas trees so I celebrate whatever I happen to feel like celebrating each season.

Christmas Eve day Brian an I took a drive to the Historic Orchard in San Jose to check out the lambs. They'd arrived recently to help with weed control and fertilization. I'm sure the cute factor helps improve the health of the trees too.

I even got to pat a few fuzzy noses; a nice way to start a long, lovely weekend.

We kept Christmas itself pretty simple; I made most of the gifts we gave and we traveled all of two miles down the road to spend much of Christmas day with the nieces (and their parents). We also took the dogs to the dog park, where they got to meet Tonka, our niece's dog and their new giant best friend.


I'm off for much of this coming week and if the activity level I've maintained so far continues, I should be able to churn out a ton of projects. Here's what I have so far:

I had some fabric from a previous life hanging around and decided to finally make use of it. I had Hannah come over for moral support as I'd never made a tote bag before. It turned out so well I had to make a second one. Here's Vanna - I mean Hannah showing off my first completed bag.



Here it is paired up with the 2nd, larger one. I really like them but now that I've used up all of the fabric, I doubt I'll be making more. I'd definitely rather knit than sew.

I also made a pair of fingerless gloves for a friend:

These are Staghorn Mitts by Tera Johnson made from some leftover Dream in Color Classy (Black Pearl color way). I also made some fingerless gloves for me:

These are Knit Envy knit with part of a skein of Koigu that I had in stash. Kathy had made some that were absolutely gorgeous and I got all envious so I had to make some of my own.

I'm in lurve and may have to make more.

I also made this:

A skull cap for my brother-in-law out of the last of the Dream in Color Classy; I finished it this evening with only a few yards to spare.

And this:

Yep. Another dishcloth. I did a bang-up job cleaning the kitchen (as well as the rest of the house) so I decided I needed a shiny new dishcloth to go with my (temporarily) shiny sink.

So...I have nearly 6 more days of vacation. I wonder what else I'll be able to make before I head back to work? It's definitely nice to feel productive again.

Another Goodbye

We had to say goodbye to our angry 20-year-old kitty Miguel tonight; it was time.

We actually thought we would have said goodbye quite a while ago. He was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2003. Four years ago our vet in Vermont told us he probably didn't have much time left. My husband was convinced he'd actually died a while ago but was walking around out of habit. This cat just kept hanging on, sleeping next to my leg on the couch every evening and near my head most nights, and trying to beat the snot out of the dogs several times each day. Even at 140 kitty years and pretty much senile, he was still loaded with attitude.

But he was ready; life was getting harder and it wasn't going to get better.

Goodbye old man. You were a good little buddy and I'm going to miss your grumpy old self.