Happy 11th Birthday

Eleven years ago today, two little tailless puffs of fluff were born...

Happy 11th Birthday, Simba and Nala!

Pictures of pictures, so they aren't the greatest. May be better to view in Flickr.

The top one is Nala when she was four days old. The next is the Mama cat and her five babies.

I was so glad when Simba grew into his ears! They both started off with bright blue eyes, but both changed to goldie/yellow. Nala after her bath.

I came into the living room in my old apartment one night, and they were laying like this. Everyone thinks I posed them, but I didn't. I have a 8x10 framed of this on the wall.

Not to leave out poor Pumba. Here's a picture of him from probably late November 1998. He was tiny then, but he ain't now!

Made a couple of more bags. The first one is Patons SWS in Natural Pink. It came out a bit smaller than my first Noro bag, and the material is thicker and firmer. This stuff felts sooo fast. After about five minutes it was done, and I had to scissor it once it was dry. The SWS gets very hairy, too much for my liking, so I trim it. The second bag is made with Patons Classic Wool in Rosewood. This one felted down to about the same size as the SWS bag. I was quite impressed with how it looks felted. (Shoulda taken a pre-felted picture.) The handle is kinda funky, it came out stripey. I really wanted to see how the variagated wool felts. We just got it in not long ago. (Look at Mr. Pathetic in the third picture, "Let me outside, pretty please!"

I think we are getting a new truck. Come to find out it wasn't the power steering box or the steering rack that was the problem with our truck. It was the steering knuckle, and they said they've never seen one sieze before. Warranty is up on it in July, and although I like a lot I will not like the repair bills after July. (Cuts into the yarn fund.) So.... I think we are getting one of these. They have a silver one and a black one. Hubby likes black, I want silver since it doesn't show the dirt as much. It's a 4x4 quad cab and has a HEMI, so we will be able to haul our camper. We had to borrow a friend's Ram last year to bring the new camper home. (Not that we'll take it very far, not with the price of gas being so high.) We haven't fully decided, but I think we're mostly decided. The monthly payment is a little lower, so it will help counter the increase in insurance each month.

Our weather has finally gotten spring-like. The last few days have been very warm, gorgeous, sunny, breezy... This means lots of outdoor play while Mommy sits in the sun and knits. (And takes breaks to pitch balls, play soccer, tidy up the yard...) I have some daffodils that look like they will bloom any day now. The boys found some snails the other day in their sandbox. They had to come inside, of course. There's one on either side of the branch. One is between the branch and light grey rock, the other between the branch and tealight water dish. They are still alive. I check on their positions a few times a day, and they move around. One was out crawling around a bit a little while ago. (I went on-line to see how to care for them. Got a piece of gauze twist-tied over the top to keep them in.)

They also found two empty snail shells. The top one is about the size of the two in our container. Small, huh?

Today when we were outside the Littlest One was digging in the sandbox. I was knitting, half dozing, in the sun, and he's like, "Mommy, what's this?" and puts this thing on my knee. I immediately moved so it fell off. I don't like many bugs, so who knew what he was putting on me. First glance I thought it was a cat turd. (I cover the box with canvas to keep the neighborhood cats out, but ya never know.) Upon closer look it seems to be some kind of hard-shelled cocoon thing. I put it in a container, and it moves, almost like a heartbeat movement. I had to bring that in, too, in the spare bug container. It's well sealed. I looked it up on the net, and I'm quite sure it's something that's gonna creep the crap out of me when it emerges. I think it's some kinda beetle. I've come across these weird, green grubby things in the ground when I've been planting. They're like a fat worm-caterpillar. I do believe they are the pupa of beetles-to-be. (The only beetles that don't freak me out are ladybugs, and this sucker is quite large, probably 2.5-3", so it ain't no cute little ladybug.)

Oh, yes. If anyone wondered what some of the numbers are in the sidebar under 2007 FOs, it's just a way for me to keep track of the number of socks towards the 52PP.

Happy knitting!