It has been a week. I had some high stakes (for me) heart testing last Wednesday to see if my pulmonary arterial hypertension has advanced. Since I am already being treated fairly aggressively for PAH, an increase in pressures would be bad news. Nope. Pressures were normal. That would be a huge “YAY!!” everyone. Of course, it also means that there is something else going on that is causing my shortness of breath, but for the time being I’m happy and seeing glimmers everywhere.
This was the moon a few days ago. Glimmer.There was this bloom on my favorite rose bush.And my birdfeeder is seeing lots of action!
I’ve been making lots of progress on my knitting, too, since I’ve been staying inside due to the heat and the smoke of wildfires in our state.
I finished my Cloudbreak Tee, cast on a shawl for a knit-a-long that I am doing with friends, and bought some yarn so I can knit the Tabby Road mystery knit-a-long that starts at the end of the month. Did you want some links for these fabulous yarny projects?
I know that it looks like I am in a pink phase (and I kind of am…) but I want to let you know that I bought the Hey Mewed yarn kit from Miss Babs that will be greys and blues.
Did I look for a pink kit. Yes. Yes, I did. I wanted all the colors in the graphic, but finally settled for the sedate Hey Mewed. I smile every time I think of knitting a Beatles themed shawl on a mystery knit-a-long tour (magical!!) that is being run by snarky, flamethrower carrying Sharon from Security. You know, Casapinka’s cat with the questionable attitude, original spelling, and outrageous spunk. I totally need a mystery adventure with this cat!!!!
Do you see what I’m dealing with here at home? Mateo hasn’t figured out snark yet.
I should be kinder to Mateo. His every move on the catio is judged by this squirrel…
So, that was my week. Medical testing, knitting, wildlife (and moon) watching, and some reading on the side. Our heat wave will continue all week, so I should get a lot done while I wait for my doctors to decide what’s next. I’ve been assured that they are actively considering options, and I can hardly wait to hear what is next.
Okay, I am kind of in scleroderma purgatory, but hey… I have the glimmers!!
Yes, this is a bunny that has decided to hang out in an empty pot on my deck right outside the catio. Mateo is beside himself.
Choose to be happy!
I almost forgot this huge glimmer. The bald eagle eaglets, Sandy and Luna, have returned to the nest for yummy fish meals and to spend time together. It makes my heart swell to see them sleeping side by side in the nest after a day flying around. In the days to come they will learn how to catch their own fish.
You can watch them yourself at the Big Bear Valley site online.
I live in the state of Colorado, which is in the western part of the United States. We are in deep drought here, and it has been hot. There are several, very serious wildfires burning to the south and west of where I live, and I am in the smoke plume. The light outside is… strange. The Rocky Mountains, just west of where I live, can no longer be seen. The strangest effect is the moon.
That crazy red cast of the moon is caused by smoke. Last week was the Strawberry Moon, but here in the area where I live, it was the Blood Red Moon.
Every day another air quality alert is issued: Unhealthy for Sensitives Groups. I’ve been staying indoors with the cats and my air purifier, happily crafting for days. This is what I’ve gotten done over the last week.
I’ve been assembling an art quilt this week that required fusing precut pieces of fabric together to make motifs that are later assembled onto a background to make the larger quilt block.
This the first block of the quilt. Only 5 more to go…
Can you see the individual elements on the finished block? The stuff in the middle is laundry that will be hung on wash line hung between trees that will appear in the future as more of the blocks get done. Do you see the tuxedo cat with the laundry? Obviously, this cat is the one hanging the laundry out, and there will be clothes pins involved eventually. Tuxedo cats are such great help, right? Of course, Hannah was right there the whole time I was working on the quilt block, helping tremendously.
Hannah: The Mother of Cats is so lucky to have me helping her!! More tuna, please…
In addition to the quilting, I also made a lot of progress on my Cloudbreak sweater. I have finished the first sleeve and I plan to cast on the second one as soon as this post goes up. No sleeve island here!!
I spent some time with my rigid heddle loom on a new scarf that I am really liking. The yarn is mostly grey with a little strip of color in it. Look at how fun it is as a woven cloth!!
It has been a pretty productive week! I’m concentrating on the knitting this week so I can get that sweater done as I’ve signed up for a knit-along at a local yarn shop in town and I feel I should reduce the number of works in progress before I cast on that big shawl. Maybe there will be some sewing…
I have been going out onto the catio with the cats in the evenings because you can only expect cats to stay indoors for just so long when there are BIRDS and SQUIRRELS and BUNNIES out there. This week, just for fun, I added a string of fairy lights to the cat netting that makes the walls of the catio. Look at how fun these are!!! We usually sit out there every evening until the kitty lights come on; that’s how we saw the blood moon.
What else happened this week? The baby eagles that I watch left the nest last week (one FELL OUT and accidentally fledged, and the other flew off the next day), spent a couple of days learning how to fly well as their parents fed them, and returned to the nest to hang out together late last week. Yay Sandy and Luna! They are hanging out together now, flying around in the vicinity of the nest while the parents continue to deliver food, mostly FISH!! These eaglets love their fish! Eventually they will learn to catch their own and become independent, but for now I’m still following them in their adventures.
Speaking of adventures, Mateo got his tummy shaved this week, his sides trimmed down, and has been combed every single day no matter what he says. Now every trace of the winter coat is gone, and he is sporting a sleek summer coat. Gosh, look at that white patch on his chest. As it turns out the CoalBear is actually a little MoonBear.
Why does Mateo look a little sad? I had just finished shaving his tummy when I took the picture. Poor guy. Here’s a picture of him in his winter coat so you can see how much fur has come off
He’s a whole new cat, right?!! In the winter I tend to forget that he is actually black under all of that floof!
It is a sad time here, don’t get me wrong. The lawns are all dead (drought) and the county just sent me information on how to prepare for an emergency evacuation in case of wildfire. Fireworks were banned this year. I am keeping the car full of gas. Resources from cities are being send to battle wildfires. I sew for some of the emergency response agencies in my region, and this week I plan to sew a pile of fabric tote bags to go to an agency that will stuff them full of essentials to deliver to people displaced by the fires. Keep us in your thoughts.
I woke up Thursday morning feeling… not well. I was walking funny, throwing up (I HATE when that happens) and forget eating. I think that Hannah ate my breakfast for me, and I know she ate my cookies!! I felt too bad to even go out on the catio for more than a few minutes. The Mother of Cats called the vet to see if they could take me.
Nope. They were drowning in emergencies. They gave the Mother of Cats some numbers to call of emergency vets (I hate the vet!!) and she started calling. Nope, nope, nope. I went to hide in the downstairs shower while she figured things out, and then in the afternoon she found a place to take me. She loaded me in the carrier and went to get her purse.
Ha. I climbed out! The side zipper was open. She tracked me down and reloaded me. Ha. I may be sick, but I can move fast if the zipper jams…
Finally, she got me into the car, and we headed off to the horrible Vet ER. THERE WERE DOGS THERE!!!! We waited, and finally I got some xrays. The Mother of Cats was told that I needed emergency surgery (AGAIN!!!), and that we needed to go to ANOTHER ER to have that done. They took more xrays there, and then told the Mother of Cats that I was too unstable for surgery. I got this horrible IV needle in my arm and they gave me lots of fluids.
Hannah: Like, this is a surprise? I already knew he was unstable…
The Mother of Cats went home for the night and LEFT ME ALONE!!! The next morning, she came back and sat with me in the treatment room with all of the people and dogs and machines and everything. It was so scary.
Look at this horrible cage. I was hiding in a corner until the Mother of Cats came to sit with me.
I got an ultrasound at noon and look at what they did to me! All of my beautiful fur got ruined and I have goop stuck in my fur. I smell really funny, and what is up with this horrible tube going into my arm!!!!!!
My fur is gone!
Guess what, the intestinal blockage was also gone! My intestines are pretty sore and I may have to have a special diet for a while, but they kept me for a few more hours to push fluids and then I got to go home again.
I smelled so bad Hannah hissed at me all night!
The Mother of Cats says I’m getting a haircut next year so this doesn’t happen again, and she is throwing away some of my toys that have strings on them. Life is soooo unfair. Why is everyone being so mean. At least Hannah has stopped growling at me…
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
I told Mateo that he is getting shaved next summer and will wear funky little outfits from now on! The clinic where he finally ended up told me that he was saved by the fluid bolus that they pushed at the first emergency vet facility. Once they got him, they could see that things were improving a little on the x-rays, and since he was still very dehydrated and had developed a heart murmur they held him overnight for the ultrasound. That turned out to be the right call.
Do I have more grey hair. Yes, yes I do.
While all of this was going on I also got some knitting done. Look at my Cloudbreak Tee.
I added a couple of inches to the body before I started the lace section, and I think that was a good decision. The cast off for the body was a sewn one that took 2.5 hours to do, but the result is very nice. See that little bit of yarn that I am holding? That is how much yarn was left when I finished sewing. I WON AT YARN CHICKEN, PEOPLE!!!!
Yarn, Books & Roses 