Thumbs! If Only We Had Thumbs We Would Rule The World!
This is Toonces. He has thumbs. One of his favorite games is to use his big paws like badminton raquets and swat a ball we toss his way. His aim is uncanny: when he wants to catch it, he does just that; when he wants to continue playing, the ball gets swatted right back into our laps.
He's also a very long feline. Long, lean and graceful, with a voice like a Siamese. When he wants through the kitchen door (from either side) you find out soon enough. He's so long, in fact, that when he stands on his hind feet he can wiggle the doorknob. I've made jokes about how, with those thumbs of his, he'll soon learn how to open the door.
You can see it coming, can't you?
The kitchen door was open when we came downstairs first thing this morning. Toonces was happily snoozing on the wicker chair in the bathroom, where he prefers to spend his afternoons. But many other kitties who were NOT supposed to get through that door had been having the time of their lives exploring. It took a while to round up the whole herd of them.
I'm going to have to start using the deadbolt on that door at bedtime from now on.
Question(s) of the day:
Why are vacuum cleaners so danged loud?! Do they really have to be that loud?! Why hasn't someone invented a household vacuum with the motor mounted in sound-insulated housing? Seriously, I've got a little vac for light touch-ups and that darned motor is as loud as a small jet engine! You can imagine how deafening it is to use it in a room like the kitchen, which is all hard surfaces that don't absorb sound.
Observation of the day:
Everybody's moving out of the neighborhood. There are "For Sale" signs everywhere, and the two houses directly behind us are both empty now. One has been vacant for a year, but the owner comes by frequently to care for it. The other went into disrepair several months ago and the owner snuck out. The grass is so long that the mosquitos are as thick as thieves...and NASTY!
We can't enjoy the back 20 of our own yard because of those mosquitoraptors! Or Velociskeeters, as DH calls them. I coined the former term after running for cover in the garage, where citronella lanters were burning. I had been trying to water potted flowers but ended up doing a bizarre limb-flailing dance with my mouth closed lest I inhale a bug. As I stood panting in the garage, safe for the moment, a particular phrase came to me. It's from the first "Jurassic Park" movie, when Dr. Grant is telling whiney-boy about the Velociraptor hunting method: "The point of it is, you are still alive when they begin to eat you." Which is today's Quote of the Day.
Todays' "I'm proud of myself" moment:
I taught myself herringbone stitch a few days ago. I bought two simple patterns online and sat down with the beads and thread I already had set up for a different project. I'd been wanting to learn herringbone stitch for some time, and when I started making something else which was beginning to look pretty boring I stopped and took it apart, thinking this was the perfect time to learn herringbone.
Okay, so what I made is pretty boring, too, but it was an experience. A not entirely pleasant one, in fact. The beads wouldn't fall into place, so I had to manually adjust them for every stitch. The thread I had loaded probably didn't help matters, either. And when I finished the main band I discovered that the beads I'd chosen didn't lend themselves to the surface embellishment which was the final step in the pattern. So I set it aside to sell for a few bucks.
Next I decided to use entirely different beads and thread and voila! Everything went smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that I made several spur-of-the-moment major alterations to the pattern I was using. On only the second project using a stitch I'd just learned. W00t! It turned out so pretty and feminine, just like something one would gift their daughter with.
I'm on my third herringbone project now. It's Lisa Kan's "Herringbone Twist" bracelet from her book Bead Romantique. Using only beads I have on hand, you'd swear it's an exact replica of the printed project. Of course, I'm only working on the band right now. My accent beads don't match hers, but I think they're pretty darn acceptable just the same.
Wildlife observation of the day:
I turned on the sprinkler in the back yard today because everything's so wilty and dry. As soon as I walked back into the garage I turned around to see several species of birds and a baby bunneh romping and playing in the sprinkler! I swear the Grackles were jumping for joy and doing little jigs. Not kidding. ;)